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Amen. Alright, well we're there in 2 Samuel chapter 17. Sounds a little echoey to me if you could help me with that. 2 Samuel 17. Keep your place there, that is our text for this morning, but go with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter number 12 in the New Testament. You have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Romans chapter number 12. And you know what, let me let me say this too before I forget. I asked you to be praying for Brother Matt Taylor, he's preaching in Houston. Also be praying for Brother Davis Santiago, he's preaching tonight in Fresno, and the whole family's there in Fresno, so be praying for them. And thank you to all of you who are praying for me. My son and I, Joel and I, were in North Carolina this this weekend. I preached there on Friday. We had a great great meeting there for their 20 year anniversary. They had 73 in attendance, which was a good good crowd, so I appreciate all of you and your prayers. We got back yesterday, so thank you very much for that. This morning we are ending this series. We've been spending the last several weeks in a series called Burying the Hatchet, and every week I've been reminding you what what that means and why we've called it that. And that term, Burying the Hatchet, is an American English idiom meaning to make peace. It is a figurative expression, meaning it originated from the American Indian tradition that hatchets were buried by chiefs of tribes when they came to a peace agreement. And what we've been learning for the last several weeks is how to live at peace with ourselves and with others. And if you remember, we started the series three weeks ago, four weeks ago. The first sermon was called From Whence Come Wars and Fightings Among You, and we learned that the Bible teaches that when we cross that line, not of confrontation but of contention, when we cross that line of going from trying to help to trying to hurt, from being productive to being destructive. Nothing wrong with confronting someone when they're doing something wrong, especially if you're in the position of authority to do so, but when we cross the line to where we're not really asking a question, we're just trying to hurt a situation, we learned that that really comes from within. From Whence Come Wars and Fightings Among You, and James taught us that they come from within, that we have a loss at war in our members, and that, and of course we learned from Jesus that, you know, all evil things come from the heart. He says that which defileth a man comes from the heart. Then we talked about recompensing to no man evil for evil. We talked about the recompense, the tit-for-tat game that often happens in relationships, and why we should not live that way, why we should turn the other cheek, why we should suffer ourselves to be defrauded. Last week, I preached a sermon called Blessed Are the Peacemakers, and we learned some principles for being a peacemaker, and we actually learned them from the life of David. This week we're gonna be back in the life of David in a different place, a different season in his life, and this morning I'm preaching a sermon called Be Not Overcome of Evil. We're ending the series this morning with this idea of Be Not Overcome of Evil. You're there in Romans chapter 12, and you know what, let me turn myself there real quickly. Romans chapter 12, and we've kind of been dissecting a little bit of this passage over the last several weeks. If you've noticed, if you notice there in verse 17, the Bible says, Paul said, recompense to no man evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men. We talked about that in one of our sermons. If it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. We talked about that in last week's sermon. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. We talked about that in several of the sermons. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. We talked about that last week. And today we're talking about verse 21, Be Not Overcome of Evil. Be Not Overcome of Evil, but Overcome Evil with Good. And that word overcome means to get the better of, to prevail over, to overpower. And Paul is telling us, he gives us this this entire little paragraph on relationships and contention and peace and living at peace. And then he says, be not overcome of evil. And here's what he's saying. He's saying, do not let evil get the better of you. Do not let evil prevail over you. Do not let evil overpower you. And then he tells us, instead, you should overcome evil with good. He says, don't let evil overpower you, but you should overpower evil. Don't let evil overcome you, but you should overcome evil. Now, what I want to do today is, I want to look at this story of David. And we're really not looking at David, but we're looking at a man named Ahithophel. You're there in Second Samuel 17. Go back to Second Samuel 15, just real quickly, just to show you a couple of things about Ahithophel and why we're kind of looking at his life today. And the reason we're looking at this man Ahithophel, because Ahithophel was a man who was overcome of evil. He was a man who evil overcame him. Evil got the better of him. It prevailed over him. It overpowered him. But in order to understand what happened to Ahithophel, we need to understand how he got there. So I want you to notice several things about Ahithophel. You may be familiar with this, but maybe you're not. So let me bring you up to date. I want you to notice, first of all, that Ahithophel was David's trusted friend and advisor. You're there in Second Samuel 15. Look at verse 12. Second Samuel 15 and verse 12, the Bible says this, An Absalom, and if you remember, Absalom was David's son who brought a rebellion against David, brought a civil war to the nation of Israel, partook and led a conspiracy against David. The Bible says, An Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor. So Ahithophel was a counselor to King David. He was a