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Amen so in second Samuel 17 we've got this story here about these characters a hit the fell and who shine if you remember Who's shy in the story is a good guy if you were? Because remember back in chapter 15 I'll just remind us that when who shy which was David's friend went to him David actually sent him back into Jerusalem to kind of be like a spy to kind of be counter-intelligence there He said in chapter 15 you'll return to the city and say unto Absalom I will be thy servant of King as I've been thy father's servant hitherto So now will I now also be thy servant that thou mayest thou that thou excuse me? Then mayest thou for me defeat the council of a hit the fell So you got to kind of keep that in mind the stories are reading it that who shy is actually on David's side now It doesn't really sound like it when you kind of read the advice that he's giving here And and we'll get into that here in a minute but I want to look at these two characters a hit the fell and who shy and really I want to focus in on a hit the fell and What we see first of all with the hit the fell is that this guy's a very very proud guy He's a very proud man, and if you notice there in verses 1 through 3 it says there I'm over a hit the fell said unto Absalom Let me now choose out twelve thousand men and I will arise and pursue after David this night And I will come upon him while he was weary and Weakened it and will make him afraid and all the people that are with him shall flee and I will smite the king only and I will bring back all the people so you can kind of see what a hit the fell is up to here He really just wants to go do this because he wants you know all the self-enggrandizement He wants to be lauded he wants to be praised. He wants to be lifted up He wants to be the one that you know sent David and his mighty men to flight right it killed the mighty King David And you can kind of see here when who shy kind of gives him his advice He kind of talked some sense into him and says that's not how that's gonna go at all We just read that but you can get a sense here what hit the fell is like he's a very proud man Because he's just all about you know, I'm gonna do it I'll go do this and we have to remember that you know Well, let me just make this point here is that hit the fell actually is a fool when you think about it now when you Read chapter 16 verse 23 You might not think that it says in verse 23 in the council to hit the fell Which he counseled in those days was as if a man acquired at the Oracle of God So was all the council to hit the fell So when it says there they was as if a man acquired at the Oracles of God that doesn't mean he was actually speaking as An Oracle of God. Okay, because you gotta remember what was his advice at the end of chapter 16 where he had bought You know, we won't take the time to read it, but he advises, you know Absalom to go in unto David's concubines now that was a very smart political move, but that's not something God, you know had intended That's not of course. I was part of God's judgment, but that wasn't necessarily something that was you know Good solid advice that wasn't something that was godly or edifying That was just something that he said Hey, you know you need to go do that because it's gonna show people that you are in charge So when it's saying there that he's you know that he is as the Oracle of God You know what? I believe that's just that when it hit the fell would say something people just say, you know It's as it said as if the Lord said it, you know, it's just it's written in stone It's a hit the fell said it, you know Then you got to know it's right and that's just how people perceive this guy And you can kind of see how that would go to somebody's head, you know We're at this guy where everything you say everybody just obeys and does it Everyone's always coming to him trying to get his take on the situation trying to get you know, what what what what? You know what course of action should we take? Well, let's go ask a hit the fell You know, he'll straighten us out and you can see how this would make him a very proud person Okay, but in reality, he's a fool because one he's sitting here saying look I'm just gonna take you know, I'm gonna take with me You know 12,000 men and I'm gonna go and just single-handedly me and my 12,000 men are just gonna put the flight David and all Everyone on his side and we're only gonna have to kill David and we're gonna bring everybody else back Like they're just gonna see him go over there and defeat David and then all David's valiant men are just gonna go Well, you know what? We're on we're with the hit the fell now. We're gonna switch over to Absalom side It's just not reality and it goes to show you that this guy is actually a fool You know if you would go over to Proverbs chapter 16 Proverbs chapter 16 Because we under we see in the story what happens to hit the fell in the long run you know he ends up hanging himself and it's kind of this just out of nowhere like You hear just at his reaction to who shy it's you know Council is just over the top You would think oh, okay Maybe he's a little upset but he goes home and he writes his last will and testament and then literally just hangs himself Which is you would read that and whenever I read that I'm thinking that's kind of an overreaction You know but it's because this guy is so proud this guy has so much pride and he's so full of himself because he's so used to People coming to him and saying it's as if the counsel of God, you know, he's as as the Oracle of God speaking here The Bible says when pride cometh then cometh shame right you're over there in Proverbs 16 The Bible says in Proverbs 14 in the mouth of the fool of the foolish is what a rod of pride in the