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ear to bless, and that you'll
help, help in the pulpit, help in the pew tonight. May there
be that listening of faith, and may the Spirit of God take the
Word and bless it abundantly, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Our Bible reading this
evening was 2 Samuel chapter 5. And we're continuing on in
this life of David. It's hard to believe that we
began this in August as we saw David taking on Goliath and becoming
the champion in Israel. And then we followed David's
life while he grew stronger and Saul grew weaker. And we followed
him as Saul hunted him in the hills of Judea, in the caves,
threw a javelin at him in the palace. And that hatred from
Saul's heart against David grew more and more. We watch David
handle himself, sometimes by fear, sometimes by faith. And yet God preserved him until
the day that Saul died and David became king. Now in this chapter
5, as I named the battle for Jerusalem, This is when all the
forces of Israel and Judah are united together under David. And David leads the battle to
take this city, what was formerly known as Jebus, but also as Jerusalem. Now, who doubts that Jerusalem
is the queen city of all the world? It is alluded to and held
sacred by Jews. by Christians and by Muslims. And there is no real estate in
all of the earth that is more contested than the city of Jerusalem. It has, of course, a very long
history. And the first reference to Jerusalem
we may find is in the book of Genesis, chapter 14, when we
read about a king called Melchizedek. He was king of Salem. And it
is believed by many linguists, not by all, mind you, but by
many, that King of Salem, Melchizedek, was the king of Jerusalem. And if you look at the ending
of Jerusalem, S-A-L-E-M, Salem means peace, and Melchizedek
was the king of peace. Now Jerusalem was also, or this
area of Jebus, was also promised by God to His people Israel when
they entered into that promised land. And God listed the nations
that they would drive out, and Jebus, or the Jebusites, was
included as those people whom Israel would drive out. Let me
read to you Exodus 23 on this. For mine angel shall go before
thee, and bring thee into the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites,
the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites will I cut
off. But as you read through the book
of Joshua and Judges, you will find that Israel had never been
able to drive the Jebusites out. It wasn't for the want of trying.
And every time that they sought to take that fort, the stronghold
of Jerusalem or Zion, as it was often called, and I'll give you
the meaning of that in a while, they failed. And it seemed that
this was the hardest area of all to conquer for the people
of God. And for that reason, the Jebusites
remained very smug. I like that word, smug. There
they were up on the heights of Zion, grinning down at anyone
that would try to invade and take their city. Now if you read
with me, chapter five, verse six, you'll notice exactly what
these Jebusites were saying out of their smugness, out of their
haughty pride, They said, and the king and his men went to
Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land,
which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind
and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither, thinking David
cannot come in hither. And so there they were up on
their high ground, in a fortress, Zion, on the very upper point
of the hill of Jerusalem, and they were boasting, you will
never be able to take this city. But, and I like this word, look
at verse 7. Look at the outcome, verse 7.
Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion. And we can say that at that point
and through that battle, David under God changed the course
of history. Jerusalem, a city where the heathen
dwelt, a city that was impregnable before, was there conquered and
would become the centerpiece of God's plan and purpose for
the future work of redemption. Now, remember, Jerusalem is not
just a city. It's the place where the temple
would be built under Solomon, the place where the kings of
Israel would reign, and of course, the place where our Lord Jesus
would be arrested, tried, taken out, and crucified just outside
the city. And David is the one who conquered
the city. Now, to accomplish that, David
had to have the united forces of Israel and Judah. And if you look at chapter 4,
You will see a bit of a history here that was very important.