friend to King David. He was a trusted person that David would go to and get counsel from. And we'll see later on that Ahithophel was a good counselor. Ahithophel was a very wise counselor, and he was David's trusted friend and advisor. Yet Ahithophel, David's counselor, ended up turning on David. Notice verse 31 in the same chapter there. Second Samuel 15 and verse 31. This is now David fleeing Jerusalem. He's leaving town. He's running because Absalom has taken over and has taken the kingdom from him. And notice what it says in verse 31. And one told David, as David was fleeing, as David was running, and one told David saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And I'm sure that hurt David to know that a friend, a trusted counselor, someone who was loyal to him, someone who served with him, who was on his court, would side with the enemy. And one told David saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, Oh Lord, I want you to notice the prayer of David. I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. So Ahithophel was David's trusted friend and advisor. Ahithophel David's counsel ended up turning on David. But before you are, you know, too hard on Ahithophel, and I think we should be hard on Ahithophel, he was someone who is used wickedly, I want you to understand the reason for Ahithophel's bitterness. The reason for Ahithophel's disloyalty. The reason for why Ahithophel became overcome of evil to the point where he would turn on David and conspire against David, conspire to take the kingdom from David, and conspire even to take the life of David. Now you're there in 2 Samuel 15. We saw verse 12, but I want you to notice it again. Notice what the Bible says. And Absalom sent for, notice what it says, Ahithophel the Gilonite. Often in the Bible, whenever you want to identify or specifically identify one individual, because many times people had similar names or the same name, they'll tell you either what family they came from, similar to our last name system, or they might tell you where they hail from or where they come from, and here Ahithophel is identified as Ahithophel the Gilonite. He was a Gilonite. Now I want you to remember that and go to 2 Samuel 23 and verse number 34, because you got to ask this question, right, and it's a valid question. Why would someone turn on David? Why would a trusted friend turn on David? Why would a counselor turn on David? Why would someone who David trusted, who David had on his payroll, who David had on his staff, who was a secretary of state with David, why would such a man conspire against and become a traitor to the king, become a traitor to God? Why would Ahithophel the Gilonite do that? What good reason would there be? What could you be so mad about Ahithophel? What could you be so angry about Ahithophel? Why were you overcome with evil? Notice 2 Samuel 23 and verse 34. I want you to notice this. The Bible says in 2 Samuel 23-34, we are getting a rundown of David's mighty men, the soldiers that David served with, the soldiers that accomplished great things for David, and in that list we're told this. 2 Samuel 23 and verse 34, Eliphelet, the son of Ahazbi, the son of the Meacathite, I want you to notice Eliam, the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite. I want you to notice that in David's counsel, there was a man, an older man, a wise man, by the name of Ahithophel the Gilonite. But among David's mighty men, there was a man named Eliim, the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite. The son of Ahithophel was one of David's mighty men. The son of Ahithophel was one of David's greatest soldiers. And that's a common thing. Even today in our country, you'll often have these generals and the secretary of war and all these people that are high ranking. They'll have children and sons and grown men serving in the military and this is what happened. Ahithophel was a counselor to David. Ahithophel served with David and then his son Eliim, the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, served as a soldier of David. You say, well, what does this mean and what does this show us? But I want you to notice Ahithophel the Gilonite had a son named Eliim, the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite. Go to 2 Samuel chapter number 11. Now when you look at the story of David, if you would ask what are the two greatest stories in the life of David, you would find that the two greatest stories are the most well known stories of David are one of victory and one of tragedy. One of great success and one of great failure. One of course is the story of David and Goliath. The other is the story of David and Bathsheba. One is the story of David conquering over a giant and one is of David being conquered by sin, committing adultery, then lying to cover up the adultery, then killing to cover up what he had done. Of course David committed adultery with Bathsheba. She ended up being with child. So David has Uriah the Hittite, her husband, put to death in order to cover up for his sin. And in fact the whole story of Absalom is a result of this. This is part of the punishment that God has brought upon David because David lied, because David covered up his sin. God punished David and one of the ways in which he punished him was with this whole upheaval with his family, not just Absalom, but Absalom is definitely a part of it. You say well how does the Hittite play into this and what does the Hittite have to do with this? And here's what I want you to notice. In 2 Samuel chapter 11 and verse 3, when we have David getting ready to commit adultery with Bathsheba, he sees her. If you remember he sees her bathing and he asked for her. 2 Samuel 11 verse 3, and David sent and inquired after the woman and one said, somebody stepped up and they said well David listen, there's something you should know. They said, is not this Bathsheba, don't miss it, the daughter of Eliim, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And this servant in a very