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All right, so keep your place there in second Samuel chapter 24 So we're going to look at this story and you're also going to need to go to first chronicles chapter 21 So we're going to be looking at this story from the perspective of first chronicles 21 Which also tells this same story in the Bible? So first chronicles and second Samuel line up with a lot of the same stories in the Bible So we're going to look at this. It's kind of like the Gospels, you know, we get different perspectives From different parts in the Bible and before we get into the story Let me just say this when it comes to people, you know We're King James only in this church and when it comes to people who have you know ideas that the King James Bible Contradicts itself in certain places So I in order to hit all those places in the Bible and explain those I would have to have a sermon series That was several sermons long So what I've been doing over the last year is whenever we get to a story that has one of these supposed Contradictions in the Bible. I just kind of explain it as part of the sermon So there's three of them in this story that we're going to explain tonight. So tonight's going to be kind of a Bible study along with This train wreck that we're going to look at in the Bible So first I need you to turn to James chapter 1 in verse number 13 so we might have to put your thinking caps on just a little bit tonight and Let's just learn some of the Bible together turn to James chapter 1 and look at verse number 13 so I want to just introduce this idea for you before we get into the story in the Bible But the Bible says in James chapter 1 in verse number 13 It says let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil evil Neither tempteth he any man So the Bible says that if you are tempted to sin if you are being you know tempted in your life to sin Which you're going to be many times that that temptation to sin does not come from God Okay. Now look at second Samuel chapter 24 and verse number one Look at second Samuel 24 in verse number one. I want everyone to get there keep your place You're gonna need to keep your place in second Samuel 24 and first Chronicles 21 for some Bible Just some we're gonna be going back constantly between those two chapters Okay Look at second Samuel knowing what we just read that God doesn't tempt you with evil Look at second Samuel chapter 24 in verse number one and the Bible says and again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them to say go number Israel and Judah so here it says that you know God moved David against Israel to say go number Israel and Judah So we're gonna get into this but going for David to go and number Israel and Judah was a sin Okay, and I'm gonna explain that to you, but the Bible seems to say here that God, you know caused David to sin Okay, so if we had James chapter 1 and verse number 13 and then we read 2nd Samuel chapter 2024 verse number 1 we might be a little confused All right, but thank God that we have 1st Chronicles 21 and verse number 1 to explain things for us So go there now This is the contradiction people who are and and every single time there's a contradiction quote unquote in the Bible It's people that don't most people that aren't saved They're surface reading the Bible and they're missing the deeper things of God, okay, so I'm gonna show that to you now So look at 1st Chronicles chapter 21, so we know that God doesn't tempt you with sin. Okay, it's not God that does that All right, 2nd Samuel chapter 24 So just forget, you know that for a minute and let's look at 2nd Samuel 24 and let's just be let's pretend We're unsaved surface reading the Bible here. Okay, 2nd Samuel 24 verse 1 says it I mean, I'll read it for you while you're turning to 1st Chronicles 21 And again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel So first of all, the Bible says God's angry with Israel and it doesn't just say he's angry with Israel It says and again, he's angry with Israel and you're like about what? Well about have you ever read the Old Testament about the same thing? They always are doing they're always just leaving him They're always in going worshiping other gods They're marrying people from these other tribes and they're just forgetting about the Lord is what they're doing And again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. So look God's angry with Israel We know that he's not happy with them in 2nd Samuel chapter 24 Look at 1st Chronicles chapter 21 and the Bible says see now we get the clarification about what happened Okay with David the Bible says and Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel. So look numbering Israel's the sin. All right, so who provoked David to do it? It was Satan Okay, so you're saying well what well it says in 2nd Samuel chapter 24 that that God Moved David against them. Well, here's how this works. Okay. God does not provoke people to sin God does not tempt people to sin turn to Job chapter 1 a very similar concept happened with Job Okay, look the Lord if Satan does anything it is because the Lord allows it Satan operates in this world Freely only as God allows it to happen Okay, so everything