The Clear After the Rain

The Clear After the Rain 2 Sam 23:4 1 4 Is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, When the tender grass springs out of the earth, Through sunshine after rain. What a thought provoking statement David makes here. This simile is being used to describe someone who performs their duties, in this case as a ruler, with God as their guide, which is what we see in the preceding verse 2 Sam 23:3 2 3 The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, He who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God, We are going to use verse 4 as our text in this lesson. And while we won t be speaking of rulers in the specific, we are going to use the principle that David brings out to see if there are some lessons we can take from them. 3 We have been experiencing a pretty bad drought in California the past few years and haven t had much opportunity to enjoy the clear skies and fresh air that follows a cleansing rain. We have had a little respite this year so far, but not nearly enough. What a blessing it is to the land when we have a time of clear shining after the rain. We all understand that it takes both sunshine and rain to nourish the crop and we pray diligently that God will bless the Earth with an abundance of both. But the meaning of the text goes so much deeper than that. As we pointed out, these words occur in David's description of a fit, true, and wise ruler. Not all rulers are necessarily fit to rule; in David's day, as well as at the present time, the King, the Sultan, the Emperor, the Shah, all too often rule for themselves, and not their country. It seems that their one goal is to get as much as they can from the people, and to back to them as little as possible in return. In this country, especially with the laws as they are limiting the president to eight years in office, though in very special circumstances that could be more, we see many times that a man can be elected that is not good at the job. On the other hand we see men who truly have the people at heart and not the special interest groups that helped get them elected, though it does seem that those types of men are getting fewer and farther between. But David says that, where rulers were wise, just, and upright, their country flourished. A good ruler, was like "a morning without clouds"; and the people round him grew like the grass in times when, after heavy showers of rain, the sun clear and bright, and nourishes the earth. This picture that David draws is produced by two things, a combination of both rain, and the clear shining after rain of the sun. I see in this analogy the flourishing condition of spirituality as being produced by the same two things; it comes as the result of a combination of rain and sunshine. Now bear with me for a little bit and I ll see if I can explain what I am trying to say. We understand that we cannot rise to the highest spiritual state of fruit-bearing by having just rain and no sunshine. And even though we may prefer it, we shall never attain to the fullest fruitbearing by having all sunshine, and no rain. Allow me to wax poetic for a moment here. God 1

knows that for man, you and I, it takes both, the dark day of cloud and tempest as well as the bright day of sunshine and calm; and when the two influences work together in the soul, as they do in the natural world, they produce the greatest degree of fertility of the land, and the best condition of heart and life. There are four points we want to draw from this 4 1) The clear shining in the heart of the convert 2) The clear shining in the soul 3) The combination of rain and sun as seen in the ministry of the Word 4) The clear shining to come So first let s look at 5 1) The "clear shining" in the heart of the convert When a man is truly converted, how do we know? How does he know? How is it seen? In a very real sense, not all conversions are alike. What touches the heart of one may not be what affects the heart of the next. I may have experienced a great loss in my life and have turned to God for the comfort only He can offer, but someone else may have experienced the consequences of a life led in disobedience and has decided that it is time to change the circumstances of their life. Others may be seeking a stability for their family and even others may truly want to do good in their lives and others. There can be a great difference in the motivation for conversion. Some are very definite; you can tell to a minute when the man is converted. Others are very indistinct; there is a long preparatory process, and you cannot say exactly when the man turned to God. If you get up tomorrow morning, and do not look at the Almanac, but look toward the east, and take a pencil and try to mark down exactly when the sun rises, you re probably going to miss it by a minute or five or ten. This is what we often see in the workings of God s grace. The point I am making is that some hear what the word says and immediately respond, while with others it seems like it takes forever for God s Word to take root and begin to grow. The time frame is not what s important, it is the growth in the heart that is 1 Peter 3:3-4 6 3 Your adornment must not be merely external braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. When we think of the idea of a Clear shining in the heart, we are talking about the time when we all come to understand that we need God. We need to live our lives for Christ 2

