Sound Doctrine

Guest (Male): Since the Garden of Eden man has somehow convinced himself that he can be God, as much as God is God. Here's Pastor Jeff.

Jeff Johnson: Satan came to man, what did he do? He tempted Eve. God didn't mean that. God meant that if you eat of this fruit, you'll become like gods. Oh, well then we definitely want to become like gods. And all the way through the history of mankind, he's always wanted to be like God.

You know, you have all these cults and all these people talking about, well one of these days I'm going to get my own planet and be God on my own planet. And then they got these guys that even call themselves Christians that are talking about you can be a little god. A little god. All you are is a little doodoo.

Guest (Male): As Christians we've all offered requests to God and seen them rejected. Maybe you found it difficult to understand why. I mean, our God is a loving God. He wants the best for us, right? Yet he still says no, leaving us perplexed.

Today on Sound Doctrine Pastor Jeff Johnson resumes his study of 2 Samuel, chapter 7. David has a desire to bless God's heart and build a house in the Lord's name. It was a good thing, born out of a good motive. But God said no. We'll see why today on the broadcast. Here's Pastor Jeff with today's Sound Doctrine.

Jeff Johnson: It says in Isaiah 9:6, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."

And then it says, "And of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it, to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even forever." So a child is born, a son is given. Talking about Jesus. Upon David's throne it would be established.

Now when you talk about a child is born or a son is given, you're talking now going into the New Testament. Throwing us back into the New Testament in Luke 1, let me read it to you. Gabriel, who is remember the messenger angel—Michael is the angel of war, Gabriel's the messenger angel.

He comes to Mary and says, "Mary, fear not. You have found favor with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, he shall be called his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

And so we have his kingdom and throne, it will be established. David's throne. When? When Jesus Christ is born, when he's brought into this earth. Peter, going on with this because I have to bring home this point to make a point, in Acts chapter 2 and verse 29, Peter says of this throne.

He says, "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him," the Davidic Covenant promise, "that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Jesus Christ to sit on his throne." And then he goes on to talk about seeing this spoke of the resurrection of Christ.

So again, David, throne, Jesus Christ set up on his throne. Going further, Romans chapter 1, Paul said this in Romans 1, verse 1: "The servant of Jesus Christ, Paul, servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which has promised before his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh."

And then by Jesus himself in Revelation 22:16, Jesus says, "I, Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things of the churches. I am the root of the offspring of David, and the bright and the morning star." When God gave this covenant to David, there was no condition.

Yes, he said, if you sin, I'm going to chasten you, to David. But he didn't give a condition that David, if you're good, if you obey my commandments, if you do this, this, that and the other, then I will promise you this. No, God just flat out promised that he would do this work. And upon the throne of David, he would establish an everlasting kingdom. It would be eternal throne.

In order to take this a little step further, let me go back to Genesis. And God gave certain covenants to the patriarchs, starting with Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. Bear with me. In Genesis 12:1, "Now the Lord said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, from thy kindred, from thy father's house into a land that I'll show you." A land I'll show you.

"I will make thee a great nation, I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing. Those that bless thee will be blessed, those that curse thee will be cursed." This is the promise that God gave to this man Abraham, who was a Gentile, who was amongst an idolatrous nation that was worshipping idols. God called him out of that whole scene and then gave him some promises.

Number one, he said, I'm going to give you a land. There is a promise in Deuteronomy chapter 30—and this is another covenant, it's called the Palestinian Covenant—Deuteronomy 30 verse 3, that "God says that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and I have compassion on thee, and I will return and gather thee from all the nations whether the Lord thy God has scattered thee."

God promised to Israel that he would bring them back to the land and he's done that. Amazing prophecy fulfilled out of all the nations he brought the Jews back to the land, just like he said he would. He promised that to Abraham and then he fulfilled it in the covenant of the Palestinian Covenant. And he did it.

