The Sure Mercies of David Part III

                         (a sequel to the Christmas Lesson)

                                          Luke 1:23-38

                                       January 12, 2025

 

 

1d

1aa225

 

The Lord God made a covenant with:

 

Adam

Noah

Abraham

Israel

David

You

Me

 

5 Although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me

an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is

all my salvation, and all my desire, although He make it not to

grow.  (II Samuel 23:1-5)  (I am with this statement, taking it persoally,

as I do all God’s Word, the statement of Paul in II Timothy 4:8 - “Henceforth

there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous

Judge, shall give unto me at that day:  and not to me only, but unto all them

also that love His appearing.”

 

·         an everlasting covenant,

·         ordered in all things,

·         sure,

·         this is all my salvation,

·         this is all my desire.

 

What is meant by “....although He make it not to grow?”

 

In II Samuel 23:5, the Greek word translated as "sure" is "βεβαῖος" (bebaios),

which directly means "firm" or "certain" in English. 

 

In Hebrew the word translated as "sure" is "na'aman" (נֶאֱמָן) which literally

means "faithful" or "reliable." 

 

sure; secure, security, He kept it, in Hebrew

 

The Greek word for desire is θέλημα  - thelaema - will/want/wish.

 

Haggai 2:7 - “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall

                       come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts."

 

חֶמְדַּ֣ת - to the desire

em-da  - covet – desire

 

ἐκλεκτὰ - eklekta -  chosen, selected,

 

________________________________________________________

 

These references are to be inserted at the proper time when I come to them:

 

5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up  a spiritual house, an holy

priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by

Jesus Christ.

6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion

a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him

shall not be confounded.

 

                                                I Corinthians 1:26-27

 

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after

the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound

(καταισχύνῃ - kataischunae - down-shame", hence humiliate, put-to-shame,

to utterly disgrace or embarrass) the wise; and God hath chosen the weak

things of the world to confound (καταισχύνῃ) the things which are mighty;

(The Septuagint uses the word “demote” the wise; the strong - CY - 2022)

 

My Dad - confound - Uncle Frank - (shamed, humiliated, embarrassed”)

 

I Peter 2:6 says:  “Behold I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious:

and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded.” (same word as

above in I Corinthians 1:27 -  he/she/it-should-be-HUMILIATE-ed
Literally "down-shame", hence humiliate, put-to-shame, utterly-disgrace/embarrass)

 

 

7 Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them

which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the

same is made the head of the corner,

8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them

which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they

were appointed.

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,

a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who

hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

                                                            (I Peter 2:5-9)

 

 

Inserted after vs. 6-8 above:

 

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: 

 but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

                                                               (Matthew 21:44)

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________________________________

 

Spurgeon Sermon 3442  The Desire of All Nations

 

Thursday evening - August 25, 1870

 

 

Haggai 2:7 - “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall

                       come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts."

 

 

And now observe that these persons, according to another rendering of the

text, when they come to build up the Church they always bring their desire

with them — they bring with them the most desirable thing. The desirable

things of all nations shall give the silver, and the gold, and so on. He that

comes to Christ brings with him all he has, and he has not come to Christ

who has left his true substance behind him. What, now, is the desire of all

the nations when hearts are renewed? Well, silver and gold will always be

desirable, and men who give their hearts to Christ will bring what they have

of that to Christ. But the most desirable things of manhood are not metals

dirt, mere dross, hard materialisms — no, the desirable things of

manhood are things of the soul, the heart, the spirit; and into the temple,

the great second temple, there shall come, not masses of gold and silver

merely, that can adorn with outward splendor, but also love, and faith, and

holy virtue, more priceless than gems, far richer in value than rarest mines.

Oh! what a sight the Church of God is when holy angels look upon it. We

hear of some of the first Spanish invaders going into the temple of Peru,

and seeing floors, roofs and walls made of slabs of gold, and standing

astonished. But oh! in the Church there are slabs of faith on the floor of

that great temple, and walls of love, of Christian self-sacrifice, and roofs of

holy joy and Christian consolation. It is a temple that makes spiritual eyes

flash with gladness. What care they for the splendor of kings and princess.