that Satan does as he goes to and fro To the earth is is God allowing that to happen God allows Satan to operate on this earth and It's not always going to be that way Those days will come to an end. All right, look at Job chapter 1 in verse number 12 but the Bible says this in in Job chapter 1 verse 12 and the Lord said unto Satan behold all that he hath is in thy Power so Joe or Satan and God are having this argument and you know, God is like have you considered my servant job? I Mean he's just this super great Christian and he's serving the Lord He loves the Lord his family, you know is he's raising his family, right? He's doing all these things right and Satan's like it's only because he has he's so successful It's only because you've just given him everything It's only because you've just made him super successful and God's like, okay Well, it's God allows Satan to test this theory and God is going to show Satan that job is truly faithful and God says all that he hath is in thy power God gives them that power all that he hath all his stuff all that He owns only upon himself put forth put not forth thine hand So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and of course Dave or job loses everything But it was only because and who took it away from job Satan did Right Satan took all these things away from job but only as far as God allowed it So anything that Satan does Satan is well, however, he is able to operate on this earth is is through God allowing it to happen Period okay. So look it was Satan that moved that basically it was Satan that tempted David to number Israel But second Samuel 24 is showing us that just God was angry with Israel and he removed that protection from David and he just allowed it to happen It's that simple. Look, there's a reason it says and again the anger of the Lord was kindled Against Israel God was angry at Israel again Proving once again that you know of God's angry at a nation, you know, you're just gonna have you're gonna have leaders that do stupid things Once again proven right here even David right even a godly leader like David, okay So there's contradiction number one cleared up. All right So David numbers the people okay David look at second Samuel 24 look at verse number three David goes to number the people Second Samuel 24 look at verse number three the Bible says and Joab said unto the king now the Lord God add unto the people how many so ever they be and Hundredfold in the eyes of my lord the king may see it but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab and Against the captains of the host and Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king to number the people Of Israel so Joab he tries to stop him right Joab tries to stop David from committing this sin now Look when Joab's trying to like correct you morally you got problems All right, I mean Joab is not the most moral person in the Bible All right, Joab is known for just doing what he wants to do at the time, but even Joab knows He's like, whoa Don't do it. What are you doing? Don't do this So it was wrong for David to do it and even it was so wrong that even Joab Knew that it was wrong turn to Numbers chapter 1 So the question is this why was it wrong he's saying he's just he's just taking a census Okay, why was it wrong? Look at Numbers chapter 1? Numbers chapter 1 Numbers chapter 1 in verse number 1 we see another census happen in the Bible Okay, so like I mean census is they happen in the Bible We're gonna look at one right here, but there's a difference between this census and the one that David is doing Okay, look at Numbers chapter 1 in verse number 1 the Bible says and the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the Tabernacle of the congregation on the first day of the second month in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt saying take ye the sum of all the congregation Who said that? Who said it? the Lord the Lord commanded this census From 20 years old and upward that are able to go forth to war in Israel though and thou and Aaron shall number their armies And wish you shall be man of every tribe and everyone the head of his house of his father Look, so God look God numbers the people God took this census God commanded it to happen It's his job and he commanded it to happen Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 7. So first of all The Lord did not command David's census The Lord did not command David to go do this David did it on his own All right Look at Deuteronomy chapter 7 and let's look at some other reasons that David or that David was sinning by taking the census Look at Deuteronomy 7 in verse number 7 The second point is this the Lord the Lord does not need numbers the Lord doesn't need 800,000 men That carry the sword look at Deuteronomy 7 verse 7 The Bible says the Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people For ye were that for you were the fewest of all people Look at Judges chapter 7 as a matter of fact Sometimes I'm just I'm going to show you next sometimes God doesn't want the numbers God doesn't want huge numbers and I'll show you why look at Judges chapter 7 Judges chapter 7 in verse number 2. This is Gideon. He's going to war against the Midianites