Stealing The Hearts Of Men

Introduction

Despite the number of people that I can account for who are in other places or detained and not able to be here this morning, despite the inclement weather that we had this Lord’s Day morning, despite the length of the AM football game last night, and some of you probably because of the exciting finish had trouble sleeping and going to sleep last night. Chris, and Woody had trouble sleeping for other reasons. But despite all of those things, we have a really good crowd this morning, and we have a number of visitors, and we welcome you to the assembly of the Decker Prairie Church. We’ll meet again tonight at five o’clock. And I don’t get political very often, though I wouldn’t call this a political sermon that I’m going to preach tonight, but it’s called God Bless America.

And I thought it would be rather appropriate at this election season to tackle this particular topic. So I hope you’ll come back tonight at five o’clock.

Individuals ranging from the great to the not so great, from the honorable to the forgettable. From the respectable to the despicable. And at the latter end of that scale, you begin in the book of Genesis by reading about Cain who slew his brother Abel. You read about Nadab and Abaihu who offered the strange fire to the Lord that he had commanded them not. You read about the ten spies. Now, I know you know the two spies, Joshua and Caleb, that gave the faithful in good report, but can you name any of the ten? Sort of hard to do, isn’t it? And then there’s Achan, who stole the devoted thing at Jericho. Then there is King Saul. And then we would think about Ahab and Jezebel, two notable wicked people of the Old Testament, and their daughter, Queen Atheliah, or King Manasseh.

And we come to the New Testament and we think of Judas Iscariot and Ananias and Sapphira. And perhaps some others.

Absalom was the son of King David, and that alone meant a privileged position. He was a young man who had a lot going for him. One of my favorite passages about an Old Testament character is in regard to Absalom and 2 Samuel chapter 14 and 2 Samuel chapter 14. Begin turning over there. We’re going to look at verse 25, and then we’re going to jump down a few verses after that for the lesson today. 2 Samuel 14 and verse 25. I love this statement about David’s son. Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. There was no defect in him. There are some people who might be called gorgeous.

But Absalom truly was gorgeous. He was handsome. There was no defect in him from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, and that encompasses about everything. This was one good-looking dude. And with that kind of endowment, the pride and devastation that often follows. He was a disobedient, rebellious, and unthankful child. He was an ingrate who possessed a cold heart. He illustrates the proverb. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 18. Absalom committed a most heinous crime. He tried to take away the kingdom from his father David and even kill him. What interests me is the account of how Absalom went about accomplishing or attempting to accomplish this plan that led to David’s temporary evacuation of Jerusalem and Absalom’s very brief emergence as king.

But it says in verse 1 of chapter 15, now it came about after that Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and fifty men as runners before him. And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. And it happened that when any man had a suit to come to the king for judgment, that Absalom would call to him and say, From what city are you? And he would say, Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom would say to him, Your claims, your claims are good and right. But no man listens to you on the part of the king. Moreover, Absalom would say, Oh, that one would appoint me judge in the land, then every man who has any suit or cause could come to me and I would give him justice.

Boy, now that’s a campaign promise, isn’t it? And it happened that when a man came near to prostrate himself before him, that he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. And in this manner, Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment, and then notice this. So Absalom stole away the hearts of the sons of Israel. I’m particularly impressed with verse 6. Because it occurs to me that Absalom is in the exact same business as our adversary. As Absalom stole away the hearts of the sons of Israel, that is precisely the business of the one who is prompting him to do this. Satan is using Absalom for his own purposes. Who is behind all of his shenanigans?

Satan. Our adversary, the devil who prowls about as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. The thought of the devil today, however, has been removed from the consciousness of most people. Most people in our culture, even a very Christian culture, most people in our time go day after day and week after week with very little to no contemplation of the presence of the adversary, and that’s just the way he likes it. But one thing that you need to see in the story of Absalom, as Absalom tries to gain control of Israel and to take the kingdom away from his father, that the devil is very much in play in the story. Just as he is very much in play throughout the Bible story, trying to do all that he can to thwart God’s plan despite failure, and to defeat God’s cause without success, but on the way to destroy as many souls as he possibly can.

