It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, O Lord, that could not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nider. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Mattawar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now, here's our pastor, Todd Nyvert. I'm speaking this morning
from Second Samuel, chapter seven, and the title of this message
is What True Faith Asks For. You see, faith is the asking
grace. In Second Samuel, chapter seven,
verse twenty five, I want to read my text, but it would be
helpful if you could get your Bibles and open them up and follow
along, because we're going to look at this entire seventh chapter
of 2 Samuel, but here is the text. This is David speaking
to God after he had made these promises to him. He says in verse
25 of 2 Samuel chapter 7, And now, O Lord God, the word that
thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house
Establish it forever and do as thou has said. Now, this is what true faith
asks for. True faith asks God to do what
he said he would do in his word. Faith has a ground. And that
ground is what God has said. You see, faith does not operate
on a feeling, or an impression, or an inclination. Faith is not blind. Faith acts
on what God has said. And faith asks God to do what
He said He would do. Now, here's something that I
can be sure that God will do when I ask Him, Lord, do what
You said You would do in Your Word. Faith is not believing
that God can do anything. Faith is believing that God will
do and has done what He said He would do in His Word. That's faith, the ground of faith
is the Word of God. Now, hence we see the importance
of knowing what God has said. I can't ask Him to do what He
said He was going to do unless I know what He said He was going
to do. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. And if I don't know what He said
He was going to do in His Word, I certainly can't ask Him to
do what He said He would do in His Word. Now, there are different
types of faith. You know, we operate in the realm
of faith in some degree all the time. I have faith that my wife
will be faithful to me. I know her. I trust that she
will. You know, even the devils have
a type of faith because the scripture says the devils believe and tremble. But true saving faith, The gift
of God, the gift of his grace, that which all believers possess,
acts solely on the word of God. Now, the word which you've spoken,
he says, these promises you've made to me that you're going
to do for me, do what you said you would do. That's faith's
plea. That's what faith asks for. Now, let's look at everything
that led up to David making this request. In 2 Samuel 7, verse
1, we read, And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house,
speaking of David, and the Lord had given him rest round about
from all his enemies. David now has no enemies. God
has defeated them all. that the king said unto Nathan
the prophet, see now I dwell in a house of cedar, but the
ark of God dwelleth within curtains. It doesn't seem right that I
have this fine house and the ark of God is in a tent. And
Nathan said to the king, go do all that's in thine heart, for
the Lord is with thee. Now when Nathan said that to
David, he didn't have any instruction from God as yet, but God speaks
to Nathan that night and tells him to bring David back this
message. Verse 3 or verse 4, And it came
to pass that night that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan,
saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shall
you build me a house to dwell in? In Isaiah 66, the Lord says,
The heaven is my throne. and earth is my footstool. Where
is the house you build unto me? We read that the Most High dwelleth
not in temples made with hands, nor is he worshipped with men's
hands, as though he needed anything. You build me a house. God says,
I dwell in omnipresence. I'm everywhere. No house can
contain me. Now, he's not rebuking David,
but he's reminding David of his own infinite greatness. You build
me a house. I'll build you a house. But you're
not going to build me a house. He says in verse 6, Whereas I
have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the
children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked
in a tent and in a tabernacle. And all the places wherein I
have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word in any
time concerning building me a house, when I commanded to feed my people
Israel, saying, Why build ye not me a house of cedar? Now
therefore shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep coat, from following
a few sheep and shepherding them, to be ruler over my people, over
Israel. I took you from just watching
a few sheep to making you the most powerful man in the world. I did this for you. Verse 9,
And I was with thee, whithersoever thou winnest, and have cut off
all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great
name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
David was a nobody. And God made him the most powerful
man in the world at that time. The fear of David fell upon all
nations, the scripture says. He was the most powerful military
might in all the world at this time. He says in verse 10, moreover,
I'll appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that
they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more. Neither
shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as before
time, and as since the time that I commanded judges to be over
my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies,
also the Lord telleth thee that he'll make thee a house." Oh,
David has a noble desire, but the Lord says, I'm the one that's
going to make you a house. Now, remember this. In every
aspect of salvation, it's not what you do for God. It's what
God does for you. Remember that. And when the days,
let's go on reading. And when thy days be fulfilled,
and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I'll set up thy seat
after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I'll establish
his kingdom. Now, is he speaking of Solomon?
