Thou Art the Man 2 Sam 12 — George Verwer

David’s Sin and the Temptation to Cover It Up

I want you to turn to 2 Samuel chapter 12. I hope that visitors will not try to judge O .M. on the basis of one night. After you read about 20 different pieces of literature, 10 books, and come to 5 conferences, then you can evaluate what it's all about.

I'm not going to read about the sin of David. I think we all know the story. He was up on the roof one day, instead of being out in the battle, and a very beautiful woman, Bathsheba, came out to bathe on the other roof, and he saw what he should not have seen, and he fell into immorality with this woman.

He called Uriah back because he thought that would cover up. When you sin, the temptation that the devil always brings is try to cover up. The trouble is, when you start covering up, you'll find that later you may have to cover up what you covered up, and it never ends.

You'll also find that sometimes it doesn't work, and it didn't work because Uriah the Hittite had no intention that night of even going to bed with his own wife. So he slept outside and went back to battle.

David was frustrated in how frustrating sin can be. And so he sent the word that it should be arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. And everything went off according to schedule, a fantastic plan.

And David thought he was free, and it seemed he was free, except there was a man named Nathan. Nathan, one of those men who refused to be a people pleaser, even a king pleaser, who refused to keep his mouth shut when it seemed so convenient to do so.

Nathan, a man fearless, a man who loved his king, but who loved his God even more. So we pick up in 2 Samuel 12, the scene where Nathan came to David. Oh, how very, very careful he went about his approach.

Notice the last word in chapter 11. And when the morning was past, David sent and fetched her, Bathsheba, to his house, and she became his wife and bear him a son. Seems so wonderful for David. Everything he dreamed about.

For him, that day, he had received everything he wanted, everything he dreamed about, everything he planned. His life had become dominated by this one lust. And God had been laid aside, and this one thing, this woman, became the one dominant thing in his life.

He had her. But there was one simple problem, and it says right there in God's Word. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. Oh, beloved, if you and I would only realize that in the long run, the only thing that really counts is to please God.

In the long run, at the end of your life, the one thing that's going to matter is whether you have pleased God or not. You know, God loved David. Because he loved David, the very first verse of chapter 12, God is in action.

Not Nathan. God, notice, and the Lord sent Nathan. And tonight, God is wanting to send you. God is looking for men, for women, who will be available, who will be accessible, who will be fearless, and will go wherever he wants them to go, even into the most difficult situation you could dream of, to rebuke a king.

Nathan Confronts David with a Parable

I wonder how many Englishmen have ever sat down and wrote a letter to their queen. I almost did, and she's not my queen. I wish she was, in some ways. I can just see some of you penning off a letter to the queen.

You probably wouldn't even know how to address her. There's a lot of Americans, unfortunately, who don't even know where she lives. There's some that are not even sure of her name. It's an embarrassing thing.

And so, the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him and said unto him, There were two men in one city, the one was rich and the other poor. See, he's telling a story. And King David just falls into this trap, as if he had never heard a story.

The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing, save one hue lamb, which he had brought and nourished up, and it grew up together with him and with his children. It did eat of his own meat and drink of his own cup and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

There came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

I'm sure in a minute you realize what he's talking about. But David didn't. He was probably too caught up with all that had happened in those days. David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die.

Down upon his own neck. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and because he had no pity. And I would say this must have been one of the most tense and one of the greatest moments ever recorded in the Bible.

David filled with anger, saying that this man should be judged for what he did with this lamb. Nathan standing before him. Then those powerful words come out in verse 7. Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.

And imagine the arrow that must have sunk deep, deep into the soul of David at that moment. He was never the same again. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel. I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul.

And I gave thee thy master's house and thy master's wives under thy bosom. Gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah. And if that had more to little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

Wherefore hast thou despised the commandments of the Lord, to do evil in his sight. Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. Thou hast taken his wife to be thy wife. And hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

David’s Immediate Repentance and God’s Mercy

Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house. Because thou hast despised me. And hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house.

And I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor. And he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die, O beloved. As many times as I've studied this passage of Scripture, it rings like a great echo into my soul.

We see this terrible sin of David. We see that God condemned it. Brought Nathan to rebuke him and to bring him to repentance. Not to throw him out of the kingdom. Not to knock him out. But to bring him to repentance.

And though there was a reaping described in verse 10 through 12, and often there is reaping, I've been reading about Solomon and how Solomon took the lives of some of the other sons of David. And all of you know the great story of Absalom.

So much David did. Yes, you as a believer can sin. Corinthian believers, many of them were in sin. But no believer can sin and get away with it. No believer can sin and get away with it. The Bible says, Whatsoever a man sows, he shall reap.

