Revolutionary stuff and now I'm making application to biblical truth So Benedict Arnold has sold out West Point John Andre was in all he was the main he is over the secret service of the British he's been captured at Tarrytown, New York and Those things that transpired there It's where I'm up to today and making an application from the Bible with that truth. Don't miss the service tonight. If you're a young person, old person, or a child, if you're in there somewhere, amen. You don't want to miss it, because I'm going to show you something that God's really put on my heart. I believe it can be life-changing in people's hearts. 2 Samuel 13. Before I do that, Leonard and Teresa and those young'uns aren't here, and she's been having all this battle. and chemotherapy and all this stuff. And God put her on my heart. Joe Ramsey's on my heart. Evelyn Curtis on my heart. She's nice to you. Paul Summero broke his other hip and he's on my heart today. My Aunt Grace is on my heart today. People that just need God's touch. I'm glad a lot of you Keith Scruggs on my heart, Randy Patton's on my heart. A man that just need our prayers. Keith Price here, thank God he got back. Spent a day down there at Winston. Amen. And I'm glad God's touched him. And we all need the prayers of those we love, don't we? Father, we pray for these as just being mentioned. We agree together. Thy will be done. God, for your healing power, we ask for it. Dear God, there's some that soon are gonna get the ultimate healing. Oh God, what a day. That's gonna be. No more suffering and sickness and death. And God, no more funeral homes and broken homes and empty places around the table. And dear God, at this Thanksgiving and Christmas, Lord, I know we don't like to hear it, but there may be some in our midst, this'll be their last one. Could be all of us. You could come before next year. We don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future. So Lord, we hold up these needs. There are many, those where death has come. Those dear God that need thy healing touch, we pray you'd have mercy. Thank you for what you're gonna do. Save that one today under conviction. May this be the day they come to you. In Christ's name, amen. Young people, I really need your ear right here. I'm going to give you some real Bible wisdom this morning, big time. Keep you out of trouble and keep you out of jail and can keep you out of hell. Keep you out of self-destruction from crying your eyes out the rest of your life, embarrassing yourself. Embarrassing your family, embarrassing God. 2 Samuel 13 verse 1, it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister. That means she was drop dead gorgeous. That's what that means in the Bible, a fair sister. Some of the prettiest, best looking people in the Bible were David's children. Absalom, Adonijah, Tamar, born of the same mother. And the Bible talks about how beautiful that they were, especially Tamar and Absalom. Whose name was Tamar Amnon, the son of David, loved her. Now this is David's eldest son by another woman. David's got all his wives. And Amnon was so vexed that he fell sick for his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin. And Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her. But Amnon had a friend. So when he does not know how to get around the difficulty getting her in his chamber, Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimea, that's the third son of Jesse, and that's David's third eldest brother. So Jonadab is Amnon's first cousin. And Jonadab was a very subtle man. That means he was satanically cunning and deceptive. He said in him, while art thou being the king's son, lean from day to day. Wilt thou not tell me I'm not said unto him, I love to tell you more of my brother Absalom's sister. And Jonadab said unto him, lay thee down on thy bed and make thyself sick. When thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come and give me meat and dress the meat in my sight that I may see it and eat it at her hand. Sounds like he's got experience in acting like he's sick to get his way. So Amnon lay down and made himself sick. When the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, make a couple of cakes in my sight that I may eat at her hand. Then David sent home to Tamar saying, go now to thy brother Amnon's house and dress him meat. So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house and was laid down and she took flour and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight. and did bake the cakes. She took a pan and poured them out before him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said, have out all men from me. And they went out every man from him. Amnon said to Tamar, bring the meat under the chamber. I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the inner chamber to Amnon her brother. When she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her and said unto her, come lie with me, my sister. This is almost too bad to read. This is a monster right here. He's acting like a wild beast that has no self-control or restraint. All he cares about is the gratification of his flesh. He don't care about her. He just wants to violate her. And she answered him, nay, my brother, do not force me, for no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Do not thou this folly. And I, whether shall I cause my shame to go? As for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now, therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king. He will not withhold me from thee. Now she's not, it's against Jewish law for her to marry Amnon. She's saying this trying to get out of the house. She's trying to get out from his grip. That's why she's saying this. How bid he would not hearken unto her voice, but being stronger than she forced her and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her