Yes, but he's speaking mainly of the Lord Jesus Christ, because
the kingdom of Solomon is no longer. But the kingdom of Christ
is eternal. He is the true son of David,
made of the seed of David, according to the flesh. Now, verse 13,
he shall build a house for my name. This is talking about the
Lord Jesus. Yes, Solomon built the temple, but this is mainly
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall build a house
for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I'll be his father and he shall
be my son. This is a reference to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, next it says something unusual. If he commit
iniquity, I'll chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes
of the children of men, but by mercy shall not depart from him
as I took it from Saul when I put away before thee. No doubt Solomon
did commit iniquity. If you look at the end of his
life, he dies in shame, seemingly worshiping other gods. The wisest
man in the earth ends up being the biggest fool to ever live
when he's fooled by these other gods and so on. But the Lord
says, I have not taken my mercy away from him. But what this
is also a reference to is when The Lord Jesus was made sin.
When He took upon the sins of His people, they became His sins. He became guilty of them. Now,
He never in His person committed sin. Never. But so real were
the sins of His people truly becoming His that this description
is given of Him. And verse 16, in thine house
and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne
shall be established forever. It's eternal. According to all
these words and according to all this vision, so did Nathan
speak unto David. So God gives David a message. You want to build me a house?
I'll build you a house, and I'll establish your throne forever."
Now let's look at David's response to what God said he was going
to do. Verse 18, Then went King David
in, and sat before the Lord. He went into that tabernacle,
not where the ark was, but outside the curtain. He sat before the
Lord where the Lord's presence was, and he said, Who am I, O
Lord God, and what is my house that Thou hast brought me hitherto?
I am amazed at Your grace. Who am I that You would do this
for?" Oh, the humility that he expresses. He wasn't getting
to do what he wanted to do. He wanted to build God a house.
God said, no, you're not going to build me a house. I'll build
you a house. He doesn't get upset. He just
says, who am I that you would show me such grace? Verse 19, And this was yet a
small thing in thy sight, O Lord God. But thou hast spoken also
of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the
manner of men, O Lord God? Are you speaking of everything
that's going to happen eternally? And what can David say more unto
thee? For thou, Lord God, knowest thy
servant. What a thing to think the Lord
knows me. Now, he doesn't know everybody
in the sense that he's speaking what David's talking of. What
about when the Lord said, depart from me, ye that work iniquity,
I never knew you. Now, he knew who they were. He
knew what they did. But this is talking about Love. Adam knew his wife Eve. Joseph knew not Mary. He's talking
about an intimate relationship. Every believer has this intimate
relationship, but only the believer has this intimate relationship.
For thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant. He knows me. He knows
all about me. He knows my down setting and my uprising, and
he understands my thoughts afar off. He knows me. Now, he says
in verse 21, for thy word's sake, And this is talking about the
Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. For Christ's sake and according
to thine own heart hast thou done all these great things to
make thy servant know them. You see, the heart of God is
the source of all blessings, the measure of our blessing,
which is infinite, came from the measure of His infinite heart,
and the reason for His goodness to us comes from His own heart.
It's not because of anything in us. It's because of the greatness
of the heart of God. Oh, the great things that He
has done. He says in verse 22, Wherefore
thou art great, O Lord God, for there's none like Thee, neither
is there any God beside Thee, according to all that we've heard
with our ears. No one can be compared to God.
That's why idolatry is so evil. Any likeness we make of God is
only bringing Him down to human terms and a human level and making
Him less than He is. That's why it's forbidden. And
he says in verse 23, he celebrates the distinguishing, discriminating
grace of God. And somebody says, now, what
kind of language are you using there? Well, this is the language of
the Scripture. And what one nation in thy earth is like thy people,
even like Israel? whom God went to redeem for a
people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you
great things and terrible for thy land before thy people, which
thou redeemest to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods.