A man called Ish-bosheth, now he was the son of Saul. And for
two years, he had been setting himself up as the leader. And this caused a civil war between
Judah and Israel. If you go back to chapter three,
verse one, you will read about that long war. between the house
of Saul and the house of David. David waxed stronger and stronger,
and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. And it was because
of Ish-bosheth, who had been set up by Saul's former captain,
Abner. But Ish-bosheth was murdered
in his bed by two men from David's camp. And when they returned
to David and they boasted to David We killed Ishbosheth. David did something that made
him a leader. He did not reward those murderers
because Ishbosheth was murdered in his bed in cold blood. And
so David had these men executed to appease the wrath of the people
of Saul's house or Israel. That's why chapter 5 verse 1
begins with the word then. Then came all the tribes of Israel
to David unto Hebron and began to speak to him about becoming
under his leadership. This is the unity that was forming
that would make David to be king over the Israelites and those
of Judah. You'll see also in verse 3 that
David very wisely made a league with the people of Saul or Israel. So all the elders of Israel came
to King to Hebron and King David made a league with them. Now
a league would be nothing less than a political contract. And
they would say, well, we'll give you our loyalty. We will come
under your leadership if you give us certain guarantees, if
you undertake to protect us and help us and lead us wisely. And so there was this league
between David and the people of Israel. And so he had their
united forces. In verse six, you'll notice that
David gave true leadership, that he himself went to battle. and
the king and his men went to Jerusalem." Now, if you read
1 Chronicles 11 and the account that's given there, it tells
you that David went with the men of all Israel. The united
forces of the men of Israel and Judah went up to take the city
of Jerusalem. And what we see David here His
aim, of course, is to do God's will, taking the city for the
extension of God's kingdom. And we learn from the best. We
as Christians tonight, we're gonna take this Old Testament
history and we're gonna bring it into the New Testament church
and say, what would God have me to do? to extend the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus. We need to take heed to David's
goal to make the Lord's church the place of triumph. And I think you'll agree with
me tonight that the church of the Lord Jesus is a very needy
organization. The church of the Lord Jesus
today is battered and tattered and weakened by many forces.
And we need that united effort of God's people that we may take
again the land for the Lord Jesus. Now, I know this is Sunday evening,
and I know that you maybe had a long day, and I could preach
on this till midnight, but there are five short things I want
to point out here tonight that we should adopt from David's
book Let me list them to you. We need to cast out our idols. We need to overcome the impossibilities. We need to make improvements.
We need to pray for the increase. And we need to prepare for invasions. Now the only thing that's common
there is the letter I. in those words that I have chosen
as our outline. The first eye, so we've got five
eyes, the first one is to cast out the idols. In chapter five,
verse six, you have a very strange statement. And these are the
Jebusites saying this, except thou take away the blind and
the lame, thou shalt not come in hither." And then David's
response, of course, is in verse 8. It says that the lame and
the blind that are hated of David's soul, and those that cut off
the lame and the blind, David will reward by making him chief.
Very strange statement. Why would David have some kind
of an objection to blind people and lame people? Now, the common
understanding of this, that this was the Jebusites statement,
and the Jebusites were idolaters, and they had on their walls of
their fortress These images are idols. And of course, as was
it Elisha or Elijah that taunted, they have eyes, but they cannot
see. They have feet, but they cannot
walk. And so these idols were referred
to as the blind and lame. And that makes sense with David's
statement, because he said these were hated of his soul. David was a righteous man. He
was a godly man. He had a zeal for the Lord's
glory. He was jealous for God's glory. And when he heard these Jebusites
boasting in their false gods, their images, David said to his
captains, get up there. And the first man that routes
those lame and blind, those idols in other words, I will make you
chief captain. And that is the getting rid of
the idols. And so let's learn from David.
