Times of Abundance

Well, I'm wearing today a gift that was given to Mandy and myself by Martha. Is she not here today? No. And it's the national costume of Cameroon. So, I'm proposing one Sunday in the future, we have a national costumes day where we all come in our national costume. Yeah? Hello English, what's your national costume? English people. That's the monk union national costume that Dave's got on. I don't even know what the national costume is for men in Wales. I know the women wear this sort of big hat and all that, but anyway, I'm taking this off because it's quite hot.

And today we're looking at 2 Samuel chapter 7, verses 18 through to 29. 2 Samuel — that's Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel in the Old Testament. And we're reading from 2 Samuel, chapter 7, verses 18 through to 29. Everyone got there? Then I will begin.

“Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, 'Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant, and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human. What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord. For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant. How great you are, Sovereign Lord. There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people, Israel — the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt. You have established your people as your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God. And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ”The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.“ And the house of your servant David will be established in your sight. Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, ”I will build a house for you.“ So your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you, Sovereign Lord. You are God. Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. Now, be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight. For you, Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing, the house of your servant will be blessed forever.'”

And we're continuing our series entitled The Times of Abundance. And as we go through the Old Testament and come to the New Testament, we'll see this is how it always ends up with God — Times of Abundance: spiritual abundance, physical, emotional, all kinds.

And today we're looking at David's response to God's promise. A right response to God's promise is vital — one of faith, humility, praise, expectancy. And amidst all this, David asks the question, “Who am I, Lord? Who am I?” And God's response to David is — again, throughout the scriptures, it appears even in Acts — David, a man after God's own heart.

And I want to challenge each one of us individually, corporately as Bethel Baptist Church, and even a challenge to the universal church worldwide: we need to emulate that. We need to become people of God's own heart, that God can say on that day when we meet him in glory, “Ah, well done, good and faithful servant. A person after my own heart.” Where are we at this precise moment? Are we people after God's own heart? Let's seek to become more and more people after God's own heart.

Interestingly, in the New Testament there are 54 references to David. Amazing — 54 references to David. And only in one of them is there a hint of his despicable sin with Bathsheba — his adultery, and his premeditated murdering of her husband, Uriah. And it comes in the genealogy in Matthew chapter 1, verse 6: “King David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife.” That is the only hint of his appalling sin in that respect.

The question is, why? Well, I believe — and this is just my own reasoning — David had been totally honest and open. He'd come out and confessed his sin. Psalm 51 records it: “Have mercy on me, Lord. Have mercy.” And any one of us who has sinned can come to the Lord in sincerity — “Have mercy, Lord. Have mercy. Forgive me.” There's no messing about with God. You come to God in a light manner — “Have mercy on me, God, and I'm going to do it again” — forget it. God sees all things. His eyes are like blazing fire. He can see right through every one of us. He can see the very depth of our hearts. He can see if we're sincere. And if we come sincerely — “Lord, I've sinned. Have mercy on me” — what does the beautiful heart of God say? Even discovered by King David himself: “As far as the east” — which way is the east? I don't know. Which way, Dave? Up? That way. As far as the east is to the west — how far is that? How far? A long way. I like that answer. As far as the east is to the west, so far has he removed our sins from us. Amen.

All because of this — I was moved when in that song, In Christ Alone, was it, or Crown Him, there was that picture of Jesus on the cross. I don't have a problem with seeing Jesus on the cross, because I know he's not there now. But there's a Catholic church where we live, and I probably won't be very popular saying this, but sometimes I stop because there's a big crucifix and there's Jesus, and I just say, “Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you, Lord.” There's no scandals that are hidden with God. Nothing brushed under the spiritual, the proverbial spiritual carpet. It's all out in the open. And that's the refreshing thing about Christianity — we can be totally honest and open about our sins, because we know in Christ they've been forgiven.

