Amen, we certainly appreciate your prayers at Sovereign Grace Reformed Baptist Church for us. It's an encouragement to know we have brethren that love us and pray for us. And likewise, we do the same for you. I can assure you of that. I have witnesses and testimonies here that can prove that sitting back there. Some folks from our church came tonight. And sure enough, we do pray for you. We love you. We appreciate you. We're going to look to the word of God. Let's look to him in prayer one more time to ask him to give us wisdom as we go to his word. Father, we do thank you for Jesus Christ, the living and true word, and we thank you for the word of God written that we hold in our hands, that we can read from which we gain wisdom and understanding. All that we need to know about you is contained therein. All that we need to know about ourselves is contained therein. Father, we pray that you would make us wise to eternal life through your word and wise to live our lives through your word. We thank you, Father, for your grace and mercy, and we look to your spirit now to do that which we cannot do and would give you thanks in Jesus name. We pray. Amen. Amen. Turn to a second Samuel, chapter 15, please. It was about a month ago in our own church. I wanted to preach a message for our graduates. We had a large number of high school and college graduates this year, and I wanted to give them a word, especially for them. And in my devotional reading came across this particular account. Pastor Thomas was telling me that he reached through the one year Bible, too. I would really encourage you to do that. It's a great tool. The one year Bible is a good discipline, a good way to go through the scriptures. And about a month ago, this happened to be the passage. And I was reading it and I said, there it is. There's what we need. And I'm going to preach it for you tonight. I didn't know these guys were coming to get seconds on that, but that's OK. Well, there'll be a quiz afterwards and you can tell us, you know, how much you remember their second Samuel, chapter 15. It's a fairly obscure passage, because what you have is you have a man named Ahithophel and he's not well known, but he was a very important man. And the message is entitled The Life and Death of Ahithophel. And we'll have to go to three different chapters and little pieces of it to get it all together. And that's why I think he's kind of not as well known as maybe some others, because it talks a little of him and then it goes on to other subjects. Then he's mentioned again on to other subjects and then the conclusion of his life and basically just told in a verse, in a nutshell. And off we go. Well, hopefully we can gather some good practical information and good practical warnings from the life and death of a hit that fell. And one of the things that I think we need to know as we get older is that we simply don't know everything. Right. And that's why we value education. That's why we need to work hard. That's why we need to learn. That's why we need to read and be students of the scripture. And that's really just. All I'm trying to say is, the more we learn, the more we actually ought to know that we don't know. We ought to become more and more humble all of the time. And we all need mentors. We need wise counselors. We need those that will help us see the things that are true. One of the worst things that happens to to young teens, even mid-teens, young adults, is they think they know it all and they don't listen. And of course, that's a terrible thing when that happens. You know, wise counsel is a good thing. And if you found a counselor who will help you and tell you the truth, if you have a friend and a companion like that, well, you found someone worth their weight in gold. And that's a great thing. Even in presidents need counselors. In fact, as a general rule, a president will only be as effective. President of the United States, for instance, will only be as effective as the counselors that he has and the counsel that he receives. Kings need counselors. David, the king that we're talking about here, who is considered, well, a very wise man, had a very wise counselor whose name was Ahithophel. And when he spoke, people took it as though it were the very word of God. Now, it wasn't the word of God. It's important for us to note that. But that's how weighty it was. And that's how wise this man happened to be. So what we come to is this particular passage here. You might notice 2 Samuel 15 is labeled Absalom's treason. David's own son tries to wrest the kingdom away from David and actually successfully does so for a short period of time. And you would think a man like David, a man after God's own heart, a very popular man, a man that was loved, a man that had done great things for Israel, would be immune to such kind of an overthrow. But this was in God's providence, too, and this was also part of God's punishment, God's just punishment on David because of his sin and his own seed, his own son, Absalom, rises up in treason against him. with the very heart and mind of killing his father and taking his kingdom. And it's an incredible account, and Ahithophel is part of it. So let's look at chapter 15, verse 10. I know you know the story well, so we're just going to talk