mouth of The foolish is a rod of pride and now what's so what's that rod there? You know rod is something that you use to beat somebody with you know A rod is something that you bring harm against somebody The Bible says that in the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride Now they use their words they use their mouth to do harm to other people and that's exactly what you see a hit the fell Doing in the story, you know He's giving counsel and he's saying look we're gonna go over there and we're gonna beat David and he's giving all this advice on how He's gonna win this war, but really what he's showing is that he's a fool because in his mouth is the rod of pride And he's somebody who just really thinks a little too highly of himself Bible says, you know if a man think of himself to be something when he has nothing he deceived with himself But you're there in Proverbs chapter 16. Look at verse 18 pride goeth before destruction We all know this verse and we've all heard it pride goeth before destruction and in haughty spirit before a fall And isn't that exactly what you see taking place with this guy it hit the fell, you know, it's very lifted up I'm gonna go do this. I'm gonna beat David. I'm gonna bring everybody back I'm gonna be the man, you know, everyone thinks that I have all you know I'm as if the Oracle of God speaking here But what happens is this fall where he actually loses his life? And that's the other thing we got to look at here in the story. So he gives this advice You know how he's gonna go do it. Hey Absalom. You just stay here. I got this. I'll take care of David You know, he's he's a nobody which is ridiculous Just shows how foolish and puffed up and arrogant this guy is to think that he's just gonna go take out David and these all These warriors that he has with them But that's what he says, you know I'm gonna go do this and of course who shy speaks up in verse 7 and he tells them you know that this isn't gonna work and he makes his case and then you've got a hit the fell eventually, you know when when they side with Who shy's advice he goes in verse 23 and when if the fell saw that his counsel was not followed He saddled his ass and arose and got him to his house to his city and put his household in order and hanged himself And died and was buried in the sepulcher of his father I mean has anybody else just read that and think well that escalated quickly, you know that I didn't see that coming You know just I mean be like you get this little bit of criticism There's a little bit of pushback and it's just like well, that's it. I'm just gonna kill myself You know and it that's this and we'll get into that here but you know, he's killing himself I believe because of his pride, you know because the like the Bible says, you know, howdy spirit become before a fall, right? We just read it, you know, he that's you know, when pride cometh then cometh shame. All right So he hung himself because you know, he was a proud man now some people might make the objection say well, no he hung himself Because of the fact that you know, he knew David was gonna win But I don't I don't agree with that I think that what especially when you consider the case that who shy makes right because he's saying look that plans not gonna work You need to get everyone you need to get all Israel from Dan unto Beersheba Which means the entire kingdom right get everybody together and then we'll go fight David and of course we know how in verse 14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said the council of who shy the Archite is better than the Council of the Hithophel for the last Lord at the point of defeat the good counsel of Hithophel They said his advice is better, right? And what was his advice? Look, don't just go over there with 11,000 guys and think you're just gonna beat them You know, they're they're chaffed in their mind or chafed in their minds or as there is a bear Well, the bear robbed over whelps, you know, they're in some pit somewhere. They're upset and they're looking for vengeance You know, they're mad right? This isn't gonna work You need to get everybody together and go over there and again that that advice, you know It's hard when you if you didn't know the story of who shy you think this is David's friend you know David sends him it's kind of humorous you think about it like David sends him over there to like defeat the council to hit the fell and hit the fell is just like well We'll just go over the 11,000 man 11,000 men and beat him and who shy is like no, let's get everybody Let's get the entire kingdom together and then go over there You can kind of imagine maybe David like hearing that going he said what like there, you know, I could take 11,000 He's saying get the whole whole crew together and go over there. But what's going on? Of course is that he's stalling, right? He's making he's making it so there's time to go there and he tells Absalom, you know You've got to go over there, too So that's kind of you can kind of see the strategy that who shy has there that he's actually making a point of one stalling to get everybody together giving David a time to escape and get you know Get himself ready and then to making sure that Absalom's over there in the battle Whereas the hit the fell is like hey Absalom you stay here, right? But who shy is like well if we can get Absalom over there Then we can just take out Absalom and and that'll be it, you know If you can just take out the leader, you can defeat everybody. Everyone will come around so that was you can kind of see why? Hit the fell his you know was his counsel was defeated why who shy you know was preferred, you know What the so I don't think that's why I hit the fell hung himself because he thought well, you know This isn't gonna work because you know, you