THE CHRISTADELPHIAN WAYMARK

Transcription

1 "Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps, set thine heart Toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest" (Jer 31:21) THE CHRISTADELPHIAN WAYMARK Volume 9 Issue 2 Devoted to the Defence and Proclamation of The Way of Life in Opposition to the Dogmas of Papal and Protestant Christendom The Parable of the Potter Lessons from 2 Samuel Nature but God's Machinery Israel's Prayer for Deliverance The Glorious Name of Yahweh Substitution Versus Forgiveness (2) Coats of Skin Instead of Fig Leaves I saw, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat upon him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer (Rev 6:2) The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable (Jas 3:17) Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3) 1

2 The Parable of the Potter O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Yahweh. Behold, as the clay is in the potter s hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel (Jer. 18:6) The Creation narrative given through Moses describes the formation of man in these terms: Yahweh Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7). So, we find that there were distinct stages in the bringing into existence of a living, breathing man. Firstly, as a potter forms clay into an image suitable for his purpose, the elohic hands formed man from the 3-day-old dust of the ground. Then, into that organised clay form, the ruach chayim, or breath of lives was exhaled, causing that earth-man to become a living soul. Not an immortal soul, as some would have us believe, but a living soul, styled by the Apostle, a natural body, as distinct from a spiritual body : There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit the first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such also are they that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (1Cor 15:44-49). We then, in the natural state of things bear the image of Adam (cp Gen 5:3), in possessing earthy bodies, natural bodies ultimately derived from the dust of the ground. And whether or not in the twinkling of an eye we shall be made incorruptible, bearing the image of the heavenly, entirely depends upon how we make use of the things in this life and the deeds performed in the natural body. Even as it is written: we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2Cor 5:10). Our ultimate destiny; whether it be to perish for ever, having been rejected by the Righteous Judge, or whether it be to bear the image of the heavenly in having our mortal frames transformed to become like unto his most glorious body (Phil 3:21), is governed by the manner of our conduct in this life. So it is, that use and development of the natural body, in this sense, forms the basis for the heavenly; if it is used in accordance with the Creator s wishes, He will give it that necessary transformation. THE POTTER S PURPOSE All of mankind being but dust, as clay before the Great Potter, it so pleases him to fulfil his purpose by dredging out of the mire of humanity individuals who might be so moulded as to be made suitable vessels for use in His house. And who are those selected to complain, or resist? So the Apostle enquired: Shall the thing formed say 2

3 to Him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? (Rom 9:20,21). Out of one lump, one race of men, the Great Potter has power to make both vessels to honour, and also to dishonour. Those who prove themselves to be amenable to His Purpose, being malleable in His Hand, will be made honourable vessels, and others who harden themselves before Him, who refuse to be shaped will be rejected. This latter class is illustrated in the case of Pharaoh. Interestingly he was made a vessel suitable for the exhibition of Divine Glory, despite being a vessel of dishonour. Refusing to become honourable, his fleshly resistance was used by the Divine Hand to enable Divine Power to be displayed in judicial manifestation. Accordingly, the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my Name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth what if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that He might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles: (Rom 9:22-24). Pharaoh was endured with long-suffering, in order that the riches of the Father s Glory might be bestowed upon the Israelitish vessels, and be mightily manifested in their deliverance. And those vessels that will be filled with glory in the Age to come, are those who do not become hardened in the Divine Hand, but who permit themselves to become so developed, molded and shaped as He Pleases. These are those who do not resist the forces and pressures exerted in order to form the necessary shape and those pressures will duly come, for without them, the selected clay-man cannot be molded: we must through much pressure (Greek) enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22), is the Spirit s testimony, and that Divinely regulated pressure is designed to form us into vessels of splendour meet for the master s use, prepared unto every good work (2Tim 2:21). ISRAEL AS CLAY IN THE DIVINE HAND Israel were taken out from Egypt for such a purpose; yet they refused to comply. Rather preferring the abominations of the nations, they challenged the Potter s right and authority to make vessels out of them according to His Will. Thus, the prophet gave the rebuke: Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? Or thy work, He hath no hands? (Is 45:9) Again, the word of Yahweh came through Jeremiah, saying: O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Saith Yahweh. Behold, as the clay is in the potter s hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have 3