Praise be to God for the reality of instant repentance. And the fruit that comes from it. And this is really the subject that's on my heart tonight. This great theme of repentance for the believer. After all that God said, Nathan only uttered six words.

That's all he said. There was no groaning. There was no self-pity. There may have been involved. But there were just six words. I have sinned against the Lord. And young person, if you would learn those six words, it would revolutionize your life.

Sin against the Lord. You'd think there'd be so much more he'd have to do to get forgiveness. Surely he would need some counseling. Surely he would need to get some kind of long-term self-pity penance program.

Maybe there's someone here that would say, Oh my, didn't he visit a priest and, you know, didn't he have confession? No. Just those six words. I have sinned against the Lord. Well, then you'd think when Nathan would really come in with a lecture, this would be time for a lecture.

This would be time to really, you know, really jab. Yeah, yeah, you sinned, David. That's right. Boom, boom, boom. Oh, I've seen evangelicals do that. Elders that have done that. You've sinned. That's right.

We warned you. No, we don't see that here. We simply see these amazing words. Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. Immediately the mercy of God breaks through like a thunderclap.

The reason many Christians are defeated. The reason many Christians are not living a victorious life is they've never known this truth in the depth of their being. Instant forgiveness. Mercy. Why, to me, it seems that mercy is almost hovering over David, just waiting to fall the moment he'll say the word.

The moment he'll let his heart break. The moment he'll say, Lord, I'm guilty. I've sinned. A clap of God's mercy comes upon him. Your sin's gone. Beautiful. Oh, so many messages we've heard here at this conference.

So many challenges. We feel beaten down. We feel guilty. Maybe after what Peter has said tonight, further sinful areas have been revealed, maybe false motivation. Someone came to me this morning with a copy of my book, Pseudo-Discipleship.

Said he's read it through five times. It's just about finished him. He saw his false motives. He was ready to go home. But he broke through because he saw that God is a God of mercy. He's not here firstly tonight, our great God, to hit you or to make you feel guilty or to get you into the pit of self-pity or to get you to cry or to get you to just make a whole series of vows or promises.

He's here because He wants to drop a rain cloud of mercy on you if you'll just admit that you've sinned, if you'll just confess and repent. And He is going to be ready to do that every day this year. And the blessing that God wants to give you this year, every day, will be missed if you don't learn what it is to repent quickly, even quicker than David.

The Holy Spirit’s Conviction and the Necessity of Repentance

Because God now has given us someone greater than Nathan, His Holy Spirit. I'm sure I would be accused of typology like no one else if I dared say that Nathan was a type of the Holy Spirit, so I won't say that.

But certainly it is the work of the Holy Spirit today, since Pentecost, to convict of sin. And that's what Nathan did, and of course we know the Holy Spirit was present in that day as well. And you are going to discover, I believe, after being at this conference and feeding on the Word and hearing so many messages, that that Nathan within you is going to be stronger than ever before.

That's why OM is so dangerous. It would have been better in some ways that maybe it didn't come. Because from now on, more than when you came to this conference, you're going to feel the conviction. After all these messages, after getting into the Word of God, after these discussion groups, after all this fellowship, I believe you're going to sense the convicting hand of the Spirit more than ever in your life.

And if you don't understand this secret, it's not a secret, it can undo you and you'll just end up at the end of this year and you're more guilty, more beaten down than you ever were. Some of you have come to this conference and you've been hearing the messages and they've been going into your heart, but somehow because you haven't understood the reality of repentance, the reality of instant mercy, of God's love, His willingness to forgive you immediately, completely, you're wallowing, wallowing in guilt, wallowing in self-pity, wallowing in human effort to overcome your failures.

You're gritting your teeth and you're saying, I'm going to be a disciple at any cost. I'm going to learn to claim souls. I'm going to learn to do this and to do that. I'm going to become strong. I'm going to be a disciple.

I'm going to learn a victorious life. No, no. The way is to get on your knees, say, Lord God, I have sinned against thee. Mercy. I'm going to say something that's going to shock some of you, contradict something I've said a hundred times.

Here it is. I don't believe in a victorious life. I don't believe in a victorious life if what you mean by that is that we come to a level and then on it's, oh, you know, oh, victory, victory, victory, prayer life and soul winning and no more falling into the pit.

God is taking me on the abundant life. No, I have never met anyone up there who wasn't so loaded with pride he needed to get down on his knees immediately. I do believe in a victorious life if by that you mean fellowship with the living God, total cleansing from sin through the blood of Christ and a life of growth which includes knowing what to do when you sin.