and God is preparing him to go to war and he's got some 30 plus thousand men ready to go to war look at verse number 2 and the Bible says in Judges chapter 7 in verse number 2 the War is said unto Gideon the people that are with thee are too many For me to give the Midianites into their hands why He's like that you have too many people with you Why Well, he explains it. He says lest Israel vaunt themselves against me saying my own hand hath saved me Why do you want numbers when you're going to war Because I mean who wants to go to war and lose Who wants to go to war against 15,000 men with a thousand people who wants to do that raise your hand? nobody But God said no, he's like if you go to war against the Midianites with 32,000 men you might say you won the battle So, what does he say now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people saying whoever is fearful and afraid Let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead and their return to the people 20 and 2,000 and the remain 10,000 so look we have 10,000 and 22,000 were afraid that means there was 32,000 to begin with. All right, so look First of all, most were afraid Most people are cowards Most of these people I mean these were warriors. These were men of war most men were afraid 22,000 of them two-thirds of them over two-thirds of them went home and God told them to go home So the brave are the few unfortunately Verse 4 and the Lord said unto Gideon the people are yet too many. He's like it's still too many people He's like two he's like I just lost two-thirds of my army. He's like too many people Bring them down into the water now We'll try them for thee there and it shall be that of whom I say unto thee this shall go with thee and the same Shall go with thee and of whomsoever I say unto thee this shall not go with thee the same shall not go so he brought down the people under the water and the Lord said unto Gideon everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue as A dog lappeth him shall thou set by himself Likewise everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink and the number of them that lapped putting their hand to their mouth were 300 men but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water and the Lord said unto Gideon By the 300 men that I laughed Why save you and deliver the Midianites into thine hand and let all the other people go every man unto his place Look, he didn't want the numbers It came with 32,000 people and God whittles it down to 300 men When you want to talk about the story of the 300 this is it right here This is the real story Okay, these 300 men go up against this army of thousands and God does it that way so he can say look You know what? I'm winning this for you. I don't want you saying Oh, yeah, but we had these 32,000 of the best warriors that ever lived and all this kind of stuff No, it's like I'm giving you 300 and I'm gonna win and you're gonna know it was me God didn't want the numbers because he knew that the men would be lifted up that they would be lifted up in the Bible But David back to David go back to 2nd Samuel verse 24 David does it anyway He does it anyway he goes and he numbers the people and Then God gives him three choices for punishment. Look at 2nd Samuel 24 and verse number 13 The Bible says so Gad Gad is the is the prophet is the the voice the messenger of God here for David much like Nathan was So Gad came to David and told him and said unto him shall seven years of famine come into thy land Or wilt thou flee three months before in thine enemies while they pursue thee or that there be three days pestilence in thy land Now advise and see whatsoever. I shall return to him that sent me So here's another contradiction turn to 1st Chronicles chapter 21 and let's read the story again from that perspective So we'll go over the contradiction real quickly and then we will go back to the story So in 2nd Samuel chapter 24 Gad comes to David and he says here's your three choices. You've got seven years of famine He's like you're gonna have what does he say three months you can flee before your people, you know much like he fled You know at Absalom and then he says or you know three days pestilence can come into the land So we got, you know seven years in second chronic in 2nd Samuel 24 You know three months and three days basically are the the two choices right look at 1st Chronicles chapter 21 Let's look at the story from that perspective. So Gad came to David and said unto him thus saith the Lord So, you know you notice that In first in 2nd Samuel 24 Gad came to David and told him and said unto him right but in 1st Chronicles 21 Thus saith the Lord Choose thee either three years famine or three months to be destroyed before thy foes While the sword of the enemies overtake thee or three days of the sword even the pestilence in the land So which is it? The question is which is it is it turned back to 2nd Samuel chapter 21? Which is it in 2nd 2nd Samuel 24, it says seven years But then in 1st Chronicles 21, it says three years, right? So I mean, which is it? That's a big difference Right. Look at 2nd Samuel 21 and verse number one the Bible says then there was famine in the days of David three years year after