Presence

Gracious Lord and Heavenly Father, I am a man of unclean lips,

and we are people of unclean lips.

I pray, Father, that you might sanctify my words this morning,

make them yours.

Ultimately, we pray, Father, that through this morning,

our knees will be bowing to the Lord Jesus, the Son of David,

and all glory and power and honour will go to him,

and that your rule might be extended in our hearts,

in our community, and in all the world.

And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

One of the things I think annoys my wife to no...

Is she here? No? Good.

To no end is we'll be having this conversation,

and she'll say something, and there'll be some words that she mentioned,

and I'll seize upon those words, and I think I know what she's saying.

And then, you know, and I'll react to it,

and that annoys her to no end.

Because that's not what she wanted to say to you.

That's not, I just haven't taken the time to hear what she's saying.

And I think that this is something that we do to God.

We read the Bible, and there'll be certain words that are really important to us,

and we'll take those words, and we start thinking,

right, you know, this is what the Bible is saying to me.

I wonder if God is as annoyed as Jan is when I do it to her.

I want to suggest to you that there are three, there are four,

there's some things that we can do to actually guard us against that.

There are four questions that we can ask when we approach the Bible,

particularly the Old Testament.

And let me outline those questions for you.

The first question is, what is the story so far?

In the first week of the series,

I've suggested that the Bible is not just some random selection of material

and wise sayings and principles,

but rather it is a story, a narrative, an unfolding story.

And so when we approach the Bible from any part,

we have to ask, where does it fit in the unfolding story of God?

And we'll get to that in a sec.

The second question that we need to ask is,

okay, given that this is where the story is, the episode,

what is this particular episode about?

And it is a question of comprehension.

If you like, the first two questions

describe what the text that we are reading tells us.

The third question is more analytic,

is really asking the question, well, what does it mean?

The Bible claims to be the Word of God,

and so when we read the Bible,

we have to ask the question,

well, what does this tell us about God?

And about the way He works in the world,

and as we know God, we know ourselves,

what does this passage tell us about us and our world?

And the last question is,

what difference does Jesus make?

We're reading the Bible as Christians.

The Bible claims that Jesus is where you find God.

In fact, Jesus Himself says

that the whole of the Bible ought to take us to Him.

And so the fourth question we ask is,

well, what difference does Jesus make

to our understanding of this particular part of the Bible?

And what does this particular part of the Bible

help us to understand Jesus?

Okay, so four questions.

Where does it fit in the story?

What is this episode about?

What does this tell us about God?

And lastly, what difference does Jesus make?

Is that good?

Okay.

And what I propose to do

is to apply that method to Samuel 7.

And hopefully we can see how this method could work.

Well, the first question is,

what's the story so far?

I have some props,

and I just feel that we didn't have enough time.

So what I'm going to do

is I'm going to invite you

to open your Bible to the contents page.

So grab your Bible in front of you.

Hopefully this will...

And, you know,

if the person next to you

look a little bit lost,

help them to find a contents page.

This is where we'll start from,

the contents page of the Bible.

Okay, how are we doing?

Yeah?

All found a contents page?

Okay.

Now, we started our story from Genesis.

Okay?

It's...

Your Bible is more or less chronological,

as in the follows time.

And the Bible begins, really,

at the beginning of the universe.

The Christian religion involves not just us

who are Christians and believers,

but it involves a whole world.

And if you go to Genesis 1,

it tells the beginning of a story of God and us.

And it is a story of a kingdom, you recall.

Genesis 1 is a story of how God created a people,

Adam and Eve,

his people living in his land,

in the Garden of Eden,

under his good rule.

So that sets the frame,

the background to our story.

And, of course, you know,

immediately the story doesn't make sense

because that's not the world that we live in.

It's not a world of harmony.

It is a world of floods,

of wars,

of divorce,

of...

Well, why is that?

Again, stay in Genesis.

If you move the story from Genesis 1 to 3,

it tells us the source,

the beginning of all our problems.

Okay, whatever problem that you have,

that our society have,

the Bible says this is the ultimate source.

