Good morning, brothers and sisters.
For our call to worship this morning, let's go turn to First
Peter, chapter one. First Peter, chapter one. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia. Elect, according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit,
unto obedience and the sprinkling of blood of Jesus Christ. Grace
unto you, and peace be multiplied. Blessed be God the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. to an inheritance, incorruptible
and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations. that to trowel your faith, being
much more precious than gold to parishes, though it be tried
with fire, might be found under praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ. Whom, having not seen, ye love. In whom, though now ye see him
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
glory. receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls. Our most heavenly Father, we
thank you, Lord, for the mercy you show to us
each and every day, for the mercy that you've shown by raising
your candlestick here and sending us a faithful pastor to tell
us about you. We know that all your promises
of yea and amen, Lord, you've promised we're Two or three are
gathered in your name. You're here amongst us. Lord,
cause your word to go forth with power. Open our ears and soften
our hearts that we may have an understanding. We also know,
Lord, that you've promised that you'll never leave us, you'll
never forsake us. Lord, give us the faith and belief
as we ought, that we don't struggle in our trials, that we look to
you, the first cause of all. Be the ones among us, Lord, to
struggle with physical issues, and Lord, we all struggle mightily
with our faith. We thank you for all these things
that I must hold in perfect name, amen. Let's stand together again, hymn
number 35 from the Hardback Timnel. Hymn number 35. ["Hardback Timnel"] Praise my soul, the King of Heaven,
to His feet thy tributes bring. Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
evermore His praises sing. Alleluia, praise the everlasting
King. Alleluia, praise the everlasting
King. ? Father like he tends and spares
us ? ? Well our feeble frame he knows ? ? In his hands he
gently bears us ? ? Rescues us from all our foes ? ? Alleluia
? ? Widely at his mercy flows ? ? Alleluia ? Widely yet His
mercy flows. Angels in the height adore Him,
ye behold Him face to face. Sun and moon bow down before
Him, dwellers all in time and space. Alleluia, praise with
us the God of grace. Alleluia, praise with us the
God of grace. Please be seated. Let's open our Bibles together
to 2 Samuel chapter 6. 2 Samuel chapter 6. And we'll be looking at the last
four verses of that chapter. Let's read these verses together.
Then David returned to bless his household. I've titled this
message when God blesses the house of David. When God blesses
the house of David. David always a picture of Christ. He's the king. He's the sweet
psalmist of Israel. He's the man after God's own
heart. And he's now going to bestow a blessing on his home,
on his wife and his children. I'm interested in a blessing
that the son of David, the Lord Jesus, has for his home, his
wife, and his children. And that's what this passage
is about. Then David returned to bless
his household, and Michael, the daughter of Saul, came out to
meet David and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today,
who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of
his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth
himself. And David said unto Michael,
It was before the Lord. which chose me before thy father,
and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people
of the Lord, over Israel, therefore will I play before the Lord.
And I will yet be more vile than this, and will be base in mine
own sight, and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of
them, shall I be had in honor." Therefore, Michael, the daughter
of Saul, had no child until the day of her death. When God blesses the house of
David, what do these blessings look like? Left to our own understanding,
we won't identify them as blessings. Left to ourselves, we will call
a blessing a curse and a curse a blessing. We will call good
evil and evil good. We will call that which is profane
holy and that which is wholly profane. We won't see the things
as God sees them. We'll think that a temporal blessing
is a real blessing and miss the spiritual blessings. Well, we'll look to fleshly things
as blessings as the natural man does. The natural man always
looking for the blessings of God in his physical circumstances. What are God's blessings? I need
for God to show me what his blessings are. I need for him to create
in my heart a desire for those blessings. I need for him to
cause me to seek after those blessings. Most importantly,
I need for him to make me need those blessings. I've got to
have God's blessings, not the blessings that the natural man
would call a blessing. We know that all of these blessings
are in the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
He told Abraham, I am thy shield, and I am thine exceeding great
reward. True blessings are always all
in Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse
16 says, the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not our
communion with the blood of Christ? There's the blessing. The blessing
can't be perceived, observed, or needed by the natural man. Michael is a picture of that
in this story. The ark has been restored. It's
been put into the tabernacle, into the holies of holies in
Jerusalem. David has accomplished that.
