3:18 Well, grace and peace to you all from God our father and our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Welcome to Maranatha Bible Church. Welcome to the Lord's day service as we celebrate his goodness and his faithfulness and his loving kindness. You know, our one aim, our main aim as we gather, no matter what building it is, it is in, whether it's this building or the new building or whether it's in a building at all, when we gather as the body of believers, it is to exalt Jesus Christ in everything that we do. May we do that today in our singing, and the way we pay attention to the proclamation of the word, in our prayers, in our fellowship.
4:03 May we exalt Jesus Christ in everything. And I was reading this morning, And one of the ways we exalt Jesus Christ is we look forward with eagerness, with expectation, with assurance that he is coming again. Christ is coming again. It's our name. Come Lord Jesus.
4:34 And as we start our service today, I'd like to read just a couple of chapters in Isaiah. They're short. It's okay. Start in Isaiah chapter 11. And I pray that as we read about this future messianic kingdom that Christ will inaugurate, whether it's in our lifetime or not, but it he will inaugurate it that the Lord uses that to wet our appetite for the things that are to come, to sharpen our expectation of this future kingdom, and to propel our worship of him right now.
5:10 Isaiah chapter 11. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and might.
5:32 The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness, the belt of his loins.
6:05 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard shall lie down with the young goat. And the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together. And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze.
6:20 Their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy and all in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day, the root of Jesse shall who shall stand as a signal for the peoples of him shall the nations inquire and his resting place shall be glorious.
6:56 In that day, the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel and gather the the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart and those who harassed Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah and Judah shall not harass Ephraim, But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the West, and together, they shall plunder the people of the East. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them.
7:45 And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt and will wave his hand over the river with his scorching breath and strike it into seven channels. And he will lead people across in sandals. And there will be a highway from Assyria, from the remnants that remains of his people as there was for Israel when they came from the land of Egypt. You will say in that day, I will give thanks to you, oh Lord. For though you were angry with me, your anger turned away that you might comfort me.
8:19 Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day, give thanks to the Lord.
8:39 Call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted, sing praises to the Lord for he has done gloriously. Let this be known all in all the earth. Shout and sing for joy, oh inhabitant of Zion. For great in your midst is the holy one of Israel. This is the word of the Lord.
9:04 Let's pray. Father, we thank you. Lord, we thank you for you are God. You are Jehovah Almighty God. And, Lord, we could give a thousand thousand years of of of of our speech and not come close to what you deserve in our worship.
9:25 Father, you deserve it all. We give everything that we have to you today, our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our strength. And father, we look forward to that day when Christ comes again, when he sets all things new. But until that day comes, Lord, we will not stop giving praise to you. We will rejoice in your salvation.
9:52 We will rejoice in your magnificence. We will rejoice in your wonder. May you be glorified in this building today as your people turn our hearts our hearts to you. Be glorified, Lord. And may your people, may all of us receive your joy.
10:10 In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Church, will you please stand and exalt Jesus Christ.
18:07 You're a faithful God. There are no words we can express to declare your goodness. Help us by your spirit. We love you, Lord, and we honor you this day. On this very special day, We've come to honor you.
18:26 In Jesus' name, amen. Well, for the last time, at least in this place, turn to somebody, embrace them, love them, appreciate them before you're seated. It hit me today in a real way. Let's see how I'll make it through the service. Welcome to Mira Nava Bible Church.
19:07 We know many are not here, that might be here we have visitors here for that same reason. We're glad that you can join us on a very special Sunday. As you know, this is our last Lord's Day. Here in this very room. We had our last prayer meeting.
19:24 A few days ago on Wednesday night, we had our last Bible study, a couple nights. And, Wednesday, if you didn't hear on Friday, Wednesday was so special. We just took some time in the beginning to hear people and testify how the Lord has used that Wednesday night to blest timely book for us as a church to hear all that God has to say through that man, as he is building something at that time, and he is also the same builder for this church. And we glean much wisdom and encouragement from Nehemiah, and I trust that he has more to share with us through his writings in the days to come. Let's worship in our giving.
20:06 If you want to give, know that our proceeds are going towards our new house, and so the ushers will come and assist us in that. And while that's taking place, I'll give you a few just, the most important announcements. As you know, this is it. Next week, it's going to look a lot different, but it's going to be the same spirit, the same ministry, the same goal. Everything is going to be the same, except there's going to be a different ad.
20:35 Lord's Day service, the first actual service where we gather, but we're also gonna have our prayer meeting there this Wednesday. So instead of doing prayer meeting here, Friday night, there is no Bible study. And so that is, going to be taking place at seven. This is also experimental for us to just see the timing of the the midwifs. So join us for prayer.
