Good morning. We are starting a new series
today. The King We Need.
Throughout history we have thought we knew what was best
for ourselves. Starting early on in the Bible,
we see the people call for a king.
They say we need a king. We want to be like everyone
else. And God says, hey, that's a bad
idea and and they say we want it anyway.
And so God gives them a king. But but throughout time, even to
today, we, we think we know the answers, don't we?
How many of you know the answers?
Come on. I'm friends with some of you on
Facebook and some of you think you know the answers.
We think we know what we need. But.
But this is the season of Lent leading up to Easter.
And so in the season of Lent, it's a time for us to refocus,
to make sure we're focused on Christ and allow him to do what
he wants to do in our hearts and lives.
And so the King we need is really looking at who Jesus is.
And even though we might get it wrong sometimes, God says, I've
got the answer for you and it's King Jesus.
So I want to start by just saying, listen, we're in this
this Easter, this Lent season, and this is the time we we've
talked over the last several years about bearing fruit.
Scripture tells us that if you abide in Christ, if you are a
follower of Christ, you will bear fruit.
And so I just want to encourage you that this is a season that
we are to be inviting others sharing our faith.
This is one of those times of the year that people will
consider coming to church when maybe they want the rest of the
year. And so I just want to encourage
you to be thinking about who is it that God has put in your life
that maybe you should be inviting to church or or sharing
your faith without. I was, it was made clear to me
even just yesterday I came to church and was it upward and and
saw a friend that I hadn't seen in a while.
And the story is a couple years ago I met this person and I
really felt like God said, Hey, I need you to share your faith
and invite. And so so about a year, a year
and a half ago, it seems like I kind of lost communication and
then boom, yesterday, and I don't think it's a coincidence
that it's in this season. And God once again said, Hey,
don't forget that you are my plan to reach your neighbors and
your community. I want to say this to you.
You are God's plan to reach your coworkers, your neighbors, your
family, your community. God's plans to use his church.
We're going to talk about his church today.
We're going to be in Second Samuel Chapter 7, and we're
going to see the promise of a coming king.
But first I want to say about a year ago, I was in the car with
one of my boys and we were talking and most young men that
grow up loving sports dream of being a professional athlete.
How many of you guys dreamed of being a professional athlete
growing up? All right, well, come on guys.
You guys are just not going to help me out today.
That's fine. I'll talk to myself up here.
You guys take what you want from it.
It's OK. You dreamed of professional
sports. That's great.
So, so my son, about a year ago, we're sitting in the car and he
said, Dad, when I get to the NFL, I'm going to buy you a
Ferrari. Yes.
I didn't make it myself. I think that ship has sailed.
I don't think I'm going to make the NFL or the NBA.
But he said when I make it to the NFL and I get rich, I'm
going to buy you a Ferrari. So listen, in about a decade, if
I roll in here in a Ferrari, you know that one of my boys made it
and you know, the, the odds of that are pretty low.
But man, I, I'll tell you what, that what a beautiful thing.
And I said, son, please don't waste $300,000 on a car.
Please don't. But man, I, I just want you to
make. I just want you to do well in
life. If you make it to the NFL, I'm
just going to be excited to come watch your games to celebrate
with you. That's all I care about.
I don't care about a Ferrari. I mean, I Ferrari would be fun,
but but what, what a great thing.
So we're going to kind of see in the scripture today, second
Samuel 7, we see that King David kind of makes a, you know, a
plan that he's going to do something good for God.
And and so Second Samuel 7, King David has become the king of
Israel, the king of God's people.
And King David is known as one of the greatest kings in
Israel's history. Obviously Jesus is the king of
kings, but King David is one of the greatest kings.
He's known as a man after God's own heart in the Bible.
And so and so David takes over and he's leading the people and
things are going really well. And they established Jerusalem
as kind of the political capital for God's people.