Here in 2 Samuel chapter 7 we have the Davidic Covenant, which talks about the nation, that God is going to what? Establish a nation. In fact, in verse 24, if you follow me, 2 Samuel 7:24, "For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee forever, and thou Lord art become their God."

The nation Israel was promised to be a nation for how long? Forever, right? His people for how long? Until the Gentiles come up and they become a special people and then the Jews are forsaken? No. Israel has never been forsaken.

And if you're going to understand prophecy at all, if you're going to understand who's going through the tribulation period and what the tribulation period is all about, if you're going to understand what God is promised, you need to understand this: that Israel isn't finished with God.

God is not finished with Israel. Oh, right now it's kind of like they've been put on a shelf and the Gentiles are getting saved. But hey, you go and look at the tribulation period, it's for the Gentiles, Jacob's troubles. The Gentiles, we're taken out.

So I mean, to understand prophecy, to see it fit together like a puzzle, you need to understand that God is not done with the Jews. And so he says here, they're my people forever.

Going on now, so we've seen the land, the Palestinian Covenant. We've seen the nation, the Davidic Covenant. And now let's look in Jeremiah chapter 31 and let's get the covenant of blessing. Jeremiah 31 verse 31: "Behold the days come saith the Lord I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."

And he goes on to talk about this new covenant and the blessings he would bring to Israel. So we have the land, we have the nation and we have the blessing. All talked about in the Abrahamic Covenant, all talked about through the scriptures that would come to pass, that God said will be fulfilled.

Now, going back to 2 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 18: "Then went King David in after hearing all of this sat before the Lord and he said, who am I, oh Lord God, and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto?" Nathan shared with David everything that God gave to him.

David was then overwhelmed and he was blown away as he thought of God's goodness towards him. He just sat there for a bit. At a time that God said no to David, David now is being humbled. And he sits there and he thinks, God, you called me out of the world. Your call was upon my life.

You have given me victory over my enemies. You have given me fame and glory and honor. And Lord, the Messiah is going to come through my seed. Wow, this is incredible. And yet it's nothing compared to what's coming. It's like the Lord talking with us today.

In 1 John he says, you haven't seen nothing yet. You think things are great in the Lord now and what God's doing, wait until you see what's coming. 1 John, this is beautiful, chapter 3, he says, "Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knows us not because it knew him not. Beloved now are we the sons of God, yet it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him for we will see him as he is."

I mean, God's done a lot of great things. As we look back in the past, awesome. As we look right now, incredible what's going on in the world today. And as we look at the future, wow. You mean? Yeah, you're going to see him face to face.

Look at what verse 19 says, 2 Samuel 7:19. "This was yet a small thing in your sight, oh Lord God," David says. "But thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and is this the manner of man, oh Lord God?" You see, we see through a glass what? Darkly. I hope you're seeing even through the glass darkly. And if you're not, you need to say, what can I do to look? And I'll just say, get into the word.

As you get into the word, you're going to begin to see through a glass that's kind of dark before you. But you're going to see things. You're going to see it happening. You're going to look at this world today and you're going to see the prophecies fitting into place. You're going to see the puzzle beginning to set, but you're not going to see it totally clear.

Yet then, face to face. One of these days we're going to be there, we're going to be right in front of Jesus. And he's going to give us a big bear hug, man. Welcome. And you're just going to go, whoa. You're going to melt, man. And it's going to be all worth it. So see through a glass darkly.

Now, David says, and this is the manner of man, oh Lord God? Me? You see man seeks for qualified individuals who can meet certain standards. But God always chooses unqualified people and blesses them. That's how it's always been. In 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 8, let me read it to you.

"He raises up the poor out of the dust, he lifts up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he has set the world upon them." David cried out, he took me out of a horrible pit, out of a miry clay. He set my feet upon a solid rock.