about Ahithophel here. 1510, the Nabsalim sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, Absalom reigns in Hebron. And with Absalom went 200 men from Jerusalem who were invited, and they went along innocently and did not know anything. Then Absalom sent for Ahithophel, the Gileadite, David's counselor from his city, namely from Gilho, and he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong for the people with Absalom continually increased in number. And a messenger came to David saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom. So, David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, arise and let us flee or else we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest you overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us and strike the city with the edge of the sword. And you could see even the compassionate heart of King David here to spare his own city, warfare and bloodshed. He was willing to leave. He could have stayed and made a bloody stand that very day and probably would have won. But to spare the others, he felt the best course of action was for himself to leave. But as bad as that was, and that was bad to have your own son fighting against you, having to flee from your kingdom, as bad of news as all that was, there was more bad news for David. Look at verse 30 and verse 31. After saying some other things, as David has fled the city, so David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives and wept as he went up and had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who are with him covered their heads and went up weeping as they went up. Then someone told David saying, I hit the bell is among the conspirators with Absalom. Stop right there for a moment. Now, if you want to read the heart of David and all of this, we won't look at it tonight, but Psalm 41, Psalm 42, Psalm 43 were most likely written during this particular time. And Psalm 41 nine is that very familiar verse. My familiar friend who ate at my table is lifted up his heel against me. And we know that prophetically it speaks about Judas Iscariot. But as David wrote that he was no doubt thinking of Ahithophel. This man who was his counselor, this man who had been his guide, this man who knew his innermost secrets. And that's what made Ahithophel so dangerous. He knew everything about David. He knew the way that David thought he had helped to shape David's thinking. In fact, he knew David's secrets. He knew his strengths. He knew his weaknesses. And he was a wise man. And now he was on the side of the conspiracy, probably one of the leading lights of the conspiracy. And David's told the news. Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom, and David knew that, humanly speaking, Ahithophel was the kind of man who could make this conspiracy work and that it would be possible without the direct intervention of the Lord that it would be Absalom, not David, who would be the king. Now, before we go on in the scripture, let's just ask a human question here, because I think it's worth asking. Why would a man like Ahithophel join a conspiracy like this? Why would he fight against God? And why would he fight against God's anointed man? Why would he fight against a man who he had obviously seen blessed so many times? Well, there really is no scriptural answer to that. So we're going to be left a little bit into the realm of speculation. But if you'll excuse me for a few moments, let's go ahead and do that. I've told you ahead of time, it's speculation. So I do realize we just don't know his secret motives. The Bible doesn't tell us, but we do know a few things about him. And it would appear from the things that he's going to say, and you're going to read a few moments that he certainly wasn't a godly man. No, was he a man that cared about God at all? He was a politician. He was a counselor. He knew the ways of politics. He knew the ways of the world. He knew the ways to manipulate people. But his name actually means brother of impiety of all things from the Hebrew. And that's certainly what he was. And it appears that he did not have any kind of experiential knowledge of God, but he knew about God. And from everything he knew about God. And everything he had watched happen. He had come evidently to the conclusion that God was no longer with David. If you remember just a few chapters earlier, we've seen some pretty tumultuous times. The kingdom was in disarray. There was much dissatisfaction in the eyes of the people. The whole Bathsheba incident had become known. And David, who had been wildly popular, was now in disgrace. And in the face of this open and blatant sin, in the face of some obvious judgments of God, it would appear that Ahithophel felt no fear in going against God's anointed and joining forces with Absalom. But for what it's worth, Jewish tradition tells us something else. And a few commentators pick up on this, too. And I've tried to research it as best I can. Whether it's true or not, I really don't know. I think it's somewhat debatable. But Arthur Pink and others believe that actually Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba. And they have reason, possible reason, trying to link things together to find that out. If Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba, if