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#1 Offenses Are Coming | Luke 17:1-2 (NKJV)

Jesus Warns of Offenses

1 Then He said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no [a]offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

What is offense?

In the Bible, "offense" refers to anything that causes someone to stumble, sin, or turn away from God. It encompasses both the act of causing someone to stumble and the resulting negative consequences. Offense can lead to bitterness, hatred, and even eternal consequences if not addressed properly.

Process of Offense

A. Something happens B. I perceive or feel wronged C. As a result I take offense D. I become offended E. Offense is unresolved F. This leads to anger, resentment, and bitterness and the plotting of revenge

Proverbs 18:19 (AMP)

A brother offended is harder to win over than a fortified city, And contentions [separating families] are like the bars of a castle.

#2 We Fall Short

• Let's not stay in victim mode, like we have never hurt anybody

Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 (AMP)

21 Also, do not take seriously everything that is said, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you, 22 for you also know that you too have cursed others many times.

• Look at your neighbor behind you and say, "I know you've been talking behind my back

Matthew 15:21-28 (AMP)

The Syrophoenician Woman

21 After leaving there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And a Canaanite woman from that district came out and began to cry out [urgently], saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David (Messiah); my daughter is cruelly possessed by a demon." 23 But He did not say a word in answer to her. And His disciples came and asked Him [repeatedly], "Send her away, because she keeps shouting out after us." 24 He answered, "I was commissioned by God and sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came and began to kneel down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 And He replied, "It is not good (appropriate, fair) to take the children's bread and throw it to the pet dogs." 27 She said, "Yes, Lord; but even the pet dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in My power] is great; it will be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that moment.

Main Text-

In today's story you will learn how a King lost his kingdom through offense. And you will also learn how to handle offense when you are under authority or in authority.

Under Authority

1. First Attempt on his life - 1 Samuel 18:10-11 (AMP)

Saul Turns against David

10 Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul, and he raved [madly] inside his house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and there was a spear in Saul's hand. 11 Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, "I will pin David to the wall." But David evaded him twice.

A. Imagine you are going about your business serving the king and gets offended and decides to want to kill you B. Would you be offended?

Where did this evil spirit come from? | 1 Samuel 16:14-23 (AMP)

14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented and terrified him. 15 Saul's servants said to him, "Behold, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are here before you to find a man who plays skillfully on the harp; and when the evil spirit from God is on you, he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well." 17 So Saul told his servants, "Find me a man who plays well and bring him to me." 18 One of the young men said, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a brave and competent man, a warrior, discerning (prudent, eloquent) in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him." 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me David your son, who is with the flock." 20 Jesse took a donkey [loaded with] bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul with David his son. 21 Then David came to Saul and attended him. Saul loved him greatly and [later] David became his armor bearer. 22 Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Please let David be my attendant, for he has found favor in my sight." 23 So it came about that whenever the [evil] spirit from God was on Saul, David took a harp and played it with his hand; so Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would leave him.

• Why did this come on Saul? He stopped looking at God as his source

1 Samuel 18:6-9 (AMP)

6 As they were coming [home], when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tambourines, [songs of] joy, and musical instruments. 7 The women sang as they played and danced, saying, "Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands." 8 Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed [only] thousands.

James 1:19-21(MSG)

19-21 Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

4 P's: Pause, Ponder, Pray, Proceed

1 Samuel 18:8-9 (AMP)

Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" 9 Saul looked at David with suspicion [and jealously] from that day forward.

2nd Attempt on David Life - 1 Samuel 19:1-2 (AMP)

David Protected from Saul

1 Now Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David, but Jonathan, Saul's son, greatly delighted in David. 2 So he told David, "Saul my father is seeking to kill you. Now then, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself.

3rd Attempt on David Life - 1 Samuel 19:9-10 (AMP)

9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. 10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul's presence, so that Saul only stuck the spear into the wall. Then David fled and escaped that night.

4th Attempt on David Life - 1 Samuel 19:11-12 (AMP)

11 Then Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch for him, so that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, "If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed." 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled and escaped.

5th Attempt on David Life - 1 Samuel 23:13-29 (AMP)

13 Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and left Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit. 14 David stayed in the wilderness in strongholds, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.