tactful and proper way is trying to tell David, hey listen, this lady you're asking for, this lady you want us to bring to you so that you can commit adultery with her, she's Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliim. And if you remember Eliim was the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite and if you remember Ahithophel the Gilonite was one of David's most trusted counselors. And here's what I want you to notice and here's what I want you to understand. We see in the story, the story of a very bitter and angry man named Ahithophel who had a son named Eliim and had a granddaughter named Bathsheba and the man that he gave his loyalty to David, the man that he gave his counsel to David, the man that he gave his service to David took advantage of Ahithophel's granddaughter Bathsheba, committed adultery with her, had her husband put to death and ruined the life of his family and Ahithophel stood back and witnessed this. He stood back and watched this. He stood back and got angry about it and got bitter about it and allowed evil to overcome him. And what I want to do this morning, what I'd like to do is I want to give you three characteristics for what it looks like to be overcome of evil. We're going to look at three characteristics from the life of Ahithophel and show you what it looks like to become overcome of evil and then I'm also going to give you three steps to overcome evil, what it looks like to be overcome of evil and three characteristics of what it looks like to be overcome of evil and three steps of what it looks like to overcome evil. But I want to begin this morning, and this has kind of all been introduction, just to say this. When you hear the story of Ahithophel, when you connect the dots and you look at it, at first glance you say, man, Ahithophel is disloyal, Ahithophel is a traitor, Ahithophel, why would you stab David in the back? But when you realize that Ahithophel had a son named Eliab and when Ahithophel had a granddaughter named Bathsheba and when David took advantage of that relationship and did not care of the repercussions and destroyed the lives and committed murder and killed, you can understand why Ahithophel was angry and bitter and upset and here's all I'm telling you, though, and here's what I want you to understand. Today you might have a story and it might be a valid story. If we gave you the mic and let you tell your story, we might all side with you. If Ahithophel was here and we said Ahithophel, come up here and give us the reasoning as to why, he might get up and say, well, I love David and I was loyal to David and I gave my life for David and I gave my service to David and I gave my counsel to David and then he ruined my family. And here's all I want you to understand. We're going to look at a story of a man whose life was destroyed because he was overcome of evil, but if you look at his story and say, yeah, but it was a valid reason, it may be a valid reason, but his life was still destroyed. I want to give you three characteristics why you don't want to be overcome of evil. No matter how good your story is, and I'm not minimizing your story and I'm not mocking your story, it may be true. We might hear your story and we might hear your details and we might be angry with you and we might be upset with you, but Paul would say this, be not overcome of evil. You say, why? Well, let me give you three reasons why. Number one, when we are overcome of evil or being overcome of evil, it will corrupt you. Notice what happens here to Ahithophel, 2 Samuel 15 verse 12. 2 Samuel chapter 15 and verse 12. And Absalom sent to Ahithophel, the Gilonite, David's counselor, from the city, even from Gilo while he offered sacrifices, and the conspiracy was strong for the people to increase continually with Absalom. Look at verse 31, we've already seen him. And one told David saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, oh Lord I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. Because David understood that Ahithophel was good at what he did. Go to 2 Samuel 16 and I want you to notice verse number 23 and then we're going to back up a little bit and look at something, but here's what I want you to understand about Ahithophel. Ahithophel was somebody who knew God and who knew the word of God. 2 Samuel 16 look at verse 23, and the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled to David and to Absalom, notice what the Bible says, this has always been an interesting idea to me, it says, was as if a man had inquired at the oracles of God. The oracles of God is a reference to the word of God. The Bible literally says that when you walked up to Ahithophel and you asked Ahithophel a question, it was like if you were asking the word of God a question. And here's what you need to understand, for someone to get to the place where they know the Bible, where they know the scriptures, where they know the word of God so well that it would be said of them that the counsel of Ahithophel was as if a man had inquired at the oracles of God in order to get to that place, you better believe that there was a time in Ahithophel's life when he loved the Lord. You better believe that there was a time in Ahithophel's life when he spent time with God, when he spent time with the word of God, when he knew God and he understood God to the place where he got this reputation and he said, look, you got a question, ask Ahithophel, you want to know what to do in a situation, ask Ahithophel, he's just a man, but he knows the Bible so well, he knows God so well that he can tell, I mean, asking Ahithophel, it's like asking, it's like inquiring at the oracles of God. So was all the counsel of Ahithophel, but with David and with Absalom. Ahithophel was a good man. Ahithophel was a wise man. Ahithophel, I would argue, at one point, was a godly man. But when we allow evil to overcome us and we allow bitterness to take root in us, overcoming evil or allowing evil to overcome us will corrupt you. It will corrupt anyone. It will defile anyone. And I want you to notice, this man, who knew the Bible so well that it was asking a question of him, was like asking a question of the Bible itself. Notice the counsel that he gives. Look at verse 20, 2 Samuel 16 and verse 20. Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, give counsel among you what we shall do. And Ahithophel said, and I want you to notice, we're not looking at Ahithophel, the godly man right now. We're not looking at Ahithophel, the man who walks with God, the man who serves God, the man who knows the Bible. We're looking at bitter Ahithophel right now. We're looking at angry Ahithophel right now. We're looking at Ahithophel who's been overcome of evil and has become corrupt. And I want you to notice the counsel that Ahithophel gives, verse 21, and Ahithophel said unto Absalom, go in unto thy father's concubines. And without getting into too many details, he's basically advising Absalom to go rape the wives of his father, which he hath left to keep the house. And all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred at thy father. And shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. And please understand this, Absalom was also a young man who was bitter and angry. And it's interesting to me how bitter people will find other bitter people. And angry people will find other angry people. The Bible says that if you walk with wise men, you'll be wise. A proverb says that birds of a feather flock together. And here we have a very angry, bitter man giving counsel to a very angry, bitter man and counseling him to do something extremely wicked. And then he not only counseled him to do it, but he counseled him to do it in a public fashion. Notice verse 22. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house. And Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. And this counsel was given to him by Ahithophel. And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired at the oracles of God. And here's all I'm telling you. Here's all I'm telling you. You say, I have a really good story, Pastor. If you heard my story, if you heard what they did to me, if you heard what they did and how I was loyal and how I was strong and how I was faithful, and then they stabbed me in the back, and then they lied about me, and then they took advantage. And here's the thing. If Ahithophel told us his story, we'd all side with him. But yet, when he was overcome with evil, it corrupted him. And here's all I'm telling you. When you allow bitterness to enter into your heart, you will become a very ugly person, a very angry person, a very immoral, unethical person. And here's what I know. Go to Hebrews chapter 12. If you go towards the end of the book of Revelation, towards the end of the New Testament, and you head backwards, you've got Revelation, Jude, 1 and 2, 3 John, 2 and 1 Peter, James, Hebrews. Here's what I'm telling you. Bitterness is an amazing thing. It will take someone who at one time loved the Lord, who at one time prayed, who at one time knew the Bible, who at one time, and it will make them corrupt. It will defile them. It will turn them into an angry, evil person. It will turn them into an unethical person. It will turn them into an immoral person. It will turn them into the type of person that will look you in the face and lie. Because Ahithophel was a loyal man, and he became disloyal when he was overcome of evil. And his story was really good. Hebrews chapter 12, and here's what I'm trying to tell you, is that no matter how good your story is when you are overcome of evil, it will hurt you. It will corrupt you. Hebrews 12, look at verse 15. Notice what the Bible says. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 15 says this, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God. Notice what he says. Lest any root of bitterness spring up, springing up trouble you. I want you to notice that the Bible says that the problem with bitterness, the problem with bitterness, and it's different than a lot of other emotions, is that it takes these deep roots inside of you. He says, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, notice what he says, and thereby, the word thereby means by that, by that means in connection to, because of that root of bitterness, notice what he says, Ahithophel, many be defiled. And because of Ahithophel, many were defiled. And women were taken advantage of. And people were let astray. Because no matter how valid your reason is, and no matter how good your story is, and I'm pleased, I'm pleased, I hope you understand, I'm not minimizing what you've gone through, and I'm not minimizing your story. I'm not minimizing Ahithophel's story, but at the end of the day, when we are overcome of evil, it will corrupt you. It will change you. It will make you unethical. It will make you immoral. It'll make you an evil person, even if you were, at some point, a person who loved the Lord, and loved God's word. He replaced her in Hebrews. We're gonna come back to it. Go to 2 Samuel 17. Let me give you the third characteristic. You say, Pastor, why do I not want to be overcome of evil? I have a pretty good story. If you heard my story, you'd agree with it. And here's the thing, I probably would. If you heard my story and I gave you the details, you'd be angry for me. And here's the thing, I probably would. But the reason you don't want to become overcome of evil is because no matter how good your story is, Ahithophel, it will corrupt you. It'll change you. It'll make you a traitor. It'll make you evil. The second reason you don't want to be overcome of evil is because it will consume you. Are you there in 2 Samuel 17? Look at verse 1. Here we see again Ahithophel continuing his counsel to Absalom. Absalom asked for counsel and he gave counsel. He said, well, here's what you should do. Go rape all of your father's wives and do it in a public format so that people will just know how much you and me hate your father. Then in 2 Samuel 17, verse 1, he