exceedingly. so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. Amnon said unto her, rise, be gone. And she said unto him, there is no cause. This evil and sin of me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me, but he would not hearken unto her. Then he called his servant and ministered unto him and said, put now this woman out from me and bolt the door after her. What was it that Amnon did that was worse than the violation? By him making it look like she was the guilty one. He's got all these eyewitnesses. Corroboration. If you want to destroy somebody, accuse them of violating, you then call four people and then down the road you got corroboration. I've never seen a day, I didn't ever think I'd live to see a day when the Constitution is nothing and all that anybody has to do is just be accused of something. Now a lot of these people are guilty. What's happening in our country is horrifying. You're done hung, executed without a trial. There's no presumption of innocence. It's just what somebody says. And it doesn't matter if it's 100 years ago. Have you noticed that? This stuff's getting out of hand. And there'll be some innocent people go down, you mark that down. Don't tell me people don't do stuff like that. It's been happening since the beginning of man. so am not hated her. And don't go out here saying that people aren't being violated. They're being violated. It's like one article I seen this week. How do you teach these young men how to treat a woman? You get them off of pornography. That's where they're getting it. And their flesh is on fire and they can't control themselves. That's where they're getting it. No, that's right. He'll turn you into a brute beast. I know a woman worked with a man was so addicted to that stuff. They were on computers every day doing work and the rule of the company was this man's got a wife and children. He's got to have a job. He was so addicted to knowing he'd get fired if he got caught, couldn't stay off of it and got fired. Now, when something's got a grip on you like that, it's worse than meth. It can never be satisfied. You better hear what I'm saying. He called his servant that ministered to him, put this woman out from him, bolt the door after she had a garment of diverse colors upon her. For with such robes were the king's daughters that were virgins appareled. Then his servant brought her out and bolted the door after her. Tamar put ashes on her head, ran her garment of diverse colors that was on her, laid her hand on her head and went out crying. Absalom, her brother, said unto her, have I not, my brother, been with thee? But hold now thy peace, my sister. He is thy brother, regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house. So Absalom's gonna lay low for about two years and he shall exact his revenge. It's called an honor killing. That's why it's still in the Islamic world. And it was in the Old Testament, an honor killing. He should have let justice take care of it, but there was no justice. David's a king, he's already killed a man and stole his wife, and David has no moral authority. What's David gonna do and what's David gonna say? See, that's the consequence of sin. I wanna talk about Andre had a friend. That's how, if I was a devil and wanted to get you in trouble and you had a natural tendency to have fear in your heart about getting called to the consequence of sin, I'd bring friends in your life that had such seductive power that they would get you at the wrong place at the wrong time. You'd be overwhelmed by lust. You'd be overwhelmed by temptation and you'd fall into that sin and then be destroyed. Many times people are. So here, the Bible is telling us such a depraved story. It's beyond words what happened in this chapter. I don't care how depraved this world gets, this is wickeder than the soot walls of hell. This is incest, this is rape, this is violation. Old Jonadab had to do a lot of times A friend that can lead you into wrong can also rebuke you. If Jonadab, she should have said, how dare you talk about such a violation? Tamar is your sister and you're not married to her. Amen. Notice here, we see that she is Amnon, is the oldest son. That means he's the crown prince. He's the royalty. He's the next in line to the throne. And he's gonna play the fool. He's gonna throw his future away. He's gonna throw away his name and his reputation, cause she's gonna make it her lifetime goal to shame him. Right. So the Bible talks about her great beauty, but she had more than just physical beauty. Thank God she had spiritual beauty. She had a fear for God and a love for God and wanted to save herself for her husband. On the other hand, Amnon didn't love her. He's got an obsessive passion. It is so controlling. He's brought to the point of such fixation that he cannot even think right. He can't even function right. He's not eating meals. He's so overwhelmed with wanting the forbidden fruit of what God said he couldn't have. He didn't have the subtlety to figure out a way to get what he wanted, but Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, a very subtle man. Now the problem is, the real difficulty, how in the world is he gonna get her in a situation where he can have his way with her? I'll tell you what this story's all about, is to let you and I know what that depraved, sinful nature in us is. And the Bible calls it strange flesh. When you get into things that aren't sanctioned by God, you open yourself up to demons. In Jeremiah 17, 9, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Your heart is so wicked. You say, but I don't have any desires that way. You just feed that flesh, you'll find out it's in there. That's why we've gotta be so careful what we see, what we hear, who we run with, lest we feed that Adamic nature that will