Worship has been done. And now David goes to bestow
a blessing on his family. And Michael, Michael, the daughter
of Saul, the first wife of David, And we see most clearly in Michael
a picture of what the Lord tells us in John chapter one. He came
unto his own and his own received him not. Speaking of the Lord
Jesus coming to bestow a blessing on Israel, his first wife, but
they received him not. Galatians chapter 3 verse 14
says that the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ. So the blessings that God gave
to Abraham, and I've said this before, I'm all for having a
an ally in the Middle East that has our values. And I think that
probably Israel is the greatest ally that we can have in that
part of the world. but to think that our defense of Israel as
a nation and our participation in their defense is going to
cause God's blessings to come upon us. That's what most of
the fundamentalists and most of the religious in our country
believe, that we have to defend Israel in order to garner God's
blessings. No. A true Israelite, as the Lord
said to Nathanael in the first hour, is not a Jew who's been
circumcised in the flesh, but that one which has been circumcised
in the heart by the Spirit of God. That's where the blessings
of Abraham, all the blessings that God gave to Abraham, are
not now being carried out through national Israel over there in
the Middle East. All the blessings of God are
yea and amen in Christ. Let me show you that. Turn with
me to 2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 1. Look with me at verse 18. But as God is true, our word
to you was not yea and nay. It was not yes and no. Now what
is yea, Paul's saying, when we came to you, we didn't bring
you a yes, no gospel. What is yea, nay preaching? Well,
it's what we hear today. Yes, God loves you. Yes, Christ died for you. But no, he's not able to save
you until you do and you just fill in the blank. Because every
yea, nay preacher, every yea, nay preacher has a different
qualification that you must meet in order for God to be able to
do what he did. In order to make work what Jesus
did on Calvary's cross, there's some contribution that you need
to make. That's Yenne preaching. And that's
primarily the kind of preaching that we hear today. And Paul's
saying, I didn't come to you with the Yenne preaching. I didn't
tell you, well, yes, but no. I didn't talk out of both sides
of my mouth. I didn't say to you that God
is sovereign, but His sovereignty comes up against a brick wall
whenever He's confronted with your free will. I didn't say to you that Christ
died for your sins, but you're still going to suffer for your
sins if you don't accept Him. I didn't bring to you this yea-nay
preaching. That's what all preaching is
today. It's yes and no, you can't make sense of it. It contradicts
itself. Verse 19, for the son of God,
Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and
Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. It was not yes and no, it was
all yes. And here it is, for all the promises
of God in him are yes and in him, amen. Unto the glory of
God by us. We didn't bring you a gospel
that said yes, but no. We brought you a gospel that
said yes, yes. The Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled
all the promises of God. Everything required for the salvation
of God's people was accomplished by him on Calvary's cross. Yes, yes, yes, and amen. Sure, certain, no equivocation,
no contradiction, no confusion. The simplicity of the gospel
is in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ who
actually saved his people. He actually accomplished their
salvation once and for all. And everyone for whom he died,
the spirit of God in his time will make willing in the day
of his power and bring them to faith in Christ. He has blessed us, Ephesians
chapter one verse 13, with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly
places in Christ. So the Lord Jesus Christ ascended
back to his rightful place at the right hand of the majesty
on high. God almighty said to him, sit down here at my right
hand until I make all those who are at enmity with you, your
footstool. We come into this world at enmity
with God, and God will bring us, like he did Mary, to the
feet of the Lord Jesus, to choose that one thing needful, as the
Lord says about Mary, to depend upon the Lord Jesus for all of
our salvation. And here, the Lord tells us that
he's in the heavens. and all the blessings of God
are in him in heavenly places. He said, I go and prepare a place
for you. As soon as he took his rightful
place on heaven's throne and became our advocate, everything required was prepared. Mary, don't touch me, I'm not
yet gone to my father. You see, the ascension of the
Lord Jesus Christ was essential for the full salvation of God's
people. And so, all the blessings of
God are in him. David went home to bless his
family. We didn't bring to you Yennei
preaching. We didn't say, well, yes, but
no. We said, yes and amen. It's done. It's finished. That's
glorious, brethren. That's a sinner's hope. You may
tell me, preacher, God's not looking to me for my approval
or for anything. Well, you know, you have to accept
him. Well, you have to believe. You know that? There's no place
in the Bible where it talks about accepting Jesus as your personal
Savior. He accepts us. He's not up for
vote. He's not running for office.