that was true, Then it would give you another possible idea. In fact, many of the ancient rabbis speculate that. And in fact, many of the ancient rabbis speculate that Ahithophel's motives may have been as simple as revenge against David because of the Bathsheba and Uriah incident. Or it could have been even a motive of power that Ahithophel felt that if he could have Absalom take the throne, Absalom could be easily manipulated. And he could certainly take the throne from Absalom, and he himself would be king of Israel. But we really don't know any of that to be true. We don't know any of that. It's possible. And we do know human nature to be such that it could be. But whatever his motivation was, we know that he did it. He helped to form a conspiracy. And that brings us to the rest of verse 31. David is told the horrible news, a hit the fell is among the conspirators with Absalom. And notice what David's response is. And David said, oh, Lord, I pray turn the council of a hit the fell into foolishness. Now, that, my friends, is a very wise prayer. The hit the fell was a wise man, a hit the fell was a respected man, a hit the fell was a man that would give sound and strong advice. David's prayer prayer that would be remarkably answered, it would actually be answered in a way that David wouldn't expect. But a prayer that would be remarkably answered was such that, well, the Council of Ahithophel wouldn't necessarily be foolishness, but the fools that he gave it to wouldn't listen. And so that's the way that it would work out. David's response was a good response, because when he heard the terrible news, what did he do? He prayed, right? He immediately prayed and say, oh, woe is me. He didn't hang his head. He didn't give up. Instead, he immediately went to the Lord and something that we can all learn from that, certainly whatever challenges come our way, whatever difficulties come our way, whatever opposition comes our way, and it certainly will come. We need to remember, we don't face these challenges alone. We can go to the God. We can go to seek him in prayer. We can seek his face. We can go to him, for he's the one who works all things for good to those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose. That brings us to the next character in this account. And he's another relatively obscure man named Hushai. And Hushai is a spy, and it kind of rhymes, so you can remember that. Who shied the spy? And there are there is a moral issue that we could deal with here, but I'm not your pastor, so I won't do that. And and it's a sticky issue. So I'll just mention it and then your pastors can answer it later. There you go. No, no problem. But whose job was obviously to deceive Absalom and give him bad information. And you'll see that in just a second and in a war, you call this a campaign of disinformation. And I won't even try to get into the moral issue of whether that was right or wrong or whether David was leaning on the hand of flesh and what he asks here, it makes for a lively debate and you'll find solid reform men on both sides of the issue. But let's read what transpires in verse 32 through 37, which no doubt did happen under the providence and guiding hand of God. Now it happened, by the way, I like that when whenever the Bible put something like that, I think it's those of us that understand the absolute sovereignty of God. When you read something like it just so happened or it came to be just by chance, so to speak, even there's no such thing as chance of accidents, is there? God directing behind the whole thing. Now, it happened when David had come to the top of the mountain where he worshipped God, that there was Hushai, the archite, coming to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head. And David said to him, if you go on with me, then you'll become a burden to me. Why would he say that? Well, Hushai was an old man. He wasn't going to be a man of war. He was going to have a hard time keeping up with the troops. David knew it was going to be a difficult time. And so it could be a very, actually very disadvantaged thing for Hushai to go with David, even though he was loyal to him. But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king, just as I've been your father's servant previously. So I will now also be your servant. Then you may defeat the council of Ahithophel for me. And you'll note that's exactly what Hushai does, even using the same wording when he talks to Absalom. And do you not have Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, with you there? Therefore it will be that whatever you hear from the king's house, you shall tell to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. Indeed, they have with them their two sons, Ahimaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son. And by them you shall send me everything you hear. So Hushai, David's friend, went into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem. And you can see the pride and pomp of that very last sentence as Absalom comes in as a conquering king, believing that he has accomplished his purposes. His father is running like a coward and he can run in and take over the throne and be the king. David prays for Ahithophel's council to be overthrown. Here comes Hushai. Another trusted and