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Well, that's super singing tonight.

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This evening we're going to turn to one of the key passages in all of the Old Testament,

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I believe.

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It's certainly one of the most significant of the Messianic chapters in the Old Testament,

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and probably the most important passage in 1 and 2 Samuel.

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I'm referring to 2 Samuel chapter 7.

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Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on

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every side from all his enemies.

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But the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the

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ark of God dwells within tent curtains.

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And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.

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At this particular time there is rest from warfare among the people of Israel.

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David has united the kingdom carefully, prayerfully, under his control.

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He has established Jerusalem as the capital city, and as noted here he is living in a

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home that was built for him out of cedar.

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We have an earlier word about that in chapter 5 verse 11, when it says, Then Hiram king

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of Tyre sent messages to David with cedar trees and carpenters and stonemasons, and

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they built a house for David.

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So this house was a gift from Hiram who was king of Tyre.

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Tyre is the very same city that you still hear about today in Lebanon where there is

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so much trouble and strife.

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It was the capital city of Phoenicia.

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It was famous for its cedar.

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Hiram had gifted, skilled masons and carpenters who worked for him.

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And as a gift to David, the great warrior king who had now consolidated Israel under

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his control next door, Hiram sent a gift, and the gift was a house.

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He sent the materials as well as the skilled workmen who would construct it.

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David lived in that home.

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That became his palace.

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Can you imagine how wonderful it must have been to live in a house made out of cedar?

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The wonderful, fragrant smell of the cedar.

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It must have been a beautifully done home for that day.

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This was a time of quiet interlude in the life of David.

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He had been successful, quote unquote.

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Isn't it wonderful that success did not dull his godliness?

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Sometimes that happens to people.

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People are godly and walk with God until they are successful.

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And then something happens inside, perhaps similar to what we talked about this morning

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in Proverbs 30 when people's hearts then turn to their success and away from the Lord.

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But it was after he had reached a certain pinnacle of the chain of mountains in his

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life when he was in a spot of rest and success that David in quietness and in prayer got

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a vision.

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David's heart was a sensitive heart.

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It was a heart that panted for the Lord his God.

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David became convicted that he lived in this beautiful, ornate home whereas the ark of

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God was in a tent with curtains.

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The ark of course represented the very presence of God.

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It was the ark which went before the children of Israel in the wilderness.

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It was the ark which symbolized their victory as they entered into the land of Canaan.

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It is the same ark that was stolen by the Philistines.

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We talked briefly about that I think last week.

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And which was ultimately returned to Israel.

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And then some decades later it was taken by David where it had rested for those years

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to the city of Jerusalem.

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At first he did it in an incorrect manner and God's judgment fell because of that.

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But finally it got to the city of Jerusalem and there was great joy as the ark finally

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came to rest within the city of Jerusalem.

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But David was concerned that now the ark was only in a tent whereas he had such a beautiful

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palace in which to live.

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And so a noble vision filled his heart.

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It was a dream, a dream to prepare for God a house unlike any other house in all of the

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world.

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I thank God for men whose hearts are sensitive and warm toward the Lord's as was David.

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Those who in the quiet interludes of their life can form a vision, who have a dream,

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an ideal that God sets before them.

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As far out as it may seem at the time, as impossible as it may seem.

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It nonetheless is what their hearts vision is for the Lord.

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In this regard, A.W. Pink, who is a commentator now with the Lord, has written a convicting

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paragraph.

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When I read these words I thought those are words I need to share.

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He says, it is not often that those in high places manifest such interest in spiritual

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things.

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Would that more of the Lord's people who are entrusted with a considerable amount of this

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world's goods were more exercised in heart over the prospering of his cause?

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There are not many who make conscience over spending far more upon themselves than they

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do for the furthering of the service of God.

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In this generation, says Pink, when the pilgrim character of the saints is well and nigh obliterated,

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when separation from the world is so largely a thing of the past, when self-indulgence

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and the gratification of every whim is the order of the day, few find their rest disturbed

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in the conviction that the worship is languishing.

