What If?

Introduction

Had some wonderful singing led by Brother Jim Duke this morning, whose pinch hitting, as the scheduled song leader was not here, Brother Jim, as always, did a wonderful job, focusing our hearts and minds on following the words, being taught and listening to the words of Christ. If you will open your Bibles with me to 1 Samuel chapter 23. And 1 Samuel chapter 23, and our reading this morning will begin in verse 6. And 1 Samuel chapter 23 and verse 6. As you’re turning there, I want to think about perhaps one of the most tantalizing two words that someone can say. Now, these two words are words that can make our minds go in any number of directions, whether good or bad. It gets us thinking. Even someone who doesn’t like thinking, it can get you thinking.

1. What If David Had Stayed?

Those words are, what if? Isn’t this world just full of what if questions? What if I hadn’t been here? What if I hadn’t said that? What if I had said those words I was thinking? Consider that as you read with me. 1 Samuel chapter 23, beginning in verse 6. When Ibathar, the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah. He had come down with an epit in his hand. Now it was Saul, it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars. And Saul summoned all the people to war to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Ibathar the priest, bring the Ephid here. Then David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord the God of Israel, please tell your servant. And the Lord said, He will come down. Then David said, Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will surrender you. Now, if you stop the reading right there, it seems pretty clear what’s going on. Well, what’s going on? Saul is after David.

In fact, he’s got him in the right place. He’s in a he’s in a city that has the bars and the walls. He is going to be stuck there. And so David inquires of the Lord these two questions in verse 11. The first one are, are the men of Keilah, are they going to surrender me? And the second one, more troubling, will Saul come down? As your servant has heard? Well, the answer to both was yes, this is going to happen. Now, if we refresh in our memories, how many times has what the Lord say will come to pass fail? Well, if you’re asking if the question is, how often does it fail? That’s zero percent of the time. What the Lord has said will come to pass, period.

But consider how the story continues in verse 13. Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition, and David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph, and Saul sought him every day. But God did not give him into his hand. So we’re at this dilemma, if you will, is what the Lord saying was going to come to pass? Did that happen? Well, what did the Lord say would happen? Again, examining those two questions in verse 11 with me. The first one, will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand?

Now the answer to that was, they will surrender you. The second one is, Is Saul coming down? Yes, he is. What you have heard is right. So it sounds like David’s in trouble, but he leaves. If he had stayed, what would have happened? Here is our what if question. What if David had stayed there? Well, that question seems pretty easy to answer, doesn’t it? The Lord has said, What will happen? The men are going to surrender him, Saul’s going to come down, and that’s not going to be a pleasant meeting. Saul is seeking to kill him. But fortunately David made a good decision. And the what if is only if he had stayed, if he had not made a good choice. But consider with me in Genesis chapter three.

2. What If We Make Bad Decisions?

On the other hand, you have Adam and Eve. Now this is a story we’re pretty familiar with. And in Genesis chapter three, we see the characters Adam and Eve. And of course, in verse one, the other character we see present here in this exchange beginning in verse one. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. But God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die.

The serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. Following in the chapter, we see God approach them. He confronts them for their sin, and as we’re going to read later on this morning, Lord willing, the punishment was meted out for this transgression of God’s law.

But I have a lot of questions. The question in terms of what if is, what if we make bad decisions? What does that mean? If I consider my past year, and this is the last Sunday of this calendar year, I can think back and find a lot of happy memories. And that’s a wonderful thing. We should take think of take a second and consider all that’s happened. People have been born, friends have been made, families have been strengthened, bonds have been forged. But I can also realize that if I’m honest, and I think back to this past year, I wish I could have taken a lot of things back. And you know what’s easy to do in my mind is to say, what if I just hadn’t done this?

What if I just hadn’t said that? Well, as we move forward, we need to consider what those decisions were and learn for them. Can we examine something about Adam and Eve here? They made f bad decisions, and so they faced up evil. I have a lot of questions about Eve. Will you look with me at verse two again? And the woman said to the serpent, question number one, where are they? Right near what? The one tree that they were not to be eating of. In Genesis chapter 2 and verse 16, and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

And as the rest of the reading, including in verse 5 and 6 continues, we know that Eve was able to see what was on the tree. Now my question is, what if she had not been standing right there, right near the one tree she should not have been near? Should not have eaten of. Now, you can continue that question. You see in verse 1 this character introduced, and in verse 4, the lie the serpent gives. You will not surely die. My question is, what if Eve didn’t reason with the serpent? What if she just said, I know what God’s law is on this, and I will not hear any more of it? The story would have ended quite differently, wouldn’t it? I have another question as we continue on in the verses six and seven.