respected counselor, maybe not as respected as I hit the bell, but trusted nonetheless. And you can see how David trusts him so much. He tells him everything, tells him who the other ones are that are there that he can trust, tells him who we can talk to and who we can get information to that will get the information to David. And we see his service to Absalom. Look at verse six or chapter 16. Skip down to verse 15. That's why I say we have to skip through here a little bit, leaving out certain parts. We're talking about the life and death of Ahithophel, though. Verse 15 of 16. Meanwhile, Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel came to Jerusalem and Ahithophel was with him. And so it was when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, came to Absalom that Hushai said to Absalom, Long live the king. Long live the king. I just want you to think about that for a moment. Kind of an ironic statement, isn't it? Because who does Hushai consider to be the real king? Hushai is a kind of a clever fella here. And the way he goes about this, as you'll read, he actually flatters and Absalom naturally takes it in. Oh, he's talking about me. He's praising me. Well, he will finally come right out and deceive him at the end, saying the same words that David told him to say. But Ahushai is a wise man. Long live the king! Long live the king! So Absalom said to Ahushai, Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend? And Ahushai said to Absalom, No, but whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel choose, his I will be, and with him I'll remain. Stop again. You see it there? Pretty obvious, isn't it? Who was the one chosen by God? Who was the real king? Who had the men of Israel chosen? I'll be his servant with him. I'll remain. And then he uses the words of David in verse 19. Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve in the presence of his son as I've served in your father's presence? So I will be in your presence. So there we have it. And so now a decision needs to be made. What's going to happen next? Verse 20. Absalom said to Ahithophel, give counsel as to what we should do. And Ahithophel said to Absalom, go into your father's concubines, whom he's left to keep in the house, and all Israel will hear that you are bored by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong. So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house and Absalom went into his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. And the Council of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had inquired at the Oracle of God. So was all the Council of Ahithophel, both with David and with Absalom. But you know as well as I do that God would never counsel such a wicked and awful thing, especially in the sight of all the people. But why would that happen? Well, there's a reason if the fellow is a smart guy, like I said, and he wanted to drive a wedge between father and son. That was so strong that David couldn't possibly accept Absalom back. See, he knew David well, and he knew that David had a problem. David had a real problem. David just couldn't say no to any of his kids. That's the kind of father you'd always been. couldn't say no. He spoiled them, gave them whatever they wanted. And when you're the king, you can give a lot of things. And he did. And he was not really the ideal father at all, and he was anything but a disciplinarian. David is what we'd call an indulgent father. Whatever his children wanted, they got. And really, there's no surer way to spoil a child than to do that. And that's exactly what David did. His son, Amnon, you might remember, I was told, whatever you ask of your father, he will give it to you. And the Bible's comment is his father never told him no. And, of course, that turned out very badly, as you might recall, and that's the way even Solomon was raised. And you can see that one of the problems that Solomon would have, even though he was the wisest man that had lived, it was his self-indulgence that was his undoing. Well, Ahithophel knew. that David would have a plan. And he also knew that David would do every single thing he could to make sure that Absalom would not be killed and would not be harmed. In fact, if you remember the rest of the story, that's exactly what he tells his counselors. Go out to the war, but don't harm that young man. Bring him back alive. I hit the bell, knew that David would do that, and I hit the bell, was afraid that somehow David and Absalom might reconcile. and come together and form an alliance, maybe some kind of a co-regnancy. And what do you think is going to happen to Ahithophel in a situation like that? For David may have all the compassion in the world on his son, but how much compassion is he going to have on his counselor that set the whole conspiracy up? So Ahithophel developed a plan which made sure there could be no reconciliation between David and Absalom, drive a final wedge between them. And this was a blatant and shocking display of Ahithophel and Absalom's absolute disdain for David. And it was also a fulfillment of Nathan's prophecy to David. During his sin with Bathsheba, just flip back to chapter twelve. Flip back to chapter twelve and you see the words of Nathan, the prophet, to David. When Nathan tells the parable of the little lamb that was taken and killed and eaten when the man had giant flocks of his own. And David says that man deserves to die, and Nathan, the prophet, boldly stands before the king and says, Thou art the man. And David received it. Chapter 12, verse nine. Nathan tells David, why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? You've killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You've taken his wife to be your wife, and you've killed him with the sword of the people of Amnon. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you've despised me, that's God, and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord, behold, I'll raise up an adversary against you from your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor. And he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun for you did it secretly. But I'll do this thing before all Israel, before the sun. It was no accident what happened here. It was the fulfillment of prophecy as Ahithophel gives the counsel and Absalom wickedly follows the counsel that's given. Well, let's go to chapter 17 and see what happens next. Now, we've got further advice to give. Moreover, I hit the bell said Absalom. Now, let me choose twelve thousand men and I will arise and pursue David tonight. I will call upon him while he's weary and weak and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee and I will strike only the king. Then I will bring back all the people to you. When all return, except the man whom you see, then all the people will be at peace. And the Saints, please, Absalom and all the elders of Israel, But Ahithophel had made one gigantic mistake as he gave this advice. Ahithophel had an eye problem. Did you notice that? I will do this. I will do this. I will do this. And he forgot that he was talking to another man who had an eye problem. Because Absalom wanted to be the guy who was the hero. Absalom wanted to be the one that everybody remembered as the conqueror. Absalom wanted to be the one who was the mighty warrior. He wasn't going to be content to sit in Jerusalem and let Ahithophel and 12,000 men fight his battle. He wanted to be the mighty warrior who would be sung about for years as going out in triumph and taking his father's head. Well, that's Ahithophel's counsel, and it sounded good. And it sounded right. And the saying pleased Absalom. And as we read the rest of the account, we find that it's a plan that without the direct intervention of God would have been successful. It was a wise plan, smart plan, humanly speaking, as I say again, it would have worked. But God can save through normal means. And God can save through supernatural means. And God can save by changing the heart of a king and turning it whithersoever way he will and changing the wills of men. There's nothing more false that's promulgated by the Christian community on the world today than to tell men that men have an absolute free will to do anything they want to do. And the one thing God will never do is do anything to violate their wills. He would never change. He would never touch their wills because God's an absolute gentleman and he would never, ever do anything like that. That's foolishness. And the Bible speaks against it often. So Hithophel gives sound advice, the type of advice that changes kings and kingdoms. But we can insert but God here. The text doesn't say but God, but insert it here, because notice what happens next. This is good advice. Follow it, right? Then Absalom said, verse five, Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he says, too. Why? God. That's why. That's the reason there's a divine intervention taking place here. And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophelos spoke it in this manner. Shall we do as he says? If not, speak up. And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time. That's quite an opening statement there. Because he doesn't call Ahithophel a fool. Because everybody had already applauded Ahithophel's advice. That's really good advice. So if you call Ahithophel a fool, it makes them all seem like fools, too, right? Because they listen to him. But instead he said, no, not at this time. Maybe there's a better way. OK, well, we'll listen to that. And the bulk of it's good advice. And the idea there of going after David and killing him is certainly good advice. But not yet. We have another way that we can go about this. And he discounts Oedipus Fell's advice. And it begins to play on Absalom's fears. Look how he does that. For, said Hushai, you know, your father and his men, they're mighty men and they're enraged in their minds like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is a man of war and he'll not camp with the people. Now, wait a minute. Hushai had just been there. They had dirt on their heads. They're crying and weeping. They were tired. David was with them, you know, But he pictures them as this mighty force. Well, they were a mighty force when they were rested and strong, but they were getting a little up there in age. But they were mighty men, men of war. But Hushai plays it up well here and brings some fear into Absalom. And discounts the fact that David and his men were in retreat and their spirits were low and they were exhausted and really in