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Thousands of professing Christians think more about the welfare of their pet dogs than they

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do in seeing that the needs of God's servants and impoverished believers are met, and spend

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more on the upkeep of their motor cars than they do in the support of missionaries.

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Little wonder that the Holy Spirit is quenched in so many places.

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Convicting words for all of us.

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David was a man who was willing to spend anything that was necessary in order to build a house

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for God.

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That was his heart's desire.

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But apparently he and Nathan were sharing this.

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It was wonderful that he had such a close friend and a man of God like Nathan.

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This is our introduction to him.

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He becomes very critical in the life of David.

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Of course Samuel up to this point has been the outstanding prophet of God in the nation

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of Israel, but he has been gone for some time.

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And now it seems as though Nathan has assumed that leadership role among the prophets in

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Israel.

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And Nathan said to the king, go do all that is in your mind for the Lord is with you.

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Now there are those who criticize Nathan for his quick advice saying that he should first

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have consulted the Lord.

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That may be so.

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That is one aspect of consideration here.

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But I think that there is as well an argument that should say, Nathan should be blessed

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for the encouragement that he gave the king.

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For after all they were simply in a conversation together.

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And David says to him, I am concerned.

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I dwell in the house of Cedar.

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The ark of God dwells in tent curtains.

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As much as we know he did not share with Nathan exactly what was on his heart.

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But Nathan, because he was in this conversation with the king, simply said go and do all that

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is in your heart.

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The Lord is with you.

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Thank God for those who are encouragers to those who have vision.

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There are too many who are quick to squelch vision, who want to quench and criticize a

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dream rather than saying as did this man of God, go and do it with all of your heart,

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with all of your mind and strength.

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But that was not God's plan.

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And tonight I want to talk about the subject when God says no.

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David wanted to build a house for God.

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But notice with me first of all God's response, God's response to David's dream.

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It came about in the same night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying, go and

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say to my servant David, thus says the Lord, are you the one who should build me a house

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to dwell in?

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For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt,

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even to this day.

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But I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle, wherefore I have gone with

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all the sons of Israel, wherever rather I have gone with all the sons of Israel.

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Did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel which I commanded to shepherd my

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people Israel, saying, why have you not built me a house of cedar?

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Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took

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you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be ruler over my people Israel.

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And I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from

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before you.

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And I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth.

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And I will also appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they may live

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in their own place and not be disturbed again.

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Nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, even from the day that I commanded

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judges to be over my people Israel.

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And I will give you rest from all your enemies.

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The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you.

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When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant

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after you who will come forth from you and I will establish his kingdom.

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He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

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I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.

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When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the

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sons of men.

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But my loving kindness shall not depart from him as I took it away from Saul whom I removed

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from before you.

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And your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever.

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Your throne shall be established forever.

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In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

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The words that we have before us in the first seventeen verses of 2 Samuel chapter seven

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are words that are just as important as the first word of the gospel in Genesis chapter

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three.

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These are parallel words with the promises given to Abraham in Genesis twelve, Genesis

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fifteen, to the words of the prophecy given in Genesis chapter forty-nine regarding the

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coming of the Messiah.

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These words are equal to the words of Moses in Deuteronomy eighteen when he spoke of the

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prophet like him who would come to the people Israel.

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These are messianic words.

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This is a key passage regarding the Christ in the Old Testament.

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It speaks regarding his ministry in the world and indeed how he would come into the world.

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But first I want you to notice with me God's response a little more carefully.

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I would describe it with three words.

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God's response was in the first place negative.

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God said no to David's desire to build him a house.

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That was not a punishment.

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It was not intended to signal to David any rejection.

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Indeed the negative answer from God is wrapped up in wonderful promises from the Lord to

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David.

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I would compare God's negative answer here to that given by a parent to a child who when

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requested for a certain gift says no.

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But instead of that gift gives another which is even far greater and therefore displaces

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the initial disappointment of the no.