20:59 We're not going to be in the sanctuary for the prayer. Actually a designated prayer room in the basement, and it's a wonderful space. And so just for you to know in advance, when you come into the building, you're going to go all the way to the back. We'll we'll send pictures and stuff on the chat and on the email for the members especially, but you'll make your way down to the basement and to the first door to your right. You're gonna see this door.
21:25 It'll be there, and we'll have people there guiding you, and you'll find the prayer room. And we're gonna, 10:30. No more 1PM services. No more sleeping. You'll be there in the morning, I'm sure.
21:51 10:30. And if you want to tell other people about it, I mean, we have so much to say. Look how big this pamphlet is. Sound booth. We have a few there at the entrance.
22:02 And, not only is it announcing our entrance into the neighborhood, but it's a gospel message as well. So have you been born again. Grab as many as you want. We have so many of them, and just put them everywhere. Don't litter, but put them everywhere.
22:19 Family, friends, go to restaurants, maybe, if you're allowed to do that. Just go and let people know about this awesome news, what the Lord has done for us and what he's going to do in this new area. There's so many things going through my mind. This place has served as many things over the past four and a half years, and the word that that keeps ringing in my own heart is incubator. This place has been an incubator for us as a church.
22:51 Beginning, meaning the beginning of Maranatha Bible Church, then you perhaps heard how many of us reference our transition here as the Exodus. Because, I won't get into the details, but in one night, we needed to find a new place for drawer. And I remember that one night, that first night, where people we're asking and wondering, well, maybe we can rent a hotel, conference room. It's still warm out. Maybe we can go meet in the park.
23:21 It was November. And the Lord provided this place. It was this place. He used Church of Our Savior to bring us here. And we didn't know how long we were gonna be here.
23:31 And it ended up being four and a half years. Have to remember that when Israel was led out of Egypt, that wasn't the only time they had to cross a body of water. There was the Jordan River before they went into the lane of pain. And I'd like to think that what we're about to do in this next week is going into what God has promised us, what he has had in his mind all along for a more permanent home for us to be able to grow even more. I was reading John earlier, yesterday actually.
24:03 We just in one chapter meditating on Jesus' feeding of the 5,000, and out of this long chapter, there was one verse. It's amazing how God can speak to you in one verse, with one verse. And here he is with his disciples, and on the horizon, there's this large crowd coming. They're coming to hear from Jesus, and they had ulterior motives. They actually want his food.
24:21 They want his miracles. And I just want you to hear what the Lord said to one of his disciples in John six five to six. Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? I think Jesus didn't know. Jesus knew.
24:42 And that's what John tells us in verse six. He said this to test him. He said this to test him for he himself knew what he would do. John six six has been on my heart since yesterday morning because it provides a challenge and a word of comfort in one verse. Here's the challenge, Jesus Christ tests us.
25:07 He tests us in many ways. He invites us into test. He invited Philip into a test. What are we gonna do about this? This is a need.
25:17 It's a big need. It's actually impossible to meet in in in flesh. So what are we gonna do about this? He tested him. And And here's the word of comfort.
25:24 With any test that the Lord brings us through, he already has the answer. He himself knew what he was going to do. And I like to think that as much as it has been a blessing for us to be here these past four and a half years, in many ways, the Lord has been testing us, because he tests us in every season whether you and I realize it or not. He tests us. Are you gonna be faithful with a 1PM service?
25:49 Are you gonna be faithful with no parking? I mean, these things are nothing in light of what our brothers and sisters are suffering across the globe. But nonetheless, there are different degrees of tests. Are you gonna be faithful in challenges? Are you gonna be faithful with internal conflicts, with external pressures?
26:05 Are you gonna be faithful? He tests us. And we felt that for the last couple years especially. Lord, where where is this going? I mean, people are sitting in the windows.
26:18 Our children are growing. Families are booming. Where where is this going? He knew. You know, if you want to know what my heart's been in this this moment, it's that what God has done for MBC, you would believe that he would do for you.
26:38 For your family, for your marriage, for your children, for your own ministry, whether it's here or elsewhere. And here's the word that I want to just lay on your heart. When you feel tested, comfort yourself in knowing that he already has the answer. Faithfully enough, and you will see him come through with the answer. God has been faithful to us, incredibly faithful to us.
27:04 And that does not mean that once we move on that, there's gonna be no more tests. No. There's gonna be bigger tests. There will be bigger tests. Be prepared for that.
27:15 But you know, a few people in the past few weeks have approached me and said, are you ready? And I know where they're coming from with that. Are you ready? Are you ready? Is NBC ready?