know, David's gonna win. He didn't know the outcome I believe they hung himself because he's full of pride because who shy's plan actually makes more sense strategically I mean, that's why they went along with it. They're thinking yeah, that makes a lot more sense to just get all these people over there That's a sure thing and will surely beat him. So I don't think it was because you know, he knew David would win He hung himself because he's you know, a proud man But I want you to notice also that him hanging himself was self-imposed You know, that wasn't something that God intended even because if you look at the end of verse 14 It says there for the count the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of hit the fell To the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. So Absalom is the one he's trying to you know, God is dealing with and Here you have hit the fell going. He's just kind of like collateral damage. You know, he's just kind of a byproduct This wasn't God's intent I mean, I'm not sure that it was really bothered the Lord or anything that this wicked guy did this But this wasn't something that God did you wanted, you know intended to happen This is something that who shy or excuse me hit the fell took upon himself to do because he was such a proud man And really there's a lesson here to learn about this, you know, and that is this is that you need to stay far away from Rebels you stay far away from Absalom's in your life because they will drag you down they will ruin your life You know whenever you see somebody kind of you know Getting away from God and being rebellious against the Lord rebellious against the things of God get away from that person because you know There's just collateral damage. It's gonna take place and there's a lot of stories in the Bible about this You know one you could think of is is Aiken right when he coveted after the Babylonian garment and the wedge of gold right that when they took down Jericho and God said don't Touch any of it and he took it and then what happened his whole family gets wiped out, right? They all take him to the valley of a core and they stone them all to death and burn them and pile rocks Upon them, you know There's stories like that in the scripture and this is one of them here where we've seen that people want to team up with wicked People it actually comes back on their own head, you know, it actually brings harm and destruction in their own life You know in a real practical example of this would be let's say, you know godly young people, right? And we've got quite a few them in this room godly young people who you know get tired of the Bible And it's rules they get tired of mom and dad and their rules They get tired of trying to have them to live some Christian life, you know They just want to cut loose and then they start to you know, rub elbows with other people who are a little you know Who don't have the same morals that don't have the same principles who don't believe the same things that we believe and you know They start living a very wicked life, right and you know, you know girls that might think oh, you know I want to get with the bad boy, right? They want to they want to be edgy and get with the bad boy out there They don't want that the nice Christian kid, right the nice Christian young man because he's just not as exciting or something like that, which is a foolish thought and And you know, they want to get with an Absalom, you know who grows out his hair and it's just cool and everybody loves him He's new in town. He's the he's the new kid on the block. He's real hip all that He's edgy, right and that's who they're attracted to They like that that thought of the thrill that excitement right of getting with the bad boy But is you know, that's what we kind of see happening here with the hit the fell now Not in the same way, of course, right, but but isn't that what he kind of said? Hey, you know Absalom comes along and he calls for him. He's like, yeah, I'm gonna go along with this We're gonna we're gonna throw off King David We're gonna get away from him and get out from under his reign and we're gonna do our own thing Right, but how did it end with it for a hit the felt? Did it end very well? No, he ends up, you know killing himself Now I'm not saying if you go chasing, you know, the the bad boy You're gonna end up committing suicide or something like that. But look it could have some serious Bad effect, you know serious negative effects on your life, couldn't it? You know you like that bad boy and how cool he is But when he gets what he wants and leaves you, you know high and dry, you know bouncing a baby on your knee He's not he then you're good then it's gonna be oh he's bad in another way and not in the cool way Now you're gonna realize he's a bad boy and you know what that's what he is it's a bad boy Right, and that's all these a lot of these guys ever are just boys We just do what they want and just please themselves. They don't care about anybody else, you know, here's the thing bad boys You know what? They don't make good men do they bad boys don't make good men, you know You should look for the good man You should look for the good woman who's gonna be a good spouse a good provider a good, you know homemaker a good You know You know parent to your children. That's what you should be concerned about not just getting with you know Absalom over there with this with this cool haircut or something like that You should be look a little bit deeper than just what's on the surface, you know, he wears this leather jacket I'm not against you wear a leather jacket. All right, you're not You're not a rebel, you know, but he rides a motorcycle no helmet, you know He's got a leather jacket and he's just bad to the bone I'm just gonna get with him