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For God said no to David but he had something else in mind.

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His response was not only negative but it was loving.

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God tenderly, tenderly said no to David.

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God was compassionate toward his servant.

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Indeed we can say that he was appreciative and even understanding of David's heart.

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Twice, once in verse 5 and then again in verse 8, God refers to this man as my servant.

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There was a wonderful, wonderful fellowship which David enjoyed with God and which God

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enjoyed with David.

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God knew David's heart and how this desire had bubbled up out of his heart, out of a

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love for him.

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And God in love to David nonetheless responded no.

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And then thirdly I would describe God's response as acceptable.

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Acceptable to David.

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For example in verse 25 when he responds to the Lord, this is what David says, therefore

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O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and his house, confirm

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it forever and do as thou hast spoken that thy name may be magnified forever.

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That was David's response.

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He did not argue with God.

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He did not pout.

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He did not say why.

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He did not go into a depression.

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He said that's fine Lord.

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God's response was acceptable.

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It seems to me that David is proving and illustrating here what the apostle says in Romans 12, 2

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when he says that when our attitude is right and we give ourselves to the Lord as a living

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sacrifice we prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

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David understood God's note to be his will and it was acceptable to him.

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You know when our mindset is right, when God says no to us, that is acceptable.

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David wrote some words in Psalm 119 I'd like for you to look at.

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Would you turn over there?

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This of course is the longest of the Psalms and it's centered around what?

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That's right, the word.

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The word of God.

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And in Psalm 119 verse 128 it says, Therefore I esteem right all thy precepts concerning

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everything.

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Would you say that that's a rather all-inclusive statement?

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He says I esteem, I judge, I consider, I conclude right.

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Everything you say, God, about anything, even when you say no.

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There's a similar thought back in verse 103 when David says, How sweet are thy words to

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my taste, yes sweeter than honey to my mouth.

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Even words like no were sweet to David because it was a word from God to him.

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It was God's will and David's mindset was, Whatever the Lord wants, that's what I want.

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When you and I have that kind of a mindset, when we are willing to say to the Lord in

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advance, Whatever you say is fine with me, then when God comes back with any response,

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including a negative one, then we are able to say to him, Great.

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That's fine.

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That's acceptable.

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Now secondly, I want you to notice God's reasons.

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They are not immediately apparent.

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God did not give David a reason when he gave his no initially as far as the context of

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2 Samuel 7 is concerned.

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I think all of us understand, at least I hope we do, that God doesn't owe an explanation

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to any of us for anything He does.

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He is God.

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He is sovereign.

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He is the omnipotent Creator.

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Whatever He does is up to Him and He does not owe you or me a reason for it.

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He did not apparently immediately give David a reason.

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But there was at some point later, apparently, a reason given to David.

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We see this in 1 Chronicles 22.

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David relates here the reason that God said no to him earlier.

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In this context, David is charging his son Solomon to build the temple.

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And in verse 7 he says, So there is the reason that God said no.

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David had blood on his hands.

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He was a warrior king and a great king and a man after God's own heart.

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But because of the nature of his kingship, there were certain limitations placed upon

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him.

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And one of the limitations was that because of the blood on his hands, because he had

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killed so many people, he was disqualified from building the house for God.

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That was the reason of the Lord.

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God may not immediately give us a reason.

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Sometimes in time He will give us a reason for His actions.

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But one thing we can count on, God's reasons are always ultimately right.

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God knows what He is doing.

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God knows what He is doing in the world today.

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And God knows what He is doing in your life and in mine.

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If He chooses not to give us a reason for what we are passing through, then we must

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accept that and do it as David did and say, That is acceptable with me.

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Glorify your name.

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If God chooses to give us the reason, then when we understand why, likewise we must bow

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the knee and say, As it seems best to you.

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As the Apostle says, His ways are past finding out.

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Finally I would like you to notice with me God's reward for David.

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We notice God's response.

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It was negative, but loving and acceptable.