And if your victorious life theory doesn't include knowing what to do when you sin, then you don't have anything. You've got a dichotomy. Do you know how to repent? Have you repented of anything today?

No? You mean you've gone all day and you haven't sinned against the Lord? Nothing against the Lord? Everything perfect? Everything just fine? Just like Jesus all day long? Is that the way you live today?

Oh, how I would love to get to know you. Certainly whoever marries you will be very fortunate. No need for repentance. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And if anything you've done today is short of that standard, then you've fallen.

I have hardly known a day in my Christian life when in one way or the other I didn't have to repent. It doesn't have to be a big fanfare. It wasn't very big here. Six words. And I'm sure you can do it without even pronouncing words verbally.

But I find that constantly during the day I have to say, Lord, you're right, I was wrong. Forgive me. An unkind word. What do you do about it? What do you do with unkind words? The Bible condemns them.

What do you do about it? Do you just pass them by? Oh, I didn't mean that, Lord. I didn't mean that, Lord. Is that what David said? Or do you say, Oh, well, Lord, you know, that's me. That's my temperament.

I'm glad you accept me that way, Lord. Is that what David said? His temperament was lust? Beloved, I believe that most or many of our problems come from the fact that we've never learned this secret. We've never learned to simply admit that we've sinned, that we've failed the Lord.

The Lord also hath put away the sin. Thou shalt not die. We don't see this only in the life of David. We see the same thing in the life of Isaiah. When Isaiah had his command or his commission, he had done no evil thing in particular.

Isaiah’s Conviction and Repentance

You all know that in Isaiah 6. He hadn't committed immorality. He hadn't done some horrible thing. And yet he prayed to God and when God revealed Himself, he fell down and said, Woe is me! A man of unclean lips.

He repented just like David. Many times, beloved, we need to repent. Not because we have done some specific, large, outward sin. But because with our mind and our heart, we have sinned. That doesn't mean temptation.

But it means that we've gone on from just being tempted to playing with that sin. Of course, the results were great. There was no great discussion. It just says in verse 14 here, Be it because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

There was no discussion because in verse 15 it says, Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child.

And David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth. The elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the earth, but he would not. Neither did he eat bread with them. It came to pass on the seventh day that the child died.

Now, I like this because it keeps the balance. Because some people think, well, if God is so merciful and so forgiving, man, there's no great problem if I do sin. So when a big temptation comes in, the devil tries to use that.

He thinks, well, boy, I really want to do this. And I know it's wrong, but I know God will forgive me. Look how he forgave David. I would never want to go through what David went through. Seven days of torment, watching his little baby.

That meant so much to him. Praying, fasting, weeping. Heavens were closed. And when the reaping effect of sin comes in, then all the prayer in all the earth will not move God. And God is a God of judgment.

Do not think that in the New Testament He does not judge sin. I had a young couple many years ago who came to repentance in one of my meetings. They were not married, but they had committed immorality.

And they repented and they came to Jesus Christ. But that didn't stop the birth of the baby and all the suffering they went through as a young couple. Sin is terrible. And one of the reasons I believe we need to keep such short accounts with God in the area of our mind, in the area of our heart, is because if you keep short accounts, you'll never get where David got.

Never! So the work of God will not be blasphemed because of something you did on your team. And it can happen. I know a Christian youth work that was wiped out of one city after another because workers sinned as David sinned and the whole work was brought into jeopardy and wiped out.

Wiped out! But if you and I will keep short accounts, that whenever we sin with mind, whenever we sin in the area of lack of discipline, we'll never get where David was. Never! Where should David have repented?

Keeping Short Accounts Before Sin Grows

Where? Up on the roof! If he had only repented on the roof, none of this would ever happen. God was ready to forgive him on the roof. Sure he had lusted, he had thought every vile thing in his heart, but God was waiting, wanting to forgive.

But no, he had only repented. You see, David went one step further. David went to a step that you should never have to go to as a believer. He had to be called forth and the sin had to be pointed out to him by a man.

He could have repented. God must have been tugging at his heart, of course. But he hardened his heart. He went further on and further on. And so God had to send a prophet, had to send Nathan to speak.

You know, I am oftentimes very slow to speak. And in this movement, you can get away with murder. You can break all the social rules. You can go downtown. You can slip out of here any night, slip down, see a porno film and be back here.

Nobody will know. Don't think it ever happens. I had a Bible school student come to me, broke down and wept. He said, I've been with prostitutes and homosexuals almost every weekend in my Bible school, one of the biggest schools in North America.

I want to tell you the hypocrisy in the double life can go very, very deep. And you could be sitting here tonight and know that you're worse off than David was right here. You come to repentance before you're caught.