and just make mom and dad mad. Well, you know that might not turn out so well for you You know when he when he leaves and takes off and leaves you with a baby or you know Some kind of disease or you know Just takes your purity or something like that or gets you into who knows what right? and that's a lesson that can be learned here from a hit the fell is this guy thinks so I'm just gonna get with Absalom and and we're gonna we're gonna take over and just do our own thing You know, it didn't go so well and really it doesn't go so well for Absalom either. We're gonna see that here next week So stay away from these rebels in your life You know in your personal life or you know, even in a church setting, you know When you have a group of people that start to cause problems within a church, you know you should distance yourself from those people and and and not try to like, you know be some kind of a mediator between Between them and in church leadership, you know I'm just gonna go hang out at their house for a few hours just to get their side of the story You know, that's not a good look, you know and that and that's that's you know Usually that's a telltale sign that you're not really with the leadership, you know And we've seen things like that But stay away from these people in your personal life stay away from in the churches and you know You'll be a lot better for it because these Absaloms, you know, they you know They're gonna bring more harm into your life in the long run Then you you care to have they're there, you know, they might seem cool at the time But in the long run, you know, there's gonna be a lot of grief and heartache, you know The same thing goes for young men too, you know young men who are looking for you know A spouse or something like that, you know, you should probably find somebody, you know, who's a Christian Probably find somebody who believes the way you believe and not just go for you know, the you know, the floozy you know the girl who's just living loose and It doesn't have any morals, you know, because if she's willing to be you know that Promiscuous with you who's to say she's gonna take her vows very seriously, you know, maybe she'll decide Hey, I'm gonna go get with another guy after she marries you You know when she starts having kids or you know has one or two and says well this isn't for me anymore You know, it's gonna be a lot of heartache So you need to really think about that when you people get with these absolons in life things don't typically do not go very well Now we're just kind of making some application with the hit the fell The other thing I want to look at and kind of focus in on here is that you know I hit the fell is a very proud man But at the same time I hit the fell was a snowflake Okay, hit the fell is a snowflake and probably everybody in here knows what I mean by that I'm not talking about you know, he was pretty and unique or something like that You know snowflake and that you know, he thinks he's unique But he's just this delicate little snowflake that if you just just just so ever so gently just breathe on him Just you know, he just melt Right. He's somebody and when I say it when I say somebody's a snowflake what I mean is that he's somebody who can't take Criticism somebody who can't take correction somebody who can't take rebuke and look we don't want to be like this in life you will not go far in life if you're somebody who cannot handle correction and It hit the fell is one of them and really in the story No one really even corrects the hit the fell right if you look there in verse 7 It's just this just this you know, it's I would wouldn't even call it criticism But even if you set call the criticism, it's so mild. It's just so Gentle, right and who shy said unto Absalom well verse 6 and when who shy was come to Absalom Absalom spake on him saying It hit the fell hath spoken after this manner shall we do after his saying if not speak thou and Who should I said unto Absalom the council that a hit the fell hath given is not good at this time? That's not a very hard saying is it that I mean if you heard somebody say and he's kind of giving him up He's kind of throwing my bone. Look it's not you didn't say that's the worst thing I've ever heard that who came up with that. That's guys an idiot This is just the dumbest thing anyone's ever proposed or what's wrong with you? Examine like why it's good thing. I came along and made sure that you guys didn't follow that advice because that's terrible advice Is that what he said? No, he said his his counsel is not good and then he throw that in there at this time He's kind of trying to give him credit say, you know, there's other times when you could listen to hit the fell You know and it's just this I wouldn't even call it criticism. It's just so gentle, but this guy can't handle it He's such a snowflake that he ends up hanging himself Right over just this little just like hey, it's not that good you might want to consider something else Well, here's what I think and he just can't stand the fact that you know This this Johnny come lately this new guy comes around cuz you have to remember it hit the fell You know, he was David's counselor We won't take the time to go there If you went to first chronicles chapter 27 the Bible tells us you don't have to go there that it hit the fell was David's counselor and who shy was his companion. So who shy is not even like in his cabinet He's just somebody and we read here, you know in chapter 16 where they call him David's friend That's why and there's a whole nother sermon right there that I don't have time to preach But that's why Absalom doesn't bother with who shy because he knows he's loyal He's a friend to David, but he goes after hit the fell because he's his counselor, right? And he's just all