If we are to make the Lord's church advance, we must get rid
of idolatry. And let's realize it. The modern
church, or I will put it this way, the church in this modern
age is closer to idolatry than ever we think. There's idolatry
in modern contemporary worship of the charismatic kind, where
it is showmanship, where it is the exalting of men and their
entertainment talents. That becomes idolatry. There is bringing into the church
traditions that are not biblical. And they may be very nice little
routines, but they're not biblical. And there is the danger of the
ecumenical spirit of uniting with any group that calls themselves
Christian, even Roman Catholic, with all the idolatry attached
to that. And there is a danger that the
modern church or the church in this modern age goes soft, compromises,
surrenders to the spirit of idolatry that is in our land today. Now
as you drove to church tonight, How many places of worship did
you pass where inside idolatry is practiced? Here in Canada,
here in a land that has had a history of Christianity, there is now
abounding, either in houses of worship or in homes, the spirit
of idolatry. And David hated it. And I believe
the church would be stronger and wiser and godlier if there
was more hatred against idols and a greater love for the truth. So that's the first thing we
need here. We also need to overcome the impossibilities. And I come
back to this point in verse 6 where the Jebusites said, you'll never
do it. You cannot come. into this fortress of Jerusalem. It's too steep. It's too strong
for you. And yet David did it. And you
can say here that David did what men thought were impossible.
And that's really what we're about in church work. We might
think that things are impossible. But with faith and God on our
side, there is possibility of doing what otherwise would be
termed impossible. Now let's look at some of the
reasons why these Jebusites thought that it's impossible for David
to come in here. Well, there's firstly the Turian.
The city of Jerusalem is on the very peak of that range of mountains,
the central range of mountains that runs north to south in the
land of Israel. It sits on a hilltop 2,500 feet
high. From all directions, it is highly
visible. And the ground around it slopes
away very, very quickly. If you go a mile from the peak
of Jerusalem southward, eastward, or westward, the ground falls
away by 600 feet in one mile. Now, I had to get my head around
this. What does that mean? How steep
is that? Well, think of a 60-story building, a tower building 60
floors high. 10 feet per floor, 60 feet, 600
feet. Go out a mile and build a ramp
to the top. You can understand that that
is a climb and gives a strong advantage to those at the top
to withstand an invader from any direction that they may try
to approach. Not only that, But if you look
at the terrain around the city of Jerusalem, you've got a gully. And I like that word too. You've
got this gorge that goes right around the foot of the city.
And if you went to the Mount of Olives, you'd have to go down
into this gorge and go up again the other side to the Mount of
Olives. And that gully gave a natural, it's almost like a moat. It's
a place that set the city apart. It's so difficult to attack. And the Jebusites, of course,
they took comfort in that they had a city so well situated that
it could not be overcome. Now, I know sinners tonight,
and they think that they could never be Christians. And I know
Christians who think of certain people, and they say, that person
will never be born again. And that person will never be
in the church. They may come once, but that'll be it. You
will never expect that person to be born of the spirit. But
let's realize that as Christians tonight, we are in the gospel
work that believes that all things are possible. And the person
you think is the least likely to be converted, the Lord may
be pleased to work by his spirit. take the gospel message and bring
them to personal faith in the Lord Jesus. Now, there's another
reason why these Jebusites thought that they were unable to be conquered,
because they had an inner water supply. There was the Wellgion,
G-I-H-O-N, and They thought that we are well
supplied. We'll not be driven out of here.
And because of that inner supply, they thought that they could
endure any invasion. You know, the people of the world
today think that they have some kind of a good inner supply. The proud carnal man thinks that
he can do anything. endure anything, withstand anything. It really is the spirit of humanism.