27:26 And here's my my answer. It was my answer then, it still remains the same answer. The Lord seems to think so. Whether I'm ready or not, I mean, who am I? Who are you?
27:39 But a pastor friend of mine, knowing where we were going and he was a great help in the beginning phase of this, he told me, Daniel, where God guides, he provides. Not just financially. He provides the wisdom. He provides the people. He provides the power.
27:57 He provides the opportunities. He provides the solutions. He provides the miracles. Wherever God guides, he will provide. And We have to believe that in this next season, and you should believe that for your own life.
28:10 Your only responsibility in all of this is just to remain faithful. He already has all the answers. Can we thank him for it? We thank you, Lord, that you already know. You know tomorrow.
28:30 And we pray that we would just relish in that truth today as we rehearse your faithfulness the past four and a half years, and as we look ahead to see what you're gonna do next. We just pray that every thought, every word, every conversation, every song, every verse that is expounded and unleashed, it would all be to your glory. We we pray that the only name that would be on our lips is the name of your son, Jesus. He would receive all the praise and all the honor. Be exalted, Lord.
28:54 This service, ultimately, and every service is dedicated unto you. But Lord, especially this service, we refuse to move on, even in the busyness of all the logistics and the planning, we refuse to move on without giving you your worship. And what is your due? Help us worship you. Put aside all the other things that can so easily crowd our thinking and simply come to worship you and thank you that you've brought us to this moment, and you will not leave us here.
29:20 You will go before us. In fact, we ask that you go before us. So Lord, may these next couple of songs bring more glory to you, and may you speak loud and clear to our hearts through your word. In Jesus name, Amen and amen. Let's stand.
39:20 Laura, that is our prayer on this afternoon. Father, make your glory known in our meeting today one last time in this place. Father, thank you for being so gracious to us over these past four and a half years. And, Father, Desire only to please you and to be near you. We ask that you would make yourself known one more time through your word in this place, through the message today.
39:46 Father, you have so many times spoken exactly what we need to hear from you in a given meeting, and we ask that you would do that again today. We believe you have a word for each of us as a church exactly for this time, and so we ask that we would hear from you by the power of your Holy Spirit. We love you, and we worship you today. In Jesus' name, amen.
41:39 Purpose or the promise is exactly that the Lord made to David and his dynasty, but it is undeniably connected to the and the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. For you and I not to know about the Davidic Covenant is like wearing glasses that are blurry and trying to read the New Testament. It will simply be unclear. You and I have to understand David's history, David's relationship with the Lord, and what we find here in terms of David's covenant that God had made with him in order to understand the full scope of Christ's purpose and mission and sacrifice. And so the Davidic covenant is something that has been partially fulfilled.
42:24 It is in some way currently being fulfilled, and it will one day be completely fulfilled in the days to come. That being said, as unique as this promise is to David and his seed, God by the Holy Spirit has also given to us David's response to this promise. His reaction, if you will. Now why is that? For many reasons and one of them, I'm sure, is to give us a very wonderful model how you and I should respond when we taste God's faithfulness, when he places a gift in your hand, when he surprises you with his grace.
43:08 David's response or David's prayer is very much an example of what the Lord deserves or what should happen to us when he showers us with unexpected blessing. And so as we're turning there, I wanna give us a little bit of a background in verses one and two, second Samuel seven. Let's read it together. Now when King David lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.
43:53 It is no small detail for us to learn in verse one that the Lord increased David's strength and that he had rest from all his enemies. This chapter is being framed by the reality that David at this point of his career, his young career has reached the peak of success. He is loved by the nation. He is feared by his enemies. He is experiencing God's promise of anointing him and setting him apart as a king.
44:23 And all of that information is only meant to lead us to see what was in this man's heart, what was occupying his soul as he was enjoying all of these things. What was running through his mind, what was his meditation is God. God's glory. God's name, God's reputation, that is rare. Success has a reputation of expelling our thoughts of God, not exalting them.
44:58 David was not an ordinary man. David has been crowned not just with a physical crown, but you know this very well, the title of a man after God's own heart and it shows here. Here's this man thinking, what what is going on? He didn't just have thoughts about the Lord. You see, he had concern about God's glory And the concern at this point was, here he is in a palace, magnificent, wonderful, splendid, while God's presence signified in that ark is in a tent.
45:34 And David's thinking, this should not be. This cannot be. And so he thinks to himself, how does my house display greater majesty than God's dwelling place on earth? You know, David could have soothed his soul because one of the first things that David did when he became king was take the Ark of the Covenant that was in the countryside for years in a man's house and retrieved it and brought it into a tent, into the tabernacle. And David could have said, you know, look, I've done a lot for the Lords of Glory.
