The Promised King

whom they will call the Blessed One.

Please have a seat.

Let me just add my own welcome.

Welcome to church this morning,

especially if you're new and gathering with us.

We pray that you would know God's encouragement.

A welcome also to church this evening at 5.30.

Some of the themes that we're touching upon this morning,

we will think about in the wonderful beginning of John's gospel.

We're thinking about the questions that Jesus asked.

In John 1, he asked the question, what do you want?

One of the most fundamental questions we can ever ask ourselves.

Jesus asks it of us.

And again, just a welcome,

if you are able to join one of our community discipleship groups,

a place to enjoy friendship, fellowship around the Bible,

to discuss it, to pray together.

A great opportunity for us to build strength together,

to encourage one another in the middle of the week.

Well, now let me invite you now to turn with me to God's words.

2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

This is the last time for now we'll be thinking about aspects of the life of David.

And we just sang the psalm to the perfect king,

anticipating the Messiah who will come.

And in chapter 7 of 2 Samuel,

we have the gospel of the promised king in another form.

So let's hear God's word.

After the king was settled in his palace,

and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him,

he said to Nathan the prophet,

here I am, living in a house of cedar,

while the ark of God remains in a tent.

Nathan replied to the king,

whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it,

for the Lord is with you.

But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,

saying,

Go and tell my servant David,

this is what the Lord says.

Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?

I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day.

I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling.

Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites,

did I ever say to any of their rulers,

whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel,

why have you not built me a house of cedar?

Now then, tell my servant David,

this is what the Lord Almighty says.

I took you from the pasture,

from tending the flock,

and appointed you ruler over my people Israel.

I have been with you wherever you have gone,

and I have cut off all your enemies from before you.

Now I will make your name great,

like the names of the greatest men on earth,

and I will provide a place for my people Israel,

and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own,

and no longer be disturbed.

Wicked people shall not oppress them anymore,

as they did at the beginning,

and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel.

I will also give you rest from all your enemies.

The Lord declares to you that the Lord Himself will establish a house for you.

When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors,

I will raise up your offspring to succeed you,

your own flesh and blood,

and I will establish His kingdom.

He is the one who will build a house for my name,

and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever.

I will be His father,

and He shall be my son.

When He does wrong,

I will punish Him with a rod wielded by men,

with floggings inflicted by human hands,

but my love will never be taken away from Him,

as I took it away from Saul,

whom I removed from before you.

Your house and your kingdom

shall endure forever before me.

Your throne shall be established forever.

Nathan reported to David

all the words of this entire revelation.

Amen.

So this morning,

we are thinking about promise and fulfillment.

And to help us with that,

picture a child of the 80s,

the first time walking down the street

where they see one of those mobile phones.

And imagine that child in the 80s saying,

one day,

one day my child will have one of those,

those shiny, wonderful,

magnificent pieces of technology.

If we fast forward through the decades,

and it's now the child's birthday,

if he is given the shiny new iPhone,

is the promise kept?

I think we would all answer yes.

You know,

back in the 80s,

the giant brick was the best

that could be imagined at the time,

but the promise has been fulfilled

in light of new technology,

in light of the passing of history.

Now this is important

because we have a central promise

from God given to King David.

And from this point in Israel's history,

their hope is now centered on

the everlasting Messiah King.

He's the hope of God's people.

So you turn to the Gospels.

Remember John the Baptist

asking the question about Jesus.

Are you the one who is to come?

That question matters

more than anything else.

But see,

for most of the Israelites,

and that includes in Jesus' day,

their expectations were low

in terms of how this promise

would be fulfilled.

This Messiah,

he would be a strong king.

He would have a settled

political kingdom.

There might be freedom and peace

for the people of God

in their land.

But we're going to see

that God's fulfillment

is far bigger

than they could ever have dreamed of.

And it's a hope

and it's a promise

of Jesus,

the Son of God,

who has come to be Messiah King

to establish an everlasting kingdom.

So 2 Samuel 7

explains to us

the significance

of Jesus as everlasting king.

That right now,

Jesus rules and reigns over all.