But they care much for the true, desirable things of nations — holy

emotions, holy desires, ascriptions of gratitude, and devout acts of service

for the Lord God. Oh! how glorious is the second temple then, when the

desirable men come to it, and bring with them all the desirable things to

make it glorious in the sight of God.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

And then this temple, thus built and thus adorned, will continue. The text

implies that “I will shake all nations.” The apostle says that this signifies the

things that can be shaken; that the things that cannot be shaken will remain,

and that the desire of all nations must be put down as a thing that cannot

be shaken. The Church, then, shall never be shaken, and the precious things

that the Church gives to her God shall not be shaken. Time will change

many things. Great princes will be considered mere beggars by-and-by in

the esteem of men who know how to judge by character. Great men will

shrivel into very small things — when they come to be tried, even by

posterity. And the judgment-day — ah! how will that try the great ones of

this earth? But the Christian Church — the very gates of hell shall not

prevail against her. Time shall not be able so much as to chip one of her

polished stones. Her treasures of faith, and what not, the rich things that

God hath given her — these things shall never be stolen: they can never be

shaken. And then the crown of all is, “I will fill this house with my glory,

saith the Lord.” This is the reason, the great charm of it all. God Himself

dwells, as He dwells nowhere else, in His glory. The Church, which we

think two, and call militant and triumphant, is but one, after all, and GOD

DWELLETH IN IT!  Oh! if we had but eyes to see it, the glory of God on earth is

not much less than the glory of God in heaven, for the glory of a king in

peace is one thing, but the glory of a conqueror in war is another thing,

though I know which I prefer; yet if I transfer the figure, I have no

preference between the glory of the God of peace in the midst of His

obedient servants in His ivory palaces, and the glory of the Lord of Hosts in

the thick of this heavenly war, as He conflicts with human evil, and brings

forth glory to His saints out of all the mischief that Satan seeks to do to His

throne and, to His scepter. God is known in the Jerusalem below, as well as

in the Jerusalem above. “The Lord is in the midst of her.” Out of Zion, the

perfection of beauty, God hath shined. God is in the midst of her: she shall

not be moved; and though the kings gather together for her destruction, yet

His presence is the river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God.

Yes, glorious things may well be spoken of Zion when we have such stones

as precious men, such gifts as precious graces, such abiding character as

God gives, and such A PRESENCE AS THE PRESENCE OF GOD

HIMSELF !

 

 

II. THE GLORY OF THE SPIRITUAL SECOND TEMPLE IS ACTUALLY THE

INCARNATION OF CHRIST.

 