year and David inquired of the Lord and the Lord answered and said it is it is for Saul and for his bloody house because he slew The Gibeonites so three chapters back We see that they are already in this horrible famine and it's been three years now Guess what between 2nd Samuel chapter 21 and 2nd Samuel chapter 24 is about one year time So at the point of 2nd Samuel chapter 24, they are already four years into a famine You see So look the answer is it was both It was both, you know, the exact words of God were spoken in 1st Chronicles chapter 21 So basically to break down how the whole situation the conversation with David went basically Gad came to him and he said look He's like the Lord said either three years of famine or three months to be destroyed before thy foes while that the sword of thy enemies overtake thee or else three days of the sword of the Lord and then he simply makes the Statement somewhere in there that is recorded in 2nd Samuel 24 where he says shall seven years of famine come into the land He basically tells him he's like look the Lord says pick three years three months or three days pick and Then he says to them Gad says to him look you want seven years of famine in the land He's like that will be seven years of famine in the land Because at that point they'd already been through four years of famine To get to that punishment of seven years would be three more years. So look there's no contradiction But look, here's the funny thing. You want to find contradictions go and look at new Bible versions and how they fix these contradictions Right, I mean I'm not I don't want to get too deep into it because I want to get back to the story but basically the NIV smartly changes 2nd Samuel 24 to three years and then you know 1st Chronicles 21 says three years Right, but then in 2nd Samuel 21, it says three consecutive years So basically with the with the NIV you lose the fact that there has already been four years of famine going on You lose that Even though and here here's the thing even though the Bible says turn to the last part of 2nd Samuel chapter 24 What's the last? Thing that we see in 2nd Samuel chapter 24 in 2nd Samuel chapter 21 The Bible says the King James Bible never says that the famine ended They went they did this thing where they hung these these sons and you know They the Bible says that God wasn't treated but it never says that the famine ended Well, you say well, what even doesn't that mean? No, look what it says at the end of 2nd Samuel 24 the Lord was it treated for the land and The plague was stayed from Israel. Look he ended it he ended that plague He said that he ended that plague that David chose, right? So look It just gets all messed up when they try to fix what the Bible actually says, right? So back to the story I Mean the story is a mess at this point David has numbered Israel and he basically, you know I can't really blame him, but he chooses pestilence. Okay, he chooses the three days I mean, I you know, I can't really blame him. I probably picked. I mean, let's just get it over with He basically says, you know smartly, you know David think about this. David has been dealing with men his whole life He's been dealing with fighting evil men his whole life his own son Overthrough his kingdom and he's been he's been running from Saul hiding in the wilderness He's been running from his own son Absalom hiding in the wilderness and he's just like he says man He's like I just just don't let me fall into the hands of man He's like men are terrible. He's like men are terrible. Just don't they have no mercy He's like men will just kill you with no mercy and he's like just let me fall into the hands of the Lord He's like the Lord is merciful. I mean, I like his logic Especially when you're David, right? Because how does David I mean look the day did David always do the right things I mean what David made some big mess ups. I mean, this is a big mess up David makes him big about how does he respond? I Mean it comes back and they're like you've got 800,000 men of the sort which means like you are super powerful and he's like I'm in a lot of trouble right away He's like I've sinned against the Lord. Look. There's no excuse making with David He just he he just owns that thing right away every time I mean look he falls on his face, but he gets up and he owns it He owns it so he chooses pestilence It's the quickest punishment. You can't really blame him there. Look at verse 14 and David said unto Gad I'm in a great strait Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord for his mercies are great and let me not fall into the hand of man So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed and there died of the people from Dan even to bear Sheba 70,000 men so Gad tells David to Go to this threshing floor and Gad came to David and said to him go up rear and alter unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Arona the Jebusite and David, you know, he's to buy, you know, he sees the actual angel of the Lord up there Okay, he sees the angel of the Lord up there and he just he goes and he buys the threshing floor Look at verse 24 and the king sent unto Arana nay, but I will cuz the guy's like I'll just give it to you