4 pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them (Jer 18:6-10). The latter part of this verse, to do with the Almighty altering an intended course of action in response to human repentance or rebellion, is often taken out of it s context. On the basis of this passage, a problem is sometimes presented to us: how we can claim that the Father s promises are sure and certain, if He will change what He does in reaction to man s obedience or rebellion? So in a certain magazine, this problem was put to the present writer: in the OT first, it is made abundantly clear that prophecies are generally conditional even when it does not explicitly say so. Jeremiah 18 explains this in simple language. And again: it no longer makes good sense to maintain that since God promised a new temple with associated animal sacrifices through Ezekiel and that this has never to our knowledge been fulfilled that it must therefore still remain to be fulfilled in any literal sense in the future. What was promised to God s people through Ezekiel was appropriate to them in OT circumstances but is no longer so to us after the coming of Jesus. This is a perfect example of the principle explained in Jeremiah 18. God is free to change his mind If this leaves us with a problem of how to deal with apparently unfulfilled promises then that is our problem and not God s". The problem is, how to reconcile a belief in the certainty, and unchanging nature of the Father s promises with Jeremiah 18, which ascribes change to the Almighty. The answer is seen when it is recognised that the above article is taking Jeremiah s words out of their context which is not to do with the dependability/certainty or otherwise of the Father s promises, but is rather to do with a Potter seeking to mould nations/ peoples, as clay under expertly guided pressure into vessels suitable for His Use. The Potter has a Purpose, and He has graciously condescended to reveal that purpose to those who have ears to hear. And He requires nations to conform to His requirements either to turn from iniquity, or to remain righteous. If a nation refuses to turn from it s iniquity, as a potter squashes up the clay, even so the Creator will execute His judgments upon that nation. If they do turn under the pressure brought to bear upon them by hearing the prophetic testimony, the nation will be spared those judgments - the example of Nineveh being a case in point. But either way, whether they make themselves vessels to honour, or to dishonour, His Power will be made known, whether it be in benevolent, or judicial manifestation. Accordingly, if a nation turns from conformity to the Potter s guiding Hand, to become hardened against Him it will be squashed up, and the clay re-moulded as the Potter sees fit. Either way, the Potter will be glorified, and His Purpose to make 4

5 honourable vessels will be accomplished. The promises of the Father are steadfast and sure- the only conditional element associated with them, is not whether or not they will take place at all, but whether or not particular peoples will have a part with them. And from the Apostle s use of this chapter in Romans chapter 9, it is evident that the same principles apply on an individual level, as well as a national. Those who refuse to be developed into honourable vessels will not by any means affect the Potter s purpose to form an array of such vessels; He will merely squash them up, and continue His work. They will not be amongst that splendid array - but an array there shall surely be! THE CERTAINTY OF THE FATHER S PROMISES This being so, Jeremiah s words do not comprise a declaration that that prophecies are generally conditional even when it does not explicitly say so, but is dealing with a specific case aspect of things, to do with the Father s refusal to destroy a repentant people (as in the case of Nineveh in the days of Jonah) - or refusal to bless an unrepentant people - and this is quite in Harmony with both his stated Character, and Purpose. Repentance is an essential prerequisite to inheriting the promises. A lack of repentance does not frustrate the promises - it merely excludes the ungodly from them. To conclude that because the threatened destruction of a people was averted by their repentance, that therefore all prophecy is of such a nature as that it may or may not come to pass is not rightly dividing the word of Truth. It is a fundamental principle stated in both the Old and New Testaments that our Father is unchanging. Thus, Malachi spake to Israel of old: I am Yahweh, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed (Mal 3:6). And similarly, the Spirit through James spake to those in dispersion: every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (Jas 1:17). There is no variableness with him with whom we have to do, for of himself he states I change not. By contrast to man, who is ever-changing, and notoriously unreliable, Yahweh does not turn away His light-stream of warmth and comfort, leaving his children in the shadows. He is faithful to perform that which He has promised. Accordingly, Moses encouraged Israel: Know therefore that Yahweh thy Elohim, he is Elohim, the faithful El, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them (Deut 7:9-10). And again, reiterating the same point, Paul encouraged the separated ones at Corinth: God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor 1:9). God is faithful. With him, there is no variableness. He is Yahweh - he changes not. He keeps covenant and mercy - and the certainty of His Own faithfulness is a guarantee of this fact. And so the promises He made to the Fathers of old; the 5