46:09 I'm the one. Saul didn't do it. Saul was not concerned at all. Remember, Saul was his predecessor. Saul did not concern himself at all with the arc of the covenant for forty years, and here I am, one of the first things on my to do list was to get that covenant and to bring it to a rightful place.
46:24 I think I've done enough. I can rest now. I can focus on my agenda, my goal. No. This man has a conviction that is contagious.
46:34 He is deeply convinced that he should abound more and more in his love for God. And in any season he finds himself and he wants to know, what is at my disposal in order to bring greater honor to my King, the King of heaven, my Lord, and my Master? And so at this juncture, he has this idea that he wants to build God a house. This is unfortunately more than just an encouragement. It's a rebuke.
47:07 It's a mirror to many of us who when we grow materially, when we are stronger in the physical, our worship tends to get weaker. It doesn't take much acquisition in our lives for us to be able to get distracted and consume with other matters. For some, all it takes is for their business to to launch, to receive an inheritance of property, to find a potential wife or husband, to have a growing family with more kids, for their devotion to waver. But that's not David. He is no ordinary man.
47:49 And again, I can't help but compare him with Saul. What was Saul obsessed with? It's such a Saul is one of the greatest tragedies in the Bible. This man was so consumed with protecting his dynasty, with with seizing and securing his throne, at the expense of disobeying God, of ignoring his commands, of pursuing things that he had no right to pursue, of acting in ways that no king, no man of God should act. And you know what the result of that was?
48:22 When he made his throne an idol, he lost his kingdom. And then you have David, who in this chapter, with the height of success, is consumed with what? The honor and the reputation of the Lord. And what does God give David? A kingdom that will last forever.
48:44 That's that's what we find in this chapter. David says, Lord, I wanna build you a house. And that wasn't just a spontaneous concern. You read the Psalms, it says there that he lost sleep over this. Can you imagine being so obsessed with something that you don't even sleep because you don't know how this is gonna happen, but you want to see it happen?
49:05 This is not just something that just sprung in his heart, this is something that's been marinating in his heart. And now that he has the resources, and now that he has all these things before him, he thinks, I want to do it. I'm gonna build you a house. The Lord speaks to Nathan. Nathan spoke on behalf of himself, not on behalf of the Lord when he said, go ahead and do it.
49:26 He corrects Nathan. Nathan turns back to his friend the king, and he says, actually, God is gonna build you a house. He doesn't even really give explanation for it. David learns later on why. And I want you and I now to see how David responds to this blessing that has been bestowed on him and his descendants.
49:46 Let's read second Samuel seven verse 18. We're gonna read the entire prayer together and then learn from it. Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, who am I, oh Lord God? And what is my house that you have brought me thus far? Yeah, this was a small thing in your eyes, oh Lord God.
50:08 You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, oh Lord God. And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, oh Lord God. Because of your promise and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness to make your servant know it. Therefore, you are great, oh Lord God, for there is none like you and there is no God besides you according to all that we have heard with our ears.
50:33 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people whom whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, the nation and its gods. And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you've spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, And do as you have spoken, and your name will be magnified forever, saying, the Lord of hosts is God over Israel, and the house of your servant David will be established before you. For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, I will build you a house.
51:13 Therefore, your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. And now, oh Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant so so that it may continue forever before you. For you, oh Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever. Lord, we pray that with your blessing, this message will be blessed.
51:43 With your blessing, church of our savior will be blessed. With your blessing, Maranatha Bible Church will be blessed. We need your blessing in this moment and in every moment. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
51:56 I I wanna give you three quick things. I was just speaking from my heart. Three quick practical to the point things that maybe you already know about, maybe you need to be reminded of, maybe you never heard these things. Whatever the case may be, the Lord indeed will speak to us through his word. Three things that God's blessing should do to us as it is exemplified here in David.
52:22 When David learned of this covenant, which was unconditional, it was not dependent upon his faithfulness or the faithfulness of his descendants, though they would be disciplined for their unfaithfulness, so moved this man that the first thing that he does is found in verse 18, the first part. Actually, most of our time is gonna be in one verse today, verse 18. The first thing that David does is he sits before the Lord. Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said Sitting and praying are not common in the Bible. This is not a common posture, physically speaking, that you see in the scriptures.
53:03 Now it is debated where did David go in to sit before the Lord. And it's very likely that he came as close as possible to the Ark of the Covenant. He wanted to come before the Lord. God had said, this is my throne on the earth. And so David wanted to come as close as he could to it, and he sits.