And David decides, hey, it shouldn't just be the political
capital, but we also should make this kind of the spiritual
capital for God's people. And so he takes the ark of the
covenant. Now the ark of the covenant was
a place that they believed was the the dwelling place or the
resting place of God. And so he brings the ark of the
covenant into the city. And he has these plans.
And, and so that's where you pick it up in Second Samuel
Chapter 7. Would you stand with me and
honor God's word? And my prayer is as always
because this was written a long time ago and it was written for
people a long time ago, but I believe it was also written for
us today. And I believe that God wants to
speak to us today through it. So my prayer is that your heart
will be open and that you'll allow him to speak to you today.
The second Samuel Chapter 7, starting in verse one, it says
after the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had
given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to
Nathan the prophet, here I am living in a House of cedar while
the ark of God remains in a tent.
Nathan replied to the king, whatever you have in mind, go
ahead and do it for the Lord is with you.
But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying, Go,
tell my servant David, this is what the Lord says.
Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?
I have not dwelt in a house. From the day I brought the
Israelites up out of Egypt to this day, I've been moving from
place to place with a tent as my dwelling.
Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites.
Did I ever say to any of the rulers whom I commanded to
shepherd my people Israel, why have you not built me a House of
cedar? Now then, tell my servant David,
this is what the Lord Almighty says.
I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and
appointed you ruler over the people of Israel.
I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut
off all your enemies from before you.
Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest
men on earth, and I will provide a place for my people Israel,
and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and
no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress
them anymore, as they as they did at the beginning and have
done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my
people. Israel, I will also give you
rest from all your enemies. The Lord declares to you that
the Lord Himself will establish a house for you when your days
are over and you rest with your ancestors.
I will raise up an offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and
blood, and I will establish His Kingdom.
He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will
establish the throne of his Kingdom forever.
I will be his father, and He will be my son.
When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by
men with the floggings and inflicted by human hands.
But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away
from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
Your house and your Kingdom will endure forever.
Before me Your throne will be established forever.
Praise the Lord, you can have a seat.
So. So the first thing we see here
is, is David making a gesture for God?
David is sitting in his House of cedar, it says after he's kind
of gotten rest. So, you know, they've been in
some battles and some wars and God at this point has given them
a time of rest and things are good.
And so David is sitting in his his House of cedar, which is an
elegant thing. It's a good, I mean, it's
probably a palace. It's a beautiful place.
And he's sitting there, but he's looking out and he sees the Ark
of the Covenant. And once again, the ark was was
a place that they believed held the presence of God.
And so he sees the ark of the covenant and it's in a tent.
And I don't know if it was maybe feeling a little guilty.
How can I be in this nice house while while God's presence is
dwelling in a tent? Or maybe it was just from a
heart of thankfulness. Like God has done so much good
for me. I want to do something good for
God. And so David gets this plan,
this offer. He is going to build God a
house, a temple, a beautiful place.
I mean, if David's got a good one, why shouldn't God have a
better one? And so David has this plan now.
Now, First off, this is a good offer.
This is nice, this is a good thing.
David wants to honor God and glorify God.
That's a good thing, right? It was a nice thing when my son
said I'm going to buy you a Ferrari.
It's probably not ever going to happen, but what a kind thought.
And David is is coming, I think, from a good place saying, hey, I
want to I want to do something for you.
God, I've got a great plan. All right, let me ask you this.
Have you ever wanted to do something great for God?
Nod your head if you have, OK, I'm just going to assume that
you're all saying yes. Thank you for nodding your head.
Those of you that are thank you. OK.
You've ever want to do something great for God?
That's where David is. He's saying, hey, God's been
good and, and I want to do something for him now.
I want to build him a house, a temple.
And and so David offers, but God counters by reminding David who
it's all about. Listen, I I know that we want to
do great things for God. I want to bear fruit for God's
Kingdom, but, but I want you to understand this.
It's not about what we can do for God.
It's about what God wants to do in and through us.
Please don't miss this guys. It's, it's not that God needs us
to take all of our goodness and all of our talent and all of our
ability so we can do great things for him.