6 exceeding great and precious promises (2 Pet 1:4) made to those who are Abrahams seed through faith are absolutely immutable: When God made promise to Abraham, because He could sware by no greater, He sware by Himself God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us (Heb 6:13-18). So it is, that we can indeed trust with certainty in the prophecies and promises which Yahweh has revealed. They will surely come to pass - because Yahweh has declared them, and it is written: my word that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in that whereunto I sent it (Is 55:11). None of the words uttered by the Father shall return to him void: all shall accomplish their purpose in due course. VESSELS TO BE BROKEN The Kingdom of Judah by Jeremiah's day had degenerated to such a degree that the situation was irredeemable (cp 2 Chron 36:16). The pot had hardened itself to such an extent in the Great Potter s hand, that it couldn t even be re-moulded; it had to be shattered under the judgments of Yahweh; only then would the people come to submit themselves to Him. Accordingly, Jeremiah was commanded: Thus saith Yahweh, Go and get a potter s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests, and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Yahweh of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury (see Jer 19:1-13) By this means would the power of Yahweh be made known; in the shattering of the people that refused to submit to him rather like the example of Pharaoh, the Almighty s judicial power would be displayed in their shattering. Indeed, we find that a similar situation will arise when the Master comes to exercise his dominion over all the earth. Some nations will readily submit (cp Ps 72:10, Is 60:9), but others will harden themselves, bringing destruction upon themselves in daring to wage war upon the enthroned Lamb: the kings of the earth set themselves together against Yahweh, and against his Messiah, saying, Let us cast away their bonds from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall have them in derision Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them Yahweh hath said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the 6

7 heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter s vessel. (Ps 2:2-9). Thus showing themselves to be vessels of dishonour, with their hearts as hardened as Pharaoh s of old, these peoples will present themselves to be suitable only for destruction at the hand of Yahweh s anointed King. Here is a promise, which stands sure and certain; it shall come to pass in due time; and the question remains for us to decide for ourselves - are we going to submit ourselves to the pressures and trials that Yahweh brings upon us to develop us for His Purpose? Or are we going to stiffen ourselves in His hand, not believing in the certainty that He will bring to pass that which He has decreed? The choice is ours, and our eternal future depends on how we respond. We come now to focus our attention on our Lord Jesus Christ, as shown in the emblems of bread and wine. The Master himself was developed by a life of trial and pressure: it is written: though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered (Heb. 5:8). He experienced the pressures of life, and permitted himself to be molded in the hand of the potter his Father. In him, we have an example to follow: let us therefore heed his example, and submit ourselves to the Hand of the Potter, trusting that He knows the right pressure to place upon us, developing us to be fit for His Purpose. Christopher Maddocks Reading: 2nd Samuel 7: Lessons From 2 Samuel 7 In our reading from 2nd Samuel seven we find an incident in David s life, which is highly instructive for us, as we once more come around this table of our Heavenly Father's continuing love. That we each might remember the sacrifice of our beloved Lord, who through his death mediated the New Covenant and confirmed the promises, made unto the Fathers, making sure and steadfast our hope. For as we all know brethren and sisters this seventh chapter contains the promises given unto David. Which form one of the two great Biblical covenants that make up the backbone of our faith even the glorious hope of Israel. The very basis of the gospel message of the things concerning, the kingdom of God and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2nd Peter chapter 1 and at verse 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 7

