Rev. David Holwick ZK
First Baptist Church (well-received)
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 14, 2004
2 Samuel 12:13-24
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I. Would it be well with your soul?
A. Unimaginable tragedy.
In 1871 tragedy struck Chicago as a massive fire ravaged the
city.
When it was finally extinguished, the fire had taken over
300 lives and had left some 100,000 homeless.
A man by the name of Horatio Spafford was one of those who
tried to help the people of the city get back on their feet.
Spafford was a Chicago lawyer who had invested heavily in the
downtown area and lost everything as a result of the fire.
More tragically, Spafford had also suffered the loss his only
son just a year earlier.
Still, for two years Spafford assisted the homeless, the poor,
the grief-stricken and others ruined by the fire.
It drained the family and they decided they needed a vacation.
They were to go to England to join Moody and Ira Sankey on one
of their evangelistic crusades, then travel in Europe.
Mr. Spafford was delayed by some business, but sent his family
on ahead.
He would catch up to them on the other side of the Atlantic.
Their ship, the Ville de Havre, never made it.
Off Newfoundland it collided with an English sailing ship and
sank within 20 minutes.
Though Horatio's wife, Anna, was able to cling to a piece of
floating wreckage (one of only 47 survivors among hundreds),
their four daughters were killed.
Horatio received a horrible telegram from his wife, only two
words long: "Saved alone."
Spafford boarded the next available ship to be near his
grieving wife.
When the ship passed near the spot where his daughters died,
Spafford penned these precious words:
When peace, like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll.
What ever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
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B. Pain will happen in every family.
1) It is only a matter of time.
a) Death, serious illness, unemployment, addiction.
2) How will you react?
a) Would your family be able to cope?
b) Will you survive or succumb?
3) We will look into the hurts than can afflict us.
II. Disasters of Despair.
A. Conditions that eat away at our souls.
1) Long sicknesses.
2) Financial problems.
3) Broken relationships.
a) Our minds fixate on them.
b) There doesn't seem to be any way out.
c) We feel like giving up.
B. Christian heroes have also felt like giving up. 2 Cor 1:8
1) Paul - despaired of life.
2) Jesus - may cup pass away from me.
C. But even in worst circumstances we can overcome.
1) Life is always worth living.
2) Interesting research results:
Give a life satisfaction questionnaire to two random people.
Then change their lives:
Give one of them a winning million-dollar lottery ticket.
Give the other a paralyzing disease.
Wait two years and give them the questionnaire again.
They will express the same satisfaction (or discouragement)
about their life as they did before the dramatic event.
Life is not worthwhile because of what happens to us, but
because of who we are - we are created by God himself!
III. Disasters of Defeat.
A. Moral failure is among worst defeats for a family.
1) (Ohio woman in tears rushes up, blurts out to me her
husband is having an affair.)
a) Adultery, drugs and alcohol, arrests cause heavy
burdens.
b) Tears up trust and the cohesive image we present to
the world.
c) Public humiliation was greatest fear of my own family.
1> But this isn't the worst - consider losing your
kids to sin.
2> A father once told me that he had seriously
considered murder.
His daughter had married a man who was not only a
drug dealer, but beat her up.
When the young man came to his father-in-law's
house to get her back, the father had a gun.
He is thankful he didn't have to use it, and is
even more thankful the young man ended up in
prison.
His daughter later remarried a decent man.
But in his heart the father knew he could have taken
another human's life.
2) It doesn't just happen with other families.
a) Moral defeat is possible for any of us.
b) All have sinned (Rom 3:23) and every heart is
desperately wicked (Jer 17:9).
B. We need to face the temptations around us.
1) What are your kids exposed to?
a) What tempts you?
b) Recognize your weaknesses, and then some.
Rev. Gordon MacDonald is currently living in New
Hampshire.
A few years ago he was pastor of one of the largest
churches in New England, and considered as head of
InterVarsity Christian Ministries.
But news of a short-lived affair surfaced, and he was
ruined.
MacDonald commented, "I always guarded myself in areas
where I knew I was weak. To my surprise, Satan
defeated me in an area where I thought I was strong."
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2) Don't just recognize sin, but fight it.
a) Most big sins start small, then grow.
b) Banner headline yesterday - Catholic pastor arrested
for beating his wife. (That's right, CATHOLIC)
He was an Episcopal priest who converted.