And I want to suggest to you that he’s still in play today. And he still has as his same aim and goal to destroy as many people as he can and to bring them with him to the eternal torment that is prepared for himself and his angels. According to Matthew chapter 25. Only the righteous go to eternal life, Jesus says in Matthew 25 and verse 46, and that hell is prepared for the devil and his angels, and those who do wickedly in this life and follow the devil’s lead. I don’t know that we can say too much about our adversary and get people to think too much about his presence. It’s important. Absalom’s success at gaining a following mirrors the activity Satan still employs. And I want to look at four things with you this morning in a lesson entitled Satan Stealing the Hearts of Men.

1. He Disguises Himself as an Angel of Light

We learn from the Absalom story that one of the things the devil does so well that Paul mentions in the New Testament is that he disguises himself as an angel of light. Absalom was, as we mentioned, 2 Samuel 14 and verse 25, he was impressive in appearance. He was so good looking. And he had this imposing entourage of the horses and chariots. I mean, when Absalom was coming, that was impressive in every way. First class politician, he didn’t just kiss the babies, he kissed the adults. And was pretty fond of kissing women as well. He might, we might use the word to describe Absalom. He was winsome. He had a winsome personality, a winsome look, and he was certainly in the business of winning souls. And the devil is in that business as well.

One thing that we learned from the story of Absalom is that people are often far too impressed with the way things look outwardly. The way they appear. The veneer and the shine that they possess. Remember when Samuel was sent to select the king from the house of Jesse who would replace Saul. We know where that story ultimately goes, where David is selected because God does not look on the appearance but looks on the heart. Remember that story? But you remember the part when Samuel comes to the house of Jesse, and the first one came in. David’s oldest brother Eliab. When he comes in before Samuel, it records what Samuel thought. This is the guy. He was the one that was impressive in appearance. He was the older one.

This is the guy. And that’s what led to the selection of the least like. The youngest, not as impressive in appearance, because God looks upon the heart. This is the way the devil worked with Eve as well. In the very beginning, in Genesis chapter 3, when he shows her the tree of knowledge of good and evil, of which God said, Thou shalt not eat, or you shall surely die. But when she saw that it was good for food, and of course, in all of the pictures that it’s the apple, we don’t know what kind of fruit it was, but it was the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and it was beautiful in appearance. And when she saw that it looked good and it was good for food, turn out the lights.

The party’s over. No, we’re like this. You can admit it. We’re like this. We are impressed by pretty packaging. The advertisers know this. The people who sell us our food know this. Have you ever seen how many products on the shelves, ladies? A new look. And the new look is almost always better than the old one. I play golf, and it used to be my habit. This was when I was younger and was not fighting middle age issues. At the turn, I would always stop and get a Snickers. Can’t do that anymore. Try to do healthier than that now. But I’ll stop and get a Snickers. And then I remember the one day when I went in to get the Snickers at the turn, and there it was.

They had changed the packaging on the three musketeers. It was now silver and shiny and red and blue, which I think it pretty much is to this day. And there was that beautiful three musketeers wrapping. I think I’m going with the three musketeers. Now that’s a better choice in terms of calories. That light fluffy stuff is better than the nuts and the caramel and all that’s in the Snickers bar. But when I’m eating the three musketeers, I liked it. Okay. I still like three musketeers, but then I was thinking, boy, I think I’d have been happier if I bought that Snickers. But see, I was pulled in by the shiny, attractive packaging. Satan is the master at pretty and glitter and making it attractive.

He does that with all kinds of things, and he certainly, not only with temptation and the certain sins that often beset people. This is pleasurable and this is fun. This is going to make life better. But even false teaching that is so prevalent in our time. He makes it so appealing and inviting. He doesn’t just say, look, I want to introduce this thought to you. It’s not really in the Bible, but I want you to embrace it. And it’ll really be good for you. You’re going to like it. In the end, it’s going to be just fine. He doesn’t introduce it for what it is. He tries to put some nice packaging around it. He’ll quote some scripture. He’ll say it’s from the Bible. I remember this book I read while I was preaching in Beaumont many years ago.