Because we might find ourselves wondering,

okay,

here is a promise

for a king of Israel,

for a future king of Israel.

What has that got to do with us?

We turn to the gospels.

Maybe we wonder,

why is it that Matthew and Luke,

as they tell the story of Jesus,

why do they highlight,

again and again,

Jesus born in David's city?

Jesus comes from David's family.

Jesus fulfills David's promise.

To help us,

we're going to need to do some work.

We're going to need to pull on some,

what we can call,

gospel threads.

There are themes that are woven

throughout the Bible.

words,

ideas,

and themes

that direct us

both backwards

to previous promises.

So we'll be thinking a lot

about creation

and Adam and Eve.

We're going to think about promises

made to Abraham.

But there are also going to be

these promises

that connect us forward

to King Jesus,

to the good news of the gospel.

Because in this promise

made to David,

the Spirit gives us eyes to see,

we will see the glory of Christ.

We will see the hope

that He brings,

the promise of new beginnings,

the grace that He shows

to His people.

But before we get to that point,

we need to recognize

the central theme of this passage.

And it's the theme

of the promised house.

David wants to build

a house for God.

God speaks of building

a house for David.

His house building is there.

So let's work through

the text very briefly,

thinking first about

David's housing crisis.

If you look in your Bibles,

do you see the crisis there

in the first three verses?

God has settled the king

in his palace

and given him rest.

God has established

David as king,

and David's instinct

in response,

God has given me rest.

I want to build

a resting place for God.

We recognize again

that David has a profound concern

for God's glory.

We already saw it

in chapter 6.

As he worshiped,

as he wanted the ark

to be brought to Jerusalem,

he wanted to connect

his throne with God's throne

to show that he was living

as God's king

under God's rule.

And he's still concerned

for the glory of God.

And so he has this problem,

he has this crisis.

Verse 2,

he explains it to Nathan,

the prophet.

Here I am,

living in a house of cedar.

I've got this great big

luxurious palace,

but God's ark,

the symbol of God's presence,

the symbol of God's rule,

it's in a tent.

That doesn't seem right to David.

Nathan recognizes David's heart,

he recognizes his instinct is right,

whatever you have in mind,

go ahead and do it,

for the Lord is with you,

though we'll discover,

God says,

not yet and not you.

That's David's housing crisis,

but from that,

we discover something

of God's housing policy,

because in verse 4,

the word of the Lord comes.

It comes through Nathan.

And the response is that

there is something

that is far more important to God

than living in a solid structure,

than living in a cedar house.

And that more important principle

is what we can call

the Emmanuel principle.

This principle that God desires

to live with his people,

God with us,

God with his people.

So in verses 6 and 7,

that's what he says,

it was true for Israel.

During the time of the Exodus

and in the wilderness,

I have been moving

from place to place

with a tent as my dwelling.

Wherever Israel moved,

God moved with them,

because most important to him,

being with his people.

And in fact,

he makes it even more personal,

because he says this was true for David

in his rise to the throne.

Look at verse 8.

I took you from the pasture

and appointed you ruler.

I have been with you

wherever you have gone.

The story of the nation,

the story of the king,

God with his people.

It's one of the great themes

and promises that we find

throughout the Bible.

So this evening,

we're going to turn to

John chapter 1, verse 14.

John 1:14

Jesus, the word of God,

the word who became flesh

and dwelt among us.

And we have seen his glory,

the glory of God

in the tent of a human body.

Well, having explained

his housing priority

and policy,

in verses 11 to 16,

we see the house building project.

Three details that stand out.

First of all,

God will say to David,

David,

you will not build

the house for me

in the sense of a dwelling place.

We discover in verse 12 and 13

that that's going to be Solomon's job

and Jesus is going to come

and he's going to be the true temple

and establish a kingdom

that lasts forever.

But David is not going to build the house.

He's not going to build the dwelling place.

But God will build David's house.

We'll establish a dynasty.

We'll establish a royal family

for David.

The Lord declares to you

that the Lord himself

will establish a house for you.

There's a principle of grace going on here.

That the first thing that needs to happen

is that God must first

make this promise.