He's not dependent upon us to do something in order for him
to be able to accomplish our salvation. No, all the blessings
of God are in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. And as God by
his grace enables us to set our affections on things above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God in him. in him are
all the blessings." David came to bless his household and Michael,
go back with me to our text, Michael, David's first wife,
the daughter of Saul, she speaks sarcastically to him. She is offended. And here she
represents all of the proud and self-righteous. And she wasn't
offended that the king had exposed himself. You know, prior to this,
David sings and dances and joins the servants of the servants
in the worship of God. And Michael observes him doing
that out of the window. And when he comes home to bless
her and her household, she speaks sarcastically to him.
And she says to him in verse 20, how glorious was the king
of Israel today who uncovered himself today in the eyes of
the handmaids and of his servants as one of those vain fellows
shamelessly uncovered himself. She wasn't so concerned about
David being put to shame. She was the queen. It was her
reputation she was concerned about. What did you make me look
like among the common folk of Israel? I'm supposed to be, I'm
supposed to be the king's wife. And look at the way you acted
and what reflection does that have on me? You see, that's always the proud
and the self-righteous response to the gospel. If what you're
saying is true, then you've just stripped me of all of my righteousness. You've just robbed me of all
of my glory. You've just taken from me all
of the hope of my salvation, which I have and have had in
my position as queen. The gospel always has this effect.
It's a double-edged sword. It had that effect among Cain
and Abel, did it not? When God had regard for Abel's
sacrifice because it was a blood sacrifice, and he had no regard
for Cain's sacrifice because it was a sacrifice that was the
product of his own labors, Cain was so enraged toward Abel that
he killed him. The same thing with Jacob and
Esau. When the blessings of God went
to Jacob, Esau was jealous and Esau pursued him. As a matter
of fact, as I said in the first hour about the jealousy of Esau,
toward Jacob, that jealousy is still going on today. Why is it that the Jews have
been so hated by the world in general for all these years? Why is it that they've been so
hated? One reason, because they claim to be God's chosen people. And prior to the Lord Jesus coming
and reforming the Old Testament church known as National Israel
to the New Testament church, they were God's chosen people.
The error that they make now is believing that they are still
the children of Abraham and by their descent are God's chosen
people. But here's my point. It's the
same reason the world hates you and it's the same reason they
hated Christ. The same reason the Pharisees turned against
Jesus. The same reason Michael now is
rebuking her husband. You've shamed me. You've taken
from me my hope. By claiming to be God's chosen
people, you are at least by implication saying that I am not. You see, it's always the effect
of the gospel. The Lord Jesus said, if they
hate me, they're gonna hate you. It's always. If God has special favor towards
some, those who he doesn't have favor towards are going to hate
them for it. Cain hated Abel, Esau hated Jacob,
Joseph's brothers hated him. Why did they sell him into slavery?