53:21 Now why does he sit? Well, what is just think about it. What does sitting imply? That you intend to stay when a guest in your house gets up from sitting, even if they're still talking to you and they're standing, they're communicating something, I'm about to leave. David doesn't do this.
53:40 Instead, he intends to linger in the presence of the Lord. His response to the Lord based on this blessing is not just a quick, let me let me just express my thanks, let me pay my dues, and let me move on. This is not rushed for David. This is something that is very intentional, very focused. It's very much an investment.
54:02 This is David essentially through this physical act expressing, I'm here to commune with God. I'm here to spend uninterrupted time with him. I'm here to recognize him. And what that tells us is that God's blessing should always bring us to the blesser himself. That any gift that he does give you should bring you to the giver himself.
54:25 And David shows us here that he understood every gift from God, especially this one, as an invitation into deeper fellowship with the Lord. To take time to worship him and to love him sitting at his feet. You and I can all acknowledge that affliction, suffering, pain has a special way of sobering us and helping us understand what's really priority in life. We tend to pray harder when we're we're in pain. We tend to seek the Lord harder when we are suffering or when we are in doubt or when there are things that are surprising us.
55:05 But that shouldn't just be when we are suffering. David shows us that it's possible to also do this with blessing. In fact, that's what should happen. I want you to see how David translates this covenant. Where does this ultimately come from?
55:21 Scroll down to verse 21, we read it. David says, because of your promise and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness to make your servant know it. Do you see it? David understood this blessing is coming from God's very heart. His love, his goodness, his pleasure.
55:47 God is not this divine vending machine, that if you press the right buttons, he shoots out things for you. He's a person. And like any person from the horizontal dimension, when a gift is given, if it's coming from a person who loves you, you know that's an extension of their love. That's an extension of their appreciation, of their delight in you. David understood that about about the Lord.
56:11 This blessing I see is an extension of your love to me, and I want to respond with my heart now. You know, it's amazing what came to mind when meditating on this is when the Lord was going through a region near Samaria in Luke 17, and there were 10 lepers there that cried out to him, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us. And he says, go go to the priest and show yourself. And by faith, they make their way towards Jerusalem because that was protocol. When you were healed of leprosy, you have to go to the priest and they would confirm you are free from leprosy.
56:44 How many of the 10 came back to the Lord? One. One. And you remember what Jesus said in Luke seventeen seventeen? Then Jesus answered, were not 10 cleansed?
56:55 The Lord is mindful of who he blesses. Didn't I touch 10 of you? Where are the nine? So not only is the Lord very mindful, not only according to David does his blessing come from his heart, but the Lord is also mindful of how we respond to that blessing. Where are the nine?
57:16 Then he goes on to say in verse 18 was, no one found to return and give praise to God except for this foreigner. Now here was what was interesting. I was wrestling with this a little bit because you read earlier, Jesus tells them, go and show yourself to the priest. So aren't they just doing what he said? Go and honor the commitments.
57:38 Go and show yourself and prove yourself to be clean. And in some ways, this represents how when God does bless us, there are things that we have to we have to move on with with our blessing. But unfortunately, we are prone to, when we are blessed, when we seek like they did and then receive, to go on and not worship. Not pause for a moment and to consider this is God from his heart blessing me and then to praise. David did not make that mistake.
58:10 This king with all the things that he had to take care of, took the time to say, Lord, I'm going to come and sit before you and acknowledge that you are the one who did this from your heart for me. That's why this message isn't gonna be very long, because I wanna do exactly that as a church today. It's been a very busy past few weeks, hasn't it? Some of you have put hundreds of hours, and I'm not exaggerating, into that new building, and that is an act of worship in itself. But before we move on, before we actually move in, we need to do this, and we are doing it.
58:44 To be very mindful and very intentional to say, Lord, we recognize that this is from your heart. He sat before the Lord. That's what God's goodness did to David. It brought him closer to him. But secondly, it humbled David.
59:01 Look again at verse 18. He says here, who am I, oh Lord God, and what is my house that you, you, have brought me thus far? If we want to know that we are properly responding to God's blessing, and if we want to position ourselves to know more blessing, then we have to see here that God's blessing should bring us low. David, understanding that this is from the Lord, yes, but also understanding that everything that he experienced up to this moment was from God. You have brought me thus far.
59:34 He doesn't even start talking and praising about what God promised. This added blessing reminded him, hold on, everything leading up to this point was from you, and everything moving on is from from you. And so he is clearly humbled and understanding that he did not generate his own success. He is humbled here in confessing and admitting that he is simply a recipient of God's daily grace. And if you wanna know how is it then that I can I can be humbled by God's gifts, well David shows us one way at least?