about you know, his own self and promoting himself But that's that's what triggers a hit the fell in this he's like, well man, I was like the king's counselor, right? That's what it said there The end of chapter 16 verse 23. So was all the council of a hit fell both with David and with Absalom, right? This guy's got clout. This guy's got weight he's got you know some pull and He can't stand the fact that just who shy comes along who's just you know David's companion David's friend didn't really hold a public office as coming along and and they're going with his advice And he's and he's kind of just telling him. Well, you know, it's not that good of an idea and it just triggers it triggers him Because it hit the fellas one of these people that's just accustomed to always being right You ever you ever meet anybody like that? Just they're always right Yeah, I know you have right this they can never be wrong or they've always got an excuse like if you kind of if you can say like look no you're wrong and Here are the facts and here's why you're wrong and they're just like well no this and that and they've got an excuse That's what this hit the fell guys like he's somebody who can just never be wrong and that's what it said there You know, he was as as if a man inquired at the Oracle of God I mean if somebody came that you know, that's that's could really puff somebody up, you know Someone were I'm glad nobody does this because it's not true. It's like brother Corbin when you speak It's like it's like the Lord speaking. It's like you're the Oracle of God up there Like I would probably you know, call you flatter at that point or something like that, you know, I'd say what do you want? You know, you're probably trying to just butter me up for something, right? But this guy he's hearing it all the time You know, there's just like every time he opens his mouth. It's just like wow, so wise Let's just do what hit the fell says this guy is just like the Oracle of God And it's going to his head and he's just accustomed when he speaks everyone just goes along with it They say, you know, he's he's right but then you have you know who shy comes along and Kind of just mildly rebukes him a little bit just kind of says well, you know We might want to think about doing it this way, you know That's not that good of an idea at this time and he's got to go hang himself Right because he can never be wrong because he's a snowflake Look, that's not how you want to be in life because you know newsflash. Let me just break it to you. You're gonna be wrong You're gonna there's gonna be times in your life where you are wrong. Will you say something wrong? When you do something wrong when you're thinking is wrong and somebody's gonna have to come along and say hey guess what you're wrong You know and you don't want to be one of these people that just digs in their heels and hardens their neck You know stiffens their neck and just says no, I'm right, you know, especially and that look that's just like so Infuriating to deal with people like that. I mean think about just even when we're out soul-winning, you know, you'll show somebody Well, this is actually what the Bible says and they're like, well, yeah, I don't know but then they argue with the Bible It's infuriating right, but you know, it's infuriating when you do that in any area of life you know when you're trying to show somebody look you're wrong and they just want to pretend that they're not and Just make up all these excuses. It's you you can't work with people like that You know, you know if you want to succeed on your job being you know You're gonna make mistakes. It's just part of the human experience to make a mistake right? Nobody's perfect for all the sin There's none good, right and it's you know people who are you know? Managing other people bosses and things like that. They don't expect everyone to be perfect They aren't you know, if they're reasonable people they understand look people are gonna make mistakes You know human error is just part of human nature. It's something that's gonna happen, right? Well, you know what aggravates people that are in those positions is when those people make those mistakes and they can't admit they're wrong You say look you messed up you made a mistake because all they're trying to do is get it fixed You know if I'm an employer somewhere and I'm trying to get a guy to do something and he keeps messing up And I'm saying look do you see what you did wrong? Well, I didn't do anything wrong It's like no you did do something wrong, you know, how can I fix the situation if you can't even admit that you're wrong? And look you will not go far in life if you cannot admit that you're wrong If you have to be this a hit the bell type who's just used to always being right? Well, I'm the Oracle of God. Who are you? You know every time I speak, you know It's just it's as if the heavens split open, you know And there's just a radiant beam comes shining down and and that enlightens you right? So, how could I be wrong? No, people are wrong often and you know his you could see right through what it hit the fellas after in the story It was all about his own, you know Puffing up himself and lifting up himself and he's gonna go do this great act But it was the wrong thinking if you would go over to Proverbs chapter 9 Proverbs chapter 9 Look if you're gonna go far in life whether it's in you know in in work or in church You know if you're gonna go if you're gonna be part of a church where they actually preach the Bible You know, you're gonna get you're gonna come to church and be told that you're wrong Because we're sinners right and this book points it out, you know Just page after page after page after page the Bible says you're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong So don't