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“Your Kingdom Come” (Part 3 of 3)

2 Samuel 20:23–26
Program

Our choices matter! And often, one decision can have long-lasting effects. Learn how the decline of King David’s integrity and kingdom can ultimately be traced back to one particular decision. Study along with us on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.

From the Sermon

“Your Kingdom Come” — Part Two

2 Samuel 20:23–26 Sermon Includes Transcript 25:32 ID: 3531

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Seeing All of Christ

He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

What are you expecting a life of following Jesus to be like?

Luke does not introduce to us a great variety of post-resurrection appearances by Jesus. He instead chooses to focus our attention on the interaction between the risen Christ and two individuals walking along the Emmaus road—individuals who were wavering between faith and fear as they tried to make sense of life in light of the crucifixion.

Jesus’ death had confronted these early believers with a problem—namely, that their hope in Jesus as the Messiah had died with Him. Indeed, Luke records for us that they “had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21, emphasis added). These individuals had expected that when the Messiah came, He would bring victory, peace, and justice that would roll down like a vast and overwhelming river (Amos 5:24). But this hope had come to a crashing halt at the cross, where injustice seemed to have triumphed.

Yet something even better was about to happen: “While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them” (Luke 24:15). Aware of their perplexity and hopelessness, Jesus, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets … interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

It wasn’t that these people were unbelievers. It wasn’t that they didn’t know certain things the prophets had said. But in their reading of the Old Testament and in their thinking about messiahship, they had failed to grasp the big picture. They had not been paying attention to all that the prophets had spoken. They had focused on only one side of the story. They had warmed to the idea of victory—but they had failed to see that glory and victory lay at the end of a path of suffering, even death.

We cannot embrace Jesus as Messiah apart from the cross. Jesus was very clear: victory surely awaits, but only for those who take His words in Luke 9:23 to heart: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Are you willing to follow the path of suffering in order to enjoy a life with Christ in His glory? Are you at risk of turning away from God because He has not given you a victory in this life that He never promised? Be sure to see the whole story, so that setbacks and suffering do not defeat your faith or destroy the joy that comes from knowing that at the end of a hard path following a crucified King awaits the victory of seeing His face and living in His eternal kingdom. However hard or good the days of this life are, something better is always lying ahead.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

6For uI am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my vdeparture has come. 7wI have fought the good fight, xI have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Henceforth there is ylaid up for me zthe crown of righteousness, which the Lord, athe righteous judge, will award to me on bthat day, and not only to me but also to all cwho have loved his appearing.

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Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.

Be Prepared

Be Prepared

And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself.

The members of Christ's Church should be very prayerful, always seeking the unction of the Holy One to rest upon their hearts, that the kingdom of Christ may come, and that His "will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."1 But there are times when God seems especially to favor Zion; such seasons ought to be to them like "the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees."

We ought then to be doubly prayerful, doubly earnest, wrestling more at the throne than we have been used to do. Action should then be prompt and vigorous. The tide is flowing–now let us pull manfully for the shore. O for Pentecostal outpourings and Pentecostal labors.

Christian, in yourself there are times "when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees." You have a peculiar power in prayer; the Spirit of God gives you joy and gladness; the Scripture is open to you; the promises are applied; you walk in the light of God's countenance; you have peculiar freedom and liberty in devotion, and more closeness of communion with Christ than before. Now, at such joyous periods when you hear the "sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees," is the time to rouse yourself; now is the time to get rid of any evil habit, while God the Spirit helps your infirmities. Spread your sail; but remember what you sometimes sing...

I can only spread the sail;
But God must breathe the auspicious gale.

Only be sure you have the sail up. Do not miss the gale for want of preparation for it. Seek help from God, that you may be more earnest in duty when made more strong in faith, that you may be more constant in prayer when you have more liberty at the throne, that you may be more holy in your conversation while you live more closely with Christ.

1) Matthew 6:10

Devotional material is taken from Morning and Evening, written by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. Used by Truth For Life with written permission.

Daily Bible Reading for January 30

Genesis 31, Mark 2, Esther 7, Romans 2

Jacob Flees from Laban

1Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth.” 2And Jacob saw athat Laban did not regard him with favor as before. 3Then the Lord said to Jacob, b“Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

4So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was 5and said to them, c“I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father dhas been with me. 6eYou know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ften times. But God did not permit him to harm me. 8If he said, g‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. 9Thus God has htaken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. 10In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for iI have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13I am the God of Bethel, jwhere you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now karise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” 14Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there lany portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? 15Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For mhe has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. 16All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

17So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in nPaddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's ohousehold gods. 20And Jacob tricked1 Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. 21He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the pEuphrates,2 and qset his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

22When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. 24But God came to Laban the Aramean rin a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, seither good or bad.”