For you've confirmed thyself to thy people Israel to be a
people unto thee forever, and thou, Lord, art become their
God." You see, God did something for Israel that He didn't do
for the rest of the world. Doesn't the Scripture say, who
makes you to differ from another? And what do you have that you
didn't receive? And when Paul says that in first
Corinthians four, seven, he's quoting in Exodus chapter 11,
where God said against any of the children of Israel shall
not a dog move his tongue against man or beast that you may know
how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Now, thank God that he does Discriminate
in this sense if he just gave us all what we deserve every
one of us would go to hell But he and his sovereign mercy does
show mercy to chosen sinners for Christ's sake and I thank
God for that He says in verse 25 and now Oh Lord God the word
that you've spoken concerning thy servant all these great glorious
promises you've made and and concerning his house, establish
it forever, and do as thou hast said." Now here is what faith
asks for. This is how David responds to
all the things that God says he's going to do. He says, do
as thou hast said. In Luke chapter 19, verse 10,
the Lord Jesus said, The Son of Man is come to seek and to
save that which was lost. Lord, I'm lost. I can't find my way to You. I can't get to You. My sins have
separated me. I'm lost. But You said in Your
Word that You came to seek and to save that which was lost.
Now, do what You said. Save me. I'm lost. You came to save the lost. Lord,
do what You said. Save me. Here's another Scripture. 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, Paul said,
this is a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to rejoice in
this. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am the chief, Paul said. Now, can somebody say this? Lord, You said in Your Word that
You came to save sinners. I'm a sinner. Save me. Do what You said You'd do in
Your Word. Here's another Scripture. Romans
chapter 10, verse 13 says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord Shall be saved. Now look at this promise. Whosoever. I don't care who you are. Whosoever.
I love that word. I'm a whosoever. Whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord does not
simply mean audibly saying his name. The name of the Lord is
his attributes. It's the person behind the name.
When I call upon the name of the Lord, I'm calling upon who
He is. Save me as an act of Your will. Save me by Your power.
Save me by Your grace. Save me by Your justice. Save
me by Your holiness. Save me by Your wisdom. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord, whosoever shall call, you
call out for help. Like Peter, Lord, save me. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That is a promise. Lord, I'm
calling on your name. Save me. Do what you said you
would do in your word. That is my plea. Romans chapter
six, verse 14. Here's another promise. Sin,
this is to every believer. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. And here's why. You're not under
the law, but you're under grace. What does that mean, not being
under the law, but being under grace? Now, if you're under the
law, that means you're obligated before God to keep the law perfectly
in your own strength. If you're under grace, that means
you have God's free favor. Oh, I love, I don't want to be
under the law because all the law does is condemn me. And here's
the promise. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. Now, if you're under the law,
sin has dominion over you. All it does is expose your sinfulness,
nothing else. Here's the promise. Sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but
under grace. You promised in your word that
sin wouldn't have dominion over me because I'm not under law,
but I'm under your grace, your free favor, your saving grace.
Now, Lord, do what you said. I didn't say this. You said it. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. So, Lord, by your grace, don't let sin have dominion over
me. Do what you said. Ephesians chapter two, verse
eight, By grace are you saved. Through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man
should boast. Now, Lord, you said in your word,
by grace we're saved. Now, do what you said. Save me
by your grace. You see, this is what faith asks
for. Faith asks for God to do what
he said he would do in his word. Now, if you don't have a scripture to found what you're asking for,
you've got no reason to ask it. You see, God will only do what
he said he would do in his word. That's what he does. And so face
plea is do as thou hast said. He said in Hebrews 8, 12, I'll
be merciful to their unrighteousness. and their sins and their iniquities.
