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Welcome to the fourth of our studies in the first and second book of Samuel. Once again, my genuine thanks to you for your invitation to come among you and share with you the study of Holy Scripture. Thank you too, when you have seen the advertisements that from now on we shall be studying the second epistle of the second book of Samuel, that you have, in spite of that, come along this evening, you'll see. Because the second book of Samuel, by common consent, is a difficult book.
Samuel the first contains some very well-known and very loved stories. The second book of Samuel is at least difficult. But let us begin by reading a number of scriptures, first of all in the book of Second Samuel itself, and then from the New Testament, that will serve to put our study tonight in its proper context. Let's begin by reading two Samuel chapter five verses one to ten. Two Samuel five verses one to ten.
Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, Behold, we are your bone and flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, you shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty years. At Hebron, he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah for thirty three years. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, you will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off. Thinking David cannot come in here.
Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David. David said on that day, whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind who are hated by David's soul. Therefore, it is said, the blind and the lame shall not come into the harvest. David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David, and David built the city all round from the Millo inwards, and David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.
Now in chapter s- 7, if you please, chapter seven, and we shall begin reading there in verse twelve. Then when your days are fulfilled, this is God speaking to David. When your days are fulfilled and you be d- uh, be lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sort of the sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. Now, if you please, from the New Testament, the gospel by Matthew. Matthew chapter twenty one, Beginning in verse one.
Now, when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethge, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once. This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.
Similarly, a few verses from Luke's gospel, chapter uh twenty four. Luke twenty four. And there we shall begin to read at verse forty five. Luke twenty four forty five. then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them, this, thus it is written that the Christ shall suffer on the third day, rise from the dead, and that repeating, that repentance and forgiveness of sins shall be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Two other short scriptures, uh, detain us, Epistle to the Galatians and chapter four. Pism- Epistle to the Galatians, chapter four. And we read from verse twenty four onwards. Now this may be interpreted allegorically. These women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar.
Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. And finally, the well-known passage in Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one, Beginning in verse three. uh After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today have I begotten you? Or again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. God grant us the light of the Holy Spirit on these scriptures, that we might begin to understand them. Two Samuel, as I say, many people find to be a difficult book. And, uh, tonight and in the three nights that we are together, I shall obviously not be able to give a full exposition of its details.
In fact, you may conclude, if you are on all three sessions, that I have raised more questions on this book than I have answered. And if, as probably will be, you feel very frustrated, then I have a recommendation to make. I suggest you vent your frustration on the elders of this church, you see, and tell them they must do better next time. And what is more, they ought to institute a very serious study of second Samuel, you see, in open discussion, if need be, with all the assembly, that you might come to see what the real answers are to the questions that I shall be raising, to see.
And if that happens, I shall feel my visit has been marvelously well worthwhile, you see. God's blessing on your future studies of second Samuel. Yes. But it is a difficult book. So let's put it in context, if we may, to help ourselves at this beginning. You could sum up, if you like, First Samuel, or at least the second half of it, as recording the difficulties David had in becoming king. And the book ends, of course, even though he is already anointed, it ends before he is king.
The difficulties he had in becoming king of Israel. Second Samuel is the record that he e- of the difficulties he experienced in being king. And compared with the difficulties of becoming king, the difficulties of being king were even worse, you'll see. Let's refresh our memory of the difficulties he faced in becoming king. Because, you see, the story, as it begins to get exciting, uh, is at first sight very strange.
God had decided that he'd had enough of Saul. Saul could no longer be king, you'll see. So God said to Samuel privately, Samuel, I want you to go down to Bethlehem to a man called Jesse and anoint one of his sons to be king for me. And Samuel said, excuse me, Lord, I can't do that. Why not? Well, Saul is still alive. Was an odd suggestion, wasn't it?
If you'll see. I mean, God had three options, we may say, humanly speaking. He could have, um, executed Saul on the spot and anointed David. No problem. Lots of the nation would have welcomed David. Or he could let Saul live on till Saul came to his natural end or was killed in battle, and then he could have anointed David. No problem. Instead, God let Saul live on for some years, and yet already anointed David.
