1 Peter 1:22 – 2:3, “Got milk?”
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At some point, probably everyone has asked themselves the question: “If you were lost on a deserted island & could only bring 3 things, what would they be?” (Aside a satellite phone, batteries, and a GPS locator! ) What the question boils down to is: what’s really important in your life – what is it that you need to survive? For babies, the answer is easy: clean diapers & milk. LOTS of milk as any parent of a newborn can attest (and lots of diapers, too, but that’s another story ). What is it for the Christian? What does a Christian need in his/her life that is absolutely essential to survive, thrive, and grow? As Peter makes plain, it’s the word of God.

Remember that Peter is writing to a church that is starting to suffer much persecution & other various trials. Peter was no stranger to suffering himself – and he’s encouraging the church to ‘keep on keeping on in Christ Jesus.’ He reminded the church that they were elect of God & they had a coming inheritance, kept secure for them in heaven. Because of this inheritance, they (and we) could have a different perspective in the midst of trials, knowing that our sovereign God was doing a marvelous work in our lives, proving our faith & shaping us into the character of Christ. The proper perspective then, is that we are to rest our hope fully upon Jesus Christ. He is the spotless Lamb of God who redeemed us through His blood & gives us faith & hope…and He alone can take us through our suffering & trials in this present time.

With that in mind, how does a Christian go about doing that practically? What can we do to keep our focus upon Christ & what He would have us to do? Take in the word of God!

1 Peter 1:22-2:3 (NKJV)
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

A. “Purified your souls”? Keep our context in mind – Peter is referring to holiness. Our proper response to the amazing grace we have been shown by Jesus Christ & our salvation is to be holy as God is holy (vs. 16). To be pure & set apart for His use… Did we purify ourselves? No, but there’s an aspect of this to which we can say “yes.” Spiritually speaking, in the eyes of God we were MADE pure by Christ Jesus. We were in utter need of it, as we could not purify ourselves in the slightest…our sin gets in the way & even our attempts at righteousness outside of Christ are like filthy rags. Jesus is the one who makes us holy in God’s sight. But now that we are IN Christ, we are to continue in that – not give ourselves over to the world all over again, but walk in the holiness Jesus gives us. Thus we purify ourselves… But only after we have already been made pure & have been born of God into His grace.

B. How do we go about purifying ourselves? 2 ways listed here:
__a. “Obeying the truth”: Personal holiness doesn’t come from osmosis. Sometimes, we actually have to DO something. Instead of ignoring what the word of God has to say about a matter, we actually get up & DO it. Like James wrote, we need to “be doers of the word” (Jas 1:22)… For example, when someone hears the truth of the gospel, they respond by repenting from sin & trusting Christ – that is to obey the truth. For a believer, we actually DO forgive one another & love one another…these are things Christ calls us to & by acting upon them, we’re obeying the truth.
__b. “Through the Spirit”: So essential! We are to obey the truth, but obeying God’s truth is virtually impossible in our flesh – our selfish bodies & carnal nature simply rebels against the things of God. So what do we do? We cannot wallow in our sin; nor can we ‘rev’ ourselves up to do the work. The solution? We obey the truth not in OUR power (we have none), but in GOD’s power. We do it “through the Spirit.” …
___i. Not every Bible translation has this clause – it’s not found in some of the older Greek manuscripts, but it IS found in the Majority Text & TR. No matter where you fall in the textual criticism debate, there’s no question whether or not the idea here is Biblical! Christians can only do the work of God through the empowerment of the Spirit of God – that was the whole point of why Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until Pentecost. They already knew the basics of the gospel – they had seen Jesus crucified & risen from the grave – but they still needed one more thing: the power of God. Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” [] This is where so many Christians get off track & discouraged – they keep trying to do the work of God in their flesh…and it’s no wonder why we fail when we do that! We are dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit…

C. What are we to do as a result of being purified? “Love one another…” Part of being holy is to “love one another.” Someone cannot claim to be obedient to the truth if he/she is harboring hatred in his/her heart towards a fellow believer in Christ…John goes so far as to call that person a liar (1 Jn 4:20). Instead, because of the transforming love of God & grace that we have experienced, through the power of the Spirit we are to love one another abundantly, selflessly, and as brothers together in the Lord. (Peter uses 2 words for love: agape & phileo.) How are we to love?
__a. Sincerely: literally, the Greek is “not a hypocrite.” Early on, to be a “hypocrite” referred to an actor – someone who’s true persona was disguised on stage. … Later, the term came to be used for someone who’d deceivingly act one way when they’d really be acting another way. That’s the opposite of how we ought to act with one another as believers in Christ! We’re to be unfeigned & undisguised with one another – act in sincerity towards one another. IOW, we don’t claim to love our brother in Christ & then go stab him in the back. We don’t tell a sister we love her & then go tell all her business to someone else… Our love is to be sincere!
__b. Fervently: Interestingly enough, the original root word actually means “to stretch out the hand” – an intense action, stretching forth. That’s somewhat the idea here. Just as if we’re reaching out for something, we’re to love each other with that same intensity. IOW, we’re not to be passive when it comes to loving one another (just sitting back waiting for something to happen); we’re to be active!
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23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

A. This isn’t the 1st time the NT speaks about being born again. Jesus had a famous conversation with Nicodemus about the same topic. [] We MUST be born again – of the water & the spirit – if we’re to ever see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Why? Because outside of Christ, all mankind is spiritually dead… When Adam & Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they died – not physically (that was to come later as a ramification of their sin, as they were exiled from the Garden), but they died spiritually immediately. Just as God had said, “In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17) The moment they rebelled against God at the temptation of the Serpent, they spiritually died, and that death was passed on to every single human being that followed. The glorious good news of the gospel is that through Jesus’ death & resurrection, we are given life! We are born anew of the spirit – we partake of Christ Jesus who is the resurrection & the life, and though we die yet will we live because all those who believe in Him as Lord received a 2nd birth!

B. What are we born of? “incorruptible/imperishable” seed…none other than “the word of God…” Peter here seems to go back to Jesus’ parable of the sower (Mark 4)… In the parable, Jesus very specifically says that the seed is the word of God – it’s sown into the life of a person (represented by various soil/ground) & takes root. Peter takes the same idea & shows that it is by the seed of the word that we are born again. When we heard the proclamation of the gospel – that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins & rose again from the grave in victory…that He is Lord & offers life to all who repent & trust Him – then the word of God took root in our heart & gave life to we who were once completely dead.
__a. The point? WE didn’t make ourselves alive – we were completely dependent upon God working through His word & His promises to do that. If we’re dependent upon the word of God for THAT, surely we’re dependent upon the word of God for much more as well. (Peter will get to that in a minute. )

C. The word of God never fails! The word of God endures – it “lives and abides forever…” We don’t often think about the word of God being alive, but that’s exactly how the Scripture describes it. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [] Begs the question: how can the written or spoken word be alive? Simple – it’s given by the living God! When God spoke, the universe came into existence. When we receive the word God has given, we are going to be affected if for no other reason simply because it is the word of God! God’s word has power because of the One who spoke it.

D. Since the written word abides forever, it underscores the importance of it in the life of the born-again believer. We don’t build our lives upon passing fads or upon uncertain truths; we build our lives upon the solid rock of the word of God!
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24 because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the LORD endures forever.”

A. Quoting Isaiah 40:6-8. Isaiah had just prophesied of John the Baptist who was to be the voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” (Isa 40:3). In Isaiah’s prophecy, the voice was to cry out that all flesh is as grass & show the contrast between the things of man & the things of God. Obviously, that was John the Baptist’s message – his was a call to repentance because there was One coming after him who would baptize people with fire…he cried out for people to be prepared for the everlasting God.

B. The point here with Peter? Everything of man is passing away. Whether the things of man, or life itself… It’s all going to fade away (or burn up, as Peter will write later). But not the word of the Lord! Everything of flesh will fail, but the word of God will last & last! Even if every single Bible & quotation of Scripture were thrown into a fire & burned, God would still ensure that His spoken revealed word would endure. (As with Jeremiah, He’d probably just inspire it to be written all over again! Jer 36.) And beyond the word’s existence, the effects of the word of God will last for eternity…evidenced by the fact that people will BE there!
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…Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

A. How important is the word of God? That is how Christ is proclaimed to the world! Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17).
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2:1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

A. Going back to the idea of holiness & of the Christian purifying him/herself. These are the various traits of the world from which the Christian ought to lay aside & be pure from…
__a. “Malice”: General term for evil & wickedness. A kind of catch-all for anything Peter may have left out with the other terms…
__b. “Deceit”: KJV “guile” – good translation! Speaking of a crafty deception. Just as a fisherman uses the right kind of bait on the hook, the deceitful guile-full person attempts to bait someone else. That’s what Satan did in the garden with Eve; it’s not something any Christian should have anything to do with!
__c. “Hypocrisy”: Already saw this word – this is the opposite of the sincere love Christians ought to have for one another.
__d. “Envy”: Self-explanatory – speaking about jealousy. Why shouldn’t Christians be jealous? (1) We’re not supposed to covet, per the 10th Commandment… (2) We ought to find our contentment in what God gives us. Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim 6:6).
__e. “Evil speaking”: defaming, slandering…i.e. this involves bearing false witness against others (7th Commandment). Jesus is the truth (John 14:6) – His disciples ought to reflect His truth in all things…

B. Needless to say, these are NOT Christian traits! Yet sometimes this is exactly what supposed “Christians” are known for… Something is terribly wrong with this picture! [] So what do you do if you can describe yourself by these traits in verse 1? Lay them aside…repent! Like a garment that is defiled & dirty, cast it off & get rid of it. These were the things Jesus cleansed us from – we’re not to go back to them any longer. Now, we’re to desire something completely different – see vs. 2…
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2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

A. Desire the word! Deeply long for & desire the spiritual word of God! That through which we learn of Jesus Christ – that which is living & active – that which purifies & sanctifies us…desire it. The word of God is not an optional addition for the Christian – it’s not just something to throw into our spiritual ‘toolbox’ of stuff every now & again…it’s absolutely essential to us, and we are to long for it! Jesus made the same point in His temptation – “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt 4:4, c.f. Deut 8:3)
__a. It’s “pure” – the same word translated “deceit/guile” (vs 1) is reversed here. There’s nothing deceptive within the word of God…it’s trustworthy!
__b. It’s necessary for our spiritual growth…like nourishment to our spirit, we require a healthy diet of it to grow & mature in our relationship with God.

B. Is this a conflict with Hebrews, in that the author of Hebrews told us to get past the point of needing milk? Hebrews 5:12-13 (12) For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (13) For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. [] … Is this a contradiction in the Scripture? Not at all! There are certain foundational doctrines that we shouldn’t need to lay & re-lay over & over again – we ought to be able to grow mature in our faith (as Peter agrees). But that doesn’t mean we ever LEAVE those foundational doctrines! When building a house, after the foundation is laid it isn’t re-poured again – but neither is the house moved away from the foundation! It’s rooted right there… It’s the same way with the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith (Jesus is LORD, the Son of God, crucified for sins & resurrected from the dead…essential; foundational!).

C. Beyond those foundational doctrines, Peter is writing of a different context altogether from the author of Hebrews. Peter isn’t saying that we need to stay babies – but rather we need to be as dependent on the word of God in the same ways babies are dependent upon pure milk. How dependent are babies? They’re dependent at 1am, 3am, 5am… And they’ll let you know if they need it! That milk is their life sustenance (they don’t even eat anything else), and they keep coming back to it over & over. [] Are you dependent upon the word of God? Do you desire it as pure milk?
__a. What this looks like is probably different for every believer (and we need to be careful about imposing a legalistic standard upon someone else) – but we can be sure there are certain things it does NOT look like. Someone who never seeks Biblical counsel (whether through talking to a mature Christian friend or in the pages of Scripture itself) is not dependent upon the word of God. Someone who uses their Bible solely as a ‘prop’ for Sunday morning is not dependent upon the word of God. Someone who never seeks the Lord in prayer is obviously not dependent upon the word of God. There are many things we can do culturally (especially here in the Bible belt) where people will look at us & say, “That’s a good Christian thing to do!” that really have nothing to do with being dependent upon the word of God as pure milk. Being a nice person is good – but atheists can be nice (some atheists are nicer than some supposed ‘Christians’ I’ve met!). Christians are to be dependent upon the milk of the word of God, which nourishes us & changes us.
__b. This is another phrase that can be translated differently, depending upon your Bible translations. Some render this as “spiritual milk.” The Greek word is pretty plainly based upon the term for “word” (logos) – but the translation could go either way. In any case, it’s pretty apparent what Peter thought that the Christian’s spiritual milk is: the word of God!

D. What are we growing up into? Our salvation (ESV, NIV, NASB make this clear). The idea isn’t that the Christian never knows if he/she is truly saved; the idea is one of completion. As born-again believers in Jesus Christ, we are to mature continually until the day we see the Lord Jesus face-to-face. At that point, we truly see the fruit of our salvation as we experience it in the full glory God intended…
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3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

A. Interesting “if” here! The suggestion is that IF you’re a true Christian, then you’re naturally going to desire the word of God more than the things of the world. Peter was assuming that the people he was writing to had indeed already tasted – but it’s still a good cross-check. Do you desire the word more than the world? I.e. do you yearn after the true promises of God – or are you engaged in deceit? Or malice, slander, etc. A person’s priorities are much more easily seen in his/her actions rather than his/her words. Words are important, but words can be cheap. What a person is actually engaged in is a good indication of where his/her heart is. Hopefully our heart longs after the word of God & we know from experience that the Lord is gracious!
__a. What happens if you don’t? It’s probably a pretty good indication you need to get on your knees before God (even before this service ends today) & re-examine your relationship with Him!

B. Have you tasted of the Lord? He is gracious! Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! [] Oh how good the Lord is to those who trust Him! He gives promises of life – of forgiveness – of adoption – of peace – of inheritance, and much more. We who have tasted of the Lord are truly blessed!

Conclusion:
Christians are utterly dependent upon the word of God. We first heard the gospel through the word… We are born again into incorruptible new life because of the promises in the word… We grow in Christ through the wonderful doctrine found in the word… We learn to love one another fervently & sincerely because of how we’re changed through the word… Get into the word!

One ‘word’ of caution here: we don’t learn the word just to get a bunch of knowledge. We aren’t dependent upon it merely to fill our heads with Bible trivia & have a quasi-manual for life scenarios. We’re dependent upon the word because the word always leads us to the Living Word, Jesus Christ! If in your study of the Scripture you haven’t been led to Christ, you likely haven’t gone far enough…the whole Bible is ALL about HIM. The very reason we’re so dependent upon the word of God is because it comes from GOD, and it helps us know HIM more & grow in our relationship with Jesus. As Peter wrote in Ch 1:13, we are to rest our hope fully upon Him – and one of the ways we do that is by knowing what Jesus has to say to us through the Scripture.

So are you dependent upon the word of God? Do you desire it like pure milk – or have you found yourself going back to the ways & character traits of the world? Christian, there are no better truths to build our lives upon than the word of God…because it is the very revelation of Jesus Christ Himself. Through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the word of God, you will find yourself loving one another fervently – purifying your souls in holiness – and casting all your cares upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christmas Eve Service 2009

Devotional: Matthew 1:18-25

Aside from Jesus, who is it that we generally think about when remembering the Christmas story? Mary – the angels – the shepherds – even the wise men (who weren’t even there!)… Joseph is sometimes just an afterthought in the whole event. Granted, Joseph is not Jesus’ father (that role belongs to God alone), but God used Joseph in a mighty (but often overlooked) way: as the primary caretaker for the infant incarnation of God. What a privilege!

We don’t know much about Joseph: he was a carpenter by trade, and had a reputation as a just man. He didn’t have much money at all (they could only afford the smallest sacrifices in the temple), and other than the fact that he was the parental guardian of Jesus, we might have otherwise never have known he existed.

Because he was a just man, it’s easy to imagine the reaction he would have had to the news that the woman he was engaged to be married to (through the betrothal) was pregnant. Surely he was shocked – dismayed – disappointed, and probably a 100 other emotions ran through his heart. He had every right to have Mary taken into the streets & stoned to death – but he had much mercy upon her & decided to put her away quietly.

If Matthew’s account stopped right there, no one would have batted an eye. It would have been completely understandable for Joseph to put Mary away & never speak to her again…but that’s NOT what happened! Literally overnight, Joseph had a change of heart & not only took Mary to be his bride, but put himself in the position of raising someone else’s child.

What made the difference? An angelic dream that brought some marvelously good news!

Keep in mind, it wasn’t merely because Joseph had a dream (God can speak in many other ways) – it wasn’t merely that an angel appeared to Joseph (God could have used a different messenger) – the important thing was the message itself…what the angel had to say. The angel said two main things:

1. Mary’s Child had been conceived by none other than God Himself. Mary had not been unfaithful in the slightest; on the contrary – she had been blessed! God showed immense unmerited favor upon her when He chose her to be the physical mother of Jesus. But more than that – the whole point was that this unborn Child was none other than the Son of God! God Himself was wrapping Himself in flesh to dwell among us… The Child yet to be born was going to be recognized as none other that God – Emmanuel, “God with us.” This is exactly what Isaiah had written about in his prophecy (which Matthew quotes). Isaiah actually goes on to write later, Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. []
__a. Every birth can be termed a miracle…but when we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmastime, it’s a far greater event than just “any” birth. This is not the story of “just” a baby in a manger – this is the actual history of what happened when God the Son was literally born of flesh into the world!