destroy us. Well, the Holy Spirit lives in the believer. We've got the strength over this. That doesn't mean you can't fall to it. That doesn't mean I can't fall to it. If I walk in the Holy Spirit, I won't. But if I don't, Katie, bar the door. The flesh is so deceptive. and it is so destructive in its nature. So 2 Samuel 13 is a story of an unholy imagination and unbridled lust and an unchanging effect. What Amnon done to Tamar cannot be reversed. He stole from her something and he can never give back. I'll tell you the flesh has no conscience. The flesh has no remorse. The flesh has no regret. The flesh has no fear. The flesh has no compassion. The flesh, all it wants is to be satisfied and gratified. And when it gets what it wants, it finds out it didn't want what it got. That's exactly what happened in this story. Young people do things God's way. Now notice this. All of this is encouraged. It's inspired. It's enabled by a corrupt friend. Show me who your friends are and I'll show you what you're going to become. I wasn't born yesterday. I've been down that road. Hear me now. It might be wise if you listen to somebody that knows. I know the power of peer pressure. Many of the adults in here know the power of peer pressure, where you've done things you never would have done. I'll never smoke dope. Sitting in the back seat of a car, that thing comes by you, you just acting like you've done it for 10 years. There's a power that comes in a group that's sinning that'll take obsession of you. Notice, here's a son with a unique privilege. Here we've got David's eldest son, crown prince. I mean, he's heir to the throne. He's got every amenity you could think of. He lives in the best house. He's got the best food. He's got the best clothes. He probably don't even have to work. He's got everything at his fingertips, but the one thing God said you cannot have, he's gonna get at all cost. He had all of these advantages, and for a few moments of pleasure, He's gonna throw it all away. Ain't that stupid? But the flesh is stupid. It does stupid things. When you get full of lust, you OD on stupid pills real fast. Amen. The thing that he pursued all of his life, or ever since this stuff come on him, he's gonna lose everything in the process. Notice secondly, lust. had an unnatural passion. He's desiring his own half-sister. He's not seeking an honorable marriage. He's seeking the gratification of the flesh. What deception here that Amnon has God. What a lapse of judgment here. And then 2 Samuel 13 too. Amnon was so vexed, he's so obsessed. He fell sick for his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin. Hamdan thought it hard to do anything to her. Here's his problem. How in the world am I gonna work this out where I can get her in the dark? In a place of seclusion. Then we see a sister with an unusual portrait. She's beautiful, she's fair, she's a princess, she's protected, and she's got culinary skills. She's known for her cooking ability. That's what Amnon, that's how that old Jonadab, give him the, because everybody knew what to cook, but Tamar was, old David comes to see Amnon, and Amnon says, dad, I'm so sick of being sick, I don't have any appetite, and I'm getting weak, and I'm wasting away, but my sister can cook like nobody else can. If she'd bring me my favorite dish, I believe I'd be able to eat something. Boy, ain't David blind. So she comes and notice Hammond tries to seduce her. When she had prepared this meal and brought it to him, he outright said, come lie with me, my sister. That makes me want to throw up twice. Come lie with me, my sister. You're not to look on your mother's neckiness, your sister's neckiness, the Bible says. Come lie with me, my sister. Verse 12, nay, my brother, do not force me to do such a thing. She said it should not be done in Israel. Do not bow this folly. shall I cause my shame to go? How can I get away from the shame you're going to do to me? How can I get away from the humiliation and the humbling you're going to do to me? How can I get away from the disgrace that I am going to have to face? I want you to see, I want you to fear sin. She said, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore I pray thee, speaking to the king, he will not withhold me from thee. She is, you know why she probably said that? For one thing, because David's never told him no yet. David never told his children no. Second Kings 1.6 tells us he never told his children no. Or ask why they did what they did. It sounds like Eli and his sons. So we see that Tamar's trying to get away from him. She's in the clutches of danger here. Everything What Tamar said is true. If he just would have listened, notice the consequence. She's trying to reason with him. Hamnon, if you don't care, and evidently he don't, that's for sure he don't. If you don't care what you're doing to me, if you don't care how you're shaming me, if you don't care how you're disgracing yourself, you're going to be a fool in Israel. You're going to shame yourself. You're going to throw away your future. You're gonna throw away the kingship. They're not gonna make you king. That would violate your sister like this, because I'm gonna tell it. You do this to me, your shame's gonna be told, and my shame's gonna be revealed, because she's an honest girl. She can't act like everything's all right, because it ain't all right, and she's trying to reason with him. but lust has no reasoning. Now look at the response, verse 15. Now then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he loved her. Amnon said unto her, arise, be gone. And she said unto him, there is no cause. This evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me, but he would not hearken unto her. Verse 17, then he called his servant that ministered unto him and said, put now the woman out from me and bolt the door after her. Fourthly, guilt has an unsparing pain and penalty. As great as his lust was, as great as his obsession was, not much greater was his hatred for her. She's still as beautiful as she ever was. Nothing changed about her except what he's violated her with. Now he's treating her like some dead animal you'd throw out on the street, a selfish person. Listen now, a selfish person, all they care about is how they feel. And now he feels guilty, and he hates feeling guilty, and he's not gonna blame himself. He's gonna blame her. All that guilt and all that hatred that he's feeling, he's gonna find somebody to blame. That's what petty spoiled brats do that's never been corrected, never been taught to say I'm sorry and forgive me, and have never been broke, and know nothing of repentance. When it comes to deep things, they'll lie to the end, blame mom and daddy, blame their environment instead of what they've done. You know what the Bible means by that? Hated her exceedingly. He hated her with all of his mind. He hated her with all of his heart. Now you see some young people now that They're really, they're not just infatuated. They're really in love with each other and they get in trouble and then they go get married and they love one another. And sometimes that happens. This is not, this doesn't happen every time. The reason that this happened like he did was the way it happened. He forced her. That's why it's even worse. And I'm not for fornication in no way, shape or form, but this is 10 million times worse than that. Except in some relationships, there's consent. Somebody violates, I don't want to get on this child stuff. Oh Lord, God help us in this wicked hour. That's what happens when you look at things where you can't enjoy the natural relationship and you just get more depraved all the time and you want to attack innocent things. What has she done? She's not done anything. She obeyed her father. She was a friend to her brother. She went out of her way to make him something to eat, and then he violates her. He forces her, he humbles her. What has she done to deserve this? Nothing. Verse 17, put this woman out, they didn't call her sister there. Do you notice he don't call her by her name? Put out this woman for me and bolt the door. He wanted, he had what he wanted and now he is already building a case to defend himself. She seduced me. How dare her? Bolt the door. Get her out of my sight. She's unholy. Now ain't that something? She is a castaway toy to him. I wanna tell you something, don't you ever forget this. You take Jimmy's 66 Chevelle he drove last Sunday, he's got affection for that car. It's nostalgia. If I had one like it, I don't want his, that's covenant. But if I had something like that, I'd be the same way, I'd have an affection, I'd have a desire, cause that's how, first car I had, 67 Chevelle Supersport, and I love those things. But if I got in a rage, or somebody else did, and I took a sledgehammer and I beat the top in, and I took a sledgehammer and beat the sides in, beat all the windows out, then took a knife and cut all the interior up, I'd lose my affection for it. And that's exactly what happened in this story. That's what the flesh does. I'll tell you something, one thing about Benedict Arnold, his mama taught him his whole life how to respect women and he did. That's one thing Arnold was known for was the way he respected women. You be a gentleman and treat her like a lady. Amen. Women are to be treated like a piece of china, something valuable. That's the way they're to be treated. They're not to be treated like one of the boys or to be violated or used as a toy. And dear young ladies, if you want to be treated like a lady, act like one and look like one. Notice it says, Amnon, Amnon, Amnon does not understand the joy of delayed gratification in marriage. A relationship, young people, a relationship is built on friendship. First, friendship. Respect. And then on marriage, and then the love grows, and then the physical relationship is an expression of that. If your marriage is built on the physical, you headed to divorce court. If our wives are nothing to us but some fantasy toy, God help us. Boy, you think about Tamar will not cover for her wicked brother. Look at verse 16, she said unto him, there is no cause this evil in sin to me way is greater than the other that thou didst unto me, but he would not hearken unto her. Then he called his servants that ministered unto him and said, put now this woman out from me and bolt the door after her. I cannot express to you young people, I cannot express the danger of running with the wrong crowd. You can be in a car, you've not drunk anything, but they got you. Hey, you've not done drugs. Drugs are in the trunk. Stolen stuff is in the trunk. When they stop that car. That whole crowd will turn and blame you. There's no honor among thieves. Dear, watch that boy and girl. You better consider what they're going to say about you. That's right. Because they're going to go tell everybody, you know. Now, don't you tell nobody. Then they tell the name. Now, don't you tell nobody. And then everybody knows it, whether anything happened or not. Your name is shame. How? Because you're the wrong crowd. And when you run with the wrong crowd, you will become the wrong crowd. Verse 17, then he called his servants that ministered unto him and said, put now this woman out from me and bolt the door after her. How vile was Amnon's actions here in giving the presumption to others that she's the one that seduced him. Then Sixley's shame has an unmeasurable power. She had a garment of diverse colors upon her, for with such robes were the king's daughters, virgins appareled. His servant brought her out and bolted the door after her. Tamar put ashes on her head, ran her garment of diverse colors