You can see Samuel's point, can't you, his argument? Suppose Queen Elizabeth went to Australia, as she does sometimes to, uh, to, you know, to comfort the Australians. And while she was gone, do you see, uh, the Archbishop of Canterbury anointed Tony Blair as king of the country, you see. I think Elizabeth will have something to say to it when she came back, you see, if the Archbishop did anything so funny. You can see Samuel's point, aren't you? Lord, how can you let Saul live on and require me to anoint David?
That was the problem in David's becoming king. For in the end, Saul not only rejected him, but persecuted him uphill and down there. At that point, it's very interesting to see what happened. Uh, Saul was jealous that David had killed Goliath. Jonathan loved him, and he was Crown Prince, and divested his robes and belt and gave them to David. And the queen's daughter loved him.
And then, uh, all the ladies came out and they sang, you see. Saul was slain a thousand or so. David was slain his ten thousand. He was the topic of all the latest records and recordings and bands and super bands, you see, of the time. Mm. And the soldiers in the army, and in particular the captains, love David. Yes. Interesting that, isn't it? How would God impose David as a king on anybody? He first gave Israel the chance to learn to love David for what he had done and for what he was.
And if I were allowed to question you like a priest of the Inquisition and say, you have accepted Christ as king? Yeah. Why? Why did you do it, and why do you persist in that choice? Would you not answer in similar vein? And say, well, I know Christ is not very popular these days, and the world rejects him largely, but I, you would say, I love him. That is presently God's way of imposing his king.
So Saul tried to kill David, and s- David appealed to Jonathan. Jonathan couldn't bring himself to believe that his father would actually execute David. Jonathan was a little bit like the disciples in the n- in the Gospels, wasn't he? When our Lord said, I must go to Jerusalem and be rejected of the officials and be crucified and and killed and raised the third day. The apostles just couldn't believe it. Didn't make sense. But David had to go.
That famous occasion when John- Jonathan came out to indicate to David by secret sign that he would have to go and shot the arrows. Do you remember the story? You do, sure. And shot the arrows beyond the boy, and shouted out to the boy, the arrows are beyond you, which was the sign to David, who was in hiding, that David must go. David went and went into the house of the Lord under a bias of the high priest and asked for the show.
Interesting that, isn't it? Our Lord mentioned that incident, did he not? Matthew chapter twelve And elsewhere. At what juncture in the do- in the Gospels? When he had announced that Judaism was going to reject him. And they talked of what David did in the temple with the Shobit. When David was thus rejected. And David took therefrom the sword, didn't he? The liar's sword. And he must have been bewildered, for he did a very funny thing.
From there, in his flight, he went to Achish, the king of the Philistines. What with the sword of Goliath in his hand, with which he cut off Goliath's head. Why ever did he do that? The princes of the Philistines said to their king, you must be mad having this fellow come among you like that. Look at this sword. Isn't this the one of whom the Israelites said he's slain his slain ten thousand? And David didn't see any way out of it, but pretended to be mad and scrabbled on the door, and the king sent him away.
Very funny that, wasn't it? David handing himself over to the Gentile... authorities. Why didn't he use that sword? Now you tell me. He had the sword of Goliath in his hand. Why didn't he go to the palace where Saul was and cut the man's head right off? That would have ended all his nonsense. But if he wasn't prepared to use the sword on Saul, what could he do?
Divided himself up into the hands of the Gentiles. And then went down into the cave, didn't he? From which he came up. And once more presented himself to some of the cities of Judah. I don't know if you remember the story about the Lord. Do you have, you do? How he refused to execute judgment on apostate high priesthood in Judaism. And after having done notable miracles, he said to the disciples, the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hand of the Gentiles.
I couldn't make any sense of that. How could Christ, who could do these stupendous works of divine power, be handed over as helpless into the hands of Gentiles? Don't make any sense out of it. Happened though, didn't it? On his way to the throne. Christ was handed over to the Gentile Romans and was executed and went down into the grave, didn't he? Came up again in resurrection and sent his apostles around the cities of Judah and around the, to the Jews in the Roman Empire, offering them forgiveness and God's amazing grace, not only a general forgiveness of sins, but a forgiveness for the murder of their Messiah.