Because he had a vision. And in that vision his brothers
were bowing to him. And in that vision he tells his
brothers of this dream that he had. Of how God had made him
special. And then his father gives him
the coat of many colors and identifies him as the golden child. And his brothers out of jealousy
turn against him. It is the reason why the world
hates the Jews. It's the reason why they hate
us. It's the reason why they hated Christ. It's the reason
why Michael You see, when God blesses, those who are not recipients
of the blessing are going to hate those who have been blessed. Those in bondage. Why does the majority of people
in the world who are living under such difficult restraints by
their government hate America so much? Those that are in bondage
always hate those that are free. The offense of the cross. The offense of the cross is that
it gives man nothing to glory in. Let me show you that. Turn
with me to Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five. Verse 11. And I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision." Now, circumcision is that blank line that the Yenne
preachers put their requirements on. Whatever those requirements
are, they change for every flavor of religion. Yes, God loves you. Yes, Christ died for you. Yes,
he wants to save you, but no, he can't unless... So that's
circumcision. You just put in there whatever
it is. It's the works of man's hands. And Paul says, if I yet
preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the
offense of the cross ceased. All we have to do to give the
Michaels of this world something to glory in, or all we have to
do to keep them from hating us, is give them something to do. is make some qualifications to
the gospel. Give them something to glory
and let them take their position on the Queen's throne and honor
themselves. But as soon as the king uncovers
himself and shamelessly presents himself to the maidservants of
the servants, The handmaids of the servants, you see that in
our text, go back with me and notice in verse 20. Who uncovered himself today in
the eyes of the handmaids of his servants. You see the only circumcision
as we dealt with in the previous hour is the circumcision of the
heart. That's the work of grace whereby God the Holy Spirit cuts
away any hope that we would have in our salvation based upon any
fleshly means whatsoever, takes away the circumcision, takes
away that useless flesh for the hope of our salvation. It's offensive to Michael. It's offensive to the world to
say it is finished. Christ is all. And Satan says, did God say that
it is finished completely? Isn't there something more to
be done? No, God says it's finished. It's
finished. Christ is all. When God blesses, when the Lord
Jesus comes to bless his household, there's always going to be the
Pharisee. There's always going to be the Jew according to the
circumcision of the flesh who's going to be un... It's going to be offended by
the message of the cross because it's going to take from them
their glory and rob from them their glory. When God blesses,
there's always going to be that. The means by which the Lord Jesus
blesses his church is by uncovering himself. and making himself as
a vain fellow, as Michael said. And notice what David says in
our text in verse 22, I will yet be more vile than this. You think I've taken a position
of vile, you just wait and see. When God blesses, it is always
for the purpose of glorifying Christ. And God, Christ is most
glorified in the uncovering and the vileness of what he took on when
he died on the cross and accomplished our salvation. When God made
him sin, who knew no sin. when the Lord Jesus bore in his
body the sins of his people and he uncovered himself before the
world and the Michaels, the Pharisees, the self-righteous, the proud,
they looked at him, said he saved others, let him save himself.
Look, he's under the curse. Yes, cursed is everyone who hangeth
upon a tree and the Lord Jesus Christ was cursed of God on Calvary's
cross, when God saw our sin on him, the fiery wrath of judgment
fell upon him. There was no other way, no other
way that this cup could pass from him. God saw the travail of his soul,
and God was satisfied. The only thing that matters And
our approval before God is the approval of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is my beloved son. In him I'm well pleased. It is through the vileness that
the Lord Jesus experienced when he became sin and the uncovering
of himself that the The handmaids of the servants
rejoice. The Lord Jesus said, my meat
is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. And then in John chapter 17,
the Lord Jesus said, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. He honored his father. Notice what David says to Michael in verse 21. And David
said to Michael, it was before the Lord which chose me before
thy father and before all his house. Oh, the Pharisees were
trusting him there. father Abraham for the hope of
their salvation but the Lord Jesus saying before Abraham was
I am God chose me he chose me in the covenant of grace don't
look to anything other than what I've accomplished as the lamb
slain in the covenant of grace before the foundation of the
world there's your hope I did this The Yenne preachers of this world
will have us to believe that the Lord Jesus went to the cross
in order to make himself an offer to us to be accepted or rejected
by us. But the scriptures are clear.