Years ago, we had a man in O .M. who got in sin. The Lord convicted him, but his heart was hardened. He thought he could get away with it. But due to a whole series of events that I can never explain, I ended up right absolutely in the middle of that situation.

And he broke in two. No, he repented. He didn't really mean it and it was all a big mess. May God show us the danger of playing around with sin, the danger of allowing a sinful thought to go beyond the seconds in your mind, the need for keeping a short account when we look in Revelation.

We find this word repent again and again. In chapter 2, Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do thy first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent.

And through all these letters, and I haven't got time now, we find that word again and again. The letters to the churches. Repent, repent, repent. And Jesus once said, Except you repent, you shall likewise perish.

Now that seems to refer to the unconverted. We know the principle is universal. We know the same thing to the Laodicean church. What sin was God pointing out to the Laodicean church? Was it immorality or drunkenness?

It was the sin of a lukewarm heart. You say, what? You mean I've got to repent because my heart's lukewarm? Do you know what you're saying, Mr. Burward? I have to repent all day. Maybe so. The word says pray without ceasing.

I find it difficult to come on prayer to the Lord without some form of repentance, some form of breaking. I'm not interested in operation introspection. But you know, David could have used a little bit of introspection.

If he had and had applied what the Spirit told him, he would have never needed a visit of Nathan. There's nothing wrong with taking a look within if the Holy Spirit is pushing, if the Holy Spirit is speaking.

But like Mary McChain said, for every one look at self, ten looks at Jesus. Instant, immediate repentance. And so the Laodicean Christians were guilty of lukewarmness. They were also guilty of being increased with goods, thinking they had a need of nothing.

And yet as it says in verse 17, being wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. What did God say? 19, as many as I love I rebuke and chasing be zealous, therefore, and repent. Repent. Sometimes this repentance is purely a private thing.

Private sin, private repentance. Sin involving a few, confession involving a few. Public sin, public confession. Unless it's something that is going to break the rule of love, which is the rule and the roof and the foundation of all that we do.

Repentance in Marriage and Christian Community

Do you want to get through the OM year? Learn to repent. Are you having trouble in your marriage? Anybody? Not getting on so well in the home? Did you base your marriage on this secret of repenting immediately, instantly?

Oh, how hard that is in the marriage. I remember in Italy, under the intensive crusade in 63, my wife and I, some friction came. Some unkind words came flying out of my mouth. Some unkind words came out of her mouth.

She went into one room, I went into the other. I said, Lord, if she comes to me, faces up, I'll also admit that I was wrong. She was in the other room. She said, Lord, I don't know exactly how she said it, but the same principle, if he comes and apologizes for that terrible things he said, then I'll also admit it was partly my mistake and we'll work this thing out.

You could spend your whole life in those rooms. Is there anybody here tonight waiting for someone to come to you? There's been mutual sin, but you're waiting for them to come to you. You feel that they sinned more than you did.

So they should come to you now. You go to them. Maybe you'll bump noses in the hallway. I believe that if we don't learn what it is to repent, we've had it. Last week, last Thursday night, at this time, every leader, every coordinator in this movement, some of us flat on the floor, some with tears, were repenting and crying out to mercy for our sins against you.

And I believe that's the only reason God has spared us as leaders. We failed. We've not been the leaders we should have been. We've not been the pace setters. We've not set the pace in prayer and evangelism, in loving you, in giving all eyes for you.

And our only hope every year is repentance. A cloud of mercy came upon us. And that's why we're back this week. No other reason. You haven't got a group of clever leaders. You haven't got a group of dedicated leaders.

You haven't got a group of apostles. You've got a group of sinners leading this movement. We've learned by His mercy to repent, to seek His mercy daily, to repent when necessary daily, if necessary hourly, if necessary every minute.

Oh, so many times I've had to go to some brother and apologize and repent. May God open our hearts. May we learn to repent. May we learn to repent quick. The moment something happens, an unkind word on your team, why wait till tomorrow?

Why wait till you feel better? Why wait till you read the Bible? Why wait till the whole thing gets spread around the team and becomes an ugly situation? Repent on the spot. Say you're sorry. That's what's kept my wife and I together because we've never lasted in our separate rooms, never more than 10 minutes.

She's raised to me or I've raised to her and we just put our arms around each other and I said, look, I'm sorry. I don't know why you ever married me. I'm a miserable wretch. I'm a sinner. Forgive me, please.

And she cried and I cried and hallelujah, the blessing. How do you think leaders stay in this movement together with me? You ever tried to be on my team? When things get moving quick and the pressure's on, what do you think on some little angel?