8 Indeed these exceeding great and precious promises have been extended to each and every one of us in Christ and we hold them dear and long for them to be fulfilled. That our Lord might come, even today and begin that next phrase of his marvellous work, establishing the kingdom of God once more in the earth. Therefore the events in this chapter are of the utmost interest to us brethren, because through the one we have come to remember, we are made partakers and joint heirs. Therefore in the mercy of our Heavenly Father in Christ, we each will have a part in the final outworking and fulfilment of this incredible covenant. Now it is David s response to the covenant that we want to consider by way of exhortation in the second half of this 7th chapter. For from David s example we gain an insight of how we each ought to view this solemn meeting, this breaking of bread, as we come week by week to sit before our Heavenly Father. We are provided here with a means of honest hearted reflection, through David s exemplary response by which we today can examine ourselves, before we partake of the emblems. Now in verses eighteen through to the end of the chapter in verse twenty-nine we are granted access to a private meeting between king David and our Heavenly Father. We are given the incredible privilege of being able to hear the king s initial response to our Heavenly Father s revealed plan, purpose and will for him and his enduring house. That house brethren and sisters with its descendants both natural and spiritual. Whose house, are we, as we read in Hebrews, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Ephesians chapter 1 and verses 3 7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Our adoption into the covenant promises provides for us a powerful exhortation upon which to evaluate our continued personal response to that, which has been achieved through our Lord Jesus Christ for us. Now the chapter opens with King David and the prophet Nathan talking together. Where David reveals to Nathan his desire to build a permanent home for the ark, now that it is safely in Zion. Nathan encourages David in his desire, but that very night our 8

9 Heavenly Father intervenes with a redirection of his desire and a promise rather to build David a house. So what follows brethren and sisters in verses eighteen to twenty-nine is a prayer given in response to this magnificent covenantal promise. 2nd Samuel chapter 7 and verse According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. Then went king David in, and sat before Yahweh, and he said, Who am I, O Adonai Yahweh? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Adonai Yahweh; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Adonai Yahweh? And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Adonai Yahweh, knowest thy servant. It appears David s immediate response was to go to the tent where he had sited the Ark of the Covenant and present himself before our Heavenly Father. Not since Moses has someone communed with our Heavenly Father in this way in his presence. Exodus chapter 25 and verses 21 & 22 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. Yet what is truly fascinating here brethren and sisters is that David does something that had never been done before in the scriptural record in that he sat before our Heavenly Father. In doing so David types his greater son our Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 110 and verse 1 Yahweh said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Interestingly chapter eight of 2nd Samuel is all about our Heavenly Father securing the kingdom unto David, by subduing his enemies. Undoubtedly David sat or kneeled upon thegroundbeforethearkandutteredthisprayerofthanksgivingandpraiseuntoourgod. Now David begins this prayer in the most unusual way brethren and sisters by asking two rhetorical questions. Who am I, O Adonai Yahweh? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? These two questions display before us the humility of the king. David here contrasts his own humble begins with the greatness of his God. In these questions there is an acknowledgement of his unworthiness of the least of all God s mercies to him. That he had no claim upon nor did the Almighty owe him. Equally David accepts and declares in this second question that all that he has been and is this day is the direct result of the blessing of our Heavenly Father. In a period of some ten years our Heavenly Father through much tribulation prepared David for 9

10 his role as king, moving him some six miles by a circuitous route from little Bethlehem to the capital Jerusalem via Hebron. What of us brethren and sisters: should we not acknowledge these same things as David here? Who am I that Almighty God should choose me or indeed who is any of us? That we should be present this day together before these emblems associated to these very same covenantal promises, as the great patriarch David? For there is nothing in any of us brethren and sisters to warrant such blessing other than our Heavenly Father s sovereign choice! As the Apostle exhorts the Corinthians: For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? Think to your self, brother - sister of all the way our Heavenly Father has brought and guided you in life to this very point? Now David is abundantly satisfied with his position as king before our Heavenly Father, he acknowledges that God has brought him a great way from watching the family sheep to now being a shepherd of his people Israel (glance at verses 8 9). Jerusalem Bible: verses What is my lineage, for you to have led me as far as this? Yet, to you, Adonai Yahweh, this seemed too little. David continues into his prayer awe struck that our Heavenly Father, desires to extend his blessing to him beyond what he has already received and in a way beyond David s wildest imagination. As we read in: Verses 19 And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Adonai Yahweh; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Adonai Yahweh? In light of the revelation David has received all that our Heavenly Father has done for him so far, seems as nothing of no consequence, completely insignificant and let us remember that David is now king and a successful one at that. He has all the best this life has to offer; yet to our God this is only an insignificant thing! There are two things for us, here brethren and sisters, firstly what our God had done for the king was only an earnest we might say of what the Almighty had planned. Secondly we see the power of our God, who is truly transcendent and totally sovereign over his creation and history to fulfil all his will. 1st Samuel chapter 13 and verses 13 & 14 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of Yahweh thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would 10