He offered himself to God. He made himself an offering to
the Father. God the Son was doing business
with God his Father on Calvary's cross. He was fulfilling the
promises that he had made in the covenant of grace. He was
uncovering himself and becoming vile. David said, I didn't do
this for you. Michael, you don't have anything
to do with this. The blessings that I've come to bring to you
are because of the vileness that I just exposed myself. But I
wasn't doing it for you, I was doing it to God. I was doing
it to my Heavenly Father. Turn with me to Lamentations. Jeremiah and Lamentations. And look with me, if you will,
at Lamentations chapter 1. Lamentations chapter 1. The last part of verse 11. See,
O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile. He that knew no
sin was made sin. Jeremiah is speaking prophetically
of the Lord Jesus, lamenting over what God has done in making
Christ vile. That's what David's saying to
Michael. You think what you just saw is vile? You wait, I'm going
to become more vile than this. Oh, and by the way, the servants,
the handmaids of those servants you were talking about, they're
going to honor me for it. They're the ones that are going
to honor me. You won't honor me, but they will. Look at the
next verse. From above hath he sent fire
into my bones, and it prevailed against them. He hath spread
a net for my feet. He hath turned me back. He hath
made me desolate and faint all the day. Now you've heard me
oftentimes quote Daniel and Job. When both of those men said what
we say, When God makes us to be sinners, we say with Job,
behold, I see something I've never seen before, I am vile. We say with Daniel, the prophet,
when he saw the Lord Jesus and he said, my comeliness, my beauty
and my strength has been turned into corruption, I've been made
vile. We say with Jeremiah who is lamenting
over the sins of his people, God has sent fire from heaven
into my bones. But all of those passages can
be understood and should be understood more perfectly fulfilled coming
from the lips of the Lord Jesus. Behold, by the way, Job's name
translated means hated. It means hated. And though we
see ourselves in the sufferings of Job, we see most clearly the
Lord Jesus in the sufferings of Job who was hated by this
world and who was able to say, behold, I am vile. Behold, my comeliness and he,
oh what beauty and what strength has been turned into Corruption. Turn with me to Psalm 22. Psalm
22. Psalm 22, clearly. The words of Christ, verse six,
but I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people. Turn with me to Psalm 40. Look with me at verse 12, for Innumerable evils have compassed
me about, mine iniquities. When God placed the sins of his
people, of his elect, on Christ, the Lord Jesus owned them as
his own and took the full shame and full sorrow and full suffering
for all those sins and confesses them before his Father. And God
saw the travail of his soul. Here's what David's saying. You
think the uncovering that you saw and the dancing that you
saw, the Lord Jesus is saying to those Pharisees, you think
because I ate with publicans and sinners that I've shamed
myself, that I've uncovered myself? You think that my riding into
Jerusalem on an ass Rather than coming in the splendor of a king
like you expected, you think that the things that you've seen
in my life have uncovered me and shamed me because it robbed
from you your glory and didn't give you the credit that you
think you deserve? You just wait. I'm going to become
more vile than this. I'm going to be made sin. The full darkness of all the
sins of all of my people are gonna be placed upon me. And
my father's gonna forsake me. And all the world and all the
demons of hell are gonna think that I have met my end and that
the curse of God has fallen upon me with no recovery. And so the Lord says in verse
12 of Psalm 40, innumerable evils have come past me about. Mine
iniquities have taken hold of me so that I am not able to look
up. They are more than the hairs
of my head. Therefore my heart faileth me. That's what David's saying to
Michael. You think the things that I've
done in my ministry, I've come to bless my home. I've come to
bless my family. I've come to bless my children.
And yes, the Michaels of this world are going to be offended
by that because the offense of the cross is in that it takes
circumcision out of the picture. It takes all contributions and
it makes what Christ did on the cross the only thing that matters
in the salvation of God's people. And it gives to him all the glory
and the handmaids of the servants, the servants of the servants.