Humanism says that I can do it myself, alone. But that independent
spirit is what the gospel breaks down. I think of Paul the Apostle,
the enemy of Christ and Christians. Yet see him on that road to Damascus,
bowed, humbled, saying, Lord, what will you have me to do? So take heart tonight that in
the work of the gospel, the impossible can be done. I move to a third
reason why these Jebusites thought that David will never conquer
them, because many attempts had been made before. You read in
one place in the book of Judges that this city had been set on
fire. And the Israelites had attacked
it numerous times but failed. And you know, that makes men
so proud. We look around the world tonight
and it's advancing in its ungodly ways. The church has cried out
against sin. The church has protested against
evil and the works of darkness. But it seems that the church
has failed. And we would have to confess
that. That in many ways, in standing against the crimes, the sins,
the wickedness of this generation, the church has miserably failed. And that only makes men more
proud. And they say, well, the church
has no voice anymore, has no word for me, no message from
God for me. And so they become very proud
and very heedless. But David took the city and conquered
it. Then, of course, there was that
natural hostility against the God of Israel. These Jebusites,
they were very bitter and very hostile to the glory of Jehovah. And that's just like people living
in sin. People that are living for sin
and they hear about the Lord Jesus coming from glory. And we're going to rehearse all
of that over the Christmas season and tell of Jesus, the Son of
God, God manifest in the flesh. And while Jesus was in human
form, real man, behind the flesh was the glory of the Father. And you know the story of the
transfiguration. When on that mount with Peter,
James, and John, the Lord Jesus, His glory shone through His flesh,
through His very frame. And the brightness was as the
brightness of the sun. And we preach a gospel that our
Jesus is the Lord of glory. He's the Son of God. He's not
just man. No, he became man, real man. He lived as a perfect man, but
he's God in the flesh. And these Jebusites, every time
they heard of Jehovah, they mocked. Maybe tonight you mock, or maybe
you just don't understand who Jesus is. Maybe you've never
really recognized that truly He was supernaturally conceived
in Mary's womb, and He lived a supernatural life. And when
you hear the name Jesus, especially when it's used reverently. It's almost like a shiver down
your back. It makes you tremble. That makes
you realize that you need to bow the knee to Him to accept
Him as your Savior. And so we learn here that David
did the impossible. And I believe tonight, as a gospel
minister, that God does the impossible in saving and turning hardened
hearts. And you can be saved tonight.
You may think, I'll never be a Christian. Let me tell you,
when I was 18 years old, before I was saved and someone told
me, Ian, you're going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. You're going
to give up normal life and become a student to study the Bible
and become a preacher, and you're going to go out to the far end
of Canada, and you're going to preach in a church for years
the gospel of the Lord Jesus. I would have said, that's impossible.
Absolutely madness. And you might be here tonight,
and you may have come to this meeting to hear the gospel, and
you said, I'm interested, but it'll never happen to me. Let
me tell you, when the Lord calls you, you can't resist. I believe in the irresistible
call of grace, and the will and the stubbornness of man can never
say no when Jesus says, yes, come unto me. all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now, my third
I is that we need to pray for the increase. And in chapter
five of this 2 Samuel, look at the verse, no, improvements. Let me not go too fast here.
The third one is improvements, verse nine. And David dwelt in
the fort, so he conquered it. He drove out the Jebusites and
called it, oh, of all names, he called it the City of David. And that has been Jerusalem's
name to this day. If you go on Google Maps and
look at the maps of Jerusalem, you'll see David everywhere,
Hotel David. Roads are called David. Special
buildings and government buildings are called David. And even the
military, there are names, David. David, David is the man of Jerusalem. And then it says in verse 9,
And David built round about from Milo and inward. And David went on and grew great,
and the Lord God of hosts was with him. Now that's a very interesting
point that he built round about from Milo and inward. I hadn't
a clue what that meant. But I have discovered and archeologists
have discovered that because of the steep terrain around Jerusalem
that the Jebusites had started a campaign of building staircases
and verandas that would expand the plateau of the upper level
and make it for some accessible and more user friendly. And when
David took over and became king in the city, he continued that
building program. And so that's why it says in
that, that he built roundabout from Milo and inward. extending those staircases and
verandas that would make this a more commodious place to live. And so he was in for improvements. And obviously he had the favor
of God. Something else that David built
and that was a house to live in. If you look at verse 11,
Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David and cedar trees and
carpenters and masons, and they built David an house. And David
perceived that the Lord had established him. And so he got into the building. Improvements. Let's take that
leaf out of David's book as well. The work of the gospel is never
to stand still. were to be builders. There are
improvements to be made to the work and the cause of the Lord
Jesus. That doesn't mean we're always
going to have some Christian cathedral church, but it means
that we are going to utilize those ways and means of advancing
the work of God and solidifying the work of God. Let me ask you
tonight, are you a builder? in the kingdom of God. Are you
a worker to advance the church of the Lord Jesus? Or do you
want to just sit back and say, it's good enough. That's enough. We have arrived. Do you know
in the history of the Lord's church, there's never been a
time when God's people can say that's enough. There's always
more to do. a gospel to preach, and laborers
are always in demand. Then there's the increase, verse
13 to 16. In this period, and I have counted
them here, David had 11 children born. Back in Hebron, when he
reigned there for seven years, he had had six children born. So according to this count now,
he had 17 children. It was a period of increase,
and that's just David. And all the Israelites and all
the people at that time, they were growing in number and increasing
within the city. The church of the Lord Jesus
needs to increase. We know that numbers is not everything.
