When our oldest son Paul was a little boy,
he was adventurous. I think that's the word. [laughs]
Always pushing the limits and I
tried many approaches in disciplining
him including the quote discussion
method my normal method was just beat
[laughs]
but I thought I tried different method
now the discussion method is where you
resist blowing your top and using all
kinds of physical harm in favor of
discussing the problem and finding a
solution. You know what I mean you get down
eye to eye with the child and you talk and
you have a back-and-forth. So one day he
was guilty of a real no-no which was
riding with his bike in a dangerous
situation after I specifically told him
you must not ride your bicycle across
such a street where there's through
traffic and big trucks
no I went down got down on my knees,
"you understand?" "yes Daddy"
"I know daddy," "where you
to ride your bicycle over there with all
the traffic is, so you know now?" "yes I
know" "okay good, we're good"
So I get home that night and Lise says,
"he's in his room." He went to the you know
no-fly zone
and so we sat in his room reviewing the
events and decided together what should
be done and I decided to use a little
amateur psychology on him, first and last time. [laughs]
I said to him, "well Paul if you were
me here and you were the dad what would
you do in this situation?" and he answered,
"well if I were you I'd give me a second chance,"
[laughs]
because early on he learned if
you can make your dad laughs when he was
mad at you
the game was over the game was over.
So this little boy understood something
that I in my anger and frustration and
fear right and fear had completely forgotten.
As far as I was concerned
there was only one course to follow one
option, punishment. I was just discussing
with them you know what kind of
punishment but Paul reminded me at that
very young age that there was another
choice and one which was much more
favorable to him and that was
forgiveness in the form of a second chance.
This episode taught me not only
something about being a dad but it also
serves as a constant reminder about the
character of our Heavenly Father.
When I read about God the Father's dealings
with his children I realize that he is
the God of second chances and so this
morning I'd like to share with you the
stories of some people who benefited
from a second chance that God gave them.
In the Old Testament there's no clearer
example of a person receiving a second
chance then David the king of Israel.
He began as a lowly shepherd and was given
the opportunity and this
strength to defeat Goliath the enemy of
his people.
David receive God's anointing as king
and after many years of struggle was
finally crowned after King Saul died.
He consolidated military victories,
he established a capital city in Jerusalem,
he built a great palace and amassed a
tremendous wealth and power and prestige,
and then in second Samuel 11 wearied of
David's great sin with Bathsheba believe
we're all very familiar with this story
at the time the armies were away
fighting and David remain behind in
Jerusalem and while in his palace saw a
beautiful woman who was bathing and he
lusted after her and he seduced her even
while knowing that she was one of his
commanders wife and she became pregnant
because of their union and so to hide
his sin, he brought the husband Uriah
home on leave hoping each sleep with his
wife and thus cover the pregnancy but
the man Uriah was so loyal to his troops
into his king he refused the comfort of
his own home, and his own bed and his own
wife, while his men were out in the field
at war. And so his plan upset,
David arranged to have the man
deliberately killed in battle. After news
of his death came David took the woman
Bathsheba to be his wife and he tried to
hide the pregnancy in this way in verse
27 the Bible records God's reaction to
all of this he said, "But the thing that
David had done was evil in the sight of
the Lord." Evil indeed almost like an
understatement
look at what David had done. Can ask you
to turn this down just a little bit this
mic is little too hot.
Evil indeed look at what David had done.
He had knowingly seduced another man's
wife and committed adultery with her.
He cheated on his own wives. I mean you
could take several wives but you weren't
allowed to take the wife of another man.
He tried to pass his
child off onto another mat, then he
plotted the murder of a man who loved
and served him a man who was one of his
"30 mighty men," who made up the kings
elite core of commanders and bodyguards.
And then he deliberately lied to the
nation in the cover up. What he did
should have been punished by first of
all losing the crown in other words his
family his lineage forfeit the crown and
the throne forever and then paying
retribution to Uriah's family and then
death for himself and Bathsheba but God
sent the Prophet Nathan to confront
David concerning this evil and to
describe the direct results due to his
sins and so Nathan said to David that he
would have trouble in his own house and
there would be violence in his own home
because of what he had done, because
violence breeds violence. His wives would
be taken away from him, just like he took
your Uriah's wife, all this happening in
the future, and because the child would
be illegitimate and the cause of
blasphemy by others be against the crown
and the divinely appointed kings that
wore it,
God took the child at infancy.
David responded to God by acknowledging his
sins and regretting his actions. He also
mourned deeply when the baby was born sick
asking God to spare his life, but the
child died as God had said, but then we
see how God of second chances dealt with
this son of his who had acted in such a
cowardly and shameful way. After the
child died and the morning was over
David was allowed to start all over
again with Bathsheba. We read in second
Samuel chapter 12 verses 24 and 25 it
says, "Then David comforted his wife
Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with
her; and she gave birth to a son, and he
named him Solomon. Now the Lord love
him and sent word through Nathan the
prophet, and he named him Jedediah for
the Lord's sake." So he was allowed to
take Bathsheba as his wife before God.
This woman he had committed adultery with.
They were able to have another
child together and they call him Solomon
which comes from the root word "Shalom"
meaning peace. This name
signified that they were at peace with
God and with the birth of this child and
then the Prophet Nathan who had
confronted David before with his sin
gave the child another inspired name he
called them Jedediah which means
"beloved of the Lord" and so David and Bathsheba
were reassured that God love their baby
and would not take him away from them
like he had done with the previous child.
We also know that this child produced
from this union would eventually become
the third and most glorious king of
Israel as well as an inspired writer.