You said that those that you're speaking, look, go back with
me to our text. I love the way David says this. Verse 22. And I will be yet more vile than
this. And I will be base in mine own
eyes. That's what we just read. Mine
iniquities, my sin are too numerable for me. So that I cannot look
up, I will become base in my own sight. and of the maidservants which
thou hast spoken of?" These are the foot washers. These are the servants of the
servants. These are the lowest of the servants. These are the
publicans and sinners. These are the poor and the needy. These are the lepers. These are
the harlots. These are the off scouring of
the world. These are the ones who have nothing. Of them, I will be held in honor. You see, when God blesses his
family, there's always the one of two
responses, isn't there? There's Michael, the proud and
the self-righteous. They hate the gospel. Oh, they've
fabricated their own little Jesus, one that they can put in their
pocket, one that they can control, one that they can determine when
and where he blesses them based on what they do. But that's not
the Jesus that is. The one who reigns sovereign
owned the sins of his people, and he became vile in his own
sight. And he suffered the full wrath
of God's justice. And the handmaids of the servants,
the servants of servants, honor him. They glory in him. They rejoice
in him. Turn with me to Zechariah chapter
12. Malachi is the last book of the
Old Testament, Zechariah just before that. Zechariah chapter
12. Verse 10. And I will pour upon the house of David
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth
for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one
that is in bitterness for his firstborn. They will cleave after
him, they will rejoice in him when he pours out and he must
pour out the spirit of grace because left to ourselves as
I began this message We will think the blessings of God are
temporal and physical. We'll not see what Christ did. We'll be just like Michael. We'll
be offended by the gospel. But when God pours out the Spirit
of grace and makes us the handmaids of
the servants, Then we hold him in honor. We lift him up. And this prophecy is fulfilled.
In verse 11, And in that day there shall be a great morning
in Jerusalem, as the morning of Hadriman in the valley of
Megiddon. And the land shall mourn. And
the next couple of verses speaks of every person in the land.
Everyone on whom the Spirit of grace is poured out will look
to Christ. will look to Christ. They will
reject a yea-nay gospel. And they will believe that all
the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ. And all of their
blessings are in heavenly places in Christ. In verse 1 of chapter 13, In
that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Lord, I'm a handmade servant
and everything about me is sinful. Lord, plunge me, plunge me into
that river of blood. Enable me to drink from that
fountain that flows from the throne of God and from the lamb,
that one that's clear as crystal. Lord, I have no righteousness
outside of Christ. And it shall come to pass in
that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names
of the idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembered.
And I also will cause the prophets and the unclean spirits to pass
out of the land. 27 years. The Lord has fulfilled that prophecy
here and that he has not allowed a Michael, one who would rob Christ
of his glory, one who would promote the glory of man and the righteousness
of man to stand here and preach a false gospel. He's cut the
idols. out of the hearts of his people.
That's what he does when he does a work of circumcision. We can't
go back to a works gospel. We have a Savior who reigns successful. And we look to Him for all the
hope of our salvation. Tom, you come and we're going
to sing. We're going to have baptism in a moment. We're going
to sing a couple of hymns, and then we're going to have baptism. 15 in the Sproul hymn, but let's
stand together. It is finished, Jesus cried. Then he bowed his head and died. Died for sins but not his own. And redemption's work was done. Justice then was satisfied, God's
elect are justified. Righteousness our Lord brought
in, and removed His people's sin. Sin and death and hell subdued,
? By the power of Christ's blood ? ? Grace to sinners now is given
? ? Pardon, holiness, and heaven ? ? It is finished, can it be
? ? That Christ's blood was shed for me ? Yes, I know He died
for me, for my grace I now believe, pleading Christ's atoning blood. ? Kneeling at the throne of God
? On my guilt, my sin is gone ? It is finished, all is done
Please be seated. Number 190 in the hardback teminal,
190.