Who else ate of that tree? Well, in verse six, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Now, I don’t know exactly where Adam was when the serpent and Eve’s dialogue was beginning in chapter 3. But at some point, Adam was with her. And at some point, at an absolute minimum, Adam should have taken the leadership role and said, We will not do this. I will not violate God’s command. And perhaps if he was with her the entire time, he could have stepped in and kept her from eating. And so you think about what ifs in your mind, and I consider, what if Adam had embraced his role that God certainly has given to the man today, to be the head of the household, to be the spiritual leader in the family?

Or in the case of Eve, and this is perhaps most troubling in verse 6, so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and there was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she ate of it. What if, proximity aside, Adam’s leadership aside, what if Eve just didn’t stare into and consider what she knew would result in her death? She knew that. In verse 2, she recited the law. And in fact, in verse 3, she added the fact that you shouldn’t even touch it. That wasn’t given in Genesis chapter 2. That may very well have been part of the law. But she certainly knew. Why would she do that? Well, what would have happened if all of that sin had never taken place?

3. Give No Opportunity to the Devil

We’re going to see that as we move forward. But consider that as easy as that is, if I make poor choices this year, if I make poor choices this very day, if I don’t choose to stop at the line that God has drawn and respect Jesus, my king, then I too will face death. But more than that, I will slip and fall. How easy is it to fall? Look with me in Ephesians chapter 4. Consider just a couple of these passages and consider what an easy temptation these are to give into, not just once, but perpetually, once we give in, once we consider and give in to the fruit, as Eve perhaps did in a different way. In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 25, beginning, Paul writes, therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

Now key in with me on verse 26 and 27. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. And everyone stops there and says, see? Verse 26, we can be angry. Yes. But verse 27, and give no opportunity to the devil. Now, what opportunity does the devil have when I am angry? When I give in to anger and I’m having these thoughts that are stirring because I’m upset, I’m mad, I’m angry, to use the words of Ephesians chapter 4. What place does that give the devil? Well, what does it do? It alters my decision making. I have compromised my ability to be a loving Christian. Do you see in verse 26, how are we to think of others in terms of falsehoods?

These of you speak truth with his neighbor. Well, why? For we are members of one another. Certainly that goes with Jesus’ words in John chapter 13, that we are to love our neighbor. I don’t often make a lot of good decisions in terms of loving my neighbor when I’m angry. How about you? We need to make sure that if I am going to be a Christian, if I’m going to look back on my life, perhaps at the end or when it is over, that I don’t have to look back and say, what if I had just held my tongue? What if I had just suppressed the anger? What if I had not given opportunity to the devil? What if I trained myself to love others the way God designed and expected me to?

Well, all of a sudden, that’s a whole lot of different conversation, isn’t it? Look at me in Hebrews chapter 10. I think you can really see this point punctuated here. In Hebrews chapter 10, beginning in verse 24. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24, we know the Hebrew writer says, and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. And all the more as you see the day drawing near. Now, this is in the bad decision making context, so consider with me what is good decision making. That is verse 24, considering how to stir one another up to love and good works, being that type of Christian, being a part of the body of Christ, and contributing to it.

And verse 25, of course, not neglecting to meet together. Now, what’s interesting about looking back is sometimes when you look back, especially years, and perhaps you’ve ever heard stories about yourself growing up, or you’ve seen your child themselves grow up, and you look and you see these pivotal moments, and you see, that’s where I see they they were like this. This is where they act like that. But you know, when you grow up in a family that always goes to church, that always is at the door Sunday morning, when you make that a habit in your family, what you do on Sunday morning becomes axiomatic. You’re going to church. It’s not a question. You see, the problem is those what if moments are when we stop and consider.

Isn’t that what Eve did in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6? She was considering the fruit of the tree she knew she should not be eating. In a sense, she had lost the battle before concluding the war. You see, if we realize that we are Christians and that we are going to stir one another up to love and good works, we will worship the Lord. Amen. That is axiomatic as a Christian. If I am a Christian, I serve Christ. That includes worshiping Him in spirit and truth. It includes singing praises to the Lord, but also addressing one another in those Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. As I sing and make melody in my hearts to the Lord. It means that if I am going to change my life, if I look back and say, you know what, I missed a couple of services.