God gave the nation forty years to repent. And at the end of the forty years, by AD seventy, they had refused to repent. God allowed the Gentiles to sack Jerusalem. And Paul went off to the Gentiles, didn't he? Seeing you turn it from yourself, said he to the Jewish synagogue, we go to the Gentiles. So did David of old. When he briefly came back and visited cities in Judah and helped them, yet the question was, what would those cities do?
Would they accept him and face out Saul? Or if Saul came to capture David, would the cities of Judah hand David over? And God told David, they'll hand you over, David. David had no choice but to go to the Gentiles, and the anointed Messiah was lost to Israel among the Gentiles. Well, he came back again. Oh yes, of course he did. And became king first in Hebron and then in Jerusalem City.
Well, that is a story of First Samuel, the difficulties David had in becoming king. But then once he was established as king, first in Hebron and then in Jerusalem, he faced severe difficulties in being king, did he not? I'm tempted to say, say, to remind you of what David endured at the hands of Joab in the second book of Samuel.
Now, in so saying, I hope I don't offend your faith. Years ago, I asked a senior Christian teacher of the word how he accounted for the fact that in the book of Samuel, Joab, commander of the army, overruled David more than once and insisted on having his own way against David's will. And David was helpless to do anything about it. You remember? Joab assassinated Abner.
When Abner was in negotiations for bringing over the ten tribes to serve David, and Joab heard about it. He was not willing that Abner should come over and be accepted by David, for Abner brought the army of ten tribes, and Joab was only commander of two, and he wasn't going to have his nose put out. So he went and assassinated Abner, and at the public funeral, David let the public know he did not agree with that. You sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me, he said.
Why didn't he take control of Joab? Abson sinned by murdering a brother of his and ran into exile. It was Joab, as we shall see tomorrow, God willing, that forced David to take him back against David's conscience. Curious, isn't it? David went off into exile, and when he came back, he sent a message to the elders of Judea and to Amasa, who had been commander in chief of the army of Absalom that had revolted against the king.
Amasa, if you please, commander of the army that at Absalom's command would have slit David's throat. Now Absalom was dead. David wrote a note saying to Amasa and others, why don't you bring me back? And I'll tell you what, Amasa, if you bring me back, I will make you commander in chief of my army in the place of Joab. Really? When Joab had been so loyal to him. So Amasa was given the post and then given a commission of what to do, and made a bungle of the whole thing.
And when Joab saw how it was going, he came across Amasa, said, good morning, sir. And Amasa didn't notice he had a dagger in his hand, and he put it to his belly, and that was the end of Amasa. And Joab took control once more. There was one occasion when David overruled Joab, according to Saint Samuel, and had his own way. And that was when he told Joab to go and number the people. Oh, your majesty, said Joab, are you sure that we ought to do this.
Even Joab sensed it was sinful and didn't want to do it. David insisted and had his way, and Joab had to go and number the people, though he left off before he finished it, with the result that David brought a plague upon the nation. Now come on, you elders. I'm not going to give you all the answers, of course not, but you can see what they're going to ask you when you, uh, start this, um, intensive Bible study of two Samuel, aren't you? The elder brother I consulted years ago finally rebuked me.
He said, my son was listening when you made those questions, and you nearly broke his faith. Well, I'm sorry for that, and I don't intend to break your faith. I believe this story is inspired of God. I've only been telling you what the story says. But just in case you think that David was the last word of perfection as he ruled from the throne. second Samuel will ask us to face the actual realities. Why didn't David deal with Joab? Do you think he could have done?
Joab was commander of the forces. You will forgive me when I say next, and please don't get it the wrong way up and the right, uh, you see, and upside down and inside out. Have you thought about God's government of the universe recently? Why doesn't God stop Satan? He has the power to do it, doesn't he? Oh, surely he will agree with me he does.
But Satan is but a creature. Why doesn't God stop him in his tracks? Why did God allow Hitler and Stalin? We believe in God, do we not? We believe in his almighty and ultimate power, that nothing happens in this whole universe but what he allows it to happen. Let's affirm our faith in it, and one day he will bring it to a glorious conclusion.
But for the moment, God's government of our world doesn't always overthrow and overpower evil men, does he? Why doesn't he? You say, what's that got to do with David? Oh, I'm only pointing out the difficulties David had in being king and reigning over that nation. Real, practical difficulties.