By rights, by law,
this man David should have been stripped
of the throne and executed. He should
have never been allowed to marry this
woman because he was the guilty party in
the adultery and yet the God of second
chances allowed him another opportunity
to be king, to be husband, and to be father.
Another example of this aspect of
God's character is seen in John chapter
8 verse 3, in John chapter 8 verse 3 this
is where Jesus comes face-to-face with
a woman accused of adultery and here
John writes, "The scribes and the
Pharisees brought a woman caught in
adultery, and having set her in the
center of the court, they said to Him,
'Teacher, this woman has been caught in
adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law
Moses commanded us to stone such a woman;
what then do You say?" so some people say
that this was a trap
and the woman who was having an affair
was set up so she could be caught in the
act with witnesses so there could be no
doubt as to her guilt. The law
specifically Leviticus 20 verse 10 did
specify that the punishment for this
kind of offense was death by stoning, so
let's keep reading it says in verse 6,
"They were saying this, testing Him, so
that they might have grounds for
accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and
with His finger wrote on the ground."
So they were, you know, they were not
interested in the woman, they were
interested in finding some way to attack Him.
Now if He said that they should go
ahead and stone her
well they would have accused Him to the
Roman governor as a lawbreaker because
only the Roman officials could order an
execution, on the other hand if He opted
for mercy then they would have accused
Him of breaking the law of Moses which
said that such people should be punished.
So we read in verse 7, "But when they
persisted in asking Him, He straightened
up, and said to them, 'He who is without
sin among you let him be the first to
throw a stone at her.' "
Now the law said that those who had
there had to be two or three witnesses
to prove the accusation and that if
convicted
it was these witnesses who were to be
the first ones to cast the stones Jesus
does not demand an execution
nor does he plead for mercy, He merely
asks them to compare themselves to this
woman, to the eyewitnesses he said if you
are morally superior you then have a
right to do this. They couldn't legally
do it without the permission of the
Romans and they all knew this.
Jesus simply asks them aside from the legal
right which the law of Moses and the law
of the Romans could provide aside from
this legal right did anyone have the
moral right to do this especially when
they may have been plotting against him
in the first place and so we read verse 8-9.
"Again he stooped down and wrote on
the ground. When they heard it, they began
to go out one by one, beginning with the
older ones, and He was left alone, and the
woman, where she was, in the center of the court."
You know His writing on the ground
has been a mystery to many because the
Bible doesn't say what He wrote on the
ground. You know some think it was to buy
time others see this as God you know
writing out their judgment, you know,
"the finger of God" idea. I'll wait till
I get to heaven I'll ask him about that
that particular passage. The Bible says
however that the witnesses and the crowd
all left beginning with the oldest to
the youngest everyone was silent
including Jesus no witnesses spoke
including the witnesses who had the
right to accuse and punish and that was
the Lord himself and so in verse 10 and
11 we finish up and we read,
"Straightening up, Jesus said to her, 'woman
where are they?
Did no one condemn you?' and she
said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'I do not
condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.' "
So her accusers are gone the danger is past.
She's left with the Lord alone and Jesus
who knows the truth about her
He knows her life, He knows her secrets
He knows her failures,
what does He do? Well He gives her a
second chance, that's what He does.
This sin was known. This sin was an accident
waiting to happen in her life,
this sin came crashing down on her with
all the humiliation and life-destroying
ego crushing force that sin can have.
Let's face it, think about it now, imagine
if you were dragged away from an
adulterous affair and dragged into the
middle of town and accused in front of
everybody
imagine, how you would feel, nothing to
say, no defense. She was caught, she was
gonna pay and what does God do? He saves
her from the mob. He tells her that He
too, for different reasons,
does not condemn her.
He tells her that she is free to go.
He tells her don't do this anymore.
You see, the Pharisees and the religious
leaders were there to see about punishment.
How do we punish the guilty, who punishes
the guilty, how much punishment do the
guilty receive,
but Jesus opens up another option for
the guilty and that is forgiveness and
the possibility of a second chance.
We may not have sinned as seriously
as David with his adultery and his
murder and his cover-up and we may not
have had to suffer public humiliation
for our sins like this poor woman here
in in this story but I ask every single
one of you here this morning
who among us has not needed at one time
or another a second chance from God.
Anybody here never need a second chance
from God? A second chance to do right by
our parents, a second chance at marriage,
a second chance after wasting our youth,
our money, our talent, our promised,
our opportunities, our health?
Let's be thankful that God is a God of
second chances because we all need a
second chance at one time or another in
our lives.
Do you need a second chance from God today?
You can receive another chance at
a better eternal life of course by
believing in His Son Jesus Christ and
washing your sins away through
repentance and baptism in his name.
There's a second chance for
non-believers and when you become a
Christian the Bible says that you will
be forgiven and have a second chance at
everything and if you are a Christian
needing another chance
here's the really great news for you,
God is not only the God of second chances
He is also the God of third chances and
fourth chances and unlimited chances for
His children who confess their faults
and weaknesses and come to Him for help.
The Lord Jesus Christ is waiting for you
to ask Him for a second chance this morning.
I encourage you, if you need that,
don't leave here without asking and
receiving that second chance. If you need
to respond to this lesson, if you need
that second chance in the waters of
baptism or that second chance and
confessing sin or that second
chance in asking for help our Elders are
here, they're present, they're ready,
they're willing to pray for you and ask
God to give you that second chance. Shall we
stand and sing the song of encouragement
while we consider our response.