2. This Child had a role destined for Him: to be the Savior. Understand, that’s what His very name means: “Yahweh (Jehovah) who saves.” We need to be saved! Many don’t realize it, but our sins leave us utterly helpless, hopeless, and condemned before God. Spiritually speaking, outside of Jesus Christ, people are absolutely dead in their sins & transgressions. They may be walking around physically (perhaps even enjoying life), but they have no idea that they are dead in spirit – they’ve denied the fact that they’ve rebelled against God. But God in His great mercy & love desires to save us – and that’s exactly what He made provision for by sending Jesus in the flesh to live a perfect life, die on the cross, and rise again from the grave. That was God’s plan for Him all along – He was born for the express intent of dying for our sins, and offering us new life in return. He is our Savior!

Ultimately, Jesus is known as Emmanuel – not because that is His given name, but because that is His glorious role! He truly is “God with us” – the eternal Son of God made flesh, who came to die for your sins & my sins & the sins of the whole world – who was to rise again from the grave in full victory over sin & death – Who today sits at the right hand of God waiting for the time of His soon return. This God – this JESUS – dwelt among us as humans, offering the free gift of salvation to all who call upon Him. He offered it then, and He offers it today…

That was the message that changed Joseph’s life – and it’s the message that still changes lives today. This is the message that we celebrate at Christmas – praising God for sending our Savior, and giving us the most wonderful gift imaginable: everlasting life & fellowship with our Creator.

2 Samuel 7, “A House for David; A Savior for Us”
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What’s on your Christmas list this year? As a kid, I used to come up with elaborate lists based out of the Sears catalog for every single toy I wanted… As adults things are bit simpler; it’s actually tough sometimes to think of things we truly want. But every so often we get a gift that is completely unexpected, and it’s more than what we could have thought to ask for ourselves. (And it’s always great to be the giver in those situations!)

That’s where David finds himself in 2 Samuel 7. Wanting to do something for the Lord, God actually comes back and blesses him beyond his wildest imaginations. And the gift God gave to David continues to us today…it’s the very foundation for our celebration every December 25th!

Remember our context: David has finally been made king over all Israel. Once Saul had died, David had been accepted as king in Judah, but not Israel overall – a usurper had taken David’s rightful place on the throne. After some deadly events & coups outside of David’s blessing, the usurpers are removed & he is established as king over all Israel. David quickly conquered Jerusalem, defeated the Philistines, and brought the ark into the new Hebrew capital city (learning some lessons about the holiness of God along the way!).

2 Samuel 7 (NKJV)
1 Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies all around, 2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.”

A. Great motivation! David realizes he’s been blessed immensely by the Lord & he desires to do something in response to God’s great blessing. David’s plans are going to change a bit (as we’ll see), but what he wanted to do was truly good. Any time we come to realization of what God has already done for us, it ought to naturally cause us to want to respond to Him. That’s exactly what we’re to be doing in worship! As we sing to the Lord, it’s not just so we can get past the 1st several minutes of the church service – it’s because we desire to respond somehow to the wonderful works of God. So whether it’s in a church service, at home, or by serving someone else, we desire to worship God in spirit & truth in grateful response.

B. Bad theology. God never truly “dwelt” in a tent. God will adopt the terminology a bit later, but in truth God doesn’t dwell anywhere. God is omnipresent – meaning there is no physical place where God is not. The universe fits in the span of God’s hand (Isa 40:12); God was no more “dwelling” in the Tabernacle than oxygen dwelled in it. The tabernacle was the chosen place where God would reveal Himself in His glory, but it’s not like God actually lived there. … Solomon acknowledged this when he dedicated the temple (1 Kings 8:27). Stephen does too – Acts 7:48-50 (48) “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: (49) ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, Or what is the place of My rest? (50) Has My hand not made all these things?’ []
__a. This is part of why the incarnation of Christ at Christmas is such a wondrous miracle: Almighty Infinite God actually wrapped Himself in flesh & dwelt among us. The God whom no space could contain willingly humbled Himself & came as a helpless baby.
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3 Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”

A. True: God was with David…amen!
B. False: David didn’t have a carte blanche from the Lord to do whatever. … And Nathan certainly didn’t have the authority to tell David that! Nathan spoke presumptuously here…
__a. We need to be VERY careful about what we say of the words of God! If you say “Thus sayeth the Lord,” He better have “sayeth” it! … To do otherwise is to bear false witness, and to be a false prophet…
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4 But it happened that night that the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, 5 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? 6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle.

A. God doesn’t need a house…heaven is His throne.
B. How did God “move about” in the tabernacle? Symbolically. When the Levites moved the ark of the covenant & mercy seat around, they were symbolically moving the throne of God. But again, God Himself was not actually moving; only the symbol of His presence as He guided Israel through the wilderness.
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7 Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’

A. God didn’t ask for a house. Interesting question from the Lord! It’s not like God had been asking Israel why they were taking so long to build Him a temple – God wanted their hearts 1st (and that was a struggle enough…the people often fell into idolatry). Keep in mind God isn’t chastising David here; He’s simply reestablishing the priorities…see verse 8:
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8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel.

A. Here’s the issue: David doesn’t provide for God; God provides for David. God was the one who raised up David from being a poor shepherd boy who was the least thought of among his family. God was the one who gave David the power to defeat the giant Goliath. God was the one who provided for David & protected him when Saul was seeking to kill him. And God was the one who raised up David to the throne of Israel now. It was ALWAYS God who provided for David; not the other way around.

B. If God needed mankind to provide for Him, God wouldn’t truly be God. God is not poor & needy! God is not lonely! God is not wringing His hands, anxiously worrying about whether or not we will do something for Him. God is completely self-sufficient… Psalm 50:10-12 (10) For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. (11) I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. (12) “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. [] God (because He’s God) is perfectly capable of providing for Himself! The reason He involves us in giving, serving, etc., is because of what God desires to do in US; He wants to glorify Himself through us & thus He uses all sorts of means to do it. But if we don’t do it, God will find a way because God is self-sufficient. It’s us that miss out on the blessing when we don’t participate.
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9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 10 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house. – [God is the provider; what did He provide?]

A. A secure kingdom: all David’s enemies will be cut off & David’s name will be great.

B. A secure land: The nation of Israel will finally be established in the land. Joshua had brought them in & led the conquest, but the people had failed to completely drive out all the inhabitants of the land. Even throughout Saul’s reign, parts of Israel were ruled over by the Philistines. God would change all of that under David’s rule.

C. A secure lineage: a house – a sure household that will come after him. God’s got much more to say about this…
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12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

A. This is HUGE! What a promise! God basically says, “David, you’re not going to build Me a house; I’m going to build you one. And you won’t be able to comprehend the fullest extent of it! It’s going to be like no household the world has ever seen!” …
__a. BTW, note how this is all to come to pass: God. “I will” repeated 5 times here over the course of the promise. God will set up the seed – God will establish his kingdom – God will establish the everlasting throne – God will be his Father – God will chasten. …

B. Three-fold application here…1st 2:
__a. Solomon: Obviously the 1st person to sit on the throne after David wasn’t Christ Jesus; it was Solomon. Specifically, Solomon did “build a house” for God’s name, and God did establish Solomon’s kingdom – as seen in the famous dream when Solomon prayed for wisdom (1 Kings 3:13).
__b. Future kings: we especially see this in the “chastening”. Jesus committed no sin, so He never needed to be chastened by the Lord, but many of the kings did – including Solomon himself!

C. The final application? Jesus! Ultimately God’s promise finds its final (and fullest) fulfillment in Christ Jesus – the true Son of God. (Unger) “Since the Babylonian Captivity, only one King of the Davidic line has been crowned at Jerusalem and He with thorns.” But Jesus is the true King of Israel & the kingdom God established for Christ Jesus will truly never end! He’s been given all authority in heaven & earth right now – He will return to rule the world in righteousness – finally Jesus will cast Satan into the lake of fire & Jesus will reign eternally. Jesus truly is the King of Kings & Lord of Lords!
__a. Jesus is of the “seed” of David, meaning Jesus would come of David’s lineage. That’s exactly what we see in Jesus’ genealogy. Matthew lists the line through Joseph & Joseph was of the line of David – he came down through the kings, including Solomon (Matt 1:7). There’s a problem here in that Joseph wasn’t actually Jesus’ father…which Matthew’s gospel makes very clear – “…begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus” (Matt 1:16). Mary was also of the lineage of David, apparently through a different son of David altogether (according to Luke’s genealogy in Luke 3). No matter which direction you come from (the adopted father or the birth mother), Jesus still comes from the line of David…a perfect heir to the throne promised by God.
__b. This is only one of a long line of what some term a prophetic “address” in Scripture, showing of whom the Messiah was to be expected. He was to be born of the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15), the seed of Abraham (Gen 12:3), the son of Isaac (Gen 21:12), the son of Jacob (Num 24:17), the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10), the house of David (2 Sam 7), born of a virgin (Isa 7:14), proclaimed to be God (Isa 9:6), born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)…and more. And this is all just surrounding His birth!  Throughout time, God has been pointing mankind to one singular Person who was to come & save people from their sin & God sent Jesus at just the right time & in just the right way to reveal Him. Galatians 4:4-5 (4) But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (5) to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. []
____i. This is the whole point of Christmas! It’s not the gifts – it’s not the tinsel – it’s Jesus! From the Garden of Eden, mankind was looking forward to the time that God would send His Son as a Savior & King – and He has! The babe born of a virtually homeless family & laid in a feeding trough was truly the most important person in the whole universe! God used the entire OT to point towards Him – and the entire NT to point back at Him – He is Lord!
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17 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. 18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? 20 Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord GOD, know Your servant. 21 For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them.

A. David responds in wonderful godly humility – the right & proper response to such a glorious promise of blessing from God! David understood he didn’t deserve any of this; it was only because of God’s grace.

B. This is exactly the same for us when it comes to salvation through Jesus Christ. We do not deserve a single thing from the hand of God, except His wrath due to sin. Yet in Jesus, He grants us forgiveness, new life, the filling of the Spirit, adoption into His family, given the privilege of being co-heirs with Christ & much more! This is sheer grace! Not a single one of us deserves such a thing – the only human who ever did lives at the right hand of God today & He is both 100% human & 100% God. And Jesus willingly shares all of this with us…
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22 Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods? 24 For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, LORD, have become their God.

A. God is unique – there is none like Him…neither in number nor in character.
__a. Number: God alone is God. There is no other God but our God. The Shema makes it plain: Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (4) “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! (5) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. [] We love whom? The Lord our God – who is the ONE God! God is not in competition with Allah or Vishnu or whatever gods men imagine – He alone is God.
__b. Character: God has revealed Himself to be absolutely unique in the pages of the Bible and in the Person of Jesus Christ. There are other religions that believe they worship the Creator God (Islam, for example) – but they have a fundamentally faulty understanding of God because they reject the revelation of God. To reject Jesus Christ (and thus the God of the Bible) is to reject the one true God. God is truly unique – and we must come to Him through His Son! (John 14:6)

B. God’s people are unique. David obviously referred to Hebrew history, by which God showed Himself in a mighty way by redeeming His people from the slavery of Egypt & called them to be His very own. Which is all very true…but don’t miss the fact that Christians are also the people of God! We have been grafted into the promises God gave to Israel & we also have been called by His name. (1 Pet 2:9-10)

C. WHY are we unique? Because we have been redeemed (by nothing less than the precious blood of Christ – 1 Pet 1:19). … Two aspects to redemption:
__a. We are redeemed FOR God – for His glory & pleasure. We will enjoy Him & worship Him for all of eternity.
__b. We are redeemed AWAY from death.
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25 “Now, O LORD God, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as You have said. 26 So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. 27 For You, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You. 28 “And now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.

A. Wonderful prayer! David prays that what God said will actually come true. What God says will ALWAYS come true! His word will always be accomplished…

B. Want to ensure your prayers are answered? Pray according to the word of God… (Spurgeon) “Never think that God will be troubled by your asking him about his promises so much. God likes to be troubled, if I may use such an expression; he likes you to go to his door, and say, “Great Banker, cash this note; great Promiser, fulfil this promise; great covenant God, fulfil thy covenant, and send me not empty away.” “Do as thou hast said,” is a legitimate request; we ought to say it; it honors God, and God meant that we should so use his promises, “Do as thou hast said.””
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29 Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You, O Lord GOD, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

A. That’s exactly what is taking place now & will take place in the future! The house of David continues through Jesus Christ – and forever throughout eternity, the Son of David will be blessed & praised. Revelation 22:3-5 (3) And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. (4) They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. (5) There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. []

Conclusion:
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve – what will you be celebrating? There’s nothing wrong with family celebrations – praise God for them. There’s nothing wrong with gift giving, time off from work, having parties, or any of that. Praise God for every good gift. But there is a reason that all of that takes place! The foundation for all our celebration is not the overweight bearded guy in a red suit; it’s none other than the fact that God kept His promise (to David & to the world) that He would send His only begotten Son as a Savior & King to all mankind!

The promise – the glorious gift God gave to David – has been fulfilled in none other than Christ Jesus! God promised that He would provide for David, and He did. God promised that He would provide for all Israel, and He did. God promised that His very Son would come, and He has!

Is there a promise you’ve been waiting upon from the Lord? You can trust Him for it! God’s word is true – He always proves Himself faithful! We may not know the timing of when God will answer, but we can be assured that He WILL answer. …

Beyond the general, there’s another very specific promise we’re waiting on that we can be absolutely assured that God will answer. Not only did Jesus come once to suffer & die, He’s coming again to usher in His everlasting reign! This time we’re not looking to a manger in Bethlehem; we’re listening for the sound of the trumpet to be called home. God keeps His word – every promise about Jesus Christ will be fulfilled…you can bank on it!

1 Peter 1:13-21, “Why Holiness?”
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What do you think of when you hear the word “holy”? Some people think of God (which is good!) – others think of church services – others think of spiritual gurus. It’s not often that we’d think of ourselves & understandably so…one look inside most of our heads, and “holiness” wouldn’t be our 1st description! But yet, that’s exactly what the Bible calls us to be: we are to be holy. Our lives are to be lived in such a way by which we give glory to God – and since He is holy, we ought to be holy.

Before we get too far, we need to keep something very important in mind: holiness is simply not possible outside of Jesus Christ. We can’t wake up one day, decide to be holy & just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and do it – this is something that begins in what Christ already did for us at the cross, continues in His ongoing power in our lives, and will be completed by Him when we finally see Him face-to-face in heaven. There’s a reason Peter takes 13 verse to get to the exhortation – first he needed to establish what it is Jesus does for us through His grace. Only upon that foundation can we go from there to how we ought to live for God.

And God makes it very clear how He expects us to live for Him: Be holy! Why? (1) God is holy, (2) We were bought at a priceless price.

1 Peter 1:13-21 (NKJV)
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

A. “Therefore” what? Context… In light of this great salvation we’ve been given in Christ Jesus! In light of the hope we have in our salvation that gets us through our temporary (though grievous) trials – this hope we have that the prophets looked forward to & the angels are amazed at. What marvelous grace we’ve been shown – what a privilege we’ve been given to have been born-again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Ok…we know what we’ve been given; now Peter tells us what to do about it. 4 exhortations leading up to his main point, 3 here:

B. “gird up the loins of your mind”: Other translations say something like “prepare your minds for action” & that’s the basic idea, though “girding up your loins” is a more literal translation. In the culture, when someone was getting ready to run or do something quickly, they didn’t want to trip over their robes, so they would gird them up by gathering the loose cloth together in their belt. It became a common expression to use regarding someone’s thoughts – if you’re ready to get something done, you had to prepare your mind – get rid of all the mental distractions & get ready to take action. … Keep in mind Peter’s saying all of this in the context of our great salvation. His point? Our new life in Christ isn’t merely something that’s in our heads, for which we can pat each other on the back in nice intellectual conversation. Our new life is LIFE. Not only life eternal, but life RIGHT NOW. There are things we are to be doing right now simply because we are in Christ Jesus – and we ought to be prepared to do them.

C. “be sober”: this isn’t a reference to staying free from alcohol (though that doesn’t hurt) – the idea here is to be sober-minded; to exercise sound judgment. Goes hand-in-hand with preparing our minds – after all, if we’re to be prepared for action, we don’t want our minds going off on wild tangents. To Peter’s intended recipients of the letter, they were starting to face great sufferings & getting into a time of persecution – it wasn’t a time to panic; it was a time to prepare.

D. “rest your hope fully upon…grace”: Amen! Our hope is not in ourselves & the things we can do. Our hope is not in each other (we’re sure to eventually disappoint). Our hope certainly isn’t in the government. Our hope is in Jesus Christ! Our hope is in the grace He’s showered down upon us. Whatever sufferings Peter’s audience was enduring (whatever sufferings we ourselves are enduring), we are to rest our ultimate hope in the grace & promises of Christ Jesus.

E. Don’t miss when it is that we’ll see the full expression of that grace: “at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” When we’re standing face-to-face with our Lord & Savior! …
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14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;

A. Here’s the 4th thing to do: Be “obedient children…” We certainly don’t earn our salvation through obedience – our attempts at obedience outside of Christ Jesus fail miserably! In fact, our hope is to rest in the grace of Christ Jesus – it is through HIS obedience to God that we have any hope at all. … But now that we are IN Christ, we don’t have license to go off & be disobedient – we have even more reason than ever before to live our lives in such a way that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father!