come to church and expect every time the preacher gets up starts preaching a message That you're gonna walk out feeling good about yourself. I Mean, it's always good to get the encouraging message. It's always good to be you know To get that but you know, that's really not always what happens is it a lot of times we come to church and it We're just like we're reminded of you know how We're coming up short in our Christian life The things that we need to fix the things that we need to get right the thing the sin that we got to get out The good things we got to start doing, you know We come to church and we're often told we're wrong because the Bible is basically just one long rebuke when you think about it It's just you know from Genesis to Revelation It's just just God showing man that he comes up short over and over again no matter the situation Even think about in the millennium Christ is raining on the earth you know a thousand years of peace and Christ is there and all the saints are ruling and raining It's a it's just it's an Eden and man still at the end rebels It's like why did that? Why did why does he even bother with a thousand years just to show man again one last time you're wrong And without me without Christ you'll never be right So we can't be people who are like a hit the fell where and this guy doesn't even told isn't even told he's wrong You know, they say oh, yeah, that's good counsel. What's who should I say? Well, this is might be the better idea Well, let's do that. Oh You know what he just overreacts we don't want to be like this are you in Proverbs chapter 9 Let me go over myself Proverbs chapter 9 The Bible says it is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools It's better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. You know, that's a perfect description of Churches today, isn't it? You can go to a lot of churches today and just hear the song of fools. I Mean, that's like all their service is is just one is just them getting up and singing just emotional chorus after emotional chorus You know, they get the you know, they get the mood lighting in there, you know, which we're not doing We're not gonna put any pink LEDs behind this sign You know, we're not gonna get the the little kick lamps with the the purple glow and the fog machine I'm not gonna get rid of the pulpit and take up the guitar and just you know It's just seeing the same like it's been so long since I've heard one just some emotional chorus We're all just gonna stand here. We're just we're gonna chant this. It's it's the song of fools But look people like to go to churches like that, you know, why because no one ever tells them they're wrong Cuz no one ever says that gets up and says hey, you're you're sinful, you know, your life's a mess You're not doing right. Here's what the Bible says. Here's what you're doing fix it, right? But the Bible says that it's actually better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for the man to hear the song of fools You know, look it might be nice to go there and it might make you feel good, but it's not gonna fix your life If anything it's gonna make you twofold more the child of hell I'm gonna go out there and just think well my life's great Even though it's a complete mess, even though everything you know, you have problems and things you're not learning how to fix Yeah, but I went to church and I and I had a religious experience. I went to church and I just I felt Religious, you know, I felt like I was worshiping Jesus You know, look we worship Jesus and song here, you know, we sing the hymns but you know the we're here to preach the Bible the Word of God to people that you know can receive it and It's better to hear the rebuke of the wise. It's better to go to church and have your face ripped off Then to go have somebody, you know, you know draw a tear from your eye as they they sing, you know Like the hundredth time in a row You know, we want to go there and have these emotional experiences so we can feel better That's not gonna help you fix your life It's better to go somewhere where the preachers actually can get up and say let's say it the Lord and it might hurt But you know, it's what the Bible says Bible says it's better to hear the rebuke of the wise Than for a man to hear the song of fools why because the song of fools isn't gonna fix your life The rebuke will I mean they get what Paul told Timothy in second Timothy 4 to you So what did he say? You know preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine And that was a charge he gave before God and the Lord Jesus Christ He said I charged you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort reprove and rebuke and Exhort the exhort we like the exhorting part where we're encouraged where we go to church and you know The pastor the preacher preaches a good message that you know encourages us in the Lord exhorts us to do works for God live for the Lord, but you know what a lot of times we go there and it's reprove and rebuke and Reprove is that mild, you know, like that's probably not the best thing you need to do right now That's like the who shy advice right the reproof. It's kind of a gentle just reminder, you know That's probably now you should with a rebuke is like hey, I'm gonna rip your face off You know, that's a big difference, right? And that's what Paul told Timothy to do Right, you need to go there and reprove and rebuke with all longsuffering and doctrine Right. Did I have you went to Proverbs? I don't know where I had to go Proverbs 9 He says in verse 8 reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee You want to know if somebody's wise is how they take rebuke how they take correction that tells you a lot about a person If you can say hey, you know what? This is what the Bible says. This is