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We've noticed God's reason and finally God's reward.

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Although God said no to David, His desire nonetheless pleased the Lord.

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God was well pleased with what was in David's heart.

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We see this in 1 Kings chapter 8 in the words of Solomon.

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1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 17.

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Solomon relates, It was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name

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of the Lord, the God of Israel.

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But the Lord said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build a house for

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me, for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

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Nevertheless, you shall not build a house.

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And so it was well pleasing to God that David desired to do this.

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Again I want to say that when God says no to us, it does not mean necessarily that He

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is punishing us.

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It does not mean He is displeased.

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It does not mean He is rejecting us.

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But it means that when He refuses one thing, it is because He has something better in mind.

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When God says no, it is because He sees a greater good which can be accomplished.

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If He says no to your dream, to your vision, it is because He can see further than you

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can and He knows how something far greater can be accomplished.

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When God refuses, it is because He has something better for you.

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What did God have for David?

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Well it was a covenant, a covenant that is given to him between Himself and God.

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That covenant springs from his pleasure with David.

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There is only one condition put upon this covenant and that is discipline for disobedience

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in David's line of kings.

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He says, If there are those of your descendants who disobey, then they will be disciplined

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by Me.

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But He says, I will not take away My loving kindness from your descendants as I took it

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away from Saul who preceded you.

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David's covenant with God contains two unconditional promises.

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The one promise is a descendant or a seed.

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Do you notice that in verse 12?

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God concludes there in verse 11 by saying, the Lord will make a house for you.

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Now when God says, I am going to build you a house, He is not talking about another house

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of cedar or even stone, but He is really talking about a dynasty.

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He is saying to David, I am going to make a house of descendants for you.

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There is going to be a line of kings who will come forth from you.

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That will be the house I will build for you.

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And He says in verse 12, I will raise up your descendant after you who will come forth from

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you and I will establish his kingdom.

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Well, who is that king?

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You know the answer probably, but turn again to 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and we see the

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Word of God tell us.

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In 1 Chronicles 22 verse 9, behold a son shall be born to you.

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This is David's word now.

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Who shall be a man of rest?

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And I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side, for his name shall be Solomon.

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The name Solomon means peaceable.

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It is related to the Hebrew word shalom.

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His name represented the kind of a kingdom that he had.

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He was a man of peace, not a man of war like his father.

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David's son Solomon was the one that God appointed to build the great house, the great temple

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for the Lord.

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But there is a second unconditional promise that is given in 2 Samuel chapter 7 and that

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is a kingdom.

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In verse 13, God says, He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne

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of His kingdom forever.

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And in verse 16, He says, and your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever.

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Your throne shall be established forever.

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We see here the promise that David's son Solomon would reign, but there is a fulfillment

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in these words that is greater than in Solomon.

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For God promises that this will be a line of kings forever.

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And of course, its greatest fulfillment is in the one who is greater than Solomon and

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that is the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of David.

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There are numerous passages in the New Testament which tie back into this passage in 2 Samuel

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chapter 7 and show that this passage can ultimately only be fulfilled in the Christ, in Jesus

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Christ.

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One of those passages that we'll look at is Acts chapter 15.

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We have here the wise words of the leader of the Jerusalem church as he stands up to

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give direction to that body.

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His name is James.

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James begins to speak in verse 13.

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He says, Brethren, listen to me.

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The Simeon, that is Peter, has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from

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among the Gentiles a people for His name.

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And with this, the words of the prophets agree just as it is written, After these things

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I will return and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen.

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And I will rebuild its ruins and I will restore it in order that the rest of mankind may

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seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord.

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What James actually does here is to lay before us God's plan for this age and for the next.

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He says that right now God is working among the Gentiles primarily, calling out a people

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for His name.

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That is the church, the body of Jesus Christ.

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It is that elect group of which you are a part if you are a believer in Jesus Christ.

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For the last 2,000 years God has been calling out a new group, a new entity of people apart

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from Israel of the Old Testament.