But the Holy Spirit doesn't hide from us. I can tell you this in advance. Let me just take one incident. Because of David's sin, God allowed the, uh, rebellion by Absalom's son. David's own son, rebelling against his father, and would gladly, uh, put a dagger through his father's breast. When at last Absalom was defeated, the king told Joab, Joab, you are not to kill Absalom.
But Joab found Absalom hanging in a tree by his hair and killed him nonetheless. Broke David's heart, didn't it? You see, if David had been simply king and Absalom had been an ordinary man, David would have had him executed. If David hadn't been king but had been a father, he might have been inclined to spare Absalom. The difficulty was David was both a father and a king. And the enormous question of the father's love on the one hand, and the guilt on the other, they call for punishment.
Oh, Absalom, my son, he said, my son, Absalom, my son, would God I died for thee, oh Absalom, my son, my son. The problem for David. Yes, but you know that experience, though in part David's fault, brought David nearer the heart of God than ever he'd been before. Why? Because God himself has suffered a rebellion, hasn't he? Not only a gigantic rebellion amongst the heavenly powers, Satan and his hosts, but a worldwide rebellion of the human heart.
Face God with the problem. He must, as king and judge, execute the punishment upon sin. But oh, how shall he do it? Because he loved the creature with the creator's love. You know the answer God has given. In the death of his dear son. David, in the problem that he faced in governing Israel, storm a little bit nearer into the very heart of Almighty God, and if you'll excuse the expression, God's problem in governing the universe and our world.
Problems then in Second Samuel. We shall explore some of them in the two nights left to us this week, God willing. But let me recur now to some very practical things. When David eventually, when Saul eventually was killed by the Philistines, then David went up to Hebron at God's command, and at Hebron the Judahites anointed him king over Judah. But that left the ten tribes of Israel under Saul's son Ish-bosheth. There was long war between the two.
The problem was, for David, how could he reunite the people of God as king over them? And what methods would he use? It is a study in practical politics, is the fir- are the first two chapters of uh second Samuel. You will notice in chapter one, when the Amalekite came with the crown of Saul in his hand and said, David, I bring you the crown of Saul.
David said, how do you know he's dead? Well, he asked me to kill him. And you killed him? And the man said, yes, I did. And David ordered one of his young men to execute the Amalekite. It would not take the crown from a hand of a godless anti-god Amalekite. Even though you might have thought politically it would have been a tremendous advance to take the crown of Saul and possess the actual crown, wouldn't take it from him.
Any more than Christ is prepared to take the crown of authority from this world. It's very important to notice, isn't it? For from whom you take authority. And then there was a matter of propaganda. What do you think the modern politicians would have done with the propaganda opportunity? Now David had an opportunity, not on TV, of course, they hadn't yet invented that, more iPods, but he he invented a song, do you see, and taught it to the Israelites.
All the kids at school had to sing this, and all the young ladies came with their soprano voices, and all the male chaps joined in, you'll see, and it came out a popular song. They learned it and sang it all over the place. Talk about propaganda. What was the kind of thing, if you'd have been David, would you have had the propaganda song, say, about Saul and company? You know, Saul tried to pin me to the wall with a javelin. Praise God, God delivered me. And Saul tried to take me in my bed and have me speared, but God delivered me from that wretch and wicked man, Saul, and I.
No, no, no, no, not David. For the whole of Israel. Saul and Jonathan were marvellously beautiful in their day. And Saul gained many victories for you, you ladies, and clothed you in scarlet and fine linen. And Jonathan, oh, how wonderful he was, and his love for me. Weep your heart out that Saul is dead. Extraordinary propaganda, wasn't it? Oh, what wise man he was. Instead of it, uh, dwelling on the sins of Saul to the la- uh, to the abashment of the ten tribes, he praised Saul and Jonathan.
And they ceased to think of David as their enemy. Is that how you read it? Perhaps I got it wrong, but then you're going to have this study, aren't you, too, Sam? So you'll have a chance to put that bit right, won't you? Yes. And then, you see, there came two captains, and they were captains of Ish-bosheth, son of Saul. And when he was taking his siesta one afternoon, these two captains went in and stabbed him to death and cut his head off and took it to David, thinking to get reward.