He's like no He's like I will buy it of thee at a price neither Will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord thy Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing? So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver underlying that in your Bible, too So first of all, let me there's some contradiction I mean names between Chronicles and Kings are different because people just had different names middle names different spellings of names They're just different names many times in the Bible, but that's that's normal. That's except those are not contradictions Okay, it's just different names for different could be a different translation of that name You know from the the writer of Chronicles to the writer of 2nd Samuel But in 1st Chronicles 21, this man's name is Ornan Ornan, okay So David basically goes to buy this threshing floor so he can make this sacrifice to entreat the Lord Okay at you know the at dad's advice. Okay, but look at the price Here's another contradiction in the Bible 50 shekels of silver is what he pays in 2nd Samuel chapter 24 But look what it says in 1st Chronicles chapter 21 and the David said unto Ornan This is the same man as Arana nay But I will verily buy it for the full price for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord nor burnt offerings Without cost so David gave to Ornan the price the price for gave to Ornan for the place 600 shekels of gold by weight So here we have these shekels and in 2nd Samuel chapter 24 He gives 50 shekels of silver now. Let me ask you a question. Is there a difference between the price of silver and gold? I Mean right now I think an ounce of silver is about 20 bucks and an ounce of gold is about close to 2,000 I think Last time I checked but look So he gives him 50 shekels of silver which would equal just to be a few hundred dollars But he buys it says the threshing floor and the oxen in 2nd Samuel chapter 24, but in 1st Chronicles 21, it says he buys the place For 600 shekels of gold, which is basically like four hundred thousand dollars all right, so basically the answer and the the The explanation of this is in 1st Chronicles chapter 22 like one chapter over look at verse number one Because this place this place Ornans threshing for Ornan's farm basically has a very special place in the history of the Bible and look at verse 1 of chapter 22 of 1st Chronicles the Bible says then David said this is the house of the Lord God and This is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. So look was the house of God built yet Was the temple built yet? No 1st Chronicles chapter 22 talks about how Solomon David's son will build the temple So what does David do? He can't build the temple so what does he do just sit around and David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel and he set masons to Hugh Rotstones to build the house of God so here David decides or David is told that this is going to be the place of the house of God and David nicely, you know, he's told you're not going to be the one you spill to I've seen you spill too much blood on this Earth God tells David he's like you're not going to be the one that builds the temple is that your son Solomon is gonna built it but look he bought all the land for the temple and This is the place where the temple was built in first Kings 7 and 8 the Bible talks about theirs It's not just the temple. There's many other buildings that were there I don't know how many tens of acres or a hundred acres or whatever this was I'm sure people have theories the Bible doesn't really tell us but look this is a large chunk of land here So in second chronic or second Samuel chapter 24, we see what he paid for the oxen and For the threshing floor itself in first Chronicles chapter 21. We see what he paid for the whole place What he bought the farm He bought the whole farm. Okay, so That's the contradictions in the Bible. So what is the applications here? What is the application? So there's two reasons two main reasons that David sinned for numbering the people and the first one is look lack of faith in God That's the first sin that David committed here. Now. Look you say is lack of faith a sin turn to Proverbs chapter 3 chapter 3 I'm glad you asked is Lack of faith like if you have lack of faith in your life. I mean, is that a literal sin? Let's look at that. Look at Proverbs chapter 3 in verse number 5 the Bible says in Proverbs 3 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Look trust means, you know have total faith, right? Now look if you trust in the Lord with all your heart, that means there's zero doubt there Right that mean that is the kind of faith that you need to have on Jesus to be saved Right, you have to have total faith. It can't be ninety nine point five percent Jesus point five percent The repenting of my sins Right. I mean it doesn't work that way. It's total faith in Jesus. But look Is anyone gonna have perfect faith where they trust God with everything in their life even once they're saved I mean look the Bible says that you should in Proverbs 3 5 trust in the Lord with all thine heart and Lean not unto so what's the opposite of that? Remember Proverbs is the opposites, right? It says do this, but