what you're doing. You need to fix it It's wrong and if people can take that, you know that tells me that they're a wise person And look if you have somebody in your life, that's rebuking you You know, if you were wise you will love that person Because there's not how many there's a lot a lot of people that will do that are there There's not a lot of people in life in your life They're gonna get up and tell you look what you're doing is wrong. You need to fix it there are few and far between most people don't and look it's not like We like I do that as a preacher because I enjoy confrontation. It's not something I enjoy You know, I I don't look forward to it I'm as uncomfortable whenever I have to do that. I'm as uncomfortable as the person I'm speaking with You know what I mean? And and it's not like it's something I have to do often But when I when the time comes, you know, that's part of the job of the preacher reprove rebuke exhort But look, you know who else is gonna do that Because most people, you know, it's self-included don't enjoy confrontation They would rather not deal with with things but that's not how it goes in the Word of God That's not how it goes in the house of God, you know, that's our job to improve rebuke So look if you have somebody who rebukes you, you know, if you're wise you'll love them Right, you know that can go for kids to that should go for the children in the room and the young adults and the young People is that look when your parents are rebuking you, you know done. I know I know I know All these replies that they have it's like no you don't know because if you knew you wouldn't be doing that or you would be doing this You know you started getting after him and I always hear that, you know, I probably said it plenty myself growing up I know mom. I know dad. I know it's like no you don't know That's why I'm telling you. I'm rebuking you and you know, then it's You know get the attitude and everything else. Look if you have that in your life, you should be thankful for that You should be thankful that there's somebody that's willing to correct you because they love you Because they don't want to see you do the wrong thing They don't want to see you make a mess out of your life. They're trying to guide you, right? You should love that person So, you know, it's it's better to hear the rebuke of the wise it's it's a good thing We have people in our lives that are rebuking us Let's say in verse 9 give instruction on a wise man, and you will be yet the wiser Teach a just man and he will increase in learning You know, that's why we shouldn't either, you know speak in the ears of a fool either because they have no heart to receive it You know, they don't they don't have they're just they're like a hit the fell, you know, they're full of pride They're full of themselves. They know they know. Okay. Stop telling me that I know right That's the hit the fell. He thinks he knows it all. It's like you don't know it all. Okay, and And we need to be people that have a tender heart and that can that can handle a rebuke and take it. Well You know, I know I preach this in another sermon when I was guest preaching somewhere But I'll make this point because you know probably a lot of people in the room didn't listen to sermon But you know early on in my Christian life that that was literally one of the one of that The only thing I had going for me is that I could be told that I was wrong Like and that was literally something my old pastor told somebody he was trying to get me a job somewhere And he said and he said why should I hire him? He's like he can handle being rebuked coincidentally, I never got the job I'm thinking that's probably not the best thing to tell an employer. It's like so you have to tell him he's wrong a lot So he's always messing up. Let's You know what I mean, but but that was something that I learned it's like oh I'm if I'm gonna stick at this thing if I'm gonna make it in this Christian life if I'm gonna change and grow and get Better I'm gonna have somebody coming to me quite often and probably saying okay you messed up here. Oh you messed up there Oh, you made a mistake this you got to fix that and there was a lot of that and look I'm not saying that I'm arrived or anything that there's that still takes place, you know, if I make a mistake You know, what? I don't don't do is just make excuses and say, you know what? I'm sorry, you know fix that I'll take I'll be proactive. I'll put measures in place to make sure that doesn't happen again, right? We should have those type of people in our lives and if you do, you know You should be thankful for that that you're not just you know A child that has left unto himself with a parent who doesn't care Who's just gonna let you do whatever you want and have no rules. You'll make a mess out of your life That way go over to Proverbs chapter 27 Proverbs chapter 27 If I will talks a lot about, you know rebuking and being somebody who can be rebuked and not being a snowflake right and look we're living and just like Snowflake city now. I mean people every you just it's so hard nobody wants to be told they're wrong and everyone wants their feelings to just be handled so delicately anymore and I feel like you know, My generation, you know born on the cusp of what was it? Gen X and Millennials like I'm right on like we're like the last group of people that came up that can actually handle this I'm sure there's you know, it can handle being told they're wrong I'm sure there's you know exceptions, but it just seems like the last couple generations It just gotten worse and worse and worse for now. You can't tell them. Hey, you know what you're actually a boy No, you you are we're born a girl. That's what you are. You can't tell me what gender it's like. No, that's actually what