11 Yahweh have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: Yahweh hath sought him a man after his own heart, and Yahweh hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which Yahweh commanded thee. Our God brethren and sisters desires to give us the kingdom in essence he has spoken of our house, the ecclesia for a great while to come. But if we are to be present in that day, we must then respond to his overtures with the same humility, gratitude, praise and obedience as David models here. We must seek to be men and women after God s own heart. We must heed the warning given here through the failure of Saul, who could have had it all, as David was given. Now at the end of verse nineteen we have that enigmatic statement, and is this the manner of man. According to Genesius the word manner indicates a type or a pattern. Literally this reads and this is the type of the Adam, which is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ the 2nd Adam, whom we have come to remember. In the parallel passage in 1st Chronicles we find the same idea expressed this way, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree. Again the word translated estate is the same word manner meaning, type in 2nd Samuel. So literally, we can read this, and hast regarded me according to the type of the Adam who is on high. This reminds us brethren and sisters of Psalm eight. Psalm 8 and verses 4 6 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. David is humbled, astonished and awe-struck in total wonder that he is being linked to that special seed of Genesis (3:15). David realises that firstly the Christ will be of his lineage and secondly that he David was himself to be a type/pattern of his greater son. Now we too brethren and sisters in our day are equally called upon to be a type of the one we shall shortly remember. We each have been called upon to follow his pattern, to be conformed to his image. Indeed brother Thomas translates the following, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree from 1st Chronicles seventeen. In this way, and hast viewed me according to the law of the ascending Adam. As the Lord Jesus Christ rose to fulfil all that our Heavenly Father desired of the first Adam in the beginning, so we too are to ascend that we might be men and women who daily manifest our God. Philippians chapter 3 and verses Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded. 11

12 How about us then brethren and sisters are we as humbled, astonished and awe-struck in wonder, as David was here at being linked and related to the Lord Jesus Christ, the ascending Adam? No wonder, that David states, in verse twenty, and what can David say more unto thee? How privileged we are brethren and sisters to have been called out of the teeming millions upon this earth and to be associated with these exceeding great and precious promises in Christ Jesus our Lord. How humbled and thankful we should be to have been called to manifest the life of our Lord Jesus Christ in our own unique way to those that are still in darkness around about us. How then are you brother sister, how then am I doing with that? Has this past week been one of ascending to the pattern of the one we have come to remember or have we been descending after the manner of the first Adam? Indeed what will it be like for the coming week? How are we to individually choose, being reactive to the pressures of life, and being led by our emotions or by proactively making a choice to so ascend? After the example of the one represented before by the emblems. You will have noticed brethren and sisters the concentration of various titles of the deity in this short section of verses. Especially the title of Adonai Yahweh, which appears six times overall. Four times in verses and then twice more in the last two verses, so bracketing the section. Now this title is very rare in scripture and unique here in Samuel and it links us back to its first use in Genesis chapter fifthteen. Where it is used in connection with the giving of the promise of the seed singular and the seed plural and importantly with the cutting of the Abrahamic covenant. So David fully perceives that our Heavenly Father is revealing here to him personally a little more about how the Abrahamic covenant will be fulfilled through the king and his descendants. In translating this title (Adonai Yahweh), we can do it in two ways firstly in the present by he who is my ruler. Therefore acknowledging our Heavenly Father s complete sovereignty over our lives, as David does here. We can also translate this title in its future sense of he who will be rulers, speaking of the fulfilment of the covenant. As we look forward to our role in the age to come as a kingdom of priests under the Lord Jesus Christ. Again we are being shown in these things brethren and sisters that not only have we each been separated out of the world, we have equally been separated to Almighty God and for his sovereign purpose. Truly then is our Heavenly Father the ruler of our lives now? Is he to us Adonai Yahweh, he who is my ruler? Some ten times in this prayer David refers to him self before our Heavenly Father, as thy servant, such should be our mindset brethren and sisters. If we want to be among those who with David will enjoy the full privileges of this incredible covenant then we must choose to make him the sovereign of our lives now. 12