B. In contrast to what? Our “former lusts” that we did in our “ignorance.” Sinners sin (which should be no surprise to us) & we were no different. Prior to that moment when you placed your faith & trust in the Lord Jesus for forgiveness of sin, no matter how much you knew about the Bible, you & I were ignorant of the things of God – and we acted like it! We rebelled against God – we lusted after stuff – we pursued our own selfish desires, etc. Those are the very things that left us condemned before God & those are the very things Jesus died to save us from. Peter’s point? Don’t act like that any longer! God’s called us to something far better & far higher…
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15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

A. Here’s the main point Peter’s been leading up to: “be holy.” Gird up your minds & prepare for what? Holiness. Be sober-minded & rest our hope in grace for what? To be holy unto God. Be obedient for what purpose? To be a holy child of our Heavenly Father. ‘Sounds nice, but what does it mean?’ Good question. “Holiness” has 2 main ideas: (1) sanctification – being set apart; dedicated for a specific purpose away from something else, (2) purity in action, words, etc. Which is it here? Probably a bit of both!
__a. Sanctification: We are to be set apart from the rest of the world…we’re to act differently than the rest of our culture acts. Christmastime is a perfect example of this. When the rest of our culture dives into a month-long fit of materialistic lust, Christians remember that there’s actually a reason for the celebration. We give gifts to each other simply out of celebration of the fact that the best gift has already been given by God: our Savior!
___i. Keep in mind there’s a difference between being set apart from the culture & isolating ourselves away from it. The Scripture doesn’t tell us anywhere to go live in some compound completely walled off from the world around us or never to venture outside our little Christian “bubbles.” We are to be set apart from the world, but we are also left IN the world – for the specific purpose of sharing the gospel. It’s tough to share the gospel with the lost if you’re never around them.
__b. Purity: Not only are we set apart from the world, but we’re to remain unspotted by the world (Jas 1:27). As Peter already wrote, we’re to live lives in obedience to our Heavenly Father – not out of an attempt to earn favor with God, but simply out of gratefulness for what He’s already done for us through Jesus Christ.

B. Be holy when? Always! Be holy in what? “All your conduct.” There’s nothing left out here – everything is included. Have you ever found yourself attempting to compartmentalize your faith? ‘Jesus, thank You for saving me! Lead me in my family & work – I submit myself to you. But don’t ask me about my hobbies & TV time; You just stay over there…’ It doesn’t work that way. Jesus is LORD, which means that He’s Lord over all – and all our conduct is included in what is to be holy. All of our conduct is to be pure unto Him & set apart for His purposes.
__a. What happens when it’s not? Despite what some teach, there’s no possible way any Christian will ever attain a state of “sinless perfection” where you are so holy that sin will never truly tempt you & you’ll never trip up ever again. True, we’re called to holiness in all of our conduct – but when it’s not, we do exactly what Peter did after he failed & denied Jesus 3 times: receive the forgiveness & grace Jesus offered. When you fail, confess it to God, turn away from the sin & receive Jesus’ forgiveness. Holy living is not a call to legalism & guilt; it’s simply a call to walk with Jesus.

C. WHY? Why would we bother acting in holiness? After all, it’s a struggle to do so. To continually deny our flesh & yield ourselves to the Spirit can be hard. There are temptations to endure & spiritual battles to fight. On a superficial level, it’d be a lot easier to simply give in to temptations & try to ask for forgiveness later. Why be holy? Peter’s going to give us a couple of reasons – the first: we serve a God who is holy. There is nothing that is more pure or set apart than God is! He is pure in that He is absolutely unstained by sin – God is the very definition of perfection, and as “sin” is anything that is in rebellion against God, there’s no possible way God could ever sin. In addition, there’s nothing that’s more set apart than God is. Man is made in His image, but God is certainly wholly unlike the rest of creation. He alone is infinite – He alone is perfect – He alone is God. He is HOLY. It’s difficult to overstate this attribute of God…the angels actually sing of it unceasingly in heaven (Rev 4:8).
__a. And because God is holy, we ought to be holy. OT quote: Leviticus 11:44-45 (44) For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. (45) For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. [] God was specifically telling Israel that they were to be different from the rest of the peoples around them (hence the diet & many of the other ritualistic requirements in the OT). They were to act in such a way that was pure & set apart – if for no other reason, simply because they were the people of God. They represented none other than God Himself to the rest of the world, and thus they were to be holy, for He is holy. … That was the call for those who lived in the Old Covenant; how much more should it apply to those for whom the Covenant promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ?

D. ‘OK…I understand God is holy, but how does that apply to me? Why should I be holy simply because He is?’
__a. We should want to be like our Lord & King. We’re His representatives…
__b. Because He is our KING, it is a command. Pretty simple.
__c. Not only is it a command, it’s something that the Lord is already doing in us. The moment we received Christ’s forgiveness & were born again, God set us apart and made us holy. … When we’re willfully acting in unrighteousness, we’re working AGAINST the work that God has already done in our lives.
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17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;

A. Why “if”? Peter’s assuming that if we were truly Christian, we’d want to live in such a way that is pleasing to our heavenly Father. Why wouldn’t any born-again Christian want to give glory to God through the way we live our lives? If you don’t care, that’s not a good sign. To be so flippant about disregarding the will of God & ignoring His specific revealed desire for you to be holy is a red flag that you need to get on your knees & examine your heart to see if you’re in the faith! God’s children desire to obey Him – we may not do it perfectly, but it’s our desire to glorify Him.

B. If you do call upon the Father, then you need to have a righteous “fear” of Him. People don’t speak too much about the fear of God any more – it’s a tough concept for our culture to swallow. It’s so much easier to speak of loving God, rather than fearing Him. We ought to love God – amen! (It’s the greatest commandment!) But part of loving God IS fearing Him. To fear God is not to run away & hide (as if we could) by being so afraid to talk to Him that we don’t even pray due to abject terror. To fear God is to have a reverence for Him – to respect Him for who He is – to understand that He truly is the All-Powerful Creator God who has every right to throw every one of us into everlasting Hell. (The fact that He does not is due to His grace & mercy shown through Jesus Christ!) But this is GOD! He is holy – and He ought to be properly feared by His people.
__a. When we do, it has a direct effect on our conduct! There’s a reason the Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10)…when we fear God, our actions change due to the fact we know God is going to judge us. God is our Father, but He’s not only our Father; He’s also our judge. When God brings us to the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will give an account for everything we’ve done as believers in Christ (2 Cor 5:10). For born-again believers, that judgment has nothing to do with our salvation (Jesus has already taken on that judgment & wrath for us at the cross), but we live with the knowledge that one day we will have to tell the Lord Jesus why we did things the way we did them & give an account. That ought to be a great motivation for us to be holy!

C. BTW – notice the temporary tone: “throughout the time of your stay” – as if Peter’s writing to a bunch of Christians in a hotel somewhere. Technically, that’s EXACTLY what we’re doing! This world is not our home – we’re only travelers passing through. People often say “home is where the heart is” – for every born-again believer in Christ, “home is where Jesus is” – we want to be home with Him!
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18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

A. Here’s the 2nd reason to be holy: we were bought! When Jesus Christ died on the cross & rose again from the grave, an eternal financial transaction took place: we were “redeemed” from death & sin. “Redemption” is technically a word that was used regarding ancient slavery or prisoners of war. When someone was captured or enslaved, the way they were set free was by paying a ransom price. Sometimes the slave could do it himself by working in his spare time – other times someone would be benevolent to them & purchase their freedom for them. That’s exactly what God did for us through Christ Jesus. We were enslaved to sin & death, but now we are redeemed because of the Lord Jesus. He paid the ransom price for us.
__a. And that ought to have a direct impact on our behavior & conduct. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (19) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (20) For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. [] We are the children & people of God – but our privileges came at an inestimable price, and we are also God’s rightful servants. Because our bodies belong to Him, we ought to glorify Him with our bodies through holy living.

B. What weren’t we redeemed with? Silver & gold – whether it’s a reference to Gentile idolatry, or a reference to redemption coins paid by Jews to the temple, either way these are worthless when it comes to our need for eternal redemption. Think of it: this is the stuff we’re told to seek after – gold is trading today at over $1000 per ounce. HUGELY valuable in the eyes of the world! But it does nothing for redemption. All the gold in the world can’t redeem a single soul from Hell (despite what we may hear on TV).

C. What were we redeemed with? The blood of Christ! … He is the Passover Lamb of God sent to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). His blood is “precious” – there’s an understatement for you! Truly His blood is priceless! Keep in mind “priceless” has a different meaning other than the experience you’re supposed to get when using your MasterCard.  Something is priceless when it is so rare & so valuable, that the estimated cost of the item is truly without measure. That’s how appraisers look at gemstones…diamonds are expensive simply because they are so rare. The larger & purer the diamond is, the more rare it is, thus the more expensive it is. How rare is the blood of the Son of God? Jesus only went to the cross one time in all of history, and He’s the only Son of God in all the universe! …
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20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

A. Our need for redemption was never a surprise to Almighty God. Sometimes we get the idea that Adam & Eve pulled a fast one on God & He had to rush out & come up with a Plan “B.” Perish the thought! From before the foundation of the world – before He ever created man, God knew exactly what was going to happen (and yet He still created us, which says something about the love He has for each one of us!). God knew that we would be in need of salvation, and He foreordained that Jesus would come as our Savior.

B. But Jesus’ coming didn’t remain words of prophecy to be done “sometime” in the future; He was actually made “manifest” in the fullness of time when God sent Him to be born of Mary (a virgin!) in Bethlehem. This is exactly what we celebrate at Christmas! John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. [] Speaking of the incarnation of God – the eternal Son of God by whom God the Father created the world – the One who always existed as the Alpha & Omega – this very God humbled Himself to put on human flesh & live among us, die because of us, and rise again from the dead in new life & in glorious promise! Praise God that Jesus has been made manifest to us!
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- what about Jesus? He gives us everything!
21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

A. Only those who go through Jesus Christ can believe in God. He’s the way, the truth, and the life – no one goes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6)

B. God raised Jesus from the dead: from Christmas to Easter in one verse!

C. God glorified Jesus forever…right now, the Lord Jesus still sits at God’s right hand in glory & power – sitting in victory until the day in which He’ll receive the church to Himself, and then come back in power & might to reign.

D. Because of what God did through Jesus Christ, our hope of salvation is assured! Our faith & hope rests in God – who proved His promises of grace by raising Jesus from the dead…

Conclusion:
What an incredible Savior we’ve been given! Jesus was foreordained from the beginning of time – foretold throughout the Scripture – made manifest when He came in the flesh as a babe in Bethlehem. He died for our sins, rose from the grave, was glorified by God, and makes it possible for all mankind – even sinful people like us – to be saved & brought into eternal fellowship with God. Amen! What a wonderful gift of grace we’ve been given – it’s no wonder the angels desire to look into these things.

So what’s our response to all of this? Surely there must be some way in which we respond to the marvelous grace of God shown to us in Jesus Christ – and there is: Be holy! Live your life in such a way in which it is set apart & dedicated to God. As Paul writes in Romans, Romans 12:1-2 (1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. [] The Lord Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice for us; so in response we give our lives as a holy sacrifice back to Him.

Why? Simple:
A. God is holy… As His children – His people – we live in such a way that represents Him.
B. We’ve been redeemed with the blood of Jesus. No more precious substance in all the universe was given for us – the only proper response is to live for Him.

Christian: God has already set you apart as holy unto Him…now live that way! What a marvelous gift we’ve been given; we dare not take it for granted! Maybe in the past it’s been easy for you to ignore it, but let this new year be the year all of that changes… Or maybe you’ve been on the opposite end, and you’ve beaten yourself up with guilt over all the ways you’ve failed – take hold of the wondrous gift of salvation you have in Christ Jesus & rest your hope fully upon Him…

1 Peter 1:6-12, “Joyful Suffering?”
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How do you handle suffering? Suffering isn’t anything that anyone looks forward to, but it is one thing we can be absolutely assured of. Many of us have been praying for a young girl who has a tumor in her spine that’s paralyzed her from the neck down…she & her family are experiencing trials. Some of you here have had family members come against your faith in the Lord Jesus…you’re experiencing trials. For others, it’s cancer – job loss – prodigal children – personal depression – legal battles…not a single person in this room (or listening later) has been unaffected by trials. If you’re not going through one now, it’s assured you will go through one soon – that’s just life.

So what is a Christian to do in the midst of it? To listen to some preachers, we’re left with the idea that we should ignore it & pretend it doesn’t exist – or just try to speak it away in ‘faith.’ Let’s be clear: that’s just not biblical. Trials & sufferings DO exist for the Christian & we’ve got to have some way of dealing with them – and that’s exactly what Peter is writing about here. We don’t ignore our trials; we rejoice in spite of our trials.

Why can we rejoice in the midst of suffering? Because of the gospel of Jesus Christ that brings salvation! The very thing that confounded the prophets & amazes the angels is what gives us hope & joy in the time of trial.

1 Peter 1:6-12 (NKJV)
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

A. “In this…” In what? In the last time, in which our final salvation is finally revealed (vs. 5). Remember our context here: we’ve been begotten again to a living hope (because Christ Jesus is alive!), and have an incorruptible inheritance reserved for us in heaven, kept for us by the power of God. It is THAT time to which we look forward in hope – the confident assurance that God will do exactly as He promised He will do. And because of this – in this – we can rejoice in trials. Peter admits a couple of things about trials here:
__a. Trials grieve us. KJV “heaviness”… NASB “distressed” – you get the idea. Trials aren’t fun & despite the numerous exhortations the Bible gives us to rejoice in them (or “count it all joy” per Jas 1:2), never once does the Bible gloss over trials as if they didn’t really hurt. There’s a reason trials are called “trials”…they aren’t times of smooth sailing!
____i. Please don’t buy into the lie that truly spiritual people never hurt! We can rejoice in the midst of trials (as we’ll see in a moment), but that doesn’t mean we don’t rejoice in the midst of tears. Trials hurt. Even when they are being used to strengthen us, they can still hurt. Even the Lord Jesus was exceedingly sorrowful in the garden of Gethsemane (Mk 14:34) – what makes us think we would be “more spiritual” than Him?
__b. Trials don’t last forever. Praise God they don’t! Peter writes, “though now for a little while…” Keep in mind that statement was written by a man who had suffered trials and persecutions since virtually the day the Holy Spirit came upon the church at Pentecost! Even when trials seem to drag on & on, eventually they come to an end at some point. Maybe not in the way we might expect (perhaps they end when we die & see Jesus), but they DO end. And in comparison with spending eternity in the presence of our God, even the longest physical sufferings & trials are a blip! …

B. We can rejoice in trials b/c it is in the middle of our trials that our faith is tested & proven! It’s easy to claim that we’re holding to the promises of God in Christ Jesus when everything is going great… ‘PTL, brother! God is good & His grace is enough…’ [] How do we know that God’s grace is sufficient for everything we face until we have our own “thorns in the flesh” to deal with? 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (9) And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. [] It’s when our faith is tested that our faith is made stronger – it’s proven to be “genuine”. That kind of faith is “precious”!
__a. (M. Henry) “The trial of faith is much more precious than the trial of gold; in both there is a purification, a separation of the dross, and a discovery of the soundness and goodness of the things. Gold does not increase and multiply by trial in the fire, it rather grows less; but faith is established, improved, and multiplied, by the oppositions and afflictions that it meets with.” … (Wiersbe) “A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted!”

C. Genuine faith glorifies God! It’s found to give “praise, honor & glory” to the One who gives it to us in the 1st place. When Paul died & stood before the Lord Jesus, Paul surely did not say to Him, “I can’t believe You never took away that thorn in my flesh? Why didn’t You ever do anything about it?” On the contrary! Paul surely (like all of us will) fell on his face & gave God praise, glory, and honor for everything God empowered Paul to endure! God is just as much to praise for the trials He saves us from as the trials He takes us through. Both are examples of His deliverance, power, goodness, and grace – both serve to bring Him glory for the work He’s doing in our lives.

D. When will it give God glory? In the here & now AS we rejoice… Later at the revelation of Christ Jesus… BTW – Jesus IS coming back! One day every eye will behold Him as He comes in on a white horse to rule, reign, and cast Satan in the bottomless pit for 1000 years! As He comes, we’ll be with Him in the heavenly armies giving Him glory.
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8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

A. We haven’t seen Jesus, but we love Jesus. Peter obviously hadn’t met much of the church he was writing to (it was a general epistle to a vast area), but he could easily assume a few things…the 1st being that anyone who is in Christ Jesus loves Christ Jesus. Peter of course, had seen Jesus – and when Jesus restored Peter to the ministry asked Peter 3 times if he loved Him (John 21). Understand that Jesus wasn’t asking Peter because Jesus was curious…it’s not like Jesus didn’t know exactly what was in Peter’s heart; it was Peter who needed to remember & reaffirm that he loved Jesus. Prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter had asserted his love for Christ out of fleshly pride; now he needed to do it out of Godly humility. Loving Christ Jesus is foundational to our faith. A person who claims to be a Christian who can not affirm he/she loves Jesus needs to get on their knees quick!

B. We haven’t seen Jesus, but we believe Jesus. “Belief” here does not seem to refer only to having faith in our trials, but having faith at all! We believe Jesus in that we believe that He is God in the flesh come to earth – He lived a perfect sinless life – died for our sins on the cross – rose again on the 3rd day in victory – ascended to God the Father – will come again. We may not have seen Jesus do these things with our own eyes, but we’ve read the testimonies of those who did & we’ve read the promises of God Himself…and then we act on those promises by believing. The result of belief? Salvation! Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. [] The question is: do you believe?
__a. BTW – that’s a blessing! Unlike Thomas… Jesus told us that those who believe without seeing would be blessed (John 20:29)…that’s us!