Gal 2:20 7 20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. What touched your heart and made you want to live for Christ? What was the Clear Shining in your heart? The moment when God s word began to grow in our hearts was when we began to see the Clear shining of a new life before us. That s the analogy being used. When we come out of the darkness of the world into the light that is God s truth there is a clearing in our hearts that is as fresh and filling as anything there is. This brings us to our next point 8 2) The clear shining in the soul Heb 10:39 9 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. God s truth, the sacrifice of Christ, has the power to transform us from the destruction of the world to the preservation of our soul. It has the power to bring a Clear shining into our souls, to preserve them for the Clear shining of the future. That is what the writer in Hebrews is talking about in Heb 10:22 10 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. The idea of our hearts being sprinkled free is what we have been talking about. It is the idea of the clear shining of the soul. That euphoria within when we realize that through the blood of Jesus Christ or savior, God has forgiven us of our sins. Solomon in Song 2:11 11 11 For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. When the impact and the magnitude of our sin becomes a reality to us, that is darkest moment of our lives. When we realize the depth of degradation that sin drives us to, the darkness in our soul becomes palpable. What comes after the storm of sin? 1 John 1:5 12 5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. Light dispels darkness. God dispels the darkness of sin. Only in God can man find forgiveness for his sin. Only through Christ can man find the Clearing of his soul. We have all 3

seen the new convert as they come from the waters of baptism, the beauty of the light of the Gospel shining in their faces, the clearing of their soul through faithful obedience. This takes us to our next point 13 3) The combination of rain and sun as seen in the ministry of the Word I say it this way to try and illustrate that true conversion is a product of two things. 14 1) The realization of the darkness of sin 2) The recognition of the warming light of the Word of God Unfortunately times haven t changed much at all from the time of Paul until now. 2 Tim 4:3-4 15 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. Why is it that people will listen to anybody, provided that he is clever enough or eloquent enough? Think about the number of congregations that you have known over the years that were once soundly standing for the truth that have now disappeared or are practicing something other than God s truth. Why is that? What happens to cause a group of God s children to depart from the truth? That is what Paul is talking about to Timothy. Over time, decisions get made, compromises made, that slowly begin to depart from sound doctrine. Eventually those compromises and decisions lead away from that doctrine, the light of God. There is an interesting story about King George the third. I looked and couldn t verify the truth of it so please take it as an interesting illustration. The story goes that he was knowledgeable about the scriptures and that he would attend worship services of the Church of England regularly. After services he would come out and pass judgment on the sermon of the day. This isn t too different than what we do today, even myself. After I preach, the first thing I ask Karen on the way home is, how was it? Did I make my point? Was I clear in my thought process? Did the power point support the sermon? The story is that as the king would leave he would say that that just didn t work because there was nothing to feed on. Or he would say that "That will do; that will do; a soul can feed on that." That was his way of judging a sermon: "Can a soul feed on it?" I have to admit that s a good way to judge any sermon or class. What was there to feed on? If you have been coming to Church for any length of time, I doubt seriously that there is much that can be said that is new to you. But there is always something that can be taken from God s word, even if just a reminder. Peter says it this way in 2 Peter 1:12-14 16 12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. 13 I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, 4

I see in what Peter is saying the light of the word that dispels the darkness in man s soul. God s truth will always lift and support when obeyed. The light of God is found in His Word 2 Tim 1:8-10 17 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, Death, darkness, is abolished. Life and immortality are revealed in the light of the Gospel. Man can find a clear soul if he will but come to God and His light. Paul points toward the time to come Rom 5:21 18 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our last point then is 19 4) The clear shining to come Peter gives something of a summary of my thoughts in this lesson in 1 Peter 5:10 20 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. There is a period of darkness when we are trapped in the bonds of sin then we begin to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. There is a clearing in our hearts that says we can find peace through God s truth. In faithful obedience we respond to that truth and then find the clearing in our soul as we realize that our sins have been forgiven. There is a combination of the realization of the darkness of sin and the recognition of the light of truth which leads to that light at the end of the tunnel, eternal life, the eternal glory found in Christ Jesus. 1 John 2:25 21 25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. Are you ready to come out of the darkness of sin and into the light of God? Are you ready to enjoy the clear shining in your heart and soul and look to the time when Christ takes you home? Recognize your sin and see the light of God in His Word through Christ. 5