And what else did David discover? “You will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” And as Corrie ten Boom, that godly woman, said, “God puts up a sign: 'No fishing.'” Once your sins have been forgiven, don't keep going over them again and again and again. Move on, folks, because

Jesus has moved on. And you might say, “You know that sin I did back in 1999,” and he says, “No. No.” He doesn't remember. He's dumped them into the depths of the sea, folks. So why do you say, “Oh, I did this in 1999,” and you can't get over it? He's got over it. He died on the cross that you might be totally forgiven, totally washed clean. And God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And it says in the New Testament, in 1 John 1:7-9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And if we're cleansed from all unrighteousness, what does it mean? We're righteous again in his sight. In Christ, every believer stands righteous before him. We Christians need to get hold of these amazing truths, and not be all — you know — biting your nails, dragging your feet, looking down, “Oh, I'm a depressed Christian.” No. Take all that he's done for us, folks. Take it. This is the response to the promise of God. Are you listening in the back row? Yes. Amen.

So, David, a man after God's own heart. I can't go through all of David's character, but I've picked three points today. One, a man of humility — get that, that's a wonderful godly trait, to be humble. This goes without saying — a man of praise. Hallelujah. What was the praise like today, Ian? You were watching from the front. Was it “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” or was it a little bit expressive — and I'm going to go on and on about this, because I go to football matches and I see the crowds, through getting a leather ball into an onion net, going crazy. And you come to church and we're all like — where's the passion, folks? Where's the passion? Where's the response to his amazing love? He was a man of praise. And finally, he was a man focused on the future.

A man focused on the future. Are we? A man of humility. Look at David as he's in the Lord's presence — “Who am I, Lord? Who am I?” God has just overwhelmed him with these amazing promises that are going to extend forever and ever. And they're all fulfilled, as we know — you follow David's line, it comes to Jesus Christ. “Who am I, Lord? What is my house, Lord?” I come from the Pritchard family — they're the lowliest of all families, apart from the Franklin family. No offense, Kathleen — just a joke. “Me, your servant.” Are we all servants of the Lord? The answer is yes. And he says, “Me, a mere human.” How humble can you get?

Compare him to Saul — this is a good test. Both had sinned. King Saul had sinned, King David had sinned. The prophet Samuel came to Saul and pointed his sin out, and challenged him about his sin of disobedience — gross disobedience with regard to the holy things of God. What was Saul's response? “I did obey the Lord.” Nathan the prophet came to David after his sins with Bathsheba and Uriah, and said, “You are the man.” What was David's response? “Lord, I have sinned against you and against heaven.” Totally different. He was humbled. He showed real humility.

I'm going to give you a testimony — talk about being honest. When I was in that transition — you know that transition when you don't even know you're going to get born again? And I had Christian friends and I'm all trying to be like a Christian, and then I go back home for Christmas and I meet all my old drinking friends, and, you know, it was the Bible and the bar — the pub and the pew. No, I wasn't a preacher then, but you know what I mean. And in a moment of weakness,

in that three-week holiday at home, I thought about some pornographic books that a lady who was a chef in my family's business had given me when I was twelve. And she told me, “Do not let your parents see them.” And I'll tell you what, folks, looking back, they were hardcore pornography. It was heavy stuff.

And so I went — it was the fourth floor, my dad had converted a loft in this former hotel into a play room for us — and I'd hidden them there. And in this moment of weakness I thought, I'm going to go and have a peep at them. Yes, Jesus, but the world — and there's this, you know, back and forth, back and forth. God, let's get everyone to the place where they're not back and forth, but all for Jesus. But I wasn't there. And I'm going for these pornographic books, and — praise God — I think he sent an angel maybe, because I tripped. And my hands went out onto this table, to stop me falling. And there was this little book — I picked it up. What did it say? “The Imitation of Christ.” I opened this little book — “Leave off this sexual impurity.” Whoa. That whole book, The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis — if you want to learn a bit about humility, get hold of that book. It's a classic, a Christian classic. But make sure you get one in modern English, because the old English version is quite hard to understand.

Let me give you some of the subjects in that book — all about humility, because they reckon there's a link between pride and sexual immorality, and that's why we need to keep humble, folks. Let me give you some of the headings, some of these sections: accepting correction and having your faults exposed by others is a helpful gift that builds true humility and brings God's grace and peace. If somebody in love comes to you and says, “Brother, sister, I just want to share — I don't think you should be looking at that, I don't think you should be doing that, I think that's illegal what you're doing” — how do you react? “I know best, I'm going to continue, no one will ever get me”? Or do we say, “Oh, you're right, brother, I'm going to stop that, that is sinful”? I tell you what — breaking the law is sinful. We're called in Romans 13 to accept what the government puts before us.