God must first establish

David's family line

as the one through whom

the kingdom will rest forever.

And from that promise,

from that grace,

then can come

obedience serving,

can come

the building of the temple

through Solomon.

So David will not build the house.

God will build the house.

But we also need to recognize

that these two houses,

by God's design,

will be connected.

And we see that there

in that it's this,

someone from this permanent dynasty,

Solomon, David's son,

who will build a permanent dwelling place,

the temple for the Lord.

Speaking to us of God's desire

that the throne

and the temple

be united.

God desires

that his king

establish

and be,

when we come to Jesus,

the true temple,

the true meeting place

between God and man.

But there is this

permanent union of the crowds

that the Lord God

will rule forever

through the son he loves.

And that son that he loves

is Jesus.

Two points of application

for us at this stage.

First, just to remind ourselves

that God's glory matters.

David was right

in his concern

for God's glory.

His timing was off,

but his instinct was right.

We actually discover

in the later prophets,

you could turn to a prophet

like Haggai.

And Haggai is told

by God

to deliver a message

to the people,

a message of judgment.

Judgment because

the people were living

in their luxurious houses,

but the temple

was lying in ruins.

So, they are judged

for not having a concern

for God's glory,

and that was shown

in not having a concern

for the temple.

So, when David wanted

to build,

it was for him

going to be

an expression of worship.

God is glorious.

What value do you and I

place on God's glory

in our lives,

in our day to day,

relative to our own luxury,

relative to our own concern

for our own glory?

Because God's glory matters.

And secondly,

God's building project matters.

So, this kingdom promise

that we have here

is a permanent,

eternal promise.

This is a promise

of God's everlasting king.

This is a promise

of God's faithful love.

Even when,

and God's word spoke of this,

even when his people mess up,

and we see the kings of Israel

mess up in sin frequently,

this is a promise

of an eternal kingdom

that even endures

beyond the grave.

Book of Acts,

body of David decayed.

Jesus' body didn't see decay.

He was raised up

and now he has

an eternal kingdom.

God's building project matters.

And it matters

because it centers on

a perfect king.

So, that's where

we're going to turn next

to the perfect king

anticipated in this promise.

Some of us, I imagine,

will be familiar

with the legend of Excalibur,

the sword in the stone,

the story of how

the boy Arthur

was revealed

as the rightful king

of the Britons.

If you're not familiar

with the story,

the previous king died,

a king by the name

of Pendragon.

There was no heir

to the throne

and so the kingdom

was thrown into chaos.

The knights of England

were rising

to get armies

to fight with one another

to see who would be the king.

And then,

this mysterious

sword in the stone

appeared.

And there was a test.

Whoever can pull

the sword from the stone,

he is the rightful king.

Arthur passed the test

and he was crowned

and there was peace.

For hundreds of years,

ever since the promise

of 2 Samuel 7,

God's people

have been searching

and longing

for the rightful king.

Where is the Messiah?

Has he come yet?

When will he be?

Are you the one

who is to come?

What will be the sign?

How will we know

when this worthy one appears?

Not that he will pull

a sword from a stone.

The worthy one,

the rightful king,

will fulfill

the amazing promise

that we find here

in this chapter.

And so,

what we're going to do

is we're going to pull on,

as I said,

some of those gospel threads,

these themes

that are woven together,

that help the New Testament

writers to see

the everlasting king

is Jesus.

They were in no doubt,

as they began to preach

the book of Acts

and as they wrote

the New Testament,

that Jesus is this promised king.

He is good news

and a good news

beyond anyone's

wildest imagination.

The first thread

to pull on

is the thread of hope

and it's hope

connected to a seed

or to the offspring.

Hope, of course,

is important.

It's important for us

as people.

Hope gets us out of bed.

Hope keeps us

moving forward.

Hope allows us

to dream

that things

will get better.

It is a hard thing

when we find our hopes

are disappointed,

when our hopes

are crushed.

One thing that we discover

that we want

as people

is solid hope.

Something or someone

we can place our hopes in

who will not,

which will not disappoint.

as we've already said,

that for the people

of God

in the Old Testament,

for the nation of Israel,

this promise

given to David

meant that for them,

Messiah King

is my hope.