He put a new song in my heart, even praise unto my God. Many shall see it and fear and trust in the Lord. Look what God has done. God chooses the poor, the weak to confound what? The wise. So the wise sit back and go, well he ain't even educated. What's going on? I don't understand. Where did you get—what's going on?

And the wise, they can't figure it out. What God is doing. David was simply saying, you are being glorified in my life. And all that you're doing is so you can be glorified. What God has done with me, as I look back at Furman Park in Downey with ten people twenty years ago and look where we're at today.

What an encouragement for everyone. For all of us. I mean, if God can use Jeff—there's hope for me. If God can bless Jeff, well then I guess he can bless me. It's to God be the glory. Great things he has done. He chooses the foolish things. And this is just the way he works.

God's not seeking to reward us, but to simply bestow his grace and love on us so others will be encouraged. He wants to encourage people because of your life and because of what he's doing in your life.

Verse 20: "And what can David say more to thee?" He was speechless. "For thou Lord knowest thy servant." I think this is probably one of the few times David was speechless. I mean, this is a guy that's prolific writer and he's always talking about something in the world and writing things down and yet he was humbled before his God.

And I thought, maybe could this be the reason why God said no to him? To get him to listen to him for a little bit? To humble him before him and to give him his promises. He had no words. He was speechless. And I think it's when God does things to us like this, you can't say anything.

Remember Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. I'll read it to you. He said, "I knew a man, I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, about fourteen years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell, God knows. Such a one was caught up to the third heaven.

I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I can't tell, God knows. How that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." I mean, Paul's mind was blown. It was so blown that he saw things that he couldn't even say.

He couldn't say them for fourteen years. They were so incredible. He just had was speechless about the experience. And that's why I kind of wonder about these guys that have a midnight experience and they see Jesus who's nine feet tall or they see an angel that comes by and sits on their bed and then they run up and they get interviews on TV and then they write a book and say, I'll sign it if you want me to, and they just sell books and all kinds of stuff.

And I go, well wait a minute. If they had such an awesome experience with the Lord, what are they doing speaking things that are unlawful to even say so quick and so easy, like it's nothing? I kind of wonder about that.

Verse 21: "For thy word's sake," God says, "and according to thine own heart hast thou done all these great things to make thy servant know them." David is actually saying it's not because I was good, it's not because I was worthy, it's not because I was a committed individual you did all this.

Listen, David knew he was a weak individual. If you don't believe me, read the Psalms. And when you read the Psalms, you're going to see a man that blew it big time and that knew he was a sinner. He said, for your word's sake you did all this. Why? So he'd get God to get the glory. He uses the foolish to confound the wise.

Look what God has done. In fact over in 2 Corinthians, he talks about we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Why? That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. So God gives us this awesome gospel and it's not even ours.

He changes our lives so we can give it to somebody else and it's not to our glory. It's look what God is doing. It's the preaching of the cross. It's the treasure. It's going out and somebody else is grabbing it and they're becoming rich and they just pass it on. But it's not an outward thing. It's a work that he does in your heart and it's to God's glory.

Verse 22: "Wherefore thou art great," David says, "oh Lord God, for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee according to all that we have heard with our ears." David shouts it out and says, God is great. Not man, but God. Satan in heaven says, I want to be like the Most High God. God says, what? I want to be like you, I'm going to be a god. You're out of here. That's what God said. There's only room for one God, man. I be it. You're history. Kicked him out of heaven.

And ever since then, when Satan came to man, what did he do? He tempted Eve. He said Eve, God didn't mean that. God meant that if you eat of this fruit, you'll become like gods. Oh, well then we definitely want to become like gods. And all the way through the history of mankind, he's always wanted to be like God.

And so, you know, you have all these cults and all these people talking about well one of these days I'm going to get my own planet and be God on my own planet. What? And then they got these guys that even call themselves Christians that are talking about you can be a little god. A little god. All you are is a little doodoo.