“I will shake all nations,” and He who is the desire of all nations shall come

a rendering which is not incorrect, and is established by a great mass of

theologians, though, according to some of the ablest critics, a rendering

scarcely to be sustained by the original. He who is the desire of all nations

shall come, and that shall be the glory of the second spiritual temple. Jesus

Christ, then, is the desire of all nations, if so we read the text, and this is

doubtless true. All nations have a dark and dim desire for Him. I say a dark

desire, for without that adjective I could scarcely speak the truth. Most

interesting chapters have been written by students of the history of

mankind upon the preparedness of men’s hearts for the coming of Christ at

His incarnation. It is very certain that almost all nations have a tradition of

the coming one. The Jews, of course, expected the Messiah. There were

persons instructed according to the culture of various nations, which,

though they do not expect the Messiah quite so clearly as the Jews, had

almost as shrewd a guess as to what He might be and do as the mere

ritualistic and Pharisaic Jews had. There was a notion all over the world at

that time of Christ’s coming, that some great one was to descend from

heaven, and to come into this world for this world’s good. He was in that

respect darkly and dimly the desire of all nations. But in all nations there

have been some persons more instructed to whom Christ has really been

the object of desire with much more of intelligence. Job was a Gentile and

a fearer of God. We have no reason to believe that Job was a solitary

specimen of enlightened persons: we have reason rather to hope that in all

countries all over the world God has had a chosen people, who have

known and feared Him, who have not had all the light which has been given

to us, but who better used what light they had, and were guided by his

secret Spirit to much more of light, perhaps, than we think it right, with

our little knowledge, to credit them with. These, then, as representatives of

all the nations, were desiring the coming of the great Deliverer, the

incarnate God; and in this sense, representatively, the whole of the world

was desiring Christ in that higher sense, and He was the desire of all

nations. But, my brethren, does this mean, or does it not mean, that Christ

is exactly what all the nations need? If they did but know, if they could but

understand Him, He is just what they would desire and should desire. Were

their reason taught rightly, and were their minds instructed by the Spirit to

desire the best in all the world, Christ is just what they want. All the world

desire a way to God. Hence men set up priests and anoint them with oil,

and smear them with I know not what, only that they may be mediators

between them and God. They must have something to come between their

guilt and God’s glorious holiness. Oh; if they knew it, WHAT THEY WANT

IS CHRIST!  You want no priest, but the great “Apostle and High Priest of our

profession.” You want no mediator with God, but the one Mediator, the

man Christ Jesus, who is also equal with God. Oh! world, why wilt thou go

about to seek this priest and that other deceiver, when HE WHO THOU

WANTEST IS APPOINTED BY THE MOST HIGH! He whom Jacob saw in

his dream as the ladder which reached from earth to heaven is the only means —

the Son of Man and yet the Son of God. The world wants a peacemaker; oh!

how badly it wants it now! I seem as I walk my garden, as I go to my

pulpit, as I go to my bed, to hear the distant cries and moans of wounded

and dying men. We are so familiarized each day with horrible details of

slaughter, that if we give our minds to the thought, I am sure we must feel

a nausea, a perpetual sickness creeping over us. The reek and steam of

those murderous fields, the smell of the warm blood of men flowing out on

the soil, must come to us and vex our spirits Earth wants a peacemaker,

and it is He, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, and the friend of

Gentiles, the Prince of Peace, who will make war to cease unto the ends of

the earth. Man wants a purifier. Very many nations feel, somehow or other,

that political affairs do not go as one could wish. There are great

excellences in personal government, but great disadvantages. There are

great excellences in republican government, but remarkable difficulties too.

There are supreme excellences, as we think, in our own form of

government, but a great many things to be amended, for all that; and this

world is altogether out of joint; it is a crazy old concern, and does not

seem as if it could be amended with all the tinkering of our reformers in the

lapse of years. The fact is, it wants the Maker, who made it, to come in and

put it to rights. It needs the Hercules that is to turn the stream right

through the Augean stable; it wants the Christ of God to turn the stream of

His atoning sacrifice right through the whole earth, to sweep away the

whole filth of ages, and it never will be done unless HE DOETH IT!

He is the one, the true Reformer, the true rectifier of all wrong, and in

this respect the desire of all nations. Oh! if the world could gather up all her

right desire; if she could condense in one cry all her wild wishes; if all true

lovers of mankind could condense their theories and extract the true wine of

wisdom from them; it would just come to this, WE WANT AN INCARNATE

GOD, and you have got the INCARNATE GOD!  Oh! nations, but ye know it not!

Ye, in the dark, are groping after Him, and know not that He is there.

Brethren, I may add, Christ is certainly the desire of all nations in this

respect, that we desire Him for all nations. Oh! that the world were

encompassed in His gospel! Would God the sacred fire would run along the

ground, that the little handful of corn on the top of the mountains would

soon make its fruit to shake like Lebanon. Oh! when will it come, when

will it come that all the nations shall know Him? Let us pray for it: let us

labor for it.

 

And one other meaning I may give to this: He is the desirable one of all

nations, bringing back the former translation of this text. He is the choice

one of all nations. He is the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether

lovely. He, whom we love, is such an one that He can never be matched by

another, His rival could not be found amongst the sons of men. There is

none like Him; there is none like Him amongst the angels of light; there is

none that can stand in comparison with Him. The desire, the one that ought

to be desired, the most desirable of all the nations, is Jesus Christ, and it is

the glory of the Christian Church, which is the second temple that Christ is

in her, her head, her Lord. It is never her glory that she condescends to

make an iniquitous union with the State. It is her glory that Christ is her

sole King, it is her glory that He is her sole Prophet, and that He is her sole

Priest, and that He then gives to all His people to be kings and priests with

Him, Himself the center and source of all their glory and their power.