But we have been praying for months and years that the Lord
will fill up the empty seats in our church. That is our prayer
every week, that God will fill the empty seats in this church.
We're thankful for all who come. We're thankful for every soul
that gather in morning, evening, midweek, whenever, to hear the
precious gospel of the Lord Jesus. And we're praying for the increase
numerically and spiritually. that souls be converted. We just
don't want bodies warming seats. That's not the goal, to see warm
seats. The goal is to see active worshipers. God's people in praise, God's
people in prayer, rejoicing in the Lord, living for Him. That's the goal. That's the increase
that we look for. Now the last I, number five,
is the invasion against the city. Go down to chapter five, verse
17, and we read here, but when the Philistines heard that they
had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came
up to seek David. Now let me tell you, they weren't
coming to shake hands with him. And they weren't coming bearing
gifts. They weren't coming and saying, David, we need a contract,
a league with you. They were seeking Dave to cut
his head off. This was a war declaration. And you'll notice what David
did. And David heard of it and went down to the hole. So David was preparing himself
very quickly. Now you'll notice where these
Philistines came to, verse 18. The Philistines also came and
spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. Now, I was very interested
in where that valley is, and I got the Google map going and
typed in Rephiam, Jerusalem, Israel, and there's the marker,
came right to the spot on the map of Israel, Rephiam. But today, it is a suburb of
Jerusalem. And while I was on that Google
map, I went for a Google drive. And because you can go with those
little arrows right down the streets and go this way and that
way and observe anything you wish, as if you were driving
along on a car on the highway. What did I observe? Well, it
was exceedingly well built up, narrowish roads. with apartment
buildings on both sides, many of them five stories high, air
conditioners attached to the side of the buildings and drooping
cords from those air conditioners. There was green grass. I was
surprised how green it was. Green shrubs, honeysuckle bushes,
yellow color and there was some red color. And cars, many European
cars, Mercedes, Volkswagen. What else? There was various
makes and sizes of cars, mostly on the smaller side. Parking
seemed to be very tight with meters. Didn't really like that
part of it, having to see those meters. Then there were restaurants,
patios, coffee shops. One had a motif of a coffee cup
held up in the air as their advertisement. And then down the street just
a little bit, McDonald's. My, those golden arches are just
everywhere. The signs were in English, Hebrew,
and Aramaic. And I looked over and saw this
wall in one area, and I got intrigued. What's that wall? And I can't
see any building behind it. And so I zoomed in and took a
little bit of maneuvering just to get to the right spot. And
there I read the sign, English, Hebrew, Aramaic. Of course, I
read the English. And it said, Alliance Church
International Cemetery. I had arrived at a cemetery.
And it reminds us wherever you go in this world, there are cemeteries. Rephaeum. And I want you to imagine
the Philistines spreading themselves out in war with an eyeshot of
that hilltop Zion seeking David. and seeking to destroy him. What did David do when he went
down to the hold? Well, look at verse 19. David
inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines?
wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? The Lord said unto David,
Go up. And there was David's cue from
the Lord. to go out against these Philistines
in battle. And with God's help that day
at a place called Baal-Pirazim, verse 20, David smoked them there,
and God gave to David a great victory. But that wasn't the
end of it. Those Philistines came back.