And the source is sin.

Okay, that's the Bible word

for the source of all our problems.

And sin, of course,

is more than just eating chocolate

when you're on a diet.

Sin,

sin,

as the Bible explain it,

in the context and frame of the kingdom,

is a regime change.

It is rebellion.

It is people

who have no right to rule

decide to rise up

against the one who has the right to rule.

Sin is taking the right

to be God

onto ourselves.

Sin is deciding

that we are the one

who can decide

what is good and what is bad,

what is right and wrong.

Sin is,

as you're driving here this morning

and you see a big sign saying 50,

and you decide,

I'm late for church,

so I'm just going to ignore that

because I am the king of my car.

So I can drive whatever speed

that I think is convenient

and right for me.

That is sin.

And what the Bible says is,

again, in Genesis 3,

tracing in the contents,

sin leads to curse.

God is still the king

of the universe.

And so,

everything in this world

is cursed.

The land is cursed.

This is why,

for those of you

who have a lawn,

every week you go out there

and you've got to pluck

those darn weeds.

You know,

our lawn is cursed.

Our work is cursed.

Our family are cursed.

Our marriage,

everything is cursed

as a result of our rebellion.

Sin wrecks everything.

And again,

saying in Genesis,

if you read from chapter 4

to chapter 11,

it sort of traced

the spread of sin

from one family,

you know,

Cain and Abel,

just faticide,

to mass murder,

to violence and chaos,

something that characterizes

our whole world.

But God is still God.

He has not abandoned us

or the world.

And when you go through

the story to Genesis 12,

you see that God has revealed

that He has a plan

to reverse sin,

to undo sin

and curse in the world.

So if you get to Genesis 12,

you will see that God

makes a promise

that He would undo

Genesis 3

through one man

and His descendant.

Through that one person,

a new human race

will be created.

A human race

that would,

the new race of people

who will once again

be blessed

by being the people of God,

living in the security

of His place

and being blessed

by being ruled by Him.

And through this one race

of people,

the whole world

will be blessed,

we read Genesis 12.

Again,

if you look at the contents page,

you keep going

from Genesis

to Exodus.

See,

the plan

is promised

in Genesis 12.

and we see

the working out

of that plan.

And last week

you saw

we came to

Exodus 19.

Another covenant,

a new dimension

is introduced.

God will reverse sin,

bless the world,

save the human race

and the universe

and the environment

through the descendants

of Abraham.

And we are told

in Genesis,

sorry,

Exodus 19,

that the way

God would do it

is calling,

saving a people

to Himself

and making them

into a kingdom

of priests.

You remember that phrase,

a holy nation,

a people who will declare

the glory of God.

The way

God will save the world,

bless the world,

is by having

a bunch of people

who are different

to the rest of the world.

They will live

under the kingship

of God

in God's land.

The way

they're different

to the rest

of the world

is that they

will wholeheartedly

love God

and they

will love

their neighbors

as themselves.

How different

is that

to the rest

of the human race?

That is how

God will choose

to save the world,

to bless the nations.

But again,

looking at the

contents page,

that's the promise

of Exodus 19.

you keep going

to the end

of Deuteronomy,

the first five books

of the Bible,

there is a promise

but there is no land.

There is no place

to call home.

There is a people

and so we begin

the book of Joshua

and the beginning

of the conquest

of the land.

So there's the kingdom

of God,

the people of God

living under his rule

in his place

and here God

is delivering

on his promise,

the beginning

of the conquest

of the land.

There were decisive

victories,

for example,

the conquest

of Jericho

but victories

and conquests

were slow

and hard

and there are

two main reasons

for it.

One was the

enemies from

without,

the enemies

of God's people,

the Hivites,

the Amorites,

the Canaanites,

the Hittites,

the Perizzites,

the Jebusites.

They're like this

malignant cancer

in the land

like all those

who oppose

the good rule

of God.

We become a cancer

to the environment.