I cannot stay longer, though the theme tempts me, but must just give you

the last word, which is this, the visible glory of the true second temple will

be Christ’s second coming. He, Himself, is her glory, whether at His first

coming, or at His second coming. The Church will be no more glorious at

the second coming than now. “What!” say you, “no more glorious!” No;

but more apparently glorious. Christ is as glorious on the cross as He is on

the throne; it is the appearance only that shall alter. “Then shall the

righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, but they

evermore are brightness itself, in the person of Jesus Christ. Now, brethren,

we are to expect, as long as this world lasts, that all things will shake that

are to be moved. They will go on shaking. We call the world sometimes

terra firma”; it is not this world, surely, that deserves such a name as that;

there is nothing stable beneath the stars; all things else will shake, and as

the shaking goes on, Jesus Christ will, to those who know Him, become

more and more their desire. I suppose, if the world went on, in some things

mending and improving, and were to go up to a point, we should not want

Christ to come in a hurry, we would rather that things should be

perpetuated; but the shaking will make Christ more and more the desire of

the nations. (Do you not think that the California wildfires of this last week

is a shaking?  CY - 2025) “The whole creation groaneth,” is groaning up to now,

but it will groan more and more “in pain together travailing” — the apostle saith

“even until now.”  (Romans 8:22)  The travailing pains grow worse and

worse, and worse, and it will be so with this world; it will travail till at last it

must come to the consummation of her desire. The Church will say, “Come,

Lord Jesus.” She will say it with gathering earnestness; she will continue

still to say it, though there are intervals in which she will forget her Lord,

but still her heart’s desire will be that He will come; and at last He will

surely come and bring to this world not only Himself, the desire of all

nations but all that can be desired, for those days of His, when He

appeareth, shall be to His people as the days of heaven upon earth, the days

of their honor, the days of their rest — the day in which the kingdoms shall

belong unto Christ.  Revelation 11:15 tells us the time is coming when  ....the

kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His

Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.”  CY - 2025)  Oh! brethren,

it is not for me to go into details on a subject which would require many discourses,

and which could not be brought out in the few last words of a discourse. But here

is the great hope of that splendid building, the Church, which is desired. Her glory

essentially lies in the Incarnate God, who has come into her midst. Her

glory manifestly will lie in the second coming of that Incarnate God, when

He shall be revealed from heaven to those that look and are waiting for and

hasting unto the coming of the Son of God — looking for Him with

gladsome expectation. And this is the joy of the Church. He has gone, but

He has left word, “I will come again, and will receive you unto myself, that

where I am, ye may be also.” Remember the words that were spoken of the

angels to the Church, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye here, gazing up

into heaven? This same Jesus who is gone up from you into heaven shall so

come in like manner as ye have seen Him go up into heaven.” In propria

persona — in very deed and truth, He shall come: —

 

“These eyes shall see Him in that day,

The God that died for me;

And all my rising bones shall say,

Lord, who is like to thee?”

 

Then shall come the adoption, the raising of the body, the reception of a

glory to that body reunited to the soul, such as we have not dreamed of,

for eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of

man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love Him. Though

He hath revealed them unto us by His Holy Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all

things, yea, the deep things of God, yet have our ears heard but little

thereof, and we have not received the full discovery of the things that shall

be hereafter. The Lord bless you! May you all be parts of His Church, have

a share in His glory, and a share in the manifestation of that glory at theH

last.

 

Dear hearer, I would send thee away with this one query in thine ear — Is

Christ thy desire, Couldest thou say, with David, “He is all my salvation

and all my desire”? Could you gather up your feet in the bed, with dying

Jacob, and say, “I have waited for thy will, O God”? By your desire shall

you be known. The desire of the righteous shall be granted. Delight thyself

also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desire of thine heart.

But the desire of many is a groveling desire: it is a sinful desire: it is a

disgraceful desire — a desire which, if it be attained, the attainment of it

will afford very brief pleasure. Oh! sinner, let thy desires go after Christ.

Remember if thou wouldest have Him, thou hast not to earn Him — fight

for Him — win Him — but HE IS TO BE HAD FOR THE ASKING!

“Lay hold,” says he apostle, “on eternal life.” As if it were ours, if we did but

grip it. God give us grace to lay hold on eternal life, for Jesus from the cross is

saying, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth,” and from His

throne of glory He still is saying, “Come unto me,” exalted on high, “to give

repentance and remission of sin,” and He will give them both to those who

seek Him. Seek Him, then, this night. God grant it for His Son’s sake.

 

 

 

 

An Evening Song in Perilous Times, Showing Us the Secret of Happiness

                                                   (Psalm 4:6-8)

 

 

6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift

thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their

corn and their wine increased.