God is good. He's all powerful.
He could do any. If he wants a house built, he'll
build a house. God says, I appreciate the
offer, but I've got some things I want to do.
It's not about what we can do. Listen, I want to be really
clear. We talked, I talked about
bearing fruit a couple minutes ago, and I believe
wholeheartedly that God's plan is that His people in His church
will bear fruit for His Kingdom. But I want to be really clear,
that's not about you coming up with a good plan or you being
super talented. It's about you being close to
Him and Him working and leading and guiding in His power, moving
in you to fulfill His purposes. That's what bearing fruit is all
about. When I say go bear fruit, you're
called to bear fruit. That doesn't mean hey be
awesome. That means be surrendered.
Know him and walk with him and allow him to bear fruit in you.
It's not about what we can do for God.
It's about what He wants to do and us and and so next we move
into what I would call the I portion.
You heard this when I was reading it.
We're going to look at verse 8 through 11 and we, we see all
the eyes because God is reminding David here.
Hey, David, thank you for the gesture.
I I think it was a good gesture, but he says, I want to remind
you of something. I took you from the pasture,
from tending the flock. I appointed you ruler over my
people, Israel. I have been with you everywhere
you have gone. I have cut off all your enemies
from before you. Now I will make your name great,
like the names of the greatest men on earth.
I will provide a place for my people, Israel, and I will plant
them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer
be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress
them anymore as they did at the beginning and have done ever
since the time that I appointed leaders over my people, Israel,
I, I will also give you rest from all your enemies.
The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish
a house for you. So it's as if God is saying
thank you, David, but I've got this.
I've always had this. I'm the reason you're where you
are, and I will be the reason that you go where you go.
I am God. Thank you for the offer, but
I've got plans. We have the eyes Recently I was
I got sucked into the comment section on on an article.
You guys ever do that get sucked into the comments on an it is a
really dangerous place to go. Guys be really careful.
And this article was about a church and there were people
going back and forth about the church and one of the people
commented and and it was about the pastor of the church.
And one of the people commented and said he built the church
from the ground up. Oh man, so backwards.
If we think the pastor builds the church, we have it so
backwards when we think that we are the brains and the power
behind God's church. It's not us, it's him, guys.
It's not about what we can do. God reminds David, he says I'm
the one who's been faithful. I put you in the position you're
in. I blessed you, I delivered you
from your enemies. I have been faithful and then he
transitions to the I wills. It's not just what I've done,
but I will do all of this. I will make your name great.
I will establish a house, I will bring a king, all of these great
things. And so God says I've got a plan.
Thank you, David. You have a plan.
That's great. But I have a plan and that's
what matters. So the second thing we see is
that God promises a king. God started by saying he would
establish a house for David. He wasn't talking about a new
home. He was talking about a line, a
dynasty. He was talking about his
Kingdom, God's Kingdom, working through David.
So he says I'm going to establish a house, but the first
step is that I'm going to bring a king.
Second, Samuel 7 verse 12 says I will raise up your offspring to
succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his
Kingdom. He is the one who will build a
house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his
Kingdom forever. And and so God starts by saying
thank you for the idea. David has this great gesture,
but God says I've got a plan of my own.
And the first thing is this, I'm going to bring a king, not just
another king, the king of kings, the Messiah, the Savior, not
just another president, not just another king that rules for a
little while, but a king that will reign forever.
And so this is a this is a great blessing for David.
We ended last week and ended the book of Ruth talking about the
genealogy and genealogies, if we read them on our on their own
aren't really that exciting. But when you really get into it
and you realize that when we're faithful and we walk with God,
God brings us into his story. That's where we ended last week.
And so Ruth and Boaz were part of God's story in the genealogy.
And now we Fast forward a little bit and here's David.
And God says, by the way, I'm going to bring the king of
kings, the Savior of the world through you.
And so now the line continues. The story continues.