Ooh, isn't it wonderful here? I get excited. I get frustrated. I get nervous. And when I'm in that situation and I open my mouth, it's always generally something completely stupid. If it is sensible in its content, it's probably ridiculous in its pitch.

And so the way we stay together and pressed on together is by repentance, by seeking one another's forgiveness, by going to a brother, phoning him. I've phoned people long distance. Oh, I'll never forget in 63, Jonathan called me from Paris.

I never have had sanctification on the telephone. It's my worst weakness because I'm always thinking of how much it costs and so I forget all the flowery words and just down to the point, get this phone call over as quick as possible.

I've cut people up in phone conversations on every continent. Maybe to some of you like me, you don't find the victorious life quite your cup of tea. You don't find holiness exactly your blend. You find yourself failing and falling and saying ridiculous things.

Like David, and I would ask of you, repent, repent, repent, repent, be it a hundred times a day. Unkind words, unkind action, so many things. The only way, repentance. Six words, I have sinned against the Lord.

Repentance, Honesty, and Sexual Temptation

Not against O .M. If you go out and break a social rule that you've agreed to keep, the big problem isn't with O .M. We're not that convinced about some of these rules ourselves. We're just trying to take the root of the least number of problems.

But if you have agreed to keep them, and you break them, you stand before the Lord because you're being dishonest. And I'm not concerned whether you kiss some first little girl on the corner. But I'm concerned about honesty, and I am concerned about her being deceived.

And a kiss can be one of the most deceitful of all things in life. Because when you kiss her, she may be much more sensitive than you. And you say, well, I love you. I believe you may be the one. And if she's an evangelical girl, you've just ignited a bonfire that will take months to put out.

You can go play somewhere else. She's hurt. You say, well, that's not the sin of David. No, it isn't, but the principle is the same. Dishonest. Dishonest. Deceit. Making a serious thing in the plan of God into a game.

The love game. It's not the love game. It's the lust game. It was never meant to be a game. Oh, I know. You can be on OM. Everyone thinks you're doing fine, and you hit the porno shop on the corner, and your eyes stick like you were reading a Bible verse.

Any young men had this problem lately? Oh, you know, you're not supposed to take a second look. There's something there. Something there. Oh, you wouldn't do any of these things outwardly, but just to let the mind feed.

To let the mind feed. It's something satisfying. I know. Because I've done it. And I'm still not free from it, and I've not met more than 10 who are. What's the answer? To destroy all the porno shops?

No. You'll produce it in your own mind sitting in a prayer meeting. The answer is repentance. No, I just thank God for the times He forgave me so many times of so many sins, especially in the mind. And I believe that if you fight the battles in the mind and keep short accounts, then you'll never get into the mire and into the mess that brings so much reaping as David got in.

But if you give up in the mind, you'll soon be giving up in all the other areas. Though God will forgive you, the reaping process will set in, and it could ruin your ministry. It could ruin your ministry.

Receiving Mercy and Returning to the Work

I beg of you, and I don't have more time, learn the secret of repentance. Anything that your Nathan, the Holy Spirit, touches your heart about, from His Word, from another brother, from a circumstance, repent.

Put it straight and accept God's immediate mercy, total forgiveness. Don't wallow in the pity, the puddle of pity. Don't start eating on the guilt. Self-pity is only a twisted form of self-love anyway.

But receive His forgiveness, His grace, His mercy. Get up and go on rejoicing in His forgiveness, in His grace, in His love. Don't think in this conference I've said anything quite as important as this.

Jesus is waiting. Open arms. Calvary the blood. The decision is yours, and it'll be yours every day. You're going under pressure. You're going into front-line combat. And it's going to be hot, and it's going to be hard, and you're going to wiggle, and you're going to want to get out of it sometime.

And the answer is His mercy. Will you take it? Let us pray. O Lord our God, we thank You for Your mercy. We thank You for Your cleansing. We thank You for this great illustration and story, this true story in the Old Testament of David.

And we thank You for the Nathans You send our way. We thank You for Your Holy Spirit that convicts of little things, of big things. And we cry out, Lord, teach us to repent. Teach us to repent quick. Teach us to lay hold and to believe You for Your mercy and Your forgiveness and for Your cleansing.

O Lord, we thank You for this true way of victory which keeps us pressing on and yet which deals realistically with sin when it makes its dirty way in. O Lord, teach us to repent on the roof before the sin gets in the house.

Teach us, Lord our God, to keep short accounts, to not let things get past the battle of the mind or at least the tongue, that we may not blaspheme Thy work, that we may not bring into scandal Thy work and cause the enemies to blaspheme.

O Lord, teach us the way of mercy. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.