that was on her, laid her hand on her head, and went out crying, Absalom, her brother, said unto her, hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? But behold now thy peace, my sister, he is thy brother, regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house. That's the last we read of her. She was desolate. She wore that virgin's robe. It identified her. She roared with great joy. This garment here would have extended to the wrist and to the ankles. It would have been highly expensive being a king's daughter, a princess garment, and it revealed her virginity. Notice here, she tires that garment. When a person tore their garments in the Old Testament, it was a great calamity where the nation had been defeated in war or somebody had died. She knew something died in her that day. She ripped that garment and said, it's not true any longer. Put ashes on her head. What do you have after you burn a house down? All you got's ashes. She puts ashes on her head, holds them there. I've been shamed, I've been violated. It might not have been a big thing to her or to him or Hollywood, but it's a big thing to her because she had a conscience. Now, she wants everybody to know who's done this to her. Her chastity's gone. Her virginity's gone. Now that may not mean nothing in our day, but it meant something then. Sin is worse than hell because it's the cause of hell. She lost her virginity. Now she's not a good prospect for marriage in some circles. Now she must leave. Why does she go live with Absalom? She's kicked out of the apartment of the virgins, of the king's princesses. Now she's not identified with what she wears or where she lives. She's got nowhere to go. She's got one person in this world that'll understand her, and it's her full brother, Absalom. And she goes to his house and lives with her brother Absalom. Every day he sees her, he never lets her know it. He says, now you be quiet about this. That's your brother. Let's forget it and let's go on. Make the best of it we can while he's plotting to kill him. Sevenly, revenge has an unknown plan. Absalom never said a word. He marked his time. He's having a big sharing celebration, a festivity time, and he calls to David and said, David, my father, come to my sheep share. And David said, that wouldn't be right, because if we all get killed, there would be nobody left to be on the throne. He said, we'll send my brothers. sent all of them. So they sent all of them. Absalom had already planned how to overcome Amnon. He overcome Tamar with force. Absalom's going to overcome him with liquor and force. He's going to weaken him down. Just like he violated his sister, Absalom's going to violate him. What comes around goes around. You'll reap what you sow. You better hear me. You say, well, God saved me and forgave me. Well, there's a lot of things we don't reap the full amount, but there's some things, for example, there's some things set in motion you can't change. Cut your leg off when you're lost, it's not gonna grow back. There's some things you can't fix. You know what my daddy always told me about? Drinking and smoking and all that stuff. Best way to quit, don't ever start. Amen. So here's an honor killing. Because of David's son or his sin, he's got no moral authority. Absalom is seething. Amnon's gonna get by with such a horrible act. He's gonna watch his sister cry. He's gonna see her be devastated. I'll tell you sin has an unholy plot. Amnon had a friend. I wanna get into this just a minute. I believe Amnon would have never done what he did without Jonadab. I think many of you adults in here can look back at your life. You would have never done what you did had you not been running with your friends. Left to yourself, you'd never broke into a place. You'd never stole things. Left to yourself, you'd have never burned somebody's house down. Left to yourself, you'd have never done some of the pranks you've done, but you did it to look big. All you did is to look tough and you beat other people's brains in trying to show your macho manhood pride to influence your friends. That's right. Jonadab was satanically subdued. I'll tell you one thing, Satan's got somebody to entrap you. That's exactly right. I'm telling you right now. And you never get to the place he don't have a trap sprung. That's why we pray, Jesus said, pray, deliver us from evil. Deliver us from temptation. The day that I'm weak enough to fall, God, don't let that day come. And when that day comes where I can fall, give me enough strength. Folks, I'm not breaking in my flesh, oh no. Oh no. I wanna be like Tamar and always understand. What things I said in motion, I can't reverse. Do we ever have these talks with our children anymore? Do we ever warn them of these traps that Satan's God for them? Or we're so afraid they might get mad at us. If Jonadab had been a real friend, he would have rebuked his brother for a suggestion of such diabolical, I mean depraved sin. Here he is, a man of wealth, a man of fame. Old Jonadab doesn't love Amnon, he loves himself. He's just using Amnon because he's gonna be the next king. When Absalom kills Amnon, he's back there at the palace selling out old Amnon to David. That's the way selfish people are. Are y'all with me? The choice of your friends either shows your ignorance, your indifference, or your indulgence. Amen. Your friends have the ability to change you into a person you never thought you could have been. Have truths, wishful thinking, fantasy, all this stuff that goes on. It's what happens to people in this world. John Andre would have never done what he did had it not been for Benedict Arnold. I'm going to tell you what Benedict Arnold and John Andre never considered, was the sovereignty of God. God was going to stop them. It didn't matter what they did, God was going to blind them. God was