25And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have ttricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27Why did you flee secretly tand trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? 28And why did you not permit me uto kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. 29It is vin my power to do you harm. But the wGod of your3 father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, xeither good or bad.’ 30And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why did you ysteal my gods?” 31Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32zAnyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. 34Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. 35And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot arise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.

36Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and byour kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. cFrom my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41These twenty years I have been in your house. dI served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and eyou have changed my wages ten times. 42fIf the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the gFear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. hGod saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and irebuked you last night.”

43Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? 44Come now, jlet us make a covenant, you and I. kAnd let it be a witness between you and me.” 45So Jacob ltook a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,4 but Jacob called it Galeed.5 48Laban said, m“This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, 49nand Mizpah,6 for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another's sight. 50If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, oGod is witness between you and me.”

51Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52pThis heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. 53The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the qFear of his father Isaac, 54and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called rhis kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.

557 Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed shis grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.

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Footnotes
1 31:20 Hebrew stole the heart of; also verses 26, 27
2 31:21 Hebrew the River
3 31:29 The Hebrew for your is plural here
4 31:47 Aramaic the heap of witness
5 31:47 Hebrew the heap of witness
6 31:49 Mizpah means watchpost
7 31:55 Ch 32:1 in Hebrew

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

1And when he returned to tCapernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3uAnd they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, vthey removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5And when Jesus wsaw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, xyour sins are forgiven.” 6Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7“Why does this man speak like that? yHe is blaspheming! zWho can forgive sins but God alone?” 8And immediately Jesus, aperceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10But that you may know that bthe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and cglorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi

13He went out again beside the sea, and dall the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14eAnd as he passed by, he saw fLevi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15And as he reclined at table in his house, many gtax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16And hthe scribes of1 the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, g“Why does he eat2 with tax collectors and sinners?” 17And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. iI came not to call the righteous, jbut sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

18Now kJohn's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, l“Why do John's disciples and mthe disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19And Jesus said to them, n“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20oThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and pthen they will fast in that day. 21No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22And no one puts new wine into old qwineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”3

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

23rOne Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples sbegan to pluck heads of grain. 24And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, twhy are they doing uwhat is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25And he said to them, v“Have you never read wwhat David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26how he entered the house of God, in the time of4 xAbiathar the high priest, and ate ythe bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27And he said to them, z“The Sabbath was made for man, anot man for the Sabbath. 28So bthe Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

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Footnotes
1 2:16 Some manuscripts and
2 2:16 Some manuscripts add and drink
3 2:22 Some manuscripts omit But new wine is for fresh wineskins
4 2:26 Or in the passage about

1So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, c“What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? dEven to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3Then Queen Esther answered, e“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4fFor we have been sold, I and my people, gto be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared1 to do this?” 6And Esther said, h“A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

Haman Is Hanged

7And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into ithe palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. 8And the king returned from ithe palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on jthe couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. 9Then kHarbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, lthe gallows2 that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, mwhose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits3 high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10nSo they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. oThen the wrath of the king abated.

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Footnotes
1 7:5 Hebrew whose heart has filled him
2 7:9 Or wooden beam; also verse 10 (see note on 2:23)
3 7:9 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

God's Righteous Judgment

1Therefore you have fno excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For gin passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4Or do you presume on hthe riches of his kindness and iforbearance and jpatience, knot knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are lstoring up mwrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

6nHe will render to each one according to his works: 7to those who oby patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8but for those who are self-seeking1 and pdo not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9There will be tribulation and distress qfor every human being who does evil, the Jew rfirst and also the Greek, 10but glory and honor and speace for everyone who does good, tthe Jew first and also the Greek. 11For uGod shows no partiality.

God's Judgment and the Law

12For all who have sinned vwithout the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13For wit is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, xby nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that the work of the law is ywritten on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16zon that day when, aaccording to my gospel, God judges bthe secrets of men cby Christ Jesus.

17But if you call yourself a Jew and drely on the law and boast in God 18and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19and if you are sure that you yourself are ea guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law fthe embodiment of gknowledge and truth— 21hyou then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you irob temples? 23You who jboast in the law kdishonor God by breaking the law. 24For, las it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed mamong the Gentiles because of you.”

25For circumcision indeed is of value nif you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26So, if oa man who is uncircumcised keeps pthe precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded2 as circumcision? 27Then he who is physically3 uncircumcised but keeps the law qwill condemn you who have rthe written code4 and circumcision but break the law. 28For sno one is a Jew twho is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29But a Jew is one uinwardly, and vcircumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. wHis praise is not from man but from God.

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Footnotes
1 2:8 Or contentious
2 2:26 Or counted
3 2:27 Or is by nature
4 2:27 Or the letter
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

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