Hope is now located

in a person.

And as they lived

through dark times,

times of division

within the kingdom,

as they saw

their nation

invaded,

as they went

into exile,

still hope

remained

in the Messiah

King.

And that hope

was planted there

by God.

There's a deliberate

word choice

here in verse 12.

When your days

are over

and you rest

with your ancestors,

I will raise up

your offspring

to succeed you,

your own flesh

and blood,

and I will establish

his kingdom.

That word offspring,

sometimes translated

seed,

is a thread

that speaks hope.

Because those were words

spoken to Abraham,

known in the Bible

as the father of faith.

in Genesis chapter 15,

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

to childless Abraham

came the promise

that it will be

an offspring,

it will be a seed

from your own body

that God will bring

blessing,

God will speak

his promise

to the nations

of the world.

And now we're being told

the king,

this future king,

is the seed,

is the offspring

who will bring

blessing from God

to all who will

trust in him.

If we want to know

life with God,

the love of God,

hope from God,

we need to know

the offspring.

And there's more.

Because this word

offspring

or seed

was a word

that was spoken

to Adam and Eve

way back

in the Garden of Eden.

in Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

as they were living

in a perfect world,

perfect garden,

perfect peace

with one another,

perfect life with God,

they fell into sin.

They were tempted

to disobey God,

to mistrust God,

to do the one thing

they were commanded

not to do,

and so sin

came into the world,

bringing all the death

and the ruin

and the chaos

that we see

in our world today.

And even then,

Genesis 3, 15,

God spoke a word

of promise,

the promise

of a seed

who would crush

the head

of the serpent.

The one whose heel

would be bruised,

but he would crush

the head

of the serpent,

anticipating

King Jesus

coming

on a rescue mission

to save sinners

by defeating

evil.

evil.

That's why

the New Testament

authors want

to keep highlighting

for us,

Jesus is from

Abraham's family,

Jesus is from

David's family line.

That's why Paul

in the book of Galatians

will say,

Jesus is the seed,

because he speaks

hope to the world.

In the coming

of Jesus

as everlasting King,

there is everlasting hope,

hope that extends

beyond death.

Here is hope

that is solid,

it is death proof.

In Jesus

comes the blessing

of God.

To trust in Jesus

means to enjoy

life and relationship

with God.

It means that we

enter into a covenant

relationship with God,

which means that

his steadfast love,

his faithful love,

is now guaranteed

to us.

And this promise

extends

to all

nations,

whoever we are,

wherever we're from,

is a call to believe

and to trust.

And in the coming

of Jesus,

the promised seed,

he brings the salvation

of God.

It's the message

of the cross.

Colossians chapter 2

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

speaks of Jesus

winning

a triumphant

victory

over sin

and darkness

at the cross.

That by his death

and through his resurrection,

he has disarmed

the power

of evil.

That for those

who are dead

in our sins,

we are made alive

with Christ.

For those deserving

to be condemned,

Jesus took

that condemnation.

He took the record

of all our wrongdoings.

It was nailed

to the cross.

The price is paid

in full

by faith in him.

We have freedom.

There is hope

in the coming

of the perfect king.

Here's a second thread

that we need to pull on.

Verses 10 and 11.

It's connected to the idea

of new beginnings.

I will provide a place

for my people,

Israel,

and will plant them

so that they can have

a home of their own

and no longer be disturbed.

End of verse 11.

I will also give you rest

from all your enemies.

In the world

that we live in

right now,

I imagine

we all experience

in different ways

this sort of tension.

we see

beauty

in our world.

We see beauty

within creation.

We see beauty

in one another.

But we also

see brokenness,

tragedy,

despair.

There is this tension

where we all have

this longing

for restoration

and governments

and organizations

and individuals

are plowing

energy

and billions

of pounds

to try and bring

restoration.

We have this tension

where deep down

we also sense

something of human

weakness.

That we can't

actually bring in

the world

we all want

as much

as we would love

to.

And so this

promise

comes as good news.

It speaks

of a kingdom

established

by God

which brings

good news

for his people.