Why did that happen? Well, perhaps there were good reasons. But you know, when you’re sick and you’re losing your lunch, so to speak, you don’t miss that time off the next Sunday. You don’t wish you could go back. You wish that you were better. You’d give anything to be a church if you just stop being sick. I have a sick wife. I understand that concept right now. But what if? What if you’re someone who considers, you know what? I have a lot of things to do. My life is busy. If I just miss this one time gathering with the brother, will they really miss me? Does it really make a difference? Certainly God won’t judge me for that. And yet when we look in his word, we see what are we to do?

We’re to stir one another up to love and good works. We are not to neglect the meeting together. That’s just what God’s word says. What if? What if I just decided that this year I will not give opportunity to the devil? I will not allow myself to make decisions when I am compromised in my heart with anger. What if I decide from the onset of the new calendar year? And even this Wednesday that fits into this calendar year. That I will be with the Lord’s people. I will grow in my knowledge of the Lord. I will love the Lord. And Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. If we make that decision from the beginning, we don’t face the upheaval that Adam and Eve faced.

4. We Can Make Those Good Decisions

If we make those decisions now, we don’t face the death that is the consequences of sin, which is lawlessness or transgression of God’s law. And the good news is we can make those good decisions. In fact, if you think about 1 Samuel chapter 23, what did David do? Well, did he stay there? No, he made a good decision. He left. And what happened in verse 14? God spared his life. Saul was after him. This world was not nice to David then. Yes, he later became king, but can we analyze where David’s life was in chapter 23? He was fleeing for his life because one who was a king was actively with troops of men pursuing him to kill him. Makes my life seem a lot easier, doesn’t it?

I think about my life problems, and I think about, well, what if I had just not done this? What if I’d just done that? David used his mind. He trusted the Lord. What did he do? He sought out what the Lord had in store. And based on the information of what the Lord had said, he made the decision. Isn’t that what we do? Just in a slightly different way? We can change our lives. Do you see in Philippians chapter 4 what Paul writes there? Turn with me there. To Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. I can never quite tell if we just have a lot of digital Bibles. Or if I need to talk about a bit a lot louder. Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 through 7.

Rejoice in the Lord always again. I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. Now, note verse 7. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now, that’s life-changing, isn’t it? When you have a peace of God that guards your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus, if you are a Christian, if you make the good decision to obey the Lord, to obey God the Father, the Creator, then all of a sudden my life is radically different. I have Acts chapter 2 and verse 38 up on the screen.

If you repent and are baptized, you can do what? Have your sins forgiven. What a blessing. Amen. We can have our sins forgiven. We can do that. We can choose that today. Perhaps maybe I’ve had my sins forgiven. But I’ve made some bad choices. Now I consider the alcoholic who takes the first drink. What if he never had that first sip of alcohol? Or the smoker, what if he never had that first cigarette?

5. We May Change the Lives of Others

What if today I didn’t put off serving the Lord? What might come from that? First of all, my life might be changed. But will you turn to Acts 16 and notice with me, we may change the lives of others. Look at me in Acts chapter 16. This is a powerful passage, and I want to center some concluding thoughts. Don’t get too excited, I have another slide. But I do want to center some concluding thoughts around the text here in Acts chapter 16. We meet beginning in verse 25. We see how Paul and Silas are in prison. And in Acts chapter 16 and verse 25, note this story with me. And think about the jailer, not just himself, but his impact on others. Will you read with me in verse 25?

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, do not harm yourself, for we are all here. And the jailer called for lights and rushed in and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.

And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. And he was baptized at once, he and all his family. They brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. Now stop the reading and go back to verse 27. When the jailer had woke, he saw that the prisoners had escaped, what was his next move going to be? He was about to kill himself. I want to consider with you for a moment, what is your impact? What is my impact on other people? Consider what the jailer could have done.

If he took his life that very night, what impact would he have had? What situation would his household have been in? Can we not agree that they would have, at least for the night being, not won the most important battle to win? They would not have been saved that very evening. If the Philippian jailer had taken his life, he was removed from this world by choice or by consequence of someone else even. His family would not have been prepared for the day of judgment. If I am removed from this life, my chances at impacting others have ceased. And I wonder if maybe I’ve squandered that opportunity up until now. If I have, can I ask the question? What if I decide today I will change? Not just because my life will be different, but because I impact others.

We can’t just stop at the story and say, what if he had died? Because he did not. But notice he didn’t stop there. The story doesn’t end. Well, yay, he saved his life. Note down even in verse 30, he says, What must I do to be saved? And they say, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. You and your household. And in verse 34, who was baptized? Well, we see that he and all his family in verse 33, and he rejoiced along with his entire household in verse 34, that he had believed in God. This man made a good choice. What if he had never committed to God that day? Well, we see what happens. Paul and Silas are in prison. Then Paul and Silas find the jailer.