C. We haven’t seen Jesus, but we rejoice in Jesus. Because we love Jesus & because we believe Jesus, we can rejoice in the midst of our trials because ultimately we’re rejoicing in Jesus! It’s not the cancer we’re joyful for – it’s not the persecution we look forward to (or whatever) – it’s the Lord Jesus! Jesus is alive – Jesus reigns – Jesus is Lord – Jesus is going to receive us to Himself – Jesus is going to make everything right – Jesus has given us new life when we were destined for Hell…there’s always a reason to rejoice in the Lord Jesus! Even when we run out of words, we can still be overflowing with joy (“joy inexpressible”) – which is exactly what we’ll be doing in all of eternity. Let us start NOW!

D. Everything Peter says in this sentence is based on the fact that the Church he was writing to (including us) had not ever seen Jesus. We haven’t looked upon Him with our eyes of flesh – we’ve only looked upon Him with eyes of faith. And this is exactly where faith comes in. Faith is the substance of things hoped for & the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1). We have our ultimate faith in Christ Jesus alone for salvation because He alone can grant us salvation, and our faith in Him takes us through every trial that we face.
__a. There is a goal to our faith…see vs 9…
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9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

A. Pretty plain! What’s the end (the goal) of our faith? The salvation of our souls. People sometimes criticize evangelicals & fundamentalists today saying, “All you guys ever talk about is getting saved & going to heaven. Isn’t there much more to the gospel than just going to heaven?” Sure, there’s a ton of ramifications that result from us being born again, empowered by the Spirit, and living life here as witnesses for Christ…undoubtedly. But the END of all of that is the salvation of our souls! Why do we talk about it a lot? Because that’s what the Bible does! Peter’s point here is not to say we can get through our trials by swallowing our pain & volunteering our time at a soup kitchen. (Amen to serving one another in the love of Christ!) Peter’s whole point is that we get through trials by remembering what’s to come – our salvation! We’re receiving that right now & will continue to receive it in glory.

B. BTW – there’s a reason we call it “salvation”: we need to be saved! Our sin & transgressions (our rebellion against God since the moment we were born – our very nature itself) leaves us spiritually dead & rightfully smack dab in the wrath of God. Every evil thought, word, and deed will be judged in righteousness by God in the last day. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit we’re deserving of that judgment – we’re the ones who have broken all 10 of the 10 Commandments either by the letter or by intent, and we deserve an eternity in Hell. What’s our only hope? We cannot save ourselves from that fate, we need to be saved – and that EXACTLY what Christ Jesus offers to the world! Jesus took the very wrath & judgment that you & I deserved upon Himself & offers you eternal life & forgiveness in return. No wonder it’s called “salvation!”
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10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,

A. The gospel that brings salvation was never a surprise throughout the Old Testament – the prophets wrote of it over & over again…they “inquired” of it. There were times it certainly confused them (Daniel was certainly perplexed by some of his visions!), but starting in Genesis 3 when God told Eve of her Seed to come that would crush the head of Satan, the gospel of Jesus Christ was promised!

B. Specifically, they knew the gospel would be brought to the Gentiles – “the grace that would come to you…” The interesting thing is that many Jewish teachers tended to ignore this over time. A common thought was that God created the Gentiles simply to fuel the fires of Hell. But even a casual reading of the OT prophecies show that God’s intent all along was to make His salvation available to the entire world! Even in the Abrahamic covenant (the foundational promise that all of Israel looks back to), God makes this perfectly clear when He says: “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:3) – who are all of the families of the earth, other than the Gentile nations? Abraham barely even had a family of his own at the time! God spells it out in Isaiah: Isaiah 49:6-7 (6) Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” (7) Thus says the Lord, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nation abhors, To the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the Lord who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You.” []
__a. There are not 2 gospels (OT vs NT) – there is only ONE gospel, and from the beginning it was always pointing people to the Messiah (Christ – Anointed One) of God. In the OT, people looked forward in faith; in the NT we look backward in faith.
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11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

A. Though the prophets were told of the coming Messiah, they obviously didn’t understand everything about the gospel. Some things were mysteries that were later made clear by the incarnation of Jesus Christ. So the prophets searched out & inquired of these things. What specifically did the prophets inquire into? Where is He – Who is He? Like the magi of the east who came to celebrate the birth of Christ, the prophets were constantly on the lookout for the Promised Son of God. God sent Jesus in the fullness of time (Gal 4:4), but although the prophets had many clues, they didn’t know when exactly that time would be – so they kept searching it out.
__a. Likewise, we know that the Lord Jesus is coming back; we just don’t know when. We’ve been given many clues in prophecy, but no one knows the day or the hour – so we need to always be ready!

B. The prophets were distinctly told two things that the Messiah would do: Jesus was foretold to suffer & foretold to be glorified. Some Jewish scholars thought this meant 2 Messiahs – a Messiah ben Joseph (who would suffer like Joseph suffered at the hands of his brothers), and a Messiah ben David (who would reign as king). Where they got it wrong was not 2 Messiahs, but 1 Messiah coming twice!
__a. Sufferings: Isaiah 53:4-5 (4) Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. (5) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. []
__b. Glories: Isaiah 9:6-7 (6) For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. []
__c. Jesus does both! He suffered for us at the cross – and yet He’ll reign over the nations in His kingdom – and even receive praise, honor, and glory for all eternity! He is both the Suffering Servant & the King of Kings…

C. How was this revealed to the prophets? By the Holy Spirit…speaking of the inspiration of God. Peter will get into this more in his 2nd letter (2 Pet 1:20), but it’s plain that the Bible is not the collected writings of man; it is the very word of God. When the prophets wrote down 300+ prophecies concerning Jesus Christ (and the rest of the Scripture), they weren’t randomly pulling information out of a hat – they were being moved upon by God the Holy Spirit Himself.
__a. BTW, the Holy Spirit is just as much the Spirit of God as He is the Spirit of Christ…thus we can affirm with confidence that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father AND the Son. Part of the mystery of the Trinity…
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12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

A. The prophets understood that they themselves wouldn’t receive/see the actual promise…that the Messiah was to come in the future. They may not have known exactly when, but they did know He was yet to come. So what did the prophets do? They passed it on…they wrote down the prophecies & gave them to Israel. The prophecies were perfectly fulfilled in Christ Jesus… The gospel of salvation (which was promised) was then given to the apostles… The apostles gave it to the Jews who formed churches & missionaries… The missionaries & Church then reported it to the Gentile world. WE are the recipients of the glorious promises that the OT prophets wrote about centuries ago! What a blessing! The very last of the OT prophets is considered to be John the Baptist – and Jesus said that there had been none born of women that was greater than John (Matt 11:11)…yet the least person in the kingdom of heaven would be more blessed than John the Baptist – the greatest OT prophet. What makes the difference? We’re the recipients of the promise John was proclaiming – John may have baptized Christ Jesus, but John died prior to the cross & resurrection. We are the ones blessed to see it & receive the promises! The gospel was preached to us in the power of the Holy Spirit, we heard it, received it & are blessed through it!

B. If all this seems amazing to you, just think if you were an angel! Angels are truly amazed by our salvation & the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Eph 3:10 tells us this is one way in which God reveals His manifold wisdom to the angels. Keep in mind there is no indication that angels partake in the gospel – whether their will is of a different nature than ours, we don’t know. But the Bible makes it clear the gospel is given to mankind – and though angels assist in myriads of ways, they are looking in from the outside at what God is doing in us. Angels have known God the Son from the moment of their creation by Him – they definitely know Him as Lord; but they don’t know Him as Savior. And it is a wondrous thing to them – just as it ought to be to us!

Conclusion:
Our salvation is a reason to rejoice! Our salvation is a reason to wonder! … Angels desire to look into it… The OT prophets inquired into it… They wanted to have what we DO have: the secure hope of salvation that promises us eternity with Christ & takes us through every trial & tribulation on earth.

Some of you here today are going through immense trials. Not necessarily the same trials (even Peter mentions “various” – as in many colors)…you may not think your trial is much compared to someone else, but whatever it is, it’s still weighing you down. This is not the time for you to give up on faith thinking that God hasn’t answered your prayers; this is the time for you to hold fast in faith – knowing that your Lord & Savior also suffered & He Himself will see you through in the power of the Holy Spirit. Understand that God for whatever reason in His limitless wisdom has allowed you to go through this trial, and that in the end your faith will be refined – worth more than the purest of gold. So hold fast: love Jesus – believe Jesus – and rejoice in Jesus.

Others of you here cannot get past verse 8: you cannot rejoice in the midst of your trials because you do not yet believe Jesus Christ. Don’t be unbelieving any longer; be believing! People often will say, “I’d believe in Jesus Christ if I only saw proof” (like Thomas)… We’ve been given proof: the resurrection. Jesus Christ is alive today – we’ve been given testimony after testimony of the fact (Peter himself as an example). The real issue for most people isn’t proof; it’s stubbornness…they simply don’t want to bow their knee to Jesus, submitting to Him as Lord. … Don’t let your pride get in the way of your salvation any longer! Jesus IS Lord – whether we receive Him as such or not…and one day that will be revealed to the entire world. The question is: will Jesus be revealed to you as Savior or as Judge? God created you – God knows you – God loves you – God’s desire is that you would be saved! Your sin requires salvation… And God offers that salvation to you freely through Jesus Christ. Believe Him today!

2 Samuel 3-4, “Politics Is Deadly”
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It seems like every political season that comes around, people lament how nasty political campaigns have become. There’s mudslinging & negative campaigning – rumors – misrepresentation…just a whole ugly mess. As bad as it is, it’s nothing compared to what ancient cultures were like! In Israel (and elsewhere), if you backed the wrong politician, you wouldn’t merely end up with a king you didn’t like…you could end up dead! And that’s no different in the transition in Israel from Saul to David. Politics can be a bloody business, and what we’ll see in tonight’s Scripture is definitely that.

2 Samuel 3 (NKJV)
1 Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

A. How long was the war? At least 2 years. All this time, David was growing stronger…how so? By the hand of the Lord! Remember it wasn’t David who was exalting himself in the land; he was waiting upon the Lord to act. And the Lord did exactly according to His word…this was His providence at work.

B. The Lord will always do exactly according to His word! He had promised that David would be king, and God was raising up David to be king according to His word.
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2 Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; 3 his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; 4 the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5 and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.

A. We won’t hear too much about many of these sons with the exception of Amnon, Absalom, & Adonijah. File their names away for later chapters…

B. David had a bunch of wives by this point, and more to come. Was polygamy becoming of a man who is supposedly after God’s own heart? No. David did a lot of things right; this wasn’t one of them… … His proclivity to many wives is ultimately going to get him into a lot of trouble. Family members are going to die – David is going to fall into sin – the kingdom will come within a hair’s breadth of being taken away from him by one of his own sons… …
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6 Now it was so, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner was strengthening his hold on the house of Saul.

A. David was obviously king over Judah; who was in command of Israel? Abner; not Ishbosheth… Puppet government…
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7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” 8 Then Abner became very angry at the words of Ishbosheth, and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman? 9 May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David as the LORD has sworn to him— 10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” 11 And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.

A. Accusation & insult… … Interesting that the Scripture never states whether or not the accusation was false. It was a common practice in the culture for a successor to a king to take on the previous king’s harem – so if Abner had gone in to Rizpah, it would have been a blatant show of Abner being the real power in Israel as opposed to Ishbosheth. Abner doesn’t really answer the accusation except to say, “Who do you think you are to question ME?” I.e., Abner isn’t going to be questioned by some kid that’s only on the throne because Abner himself put him there.
__a. Ishbosheth learned an important lesson in politics: don’t bite the hand that feeds you… … This is one reason we are supposed to fear God more than man! We obviously are to show respect & love to one another, but ultimately if we need to follow the Lord Jesus above any other ties we may have… Politicians ought to beware that they’re following the Lord Jesus & not special interest groups! …

B. Abner’s response is very interesting! Obviously he was now going to serve David rather than hold up Ishbosheth’s government, but notice the ultimate reasoning in verse 9: “May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David as the LORD has sworn to him.” Abner knew EXACTLY what the Lord’s will was regarding the kingdom…and he had deliberately disobeyed it for years while war ensued in the land… …
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12 Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to David, saying, “Whose is the land?” saying also, “Make your covenant with me, and indeed my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel to you.” 13 And David said, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”

A. Abner reiterates that he’s the power behind the throne in Israel – basically walks up to David & offers it all to him…

B. David’s requirement? Restore his wife, Michal. Why? Doesn’t David have enough wives? Yes…but there are several reasons here:
__a. Michal was David’s 1st wife…
__b. Michal was the daughter of Saul; David was rightfully the son-in-law to the former king. Having Michal in his family would only solidify David’s claim to the throne in they eyes of many in Israel.
__c. To demand Michal’s restoration to David would prove to be a significant test of loyalty for Abner. David had much reason to be carefully suspicious of Abner (they had been at war with each other for years). For Abner to go to King Ishbosheth & demand that the king’s sister be sent to the rival king in the south would be a dramatic move with no room for ambivalence…
__d. David is proving to be a wise king!
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14 So David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” 15 And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish. 16 Then her husband went along with her to Bahurim, weeping behind her. So Abner said to him, “Go, return!” And he returned.

A. The whole situation here is sad… 1st, Michal is ripped away (by her father) from her 1st husband David & forced to marry another (1 Sam 25:44). 2nd, Paltiel obviously had developed a true love for Michal & now she’s being ripped away from him. It’s a restoration – but 2 wrongs don’t make a right.

B. Divorce is always a terrible thing. Even when there is Biblical justification for the divorce to take place, it’s always something that grieves the heart of God because the intent of marriage is to be a picture of the love Christ has for the Church – and that lasts an eternity! God clearly hates divorce (Mal 2:16); so should we. Even when it may seem unavoidable, our hearts should never rejoice over that which the Lord hates. …
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17 Now Abner had communicated with the elders of Israel, saying, “In time past you were seeking for David to be king over you. 18 Now then, do it! For the LORD has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant David, I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and the hand of all their enemies.’ ”

A. Note that not only did Abner already understand the will of God concerning David’s right to rule Israel; the people did as well…

B. The problem wasn’t in knowing what God wanted; it was in actually DOING what God wanted them to do! “Now then, do it!” … Sometimes we need that push to actually get out there & do what we know God has already told us to do. There are many people that need to stop ignoring the gospel of Jesus Christ that they’ve heard for years & actually repent from their sins & personally receive Christ as their Lord & Savior… There are others who know they ought to be sharing the gospel; they just need to do it! Or others who know that they’ve put off baptism – or put off forgiving family members – or put off whatever else they know that God has already clearly commanded us to do from Scripture. Just DO it!
__a. What happens when we do it? For instance – if we step out in faith & actually share the gospel with our neighbors, should we expect that 100’s will come knocking on our door to receive Christ? Probably not (but maybe!) – maybe no visible earth-shattering events take place. If not, what’s the benefit? Even if nothing else happens, we can guarantee one thing from the Scripture: you’ll have a closer walk with your Lord. John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” [] People often wonder, “Why don’t I have the close relationship with Christ that I’ve always wanted?” Maybe it’s because we’re ignoring the very things He’s told us to do! How would you expect your relationship with your spouse to be if you gave a bunch of requests every day but ignored every request your spouse asked of you? How much MORE ought we to pay attention to what our Lord Jesus asks of us! That’s not legalism; that’s love!

C. Wonderful promise here from God regarding David – we don’t know when God told this to Abner (or whomever), but apparently God had made it perfectly clear that David was God’s chosen deliverer for Israel. Not only would it be fulfilled at the time, it would also have a future fulfillment through his sons (Solomon)…AND, it also has an even further future fulfillment in Christ Jesus! The Lord Jesus will deliver us from the last enemy (death – 1 Cor 15:26), and the Lord Jesus will come back to reign over Israel in righteousness for 1000 years in which He personally will save them from their enemies (Rev 20:3).
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19 And Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin. Then Abner also went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and the whole house of Benjamin. 20 So Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. 21 Then Abner said to David, “I will arise and go, and gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

A. They seal the deal…
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22 At that moment the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23 When Joab and all the troops that were with him had come, they told Joab, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent him away, and he has gone in peace.” 24 Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone? 25 Surely you realize that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.”

A. Remember that Joab had bad blood with Abner…Abner had killed Joab’s brother Asahel in battle (2 Sam 2:23). Abner hadn’t intended to do it, but Asahel had left him with no other choice… Regardless of why it happened, Joab wanted revenge!

B. Was Joab intentionally trying to deceive David? Probably not – but due to Joab’s bitterness & lust for revenge, he was likely blinded to what was really going on with Abner. He couldn’t see the good things God was doing through him…
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26 And when Joab had gone from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. 27 Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother.

A. Cold blooded murder… Some scholars point out that Hebron was supposed to be a city of refuge – a place where people could go if accused of murder & find sanctuary away from family members seeking blood. If that’s the case, then Joab was especially sneaky here in getting Abner to meet him at the gate. He would have just gotten Abner inches “outside” of the city & stabbed him in the belly.