don't be this guy It's always talking like that. It says trust in the Lord with all thine heart That's where you want to be and lean not unto thine own understanding. So leaning unto your own understanding Is the opposite of trusting in the Lord? Okay, so if I'm sitting here and I'm like, you know And look I've committed this sin a lot in my life because I like to like overanalyze things, right? I like to be I got off this big plan and this is the way it's gonna go and all this and like oops God's over here Right, so look I mean that is but look is it a sin is the question turn to Romans 14 What if the Bible doesn't tell us what if we don't know guess what the Bible tells us everything Look at Romans 14 in verse 23 Look the Bible answers everything and the reason for that we're gonna talk about that a little bit, too But look look at Romans 14 23 The Bible says he's talking about, you know Sacrificing eating things that have been sacrificed But look just look at the statement though and he that doubteth is damned if he eat because he eateth not of faith for this is the key one right here for whatsoever is Not of faith is what is Sin, so like look if something is not of faith Something in your life. You're trusting something other than God it is sin That is sin to not trust the Lord is sin So the answer is look David had lack of faith in God and yes that one thing alone is a sin Okay, but look it gets worse it gets worse because what David really messed up on and Where you will really get yourself into trouble is right here is when we take Action out of lack of faith David had a lack of faith He he wasn't in this place where he's like whatever if God has 300 men for me That'll be good enough to win any battle. That's not where David was David was leaning on his own Understanding he wanted to see how powerful he was and he took action on that lack of faith and that Is where God really Came down on him. Well, this is where we could get ourselves in trouble too Like even look think about Abraham and Sarah even getting impatient with God Go to Genesis 16 Even getting impatient with God in your life. You could go and you could make decisions That were just better decisions out of lack of faith and then you will be in serious trouble Look at Genesis chapter 1 in verse number 2 verse number 1. I'm sorry Genesis 16 in verse number 1 now Sarah Abraham's wife bear him no children and she had a handmaid an Egyptian whose name was Hagar and Sarah I said unto Abraham behold now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing I pray thee go on to my maid and it may be that I obtain children by her and Abraham harken to the voice of Sarah. So I mean this begins all kinds of mess In the Bible right here look they just they had they were impatient with God's plan for them and so they decide to take things into their own hands and She's like go into my handmaid and have children with I mean it just we don't have time to tell the whole story But look, it's another train wreck for sure All right. I mean the child doesn't turn out right Hagar is hated by Sarah. I mean because there's all this I mean just imagine I'm sure there's jealousy and all these things involved That's why you know, like the whole multiple wives thing guys. It just never worked out. Well at all All right at all. That's why God said don't multiply wives and nobody listened I mean who would want to be in that type of situation? But anyway, look all sorts of trouble follows from this So the Bible is rife with stories of men kings that are trusting on their own Understanding and not the Lord's and they just get themselves in and they're people Look David got his people into a lot of trouble here All right So the first thing that you need to do as application is you just need to you just need to take things before the Lord Just like hezekiah did when you got that, you know that that letter From the Assyrian army when he got that letter. The first thing they did was they laid that letter before the Lord Mean go to 2nd Chronicles chapter 16. Let's look at somebody who didn't do a good job on this 2nd Chronicles chapter 16 Asa let's look at King Asa Asa. Look Asa was a good King. I mean he was a faithful King He did well for his life, but at the end of his life He made a crucial mistake and he didn't trust the Lord and in verse number 12 It says an Asa in the 30 and 9th year of his reign was diseased in his feet until his disease was exceeding great Yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord But to the physicians look, I mean it doesn't even really say that the problem was the physicians If the problem was he he sought not the Lord So, I mean here he just he operated Outside of his faith and he just trusted something else and he just died he died. I Mean remember hezekiah he just he asked the Lord and God gave him another 15 years Asa just died Because he didn't trust the Lord Okay, so look you need to keep doing what you're supposed to be doing need to pray need to lay it before the Lord You need to let God work it out Let the Lord lead you but look when we start taking matters into our own hands is When we will get led in a non godly direction Then we will find trouble it's like when we try to force