13 Verse 21 & 22 For thy word s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them. Wherefore thou art great, O Yahweh Elohim: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. David now breaks forth into praise, extolling the greatness of his God, because of what has been revealed to him, especially concerning himself and his family line. In doing so David is fully acknowledging that Almighty God is capable of fulfilling all his will and keeping his word faithfully unto his servant. What of us brethren and sisters, when was the last time you or I even personally broke forth in such praise, because you came to appreciate or understand some portion of scripture clearly? I suggest brethren and sisters if it is not something you are prone to do from time to time - that you start! Take a portion of scripture over the coming week that means something to you, now it might be from the daily readings or not. Then take five to ten minutes to meditate upon it until you have something to praise our Heavenly Father for? Such praise is comely, as we read elsewhere and indeed it is also healthy for us brethren to maintain a true perspective of our God, as David shows to us here. In verses twenty-three and twenty-four David relates all that has been revealed to him in its wider context of our Heavenly Father s people Israel. Verses And now, O Yahweh Elohim, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said. And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, Yahweh of armies is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee. For thou, O Yahweh of armies, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. And now, O Adonai Yahweh, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Adonai Yahweh, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever. We come now to the climax of David s prayer where he closes his response to our Heavenly Father s gracious covenantal gift to him boldly with a number of requests. Note how in verse twenty-seven David in deference states that he is only praying with such courage because of what has been revealed to him. And because as verse twentyeight declares he desires to see this goodness, because our Heavenly Father brethren and sisters is a God of truth (or faithfulness). Now although David desires to see the promises of God fulfilled in his life and in the lives of his descendants, especially in regard to that special seed even, our Lord Jesus 13

14 Christ. David is careful here to couch his requests in a manner that our Heavenly Father may be magnified or glorified as verse twenty-six shows. And let thy name be magnified for ever. Brethren and sisters David was ever conscious of the glory of God and in magnifying his God. Do we each have this same sensitivity? For in this he also typifies our Master his Lord and greater son. John chapter 17 and verses 1 & 4 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. David boldly prayers for our Heavenly Father to establish his promise to him. In verses 25, 28 & 29 we have the phrases and now or therefore now, which in the Hebrew is a phrase used in covenants by the superior to move from stated will to action. But here David, who is the lesser party in this covenant uses it three times calling upon our Heavenly Father to establish his promise. Equally he uses a number of imperative requests in verses 25 & 29, urging our God to fulfil these promises. David powerfully displays that he implicitly believes the word of our God and in doing so he has no fear, only faith in calling upon our Heavenly Father to fulfil that which he has spoken unto him. We brethren and sisters need to be equally as bold and courageous as David is here in our prayers calling upon the Father to specifically fulfil his revealed will. As we turn our thoughts now to the emblems before us upon the table, which speak to us of the Lord Jesus Christ the one who will bring to fruition all of David s and our own desires. For as we read elsewhere, all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God. We see in this bread, the word of life that we like David can hold to and let it shape us to be more like our beloved Lord from one degree of glory to another. Then in the wine we see the price that was paid in the shedding of his blood in that one sacrifice for sins. That we might learn to present our bodies as living sacrifices holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable response. Let us leave the last words to David: 2nd Samuel chapter 23 and verses 1 & 5 + 2nd Samuel 7:29 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, 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. Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Adonai Yahweh, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever. 14 Wayne Marshall