disarray. Surely by now he's hidden in some pit. or in some other place. And it will be when some of them are overthrown at the first. Some of those 12,000 that hit the bell said to send out, they're going to be ambushed. It's going to be a tremendous slaughter of them. And whoever hears it will say there's a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom. And even he who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt completely. For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men. And you remember all the stories, right? How about the story of David and Goliath? How about the other stories that are accounted for in the scriptures of the 30 mighty men and all the valiant acts that they did? And it was storied. It was told about. They didn't have television those days. They were kind of blessed that way. So they'd sit around and talk about the wonderful works and acts and mighty deeds that took place. And it was storied and well known. So it plays an absolute sphere. Plays on Absalom's insecurities and basically says, look, you're going to go out against an enraged foe. They're going to catch these 12,000 in an ambush. They're going to slaughter them. The other guys are going to run. All of Israel is going to hear it. And you're going to lose the kingdom tonight. You're going to be done for. You'll be king for a day. That's all you get. So listen to the rest of the advice. as he plays on Absalom's pride. Therefore, I counsel that all Israel be fully gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. So we, now he includes himself, we're all on your side, Absalom. So we will come upon him in some place where he may be found. And we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground. And of him and all the men who are with him, there shall not be left so much as one. Remember, Hithophel said, we're just going after one guy. All we want is David. Hushai says, hey, they're all rebels against you. We'll kill them all. Moreover, if he's withdrawn into a city, Then all Israel shall bring ropes to the city and we'll pull it into the river until there's not one small stone found there. Maybe there's a place that's going to give them refuge. They won't last long. We'll get rid of them, too. So Absalom and all the men of Israel said the Council of Hushai, the archive, is better than the Council of Ahithophel. And then here it is. We inserted but God along the way, but now God tells us plainly. For the Lord had purpose to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that the Lord might bring disaster on Absalom. And I don't want to insult your intelligence by saying it, but I know you know what it says. Good counsel doesn't mean that it was morally right. It meant it would have been successful. That's what it talks about, and that's why we were so bold to say that this plan would have worked. But God intervene. Well, The you will do this and you will do that and you'll be a mighty warrior and we're all on your side. It all worked, worked to perfection. And the other thing that Hushai knew and was playing upon was the fact that Absalom would do things the safe and easy way. He knew what kind of a man Absalom was. He'd do things the safe and easy way because Absalom wasn't a man that was fit to be king. A man who would kill his brother Amnon A man who would try to kill his father, David, a man who would gladly tear the kingdom in half for his own good. A man who had every wish granted to him from the time he was a child. Absalom wasn't fit to be a king. It's a self-centered man who'd always had it easy, and he certainly was not God's man. And so the good counsel was defeated. And humanly speaking, we've seen this happen in history over and over again. Sometimes not even biblical history, but as you read history, always remembering that it's God's providence that rules in the affairs of men. You can see in the affairs of how things twist and turn and go unusual ways. And we say if this would have happened, it all would have been different if Germany would have gotten the nuclear bomb before the United States did or the atom bomb. I'm not good enough to know which is which. But if they would have gotten the bomb, the folk, can you imagine? Do you think Hitler would have had restraint? I said, oh, we won't use this. It would be terrible for mankind. No, but God. And you can see how the providence of God works. Well, there's a sad ending to Ahithophel. Not much more is said. And we have to go down to verse twenty three. Now, when I hit the bell, saw that his counsel was not followed. He saddled his donkey and arose and went home to his house, to his city. Then he put his household in order and hanged himself and died. And he's buried in his father's tomb. That's really a very cold way to put it, isn't it? There's no emotion here. It's not even an emotional reaction from a Hippophile. In a very straightforward manner, he decides what he's going to do. He sets out a purpose and he goes and he sets his affairs in order and he does this, he does this, he does this, and then he takes a noose and he puts it around his own neck and he kills himself. Let me just say a word about suicide for a minute here, because I think it is important to mention something like this when we have an opportunity like this in the