1st Opportunity for the Get Back - 1 Samuel 24:1-3 (AMP)

David Spares Saul's Life

1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, "Behold, David is in the Wilderness of Engedi." 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to search for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 On the way he came to the sheepfolds where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the cave's innermost recesses.

2nd Opportunity for the Get Back - 1 Samuel 26:7-8 (AMP)

David Again Spares Saul

7 So David and Abishai went to the army during the night, and there was Saul lying asleep inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, "God has given your enemy into your hand this day; now then, please let me strike him with the spear driving it to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time."

A. Be careful with family, just because they love you, doesn't mean they can lead you B. Family is often more offended than you are

9 But David said to Abishai, "Do not kill him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed [king] and be guiltless (innocent)?" 10 David also said, "As the Lord lives, most certainly the Lord will strike him [in His own time and way], or his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be carried off [dead]. 11 The Lord forbid that I would put out my hand against the Lord's anointed; but now take the spear that is by his head and the jug of water, and let us go."

1. Offended by: King Saul repeatedly trying to kill him
2. Response: Refused to retaliate, honored Saul as God's anointed
3. Key Verse: "I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's anointed."
4. Lesson: Respecting God's authority and timing outweighs personal vengeance

Authority Over

2 Samuel 16:5-13 (AMP)

David Is Cursed

5 When King David came to Bahurim, a man named Shimei, the son of Gera, came out from there. He was of the family of Saul's household and he was cursing continually as he came out. 6 He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; yet all the people and all the warriors remained on his right and on his left. 7 This is what Shimei said as he cursed: "Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, you worthless and useless man! 8 The Lord has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of Absalom your son. And behold, you are caught in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!"9 Then Abishai [David's nephew], the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, "Why should this dead dog (despicable person) curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head." 10 But the king said, "What business is this of yours, O sons of Zeruiah? If Shimei is cursing because the Lord said to him, 'Curse David,' then who should say, 'Why have you done so?'" 11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Look, my son [Absalom] who came from my own body, is seeking my life; how much more [reason] now [does] this Benjamite [have to curse me]? Let him alone and let him curse, for [it could be that] the Lord has told him [to do it]. 12 Perhaps the Lord will look on the wrong done to me [by Shimei, if he is acting on his own]; and [in that case perhaps] the Lord will this day return good to me in place of his cursing." 13 So David and his men went on the road; and Shimei went along on the hillside close beside David and cursed as he went and threw stones and dust at him.

• We are responsible for our response -Take No Offense

Proverbs 19:11 (AMP)

11 Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger, And it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense [without seeking revenge and harboring resentment]

Psalms 119:165 (AMP)

Those who love the Lord, shall not be offended

Discussion Questions

1. The Syrophoenician woman wasn't offended when Jesus initially ignored her and even compared her to "dogs." What does her response teach us about refusing to take offense when pursuing what we need from God?
2. Saul's offense began when he heard the women singing, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." How does comparison with others become a seed of offense? How can we guard against this?
3. The notes ask: "Why did this [evil spirit] come on Saul? He stopped looking at God as his source." How does losing sight of God as our source open us up to destructive emotions like jealousy and rage?
4. The teaching emphasizes the "4 P's: Pause, Ponder, Pray, Proceed." How would applying this principle in the moment help prevent offense from taking root?
5. David had FIVE attempts on his life by Saul, yet he refused to retaliate when given TWO perfect opportunities for revenge. What gave David the strength to honor Saul as "the Lord's anointed" despite repeated attacks?
6. The notes warn: "Be careful with family, just because they love you, doesn't mean they can lead you. Family is often more offended than you are." Why are those closest to us sometimes more offended on our behalf than we are? How should we respond?
7. When David was king, Shimei cursed him, threw stones at him, and called him a "man of bloodshed." David's response was essentially, "Let him curse—maybe God told him to do it." How does this demonstrate maturity in handling offense from a position of authority?
8. Compare David's response when under Saul's authority versus when he had authority over Shimei. What principles remain consistent? What changes based on position?
9. Proverbs 19:11 says it's our "honor and glory to overlook a transgression." How does choosing not to take offense actually increase our honor rather than diminish it?
10. Psalm 119:165 declares, "Those who love the Lord shall not be offended." How does deepening our love for God immunize us against offense? What's the connection between loving God and refusing to be offended?

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