You just can't

get rid of them

but as you trace

through Joshua

and then to the

book of Judges

you will find

that the will

of divine justice

grinds slowly

but it grinds

exceedingly

small

for you see

that the land

progressively

was conquered

and one

by one

the Hivite

and Amorite

and Canaanite

and Hittite

and Perizzite

and Jebusites

they disappeared

into the ether

of history.

I assume

that walking

down Chesswood,

multicultural

Chesswood,

you have never

met an Amorite.

So the promises

of God

is being fulfilled

but they're not

the problem.

See,

we tend to think

that the problem

is outside.

You know,

it's the Mardi Gras,

it's the gay people

or the atheists.

The real problem

as you trace

through the history

that is being

unfolded

is actually

the enemy

from within.

The real problem

were the Israelites.

See,

the way that God

would reverse

the curse

on the world

is by having

a nation of priests,

a royal priesthood,

they were anything

but priestly.

They didn't bring

blessing to the nations

because when they

went into the land

you couldn't tell

the difference

between an Israelite

and a Perizzite.

They were just like

everybody else.

They didn't love God

with their whole heart

and they certainly

didn't love

the neighbours

as themselves.

And so

the biggest problem

you see,

God could get rid

of the Perizzites.

There was no promise

made to them.

But

he is his people.

He's made a promise

that through these people

the world will be blessed.

What's he going to do?

They themselves

are the ones

who threaten

to undo

God's plan,

to make God

into a liar

as it were.

And if you keep

travelling,

you know,

there's Joshua,

the book of Judges

and he's Samuel.

By Samuel's time,

the problem

is still there.

There were

the external threat,

the nation of the day

was the Philistines.

There were people

with superior military power.

But the problem

of the Israelites

themselves persists.

And if you begin

the book of Samuel,

1 Samuel,

we get the story

of Eli,

the priest

and his two sons

who were ripping off

the worshippers,

exploiting

the young girls

in the temple,

they were terrible.

And 1 Samuel 4,

Israel went into battle

with the Philistines.

They thought

we couldn't lose

because God

is on our side.

So what they did

was they took

the Ark of the Covenant,

the symbol,

the guarantee

as it were

in their mind

of the presence

and the approval

of God

into battle

with the Philistines.

And what happened?

They got absolutely smashed.

They had to run away,

tails between their legs

and worst of all,

the Ark itself

was taken

by the Philistines.

And from 1 Samuel 6,

any mention of the Ark

was gone

from Israel.

And what was

Israel's solution

to a problem?

Again,

tracing through the history,

we're up to

1 Samuel 8,

if you look

at the contents page.

Their solution

to that problem

and the solution

that we,

I think,

often go to

is we've got a problem,

what we need

is a new rector.

Sorry, Steve.

A new rector,

which is, of course,

from the Latin

to rule.

What they thought

they needed

is a leader,

a new leader,

a strong leader,

a visionary leader,

a wise leader.

That was the problem,

wasn't it?

They didn't have

that sort of leader.

And so,

they found themselves

a king.

And if you trace

through Samuel,

he couldn't do

what, well,

they needed.

Couldn't beat

the Philistines.

By the beginning

of 2 Samuel 1,

the people's king

was dead,

and so were his sons.

They were killed

in battle.

And the question

remains,

here's the problem

of sin and curse.

Here's the promise

of God

to fix it all.

To bless the world

through his people.

How is God

going to do that?

How is he going

to save the world,

reverse the curse

and sin,

bless the nations,

keep the promise,

given the way

witness

of his own people?

Can you feel

the tension?

And here we are

at 2 Samuel 7.

So this is where

the story

has led us so far.

Right?

The next question

we ask is,

what is this episode

about?

Okay?

So cast your eyes

down,

broadly,

possibly two parts

to this passage.

2 Samuel 7

is where we are.

What is 2 Samuel 7?

Well,

there are two parts.

The first part,

verses 1,

2,

3,

you will see

that political power

and military power

is now consolidated

in one person,

David.

Okay?

There is now

a leader,

a rector,

a new rector.