B. Vengeance is not ours; it belongs to the Lord! It never falls to us as individuals to take the law into our own hands & attempt to execute judgment after the fact…that’s always sin on our part.
__a. What should Joab have done? He should have brought the matter to his king, David. David knew of the background with Asahel, and Joab probably would have found a receptive audience with David concerning justice, if Joab had merely asked. The government has the God-given responsibility to bear the sword against evil (Rom 13:3-4) – this is God’s provision with how to temporarily deal with justice on earth. In eternity, the picture is going to be very different! Sin & injustice is eternally dealt with either at the Cross or in Hell…
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28 Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “My kingdom and I are guiltless before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29 Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and let there never fail to be in the house of Joab one who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.” 30 So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

A. David understands the political ramifications here. The people of Israel were going to support David’s kingdom because Abner had told them to do so; if they thought David had betrayed Abner, they wouldn’t dare follow him as king… Thus he proclaimed his innocence & Joab’s guilt…

B. David actually curses Joab & his family… Did the curse carry any actual power? Not really. It just served to underscore how opposed David was to the murder.
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31 Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes, gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn for Abner.” And King David followed the coffin. 32 So they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. 33 And the king sang a lament over Abner and said: “Should Abner die as a fool dies? 34 Your hands were not bound Nor your feet put into fetters; As a man falls before wicked men, so you fell.” Then all the people wept over him again. 35 And when all the people came to persuade David to eat food while it was still day, David took an oath, saying, “God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!”

A. David gives Abner a state burial & public mourning…

B. Laments the lack of justice done to him – Abner had a reason to have his hands bound, etc., but instead of having a righteous judgment carried out on him, he died no different than a guy in a drunken brawl who got stabbed in a fight…
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36 Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, since whatever the king did pleased all the people. 37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s intent to kill Abner the son of Ner.

A. So was David’s public mourning effective? Yes…he was already a shrewd politician.

B. Question: was the king supposed to do whatever pleased all the people? Not necessarily…there were times it would have been appropriate & times it would not be appropriate. The proper way to lead is not to stick one’s finger in the air to see which way the polls are blowing, but rather to seek the wisdom of God & follow Christ. This just happened to be one of the times when the people agreed with what the wise thing to do was.
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38 Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? 39 And I am weak today, though anointed king; and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too harsh for me. The LORD shall repay the evildoer according to his wickedness.”

A. Emphasizes the problem to his servants – Joab had caused problems for David to properly rule the people. One man’s selfishness caused a load of problems for someone else…

B. Unlike Joab, David is going to let the Lord resolve the issue. Abner had certainly sinned, but now so had Joab…and God would show forth His justice in His own time. Joab will continue to serve David throughout his reign, but will be executed after he interferes with Solomon being made king. Interestingly enough, his execution isn’t necessarily based on his crime against Solomon, but the murder of Abner (and one other man to follow) is specifically mentioned (1 Kings 2:32).
__a. We may not know when God will show forth His justice, but we do know that God will show forth His justice! It may be days or years…it may even be at the judgment seat – but every single injustice WILL be answered by our righteous God!
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2 Samuel 4 (NKJV)
1 When Saul’s son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost heart, and all Israel was troubled. 2 Now Saul’s son had two men who were captains of troops. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin. (For Beeroth also was part of Benjamin, 3 because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there until this day.) 4 Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

A. Panic ensued in Ishbosheth’s house – understandably so! We might get the idea that it was then that the child Mephibosheth (Jonathan’s son) was injured; apparently it actually took place when Jonathan & Saul died. The reason why Mephibosheth is mentioned is simply to show that the only other member of Saul’s house who could have possibly have claimed the throne was unable to do so. … File Mephibosheth away for later – we’re going to see him used in a wonderful example of the grace of God that’s bestowed on us through faith alone in Jesus Christ. …
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5 Then the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who was lying on his bed at noon. 6 And they came there, all the way into the house, as though to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 For when they came into the house, he was lying on his bed in his bedroom; then they struck him and killed him, beheaded him and took his head, and were all night escaping through the plain. 8 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life; and the LORD has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and his descendants.”

A. How bad was the panic over Abner? So bad that Ishbosheth’s own army commanders (from Saul’s own country!) assassinated their king & took his head to David in order to prove their new-found loyalty…
__a. Things are going from bad to worse in regards to bloodshed…

B. Question: had the Lord truly avenged David of Saul through the murders? Not likely! God obviously allowed the murders to take place, but God NEVER condones sin, and without question these murders were sin! God could easily have dealt with Ishbosheth & Abner through their own mistakes as they would have eventually fallen due to their lack of Godly character… God definitely didn’t need any ‘help’ from assassins attempting to curry favor with King David. God often uses the sins of others to accomplish His perfect will (i.e. the betrayal & crucifixion of Christ Jesus), but God never causes anyone to sin, nor does He condone anyone’s sin.
__a. Did Ishbosheth deserve his end? Probably. But there is a right way & a wrong way to go about the issue of justice. Rimmon, Rechab, & Baanah did things the WRONG way (in their flesh)… God cares not only about what we do, but also how we go about doing it. God does not murder because God gives life. God does not lie because Jesus is the truth. Our actions AND our motives matter to God because we have been called & bought by God: 1 Peter 1:15-16 (15) but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, (16) because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” []
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9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity, 10 when someone told me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag—the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. 11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and remove you from the earth?”

A. As with the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul, these assassins find out the hard way that David isn’t at all pleased with murder…

B. Was Ishbosheth “righteous”? Hardly – he usurped the throne to Israel away from its rightful king (David), and allowed unnecessary war to go on for years. How many people died because of his sinful selfish egotistical desire to be king? Besides – there is none righteous, no not one outside of Christ Jesus (Rom 3:10). No – David could call Ishbosheth “righteous” only in the fact that he wasn’t doing any harm to anyone when he was murdered. He was just taking a nap & some cowards came & killed him. Thus David is going to execute judgment on the murderers.
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12 So David commanded his young men, and they executed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

A. Yikes! Not only did David have them executed, he had them humiliated. The assassins may have cut off Ishbosheth’s head, but David cut off their hands & feet… Gave Ishbosheth a proper burial…

Conclusion:
So both Abner & Ishbosheth are dead, the people of Israel support David, and the stage is set for David to be crowned king. If that were all to the story, we could rejoice – but yet it seems that David is going to take the crown with a heavy heart because of how everything took place. Politics were indeed very bloody in Israel – just like it is in much of the world.

That may be the way things ARE, but is that what God intends for us? No. God is sovereign & not a single event that took place in Israel surprised Him in the slightest – but it’s obvious that certain people in both Judah & Israel sinned greatly here. They sought vengeance when God desired mercy. But the wonderful thing is that God can take what is meant for evil & turn it around for good! Abner meant a power-play…Joab intended revenge…Rechab tried to manipulate his way into power…each of them experienced consequences for their sin. But what did God do? God turned each of these situations around & used them for His glory by exalting David in the eyes of the people & furthering the promise of the coming Messiah!

That doesn’t excuse anyone’s actions – they had a responsibility to do things in a way that glorified God. But it does give us a reason to praise God for Jesus Christ! When we fall woefully short – even in our walk as believers – our God is still in control. Jesus still offers His forgiveness, and nothing is outside of His ability to turn around for His glory.

1 Peter 1:1-5, “What Marvelous Grace!”
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If you had the opportunity to speak churches across the known world, what would you say? … Paul frequently wrote to the churches he planted – sometimes to thank them for their help in the gospel, many times to bring correction & directly combat false teaching. James wrote to an early Jewish church, exhorting them to get off their spiritual couches & be doers of the word, rather than mere hearers. Peter? Peter (bombastic Peter who was known for charging into situations before thinking them through – one of the inner circle of Jesus’ friends – the one who had enough faith to actually walk out of the boat)…this same Peter writes a letter of encouragement to the church. There was already persecution of the Church & Nero’s persecution was just around the corner or had just begun (depending on the date of the writing), and to a Church that was beginning to suffer in incredible ways, Peter offers the message of the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ – the encouragement to keep walking with God – and the hope that one day soon the Lord Jesus will return & change everything!

So who wrote 1 Peter? Peter! This should be a no-brainer considering the virtually universal acceptance within the early church…there was no doubt on the authorship of Peter at all until liberal scholarship in the 20th century (but then again, there’s a reason it’s called “liberal” scholarship). That’s not to say there are not fake epistles & gospels out there with Peter’s name on them (there are at least 2 so-called “lost” gospels of Peter & other letters that are surely written by someone else that used Peter’s name as a pseudonym), but 1-2 Peter are definitely authentic.

Peter was writing from Rome at the time (“Babylon” – Ch 5:13), where he was probably teaching & hiding out from the beginning persecution – somewhere in the time-frame of 64AD. By this point, Peter was well-accustomed to persecution, and he was uniquely qualified to encourage the church to “keep on keeping on” in their walk with Christ Jesus. Peter had suffered much (just as the Lord Jesus had told him – John 21:18), and he lived with the expectation of the imminent return of Christ. There was much to be hopeful for: whether the Church had to wait one more day or the rest of their lives, those in the Church would soon see Jesus face-to-face!

Why just look at only the introduction today? Because the introduction is filled with all kinds of examples of the marvelous grace of God! We’ll see the abundance of grace – the completeness of grace – the goodness of grace – and the scope of grace.

1 Peter 1:1-12 (NKJV)
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

A. 1st example: grace was shown to the messenger – Peter himself. Peter had zero reason to be called an apostle of Jesus Christ, if for no other reason because Peter had vehemently denied Jesus Christ. [3x before the rooster crowed twice – Mark 14:66-72] Surely if anyone beside Judas Iscariot had lost the right to be called an apostle, Peter had – right? Yes & no. Yes, Peter certainly had no “right” to ever be called an apostle of Jesus Christ (just like you & I never have any “right” to salvation) – it’s all due to the grace of God! But even though Simon Peter never deserved it, that’s exactly what the Lord Jesus did when He reinstated Peter during the days following the Resurrection. [John 21:15-19, “Do you love Me?”] If the NT never spoke another word about Peter beyond his restoration, his life would still be a wonderful example of grace!
__ I. Likewise, the fact that many of you are sitting here today is an example of the grace of God! You did nothing to earn your salvation…you should have been dead long before you ever began to even think about Jesus Christ. But God was merciful on you & kept you alive long enough to hear & receive the gospel – you responded by turning away from your sins & personally received Jesus as your Lord & Savior. Praise God for His many examples of grace throughout the Church!
__ II. There are some of you here today that can experience that same grace today. God has mercifully kept you alive this long, though you did not deserve it. Take this opportunity today to respond to His love & receive Christ as your Lord…

B. What was Peter? “an apostle of Jesus Christ”: Technically, the word simply means “one who is sent” – but Peter obviously falls into the category of a “capital A” Apostle…someone who was a physical witness of the Resurrected Jesus Christ & invested with authority to help lay the foundation of the church upon the solid cornerstone of the Lord Jesus (Eph 2:20).
__ I. Interestingly enough, Peter doesn’t come back to his apostleship after the 1st verse, but instead chooses to refer to himself as a fellow elder (Ch 5:1). The whole tone of this letter is not one of correction, but of encouragement & hope from someone who is just like the rest of us.
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…To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

A. The recipients are interesting…they seem to be mainly Gentiles (all located in modern-day Turkey) – but Peter’s ministry in Acts seemed to be primarily to Jewish believers (hence his encounter with Cornelius & later interaction told by Paul in Galatians…). At some point, this seems to have switched – and although he calls the pilgrims those of the “Diaspora”, he seems to use the term simply to refer to Christians scattered throughout the Roman empire. These Gentile Christians are people (like us) who had zero tie to the gospel promises of the Old Covenant, but were now brought in by the grace of Jesus Christ…what wonderful grace!
__ I. One has to marvel at the various regions listed by Peter…Galatia was obviously visited by Paul (hence, Galatians), but we’re not told of Paul’s missions in the other areas…in fact, Paul was specifically forbidden by the Holy Spirit to travel to Bithynia (Acts 16:7). Paul was probably the greatest missionary of the early Church (and probably of all of Church history!), but Paul wasn’t the only missionary of the early Church! All sorts of men & women were taking the good news of the Lord Jesus all over the Roman empire – the Great Commission is something ALL of us are given!
____ a. BTW – one of the only other times the regions Cappadocia & Pontus are listed in the NT are on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9). It’s possible that some who heard Peter’s message that day were saved (along with over 3000 others!), went back home & shared the gospel with people in their own cities.

B. Who are the recipients? “Pilgrims” – ESV translates this “exiles”, but that seems to be a bit harsh…most other translations say something to the effect of “soujourners/strangers” – i.e., people who are just passing through. For the Christian, that’s exactly what we are: pilgrims just passing through earth on our way to see our Lord Jesus. This world is not our home; heaven is! For a Church that is to endure much suffering, being able to keep a heavenly perspective is absolutely critical…
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2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

A. Grace shown to the recipients – they’re the “elect”…the church of God! To be “elect” is simply to be chosen by God for salvation…which for the past 500 years in the Church has been a source of much debate. Interestingly enough, whenever election is mentioned in the NT, it’s always presented as a idea of comfort; not of contention. That those who have placed their faith & trust in Jesus Christ for salvation are elected by God for that very purpose should bring us tremendous comfort! It is the love of God that saved you & me…just as Israel is the chosen nation of God, so have we been chosen by God! We’ve been grafted into His wonderful covenant promises – not because of anything we have done, but because of everything Christ Jesus has done. Let the academics shout at each other regarding the intricacies of predestination & free will regarding our election…may we simply rejoice that we elect of God! It’s a wonderful thing to be God’s elect children for salvation!
__ I. Peter does give us some insight to the workings of election & relates it marvelously to the different Persons of the Trinity…which just goes to underscore that all 3 Persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) are all equal in power & essence. Jesus Christ is not less than God the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit less than Jesus Christ. We serve 1 God, eternally revealed in 3 Persons.

B. Why are we elect? It’s “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…” There is nothing that God does not know. As Almighty God, He is absolutely omniscient – which simply means He knows everything. He knows every action, every thought, every word, every person, every decision, even every possible outcome of different decisions (though He already knows the decision that will be made). There is nothing outside the knowledge of God…it is truly infinite. Regarding our election to salvation, this simply means that God knows YOU. God knows exactly who will repent & will place their faith & trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation…God knew you & chose you for that purpose.
__ I. Where the debate comes in with election is whether or not this is an act of God’s will or if God allows us to exercise our own free will here. Suffice to say that our free-will prior to being born-again is in bondage to sin…any faith we exercise in repentance is faith that is given to us by God (Eph 2:8-9). But even with that in mind, God still repeatedly calls upon us to respond to His offer of grace…so our free-will definitely comes into play. I suggest the debate is flawed in it’s very premise: it’s not that if God wills us to be elect, than we have zero choice (like robots) – nor if we exercise our free-will to respond to the gospel than God is not truly sovereign…that’s a false dichotomy. The Bible speaks of BOTH the sovereign will of God AND the willing response of man to His grace. Election simply speaks of salvation from God’s perspective & repentance speaks of it from ours.
__ II. How do you know if you’re one of the elect? By placing your faith & trust in Jesus Christ for salvation…

C. In what way are we elect? “in sanctification of the Spirit…” Sanctification simply speaks of being “set apart & designated as holy.” Many of us would look at ourselves & laugh – “I’m anything BUT holy!” Outside of Christ Jesus, you’re correct. But when you personally placed your faith & trust IN Christ Jesus, everything changed for you. You went from death to life. You went from doomed to destined. You went from sinner to saint. Right now, God has seated you in heavenly places with Christ Jesus – right now, God already sees you as holy because you’ve been washed in the blood of His Son. Every single Christian has truly been set apart by God the Holy Spirit & proclaimed to be holy in the sight of God.
__ I. ‘That sounds great theologically, but what does it look like practically?’ It looks like a transformed life – someone being conformed into the image of Christ. Someone who naturally struggles with sin, but desires to walk in uprightness with their Lord & Savior. Understand that “sanctification” in this sense does not mean that we ACT perfect; it means that in the sight of God we ARE perfect. Our personal sanctification is a life-long process; our spiritual sanctification has already taken place as an act of the Holy Spirit the very instant we were born-again.

D. For what purpose are we made elect? The “obedience…[to] Jesus Christ…” The ongoing effect of our sanctification by the Spirit & the very purpose of God’s election is that we would be obedient to Jesus Christ. Prior to our salvation, we were definitely NOT obedient! We lied, lusted, coveted, & rebelled against God at every turn. We wanted everything WE wanted; who cared what God desired for us & what His word clearly said we should do? For every Christian, that attitude ought to be past tense! The Spirit has set us apart as holy – and now our conduct is to reflect that. As Peter will quote later in the chapter, we are to be holy because God is holy (vs. 16). The fact that we call Jesus our “Lord” means that we recognize Him as God & because He is God, He is our King & Master. We are but slaves who have been bought at the most wonderful price in all the universe (yet we are His friends & co-heirs as well).

E. By what method are we made elect? “…sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ…” Only through the blood of Jesus Christ are we made holy! His blood is required for the remission of our sins (Matt 26:28) – His blood is required for our consecration unto God (Lev 8 – as seen through Aaron) – His blood is required for our initiation into the New Covenant (Heb 12:24) – His blood is what purchased our redemption unto God (1 Pet 1:18-19)…praise God for the blood of the Lord Jesus!

F. ‘That’s a ton of theology…’ No doubt! But what we see here is the completeness of the grace of God! The whole of the Triune Godhead is involved in our election unto salvation – and it encompasses all of time: from eternity past in God’s foreknowledge, to the day of Jesus’ crucifixion (when we were sprinkled with blood) – to the current day when we are sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit – to an eternal future (as we’ll see in the next few verses). Praise God for the limitless aspect of His grace!