I'll remember no more. Now, Lord, do what you said you'd
do in your word. You see, faith asks God to do
what he said he would do. This is so simple. Would to God
that you and I can enter into this. Let me show you a passage
of scripture in Ezekiel, chapter 36, where God makes all kinds
of promises that he's going to do for the children of Israel. He says in Ezekiel chapter 36
beginning in verse 25, I'll sprinkle clean water upon you and you
should be clean. He says a new heart also will I give you. A
new heart, one that was not there before. A new spirit will I put
within you. He says, I'll save you from all
your uncleanness. This is all in Ezekiel 36 from
verses 25 down to 37. He names all these things he's
going to do. I'll save you from your uncleanness. All these things that I'm going
to do. Now, in verse 37, well, verse 36, Then the heathen that
are around about you shall know that I, the Lord, build the ruined
places. And I plant that which is desolate. I, the Lord, have
spoken it. I'll do it. I'll do it. Thus saith the Lord
God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to
do it for them. Everything that I said I will
do, they're going to ask me to do it for them. Lord, do what
you said. And let me try to give you an
illustration of this. Let's say I'm a criminal. And I'm guilty of many crimes
against the state. And I'm in hiding. And I won't
come out of hiding, because if I come out of hiding, I may be
put to death. I may be put into prison. But I'm in a very secure place,
so I'm going to stay hiding. And perhaps somebody knows me
and knows about it. And they come. What if they came
up to me while I'm in hiding? They're not going to turn me
in. But they say, turn yourself in. You know, it could be that
if you turn yourself in, you'll be pardoned. Who can tell? Maybe
you will. So go ahead and turn yourself
in and take care of this. Would I turn myself in? No. No, I'd be scared that I wouldn't
be pardoned. So I'd stay away. Let's say somebody
else, this same person came up to me and said, now, there's
a 90% chance that you'll be pardoned if you turn yourself in. Will
you turn yourself in? No, I'm not going to turn myself
in, even for a 90% chance. There's a 10% chance I won't
be pardoned, and I'm not willing to face that, so I'm going to
stay in hiding. And then that person says, you know, it may
be that I heard the president actually say that if you turn
yourself in, you'll be pardoned. I might have heard him say that.
Now, would you turn yourself in if I If maybe the president
actually said that, no, I'm not going to turn myself in for that
because I can't, that's hearsay. I don't know whether it happened
or not. But if this same individual comes
to me and says even though you've been guilty of these crimes against
the state and deserve to be judged and deserve to be condemned,
Here is a signed letter from the president himself saying,
if you turn yourself in, you'll be completely pardoned. Signed
by the president himself. Now, if that's handed to me,
this is what the president has actually said, and I have proof.
There it is. I'm going to turn myself in.
Somebody says, but you don't deserve to be pardoned. I know
I don't deserve to be pardoned, but still, this is what the president
said. If you turn yourself in, you'll be pardoned. And I'm expecting
him to do what he said. And this is the way we come into
the Lord's presence, expecting him to do what he said he would
do in his word. Now, the thought that came to
my mind is the Ethiopian eunuch. You can read about him in Acts
chapter eight. He heard Philip preach the gospel
from Isaiah 53. Oh, what a message that must
have been. And as they're going, he sees a pool of water. Evidently,
Philip obviously talked to him about believers baptism. baptism
by immersion. And. The Ethiopian Union looked
at the pool and he looked at Philip after hearing Philip preach
and he said, see, here's water. What hinders me from being baptized
now at this time? He wasn't so sure whether he
should be baptized and he had certain objections in his mind
as to maybe why he shouldn't be. And he wants to know what
hinders me from being baptized. And Philip answered him. If you
believe. With all your heart. You may. And the eunuch said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He didn't say, I believe
that I'm saved, or I believe that I've been born again. He
might not have even been sure of that at that time. But he
did say this, I believe who Jesus Christ is. He is God the Son. If you believe, you may. Now, there we have it from God's
Word. If you believe that Christ is
the eternal Son of God, the one who controls everything, the
one who made the world, the one who cannot fail, the one who
cannot be defeated, the one who if he died for you, you must
be saved. If you believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, you may. Now, I'm going to find out what
God said in His Word. And I'm going to say, Lord, do
what you said. And we'd like to invite you to
services at Todd's Road Grace Church. Our Bible study begins
this morning at 9.45, the worship service at 10.30, and we also
meet at 6 this evening. This is Todd Knight, praying
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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