The book was entitled Free in Christ by Cecil Hook. And it was influencing some people in the Golden Triangle, Beaumont, Stone Gate, Port Arthur, that area. It was influencing some Christians over there. And so I thought I better read this book and see what it’s all about. And I read through this little book, this little paperback book, and I thought, man, there’s some good thoughts in that. Freedom in Christ. I mean, Paul talks about that in Galatians chapter 5, and that’s a wonderful concept, and people need to understand what it means to be free in Christ. And I was reading through it. There’s some good thoughts here, some things I could probably use in preaching and teaching, but there were some alarms, some red flags here and there.

And so I started reading the book again. Go through it a second time. Then I started noting. There was error in every chapter of the book. Along with some statements that I could agree with that were consistent with truth. But in every single chapter of the book, there was error. And that’s the way the devil does it. He puts it in this pretty packaging and gets people to swallow it because it sounds good. Some of Satan’s favorite lines find their way into our thoughts at times. Well, it’s not that bad. One time won’t hurt. Everyone else does this. There’ll be time to make correction later. It’s a matter of opinion. But a lot of times that means there’s no right or wrong. Be careful. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 14.

2. He Works Gradually and Subtly, Promoting Discontent

No wonder. No wonder there are false apostles and false workers in the church at Corinth that are troubling them that have caused them to reject the Apostle Paul as we’ve studied 2 Corinthians in our auditorium class just recently. How could this happen? How could they reject the Apostle Paul? How could they reject David? More on that in a moment. Because Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. He makes these things that he wants to promote look pretty attractive, pretty appealing in our best interests. But its essence is corruption. Satan stealing the hearts of men. What else we notice in the story of Absalom in 2 Samuel chapter 15 is that he works gradually and subtly, promoting discontent among God’s people. The schemes of the devil we read earlier in 2 Corinthians chapter 2.

You know what he doesn’t do? The devil doesn’t come along and say, out of the clear blue, you know, really, I think what you ought to do is throw on the towel spiritually. He just blindsides you one day, you’re not really ready for it, and you get this thought. I’m just going to quit. No, he works on people gradually. It’s a slow process. Now, sometimes it appears rather abrupt in that they stop attending the assemblies. They miss an assembly, and then they miss one after that and one after that. And to us it appears rather abrupt. But I want to tell you, the person that stops coming and then refuses to come anymore, and all the appeals are to no avail. Most often, the seeds of that began long before that first day that they quit attending.

It was a gradual, subtle process as the devil was luring them away. He starts by saying, I’m your friend, I’m on your side. I’m just the help that you need. Again, that’s the way the devil worked on Eve in the garden. You know, God really doesn’t have your best interests at heart. He knows that it’s going to, if you eat of the street, it’s going to make you as wise as him. So listen to what I’m telling you, and things will be better. Be discontent. If Christianity is taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, which it is, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 5, then what’s Satan doing? He’s wanting to take our thoughts captive to his will and purposes. Now, when I talk about discontentment, we need to be discontent about some things.

We need to be discontent about present spiritual progress or what we’ve already attained in our service to Christ. There are still greater heights to climb, greater application of the principles of righteousness, more consistent application of those in our lives. There’s growth to be experienced. No, we don’t need to be. That’s a kind of contentment that he promotes. No more growth. Be satisfied with where you are. Don’t develop any further. And so there’s a sense in which we need to be discontent, but the discontentment I’m talking about is where we think I’m missing out. Life would be better if. You know, there’s a cure for this lack of happiness. Life is a little stale. This would spice it up a little bit. Make it more fun. He’s always telling us that listening to God’s righteous precepts is not in our best interests.

Be discontent. Look out there at the world at how much fun they’re having. The psalmist Asaph is dealing with that in Psalm 73. When I looked at the wicked, I was envious, my feet almost slipped. That’s the devil working on us. He’s saying, you know, don’t be content with these shackles of righteousness. And again, that’s what that book, Free in Christ was all about. Really, at the end of that, you weren’t free in Christ. You were free from Christ, is where that went. As it promoted lawlessness. To him, free in Christ meant free from law and free from obedience. And that’s the kind of thing the devil promotes. Obedience, it’s not that big a deal. It’s overcooked, it’s overdone. The preacher’s overspencing it. There’s forgiveness and grace.