G. Standard greeting: grace & peace…
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3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

A. Where does all of this grace originate? God! God the Father is to be blessed & praised because of His grace, mercy & promises of hope. For all of eternity, we’ll have the opportunity to give unto God never ending praise – and God is definitely worth never-ending praise. Just spend a few moments considering what God should have done to you in His justice & wrath – and then consider that Jesus took what you deserved upon Himself (something we remember during Communion)…it’s impossible to think on those things and NOT desire to praise & bless God!

B. God isn’t only our Heavenly Father; He’s also the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” There’s an aspect of this that is difficult for us to wrap our minds around – for though Jesus has eternally existed as the Word (there never was a time that He was not), the Son of God is still begotten of God the Father. God certainly is Jesus’ Father in the incarnation (which is the entire point of the Christmas season!), but infinitely before the manger in Bethlehem, the Lord Jesus has always been begotten of God. (Don’t worry…we’ll have all of eternity to ponder it. )

C. What did God the Father do? “begotten us again to a living hope…” Not only is Jesus begotten of the Father, so are we – though in vastly different ways. We are begotten “again”…in other words, we have a 2nd begetting. Our 1st is our physical birthday; our 2nd is the moment we’re born of the Spirit – which is exactly the same thought Jesus expressed to Nicodemus. [BIBLE: John 3:3-8] This is why it’s called “new life” – everyone in Christ Jesus has been born again. But note we are born again TO something…we’re begotten again “to a living hope.” What’s our hope? Everlasting life – eternity with the Lord Jesus experiencing His blessing, fellowship, mercy, and grace. Giving Him glory & sharing in His everlasting inheritance… Wonderful! This is one of the reasons the good news is so GOOD! Our hope & joy in Christ Jesus isn’t only for now (it is for now, but it’s not only for now) – we have a future to look forward to…we’ve been given a solid promise of eternity! If our only hope in Christ was for this life alone and not for the next, we wouldn’t have any true hope at all (in fact, we ought to be pitied – 1 Cor 15:19). Why? What would be the purpose of clinging to the promise of grace in Christ Jesus if we still had to face the wrath of God for eternity? The idea of ‘grace’ would be an extraordinarily cruel joke. But it IS true! His grace is so very good because we’ve been given a living hope!

D. How is our hope possible? “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” We have a living hope because we have a living Savior! Our hope in the resurrection is based solely upon our Lord Jesus’ own resurrection…and praise God that He is indeed alive today! It’s so fitting that Peter begins his letter with this declaration of the resurrection of Jesus – Peter was one of the 1st witnesses of the empty tomb (after the women)…he actually pushed past the apostle John to go inside to see for himself!
__ I. Be careful not to neglect the importance of the resurrection. Jesus’ crucifixion is obviously important – we’d not be cleansed by His blood if He never shed it. But yet we’d have no assurance at all that His blood is sufficient if He had not risen from the grave! [“Passion of the Christ” ended w/ the barest mention of the resurrection – that's when the story really begins!] The resurrection is the proof of the grace of God!
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4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

A. When do we experience this grace? In the future: it is “reserved in heaven for you.” This is why Peter called the church “pilgrims” in vs. 1. We are passing through to our home – and our home is reserved for us by our Lord. John 14:1-3 (1) “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. [] It is that place to which we have a ‘reservation’ – this is our inheritance.
__ I. BTW – it’s not just OUR inheritance. We’re actually joint-heirs with Christ Jesus in HIS inheritance! Jesus is the one who’s been given all authority in heaven & on earth – yet we’ve been privileged to share in that inheritance with Him. Paul makes it clear that we are joint heirs with Christ when we suffer with Him, for we will be glorified with Him (Rom 8:17). What this truly looks like, no one knows but God…but just the very thought of it is absolutely incredible!

B. How good is our inheritance to come? It’s completely pure & completely everlasting – “incorruptible & undefiled & that does not fade away.” As Jesus said, neither moth nor rust can destroy it – thieves cannot break in & steal away our treasures in heaven (Matt 6:20). Our inheritance is truly everlasting. For all of eternity we will enjoy the presence of God & the glory of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
__ I. ‘Ok – that sounds good, but so what? Why would Peter make such a big deal of this?’ What could be more encouraging to a Church suffering through persecution & trials than the truth that one day all of those trials will be over? Even in our own troubles, we often look for the “light at the end of the tunnel”…we just want to know how long it’s going to last in order to prepare ourselves to endure… [] That’s exactly what Peter is sharing with the Church! There is a light at the end of the tunnel for all of us – no matter what we’re going through right now, we have an eternal incorruptible inheritance that awaits us – given to us by none other than our Lord Jesus!
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5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

A. Do we only experience the grace of God in the future? No – we experience it right now in the present! Peter will get more into this idea in the rest of Ch 1, but for now he shows we “are kept by the power of God.” The idea here is that we are protected – we are shielded by the power of God. Our living hope in eternity is assured; the enemy can not shake us out of the promises of God – no matter how bad persecution & suffering becomes. God Himself keeps us through His power.

B. How are we kept? “through faith for salvation.” Faith is absolutely essential to holding on to the promise of our living hope. Too often, Christians get caught up in looking for physical things – a sign that God has blessed us, or some sort of immediate gift that proves we’ve been obedient to God. “I’ll know God’s on my side if He does ___ for me.” Beware! Not only is that wrong thinking about God – but you’re setting yourselves up for disappointment! We trust God based upon His already revealed action in Christ Jesus & upon His written word – anything else we experience is simply evidence of His grace. But we have more than enough foundation to trust God simply through faith! We walk by faith & not by sight…and it is only by walking by faith that we can get through the sufferings we experience now, because it’s in those sufferings that we may not see anything from God except His word & what He’s already accomplished through Jesus.

C. We have to endure now, but be assured there will come a day when we do not have to endure any longer. Our salvation is “ready to be revealed in the last time.” … (Barclay) “Salvation is a many-sided thing. In it there is deliverance from danger, deliverance from disease, deliverance from condemnation, and deliverance from sin. And it is that, and nothing less than that, to which Christians can look forward at the end.”

Conclusion:
O the wonders & majesty of the grace shown to us by our God! The grace of Jesus Christ given to us changes everything! As the old hymn says, “O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be. Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee: Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, O take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above.” The grace of God is what takes us through everything we face. It is:

1.The grace of God is abundant: shown to the messenger & recipients.
2.The grace of God is complete. (shown by the fullness of the Trinity)
3.The grace of God is good – we have a living hope.
4.The grace of God is for later – an eternal inheritance
5.The grace of God is for now – we are kept by His power.

Praise God for His marvelous grace! Are you relying upon His grace? Or are you struggling to endure your sufferings in your own strength? In our own strength, we will always despond – we will always be overwhelmed…that’s simply the nature of suffering. But part of the glorious good news of the gospel is that there is indeed an end to our sufferings because of the grace of God – and until we see that place of inheritance, we can rely on God’s all sufficient grace to take us there. Christian, hold fast to the marvelous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…

2 Samuel 1-2, “Best laid plans of men…”
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2 Samuel: “The king God intended.” If 1 Samuel was the beginning of the monarchy, we see the 1st king as someone perhaps pleasing to the people, but not pleasing to God. Saul was never satisfied with what God had given him & thus Saul lived his life in an attempt to get around God – and ultimately he failed. Where 2 Samuel picks up is with the reign of David…and whereas David certainly wasn’t perfect (far from it!), he presents us a picture of a man who seeks to please God 1st & man 2nd…which is the proper priority. Technically, 2 Samuel is simply a continuation of the 1st book – they were originally written as one, but the split between the reign of Saul & the reign of David is a natural break. (Originated with the Septuagint 1-4 Kings, and carried over into the Latin Vulgate…)

Remember our context where we left off: David had been released (reluctantly) from the Philistine army as the Philistines were about to go to war against Saul & Israel. David skulks & returns home to Ziklag (a town in Israel, but under Philistine control) only to find that the Amalekites had ravaged the city & taken all of the people captive. David broke out of his selfishness to seek the Lord, pursued the Amalekites & rescued all who had been taken – and took action to help increase his credibility among the people of Judah.

Meanwhile, Saul had gone to battle & he & most of his sons (including Jonathan) were killed. Saul actually committed suicide after being struck by an arrow – he had asked his armorbearer to kill him, but when his armorbearer (wisely) refused, Saul fell upon his own sword & died. The Philistines completely overran Israel in battle & desecrated the bodies of Saul & his sons – which eventually the men of Jabesh Gilead recovered at great risk to themselves.

This was a dark time in Israel – the darkest since the days of the judges. What would happen? The people knew of David & it was plain that God had chosen him to be king, but would he reign? What kind of political struggles were yet to come? Would the next king of Israel follow the Lord or ignore God (as Saul did)? The country was in disarray & the Philistines were looking to reconquer them again. The people need a deliverer – the one chosen by God…but that’s not going to happen yet. Like the rest of us, they’re going to try to do things their own way 1st – and only after things go wrong do they finally submit themselves to the will of God.

2 Samuel 1 (NKJV)
1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag, 2 on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.

A. Can you imagine it? David’s men are still fresh from the victory over the Amalekites. It was a bit embarrassing that the battle was needed (David had apparently left the city completely unguarded) but the victory was huge & there were many spoils to go around. People are in the midst of celebrating when this stranger comes into town with his clothes ripped & dust on his head – the visible sign of tragedy & mourning. Would have been quite a scene as he falls on his face before David.
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3 And David said to him, “Where have you come from?” So he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” 4 Then David said to him, “How did the matter go? Please tell me.” And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.” 5 So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?” 6 Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. 7 Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ So I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’ 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.”

A. ‘Say what?! Is this a contradiction in the Bible?’ Not in the slightest. The Bible is absolutely accurate in everything that it records – even when people are lying. The Scripture tells us very plainly how Saul died, and it directly contradicts the testimony of the Amalekite. Keep our context in mind as well…David had just returned from decimating the Amalekite army. This guy had much reason to try to do anything he could to ingratiate himself to David for fear of what was going to happen to him. It’s plain that he’s lying to David.
__a. How did he get the crown & bracelet as “proof”? Most likely, the Amalekite saw Saul die & got to the body before the Philistines did. It would have been fairly well known that Saul was an enemy of David, so the Amalekite probably figured a good way to get into David’s good graces would be claiming to have killed his enemy…
__b. Some see the Amalekite here telling the truth…just as an addition on to the narrative of 1 Samuel 31. In this version, Saul would have fallen on his sword, but was not quite dead by the time the Amalekite got to him, and the Amalekite dispatches Saul. With due respect to the good men of God who hold this view…I see it as untenable considering 1 Sam 31:5 makes it clear that Saul’s armorbearer “saw that Saul was dead.” Thus the Amalekite here (if he’s even telling the truth about his nationality) must by lying.

B. The Amalekite had a lot of reason to lie – was it a good reason? No. Is there ever a good reason to lie? No. (Not even to answer the question, “Does these pants make me look fat?”  Find some other way to answer it, but don’t lie!) … The 9th Commandment makes it clear we should not bear false witness (lie) – Jesus is the way, the TRUTH, & the life (John 14:6)…we fail to correctly represent our Lord’s character when we lie. Just don’t do it.
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11 Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

A. Question: knowing that Saul had been trying to kill David for years, why is it David mourns & weeps over Saul’s death? Because as bad a king Saul was, he was still the anointed king of Israel… Also, David’s not only weeping for Saul, but for his best friend Jonathan…

B. It’s ok to mourn over the death of loved ones – it’s natural. Many times, Christians have a hard time figuring out how to react with death…as if we’re supposed to feel guilty over our grief… Not at all! We grieve for good reason: we miss our loved one! But praise God we don’t grieve like the world does – we don’t sorrow as others who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13). We have a wonderful hope in Christ Jesus – eternal life – the resurrection… That doesn’t mean we have no sorrow, but it does mean our sorrow isn’t hopeless.
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13 Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.” 14 So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died. 16 So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’ ”

A. David’s reaction was just a tad different than what the Amalekite had expected… The Amalekite had his own plan for how things were going to work out; God had something else entirely!

B. Question: was David unjust here? No. Killing the anointed king of Israel was certainly a deed worthy of death… And even knowing the Amalekite didn’t do it, his own lie put himself into that position of death. Interesting to note that David (likely under the guidance of the Spirit) didn’t condemn the Amalekite for the actual deed, but for his testimony about the deed. What condemned the Amalekite to death were his words…his lie.
__a. Be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that lying is a “minor” sin with no consequences. Ask the Amalekite… Ask Ananias & Sapphira…
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17 Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, 18 and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher: 19 “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! 20 Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon— Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

A. Was Saul a beauty? For Israel he was – the anointed king…
B. Grieves over the idea that the enemies of Israel rejoice in Saul’s death…
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21 “O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. 22 From the blood of the slain, From the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return empty.

A. Saul was killed on Gilboa – David curses the ground…
B. His shield? Shields were anointed with oil after every battle to stay prepared for the next one. There would be no further battles for Saul.
C. Saul and Jonathan both were mighty warriors. Even on the day of their deaths, they killed many through the bow & through the sword.
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23 “Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.

A. Saul & Jonathan were beloved & united together in love – if not in purpose… Jonathan famously argued against his father’s obsession with David & Saul threw a spear at his own son in response…(1 Sam 20:33) Yet when it came to battle, they both loved Israel & died in her defense. Even with Jonathan’s covenant with David, Jonathan was still loyal to his father till the end.
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24 “O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury; Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

A. Economic boom during his reign – Saul (mostly) kept the Philistines from raiding all the towns, so that people prospered.
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25 “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was slain in your high places. 26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women.

A. Special ode to Jonathan. Some modern scholars try to pervert this to being more than what it is & look for homosexual undertones. It’s simply not there. David is talking about his best friend, with whom he had an especially deep bond & brotherhood. There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother…(Prov 18:24)
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27 “How the mighty have fallen, And the weapons of war perished!”

A. Ends the song on the same note as it began – two of Israel’s mightiest warriors are slain & the nation mourns…
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2 Samuel 2 (NKJV)
1 It happened after this that David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron.”

A. Such a refreshing contrast to David’s past many years in Philistia. There, he lived in his selfishness; now he immediately submits himself to God…

B. Question: couldn’t David have run off to the capital & immediately set himself up as king by claiming the throne? After all – he had already been anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel. True, David had the right, but the timing needed to be that of God. God was going to be the one to raise David up in the sight of the people; otherwise it would have been a work of man & short-lived…
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2 So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 3 And David brought up the men who were with him, every man with his household. So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. 4 Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

A. So they finally leave the compromised Philistine city of Ziklag & come home to Judah properly – everyone went with David…

B. Judah recognized David as king immediately.
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…And they told David, saying, “The men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul.” 5 So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “You are blessed of the LORD, for you have shown this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him. 6 And now may the LORD show kindness and truth to you. I also will repay you this kindness, because you have done this thing. 7 Now therefore, let your hands be strengthened, and be valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

A. Referring back to the recovery of Saul’s body… Jabesh Gilead had repaid the favor Saul had shown them in his 1st act as king. Now David promises to continue the favor…

B. Will we always get rewarded now for our good deeds? No. But be assured that our good works do not go unnoticed by the Lord! He’ll reward us for the things done in the body…(2 Cor 5:10) [Parable of the talents – faithful over a few; faithful over many (Matt 25:21)] Ultimately, when we do things for Jesus in the power of the Spirit, we’re not doing them for earthly reward; we’re doing them out of our love & thankfulness to the Lord Jesus & building up reward in heaven…
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8 But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim; 9 and he made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel. 10 Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. Only the house of Judah followed David.

A. So not everyone is quite as ready to accept David as king as Judah is. Abner (Saul’s old general) pulls some political strings behind the scenes to make one of Saul’s surviving sons Ishbosheth king of Israel. For the 1st time in Israel’s history since the conquest of the land by Joshua, the nation is divided into two kingdoms…

B. Was this God’s will? He allowed it for sure (God is sovereign), but God had already declared who was to be king: David (1 Sam 16:12). Ishbosheth’s reign was a work of man; not of God.
__a. Always beware of the work of man & the flesh! When we do things in our flesh (i.e. when we do things distinctly apart from the word & will of God simply because we want to do them in our sin), then we are acting the same way we did prior to our salvation in Christ Jesus. Our sin left us condemned before God – our flesh is at enmity against God & simply cannot be subject to the law of God (Rom 8:7). That’s the way we WERE outside of Christ; that’s not the way we’re supposed to be NOW. The works of the flesh always lead to sin – Paul lists them off as being “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, hatred…” and much more! (Gal 5:19) That’s not what God desires for us. What He desires in us is the work & the fruit He produces in us as we rest & abide in Christ Jesus. Galatians 5:22-23 (22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. [] THAT’s what God wants to see in our lives – and it only comes about as a result of HIS work in us.
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11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

A. The good news about this particular work of man is that it was short-lived. David was king in Hebron for only seven years & six months before he moved to Jerusalem. But it was at least two years (minimum of Ishbosheth’s reign) that Israel had denied itself the king that God had intended for her…

B. Not too unlike what it’s like to be a backslidden (or carnal) Christian. God never lets us stay that way – but we experience a time where we go through far less than God’s best for us. God would want us to live lives submitted to Jesus Christ & filled with the Holy Spirit – to be used as His instruments to glorify Himself & reach the world with the gospel. When we live according to our flesh (doing the work of man), we’re always going to fall short & we’re always going to miss out on what God has in store for us. Israel had the opportunity to live under God’s anointed king, but missed it for at least 2 years. We have the opportunity to live in fellowship with the King of Kings, with rivers of living water gushing forth from our lives…yet many times we miss it due to our own sin & selfishness…
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12 Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

A. The two great commanders of Israel & Judah meet together: Abner & Joab. Are they having a contest or a war? It’s actually both. It’s obvious that Abner is the real power behind the scene in Israel; Ishbosheth is just a puppet king. Abner is meeting David’s commander Joab in an attempt to try to muscle over him & show that David is out of his league. It isn’t going to work.
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15 So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 16 And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon. 17 So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

A. What exactly happened here? We don’t really know. Apparently there was some sort of formalized contest that ended up in swordfighting & slaughter. Not unlike the battle between David & Goliath – champions were put forth to settle the dispute in place of the entire army.