It speaks

of a restored

creation.

It speaks

of God's people

living in a world

of peace

and rest

and where God

is present.

Now we pull

on that thread

that leads us

again back

to promises

given to Abraham

in Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

Abraham was told

to leave

his home,

his family,

to leave everything

and to go

to the place

that God

had promised him.

The promised land.

And in the promised land

God's people

were to be settled

in this place

that God

had for them

knowing that God

was with them

ruling over them

for their good.

It's a theme

that pulls us

all the way back

again to the

Garden of Eden

to life as it was

in the beginning

creation,

life for Adam

and Eve.

They were planted.

They were planted

in God's

perfect garden.

And they were planted

in this perfect place

and God was there.

They were enjoying

perfect friendship

with their God.

In the land,

the Garden of Eden,

they enjoyed

deep rest.

In fact,

their very first

full day

as people created

in the image of God

was a day

of rest.

To share with God

his enjoyment

of the perfect world

that he had made,

to enjoy

perfect relationship

relationship with God,

to live lives

of worship.

We were made

for this rest.

Don't we often

find ourselves

restless,

frustrated,

longing?

Then we hear

Jesus say,

come to me

and I will give you

rest.

He is inviting us

into the life

that we were made

for.

King Jesus,

in his victorious

work,

opens up

the way to

paradise for us.

Remember his words

to the thief

on the cross?

That thief

who turned

and in his last

hours recognized

recognized

that Jesus

had done nothing

wrong,

that he was righteous

and he was a king

with a kingdom?

As he turned

to Jesus

and said,

remember me

when you come

into your kingdom?

Jesus turned

to him

and said,

today

you'll be

with me

in paradise.

Jesus

is the way

home

to God.

To enjoy

life with

God himself,

we begin

to experience

it here,

but we look

forward

the remains

for the people

of God,

a Sabbath rest

still to come.

We look forward

to eternal rest,

eternal peace,

an eternal sense

of being home

with our God.

And that's the

promise of the

gospel,

that King Jesus

who today

is ruling

and reigning

over all things

as King of Heaven,

one day at the end

of history,

the time that God

appoints,

he'll return

and he'll make

everything new.

Sin

and evil

and death

will be destroyed.

A kingdom

of justice

and peace

will be established

that will last

forever

for all those

who trust

in him.

New beginnings

because of

a perfect king.

One more thread

to pull on.

It's the thread

that brings us

to consider

God's grace.

The idea of grace

runs counter

to culture.

We have so many

invitations

and encouragements

to make a name

for yourself.

That relentless

call to prove

yourself

in a relationship

in the workplace.

And it can be

exciting,

but it can also

be exhausting.

It can be a call

that can lead us

to pride,

making a name

for ourselves.

And if we bring

that mentality,

that mindset

into religion,

thinking,

I must prove

myself so I can

save myself,

it is death.

It's deathly.

It's impossible.

God is too holy

and we are too sinful.

The gap

is simply

too wide.

But God's grace

comes.

God's grace

comes here

in verse 9.

David wanted

to do something

for God.

God says,

I have been with you

wherever you have

gone

and now

I will

make your name

great.

David,

I will make

for you

a great name.

And again,

this phrase

takes us back.

Takes us back

to Abraham,

takes us back

to Genesis 12,

actually takes us

back one chapter

earlier

to the Tower

of Babel.

You read

Genesis chapter 11,

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

you come to the Tower

of Babel,

you find

the people

on the earth

instead of scattering

to spread

the glory of God

to the far reaches

of the world,

they gather together

in defiance

of God

and in an act

of pride

and rebellion

they build this city

then they want

to build this tower

so that we might

make a name

for ourselves.

God scatters

them in judgment

but God's

gracious response

is to speak

to Abraham

and to call

Abraham

and to say

Abraham,

I will make

your name

great.

There's grace

and from Abraham's

family,

blessing

to the nations

and now

we understand

that God

is raising

up a king

Abraham's line,

David's line,

who will bless

the nations,

who will extend

the grace of God.

There is grace

here in the promise

from God himself

to David,

I will establish

a house for you,

I will raise

up your offspring,

I'm going to do it.

the God of grace

provides

the king

who will rule

and reign

forever.