That’s the era that you live in. Don’t worry about disobedience. Look, when I read the Bible, I never see an occasion where sin is good for us or helpful or beneficial. Not any sin of any kind in any circumstance. It is never, ever a better decision. But the devil is telling us all the time that it is. It’s just like the prodigal son story. My life is going to be better. I know what the Bible says, but I’m trying to dismiss that from my mind because I don’t want the guilt that goes with that. But my life would be better. The lights of the far country. There it is. Give me my inheritance that I may go over there. And then we know how that story goes, don’t we?

3. He Gets People to Forget the Qualities of the King

That’s the way the story always goes when you reject God’s wisdom for the devil’s influence in your life. Number three. We learn in this story how the devil works. He gets people to forget the qualities of the king. Absalom is a distraction. There he is at the gate of the city. Oh man, that’s an impressive young man. Look how good looking he is. And he says he’s going to listen to little old me. And not just little old me, but every little oh me. And politicians always claim the world and offer the world and don’t deliver. But that’s that’s Absalom had that down long ago. Don’t you think about something? How does this work? I’ve thought many times. How does this ever work? David ultimately flees the city, barely survives the coup of Absalom, his son.

Makes some wise decisions about his counselors and such things, ultimately thwarts the council of Absalom, and Absalom is ultimately killed, and we’ll get to that in a moment. But it was very close. It was touch and go there for a while, other than the providence and hand of God. But from a human perspective, this was touch and go. How did Absalom pull this off? You think about David. Could you think of a better king than David to have as your king? This is the guy that killed Goliath. People have a short memory. Remember the Philistines? Remember the attack on the giant Goliath? This was the stuff of war and legend. Look at all of the military victories. Judah, Israel, in the time of David reached, began to reach its zenith, the ultimate of which was experienced in the reign of his son Solomon that followed.

The territory expanded. There was peace, there was prosperity, gold and abundance, and that would be even more so in the reign of Solomon. I mean, things were emerging and going in a wonderful direction. How in the world did people buy into Absalom’s ploy? The only thing I can think of is that they forgot the qualities of the king. Forgetting. It occurs to me that’s a lot of our problems spiritually. Whenever we struggle spiritually, it’s because we forget important things. Things escape our mind. First of all, like what the scriptures are telling us. This information, this wisdom of the scripture is neglected and forgotten. That’s when we start listening to Satan’s appeals. We forget the scriptures. We forget where all of this is ultimately going. Eternal destination, either in heaven or in hell, as I quoted in Matthew chapter 25.

4. His Way Is Better Than the King's Way

There’s no in between, there’s no place of limbo. We forget about. And we talked about that in the last two sermons about start with why. And we said both of those things need to be thought about. We forget the blessings that are associated with doing right and being in fellowship with God. And the blessings associated with being associated with God and his people. And we forget about God Himself. Everyone who defects forgets about God. And to reject David and follow Absalom is to reject God’s anointed. They forget about God, and that’s exactly what happens to us as he gets us to forget the qualities of the king. Everybody that comes under his influence and control does just that. Finally, he tells people that his way is better than the king’s way.

If somebody would put me in charge, things would get better.

And we get that message all the time. That what many religious institutions and denominations practice, that’s a better way than what the Bible describes. I’ll tell you, one of the reasons why what we teach isn’t popular with a lot of people is because there’s a very real way that has to be followed. There’s a narrow gate and a narrow way that leads to life, and few there be that find it. If we can make the narrow way somehow look like the broad way, then we could get a lot more folks attracted to this. And one of the reasons why denominations are what they are is that they’re offering a come as you are. Homosexuality, well, not a great deal, but we won’t take a stand against it.

Really wouldn’t think it’s ideal, but we’re, you know, we’re not opposed to it. Doesn’t matter what the Bible says. And so let’s make this way palatable to people. And that’s exactly what the devil wants. His way is better than the king’s way. And there may be somebody in this audience this morning who has not done what the scriptures say one must do to be saved from sin. This is critical. This is about the most important decision you’re ever going to make in life. It is not the most important decision. It’s an important one, who you’re going to marry. Wedding yesterday. Ron Harris and Amy got married. Some of you were there. That’s an important decision. Who you’re going to marry. But the greatest decision you’ll ever make is in relation to Jesus and being his servant.