1:00:10 It is to understand who you are in light of who he is. How does he how does he begin this whole prayer? Who am I? Who am I? I'm unworthy.
1:00:24 In fact, notice how the narrator identifies David and notice how David identifies himself in the same prayer. What does it say here in verse 18? Then King David, that's the narrator speaking. But notice what David says about himself as he is speaking to the Lord. Scroll down here to verse 20.
1:00:43 And what more can David say to you? Was David a king? Sure. But he understood that there was a king above him, and he dared not flex his title in the presence of God. Others can call him king, and he was a king, but in this moment, he understood I'm just David.
1:01:05 I'm no one special. I'm nothing special. People may think so, that's okay, but in light of God's grace, I'm fully aware that I'm undeserving of this. I'm a servant. Did you notice when we read the prayer?
1:01:23 David in this one prayer 10 times calls himself God's servant. Your servant, the Lord's servant, your servant, over and over again. And there are many things that make this very meaningful and one of these things let me ask you a question. What do we know about David's mother according to the scriptures? Virtually nothing.
1:01:47 But there is one place where David says one thing about his mom that tells us a lot about her and tells us a lot about David in this moment. Turn with me to Psalm 86 and another prayer of his. And notice what David says in verse 16 of Psalm 86. Psalm 86 verse 16. Turn to me and be gracious to me, give your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant.
1:02:28 Based on this, we know that David's mother, maidservant, that's how David identifies her, serve the Lord. She feared the Lord. And yes, we know that the Holy Spirit is ultimately the author, but David is also speaking from personal experience. When he grew up in that little town, in that home, the son of Jesse can gladly say and put it on record, my mom loved God. But we don't know anything about how she served God.
1:02:53 If anything, the most likely answer is that she simply was at home raising her her kids, raising her children, being faithful in that kind of domain. And David praises her for it and praises God for it. But David, in light of his mother's veiled service to the Lord, was much different. We know who David is. He's a famous king.
1:03:16 He's a renowned psalmist. He is a feared warrior and yet in this prayer in second Samuel seven, he confesses, I am no better than my lowly mother. No matter my gift, no matter the notoriety, no matter who praises me, no matter your gift, no matter who knows you, no matter how God promotes you, we all share equal status before God. Just like my mother. Who's your mother?
1:03:48 We don't know anything. We know David, but David understands. I am being blessed not because of anything in Ina of Myself. I'm just David. God was ready to bless Israel in incredible ways before they entered into the promised land.
1:04:06 And he offered many warnings, and here's one of them that we tend to forget, I think, In Deuteronomy chapter eight verse 17, beware lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. You know why that warning's scary? My dear brother and sister, he didn't say beware what you say with your mouth. He said, beware what you say in your own heart. I'm the reason why I'm successful.
1:04:40 I have something to play into this blessing that God has given me. God says, you're treading on dangerous territory. Even if you don't say it, even if you haven't said it to somebody else, if it's hidden, the Lord says, beware lest you say it in your own heart and nurture it. And then over time like King Nebuchadnezzar, you actually say it out of your own mouth. Palace?
1:05:08 This this kingdom, this majesty, I've brought about for the glory of my name. And God humbled them in a very real way. But before it even gets to your lips, before you begin to share it with your close friends, and begin to share it with others, while it's still in your heart, he says, warning. Sound the alarm. Why?
1:05:25 Because of what he says in verse 18 of Deuteronomy eight. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. He gives you the power. Do you understand that you keeping your job is by the power of God? Well, the the creative juices flow through this brain of mine.
1:05:45 Yeah. Who's who's the source of it? The the muscle that you have, the flexibility, the social skills, the personality, the Lord says to this entire nation, beware when you think that your ministry is going because of you, preacher. Because of who's on your team, because of the quality of your members. Beware, lest you say in your heart.
1:06:14 Instead, remember that it's God who does it all. Does he work with faithfulness? Yes. We have to be realistic here. Absolutely.
1:06:22 But we have to also understand that without him, you can't even be faithful. Where do you get the power to be faithful from? Where do you get the truth to keep you close? The greatest men of God live this way. They had this frame of mind, the greatest woman of God.
1:06:40 You see it sprinkled throughout the Bible. One thing that comes to mind is what Paul said before King Agrippa, when he's being falsely accused by all those Jews who were seething and foaming at the mouth, ready to execute him. And he stands before this king, and I want you to hear what he says. It just, you wouldn't notice it because you might be caught up here with how he defends his own innocence, but it's here. Listen to this in Acts twenty six twenty two.