And he was able

to beat the Philistines,

something that

the people of God

under Saul

couldn't do.

And the other thing

is the mention

of the ark,

which disappears

since 1 Samuel 7,

has now reappeared.

David has now

taken the ark,

the symbol of God's

presence and approval,

he's taken the ark

into his city.

Everything is working

out just fine.

God has blessed David

and David thought,

first three verses,

God's done something

nice for me,

I'm going to have to

do something nice

back to God.

So what I'm going

to do is I'm going

to build a great

big temple for God.

That's what I can do

for God.

So first part.

Second part is

from verse 4 onward.

You see God's response.

And it's quite remarkable.

God is essentially

saying to David,

well, nice plan,

good plan,

don't need a house.

I'll tell you what,

I'll give you another plan.

I'll tell you my plan,

verses 5 to 9.

And when you look

at this plan,

it just takes

your breath away.

And I want to draw out

some of the details

of this plan.

You see that this plan

involves another promise.

Hopefully you can see

that every high point

in the unfolding history

of the Bible

involves some sort

of promise.

Genesis 12,

Exodus 19,

and now 2,

Samuel 7.

And now the promise,

well, what is that promise?

The promise,

chapter 7,

verse 9b,

the promise is that

David's name

will be great.

Reminds us,

of course,

a little bit of

Genesis 12.

Just like Abram,

David's name

will be great.

I don't know,

I'll just mention

this really quickly.

We don't think much

of names

or importance of names.

Of course,

they are important.

That's what we associate

ourselves with.

That's what branding

is about.

Why do we drive

Mercedes-Benz?

Why do we think

they're good quality?

That's what a name is.

Having a bad name

is the opposite.

It's a matter of identity,

of endurance,

in a world of change.

David will have

a great name.

And just like

Genesis 12,

him having a great name

means blessing

will flow.

Verse 10,

Israel,

this is in the context

of war and harassment,

in the context of that,

Israel would have

a home

and they will have

peace.

They will have peace

so that they can enjoy

the good of the land

and the fruit

of the labor.

is a recasting

of Genesis 1

and the promises

of Genesis 12

and 19.

They will be blessed

once again

to be living

under God's rule

in his land

as the people of God.

Well,

what is new

in 2 Samuel 7?

What is new?

All these promises

God has made

and he's essentially

promising the same thing,

that God's kingdom

will come.

What is new?

Well,

the new bid

is in verses 11b to 16,

I want to suggest.

The new bid

is the promise

of the one

who will execute

the plan.

I think this is

the new bid.

The one who will bring

peace to Israel,

the one who will

destroy evil.

Well,

who is it

who will bring

all the promises

to reality?

the son of David.

The son of David.

God,

we are told,

will establish

his kingdom.

He, in turn,

will build a house,

a plan word,

could be a temple,

but it could be a family.

He, in turn,

will build

a people

for God.

Verse 14,

God will be

his father

and he will be

God's son.

Okay,

we read that

and we go,

what does that mean?

You know,

because we think

the son of God

is a reference

to deity.

Right?

It's God.

But that's not

what it is talking about

and incidentally,

every time you read

the phrase,

the son of God,

this is what

it's talking about.

It's not talking

about the deity

of the son of David,

rather,

it's talking about

the kingship,

the kingship

of the son of David.

We don't get it

because we don't live

in an agrarian society

anymore.

The father and son thing

is a functional reference.

You know,

if you were living

in an agrarian society,

sons do,

what fathers do,

did,

do.

So your dad's a farmer,

you're going to be a farmer.

You know,

in that society,

you can't decide,

I'm going to be a musician.

That's just,

no.

Dad and sons,

the sons do

what the fathers do.

And so the son of God

is a king

because God

is the king.

The son of David

will become a king

and exercise

the kingly rule

of God.

That's what the promise is.

Of course,

what does this remind you of

in terms of the

unfolding story

so far?

It reminds us of

Genesis 1.

When the human race

was created,

what were they supposed to do?

What was the brief?

What was the instruction?

They were to

rule

the world

as God's

agents.