They'd assassinated him. Well, if David was a modern European state, he'd have his secret service do the same thing to their enemies without telling anybody or answering for it in Parliament either. Not David. You dared to slay your master when it was your sacred duty to be loyal to him. You slain the Lord's anointed. David's not going to encourage that kind of thing. You encourage that kind of loyalty in your supposed enemy. You mustn't be astonished if he shows that same disloyalty to you later on.
Stood for the solid values of loyalty. The Hebrew word keses. There are many other lessons on that, and I must not be tempted to go down that road. I keep remembering, you see, you'll have this up and coming study of Saint Samuel, you see. But, um, then he did two marvelous things, or one thing he did and another God did. He found the elders of the ten tribes coming to him at last in chapter five.
And they said to David, they came to Hebron, we are bone, your bone and flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought us in Isra- and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, you shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to David, and King David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord. David unifying the people of God. You say, what was his secret?
His secret was David himself. You notice what they say? Not we're afraid of your armies, David. They've fallen in love and loyalty with David. And now they feel, and they express it, we are bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. We're one with you, David, one in heart. Then I think of you and your loyalty to Christ.
How do you really feel about Christ? I can tell you how he feels about you. What is written in Hebrews chapter two? He that sanctifies, that is our Lord Jesus. And they who are sanctified, that's us, are all of one. Which is the reason why he's not ashamed to call us brethren, brothers. What does that mean? Why should he be ashamed to call us his brothers?
Dear, dear, dear. It wouldn't take me long to think up a dozen or so le- uh le- uh reasons why he should be ashamed to call me his brother. Are you of the opinion that Christ calls you a brother and is not ashamed of you? So yeah, I have to believe that. It says he's not ashamed to call me his brother. Why not? Why should he be ashamed? Because if his use of the term brother was an empty phrase meaning nothing, really, then he should be ashamed of himself in using it.
The reason he's not ashamed to call us brothers is because he took our humanity to the full. He was eternal spirit, the Word of God with the Father. Listen to those awesome words. The Word became flesh, as human as you are, with flesh and bone, in order to save. I tell you a little bit more. In his resurrection, when the disciples thought they were looking at a spirit, he said, but no, no, no, don't be afraid.
I'm not a spirit, it's I myself. Look, handle me and see. It's I myself. For a spirit hath not flesh and bone, as you see me have. And he was carried up into glory as a real human being of flesh and bone. One of us. Sinless, of course. You find it overwhelming in your quiet times, don't you? If that's his attitude to me, how shall I not bow down and worship him as my Lord and God and be eternally loyal to him.
The secret of loyalty, of of unity amongst God's people must begin with Christ himself. Isn't it so? And they said to him, you know, even when Saul was king, it was you that led us out and brought us in. That is, you led us in our military campaigns, fought the battle for us and gained the victory for us. Oh. That's why you love him, isn't it? For us he fought the fight. The victory was won.
He fought the biggest fight of all on Calvary's cross, did he not? Your heart ticks loyalty to him, doesn't it? If all our hearts beat loyally to Christ, and we're more concerned that Christ's will be done rather than that we have our own way. There would be less disloyalty, wouldn't there? And they said to David, it was the Lord that said, you should be prince. There used to be a chorus when I was a boy, make Jesus king.
Make Jesus. And some of the learned great bearded theologians said it wasn't true theology. We don't make Jesus king, it's God that's made him king. Amen. I don't see why we shouldn't make him king as well, do you? I'd agree with God. If God has made him both Lord and Christ, then why shouldn't I make him my Lord? I'd be a fool not to, wouldn't I? So did the ten tribes come over to serve David. It was only a brief while, wasn't it?
After his successor Solomon, Solomon was so unwise in his latter days that the nation split again and was never healed, and will not be until the Lord comes. David was the secret of their unity, and then he did a magnificent thing. The strategy of it was blindingly clever, if I may use such a worldly term. He didn't say, now you elders of Israel will say, I'm glad at last you had some sense in your head, you'll say, and all your attempt to keep that show going down there with the Shposhev, futile, I all said it was daft, and you must have been daft to do it, you see.