you are You know, I don't care what the Twix commercial says, you know, you know you and if you feel differently, you know If you are trying to be something else, you're actually a freak You know if you're trying to be one of these trend transgender these transvestites rather, you know, you are a freak You know, oh, you can't say that you're gonna make people mad go ahead and get mad You know, that's that's reality. But that's where we've gotten that's how far down we've gotten the society That's how big a snowflakes we are. We can't even tell people a sir. Actually the men's bathroom is over there You know, that's where we are as a society with people who are just such snowflakes They don't even want anyone, you know, tell telling them what gender they are anymore And look, I'm not saying that, you know, I'm not trying to paint with a broad brush and say everybody that was born out You know 1990 and later was is this way but it's no coincidence. It's gotten more and more like that No, I remember the job I had before, you know coming on staff here I worked at a place where we had a younger guy in his early 20s that was working in the shop And my in like you had to handle him with kid gloves Because you couldn't tell him, you know, you messed up you made a mistake You need to fix this you need to get off your rear end and clean something, you know You can't just sit around all day I remember my boss come to me and saying like I every time I have to be so careful with him Because whenever I correct him he looks at me like a ran over his puppy dog You know you you don't want to be that type of person especially as a young man If you're trying to go out and make it in the workforce You need to be able to take correction from from people Because you know when that guy quit and he left the boss was not sad about it He was like, thank you for not making me have to fire you Right because Bobby, you know employers they don't want to work with people like that who can't be told that they're wrong Because they're trying to get a solution. They're trying to fix things So if the person that's made the mistake isn't even willing to admit that they're wrong. How are you gonna fix it? Okay, so There's some advice to excel in the workplace If you can be somebody who can take correction. Well, you will go far in life. It's just a fact Now I have you go to Proverbs 27 The Bible says open rebuke is better than secret love look at verse 5 Open rebuke is better than secret love I don't like going to that church because The preacher there he gets up and he just you know, he preaches on all my sin and you know He gets after me and I walk out feeling like dirt. You know, he just rebukes me Doesn't love me Well, actually I'm rebuking because I do love you, you know one it's my job as the preacher I just can't stand my parents because they're always after me about all the dumb things I do They're always rebuking me, you know, I wish they would just be more loving Look, it's loving to tell people that they're wrong You know, it's better than secret love It's better to have somebody come up and get in your face and tell you you're wrong then to have somebody you know Just secretly love you behind your back You know instead of just getting you know, they're kind of like What does it profit you doesn't profit you anything when you got somebody who's in your face? Don't yeah, you're wrong get it, right? You can you know avoid some of the pitfalls in life So, you know that's kind of the application I wanted to make tonight I don't want to go real on on and on about that. But if you want to go back to Second Samuel chapter 17, you know, we don't want to be like this this this a hit the fell You know, we're just things don't go our way people don't take heed to us. Somebody else is gonna you know, it's favored above us You know and it's our life is over, you know, we might as well just go home and hang ourselves It's you know and think about how selfish this guy is. I mean, I'm assuming this guy has Wife and children and all of that, you know, and he just goes home and writes, you know sets his house in order You know who's gonna get what and then he hangs himself You know, it's it's a very selfish person, okay, who does that? but if you if you notice here kind of at the end it says in verse basically vert the last half there the latter few verses the last five verses 24 to 29 is just The story, you know, the sage is being set right where? We're gonna get into the war that's coming next right? The stage is just kind of being set you got You know David's receiving You know the the beds and the basins and the flour and the barley in verse 28 He's getting all the pulse and honey and the butter and the sheep and the cheese So David has this chance because of the of the council of who shy he gets this moment where he can Gather himself he gets all this food and they get you know They get beds too and he's able to just kind of recuperate and get ready to go to war And then of course, you've got you know, Absalom's coming over Jordan with all the men of Israel with them So the stage is set here at the end of chapter 17 for this You know the the the culmination of the Civil War that's been that's been that's been coming But you know, I want to just talk about that tonight the fact that we don't want to be These that hit the felt types, you know We don't want to be people that are so full of ourselves and so full of pride that nobody can criticize us And nobody can tell us that we're wrong or that we made a mistake Because you know your life is not gonna end well People that are full of pride their lives usually don't end. Well, I mean it certainly didn't for a hit the fell I mean he ended up killing himself, right and we don't want to be those type of people. So let's go ahead close