This is a great blessing. God, David has made this this
great gesture to God. God, I'm going to build you a, a
temple. I'm going to build you a house.
I'm going to do a great thing for you.
And God says, no, no, no, I'm going to do a great thing
through you. I'm going to bring the Messiah,
the Savior of the world. David's promise was of a house,
a temple, a palace. Those are temporary things.
God's promise was a king that would be eternal.
God's plan was to raise up a king that would reign forever.
And he did. And he is, and he will.
Jesus Christ, the King we need. And so that brings us to the
third part. David made a gesture.
God said, I've got a plan of my own.
I'm going to raise up a king. And then he says the king is
going to raise the House of God. So he's going to raise up the
king of kings, but then that king is going to establish the
House of God that will reign forever.
Now another I want to point this out.
There is some short term fulfillment to this prophecy.
Solomon comes after David and he does build a temple and Solomon
is is a good king, but that's not the ultimate thing this is
talking about. This is talking about Jesus
Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, the king of kings.
And so the ultimate fulfillment is he's going to build the House
of God. Now I want to be really clear.
See, when we think of the House of God, what do we think of?
We think of churches, don't we? We think of buildings.
I mean, this is a beautiful place.
Do you ever just, do you ever come in here and sit down and
just think, this is beautiful? Am I the only one?
I drive by this church and I think I am so blessed to get to
worship there. That is a beautiful place.
And see, throughout time, we have often thought of the House
of God as buildings. I want you to understand that
the house that God is talking about is something different.
See, buildings are temporary. Buildings are temporary.
I've had the the privilege to go to different countries.
I was in Ukraine with, with the church a while back and we went
through some, some beautiful cathedrals that were empty.
I've been in, in some European countries over there where
they're beautiful London, different places, beautiful
temples, beautiful cathedrals, beautiful places that are
thought of as and you walk in and you think, man, this is
beautiful and it reminds you of God's beauty.
But the reality is they're empty.
I, I remember we lived in Charleston.
One of the cool historical things about Charleston is that
when the war broke out and the enemy was firing on Charleston,
the tallest points in the city of Charleston were the church
steeples. And so they were, they were
literally aiming at the churches because churches are they're,
they're not indestructible. They're not forever.
And so we have these church buildings and they had to paint
the steeples black so that the enemy couldn't see where to aim
and be. See, churches are are temporary.
There are mega churches across our country that sit empty.
You know what that doesn't mean that God lost a house.
Those aren't God's houses. Sure, this is God is here.
This is his church. But when he says I'm going to
raise up a house, he's not talking about buildings.
These aren't the home of God. The tent isn't the home of God.
When God promised a king would build his house, he was talking
about something completely different and I want you to see
it in scripture first. Peter chapter 2 verse 4 says as
you come to him, the living stone.
This is talking about Jesus. As you come to Jesus, the living
stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to
him, you also are like living stones are being built into a
spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Another scripture, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19 says.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but
your fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his
household built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets with Christ Jesus the king himself as the chief
cornerstone in him. The whole building is joined
together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord, and in
him you 2 are being built together to become a dwelling in
which God lives by his Spirit. This guy's the second.
Samuel 7 is beautiful because David says, God, you're good and
you're worthy of it all. So I'm going to build you a
house and God says, no, no, no. I've got a plan, David.
I'm going to raise up the cornerstone.
I'm going to raise up the King of kings.
I'm going to raise up the Messiah.
I'm going to raise up the Savior of the world.
And he's going to build my house.
Not a temple in Jerusalem, not a church in Westchester, Ohio, not
a cathedral in Europe, not an old church in Charleston, SC.
But we, we are being built and to the holy temple of God, guys,
this is such good news because this building is temporary.
If a storm hits, if something bad happens, this building can
go away really quickly. His church doesn't.
His church doesn't because we the church.
So Jesus is the king of kings. He is the chief cornerstone.