A truly humble person does not seek worldly honours, human praise, and does not get puffed up by compliments. What if someone encourages you with a compliment? Are you — “Praise the Lord, oh yes” — or is it, “Praise the Lord, I didn't used to be like that”? You know what, humility — the humility of Jesus Christ, because that's who we're following, and he was the most humble person that has ever walked this earth. What did he do? He washed the disciples' feet. That was the lowliest, meanest task you could do in those days — only servants did that. And here's the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, coming and washing his disciples' feet. Have we got that humble heart, that humility? Jesus said, “I have not come to be served.” No — I have not come to be served. You look at these leaders, these companies, clicking their fingers — “bring the meal, bring the chapati.” Jesus wasn't like that. He was serving. “I have not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give my life as a ransom.” Mark 10:45.

And what about this one — this wonderful theology in Philippians 2. Let me read it to you, you know it well: “Who, being in very nature God” — let me say that again — “who, being in very nature God” — Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be God, and you've got to come to that place in your faith — “Jesus Christ, who, being in very nature God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross.” You'll never find a more humble person than that.

Do you know, sometimes I might — and I'm not trying to boast here — but I might just be brushing the floor, and people say, “Oh, you shouldn't be doing that, you should be — why is that? Because you're the minister.” It's not true, is it? Don't keep giving me the brushing pan and expect me to do the hoovering as well. We should all be with the brushing pan. We should all be cleaning the toilets — that's what I think the modern equivalent to washing people's feet is: cleaning their toilets. That's the best I can bring out. We have these washing-the-feet services in some churches. I just don't like them. Once we were in Newcastle, having this washing-feet thing, and the guy before me — they didn't change the water, and he had a massive big verruca on his foot, and I was next. We don't need our feet washed. I washed my feet this morning. Hands up who washed their feet — when was the last time you washed your feet, folks? Last night. Anyway, I won't embarrass you.

And do you know, in that passage I've just read you from Philippians 2:6-8 — Philippians 2:5 says this to every believer: “You've got to have the same attitude, the same mindset as Jesus Christ, who humbled himself even to death on a cross.” That should be our mindset, folks.

Let's move on. He was a man of praise. David was a man of praise. He says in that reading, “How great you are, Sovereign Lord.” He didn't say, “How great I am, all the promises you give me — how great I am.” No — “How great you are, Sovereign Lord.” And I think that's a sign of humility in itself, when we can praise and worship God, acknowledge who God is — the Sovereign Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, our Saviour, Redeemer, our Lord.

David was a man of praise, no question. A large portion of the Psalms are attributed to him. I've just chosen one — Psalm 34, where he starts, “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” He didn't say, “I will extol the Lord at some times, his praise will now and again be on my lips.” No, he doesn't say that. Listen to it again: “I will extol the Lord at all times.” What does “all times” mean, folks? Always. Amen. Praise God — it's dead easy to understand the scriptures, isn't it? People say, “I can't understand the scriptures.” It's dead easy, folks. Just read it. And if you don't understand it, read it again — and if you still don't understand it, ask somebody.

“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” Is that true of us, folks? Is it? That's the question. How different this church would be if we were living like that.

David was honest before the Lord — David did have fears. King Saul was out to kill him, he was so jealous of David. And a lot of David's Psalms were written when he was in a very difficult situation, with Saul out to kill him. He even had to hide amongst the enemy at one time — imagine hiding amongst the enemy because you're trying to get away from your own king who's trying to kill you. What a situation. But this is what he does with his fears: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Did he say, “he delivered me from 99.9% of my fears”? No — “all my fears.” Everyone fears, folks. Everyone. The problem isn't that we fear — the

problem is what we do with those fears. He sought the Lord, and the Lord delivered him from all his fears. Have you ever done that — you're feeling fearful, discouraged, depressed, anxious, and you go into the presence of the Lord, and even half an hour later, it's gone? Have you had that experience?

[Editorial note: A member of the congregation shared a testimony about overcoming a fear of travelling on the London Underground through prayer, describing an overwhelming sense of peace at Clapham Junction.]