But that was all

undone

in Genesis 3.

But here it is,

God's promising

once again

that

a man,

a human

will once again

rule the earth

as he had planned.

Not just any man,

but

the son

of

David.

And it's

breathtaking

for three reasons.

One is,

when you read

the terms

of the promise,

the kingdom

of God,

which seems to be

what the story

of the Bible

is about,

seems to be

coterminous

with the kingdom

of the son

of David.

They're almost

used interchangeably.

You know,

God will establish

his kingdom.

You see,

the kingdom

of the son

of David

is the same

as the kingdom

of God.

That's amazing,

isn't it?

To think of a man

whose rule

will be

like that

of God.

But more than that,

did you notice

in verse 13

and 15,

this one,

his kingdom,

his rule

will be

forever.

I mean,

is that

just ancient

talk for a long

time?

Or do you

think he really

meant forever?

You know,

it raises that

question.

What about

Genesis 3

and the curse

of death?

Surely,

if he is

the son

of Adam,

he could not

rule forever

because death

will strike him

down like

every other

man.

Could it be

true?

And there's

another problem,

another

breathtaking

aspect to this

promise?

And it is

the problem

of hereditary

rule.

See,

there is

salvation for

the Australian

Labour Party.

If they

did have a bad

leader,

she or he,

could eventually

be replaced

by a vote.

That's what we do

in a democracy.

But you

know what is

not available

in a monarchy?

A vote.

You're stuck.

If there

is a king,

you are stuck.

That's the

problem of

hereditary rule.

And the

problem of

hereditary rule

is clearly

apparent in the

book of Samuel.

You know,

at the beginning

of Samuel,

there's Eli

and his two

no-good sons.

Imagine if they

had...

And then Samuel

himself,

one of the

last great

judges of

Israel,

his sons

turned out to

be a real

red bag as

well too.

And then there

is Saul,

the king.

What if he...

The problem

of hereditary

rule.

And now God

is promising

that the son

of David

will have

absolute

power.

It's wonderful,

of course,

because in this

world,

righteousness

and justice

and peace

could only

be brought

about through

absolute power.

But the

problem for

us is who

will we give

that power

to?

A new

rector?

See,

God is

promising

something that

is enormous

and breathtaking.

He's saying

the son of

David is the

one that I'm

going to give

absolute power

and glory

and honour

to him

forever.

He would

have to be

a very

different person

to us,

wouldn't he?

Well,

third question.

What does this

episode tell us

about God

and us

and the world?

The very first

thing that

strikes us,

which is picked

up in John 2,

and again

in the speech

of Stephen

just before

he was

martyred,

is that

where does

he dwell?

He's David

wanting to

create a

temple for

God,

and God

is saying,

I don't

need a

temple.

The whole

world is

mine.

By the time

we got to

Stephen,

and people

were accusing

Stephen of

preaching against

the temple,

they had the

same problem.

They thought

God is,

well,

is there,

is here.

God does

not dwell

in temple

built by

human hands.

But the

new element,

I think,

in showing

us how

God works

in the

world,

particularly

in 2

Samuel 7,

is that

God has

promised that

he will

create a

new human

race.

He hasn't

given up on

the nations,

he will

bless the

nations,

he will

save the

world from

the ravages

of sin

and curse,

and here,

the new

element is

he will

do it

through one

person.

The whole

human history

will be

centered on

this one

person,

and it's

not,

well,

it is the

son of

David,

the son

of God.

In the

Old Testament,

in the time

of David,

the way you

recognize the

king is by

putting oil

on his

head,

is a

process called

anointing.

And the

Hebrew word

for the

anointed one,

the son of

David,

the son of

God,

is the

word

Messiah.

Messiah.

In Greek,

it's the

word

Christ.

The one

who will

bring about

peace and

the redemption

of the world

is through

the Messiah,

the Christ

of God.

One of the

nations,

you know,

there's a lot

of promises

here about

Israel.

You know,

Israel will

have peace.

What about

the nations?

Where's the

blessings to

the nation?