going to let them act stupid. God was going to let them do things they normally would have never done and just turn them loose on their pride. You see there are some times God's gonna stop you. Some people he don't, but some people he does. An evil man seeketh only rebellion, therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. So John Andre is waiting. He is, I don't have time to get into all this. I've got a ton of notes over here. I just put them to the side so I wouldn't be tempted to get on them. But here's what I'm gonna tell you. John Andre tried three times to meet with Benedict Arnold privately. Finally, they had a meeting place. The vulture was anchored across the Hudson River. John Andre was rode over by Benedict, or by the British. He got over there, Arnold's men were gonna row him back. What happened was, I preached on this last Sunday. Had a redneck colonel seen that vulture down there, that British ship. There was, here's West Point. Here's all these little forts down up and down the river of the colonists. West Point being the prized possession that Benedict Arnold was selling out. It was the one he could get the most money for. He had been made commander of West Point by George Washington. He had turned down the left wing in the Continental Army to get West Point so he could sell it out for a pile of money. Andre didn't figure in on what's gonna happen. Had a redneck colonel in the naptime, pulled cannon on top of the hill, and the next morning started shooting cannon down on the vulture of that warship of the British Empire. The wind's not blowing. The tide's going the wrong way. For two hours, they're shooting cannon at them. Finally, the vulture goes down the Hudson River to get out of the range of the colonial cannon. When it does, Andre has lost his ride. And the only way back to British lines is to go. And if you'll look at the Hudson River, and if you'll look at West Point, he goes up. for miles, cuts across, and comes back down to Tarrytown. And it's right, Tarrytown's here on the Hudson River. Tappan is where they're gonna hang him. It's on the other side. Tappan is right on the New Jersey, New York border. So John Andre, to get back to the British lines, he doesn't want to go by land. He keeps refusing. When Benedict Arnold fled Washington, he got escape minutes if Washington had come minutes before he had called him. Benedict Arnold had his nine Roman to take him to the vulture. Why didn't he take Andre? Why didn't he wait and find a plan to get him back on that ship? But Arnold, since it wasn't his life, He's playing dice. He's playing cards with another man's little life. It's insanity. Because if Andre gets called, Arnold's gonna get called. And what happened was, Andre kept refusing. But Arnold had a personality that was so strong that he overpowered him. And he says, here's what you need to do. And Arnold persisted. Over and over, they went over the plan of taking West Point and the strong and the weak points. And Arnold insisted. Andre kept saying, I'm not taking those documents. I've been commanded by General Henry Clinton, the commander in chief of the British army in America. I am not to wear a disguise to make myself look like a civilian. I'm not to take papers. I'm not to go behind the enemy line. I've got three orders from my general and I don't want to do none of it. Arnold kept insisting until he put the papers in his sock down at his foot and then put his foot in his boots. Then at a Smith's house, he puts on a civilian coat. And then Smith takes him till he gets close to Tarrytown, behind these, behind enemy lines. Everything that Clinton told him not to do is exactly what he did. He would have never, ever, ever, ever done such a foolish thing had not Andre had a friend. You better choose your friends wisely. Amen. George Washington received after Andre was captured, he received letters from General Henry Clinton arguing that Andre had operated under a flag of truce. Well, you can throw all that out. All that reason is just not gonna work because he's in civilian clothes. He's got documents of how to take West Point. He's behind enemy lines. It's a little bit too late to be trying to claim a flag of truce. When they would bring a flag of truce, it'd be like the British officer and the American officer meeting together to talk about exchanging troops or something along that line. And notice here, Andre's captured. General Clinton goes into emotional panic. He loved Andre like his own son. He did everything in his power to save Andre's life, everything. He sent a delegation of men. He sent the royal governor of New York to go talk to George Washington. Washington wouldn't even talk to him. He sent Nathaniel Green, his second in command, to deal with him. Arnold composes a formal memorandum where Arnold, just like Andre, threatens Washington. Arnold said if he hangs, we're gonna hang a bunch of American POWs, threatening them. Andre done the same thing. He acted like the charm had never been a charmer like him. Oh, Alexander Hamlin wrote Eliza Schuyler, his future wife, and said, I wish I was a charmer like him. And I mean, oh, Andre is such a charmer that in a few days, he had Alexander Hamlin eating out of his hand, Benjamin Talmadge. They're all a crime. They're all emotionally overcome because Andre had that kind of charm, but he didn't have enough charm. to get out of the hangman's noose. Clinton is the commander-in-chief of the British Empire on American soil, but he don't have enough power to reverse what Andre has done. Oh, Arnold took full blame. He said, as commander of West Point, he came under my protection. I delivered confidential papers. I directed him to return the land. I directed him to make use of the famed name, John Anderson. I gave him my passports to pass to White Plains, New York. or