The God of grace

establishes

the kingdom

that is everlasting,

establishes

a king

who forever

knows God's love

because he is

the eternal

son of God.

And the message

of the gospels

is Jesus

is this king

declared by the angels

as the savior,

as the Christ,

the anointed one,

the Messiah,

the Lord,

declared by God

the father

at his baptism

to be the beloved

son with whom

the father

is well pleased.

And even as we

turn to the cross

and think about

the message

of the cross,

Jesus,

the righteous

king,

the promised

king,

who will be

flogged,

who will be

killed,

though he has

done nothing

wrong,

in the place

of those

who have sinned,

in the place

of lawbreakers.

But as 2 Samuel 7

also anticipates,

this king will be

raised up.

And as we read

our Bibles,

we discover

Jesus was raised up.

He was raised up

from the dead

on the third day.

His disciples

saw him raised up

to glory where he

now sits on the

throne of heaven.

And he has been

raised up to receive

the name that is

above every name,

that the name of

Jesus,

every knee should

bow and every tongue

confess that Jesus

Christ is Lord.

We have this promise

from God,

who is a God of grace,

that he will send

a king who is a

gift of grace,

who extends grace,

who says to us,

you don't have to

try and save yourself

or prove yourself,

come to me and be

saved.

Come to me and find

forgiveness.

Come to me and find

rest.

Let's close very

briefly by thinking

about a personal

response.

God's storyline of

salvation weaves

together wonderful

threads and brings

them together in the

personal work of

Jesus, the promised

everlasting king.

Come back tonight,

we'll think about it

some more wonderful

theme to help us

to see the glory of

God.

But Jesus fulfills

this promise to be

God with us.

Jesus is the king

who rescues.

Jesus is the king

who will return to

restore the world

we all want.

He is the one who

brings salvation and

life with God for

sinners.

He is the one who

offers and promises

ultimate peace and

rest.

He is the one who

provides the way

home to God.

2 Samuel 7 gives

the promise.

Jesus brings an

out-of-this-world

fulfillment.

It's hope and

promise for each

one of us today.

So how to respond?

And what can we

learn as David

receives this

promise?

We didn't read

these verses, but

I'm going to read

them now.

Three responses,

three verses.

As David gets

this promise, he

turns to God in

prayer.

The first response

I think that this

calls for is the

response of worship.

We hear it from

David.

King David went in

and sat before the

Lord and he said,

Who am I,

Sovereign Lord,

and what is my

family that you've

brought me thus

far?

Let the promises

of God about

Jesus the king

produce a sense

of wonder at his

mercy and his

goodness.

That the king of

the universe

commits himself

to tiny people,

sinful people like

us, to raise us

to glory, should

provoke the

response of

worship.

Second response,

verse 21,

David recognizes,

For the sake of

your word and

according to your

will you have done

this great thing and

made it known to

your servant.

Humility.

As we consider the

wonder of all that

God has done for us,

shouldn't it lead us

to humility?

As we consider

ourselves, we think

about the state of

our hearts and our

lives, our weakness,

our inability, that

we would come with

empty hands to the

king of grace, to

receive forgiveness, to

receive salvation, to

enter into new

life.

The last response, I

think that these

promises of the

wonderful king calls

for is the response

of faith.

Listen to David in

verse 25,

And now, Lord God,

keep forever the

promise you have

made concerning

your servant and

his house.

Do as you

promised.

David knows that

promise is huge,

but he also knows

that God who promises

is faithful, and he

will do it.

How do you and I

today know that God

is faithful to keep

his promises?

Because he sent

Jesus to be this

king.

We see it in his

perfect life, we see

it in his sacrificial

death, we see it in

the glory of his

resurrection.

He is this king.

And he calls for

believing trust.

He calls us to

accept God's

promises for

ourselves.

And he calls us to

bow, to confess.

Jesus is my

Lord.

Jesus is my

king.

Let's pray

together.

Lord, our God,

we thank you for

the great storyline

of salvation

woven throughout

the pages of

the Bible.

people.