1:07:01 You don't have to turn there. Just listen. He says before this king, he says before this audience, he says this before this jury. In Acts twenty six twenty two, to this day I have had the help that comes from God. Unashamed to let them know that the preservation of my life, the success of my ministry to some extent is because of the help of my God.
1:07:27 And any added blessing should only bring you lower and lower and lower. And one way that you can be brought there is when, like David, you say, who am I? Who am I? And if you really wanna know who you are, compare yourself to God. Don't compare yourself to the next person.
1:07:50 Live in the light of his presence. You understand that I I am without Christ wicked, vile, hideous. If the Lord were to count all our iniquities, who can stand before him? Not only does he allow me to stand before him, he says, here's a covenant. Here's a blessing.
1:08:10 Here's a kingdom. David is overwhelmed here. May the Lord humble us and keep us humble. And that's how we'll know even more blessing. So God's goodness here in David's life, it, it it it caused him to sit before the Lord.
1:08:30 Success didn't cause him to run away from the Lord or to go on with the blessing and not be mindful of the Lord. It humbled David. But lastly, it caused David to trustingly accept God's gift. So what do you mean by that? Do you know that this prayer could have began with a protest?
1:08:54 Saying why? Remember how this chapter opens. David wanted to build God's house. That's what he want That's how this whole thing starts. Lord, I want to build you a temple.
1:09:05 I want to build you something that's magnificent, glorious, awesome, breathtaking. That's what David wanted to do. And what did the Lord tell David through Nathan? No. No.
1:09:16 I have a different blessing in mind for you though. And David was a man like you and I, and we are all familiar enough with our own sinful corrupt nature that it wouldn't be surprising to us for for David to say, maybe at the beginning or at some point in this prayer, you know, Lord, I thank you that this this whole covenant and my seed being blessed and the Messiah coming from from this dynasty, my tribe, my bloodline, that's wonderful, but I wanted to build you a house. Can we trade? I appreciate it, but it's not really what I was looking for. But David responds to this denial and God's choice of blessing with gratitude, not with grumbling.
1:10:09 There isn't a shred of complaint here. There isn't any hint of irritation. There isn't any sense of discontentment. He's overcome. We have a tendency being picky with God's blessings.
1:10:26 That's not to say that we can't ask with precision or to be specific, but when the Lord eventually does provide, when he does give, David is a wonderful example to us. He trustingly accepts it. And the willingness to genuinely worship the Lord's sovereignty in the face of his denials is one of the truest marks of a man or woman of God. And David shows us, any of us, how we can grow in this area. One of the reasons why David could accept the no and God's green light for something else was because you heard it over and over again, He understood that He was God's servant.
1:11:15 This may sting but it's important. The reason why we may sometimes or oftentimes get upset with God, with his decision of how he will bless us is because we think he's our servant. And he should do everything we tell him to do. And he should give the way we think he should give. That's that's not the way this works.
1:11:43 I want you to see David's language here. Look at verse 27 and verse 28. For you, oh Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, there it is again, saying I will build you a house. So David now is rehearsing this. You told me, I'm your servant, that you will build me a house instead of me building you a house.
1:12:04 Therefore, your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you and now, oh Lord God, you are God. Do you see the contrast here? I'm your servant, you are God. It's as simple as that. And your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.
1:12:24 I'm your servant. That's it. Whatever you providentially make clear for me and provide for me, I will gladly accept because you're God and I serve you. If you want another piece of wisdom of how we can grow in this area, David gives us another reason, another way. Look back at verse 20.
1:12:53 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, oh Lord God. What is he saying there? You know me more than I know myself. You know your servant.
1:13:09 And David is speechless because of it. If you wanna weaken that nasty feeling of grumbling when God blesses you because it wasn't the way you thought he would bless you or answer your prayer. Never forget that he knows you better than you and he knows the perfect gift for you. A gift not too heavy that it would crush you. A gift not too light that you wouldn't sense his thoughtfulness towards you.
1:13:49 He knows exactly what you need, exactly what you can handle, exactly what will bless you, exactly what we used to be a blessing to others. He knows you. And as we enter into this new season as a church, people sometimes, you know, wonder like, nobody's asked us but they might And why why are you going where you're going? Why are you going to that area? And there's very simple answers because that's the area God provided.
1:14:24 It's not like we had 10 options. One, after all the praying and all the fasting, And it's a marvelous provision. But I wanna see it that way. Again, we become we can become so fleshly in our thinking sometimes and we don't see the spiritual component of this. And I know that this room is filled with people who believe us, but let's just hear it one more time.