B. Interestingly enough, there’s no indication in the text that God had called David’s army to this battle (which seemed to be the normal practice for David). This appears to be the idea of Abner alone, to which Joab agreed. Thus it was yet another work of man & the flesh & it ultimately failed.
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18 Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab and Abishai and Asahel. And Asahel was as fleet of foot as a wild gazelle. 19 So Asahel pursued Abner, and in going he did not turn to the right hand or to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Are you Asahel?” He answered, “I am.” 21 And Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and lay hold on one of the young men and take his armor for yourself.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. 22 So Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I face your brother Joab?” 23 However, he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear, so that the spear came out of his back; and he fell down there and died on the spot. So it was that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, stood still.

A. It seems that Abner was trying NOT to kill Asahel & even went to great lengths not to harm him, but rather just stop Asahel from the pursuit. Abner ends up killing Asahel by mistake…and everyone saw it.
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24 Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner. And the sun was going down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah by the road to the Wilderness of Gibeon. 25 Now the children of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became a unit, and took their stand on top of a hill. 26 Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the latter end? How long will it be then until you tell the people to return from pursuing their brethren?”

A. Abner’s trying to stop a family feud before it starts…
B. Violence begets violence… There’s a difference between earthly justice & revenge… We aren’t to seek revenge; God will take care of that for us. Vengeance belongs to the Lord…
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27 And Joab said, “As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then by morning all the people would have given up pursuing their brethren.” 28 So Joab blew a trumpet; and all the people stood still and did not pursue Israel anymore, nor did they fight anymore.

A. So does Joab forgive Abner here? Not quite…we’ll pick up again in Ch 3…
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29 Then Abner and his men went on all that night through the plain, crossed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron; and they came to Mahanaim. 30 So Joab returned from pursuing Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David’s servants nineteen men and Asahel. 31 But the servants of David had struck down, of Benjamin and Abner’s men, three hundred and sixty men who died. 32 Then they took up Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at daybreak.

A. All in all, it was a victory for David’s men – but they lost a beloved warrior & 19 other men in the process. Bittersweet at best.

Conclusion:
So let’s take a tally here:
1. The Amalekite tried to work his own plans without regard to God – he failed.
2. Abner tried to work his own plans (with Ishbosheth) without regard to God – he succeeded for a few years, but ultimately failed.
3. Abner & Joab tried to work their own plans to solve the conflict without regard to God – they both failed & lot of men died as a result.
4. David inquired of the Lord & waited upon God to raise him up in God’s own time – and he’s succeeding.

Seems to me there’s a pretty good pattern being established here. When we do things according to the word & will of God, we’ll be blessed. Maybe not materially – but we’ll experience the blessing of God because of the grace of Jesus Christ. We’ll be walking in fellowship with Him, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

When we don’t – when we’re walking in our flesh as opposed to the Spirit of God, we’ll miss out on God’s best for us. Not only will we miss the blessing of unfettered fellowship with Him, but we’ll have the consequences of our own sin to deal with as we reap what we sow.

It should be an easy choice! “Should” being the key word here… This is where daily submission comes in…where we come before the Lord & daily deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow after Christ in the power of the Spirit. In our flesh, we fail; in the Spirit we experience joyous fellowship with our Lord Jesus. May God help us deny our flesh in order to seek His face in His word.

James 5:13-20, “Let Us Pray”
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How’s your prayer life? Prayer tends to be one of those things that everyone knows they ought to do often, but rarely get around to doing it. We see the examples of the early church in prayer – we read of Paul’s exhortation to “pray without ceasing” & we think, “Great! That’s exactly what I want to do…later.” After all, we’ve got work to do now; we can pray when we’ve got the spare time. Wrong! Prayer IS the work we’ve been called to & as James closes out his epistle, we find it’s one of the most consistent primary things that we as a Church are supposed to do.

The letter to this point has been a wonderful (if convicting) book of faith in action – what our Christian faith looks like practically. We’ve been exhorted to change our attitude concerning trials – to be doers of the word & not hearers only – to beware of prejudice & favoritism – to put our faith into action – to tame our tongues – to avoid friendship with the world & wars among each other – to not judge, boast, nor oppress – and to be patient & prepared for the Lord’s soon return. There’s been much exhortation of to do & what not to do & James finishes off with one final exhortation to pray. In fact, the end of the letter comes so abruptly, it’s almost as if James is saying, “No – I’m not going to send any other greetings or niceties to you. You need to pray, so get to praying already!”

We’re to pray at all times in all circumstances (as we’ll see) – and whether our need is for physical healing or spiritual restoration, we’re to take our requests before the Lord & be fervent in our prayers. Consistent fervent prayers lead to miraculous answers – whether we recognize them as such or not.

James 5:13-20 (NKJV)
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

A. Seems obvious…if you’re suffering, then we ought to pray. But it’s precisely because it’s so obvious that we need to be reminded of it. Too often, we overlook prayer. We’ll pick up books for counsel, search the internet, pick up the phone to call friends – all of which can be good & helpful – but none of which ought to be our first resource. Through Christ Jesus we’ve been given bold access to the throne of God – we’ve been adopted as the children of our Heavenly Father who is the Omnipotent Almighty God. When facing suffering, why would we go to battle with a squirt gun when we’ve been given access to Someone infinitely more powerful? Pray!

B. Two striking things about this statement:
__a. Suffering is assumed to exist within the Church. James isn’t surprised by the suffering, nor does he chastise the Christian for experiencing it; he simply tells us how to deal with the suffering. Some so-called ‘preachers’ today give the idea that if we were truly spiritual, we’d never suffer – or we’d overcome it in an instant with the right word or action. To put it mildly, that’s simply false. Christians DO suffer – we’re even told that there is a fellowship of Christ’s sufferings as we’re conformed to His image (Phil 3:10). If our Lord suffered, we ought to expect to go through the same.
__b. There’s no promise given as a result of prayer; we’re just told to pray. IOW, just because we pray doesn’t mean we stop suffering… Indeed, sometimes God has a purpose to our trials & sufferings – goes back to how James began the epistle in Ch 1. [BIBLE: James 1:2-4] What’s the practical method by which we can count it all joy in the midst of trials? Prayer! When it hurts, we go to God & put ourselves at His feet asking for the grace of Christ Jesus. …

C. Question, if the suffering doesn’t necessarily stop, what’s the purpose of prayer? Prayer DOES indeed have an effect (as we’ll see later today) – but sometimes what’s most needed through prayer (by the hand of God) is NOT immediate relief, but rather strength & power to endure.
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…Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

A. Not only is prayer necessary to the Church, so is praise! Praise is actually an essential part of prayer as we take our joys & thankfulness to the Lord. Most of us have fallen into the trap of making our prayer time a spiritual “laundry list” when (as much as we would argue otherwise) the focus is on us & not on God. “Lord, give ME ___, I need ____, Do ____ for ME…” We may have started & ended the prayer muttering God’s name, but the content was all about us! One of the wonderful things about praise is that it helps us keep the right priority in prayer…our focus shifts directly to God & gives Him the praise through Jesus Christ.
__a. Just as we need to be reminded to pray in our suffering, we also need a reminder to praise in our cheerfulness. Do we remember to give God the praise in our good times?

B. Singing the psalms is a wonderful response to God as we express our cheerful gratitude. Why singing? Because sometimes words fall short. Our ideas might be expressed, but our heart is constrained…songs let loose our emotions in joyful praise. The Greek doesn’t specifically reference the psalms – any song of worship could be included in this. Remember that Psalms was basically the worship hymnal of the Hebrews & the early church. … The Psalms (among all songs) are especially good for their theological truth & depth – but whatever song you sing, sing it to express your grateful heart to the Lord.
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14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

A. As with suffering, sickness is also assumed to exist within the Church…it’s simply part of living in a fallen world. The Lord Jesus may have healed all who came in contact with Him, but there were many who remained sick after He ascended to God (Paul mentions several in his letters & he himself was afflicted – despite his gifts of healing.) There will be a time when sickness will be completely done away with – but that’s a heavenly expectation; not an earthly one.

B. So what to do when we get sick? 1st, pray! Get the elders involved & pray for healing & intercession. We need to get past the idea that Christianity is a go-it-alone faith – the Scripture repeatedly calls us the “Body of Christ” & one of the obvious aspects of a body is that every member is dependent upon the other. Instead of suffering through sickness & weakness alone, we ought to call upon each other (in this case the elders) for prayer & seek God together. Not because there’s any “magic number” of elders, or that God won’t listen if we pray alone – but simply because that’s what the word of God tells us to do.

C. 2nd, anoint with oil. Throughout the Scriptures, we see the use of oil as a picture of the Holy Spirit – whether it was for the consecration of the priests (the oil ran down Aaron’s beard – Ps 133:2), or the anointing of the king (David – 1 Sam 16:33), or in the parable of the 10 virgins (Matt 25) – James’ thought is right in line with this. Many scholars tend to think this had more to do with medicinal value than anything else, as rubbing someone with oil was a common way to treat illness at the time & bring refreshment (per Mark 6:13). The modern equivalent might be to pray & then take someone to the doctor.
__a. Going to the doctor is NOT a sign of a lack of faith! … God routinely uses doctors today in ways that would have been considered supernatural miracles in Biblical times. This isn’t something we ought to take for granted; rather we ought to thank God that He has mercifully revealed this knowledge to our generation! Every good & perfect gift comes from our Heavenly Father & modern medical science is no exception…
__b. Is there any reason to think that the anointing mentioned here has more intended than just only medicine? Yes. It’s done “in the name of the Lord” – and there’s an expected result. See vs. 15…
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15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

A. Note that the anointing with oil is inextricably linked to prayer…i.e., it’s not the oil that does the work, it’s God. Whether it’s used as medicine, or as an act of faith as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, when a person is anointed with oil & healed, the healing is always due to the work of the Lord. Thus we seek HIM in all things through prayer. People are not healed according to how loudly & often Isaiah 53:5 is quoted (“by His stripes we are healed”); that would be a work of man – the prayer of faith seeks God Himself & God is the One Who gives the healing.
__a. ALL healing ultimately comes from the Lord…be it miraculous or ‘natural.’ Even at the most basic of all levels, our bodies have been designed to heal themselves from cuts, viruses, bacteria & more…and our designer is none other than the Lord God.

B. Two promises given: “WILL save the sick” “WILL raise him up” — are these promises or general principles? When God wills it to happen, it’s definitely a promise! What happens when that doesn’t happen? Note the word used here: “save” – contextually, it could definitely refer to physical healing, but the NT has a much broader use for the word overall. Could be physical, could be eternal salvation, could be any sort of deliverance. It’d be a mistake to limit it to only a physical cure for illness. Perhaps because of prayers of the church, the suffering person is granted the strength to endure his/her trial. Perhaps the best healing is our ultimate healing as we look forward to our resurrection in Christ Jesus. So do we pray for physical healing? Absolutely! God is the Master Physician. But in the end, we pray in faith, and leave the results to God.

C. Notice the other “healing” that takes place: spiritual healing. Just as we go to the Lord in prayer for sickness of the body, we also go to the Lord in prayer for sickness of the spirit – and through Jesus Christ, we have forgiveness of sins. The word “sick” could technically be translated “weak” which can be true of us both physically & spiritually, and the only One who can bring healing here is the Lord.
__a. Keep in mind this is by far our more important need – no matter how physically ill we might be. [BIBLE: Mark 2:5-12] There are likely some here today who have sought God for physical healing, but have never gone to Jesus for forgiveness of sin. You’re missing what’s most important! Humble yourself before Jesus today & ask Him to forgive your sins & be your Lord – God wants to address that 1st before anything else in your life.
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16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

A. What’s to be combined with prayer when seeking healing? Confession. We tend to think of “confession” as something that only Catholics do in a small booth separated by a small window from a priest. Not the case…confession is a healthy practice for all Christians to maintain. And since Scripture makes it clear we are a holy priesthood of believers in Christ (1 Pet 2:5), we can follow the example of James and confess our trespasses to “one another.” We don’t need an ordination or license to hear a confession; we just need a heart that is submitted to the Lord Jesus!
__a. Is there any particular person we could confess to? Sure – the one we sinned against! To air ‘dirty laundry’ in front of a crowd of people can cause more harm than good. A good measure of confession is to ensure it matches the extent of the sin. If the sin was committed in the midst of a group, the person should go to the group & confess – if it was committed against an individual, the confession should go to the individual.

B. What exactly IS confession? Simply agreeing with God that sin is indeed sin. It’s not some rite or certain memorized statement that is recited without thought; it’s simply telling God (and contextually here, others) that we’ve sinned. Like the prodigal son confessing to his father, “I’ve sinned against heaven & in your sight & am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21) – it’s simple & to the point. Confession is NOT making excuses for yourself or blaming others; it’s admitting you’ve done wrong & accepting the blame. [2-3-4 principle]
__a. Can a lack of confession hold back healing? Apparently so. Both vs. 15 and 16 seem to come to this conclusion. The Bible shows us many examples of Jesus healing the sick in His earthly ministry. Sometimes the sickness was linked with sin; other times it specifically was not.
____i. Sickness with sin: Man by pool of Bethesda – Jesus caused him to walk, yet warned him to “sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (John 5:14)
____ii. Sickness without sin: Blind man – the disciples were questioning Jesus regarding whose sin (his own or his parents) had caused him to go blind. Jesus responded it was neither his parents nor him, but this was allowed “that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (John 9:3)
__b. Bottom line? Don’t withhold confession. Whether your sickness is or is not linked to sin in your life is only known by God – but if you DO have unconfessed sin (ongoing sin that isn’t dealt with before the Lord), then by all means confess it & be done with it! 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. []

C. Again, just as with anointing with oil, confession is linked to prayer. Prayer is at the heart of a healthy church! … People often ask if prayer actually does anything. After all, we’re supposed to be seeking the will of God. If His will ‘will’ be done, then what’s the purpose of us voicing our requests to God? …Let’s look at the bigger picture: there’s a HUGE difference between God’s predestination (God’s election of us as Christians) & fatalistic determination (mechanistic workings of the universe). Those are big words & hotly debated topics []. Suffice to say that in whatever way God’s sovereign predestination factors into our own salvation (and much is a mystery), it does not follow that we are set into motion like robots & no matter what we do, it’ll always be the will of God. Why else does God continually call out for us to repent? There are some things we do that are absolutely outside of the will of God; that’s why it’s called a “trespass” or “sin.” He may have allowed it to take place, but that does not mean it was His perfect will for you to do it & God certainly did not cause us to sin…our sin is rightfully our own fault of doing things apart from His will. ‘So what – how does that apply to prayer?’ So that means neither we nor God are robots fatalistically playing out what has already been scripted for us to do. Prayer can & does actually have an effect – if for no other reason, simply because God says it does. It “avails much!”
__a. [Abraham & God & Sodom – Gen 18] [Moses interceding for Israel re: golden calf & God relenting – Ex 32:14]
__b. Keep in mind that God invites us to pray… At the most basic level, we pray because our Lord & King invites us to do so! Prayer is not a “have to”; it’s a “get to!”

D. Note the qualifications on prayer. Prayer that avails is:
__a. “Effective, fervent”: One word in the Greek – but the two words here give the sense. ἐνεργέω (‘energy’) = “activity” – that which is productive in its work. (Guzik) “Much of our prayer is not effective simply because it is not fervent. It is offered with a lukewarm attitude that virtually asks God to care about something that we care little about. Effective prayer must be fervent, not because we must emotionally persuade a reluctant God, but because we must gain God’s heart by being fervent for the things He is fervent for.”
__b. Comes from a righteous man/woman of God: Contextually, this seems to refer to one who had already confessed his/her sins & dealt with them before God. Thus they can pray with a clean conscience. More broadly, it’s speaking about Christians. What would be the point in taking a prayer request to an unbeliever? It’d be a waste of words – the one prayer they can make to God would be for their own salvation!
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- Example of effective, fervent, righteous prayer:
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

A. Context: 1 Kings 17-18. God sent a drought to discipline King Ahab – after 3 years Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal, God shows His power & a mini-revival breaks out. Afterwards, God sends the rain at Elijah’s prayer.

B. The point? Elijah was one of the mightiest prophets in all history – he even stood at the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses & Jesus. But in the end, he was just a man like us. He was just a sinner in need of the grace of Jesus, just like the rest of us – Elijah simply submitted himself to God & saw God use him mightily. Question: Is James saying we can control the weather patterns? … No. God is certainly not incapable of doing the same thing today through a believer as He did through Elijah (God’s arm is not shortened!); but James’ point isn’t a prescription for us to go out & do the same thing with the weather (there was a very specific context & culture involved with Elijah) – it’s to go out & do the same thing with prayer. We’re to be earnest with our prayers…
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19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

A. Not really a new topic – just a continuation of what James has already linked with prayer. This time, instead of confession on the part of the sinner, James looks at the role of those who seek to restore the one in sin… … Very similar to what Paul addresses in Galatians 6…
__a. Scholars differ in their interpretations here – some see a clear reference to believers who have backslidden & wandered from God; others see a clear reference to a false convert who needs the gospel for his soul to be saved. Good arguments can be made for either point! Perhaps it’s best to see this as a “both/and” scenario. Only “brethren” can “wander from the truth” & only an unregenerate “sinner” still needs his “soul” to be saved from death. Both exhibit the same symptoms: they are people who once were in good standing with the church but fell away into sin. Both require the same solution: repentance towards Jesus Christ. The born-again brother is reconciled & restored; the false-convert is saved. Let God work out the end result; we simply need to plead with people to be reconciled to Him.
__b. With all this in mind, we also need to remember James’ instructions from Ch 4:11-12…we’re not to wrongfully or spitefully judge one another. There are some issues that are crystal clear (someone committing outright fornication); there are other issues that are not. We need to stay to the clear cut truth of the Scriptures & not additionally impose our own personal preferences upon someone else. Ultimately that brother or sister answers to God & not to us.