8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only

makest me dwell in safety

 

It is not difficult to be cheerful when we have everything we desire. But

when life seems to be a series of catastrophes, disappointments, and

vexations, buoyancy of spirit is not so easily attained. If our lives were in

peril every moment through rebellion at home and plots and snares around,

few of us would be found capable, under such circumstances, of writing

morning and evening hymns. Yet such were the circumstances under which

David wrote this psalm and the one which precedes it. Both of them

belong, in all probability, to the time of Ahithophel’s conspiracy, of

Absalom’s rebellion, when the king was a fugitive, camping out with a few

of his followers. Such reverses, moreover, were none the easier to bear,

when he had the reflection that because of his own sin the sword was in his

house, and was piercing his own soul Yet even thus, as he had “a heart at

leisure from itself to write his song of morning praise, so does he also pen

his evening prayer.f1 We picture him thus: Any moment a fatal stroke may

fall on him. His adversaries prowl around. They have rich stores of

provisions and of gold, while he himself has to depend for the means of

subsistence on supplies brought to his camp from without. Unscrupulous

rebels were in power, while David and his host were like a band of men

who are dependent on begging or on plunder. But it was precisely this

combination of ills that brought out some of the finest traits in his

character. (Adversity will make you bitter or better - UK basketball

calendar during the Joe B. Hall era)  Even then he can take up his pen and write,

Thou hast put gladness in my heart”, I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep:

 for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.” Here, then, we have one of God’s

people, who has seen calmer days, writing in his tent and telling of a secret

of peace and joy which nothing can disturb. It is a secret worth knowing.

Let us ascertain what it is.

 

I. HERE IS AN INQUIRY PUT. “Who will show us good?” By which is

meant, not so much What is good in itself? asWhat will make us happy,

and bring us a sense of satisfaction? Over and above our intellectual, we

have emotional faculties. The emotions are to the spiritual part of us what

the (physical) sensations are to the bodily part. Among the various fallacies of

some wise men of this world, one of the wildest is that emotion has no place in

the search after, and in the ascertainment of, truth. It would be quite safe

to reverse that, and to say that unless the emotions have their rightful play,

few truths can be rightly sought or found. An equilibrium of absolute

indifference concerning truth or error would be a guilty carelessness. Our

craving after happiness is God’s lesson to us through the emotions, that we

are dependent for satisfaction on something outside us; and when such

satisfaction is actually reached, it is so far the sign that the higher life is

being healthfully sustained. Our nature is too complex to be satisfied with

supply in any one department. Our intellectual nature craves the true. Our

moral nature craves the right. Our sympathetic nature calls for love. (thus the

basic emotional needs love/security/recognition contrasted with our known

physical needs of food/clothing/shelter!  Our conscious weakness and

dependence call for strength from another. Our

powers of action demand a sphere of service which shall neither corrupt

nor exhaust. Our spiritual nature cries out for God, life, and immortality.

Who can show us “good” that will meet all these wants? Such is the inquiry.

 

II. THERE ARE THOSE WHO KNOW HOW TO ANSWER THE INQUIRY.

(v. 7, “Thou hast put gladness in my heart,) The psalmist shows us:

 

1. The source of his joy. God — God Himself. How often do the psalmists

luxuriate in telling what God was to them:

 

o       Rock,

o       Shield,

o       Sun,

o       High Tower,

o       Fortress,

o       Refuge,

o       Strength,

o       Salvation,

o       their Exceeding Joy!

 

Much more is this the case now as we know God in Christ. In Him we have

revealed to us through the Spirit nobler heights, deeper depths, larger

embraces, and mightier triumphs of divinely revealed love than

Old Testament saints could possibly conceive.

 

2. One excellent feature of this joy is the sense of security it brings with it

in the most perilous surroundings (see last verse). (Let the Hebrew student

closely examine this verse. He will gain thereby precious glimpses of a

meaning deeper than any bare translation can give.) The psalmist discloses

and suggests further:

 

3. The quality and degree of the joy. “ More than… when their corn and

their wine increaseth.”

 

(a) The gladness is of a far higher quality. A filial son’s joy in the best of

fathers is vastly superior to the delight a child has in his toys. So joy in God

Himself for what He is, is infinitely higher than delight in what He gives.

 

(b) It is a gladness of greater zest. No joy in worldly things that a carnal

man ever reached can approximate to the believer’s joy in God. It is a joy

unspeakable, and full of glory.”  (I Peter 1:8)

 

(c) It is a gladness remarkable for its persistency. The worldling’s joy is

for the bright days of life. Joy in God is for every day, and comes out most

strikingly in the darkest ones — David, Daniel; Shadrach, Meshach, and

Abednego; Peter, John, Stephen, Paul and Silas, etc. We never know all

that God is to us until He takes away all our earthly props, and makes us

lean with all our weight on Him.

 

(d) The believer’s joy in God surpasses the worldling’s gladness in the

effects of it. It not only satisfies, but sanctifies the mind.

 

(e) This joy never palls upon the taste. “The world passeth away, and the

lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

(I John 2:17)

 

III. THE PSALMIST SHOWS US HOW THIS JOY IN GOD WAS ATTAINED.

After his delights the worldling has many a weary chase. To

ensure his, the psalmist sends up a prayer, “Lord, lift thou up thou up the light of

thy countenance upon us.”  (v. 6)  This prayer had been taught him of old. It was

a part of the priestly benediction “The Lord Bless thee, and keep thee:  The Lord

make His face shine upon  thee, and be gracious to there.  The Lord lift up His

countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”  (Numbers 6:24-26) Its meaning is,

“Give us the sign and seal of thy favor, and it is enough.” Truly in this all else is

ensured. Forgiveness from God and peace with Him prepare the way for

the fullness of joy.  Nothing is right with a sinful man till there is peace

between him and God. If our view of the chronology of the Psalms be correct,

Psalm 51. and 32, preceded this. If it be true that the believer attains the highes

heights of joy, it is also true that he has first gone down into the deep vale of

penitential sorrow. As in Christian toil, so in personal religion, “They that

sow in tears shall reap in joy.  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing

precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bring his sheaves

with him.”  (ch. 126:5-6 - Doubtless, the origin of the Hymn Bringing in the

Sheaves - CY - 2025)  Let the sinner “behold the Lamb of God, which taketh

away the sin of the world,” (John 1:29) and then his hope, his joy, will begin.

 

 

 

6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the

government shall be upon His shoulder: and his name shall be

called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting

Father, The Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,

upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to

establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even

for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

                                                                        (Isaiah 9:6-7)

 

“The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this!”  (Isaiah 9:6-7)

 

 

Inter-biblical period - Church Age

 

 Thus

Luke 1:26 - Here - the angel Gabriel is sent to start the process

            that God planned from the beginning of the world.

 

 

Revelation 14 is tied in to my 24 lessons on The Danger of Being

Dissatisfied with One’s Lot in Life and the four so far on Non-inclusion

in the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

Revelation 7

Revelation 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the

everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and

to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

 

 

1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with

Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name

written in their foreheads.

2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and

as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers

harping with their harps:

3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before

the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song

but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed

from the earth.

4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are

virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he

goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits

unto God and to the Lamb.

5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault

before the throne of God.

6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the

everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and

to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the

hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven,

and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is

fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the

wine of the wrath of her fornication.

9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any

man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his

forehead, or in his hand,

10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is

poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he

shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the

holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and

they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his

image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

12  Here is the patience of the saints:  here are they that keep the

commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are

the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:  Yea, saith the Spirit,

that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.

 

 

           

See Rev. 13:8  mentions “....the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

 

The previous seven verses are associated with the beast (anti-christ)

and the first part of this eighth verse tells of those whose names are not

written in that Book of Life of this Lamb, worship the anti-christ!

 

Gabriel sent.  Christ, the Sent of God!  You/me are sent.

 

Whose side are you on?  ch. 11:23

 

Nazareth, a city of Galilee, hidden in the hills.  A rendez-

vous for the worst of people, a proverbial place out of

which no good thing was expected.  John 1:46

 

Gal. 4:4-5 - "....when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son,

made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under

the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." -

 

Rev. 3:14 - Christ, "the Beginning of the creation of God"

 

A deeper interest should gather around Jesus coming into

the world to save mankind from their sins, than that of

the beginning of the material universe.

 

Genesis gives to us the account of the mysterious origin

of the material world - Luke gives us the account of the

mysterious origin of the new creation and the salvation

of man!

 

Galilee - Isaiah 9:1

 

vs. 27-28 - Warning against worshipping Mary - the Lord

            Jesus is the one to be magnified - not Mary.