Unfortunately, he did not convert his inner rage and
it caught up with him.
c) Deal with addictions and sin before it destroys you.
C. When defeats happen, families need to learn how to forgive.
1) Forgiveness is hard, but it is the only way to heal.
a) Forgiveness costs. It is one principle which will be
valid as long as the world lasts.
b) A son or a daughter may go wrong; a father or a
mother may forgive.
c) But that forgiveness has brought tears... there is
the price of a broken heart to pay.
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2) Remember that God forgives, too.
a) He doesn't just forgive you, but those who sin against
you.
b) If God can forgive us, we can forgive our spouse, or
our kids, or our parents.
IV. Disasters of Death.
A. David's tragedy.
1) He had committed adultery and murdered the husband.
a) He then married the pregnant girlfriend.
b) She gave birth to a son.
c) Now the son is deathly ill.
2) He has no one to blame but himself.
a) In cases where one parent can be blamed for such a
tragedy, divorce is considered inevitable.
b) David got worse - his whole kingdom was afflicted.
c) David survived only by finding strength in his God.
1> He admitted his sin and changed his ways.
B. Death will visit every family. 2 Sam 12:16-23
1) It may be anticipated (grandparents) or not (children).
a) 911 calls.
CBS News reported on glitches in the 911 program.
Sometimes your address is incorrectly entered, and
emergency crews cannot find your house.
They played a 911 call from a young mother whose baby
had stopped breathing.
She is screaming and pleading for them to come.
They could not find her house, and the baby died.
When she was interviewed for the segment, she still
seemed shell-shocked.
[1]
2) Will death drive your family closer, or blow you apart?
3) Raises basic question: How strong is your Christian faith?
a) What do you truly believe about God?
C. Do you ever talk about death in your family?
1) Families tend to avoid it at all costs.
2) Better to deal with it head on.
D. The great promise of salvation is that death is defeated.
1) If you were to die RIGHT NOW, do you know what your destiny
would be?
2) How about the others in your family?
V. How Christians can cope with hurts.
A. "Overcoming" is not automatic.
1) Many families fail in their time of greatest need.
2) To overcome we must know ourselves and know our God.
B. Pain can become endurable when it is shared.
Tim T. was a volunteer fireman in Coshocton, Ohio.
Early one autumn morning his unit was called to an accident.
A car had gone off the road and was upside down in an old
canal.
The firemen pulled two young girls from the wreckage.
They had been on their way to school.
Both were dead.
Both were Tim's daughters.
As time went on, Tim became quiet and withdrawn.
His wife Barb had a nervous breakdown and wept for months.
The key to the survival of their marriage was sharing their
pain with others, and then with each other.
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C. We have to remain committed to people, no matter what.
1) The people around you will disappoint you.
2) When we make ourselves vulnerable and let our guard down,
at some point others will not respond the way we want.
3) But we have to keep involved - Jesus commands us to, and
it is healing. We are not meant to bear pain alone.
VI. Pain is not God's last word.
A. God is greater than any tragedy. Psalm 61:2
1) We need a "Rock that is higher than us."
a) God gives a firm foundation for our lives.
2) Physically and emotionally we hurt, but we always have hope.
B. God can work out any tragedy for good. Romans 8:28
1) Tragedy can draw us closer to each other.
2) It can also draw us closer to God.
C. Someday, tragedies will be no more. Revelation 21:4
1) The book of Revelation says every tear will be wiped away.
2) Spafford's final stanza of "It Is Well With My Soul" goes:
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll.
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
"Even so", it is well with my soul.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
This sermon borrows some main points from my message on October 25, 1992.
[1] Adapted from a CBS News broadcast on or about November 12, 2004.
# 2341 "Forgiveness Is A Costly Thing," by William Barclay, Christianity
Today magazine, October 5, 1992, page 48; Barclay is quoted from
his commentary "The Letter To Hebrews."
# 2343 "Defeated Where He Thought He Was Strong," used in a previous sermon
and recalled from memory.
# 2344 "Families And Tragedy," from ministry of David Holwick.
#12345 "It Is Well With My Soul," adapted from sermon titled "A Tearful
Moment" by Rev. Alan Carr, sermon #19910 in Kerux database.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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