15 Nature But God's Machinery It is recorded of Paul and Silas that in the course of their apostolic journey they entered into the synagogue in Pisidia, where they received an invitation from the rulers of the synagogue, after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, to address the assembly, if they were so disposed. This was in the right order to bring human comment under the heading of the divine Oracles. It illustrates the contrast between ancient and modern practice. The writing of God should be the basis of all that man has to say; as Peter says, If any man speak, let him speak as the Oracles of God. This is the true communion of Spirit. Man has no Spirit in himself, except his physical power of subsistence. He has not the Spirit in that relation that would connect him with the divine intelligence as the children of God will be connected in the perfect state. He must, therefore, attach himself to the only channel in which in our age the Spirit flows. The ideas of the Spirit of God are for us at present in the Bible and nowhere else. There was a day when they flashed and sparkled by inspiration direct from the Spirit of God to the prophets and apostles; but, in our day, that refreshing operation is in abeyance, as foretold. In this respect our position is less privileged than the position of the saints in the apostolic age. All the more reason why we should avail ourselves to the utmost of the privilege which is ours in possessing the written Oracles of Yahweh s Truth. In the reading of them, we may think ourselves as the men who sometimes tap the wires of the electric telegraph, as in a time of war. You know what happens. A party of men provided with suitable apparatus go out into the open country, where perhaps the telegraph crosses a solitary wilderness. As you look at the suspended wires, and the whitened posts, you see nothing to tell you of the current of intelligent communication that is passing along, and you hear nothing unless it be the musical vibrations of the wind as it blows past in the neighbourhood of the posts. You attach your apparatus, and you are able to read on your own indicator the messages which are being transmitted from a long distance off. As we sit at our reading of the Law and the Prophets, we receive the messages transmitted ages ago to distant times. By those messages we are brought into touch with many things that were living realities in their day, and that arch over our head to another day, when they will be greater realities still. This morning, this is one of the echoes we catch of one of these long past and soon coming realities. We hear a voice saying: I am from above; ye are from beneath; I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. Taken by itself, this seems a strange voice, and seems to justify the comment which we hear from the wires almost immediately after: 15

16 He hath a demon and is mad, why hear ye him? But as we ponder all the other changes that come along the wire, the aspect of the matter changes, and we incline to that other verdict, which we hear from the same source: These are not the words of him that hath a demon; can a demon open the eyes of the blind? It will be perceived that this lays direct hold on the purpose for which we have met this morning. We have not met to commemorate a madman; but one whose whole recorded case, however silent he is to us at the present time, is a complete guarantee of the perfect truth and wisdom and greatness of his claims to be the Son of God and the saviour of the world. So, too, as we listen again, and hear the exultant adjurations of David s enthusiastic mind, to Praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men. We hear a voice, with which the modern strain is in little and less accord. David attributes everything to God; human wisdom of the nineteenth century nothing. Let us consider this for a moment. To a first look it would seem as if modern wisdom were in the right. David attributes to the voice of God things with which in our day we should be tempted to say God had nothing to do. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thundereth, the voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness, the voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests. All these are what we call the operations of Nature, and totally independent of any divine procedure. How are we to understand this apparent collision between the impressions of sense and the portrayal of Scripture? The reconciliation will be found in a view that makes the modern philosopher the shallower and the Bible the deeper and truer. The modern philosophy is correct so far as it goes; but it is embraced in a higher philosophy that contains the whole truth. God has established the institutions of Nature with a certain automatic action. The question is, whether it be not more correct to attribute the action of the ordinances to Him who established them, than to the ordinances themselves. The idea might be simplified and helped by supposing the case of a machine, introduced into a household by a father for the exercise and benefit and entertainment of his children. Let it be a number of these penny-in-the-slot machines, one for giving oranges, and another for giving toys, another sweetmeats, and so on. The father could give the oranges and sweetmeats direct; but thinks it is better for the children to earn the pence which procure for them by their own actions the things they desire, and therefore he sets up these machines all about the house, and the children go to work and enjoy the process of getting out of them, with their pence, what they fancy. The question might arise, was it the father or the machines that supplied the various 16