Psalm 34 verse 19: David concludes, “The righteous person” — who's righteous here? We're all righteous by his grace, because of what he did, and because of our faith in him — we're righteous in God's sight. “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from” — 60%? 70%? 80%? 90%? — “all of them.” Hallelujah. This is where we've got to take the promises of God: “Lord, I've still got a problem — you said I'd be delivered from them all. Deal with it, Lord. Sort it out, Lord.” Did you notice how bold David got in prayer once he'd got the promise of God? Once you get the promise of God, you can keep going back to God saying, “Lord, you promised — I've not yet seen it. Lord, you promised.” Keep going back to him for the next ten years, if it takes ten years. That's encouraging, isn't it?

Psalm 57 verse 11 — again, David, in another case fleeing from King Saul: “My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.” Have you got any enemies, folks? David had an enemy — do you remember, we did it — Goliath. And he came with a praising heart, and that goes hand-in-hand with trusting in the Lord with all your heart. Praising the Lord, trusting in the Lord, and he slew the enemy. Now, I'm not saying we should be doing that with our enemies now, cutting off their heads like David did to Goliath, because Jesus said we've got to love our enemies. And I'll guarantee you, as you praise the Lord and thank him and worship him and get lost in wonder, love, and praise, the enemy will just become a little dot. You see, we make our enemies so big, and God so little. Our lecturer at Bible College challenged us once: “Your God is too small.”

Could this be the answer to modern stress? Did we ever hear the word “stress” so much when we were kids as we do now? No. So much stress in the world today — do you think that's because we're going faster and faster? [A congregation member, Mark, shared that he lives on a canal boat, and observed that the canal moves at a much slower pace than modern life, and that people speeding down the canal often forget the journey because they're fixed on the destination.] That's a nice illustration — the answer to modern stress: praise God at all times. How can stress get in when we're praising God continually, moment by moment? Seek him to remove all your fears. Speak kind, honest words instead of reacting with panic or anger. Maintain a humble trust in the Lord. David says — listen to this humility again, in Psalm 34 — “This poor man.” He's the King of Israel, he's in the lineage of the Messiah — “this poor man called to the Lord, and the Lord heard him.” Do not complain or gossip when you feel stressed — we can do that, can't we? It makes us feel better, I suppose, when we're dissing somebody else, pulling somebody else down — but it's not good, it's not biblical. Choose words that bring peace.

Let's move on. Oh, I love this one — David danced before the Lord with all his might. Do you remember that one? I wish I could do that now, but Mandy will be telling Mark about my hip. David danced before the Lord with all his might — he was filled with inexpressible joy. I'd love to come in here one Sunday and we're all — “Yes! Praise the Lord!” I know some of you wouldn't.

But look how his wife reacted. Michal, daughter of Saul, came out to meet David when he returned home to bless his household, and she said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants, as any vulgar fellow would.” David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone else from his house, when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people. I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in higher honour.” David was dancing before the Lord in just his loincloth. Now, the lesson here — wives, are you listening? If you see your husband dancing before the Lord with all his might in just his boxer shorts, don't despise your husband, okay? It's a lesson for the wives.

Let's move on. He was a man focused on the future. God had promised to establish David's house and his kingdom forever — forever, forever. Amen.

What do we read in Matthew 1:1? “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David.” Hallelujah. Luke 1:32-33: “He, Jesus, will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Amen.

God promised David all those years ago, thousands of years ago, in 2 Samuel, and we see it unfolding even today. You're part of the promise. I'm part of that promise. His kingdom is being extended, his church is being built. David was thinking of a physical temple, and he provided all the materials — a massive amount of materials — needed for his son Solomon to build the temple. But Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it after three days,” and by this he meant his body, didn't he? And we are the body of Christ. And it tells us in 1 Corinthians 6, Paul says, “Don't you realise that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit?” Do we realise that? Individually, and corporately as a church, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Some great things are said about Christians, and yet we sit there — we should be out of this world, lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Let's pray. Father God, we just pray you'll help us to be a humble people, Lord — a people who are always praising you and worshipping you and thanking you and glorifying your name and obeying you, Lord. And we pray we'll be people of the future, who see that amazing inheritance that is coming to each one of us — the glory to come. Lord, open our eyes the more, that we might see you in all your splendour and glory, and that we might praise you the more, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.