1:14:50 What we are experiencing now is from God's heart. And the option and the provision he gave is the one he had in mind for us. Not another. Not another. This one.
1:15:05 David did not have all the answers at this point. Do you understand that? He didn't know why God said no. Later, he would know because he he had his hands stained with blood. God didn't want a man of war to build his house.
1:15:14 That would come down the line. But with what he knew now, he still worshiped and thanked and honored. Let it be so for us as a church in this season. Let it be so in your life moving forward, that when God chooses to bless you, it's an invitation for you to draw closer to Him. Don't take the blessing and run away.
1:15:35 Sit at His feet from time to time and love Him. And anything that He does with your gift or how He gives you, let it bring you lower and lower and lower. Understand that this is all from His power and His grace. Should He remove my hand from my life, I will fall apart in a moment. And how God chooses to bless you, be like David and trustingly accept it.
1:16:05 Because He is God, we are His servants, and He knows His servants better than we know ourselves. Can we thank him for these things? Let's worship him as we enter into his blessing as a church. As much as these truths are always designed to be tucked in our hearts for the rest of our lives, my sincere prayers that we apply it right away. Here we are sitting among God's people in God's house.
1:16:45 Let's draw near to the Lord. Let's thank him. Father, who are we And what is Maranatha Bible Church that you brought us thus far? We see that this new building has come from your heart, your love, and we are undeserving of your love. But we trustingly receive it knowing that this is from you because you know what will bless us the most.
1:17:28 And so as we prepare to move on, as the cloud is lifting from the tent, we will follow and may we follow with the sweet submission that we find in the servant David. And Lord, for our own lives as we wait on you for blessing as as maybe an answer has finally come but it doesn't look like what we thought, help us trust you. Help us trust you in this new season. Prepare us. Prepare us in every way possible.
1:18:04 Keep us close to you. Keep us close to one another. Unify our hearts. May we look at one another as brothers and sisters as partners in this great endeavor, this great mission that you have laid out before us. Thank you for being with us these past four and a half years.
1:18:22 Thank you, Lord God. Thank you. If you weren't with us, we wouldn't be here. So many things could have gone wrong, but you've kept us. And we ask, Lord, with our hearts that you would go before us in even more obvious ways.
1:18:38 Not so only that we would know it, but the watching world would know it. And they could not help but give you glory as well. So, Lord, in these final songs, we stand here and beneath us, we realize that we've been living a miracle these last few years. And with these same feet, we will walk into more miracles by your grace. In Jesus' name we pray.
1:19:01 Amen. Amen. Last time. Let's stand. Sing as though you have been commissioned to be in heaven's choir this afternoon.
1:19:14 Sing with all your heart as you reflect on God's faithfulness these past few years. Maranatha Bible Church, it has been the thrill of my life to serve Jesus Christ with you these last four and a half years, and I can speak on behalf of the leadership who feel the same way. The Lord is doing something special through you, and it's been amazing to see these past few years, especially this last month, how many people in this place are servants, real servants, people who are doing this unto the Lord. You don't even have to say it. You can we can see it through your actions.
1:30:36 I'm excited to see what God has in store for us. We have to believe and trust that he has much more in store for us, and we have to remember that whatever he do does moving forward that it should always bring us to his feet, keep us low, and to trust in his sovereignty in everything that he provides or doesn't provide. In a moment, I'm gonna pray, but we're gonna do something different. As tempting as it's gonna be to hug each other and maybe sit and linger in here a little bit, we wanna take a nice picture as one church. This is gonna be an act of faith.
1:31:08 We're gonna see how we're gonna do this. Okay? Here's here's how we're gonna do this. We're gonna go outside after, and we're gonna go if you know where the cross is, we're not going in the front here, the grass area where the the sign is, to the right. Let's go there and, stay put as much as possible.
1:31:24 We wanna we wanna archive this moment. We wanna record it so that we can look back and and think about where the Lord has brought us from. So let's pray, shall we? Lord, we thank you. Thank you.
1:31:33 Thank you. It's hard to imagine how, this Wednesday and this Friday and this Sunday, or this Wednesday and Sunday at least, we will not be driving in this direction, but in the opposite direction. And there will be new times and there will be things we're gonna learn about this place and this building and new people surely will join us by your grace. Help us just enjoy every moment. We rejoice in the season that we've enjoyed here, and we look forward to what we're gonna enjoy by your grace moving on.
1:32:03 Protect us. Help us remember these truths. Thank you for this place. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
1:32:25 Alright. If if we don't make our way out, I'm gonna say more things. So go, go, go. Let's go there. And then there's fellowship downstairs.