gives counsel again. Notice what he said. He says, moreover, Ahithophel said unto Absalom, I want you to notice how personal this is for Ahithophel. Because David has fled the city. And David is asking, he's asking, what do you guys think we should do? What should we do now? We've taken Jerusalem, but my father has fled. What do you think we should do? And Absalom gave this advice. He says this, let me, very personal, now choose out 12,000 men and I, very personal, will arise and pursue after David this night and I, very personal, will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed and will, and he says will, but the idea is I will, make him afraid and all the people that are with him shall flee. And I, very personal, will smite the king. Very personal. Notice what he says. I will smite the king only. He says, I only want to hurt one guy and I only want to kill one guy and it's David. Notice verse 3, and I will bring back all the people unto thee. He says, Absalom, let me go kill David. I'll bring everyone back unto thee except for David, of course. The man whom thou seekest is as if all return, so all the people shall be in peace and the saying, pleased Absalom well and all the elders of Israel. Go to Galatians chapter 5 if you would. Galatians chapter 5, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st Corinthians, Galatians. I ask you to keep your place in the Hebrews and I'd like you to do that. We're going to go back to it, but I'd also like you to keep your place there in Galatians. Maybe put your finger there or a ribbon or something because we're going to come back to that area. And here's what I want you to understand. You say, well, why should I not be overcome with evil? Why should I not be angry and bitter and upset pastor if you heard my story? You'd understand. The reason you don't want to be overcome with evil is because it will corrupt you. Evil will corrupt you. It'll change you. It'll defile you. It'll turn you into someone that's angry and ugly and immoral and unethical. It'll move you to lie. It'll move you to be a traitor. It'll move you to be deceptive. It'll move you to do things that you otherwise would not have done. But the second reason you don't want to be overcome with evil is because evil will consume you. It will become your identity. It will become who you are and what you are about. Galatians 5 and verse 15, are you there? Doesn't it sound like I hit the phone? Galatians 5, 15. But if you buy and devour one another, but if you buy and devour one another, that's what he says, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. You know what bitterness does? Consumes you. It becomes all you can see. It becomes all you can focus on. It becomes all you can think about. It consumes you and it corrupts you. Go back to Second Samuel 17. Let me give you the third characteristic. In order to understand the characteristic, we're going to have to walk through some of the stories, so we'll do that quickly. Second Samuel 17, verse 5. Then it said Absalom called out Hushai, the Archite. And Absalom basically says, I think Absalom at that point, when Hittiphel was saying that and saying, let me go and I will kill him and I will smite him, I think Absalom might have realized, man, this guy's a little too into this. Maybe his counsel is not completely pure and maybe he doesn't just have my best interest in mine. So Absalom decides, let me get a second opinion. Verse 5. Then said Absalom called out Hushai, the Archite. Now we don't have time to develop this, but if you remember when David was fleeing the city in Second Samuel 15, 32 and 34, David actually commissioned Hushai to stay there to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. So it's kind of David's spy amongst the conspirators. Notice what it says. He says, call now Hushai the Archite also and let us hear likewise what he, Hushai, sayeth. So notice what Hushai gives as advice. Verse 6. And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner. What shall we do after his saying? If not, speak thou. So Absalom says, here's what Ahithophel says we should do. Ahithophel says, we should waste no time. Ahithophel says, I should give him some men and he will go out and he'll pursue David, he'll kill David and only David and he'll bring everyone back. What do you think? So Hushai answers. Verse 8. For said Hushai, I'm sorry, verse 7. And Hushai said unto Absalom, the counsel of Ahithophel had given is not good at this time. Now remember, Ahithophel, asking Ahithophel is like asking the word of God. Okay, the counsel that Ahithophel gave was the right counsel for that goal. Obviously it was evil but it would have been successful. Notice verse 8. For said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men that they be mighty men and they be chafed in their minds as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field and thy father is a man of war and I will not lodge with the people. Notice verse 9. Behold, he is hid now in some pit or in some other place and it will come to pass when some of them be overthrown at the first that whosoever heareth it will say, there's a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom and he also that is valiant whose heart is as the heart of a lion shall utterly melt for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man and they which be with him are valiant men. Therefore I counsel, so notice the advice that Ahithophel gives, he says that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee. I think you should gather the entire military. Here's what Hushai is doing. He's giving advice that's going to take some time. He's giving David some time to be able to catch his breath and figure out what to do. From Dan even to Beersheba as the sand that is by the sea for multitude and that thou go to battle in thine own person. He says don't stand on Ahithophel. I think you should go battle David and he's telling him you need to put yourself in danger. You go seek for David yourself. Verse 12, so shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found and we will light upon him and I just want you to notice the way that it's worded here, it's very impersonal. He says we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found and notice what he says and we where Ahithophel is like I, me. He says and we will light upon him as a dew falleth on the ground and of him and all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one and again very impersonal. He's saying we're not just going to kill David, we're going to kill all of them. I think we should go to battle. We should get everybody together and we should go fight this battle. Verse 13 moreover if he begotten into a city then shall all Israel bring ropes to the city and we will draw it into the river until there be not one small stone found there and Absalom and all the men of Israel said the council of Hushai, the arkite is better than the council of Ahithophel and if you remember this was the prayer that David gave when he heard that Ahithophel was with the conspiracies. He prayed that God would make the council of Ahithophel foolishness. Notice for the Lord appointed to defeat the good council of Ahithophel to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. Then said Hushai unto Zadok and we're not going to read all this but he sent some guys off to tell David what the plan is and what's going to happen and to tell him to find somewhere safe to be. Notice verse 23 and when Ahithophel saw that his council was not followed he saddled his ass and arose and got him home 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. And Ahithophel knew when they decided to go with Hushai's plan, Ahithophel knew this is going to fail. David's going to win. You can't go to battle with David. You can't go to battle with David's mighty men. We need to come up to him when he is running, when he is unsuspecting. We need to kill him and him only. Ahithophel understood this was not going to go well for Absalom. And by the way, it didn't go well for Absalom. In this battle David wins and David's men win and Joab wins. But I want you to notice how Ahithophel ends his life. He ends his life by ending his life. He hanged himself and he died and he was buried. Go to Matthew 26. Matthew chapter 26, first book in the New Testament. And here's what I'm telling you. When you allow evil to overcome you, when you allow bitterness to take root inside, when you allow bitterness to prevail against you and to beat you, even if your story is good, even if we all heard your story and we'd say, yeah, I get it. Man, that was bad. I can't believe David did that. Even if your story is good, if you allow evil to overcome you, here's what I'm telling you. No matter how good your story is, it'll corrupt you. It'll consume you. And it'll eventually crush you. It will destroy you. Because bitter people decide to fight. Bitter people decide to go to war. Bitter people do not decide to turn the other cheek, do not decide to suffer themselves to be defrauded, do not decide to bury the hatchet, but evil people, bitter people decide to fight. And here's what the Bible says about those who choose to take up a sword and fight. Matthew 26, verse 52, then said Jesus unto him, put up again thy sword into his place. Here we had Peter, the hero of our Sunday night series. We'll look at this story at some point in that series. Put up thy sword into his place. Why? Here's why. Because Peter takes out a sword. He's going to fight against all the Roman soldiers that are trying to take Jesus to be crucified. And Jesus says, hey, put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. And here's what he's saying. When you decide to fight, that's how you'll die in a fight. Because bitterness and evil will corrupt you, it'll consume you, and it will eventually crush you. Go to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, I asked you to keep your place there if you can make your way back. Hebrews 12, notice what the Bible says. Hebrews 12 and verse 15. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 15. And see, we tell our stories and we say, yeah, but they did this and they did that and they was unprovoked and I was nice to them and I tried to do a favor for them and I even put myself out and did this and did that and then they turned on me. I'm justified. It's valid. If you heard my story, you'd side with me. And here's the thing, we might, but it'll still corrupt you and it'll still consume you and it will still crush you because this is what bitterness does. Hebrews 12 and verse 15, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up. Don't miss these words. Trouble. Trouble. And here's what we think. We think, well, when the root of bitterness springs up, it'll trouble him, it'll trouble her, it'll trouble them and what they did. But the Bible says, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you. Because bitterness hurts you. Bitterness crushes you. I hit the fowl. But David hurt me. Yeah, but you're the one that ended up dead. You're the one that ended up committing suicide. You're the one that ended up hanging yourself. Somebody said this, bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person drops over dead. The quote in the bulletin says, bitterness is how we punish ourselves for other people's sins. And here's what I'm telling you is I'm not minimizing the fact that others have sinned against you. I'm not minimizing the fact that you're not justified. I'm not minimizing the fact that other people have hurt you and done wrong to you. But when you allow bitterness, when you allow yourself to be overcome of evil, it'll consume you, it'll corrupt you, and it'll eventually crush you. You say, okay, so what do I do? Go to Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four. If you kept your place there in Galatians, right after Galatians you have Ephesians, you say, okay, here's the thing. I'm a hit the phone. I've been hurt. I'm a hit the phone. I've given, I've been loyal, I've