Where's the

mention?

And here,

I want to

just very

quickly take

you to

Psalm 2.

And I

apologize for

the length

that this

is taking.

Psalm 2.

It's worth

just reading

that.

And I'm

just going to

read it

very quickly.

This is a

coronation

psalm.

So every

time a

descendant

of David

goes to

the throne,

this is

sung or

read.

Why do

the nations

conspire and

the people

plot in vain?

The kings

of the earth

take their

stand and

the rulers

gather together

against the

Lord and

against his

anointed.

Let us

break the

chains,

they say,

and throw

off their

feathers.

This is a

way of

saying,

when I'm

driving down

a 50 stone,

I want to

decide how

fast I

want to

drive.

This is

what they're

saying to

God.

Except God

in response

says this,

in verse 4,

the one

unphoned in

heaven laughs.

Puny.

He scoffs

at them.

And then he

bilks them in

his anger and

terrifies them in

his worth,

saying,

you know,

you aren't

really ruling

the world.

And you're not

even ruling

yourself.

And I'm

going to

show you

how you

can know

that you

are not

the king

of the

earth.

And this

is what he

says in

verse 4,

I have

installed

my king

on Sion,

my holy

hill.

The way

you know

that God

is still

in control,

that he's

still king,

is because

he will

put his

king into

your life

and this

world.

Verse

7,

this is what

the son

says,

I will

proclaim

the decree

of the

Lord.

He said

to me,

you are

my son

today,

I become

your father,

ask of

me and

I will

make the

nations

your

inheritance,

the ends

of the

earth,

your

possession,

you will

rule them

with an

iron

scepter,

you will

dash them

to pieces

like

pottery,

therefore

you kings

of St.

Paul's,

be wise,

be warned,

you rulers

of Chesswood,

serve the

Lord with

fear and

rejoice with

trampling,

kiss the

son,

lest he be

angry and

you will be

destroyed in

your way,

for his

wrath can

flare up

in the

moment,

blessed are

all who

take refuge

in him.

Where are

the nations

in 2 Samuel

7?

There they

are,

there they

are.

You see,

there are two

responses to

this son of

David,

the son of

God.

You can

either run

away from

him in

rebellion or

you can

run to

him in

refuge.

The way

that the

son will

bring about

justice and

peace in

the world

is by

destroying

evil.

He will

smash evil

in this

world like

pottery.

But there

is escape,

there is

mercy.

Run to

him.

Last

question,

what difference

does Jesus

make?

See,

we're still

staying in

the Old

Testament.

We're not

even up to

the New

Testament.

What

difference

does Jesus

make?

Romans 1.

Okay,

don't read it

up.

Romans 1

summarizes

for us the

gospel of

Jesus.

And do you

know what it

says?

Jesus is the

son of

David.

And then

it goes on

to say,

declare to

be the

son of

God.

Jesus

declared to

be the

son of

God.

The king

of God,

how?

By the

spirit at

the

resurrection.

How do you

know that our

God is still

in control of

the world?

How do you

know that he

will bring all

to account and

that he will

destroy evil and

bring about

justice and

righteousness in

this world and

peace for all?

Because he

raised Jesus

from the

dead.

And by

doing so,

he crowned

him as

the king.

Death has

no place

in his

kingdom because

he's defeated

it.

This is what

Paul is

talking about.

This is the

one 2 Samuel

7 is talking

about.

This is the

one who

will execute

the plan to

reverse curse

and sin to

bless the

nations to

save the

world and

he will do

it with

justice and

righteousness.

His kingdom

will be

established.

And the

question that

will be asked

of us is,

well, what

difference does

Jesus make?

How will you

and I respond

to this son

today?

A little bit

of religion in

our world,

in your life,

is just not

good enough.

The very

heart of

Christianity is

the person

of Jesus.

And there

are only two

responses.

You either flee

from him and

be smashed like

pottery or you

run to him in

safety and for

mercy.

This is what

2 Samuel leads

us to.

I wonder how

you would

respond to

the son.

Amen.