where else he needed to go. And since he was under my direct order, he needs to be let go from execution. Now, ain't that real smart? A man just sold out West Point trying to say he just done it under my command. Boy, you see how, you see the web that we weave, that tangled web. when first we practice to deceive? Oh yeah. Now, when, of course, these three boys, you know, I got into all that last week, and I'm gonna skip all that. So Andre, he tried to buy them boys off, and they couldn't be bought off. And they've got him, I mean, dead to right. George Washington is gonna inform Clinton that he's not gonna try him. He's gonna let a tribune try him. Nathaniel Green, Baron von Steuben, Robert Howe, Samuel Parsons, and Henry Knox. Marquis de Lafayette are gonna be the ones that try him. None of them wanna put him to death, none of one of them do, but they have to. The law's been, he's a spy. They can't let this go by. What he's done is too serious. How in the world are you gonna ever put the fear in people not to be a spy if you slap them on the wrist and let them go? All this violation of women. Do you know in American history, armed robbery, kidnapping, premeditated murder, and rape brought the death penalty. And when we quit putting men to death for rape, it's when all this raping started. And now with DNA, you say, well, a lot of innocent men might get accused. I guarantee you, if you was gonna be put death by that, you'd be real smart about some of the things you did. Amen. There is no perfect system. I'm just telling you how America used to be. It honored motherhood, modesty, and virginity. Arnold composed a set of arguments He said, I gave him the alias John Anderson. And my particular impressing instance, he said, I exchanged my uniform. He's coming clean. I furnished him with a horse saddle and pointed out the route to return. Smith told that, I mean, Andre, he says, Washington, you got John Andre, that's who I am. He admitted to the whole thing. And he thought just because he confessed it, he'd be let go. That does not undo the act. There are some things must be punished. That's exactly right. And that's true in this story. How we see here, how that Andre's charm could not win the day. George Washington said, good God, what a coup. If it had been successful, I'll agree, it would have finished the rebellion immediately. Now John Andre, 30 years old, charmer. Very good looking man. He was a writer, playwright. He done theatricals, started theaters. I'm talking about a man just got it all. All the charm. But what he did can't be reversed. And it's so serious. I don't think he ever seen the seriousness of what he did. And a lot of people are so hard-hearted and they have no conscience, they don't understand the seriousness of violations in this life that you can't fix. Now you can get forgiveness by God and thank God you can, but there are some things can't be reversed. John Andre at high noon, October the 2nd, 1780. He wrote Washington a letter and said, I have resigned to my fate. Could I have one request? Let me die the death of a British officer. Let me die the death of a firing squad. Washington said, you're gonna die the death of a spy. Now Washington didn't tell him that then. All the way when Andre was, that morning Washington sent him breakfast from his own table. His servant from New York came with a brand new British uniform. Andre, man, the charmer he was, the well-dresser he was. He put on that uniform. He took his long black hair and put it in a ponytail and put it up under his hat. He had the looks. He had to walk. He steps out of that stone house where he's been for four days and the soldiers are lined up. He's got about a mile to walk. There is the wagon with a black coffin for him. And Washington's in his headquarters with the shutters closed. He won't even look at him. John Andre said, I'll walk. He walks among the crowd and people he knew he is bound. One little old girl runs up to him and gives him a peach and he's going through the crowd while they're playing the funeral or the death march on drums and the five. He gets about half a mile within the hill where they're gonna hang him. And he sees it's not firing squad. It so jokes him that involuntarily he steps back and pauses. And the man, the officer that was with him, he said, sir, why the emotion? It was as though Andre was gonna be brave to the end. He said, I accept my fate, but I despise the mood. John Andre walks up. When he gets up there at the hangman's noose, he's gonna stand on the black coffin as they put the rope around his neck. He's standing there on that black coffin. He comes up to the wagon. He tried, boy, tough man gonna be brave then. He steps up on that wagon and his knees buckle. and he starts to fall and he grabs hold of that tailpiece, pulls himself up and he's standing up on that black coffin. The death charge or the charge of death, what he's done is read to him as he stands there. And then they asked him, said, sir, Mr. Andre, do you have anything to say? Deathly silence. He says, I have nothing more to say, gentlemen, but this. You all bear me witness. I meet my fate as a brave man. Wow, ain't that wonderful? I would rather meet my fate in repentance. I'm about to face God in the fires of hell if I'm not saved. It ain't time to be brave. Earlier that morning when his servant brought in his uniform, he was overwhelmed with emotion. He said, sir, you leave this room and don't come back till you can act more manly. The hangman was a loyalist. Back in those days, it was traditional that the hangman disguise himself with black soot. He took that black soot and put it all over his face where nobody could see him. And being a loyalist, the executioner, the hangman, they would give him his freedom if he'd do this act. That soot, blackened-faced loyalist got up on that wagon, got up beside of Andre and said, sir, he took the rope. Andre looked at him and said, you get your black hands off of me. Andre took that hat off, let that ponytail down, took that rope. He tightened that thing up around his neck, took a white silk handkerchief, tied it around his head to cover his eyes. And the hangman jumped down and whipped the horses and they took off. And Andre hit so hard, he swung for a little bit and then was silent. 