And you're saying, well I'm a little god, I can speak it into existence. You know, what is this? There's something messed up with man that he always wants to be godlike. Listen, we are sinners saved by grace. And this is all that David saying: You're the only God. There is no other God. You're the greatest Lord and there is none beside you.

Verse 23: "And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went and redeemed for a people to himself and to make him a name and to do it for great things and awesome for thy land, for thy people which were redeemed which thou redeemest to thee from Israel, from the nations and their gods. For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee forever, and thou Lord art become their God."

There is none like the people of God. We are the ones that have been redeemed. The angels are looking into what it's like to be redeemed. They don't know what it's like because they haven't fallen.

We know what it is to fall and to be a sin-sick sinner and have God come and touch you and take you out of the gutter and put you on a solid rock. We know what it is to experience to be bought with a price, with the precious blood of Jesus. We know what it's like to be owned by God, man, to be his forever. We are the people of the Lord, the sheep of his pasture. He has called us, he has chosen us, he has purchased us. That's special. We're blessed.

Verse 25: "And now oh Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as thou hast said. And let thy name be magnified forever saying the Lord of hosts is the God over Israel and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee."

David here is coming into a place of faith where he's ready to stand on God's promises for his own house. He's going Lord, I love it. I want it. Let it be established in my house. I found a scripture in 2 Samuel 23 verse 5.

Listen where David says, "Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, a promise ordered in all things and sure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow." David understood that in his house there was a lot of problems, a lot of trouble. But he said, Lord, you promised me. And you are my salvation. You are all I need. So David stood on the word of the Lord.

What is your need? There's a promise for it. You need pardon? There's a promise. Forgiveness? There's a promise. Salvation? You need deliverance? What do you need? Guidance? He will guide you. He's given us his promises.

And notice verse 27: "For thou oh Lord of hosts God of Israel hast revealed to thy servant saying I will build thee a house, therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. And now oh Lord God, thou art that God and thy words be true and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant."

In the midst of David's ambition, in the midst of your wanting to do that good thing for God, God intervenes and says no. Why? Because right here David explains it. God wants to give you his promises and lift you up and bless you as God did with David. God said no David, you can't do this, but look what I'm going to do. You know, it overwhelms us then. What do you mean I can't do that? That's always what we say. What do you mean I can't have that? What do you mean? Is there a reason? And then God just says listen, listen to my promises. Listen to what I'm going to do.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson. Stay with us because Pastor Jeff will be back in a few moments with a closing thought on our study through 2 Samuel chapter 7.

Hopefully as you listen to these messages in 2 Samuel, you'll have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying in these critical times. God's word is so practical, giving us direction, instruction and wisdom to our lives. To hear this message again simply go to sounddoctrineradio.org or listen through the Sound Doctrine podcast.

You can also hear Sound Doctrine on oneplace.com and wherever you enjoy podcasts including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We would very much appreciate your support. It helps us deliver Sound Doctrine on stations like this one all across the nation. And you can donate to this radio outreach at sounddoctrineradio.org. Now to bring today's program to a close, here's Pastor Jeff.

Jeff Johnson: And then verse 29: "Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant that it may that it may continue forever before thee, for thou oh Lord God hast spoken it and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever." David is actually here receiving God's promise. He's saying do it Lord, I want it to be done.

See God's promise promise to us today is that God so loved you that if you will believe in Christ, that God sent his son to die for you, if you will believe in him, you will not perish but have everlasting life. See what you need to do is believe this morning. And then you just need to simply stand there and say do it Lord. I need life. I need new life. I need to move into your world, Lord. I'm in my own world and I'm messing it up. I need you to change my life.

I think we can learn a lot from his denials in our life. Turn any more towards you and your life will never be the same again. He will save you and bring you into a place of salvation. It's awesome.

Guest (Male): We hope you'll join us for our next study in 2 Samuel. It's going to be a good one. That's right here on Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff. A presentation of Calvary Chapel Downey.

Jeff Johnson: God bless.