situations now the biggest Example that I can think of this is people that that try to force situations with like money or wealth in their life Where they're like, you know what? I just need to just I just need to make this kind of money and get to this point in my life I mean look it's good to go to work and we're commanded to do all those things and all this but look where people are Just like I if I just get to this point right here Then I can just serve the Lord with my life and then they just they just they forsake the Lord in this in this pursuit of this wealth that one day they're gonna use for the Lord or something and They they just leave God in the dust and it just never works out. Well They get backslidden and you just never hear from them again. Most of them But look the second reason the second reason so we see that lack of faith and Taking action on that lack of faith was David's major problem But the second one was this his second major problem was his pride Was David's pride now. I understand that sermon series could be Preached on pride. It's a huge topic in the Bible. But look, here's the thing turn to Romans chapter 8 Turn to Romans chapter 8 just think of the slap in the face to God that that was You know, he had this lack of faith in God God could do whatever he wanted and instead, you know, he acts on lack of faith But then you know, he also just wants to know how powerful he is He wants to know how powerful he is, but here's the thing here's the irony of that situation look at Romans 831 The Bible says what shall they we then say to these things if God be for us who can be against us? Look David He's got the heart that everybody wants. He's got the heart that ever he already had that heart. I mean God was for him God was for David, but he wanted to just show how powerful he was He wanted the glory for himself This is his pride this is David's pride and look it's It cost him here and it cost the whole nation So you say, you know, I get it, you know, I understand what you're saying, you know But as far as me you're like, you know, God doesn't really lead me, you know God doesn't you know, how am I supposed to have faith in God when God doesn't like speak to me audibly, right? So if God speaks to you audibly, first of all, you know, we need to talk Or talk to my wife if you're a lady and God is speaking to you audibly Okay, but let me ask you a question you ever thought about this because like look God is speaking to Gad here He's like the Lord said this The Lord spoke to Moses. He said the Lord spoke to Moses Moses go number the people. I mean it was pretty clear Right. So why doesn't God speak to us audibly? Have it I mean haven't you ever wondered that Why doesn't God speak to us audibly? I'm gonna explain it to you But first of all, if God spoke to you audibly, I mean, how often do you read the Bible? You're like, ah, you're trying to think of the last time that you read the Bible right now, aren't you? But the thing is if God spoke to you audibly, would you ever read the Bible? I Mean why would you if God just like has a personal phone call to me for like three hours a day Why would I ever read the Bible? Imagine how many individual conversations he'd have to have on a regular basis if He spoke to us audibly, right? But look, here's the thing. He gives us a Bible which is everything Look God doesn't have anything else to say to you other than this What more is there to say I mean I was joking when I said like hey, I wonder if the Bible tells us if that's a sin Of course, it does because it tells you everything The Bible tells you everything. Look he gives you a Bible which is everything. He's like, that's all I have to say to you He gives you a church. He gives you godly counsel. He gives you pastors. He gives you teachers It's like do you even use the tools that you've been given? I Mean what I Know the Bible, you know What you'll never find a book That people claim to know so much when they've never even read even a fraction of it It's crazy It's the craziest thing in the world because like nobody Nobody would ever do that with any other book because it would just be stupid It would just be dumb. Like if you've read like, you know, you're like, oh, you know David Copperfield This is such a good book who would walk into a room and start talking about like David caught you ever seen David Copperfield, it's like 800 pages long or something. Right? I mean who would ever read that just kidding But I mean the point is who would ever go into a room of people who have like read that book before and start talking About it like they've read it when they've never even read one page. Yeah, people do it with the Bible all the time They just claim to know all about it. You know it you go out soul winning People claim to know the Bible so well and they know nothing about it They're misquoting things all the doctrines wrong They're just regurgitating with some stupid false prophet has told them about the Bible. They've never opened it once most of these people So what? This is how you know what to do. You see what I'm saying, but you have the responsibility to Pray bring your you know your concerns before the Lord lay that letter before the Lord and