Now here’s the jailer. He finds Paul and Silas, and he wants to know, I want to be saved. He changed his life with that decision. What if he never asked? His life would not have changed at least that moment? What if he had never asked? His household’s life would not have changed. We can make a difference. We must. Consider that if just one person was adopted, and if that person was adopted into a family with two Christian parents, what impact would that have? I consider if the adopted child would have come from a broken home or home that was not Christ-fearing. Consider what would that impact be? Well, if that child would grow up and be a Christian, perhaps they would marry, perhaps they would meet a man.

Perhaps they and their parents would help convert that man to Christ. Now, that impact of adoption has affected two souls. Now, what if those two souls had two children of their own and they grew up and they became Christians? Now, what if those two, now our count is at four, married other Christians. Now we’re at six, even though they’re not directly responsible for those two, or maybe they would be. And then those two have sets of two children their own. And now you see on the line, one person’s decision, going all the way back to whoever first believed, has impacted not just one person, not just an immediate family, but an entire lineage of souls who can be with the Lord. Is there anything greater than that?

Is there not anything greater than serving the Lord, you and your family? We are all family. That story is not just hypothetical, that is real. Those stories happen. Those life-changing events are out there. And there are people in this audience who have lived them in this assembly this morning. We can make a difference. So when we consider my life this past year, yes, I may have made bad decisions, and I may consider what if I had not made those? Yes, I may be spared some physical consequences. But those decisions are made. What am I going to do tomorrow? What am I going to do today? What if I decide I will serve the Lord? Or as Joshua said, as for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord.

6. What If We Do Nothing?

We can make a difference. But of course, there is one final option, and that is, what if we do nothing? Now, nothing is a relative term, although nothing generally means zero. What if we do nothing? And by nothing I mean, what if we don’t change a thing? Well, we’re going to face the same problems that we always do. You go back to that decision making by Adam and Eve. Well, you look with me in Genesis chapter 3. What did they face? We never did read this end of the story. Look back in Genesis chapter 3. Note what happened to Adam and Eve. We always wondered, what if they didn’t sin? Well, here’s what happened because they did. In Genesis chapter 3, note in verse 16, as God is speaking to the woman.

He said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. Thanks, Eve. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life, thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

The cost for sin was high. It was death, it was separation. Do you see in verse 22? Then the Lord God said, Behold the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now lest he reach out his hand and take also the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man. And at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. What if they hadn’t made that decision? I don’t know exactly how the Lord’s plan would have played out.

I do know that in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, as a consequence of sin already the Lord made provisions for us. That is, he spoke of the Christ to come, the seed of woman, who would crush the head of he who had the power of death, if we link it together with Hebrews chapter 2. But will you consider with me what if? What if in verse 16? Women didn’t have pain in childbearing. Her husband ruling over them. What if Adam didn’t have to work cursed ground, and by the sweat of his face eat bread till we return to the ground? Where would Adam and Eve be? Well, the only consequence we can consider is that they would not have been cast out of where they already were, in the Garden of Eden, near the Lord, with access to the tree of life.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, we want to be with God. And if we don’t want to have the same problems happen to us year after year after year, it’s time to fix it. When I look back and say, what if I had just changed? I need to look forward and say, I will change. Not I can, not I should, I will, because with the Lord’s self, we can do anything. If we put the Lord first and we’re willing to work at it, we can accomplish those things. And frankly, if we do nothing, we will not win souls for Christ. Our family tree, our co-workers, our business, it will not turn to the Lord. Souls will not find Christ. And is there a bigger price to pay? Saul, perhaps if you consider your own.

If we do nothing, we will alter our eternity because doing nothing means I’m going to commit the same problems, perhaps the same sins, year after year. That is not what God expects of his children. God expects his children to love him and to keep his commandments. Are we ready for this year? What if we knew of a society? What if there was a church where everyone said, I’m going to talk to someone about Jesus this day, this week? What if all 200 of the members of this congregation decided I will spread the good news in any way I can, be it a gospel meeting, handout, be it an open invitation to a Bible study or hosting a Bible study yourselves? What would that be like? Do we think those consequences would be good or bad?

Are we going to choose the consequences of devastation and eternal death? But what if we serve God? Let’s choose life. Choose life today. Decide, today, I will change my life, and maybe in so doing, change the life of others. You can do that today. Because of what Peter said. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we can be forgiven. We can turn to Him this day. We can change our eternity. If we can help you in any way with that, consider acting now. What if you wait? We don’t know. What if you act now? You can have your sins forgiven. Can I have you? Come forward as we stand and sing if you wish to answer that invitation.