17 articles? Less intelligent children would say that the father had nothing to do with it that it was the machines and the pennies that brought them what they wanted. To a certain extent, these children would be right; but their truth would only be a halftruth. The eldest of the children having understanding of matters, would be righter still, who should say that it was all from their father that although the machines did it, father had put the machines there, and could take them away again. The children who should deny the father s relation to the matter would be the ignorant children, while he who should recognise the father in the case would be the intelligent child. The application of this to the matter before us must be obvious. Nature has been constructed to act automatically; but she possesses this power by reason of the initial force or power constructing her. She did not construct herself. She could not. The modern scientific doctrine of the conservation of energy is strong on this point. Nothing ever happens in nature without an antecedent energy equal to it. All nature is on the evolve. Trace the process backwards, and you must come to the first cause. In this must exist the potentiality of possibleness of all that comes after. What is this? God. There is no other ultimate conclusion. God has made heaven and earth, with all their wonderful ways. God commanded, forth they came. He spake and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast. He commanded and they were created, He hath established them for ever and ever, he hath made a decree which shall not pass. It is therefore the language of intelligence to attribute the phenomena of nature to God, as David does. Nature is automatic; but God made the automatism. He is not in bondage, however, to the work of His hands. The father who puts machines in his house for his children has absolutely sovereign authority over them. He may appear on the scene, if they go wrong, and put them right, or he may remove them altogether when he thinks they have served their purpose. So, God, in the invisible background of creation, reserves to Himself the prerogative of interference when and how He sees fit. His non-interference does not mean nature is not His work, or that its wonderful operations are not His doing. God is present by His invisible energy, as much in one part of the universe as another, but it is only at sundry times and divers manners that He makes His presence known. In the high heaven of His habitation, He is doubtless always manifest in the movements of His nucleated being. Jesus said the angels of his people do always behold the face of his Father who is in heaven. To this altitude we may also hope to rise, if we are permitted a place in the final glory, when The throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads. But, meanwhile, we have to seek after Him, in those efforts of spiritual discernment which the study of Revelation inspires. In the putting forth of this effort, we are enabled to see the relation of nature to God, and yet His separateness from all its machinery. The universe of heaven and earth may be said to be a vast machine, which He has constructed on the penny-in-the-slot system, and has made it capable of 17

18 yielding the highest beneficence in response to the efforts of which He has made its rational denizens capable but He stands by, as it were, to supplement the efforts of His children, and to repair the machine where it goes wrong. The machine has gone all wrong, so far as our earth is concerned. How it may be in other worlds we have no means of knowing; but here, through disobedience, there is curse, and pain, and futility, and abortion and death. He knows it all and, indeed, has contrived it so under the circumstances, but He purposes the healing of all in His own way and time. Jesus says, I am the way, which we may apply without reservation in the understanding of the problem. We surround his Table this morning with this full conviction, that since by Adam came death, by Christ came also the resurrection of the dead. The world may smile at our faith, and our own blind feelings may at times offer a passing rebellion; but the fact remains indelible in human history that such is the meaning and issue of the problem of human life. Israel under Moses for a thousand years is both the shadow and monument of the fact. Christ as the end of the Mosaic world, crucified and raised, is its blinding enunciation to all mankind. The history of papal tyranny, of 1,260 years, is its illustration and confirmation on the negative side of things. What is left for us therefore, as reasonable men, but to hold fast the confidence, and rejoicing of the hope, steadfast unto the end. It is not as if nature offered any alternative or contradiction; nature plus Christ is not less nature still, but nature minus Christ is nature without interest or glory. Nature promises nothing, gives us nothing, and explains nothing, apart from God, who made heaven and earth, and gave us Christ, His Son. The gospel promises everything, explains everything, and without detracting an atom from the interest of science, or the glory of the universe. Nay, Christ is for us the essential counterpart of nature; for with him all is secured earth, sun, moon and stars, and eternity. As Paul has it: All things are yours, whether the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, and ye are Christ s and Christ is God s. Without him, nothing is ours. We are portionless orphans, flitting across a transitory scene, to die and disappear, and be no more known for ever. The highest title will not avert it. The most substantial possession will not stave it off. The most resplendent honours will not avail for a moment to give us place in the permanent house of God. Only in Christ can men have this hope. He is gone to prepare a place for them. He will come again and receive them to himself. What course then, but one, is wise, and that is, to hold on amid all delays. To be patient under all affliction. Faithful against all unbelief. Obedient under all trial. True to Christ under every difficulty, knowing that the longest probation will come to an end, the keenest suffering will be forgotten at last, and that the longest watch, faithfully maintained even amidst painfulness and weariness, fastings oft and tribulation will dissolve at last in the dewdrops of joyful tears, when we step from the dismal shades of the night into the brightness of everlasting day, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints. Robert Roberts, Seasons of Comfort 18