read what he's told you Because he's given you look he's like he said everything already You know all these men from the Old Testament. They don't have they didn't have what you have They didn't have God's complete word turn to Psalm 25 You're like I have to read the whole Bible to understand like how to be well, you know, you should know what the Bible says That's your responsibility. Look at Psalm 25 in verse number 20 in verse number 5 The Bible says lead me in thy truth and teach me for thou art the God of my salvation On thee do I wait all the day Turn to 1st John chapter 4, but how will he lead me? How will he lead me? Look, I used to have this friend who just and we were both unsaved at the time But we were religious and all this and like this friend used to talk in a certain way That would just just irritate the living daylights out of me because he'd always say things like well I just feel like the Lord is leading me to you know, every decision that he made in his life He's like Lord just led me and you know to go it look He's just taking what decision he wanted to make and just saying the Lord led me, you know, like he's got this this Branch and he's like, oh Yeah You know, I mean look this is how the Lord leads you And look look at 1st John chapter 4 in verse number 6. I Mean the Bible says the Lord will literally lead you. Okay, and I'm gonna show you how right now This is how God leads you right here 1st John chapter 4 verse number 6 the Bible says we are of God he that knoweth God Heareth us he that is not of God heareth not us Hereby now, here's the key hereby we know hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error so look the Bible says that if you're saved and You're doing what you're supposed to be doing and you're reading the Bible. It's like God will show you the spirit of truth and the spirit of error So somebody comes and gives you like some you know advice that's not not godly advice The Bible says that you'll know it That you'll know that that's the spirit of error So look, I mean pray and wait for the spirit of truth To guide you is the bottom line. Look don't don't force Situations, you know on your own understanding. That's that's what that's what David did He was forcing a situation. He wanted what he wanted to rely on himself and it was a major sin Major sin, I Mean look did you notice that that Satan got him to do it? So what does Satan want people to rely on? Think about it So when Satan took control of David, what did he get him to rely on? He got him to rely on himself in this instance not on you know, his faith his saving faith But he got him to rely on himself for his strength for his power Instead of God, that's a nice step Look, that's a nice step if Satan can get you pulled away from God and just start trusting in your own understanding He's doing pretty well against you saved Christian. I Remember when we first moved to Sacramento and it was one of the first times I ever met Vladi I don't know if you guys know Vladi from Sacramento. All right, what Vladi built? Look as far as as far as as far as go-getters Hard-working get her done type of people. I've not met his equal. I Mean he built this pulpit He built the stage that I'm standing on in like five minutes. I Mean, it's like done But look, I remember I was soul winning with Vladi one of the first times I met him and he said something to just stuck with me and We're talking about soul winning and all this and look Vladi he's a he's a he's got a business He's very successful by most people standards He works super hard and you could look at a guy like Vladi and just be like, yeah He's successful because he works super hard, but he said to me one day We were talking about soul winning and just finding the time to make sure we go soul winning once a week And he's like, you know what? He's like it wasn't even a question for him because he's like I can't afford not to is what he said to me I mean Vladi says to me I can't afford not to go soul winning because look even if somebody who has accomplished this him as skillful as motivated as Him he knows he needs God working with him He knows that He's not gonna step out on his own understanding and just be like, I'm just gonna get this done myself No, he was smarter than that And he knows that he needs God working with him so we need to be doing what we're supposed to be doing We need to be out there doing we're supposed to be doing as hard as we can possibly do it But look we need God with us We need to not trust on our own understanding We just need to do because look guess what getting out there working hard and doing what you're supposed to be doing Like he does like a lot of you do like we like I do look It's what the Bible tells us we're supposed to be doing But don't let that make you just think that you're doing it all on your own Don't end up making this mistake that David, you know where you wanted to trust in his army and not the Lord Because look it's a huge mistake And that's why this train wreck is in the Bible to show us that you know When you act out of unbelief out of lack of faith It's a huge error and many people are gonna suffer from it. Not just you Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer