1 & 2 Samuel (Program #24) – Our Need for God to Build Christ into Us

Upon a casual reading, 2 Samuel 7 seems simple enough to understand, it begins with King David expressing his heart’s desire to build a dwelling place for Jehovah. The Lord’s response to David seems to be a very good illustration of His love and mercy toward David, telling him that instead of wanting David to build something for Him, the Lord needed to build something first for David. But if we look more carefully and through the lens of God’s economy, we will see that 2 Samuel 7 reveals one of the highest revelations in the entire Bible.

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1 Peter (Program #22) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (10)

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we have received as part of our full salvation, an escape from the eternal perdition that awaits the disobedient and rebellious.  But many believers mistakenly take this to mean that Christians face no manner of judgment at all from the righteous  and holy God.  Regardless of how popular such a thought might be, the Bible does just not support it.  Take for example Peter’s word in his first epistle in chapter 4.  In verse 12 he says “Beloved do not think that the fiery ordeal among you coming to you for a trial, is strange.”  Then in verse 17 he adds “For it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God;”  These verses made very clear that our righteous and loving Father does judge, discipline and purify His children will never putting our eternal destiny in jeopardy.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #23) – The History Concerning David (10)

In 2 Samuel, David becomes secure and well established as the one king over all the tribes of Israel. As king, he’s prosperous, respected, loved, and secure from his enemies, even admired by the surrounding nations. In this situation, David’s true heart is clearly manifest. What he desires to do is to do something for God, even to build God a dwelling place in Israel. But having such a one on this earth whose heart was fully one on its own, Jehovah responds to David’s expression of wanting to do something for Him in a most surprising way.

Listen to this passage from 2 Samuel 7:

“Thus says Jehovah, Is it you who will build Me a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house, since the day I brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt to this day; but I went about in a tent and in a tabernacle. more…

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1 Peter (Program #21) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (9)

The Old Testament record is one that includes many accounts of God’s judgment.  He not only judge rebellious and evil persons but even cities were condemned and judged by God.  Today many people believe that the time of God’s  judging has passed and that is New Testament believers we need to have no fear of God.  But this kind of thinking reflects not only an inadequate understanding of the truth of the Scripture but also a totally inaccurate one  as well.  In fact God is still judging.  But what is striking to know and most often overlooked in this age of comforting words is that His judgment in this age begins with His own household.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #22) – The History Concerning David (9)

After years of being persecuted at the hands of the evil king Saul, David has finally become king, fulfilling the promise that Jehovah had given to him as a young boy. Now, the entire nation of Israel was with him. And, even the surrounding nations lent their support to him as king. But most importantly, David had Jehovah’s presence with him as well. With all things fully in order under God’s sovereign arrangement, what would David turn his attention to now?

Many before him had sought greater riches and glory for themselves, but David has a different kind of heart. David had a heart that was fully one with the Lord. So and with his own house in order, David turned his full attention to God’s house. What a marvelous picture and pattern for us as believers today.

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1 Peter (Program #20) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (8)

1 Peter 4:1-2 say “Since Christ therefore has suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same mind (because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin), no longer to live the rest of the time in the flesh in the lusts of men, but in the will of God.“

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #21) – The History Concerning David (8)

The first two kings of Israel present us with two distinctly different patterns. Both began their monarchy by being selected and anointed by God, but any similarity ends there. Saul, the first king, was intent on one thing, and that was establishing and building up his own monarchy. What he was building up was absolutely for himself. David who replaced Saul was also intent on one thing. But for David, that one thing had nothing to do with his own kingdom. His focus was God’s kingdom. What he was building up was for God’s kingdom, not for his own.

The result of their two lives tells us a lot about how we should approach and conduct ourselves in the kingdom of God. Saul and his three sons died a humiliating death, and the honor and the glory that surrounded his kingship in the beginning was completely lost. David on the other hand, despite some serious failures, became an important person in God’s plan and even in the accomplishment of His eternal economy.

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1 Peter (Program #19) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (7)

The apostle Peter said that the water of baptism saves us and he referenced the picture in the Old Testament of Noah’s family being saved in the Ark from the judging water and separated from the condemned world of that time through the water of the flood.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #20) – Lessons of the Five Major Figures

The books of Samuel in the Old Testament are among the top concerning the history of God’s move with his people. Many stories in these two books that we learned as children, perhaps, and have treasured our whole lives, but these are more than stories, their invaluable to us as illustrations of the main items of God’s economy. Five main persons are spoken of in first Samuel. And their lives reveal to us item after item of how to maintain a proper relationship with God, God’s economy, and to enjoy Christ. If we remember these five persons and the lessons that their lives reveal, we will have our own enjoyment of Christ enriched and our participation in God’s economy strengthened.

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1 Peter (Program #18) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (6)

The apostle Peter encourages his fellow believers in Christ to suffer for righteousness by the will of God as Christ did.

We have some wonderful pictures of how we can sanctify Christ in our heart through suffering and also what happened when Christ’s Spirit was made alive in His death.

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