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But God is not finished with Israel.

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He is not finished with His covenant with David.

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For He says after these things, after in other words He has finished taking out a people

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from among the Gentiles, God says I will return and I will rebuild the house, the tabernacle

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of David which has fallen.

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If you remember your Old Testament history, you will recall that after Solomon's death

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the tribes of Israel split into two factions.

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There was the northern kingdom which retained the name Israel and then there was the southern

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kingdom which usually called itself Judah by its predominant tribe.

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In that northern kingdom there were many different lines that ruled.

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Many different dynasties were raised up, all of them wicked and evil people.

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But in the southern kingdom there was always a descendant of David upon the throne until

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the nation was taken out of existence as a political entity in 586 BC in the Babylonian

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captivity.

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Until that point in 586 BC God had always preserved a descendant of David upon the throne

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of Judah who ruled in the city of Jerusalem.

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Following that there was no king of the Jews until our Lord Jesus Christ and then a descendant

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of David was crowned in Jerusalem but with a crown of thorns, a crown of rejection by

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his own and being rejected by his own he then turned to the Gentiles of the world and is

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now as I have said calling out a people to be his own.

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However that king that they rejected 2,000 years ago will one day come in glory to the

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earth and his purpose for coming will be to reestablish the throne of his father David

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in this world.

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And that kingdom will be a universal kingdom.

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It will not be over just a piece of geography in the Middle East but that will be the capital

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of the world when he reigns from his throne.

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There are some Bible scholars who believe that David will be reigning himself from the

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throne as a regent of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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The part of the promise of God may well be to David that in his resurrection in the kingdom

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he will reign as king himself with his descendant the Lord Jesus Christ over the people of Israel.

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That kingdom then will merge into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

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and he will reign forever and forever.

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That is the promise that God gave to David.

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God was so pleased with what was in David's heart that he said David you can't build

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me a house but I will build you a house.

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You will have a descendant who will come forth from you and he will build the house that

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is in your heart.

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He will be a man of peace and qualified to do it.

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But David in addition to that I am going to establish your throne and there will not reign

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over your people anyone except one of your descendants from now on.

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And God kept that promise to David and will yet keep it.

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Let's go back just quickly to 2 Samuel chapter 7 because there is something I think needs

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to be pointed out here because there are so many Christians who are confused about this

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matter of whether Israel is done and finished and over with or whether Israel will again

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be taken up by God.

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God says in verse 10, I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that

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they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again nor will the wicked afflict

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them anymore as formerly.

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Those words my friend can only be fulfilled in the kingdom, the millennial reign of the

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Lord Jesus Christ.

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They have never been to this point fulfilled.

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They are a part of God's covenant with David and because of that they are unconditional

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and God will fulfill them.

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So in conclusion I want to say to you don't be alarmed at God's no's.

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They do not mean that God is angry with you necessarily.

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They do not mean that God is trying to punish you, that he is disciplining you or rejecting

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you.

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When God says no to you he is really saying my child I have a better plan.

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When God says no our best response is that which David had when he said that's fine

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with me, that's acceptable.

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But so often don't we do just the opposite?

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So often when God says no we say why not or we stomp off into the other room and pout

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for a while.

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Or we rebel and go the other direction altogether and God's heart is broken.

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If we are going to have a heart after God as did David then we must learn to take God's

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no's and accept them joyfully and trustingly knowing that he has a better plan.

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Let's pray.

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Lord there may be some of us who have heard a no in recent days and we have been tempted

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to respond in ways other than we should.

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I pray that all of us will be able tonight by faith to say in advance regarding any part

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of your will for us thy will be done.

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Lord may we with the psalmist be able to say whatever you say about anything is just fine.

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Give us that spirit of trust and submission which would reflect that thought.

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And Lord this needs to be applied undoubtedly in some very personal particular situations.

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Only you can do that.

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So speak to our lives tonight and make that application.

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In Jesus' name, amen.