It says he is the cornerstone on on which all of the whole the
the church is built and we are the stones that are built into
the church. Jesus is the King and he's
building his temple in us, not in a building, not in a
cathedral in us as Jesus. When you accept Christ, he, his
Spirit comes into your heart. He lives in your heart and he
begins to transform you. He begins to shape you.
He continues, He begins to mold you.
And we as the body of Christ become his dwelling place so
that when we leave church, when we leave church, the building or
the worship service, we go as the church.
We don't leave the church. We leave as the church.
He's building his temple in US. And so God promises a king.
David says, I want to build you a house.
God says, no, no, no, no. I'm going to raise up a king.
And that king will have a throne.
And it's not behind these walls somewhere.
It's not in some, you know, special spiritual place in this
building. The throne is right here in our
hearts and He's building His holy temple in us.
That that leads to the response as we respond to God's word
today. I know that we want to do good
things for God. I know that we want to bear
fruit. I know that we want to build his
church. I, I guys, I would love nothing
more than to see people saved. I would love nothing more than
to see people fill this place. I would love nothing more than
to see the Kingdom grow and grow and grow and listen, we, we want
that to happen, right? But it's not about what I can do
for God today. The question isn't God, what do
you want me to do for you today The question is what does God
want for me today? What does he want to do in and
through my heart, your heart today.
See, we tend to think buildings, assets, power structures, large
churches, that's what it's all about.
A church is successful if they get big buildings and more
people. That's how that's when that's
when the church is really being what it did.
No, no guys, please listen. That's I love seeing people come
to know Jesus and we want the church building to grow and the
attendance to grow. But but God builds his church in
each and every one of us and he wants to do it today.
If you'll give him your heart, he will build his temple and you
and he can do far more than we can ever dream of.
We can have our plans. God's plans are bigger and
better. Last week I, I went up to a a
brother in Christ here in the church before I got up to preach
and I just said, hey man, could you pray for me?
And I asked a friend to pray for me and Monday that friend showed
up to the church, didn't call, didn't text, didn't make a big
announcement. I actually heard them outside my
door and I went and looked and they were standing there
praying, and this man of God came and prayed over this whole
church. I want you to understand what's
happening there. It's not a person praying for
the church, it's the church praying for God's will.
It's beautiful, isn't it guys? When you go out and you serve
and you love others, when you go out and serve your community,
when you love others and you forgive others and you show
grace and you help each other out, that is the church.
That is the holy temple. It's beautiful.
We see these cathedrals in this building is beautiful, but
what's really beautiful is when God is building His church in US
and we are obedient and surrendered to who He is.
Worship team, come on up. We're going to respond to his
word today. And, and here's here's where we
should be. Don't come up with some great
plan right now. Don't take these next 5 minutes
to come up with your plan for how you're going to bless God or
honor God as we sing this song, which by the way, this song is
written by people in our church through what God's doing in
their heart. This is beautiful.
As we sing this song, I want to encourage you to offer your
heart to God, not to come up with some big plan and tell God
what you're going to do, but to surrender your heart to him and
say, God, what do you want to do?
The altars are open. Listen, maybe some of you today
just want to come up and kneel and say, God, I'm all yours.
What do you want to do in my heart?
What do you want to change? Where do you want me to go?
What do you want to do? And me, stand with me.
Maybe you want to come to an altar and respond.
Maybe you want to sit where you're at and pray.
Maybe you want to put your hands up and worship Whatever it is,
please, please, please understand that the God of the
universe loves you. He's given us a king.
If you don't know Jesus is your Lord and Savior today.
He can be the King of your heart today.
It's simple. All you have to do is surrender
your heart to him and say, Lord, I want you to be my Savior and
he, he's your savior, He's your king.
Today let's respond to his word and ask him, what do you want to
do in US? Lord, speak to us, help us to
worship you, not just with good sounds, not just with good
voices, but with surrendered hearts.
I pray continue to lead us and guide us and transform us in
Jesus name, Amen.