scriptures. Don't ever think. Don't ever even begin to think. Please don't ever think that suicide is the right answer for any situation, because it is not. It is never the right response. And there's always a better way, and there's always a different way. There's only four suicides in the Bible. When you think about who they are, it's quite shocking. King Saul, who in his madness had opposed David all that time, dies at his own hand. Another king, Zimri, who wickedly killed the king of Israel. Zimri, a rather obscure man, but then takes his own life. Judas Iscariot is a man that took his own life. And Ahithophel, four suicides mentioned in the Bible. And no matter how powerful the words of Satan are. Or whatever voices may even tell you that it's the right thing to do. I would beg you to remember this, please never, ever don't even begin to think that it's the right answer. Now, with Ahithophel, it certainly wasn't any kind of mental illness. It was just the way that he, in his Middle Eastern pride, chose to deal with the situation. In his rebellion, he would do what some people do in suicide. Some people don't commit suicide because of mental problems. Some people do it in pure rebellion against God. And Ahithophel wants to prove that he's still in control. They won't listen to me, but I've still got things under control. I'll put my house in order. I'll do everything I need to do. And then I'm not going to let David, who is going to win the day now, this is certainly over. I'm not going to let David put me to death. I'll take my own life and handle it that way. He was very exacting and rational, even though he was wrong on what he did. And I'm speaking, I know, primarily to Christians tonight. And let us do remember that even though I hit the bell felt that he was in control, he should have known from what happened that God is the one that's in control. And we know that God's in control and we should never forget that, especially when we watch the nightly news. And it's not President Bush that's in control and it's not Osama bin Laden that's in control. And it's not any human leader or human king that's in control. God is in control. And let's remember that even against the forces we battle against, it's not humanism that's in control. It's not the forces of evil. It's not the forces of unbelief. It's not any other religion like Islam. God is in control and he will gain the victory. And the next time you're discouraged because of all the sin you see around you. Remember who's in control, but why should we be discouraged? And why should we lose heart? We're on the side that is guaranteed victory by his grace. But Ahithophel, in closing, is instructive of what happens to every lost man. The man who refuses to bow his knee to the sovereign God. Instead, he follows his own wisdom. Instead, he lives his life as he pleases. Be it his own moral system. Maybe being a good man and trying his hardest to be a father and a provider or whatever it happens to be. He puts his own house in order. He lives for today. He lives for this present world. And little does he know that he's manufacturing a noose. And putting it together strand by strand. And as he lives day by day in rebellion against God, he completes this noose, puts it around his own neck and jumps off. And dies without bowing the knee to the sovereign Lord. The lost man can try to put his house in order. The lost man can try to take control of everything. The lost man. All he's doing is making a noose. All he's doing is putting it around his own neck. All he's doing is sealing his own doom. May God help us to warn those who are in the process of such a foolish activity. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Father, we do come before you. Startled at this historical account of a man who lived so long ago and a man who was so wise, yet was so foolish. You would think with the wisdom that this man, Ahithophel, had. You would think living in the kingdom of Israel and being around the priests and being around David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, and being around those that loved the Lord and certainly hearing daily about the things of the Lord. Somehow, Father, they all ran off the back of this depraved man who only looked towards his own things. Father, there's folks around us that are like a hit the bell. Pray that you would help us, Father, to speak to them properly and not to sin blatantly before them, as David had done. And, Lord, we know, though, that their heart is really to be changed. Ultimately, it'll be you that must change it. So help us to be prayerful in those that we talk to father, help us to not trust our own reasoning or our own wisdom, but to trust in you and ask for their souls and then witness to them to your glory and about your grace. And we give you thanks in Jesus name we pray. Amen. so Pastor Marc Adon, thanks for preaching for us both morning and evening, making the long travel, and send our greetings back to the Church. And again, thank you so much for coming out here to preach, to fill the pulpit for us. And now for the benediction. May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole soul, spirit and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it. Amen. You are dismissed. Have a great week. you