30 minutes later, they take him down, put him in a hole and dug on that hill. Sometimes you can't fix. Sometimes you can't reverse. When your wicked friends, when you're sitting in jail, they're not gonna be there to see you. There'll probably be horse life in you somewhere. You know what happened four years before? Let me see if I can find the date right quick. Four years before September 22nd, 1776. Old Talmadge, Benjamin Talmadge, was asked by Andre. Andre got Talmadge under such a spell of friendship. Old Talmadge said, when I seen him hang, I've never had nothing in my life affect me like that. And so they're going down the road. Andre's about to be tried, and he asked old Talmadge, said, sir, what do you think they'll do to me? He said, you ever heard of Nathan Hale? They hang him. He said, you think our situations are similar? He said, they're exactly the same. He said, what shall be my fate? He said, the same fate. Four years before Captain Nathan Hale had been hanged as a spy by the British, the colonists never forgot how they treated Nathan Hale. without the shadow of even a trial. He was denied a copy of the Bible. They would not let Nathan Hale even have a Bible. The British would not let him have a clergyman in his last moments. Nobody there to comfort him, nobody there to pray for him. And that got under the skin of the colonists so bad, they never got over that. Because back then it was big time having a preacher by when you're going to die. Having God's Word read. You remember the story, Nathan Hale said, I only regret I have but one life to lose. for my country. The last words of John Andre, gentlemen, bear me witness. I meet my fate as a brave man. What a difference. Andre's buried on the hill in Tapan, New York. 40 years later, the British government will disinter his remains, rebury them in a place of high honor. London's Westminster Abbey, the most honorable place anybody could ever be buried. Alexander Hamilton wrote in the midst of his enemies, he died universally esteemed and universally regretted. John Andre was 30 years old. Young people, adults, you want to get corrupted? Run with the wrong crowd. That's all you got to do. Because they will break you down. Because there is demonic power in sin. You can get blindsided. How many young girls see a young girl, they're so emotionally give themselves to certain things. And a lot of times old boys just owe a hard hearted callous one to gratify their flesh. Then when they get what they want, they leave her. like some stranger hitchhiking on the road. Won't call them, never want to see them again. Proverbs 19, six, many will entreat the favor of the prince and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. Price John of Dabbanamnon, Many will entreat the favor of a prince and every man's a friend to him that giveth gifts. Proverbs 27, six, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. So I'm begging you, young people, especially, you better believe this Bible. You do not have life's experiences. You do not have life's experiences. You don't know the traps Satan can set. You don't know the power in your breast. You don't know the destructive power of that depraved nature. Believe this. Do what this says. I wonder how many out there today on meth, they can't get free. You know where they got it? From a friend. From a friend. And some of their friends are even kin to them. Jonadab and Amnon. How many cousins has taught cousins how to sin? That's exactly right. You run with the wrong filthy crowd and that filthy talk. I hate rudeness. I hate filthy talk. I despise it. Some things ought to not be said between a man and his wife, and that ought to be respectful. Amen. Ain't this old-fashioned Sunday? If I was you, I'd do it like God said. You said, well, preacher, how do I know? Listen, we all slip up at times. You might have done something different than I did. Hey, listen to me. I've been wrapped around trees. I've had car wrecks. Listen, I shouldn't even be here. I've done a lot of things as stupid as stupid is can get to impress a bunch of boys. Oh yeah. I could get into a bunch of stories here. There ain't no need to. All you adults has got your stories. You know I'm telling it right. You know this is right. Young people, please, please don't destroy your life. How can I marry right? Ask God who to marry. He ain't gonna give you a dud. He'll give you, you say, well, I've messed up and I'm just doing the best I can. Well, then you do that. You do that. Sometimes you deal yourself, I hate to use this illustration, chance that you come on, sometimes you deal yourself a real bad hand. What do you do? I don't believe in gambling. Do the best you can. Boy, if I could go back and relive life, but you can't. Don't let it defeat you, but at least use it for the glory of God to tell others. I want to tell you how Satan got me. I want to tell you how it happened. I want to warn you. Amen. I love y'all. Parents, you got a job that, oh Lord, you got my sympathy. The devil's got so much to offer our kids, my soul. They need to get genuinely really saved, strong, and live the life. Amen. I can go on and on. Let's bow our heads in prayer. This sermon is not to, it's really to warn. Some of us adults, we've done some things we can't undo. You can't undo that first drink and all that stuff that he used to do. You know what I'm trying to say.