 

I would like to ask the women folk, if you had lived in that

generation, would you have qualified to be the mother of

the Son of God?

 

Isaiah 7:14

 

We are living in a very evil age - we count God's

commandment as nothing and commit fornication or adultery

as if eating a piece of bread or taking a sip of water.  Mary is

the original madonna (a title of respect)- today you have a

cult star by the same name of which she is not worthy.  It is

alarming when more young people know more about Madonna

than democracy.

 

v. 29 - Receive what is written - being assured that the same

            power of the Highest by which the crucified Jesus

            was raised from the tomb where He had lain for three

            days, was able to overshadow the virgin of Nazereth,

            was able to cause to be born of her "that holy thing"

            which was called the Son of God!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

vs. 32-33 - "house of David" - a sure house - I Sam. 2:35

 

Isaiah 9:6-7

 

"He shall be called the Son of the Highest" -

 

A new king - an everlasting Monarch!

 

"the throne of his father David"

 

Yet unfulfilled - speaks of a restoration of Israel.

 

It has been 2000 years since Gabriel spoke of a

kingdom that would have no end!

 

1948 - Israel a nation!  1967 - Jerusalem regained!

 

This thing was not done in a corner! 

 

"This thing was not done in a corner" is a phrase from the Bible, specifically 

Acts 26:26, where the Apostle Paul is telling King Agrippa that the Christian

message was not spread in secret or hidden away, but was openly proclaimed

to many people; essentially meaning it was not done in a secluded place,

but was widely known.  (Google)

 

Today the Jews are looking in all the wrong places -

It is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus and Him Only!

 

The Jews have been kept distinct even though

intermingled with the nations of the world and today

are waiting His coming - “Who hath herd such a thing?

Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day?  Or shall

a nation be born at once?  for as soon as Zion travailed, she

brought forth her children.”  (Isaiah 66:8)

 

v. 33 - the dignity and power that Christ shall attain -

            its duration - "forever"   - its extent - "no end"

 

9 “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name

which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in

heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to

the glory of God the Father.   (Philippians 2:9-11)

 

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather

together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and

which are on earth; even in him:  (Ephesians 1:10)

 

11And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat

upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He

doth judge and make war.

12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many

crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He

Himself.

13 And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is

called The Word of God.

14 And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white

horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should

smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He

treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16  And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING

OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS  (Revelation 19:11-16)

 

v. 35 - In Christ we have the  humanity and the Divinity

            in one, each perfect and complete.  What ever can be

            said of man, it can be said of Christ (except sin),

            what can be said of God can be said of Him.

 

"I and my Father are one"

 

Psalm 118:22-23                     Matt. 21:42

 

"This is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes"

 

 

 

Reminds one of the opening words of Genesis at the

dawn of creation - "The Spirit moved (brooded) over

the face of the deep". 

 

The Word was conceived in the womb of a woman,

not after the manner of men, but by the operation of

the Holy Ghost, whereby a virgin was, beyond the law

of nature, enabled to conceive, and that which was

conceived in her was originally and completely

sanctified!

 

Holiness is not a mere attainment, obedience to the

moral law - it is a new supernatural being - "born of

the Spirit" - "not born of blood, nor of the will of the

flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"

 

v. 37 - "with God nothing shall be impossible"

 

 

v. 38 - No demands made on Mary - just her consent.

   Notice the attitude of Mary - "Behold the hand-maiden

   of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word"

 

She accepts the sacrifice - she submitted herself of her

own free will to what she felt was the will & wish of God!

 

Her innocence was vindicated - Matt. 1:20

 

 

 

 

 

GOD IS THE SOURCE OF MARY'S JOY!

 

 

Surely in all the world's creation, His might had never

been shown as it was now about to be manifest in her!

 

In the Incarnation, God was sending real help to His

people.  It was the crowning act of mercy, and the

fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham and his

seed.  Mary thus began with God's holiness and passed

in review His  power, His mercy, and finally His

faithfulness.  All these are illustrated eminently

in the Incarnation.

 

 

 

 

 

"Excerpted text Copyright AGES Library, LLC. All rights reserved.

Materials are reproduced by permission."

 

This material can be found at:

http://www.adultbibleclass.com

 

If this exposition is helpful, please share with others.