B. What does it mean that someone could be saved from death? For the backslidden Christian, it means simply that – the results of their sin could kill them. This isn’t a reference to someone potentially losing their salvation; it’s a reference to the physical consequence that often follows a lifestyle of sin. How are the “multitude of sins” covered? In the same way. When a person stops sinning, they forego the sins they would have otherwise committed… For the false convert, it’s much broader – their soul truly is saved from eternal death!

C. When sin is confronted, the goal is ALWAYS restoration!

Conclusion:
So Church, let us PRAY! Fervent prayer leads to miraculous results. Whether it’s physical or emotional healing, reconciliation with one another, or repentance & restoration to God Himself – all of those things are miracles because none of those things happen outside of the supernatural workings of God. … So if all of these good gifts come from our Heavenly Father (Jas 1:17), and if we have not because we ask not (Jas 4:2), may we be quick to ask! May we be a praying church – quick to hit our knees in praise of the Lord & intercession for others.

When do we pray?
A. In times of suffering
B. In times of celebration
C. In times of sickness
D. In times of sin

It’s during those times of sin that we need to be especially fervent. If we’re the ones sinning, may we be quick to confess… … If we see a brother or sister sinning, may we love them enough to seek a gentle restoration…

James 5:7-12, “Patient Preparedness for Parousia”
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If I were to ask how many people wanted prayers to learn to be more patient, odds are not many people would raise their hands. “Don’t pray for patience! God will put you in a situation when you need it!” In truth, we DO need to pray for patience. Despite the cliché, patience is indeed a virtue, and patience is needed in our Christian walk. Usually the real reason we don’t want to pray for patience is that we simply don’t want to be patient at all! We live in a culture today where microwaves take too long – where 75 mph speed limits are too slow – when high-speed internet seems anything like high-speed. As the old prayer request goes, “God, give me patience, and give it to me NOW!”

The Bible specifically tells us that we need to be patient. Patience is a part of the selfless agape love of Christ – patience is a part of the fruit of the Spirit – patience is needed for all sorts of things within our Christian walk. And as James points out, patience is also necessary as we wait for the Lord Jesus to come back.

Sometimes, we tend to forget that Jesus is actually returning for us…but He is! One day in the blink of an eye, we’ll be caught up in the clouds with Him – and we’ll later be with Him as He returns to judge the earth. It could happen at any moment – and we want to be ready! How do we stay ready for the Lord’s coming (His parousia)? By being patient. Patient Christians are prepared to see Christ. As James starts to bring his letter to a close, that’s exactly what he hones in on. We’ve seen much of what the church is supposed to avoid (strife, pride, judging, boasting, oppression); now James turns his attention to what we’re supposed to engage in…and part of that is being prepared for the Lord’s soon return.

James 5:7-12 (NKJV)
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.

A. The overall theme of the section is patience, but this patience is placed within a context. What’s the context? “the coming of the Lord.” The Lord Jesus IS coming for His bride (the church) & He IS coming to judge the world in righteousness. Our patience is based upon a marvelous promise: our King is coming!

B. Define being “patient”: This isn’t “patience” as in, “I’ve been waiting 40 minutes to see the doctor & my patience is running out!” This is “patience” as in “longsuffering” – laboriously holding up under pressure & steadfastly waiting on the Lord to see you through.
__a. Keep our immediate context in mind here. Chapter 5 started out with some pointed warnings to the rich not to oppress the poor within the church. The cries of the oppressed had reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (hosts) – God knew exactly what was going on. Now the church merely had to be patient in waiting for God to act. … Every unrighteous & unjust deed will be judged one day & people will have to face God Almighty for it – and all vengeance belongs to Him. The judgment is His job; we simply wait upon Him to act.

C. James gives 3 examples of patience (or similar qualities) – the 1st is the farmer. Farmers in Israel historically were very dependent on the early & latter rains…the early rains coming in the fall (useful for plowing) and the latter rains in the spring (necessary prior to the harvest). No rains, no harvest. Not enough rain, no harvest. The historical farmer was completely dependent on the Lord’s provision through the weather to provide his food & income. And when those rains came, he had to act fast. Wait too long to plow, and the ground is hard again. Wait too long to harvest & the crop spoils. He had to be patient & be prepared.

D. The application? We’ve got to be patient until Jesus comes again. Just like the farmer had to be expectantly prepared for the latter rains to come & water his crops, so we need to be watchful & ready for the Lord Jesus to take us home. He promised He would come again to receive us to Himself (John 14:3) – and we want to be both patient & prepared. Like the parable of the virgins, we want to be found waiting for the call of the groom with oil in our lamps ready to go (Matt 25:1-13)…when Jesus calls us home, we don’t want to say, “I wish I would have just done ____!” Be patient & be prepared.
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8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

A. Repeats the thought: be patient! The Lord Jesus IS coming; we are to expectantly wait for Him. How are we to be patient? By strengthening/establishing our hearts & standing firm on the promises of God. It can be tough to be patient because we get so easily distracted. Our culture gives us so many choices in which we can take our eyes off Jesus & our media is filled with so many voices that mock the things of God. How do we get past it all? By sinking deep roots into the gospel & promises of God – standing firm upon His word. Psalm 1 speaks of the godly man whose delight is in the law of the Lord – he is like a tree planted by rivers of water. The more time we spend in the word of God taking in the promises of God, the more our hearts will be established in God.

B. Repeats the context as well: “the coming of the Lord is at hand.” Lest there be any doubt, James declared that the “parousia” of Jesus is at hand. It’s difficult to overstate the emphasis on Christ’s soon coming in the Bible. Even within bare minutes of Jesus ascending to heaven, angels were already reassuring the disciples that He would be coming again in a like manner. Even with all of the passionate debate in end-times theology, the one thing that all orthodox believers agree on is that Jesus is coming again. There’s much debate on the timing & the details (which we’ll see in other books), but there’s no doubt on the fact of His soon coming.

C. How can we be so sure? After all, the early church was convinced that the Lord Jesus was coming soon, and we’ve been waiting 2000 years for His return. Every generation that has come thought that theirs was the generation in which Jesus would come back. Keep in mind, this isn’t a bad thing; this is a good thing! We ought to live every day with the realization that this could very well be the day that we see our Lord face-to-face…that’s part of James’ point! We want to live in such a way in which we’re ready to see our Lord & King. Every generation has lived with the expectation of the imminent return of Christ – it’s good because Jesus told us to be ready for Him… Matthew 24:42-44 (42) Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. (43) But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. (44) Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
__a. Do we have any reason think our generation is close – as if we’re in the last of the last days? Yes! Prophecy is abundant with indications that the time is near! If there was any time in history to be confident of the Lord’s soon coming, the time is now. For the 1st time in almost 2000 years, there is a nation in the promised land called “Israel”, who’s formation is virtually straight out of the pages of Ezekiel 37. The apostasy written of by Paul where people depart from the faith & give heed to doctrines of demons seems to have already begun (1 Tim 4). The signs the Lord Jesus gave in Matt 24 are coming true every day – Christians are hated by all nations, false prophets are rising up to deceive, lawlessness abounds, and more (Matt 24:9-12). Truly if any generation thought the return of Christ is imminent, ours should!

D. Are you ready? We WILL see Jesus…His coming is at hand! At the very least, every day that passes is one more day that each one of us are closer to seeing the Lord Jesus face-to-face. Whether the rapture takes place this afternoon, or you get hit by a bus tomorrow, we are all only a heartbeat away from seeing the Lord. Are you ready? Are you prepared to see your Lord & Savior? Are you even able to honestly call Him your Savior? Church buildings are filled every Sunday with people who know the facts about Jesus Christ, but who don’t actually know Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that Jesus is not dead; He’s alive right now – every single person here can know Him personally, just as we know any other living person. Whenever a preacher pleads with you to repent from your sins & trust Christ/receive Christ as Savior, that’s exactly what we’re saying…not to just mutter a prayer & put your trust in any ‘magic words’ you’ve said – but to go before the Living God in prayer & give your life to Jesus Christ, asking Him to forgive your sins & forever be YOUR Lord.
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9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

A. One way to know if you’re not ready? If we’re grumbling against each other. Groaning – sighing…carrying on inner grudges against one another. Who would want to be found having that attitude at the Lord’s return? His specific prayer for the church was that we would be one (John 17:21). Grumbling & groaning against one another isn’t very unified – knowing that our Lord is coming soon ought to motivate us to truly forgive one another & be reconciled to one another. [School kids behave much differently when the principal is standing outside of the room…] Likewise, our Judge is at the door! He can come in at anytime; we want to be on our ‘best behavior’ & be ready for Him.
__a. Specifically in the context of those who had been oppressed: What good is their complaint if they are grumbling against one another? They themselves are guilty of the same sin for which they had appealed to the Lord!
__b. Even beyond class warfare & oppression in the church – Christians have no business grumbling against one another. Granted, we’re human – there’s no doubt we’re going to offend one another at some point in time. (If you haven’t, just wait!) But when those offenses happen, we ought to believe the best about one another & be quick to forgive.

B. Question: do Christians really need to be concerned about being judged? After all, our salvation is assured in the work of Christ Jesus… YES! Christians WILL be judged – not for salvation, but for reward. This is what Paul was referring to when discussing the Bema Seat. [place of civic judgment] 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 (9) Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. (10) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. [] (works of gold or straw revealed on the Day – 1 Cor 3:12-14) Christian, this is exactly what we need to be ready for! Everything we’ve done in the Body of Christ will be revealed that day – which ought to be a pretty sobering thought. The good news here is two-fold: (1) Jesus already died for your sins – your salvation is assured in Him & in His work alone. (2) The Bible tells us that Jesus will wipe every tear from our eye – we’ll surely regret our sins (who wouldn’t?), but our Lord will be right there to comfort us.
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10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure.

A. 2nd example of patience: the prophets. Some are showcased in Hebrews 11…they experienced incredible miracles, but they endured much suffering. Tortured, imprisoned, false trials, stoned to death, sawn in two, and more – they were those “of whom the world was not worthy” (Heb 11:38).

B. What exactly are they examples of? “suffering AND patience” – for true patience to be exhibited, we’ve got to have trials in which patience is required. The prophets showed this through their suffering. Jeremiah was repeatedly imprisoned & suffered pain in the stocks. Hosea endured the humiliation of having a prostitute as a wife (as a picture of God’s relationship with unfaithful Israel) – yet he still patiently endured by the power of God.
__a. NT Christians are not exempt from this. Sometimes people get the idea that truly godly people never suffer…that’s completely the opposite of what the Bible tells us. Paul specifically wrote that godly people WILL suffer persecution (2 Tim 3:12) & the Lord Jesus warned us that in this world, we will have tribulation (John 16:33). Praise God that Jesus has overcome the world – but we still have to patiently endure in the meantime.

C. Note: those who “endure” their suffering are blessed. Seems kind of shocking to our ears. We think people are blessed if they avoid suffering – which makes sense; we wouldn’t wish suffering on anyone… But once we DO suffer, we need to hold up during it – and when we endure, God considers us blessed. Why? Because when our faith is tested we build up perseverance (Jas 1:3) & in the process God develops our character to be more like Christ, which leads to confident hope (Rom 5:3). The trial or suffering itself is not joyous, but we can definitely rejoice over the work of God that He is doing within us – and in all circumstances we can rejoice in the saving work of the Lord Jesus for us. As we endure, we remember that we’re going to see Jesus, and that should cause us to hope & rejoice.
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…You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

A. 3rd example of patience: Job. Technically, Job isn’t so much an example of patience, but of perseverance. James uses a completely different word here than what he used for “patience” in vss. 7 & 10. “Perseverance” comes from the same root word as “endurance” – instead of speaking of “long-suffering patience,” this word carries the idea of “holding out/standing fast”. The word choice actually makes a lot of sense. Job frequently complained during his sufferings & was a bit impatient toward God at the end – but he DID endure his sufferings. Job may have cursed the day of his birth, but not once did he lose his faith in God (which is exactly the opposite of what Satan thought would happen). On the contrary, despite the immense sufferings Job endured, he could still proclaim “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him,” (Job 13:15) & “I know my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). This was a man who remained standing under MUCH pressure!

B. One of the best aspects about Job’s life? His sufferings didn’t last forever. God had a different end intended for him than what the Devil had planned out – and Job experienced the blessing of the Lord. The beginning of the book shows his lands & possessions taken away, his health stricken – and even his beloved children killed. But after Job had endured & God answered him, God blessed his latter days more than Job’s beginning – he had twice as much livestock & possessions, and God even blessed him with more children. For the believer in Christ Jesus, there will always be a time when suffering ends – all suffering for us is truly temporary. Even if we suffer unto death, our suffering doesn’t continue IN death; we’re forever in the presence of our Lord & Savior. (The same promise cannot be said for the person who refuses Christ; their suffering only begins upon their death!)
__a. This isn’t to say that when we endure patiently in suffering that God will bless us with long life & riches. Just look at Jan Hus & William Tyndale & other reformers who were burned at the stake or otherwise killed… But God DOES provide for us during those times of endurance & we experience His compassion & mercy. That’s what Job experienced in the end, and that’s what we can experience in the midst of our trials.

C. Keep in mind that the Lord isn’t just sometimes “compassionate & merciful”…He’s ALWAYS “compassionate & merciful.” It’s part of His very nature! Exodus 34:6-7 (6) And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, (7) keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” [] That’s part of who He is! Born-again believers in Jesus can always go to God & appeal to Him for mercy & compassion & the Lord delights in giving it (because of the finished work of Christ).
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12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

A. How vs. 12 fits into the overall context isn’t exactly clear…it’s obviously supposed to do so (“above all…”), but it doesn’t seem to fit with the idea of being patient. I suggest vs. 12 doesn’t so much have to do with patience as it does with the idea that the Lord’s coming is at hand. In general, oaths are meaningless. To swear upon your mother’s grave (or whatever) is completely meaningless, because what power do you have over whatever it is you’re swearing by? Swearing absurd oaths (including the “death oaths” of some brotherhood organizations) assumes you have more power than what you do. Only God has the power to actually change anything – when we swear absurd oaths we’re presuming upon God…and that’s not something we’d want to be found doing at the return of Jesus Christ.

B. If Jas 4:12 sounds familiar, it’s because it should – this is virtually a direct quote from the Lord Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5:33-37 (33) “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ (34) But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; (35) nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. (36) Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. (37) But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. []
__a. Say what you mean & mean what you say! Everyone is going to misspeak from time to time, and at times circumstances are going to change that might make commitments difficult to keep. But overall, our word should be trustworthy. We shouldn’t need to go through long, elaborate setups to help people know we’re “really” telling the truth – we should just tell the truth from the beginning. If we make a commitment, we ought to keep it.

C. Are ALL oaths bad? Not necessarily – God gave OT laws to His people to guide them in making oaths (Num 30); there were times vows or oaths were necessary. Even in our own culture, we are called upon to take oaths (courtroom, military, political office, etc.) What Jesus & James are both referring to are lengthy, absurd oaths, or oaths that mean you’re telling the truth one minute, but can’t trust your word the next (like crossing your fingers). Oaths that are more of an act of pride than solemnly committing to telling the truth. Bottom line? Make a point of avoiding oaths. We ought to keep our commitments simple & our word ought to be our bond in itself.

Conclusion:
Jesus is coming…are you ready? Prepared Christians are patient Christians. Whether you’re currently enduring a trial right now, or you’re simply just ready to go see Jesus, we need to be patient & steadfast as we wait for our Lord to come. For those who are oppressing the weak, Jesus will bring justice. For believers who are grumbling & swearing, Jesus will bring accountability. Every person in all history will be judged in some way by God – it’s appointed to man once to die & then the judgment (Heb 9:27).

For those who are believers in Christ Jesus, the price for our sins has already been paid (praise the Lord!) – we are completely made new & pleasing in the sight of God. Yet even we will face a judgment…one in which we stand before our Lord & give account. There we’ll be in the presence of His purifying righteousness, and though we have a reverent fear of God, we can be assured He’ll sustain us through that time. But be assured, we will see Him – and we want to be prepared for that time!

Those who reject Christ will also see Him – but unlike the rest of us, unbelievers will see Christ Jesus without hope. If that’s you, the judgment you will face is the Great White Throne Judgment in which everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life will be cast into Hell. That may sound dramatic, but it’s the truth…and that’s not what God desires for you! God’s will is that all men repent from their sin & turn to Jesus Christ for salvation – He is not willing that any should perish! But many will…simply because they reject the mercy & love of God – and their own sin & rebellion leaves them condemned. If that’s you, I guarantee you’re not ready to see Jesus Christ! But you CAN be…humble yourself before Him today & trust Him as your Lord & Savior by faith.