I'm glad you see sense, and at last you come to the only place where you ought to come, that's Hebron. He didn't do it. He said, very good, gentlemen. Let's get the massed armies of Israel, and we'll go down to the city called Jebus. Jebus was on the border between Judah and Benjamin, you know. And if you please, Jebus had never been occupied by the Israelites or the Judahites, not from the time of Judah, uh, of Joshua had it been, never had been occupied by Israel.
Always the old Canaanites had lived there, and they couldn't get them out. David determined to set up a new capital city that could unite the nation. So all the army, north and south, came together. They went down to Jebus, and despite a severe opposition, Joab under David climbed up the water shaft and unexpectedly got into the city. The city was taken, and there they founded the capital city for the whole nation called Jerusalem.
The practical impact was this, of course, that it had never been anybody's capital city, neither of the two tribes in Hebron, nor the ten tribes elsewhere. It's in that sense neutral. All might come to it, and all might feel it was their city... and didn't belong to some other tribe. And it was even on the border between two of the tribes. It was a sheer bit of genius, wasn't it, to unite the nation in a capital city.
It was called Jerusalem, of course, but they also called it the city of David. Loyalty to David come true. That David's deed was important, you don't need me to tell you. Pray recollect the mighty implications and impact of the founding of Jerusalem City by David all those centuries ago.
Read the Psalms of ascent as the people, not only from Israel, but from all the Roman Empire, came out to worship the Lord in Jerusalem and sang with the psalms, our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. It was to that city that our blessed Lord Jesus came, deliberately fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9, cha- verse nine, riding on a donkey. Rejoice, O Zion, thy king comes to thee.
What an epically significant moment that was in human history. As Jerusalem's king, our blessed Lord, officially came into his city. And the day of one day will come again, of course. They took that king, and just outside the walls of the city, they crucified him. He rose again from the dead. He told his apostles to go and preach the gospel. Now, how does your gospel read? It reads like this, that forgiveness of sins be preached in his name to every nation under the sun, beginning from Jerusalem.
If your gospel doesn't begin at Jerusalem, then you haven't got the right gospel, you know. It is the mark of the true gospel. It began at Jerusalem, and even the Samaritans, who didn't like Jerusalem very much, had to bow to this. The gospel came from Jerusalem. And what more can I say? I can tell you this, but it's a bit of a secret, and not that m- many reporters in the press know about this. There's now a kind of a Jerusalem being built, in the process of being built as I stand here in front of you, and it's called by Paul the Jerusalem that is above.
Yeah? So mother, says Paul, yes, tell me, on what conditions, uh, you a member of this Jerusalem city that is above? She your mother? On what conditions are you a member of that city, pray I ask you? You say it would take us too long to expound all that. We'd have to expand to you the whole epistle to the Romans and a little bit of Galatians as well. You would indeed, yes, I know what you're talking about. Yes, that is the great eternal city, isn't it? Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. If you are a a in Christ, justified by faith, and then of course by works too.
You are in Christ. You are a member of that city. For our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior. And though one day you shall see it. You'll think of David then, perhaps. What he may never have dreamed of in all his life. You'll see this present universe flee away as if it had never been, and a new heaven and a new earth, and you'll see the new Jerusalem descending out of heaven as a bride adorned for a husband, and you are part of that eternal city, a bride for Christ, loved with the eternal affection of his heart.
Why are you loyal to Christ? If all believers were in that sense loyal to Christ, we should still have hosts of practical problems, shouldn't we? And differences of opinion while here on earth. But underneath it all, there would be something seriously wrong if we were not observant that all true believers are members of that heavenly Jerusalem. Share with us. Our Father, we have lingered long over thy word, but we thank thee that thou dost not treat us as slaves, nor as little children, but as thy friends.
And thou does discuss with us in thy holy word the problems of this world's government. We bless thee for the coming of thy dear Son, and this above all for his personal love for us, the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. Help us, Lord, as we have read thy word together. Help us, Lord, to dra- d- derive the right lessons from it. Correct us where we are wrong, but above all, we pray, deepen as life goes by our loyalty to the Lord Jesus.
May we love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and in so doing be found to be drawn ever nearer to all who own him as Lord, God, and Savior. So part us with thy blessing we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