Perhaps you’re in this audience this morning, and your sins have not been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse your sins. Released from our sins by his blood, Revelation chapter 1 and verse 5. Romans chapter 6 says that if we are buried with him in baptism, baptized into his death, that’s where that cleansing and release occurs. If we are baptized into his death, we will rise to walk in newness of life, in likeness of his resurrection from the dead. And yet the devil is always wanting to divert people from that path. He wants to tell people, no, you’re saved before and without baptism. That’s very popular in the religious world. You’re saved at the moment of faith. You’re saved when you accept Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal Savior.

That language is not found anywhere in the New Testament. That is the devil saying, okay, you can have some religion, you can feel good about your God and your relationship with him, but we’re going to do it my way. Because that’s not what the Bible says. That’s error. That’s false doctrine. It’ll cause you to stay lost in your sins. And so if there’s someone in this audience this morning who’s outside of Christ, and you need to know you’re standing before God.

Sometimes even Christians come under the influence of false messages. It’s dangerous. We studied in Galatians not long ago, and that’s not just one church, that’s a whole region of churches that were being affected by false teaching. And he says, Who has bewitched you? Oh foolish Galatians. There was an Absalom or several Absaloms who were influencing the churches of Galatia to believe falsehood about salvation. And all it was, it seems, was that they were trying to mix the law of Moses with the gospel. You had to be circumcised to truly be a Christian. And Paul says, absolutely not. Circumcision, as was a part of the law of Moses, is not a part of the gospel. And to try to bring the two together is false. He says, You are fallen from grace.

Who’s hindered you? You were running well. Somebody has hindered you. He says in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 7. Somebody’s telling you that this way is better, but it’s not the king’s way. Don’t listen to an Absalom. I’ll tell you about Absalom. You think he’s the only one of his kind? There are a lot of Absaloms today. Who will tell you something that you want to hear that will cause you to stay lost. The king’s message is He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Mark 16 and verse 16. Those were the words that he instructed his disciples to preach. Those are the words that we teach here at this place. The words of the apostles on the day of Pentecost. Repent. No salvation without repentance.

Changing from these ways of harm and sinfulness that the devil has already enticed us with. We’ve got to turn from vain things to serve a living and true God. Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. All that the Holy Spirit had promised about salvation and the era of the Messiah, all of those things that we read about in the Old Testament, pointing to the New Testament era and the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to get that. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. On the basis of all that He is, the King. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of your sins.

Have you listened to that and done something to the saving of your soul? And that’s really that’s what Peter and the apostles said. Save yourselves from this wicked and perverse generation. Have you done that, or are you listening to an Absalom? One of the devil’s pawns. Well, once you’re in Christ, this battle isn’t over. I already talked to you about the Galatians. The devil’s trying to take back our thoughts. Remember, the business of Christianity is taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Have you left off in the pursuit of that? Have you started allowing small compromises? Who do you think is promoting that? And how do you think he’s getting that done? Those little occasions where we compromise in little areas that lead to bigger and bigger problems.

And you think maybe the devil’s telling us, hey, this way over here.

Conclusion

This is exciting. This is enticing. It’s better than the king’s way. That’s how he reels us in. Are you listening to him? These Old Testament stories are here for our instruction and learning. Don’t let the devil steal away your heart. Surrender your heart to the king and reap the rich rewards from that choice and your dedication and that pursuit. Because I’ll tell you where the Absalom story goes. Darts to the heart. His hair as he was fleeing from Joab. His hair gets caught in a tree. Wouldn’t you know it? His glorious visage and his glorious mane, his head gets caught in a tree, and Joab is not one to trifle. Darts to the heart. Led to a monument, but not a monument of glory, but a monument of derision.

And that’s the way Satan’s cause always ends in nightmare and failure and devastation. And that’s the result of not following the King’s way. And if you need to enlist in his cause or to re enlist, the invitation song is to encourage your response. Let’s stand and sing.