been faithful, I've given counsel, I've served. I haven't been perfect, but I've done everything I was supposed to do and then I was betrayed. Then I was lied to. Then I had someone stab me in the back. Then there was a traitor. Then I was hurt. I'm a hit the phone, but I get it. I don't want to end up like a hit the phone. So what do I do? Because here's the thing, you either overcome evil or you are overcome of evil. So I began today by giving you three characteristics on what it looks like to be overcome of evil because you need to diagnose yourself and ask yourself, is this me? Am I a hit the phone? And if you are, very quickly this morning, I want to give you three steps to overcome evil. How do you do it? Ephesians four verse 31. Notice what the Bible says. It says, let all bitterness, let all bitterness, whether it's justified or unjustified. Let all bitterness and while you're at it, wrath and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking. Basically everything that makes you an angry and ugly person. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking. Here's what he says. Say, how do I overcome evil? Here's how you do it. Step one, be put away from you with all malice. Here's step one. You say, how do I overcome evil? How do I overcome evil so that I'm not overcome of evil? Step number one, you must put it away. You must quit agonizing over it. Because remember, what does bitterness do? It consumes you. I, I, I, me, me, me. It's all I can focus on. It's all I can think about. It's all that I, that it just consumes you. So Paul says, look, you need to put it away. You need to put all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, put it away. That phrase put away, you don't have to turn to these passages. I'll just read them for you. But that phrase put away, it means to disassociate yourself from. It's used in First Corinthians 5, 13 when it talks about throwing someone out of church. It says, but them that are without God judges, therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. And if you study that context, it means don't fellowship with them, don't spend time with them, don't go with them, don't be with them. It means to disassociate yourself. That same phrase is also used as a synonym for divorce. Luke 16, 18 says, whosoever put away his wife and marrieth another comitteth adultery, and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband comitteth adultery. That phrase put away means to disassociate. It's the same idea as divorcing yourself. And here's what Paul is saying. He says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away. It's like you put away, like we tell our kids, grab your toys and put them away. I don't want to see them. He says, you need to take that focus that consumes you and just on purpose put it away. Stop focusing on it. Stop thinking about it. The Bible says, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God, through pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. You say, I'm a hit the fella. I've been hurt. What do I do? You capture that focus, you capture that thought and you put it away. In these sermons, I've been giving you some stories, some military stories. There's a story that I heard when I was a teenager and it's one of those stories that I heard it and it just kind of stuck with me and I remember it well. I'll be honest with you, I did some research and I tried to verify if I could find the story documented anywhere and I couldn't find it. I heard the story but I couldn't find it documented. So I'm not sure if there's a true story or sometimes these historical figures, they kind of become legends and these myths of Christ. I'm not sure if this is a true story or a parable but it's a good story nonetheless but it's a story of General Robert E. Lee after the Civil War. We're told that he was traveling on horseback through the countryside and as he was riding down a road, a woman comes out of one of the houses and begins to yell at him, curse at him and curse him out and say all sorts of mean things to him. He turns around and he says, ma'am, have I offended you? She basically begins to yell at him and say, you know, you should have never surrendered. You should have never given up the war. You should have continued to fight. At this point, the war had been over for years and he says, ma'am, I did the best I could and the situation I had, I had no other choice. The best thing that I could do for the men that I was leading was to surrender. There was nothing else I could do and he says the war has been over for years. You should really let it go. And she says, you see this tree here? It points to this big tree in the front yard. It says, when the Union Army came through here, my husband and my sons, they fought against them and when they were captured by the Union Army, they hung them on this tree. She said, I watched them die. My husband and my two sons were hung on this tree. She said, when the Union Army went by and left, I brought them down and I buried them. She said, every time I come out here, I see this tree and all I see is my husband and my sons hanging on this tree and I'm so angry and I'm so mad and I'm so upset and we should continue to fight. And Robert E. Lee and this story, which I don't know if it's true, it might just be legend, is accounted at looking at this lady and saying, ma'am, it's probably time you cut down the tree. And here's all I'm telling you. Here's all I'm telling you. Your story may be true and your story may be valid and you told us your story, we would all agree with you, we would all be with you. But if you don't overcome evil, if you don't overcome evil, it will overcome you and it will consume you and it will corrupt you and it will eventually crush you and everyone you love. So you need to on purpose maybe cut some trees down and quit focusing on some things and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ because step number one to overcome evil is you must put it away. You must quit agonizing over it. But there's a second step. Step two, are you there in Ephesians 4? Look at verse 32. He says, and be kind and be kind one to another. Tender hearted. He says, you got to put it away. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking and all malice, put it away on purpose. Decide, I'm going to cut that tree down. I'm going to quit focusing on if there's any good thing to think about, I'll think on that. You must disassociate yourself and you must divorce yourself from it. Step two, you must be kind and tender hearted. Now I don't want to spend too much time on this. We've already talked about it, but this is why Paul would say, therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink, for in so doing thou shall heap coals of fire on his head. This is why Jesus said, but I say unto you, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. Why? Because if you're going to overcome evil, not only must you put it away and quit agonizing over it, but you must be kind and tender hearted. But they don't deserve it. Yeah, but if you drink up the cup of bitterness, it's like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. Notice the third step. Ephesians 4, 32, and be kind one to another, tender hearted. Then he says this, forgiving one another, forgiving one another. Now I'm not going to pretend like I'm going to give you some sort of theological dissertation on forgiveness because there's a lot that goes into forgiveness and I don't have time to cover it all. But I do want you to notice that there's one aspect of forgiveness that is focused on in this verse and I just want you to notice it. He says forgiving one another and then he says even as or in the same way, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. And I understand there's a lot that goes into forgiveness and when someone truly is repentant and they've asked for forgiveness and how all that works and I'm not delving into that, but I'm telling you this, the Bible does teach us that when we give forgiveness, we should be willing to give forgiveness based on how we have been forgiven. Even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you, go to Matthew chapter 18. I want you to just notice this parable that Jesus gave him. We'll be done. Matthew chapter 18, first book in the New Testament. And like I said, there's lots that can be said about forgiveness and I'm not focusing on that and I'm not preaching you a sermon on forgiveness, but I do want to focus in on this one idea that the Bible teaches that we should forgive as we have been forgiven. Matthew chapter 18 and verse 23. The context is Peter asked Jesus a question about forgiveness and how many times did I actually forgive my brother? And Jesus answers with this parable. He says, therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which showed him ten thousand talents. But for as much as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshiped him saying, Lord have patience with me and I will pay the all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him a hundred pence. And he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying, pay me that thou always. And his fellow servant, does this sound familiar? Fell down at his feet and besought him saying, have patience with me and I will pay the all. Here's the difference though. And here's how you and I are when we refuse forgiveness when we have been forgiven. Verse 30, and he would not. But went and cast him into prison until he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servant saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after that he had called them, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirous me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on my fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was robbed and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due to him. So like wise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses. And here's all I'm telling you when it comes to forgiveness and forgiveness is a big deal and it's big and I'm not dealing with all of it, but I'm telling you this, we should be willing to forgive because we've been forgiven. We should be willing to forgive even as God for Christ's sake had forgiven you. And you say, well, what if I don't? If you don't overcome evil, it will overcome you. And you'll end up like a hit the phone, corrupt, consumed and crushed by it. Because it hurts you. It threatens you. It abolishes you. So here's the question I have for you. What will you do with evil? But pastor, if you heard my story, I know if you understood the context in which it all went down and how I asked them and they said yes, and then they turned their back, and if you understood all that, I get it. Look, I get it. But at the end of the day, it'll crush you. It'll hurt you. It'll consume you and it'll corrupt you. So Paul says, put it away. Cut down that tree. Quit focusing on it. Be kind. If thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. And be willing to forgive even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for these stories you've given us, Lord, and I realize it. There are some heartbreaking stories and there are some people that if there was a reason to be bitter, they would have a legitimate reason. I get it. But at the end of the day, it hurts us. It corrupts us. It consumes us. It crushes us. So Lord, I pray you'd help us to learn to not be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good. Lord, wherever this story fell, however it connects, whatever the application is, maybe we need to cut some trees down, quit focusing on some things. Maybe we need to focus on being kind and tender-hearted. Maybe we need to forgive even when they don't deserve it and maybe not even ask for it, but at least be willing to forgive as we have been forgiven. And Lord, I pray that you would help all of us to overcome evil with good. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. I want to encourage you to be back tonight.