And David, what did he do? Well, they were back in verse
22, and the Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves
in the valley of Rephium. And when David inquired of the
Lord, he said, thou shalt not go up. So there's a different
plan this time. Don't go directly against the
Philistines. And the Lord says, fetch a compass
behind them. And by some means maneuver your
army all the way around in a big circle and come from the rear
and wait. Wait until there is a movement
in the mulberry bushes. That's the English word. If you
read the original Hebrew, it's a totally different word, but
that's the English word, mulberry bushes. And we are told here
that you've got to wait until there's a sound. And it says,
the sound of a going. And so I got my concordance,
and I looked up that word going, and it means marching, marching
feet. And when you're in that right
spot, and you see the movement in the trees, and you hear the
sound of marching feet, then go, attack the Philistines. And that's what David did. And
God went before him. And what a victory God gave to
his enemies. Now there's a couple of things
we need to say here in wrapping up. Number one when you're in
God's will you're going to have enemies. When you're doing God's
work the enemy will attack. When you are seeking to be strong
for the Lord, ridding out the idols and establishing the glory
of Christ, you're going to have the enemy attacking you. They
won't give up. Satan is set against the church
of Jesus Christ. He hates the image of God's Son. He hates people that worship
the Lord Jesus. He attacks them. And we need
to be much in prayer that the Lord will give us the victory. The second thing in wrapping
up here tonight, we need to realize that it's the Lord going before
us that will make the difference. Now I want you to read that in
verse 24, about two thirds way down that verse, for then shall
the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines."
There's the answer. There's the answer. That's why
Christians pray. That's why a Christian church
has prayer meetings. That's why God's people don't
presume that they can do things in their own strength. They wait
on the Lord and they plead with the Lord to go before us. And when He does, there is victory
for the church, for the people of God. Now, we are Sunday evening
now. Tomorrow you're going out into
the world. Let me ask you, will the Lord be going before you
tomorrow? One of the promises the Lord
gives to Christians is, I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. I will guide thee with mine eye. Those are precious
promises. They are with us in every situation. But if you're not a Christian,
if you are not a believer in the Lord Jesus, that promise
does not apply to you because you have not bowed the knee.
to accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior. Because what you're saying
is you don't need a Savior. You don't want a Savior. And
therefore tomorrow you are going out alone in your own resources,
your own strength. And let me tell you, you're going
to fall. Sin will catch up. Satan will
pull you down. He that thinketh, he standeth. Take heed lest he fall. That's
why you need the Lord as your Savior. That's why you need David's
God to go before you and to keep you in all your ways. That is
the confidence that a Christian has And the Lord goes before
us to fight those battles. So the battle for Jerusalem was
a tremendous victory in the life of David. The next thing we're
going to see, what David does in Jerusalem, he brings back
the ark. And we're going to preach that
on the first Sunday of 2015. Will you come back? The first
Sunday evening of 2015, I plan to preach on David bringing back the ark, setting
up that ark in Jerusalem, the city that was once given over
to idolatry, the place for the worship of Jehovah, where the
pillar of cloud came in and the pillar of fire by night came
down, and that city was the center of worship for the glory of the
Lord. What a great, great picture of
the Lord's church in the earth. Indeed, every church should be
a little Jerusalem, a place where the Lord's glory is abounding. Shall we close our meeting tonight
with a final hymn? It is number 561, Living for
Jesus, a life that is true. striving to please Him in all
that I do. Just verses 1 and 2, 1 and 2
tonight. ♪ The life that is good ♪ ♪ So
I need to praise Him in all that I do ♪ ♪ Yielding the nations that are near and free ♪ ♪ This is the pathway,
a blessing for me ♪ I need myself to flee. For how
did I atone? It did thyself for me. I will go unquestioned. My heart shall flee. ♪ There's more to live ♪ ♪ O Christ,
for me alone ♪ ♪ Living for Jesus ♪ ♪ Will I be one with his ♪ ♪ Mary of Galilee ♪ ♪ Christ in endless
grace ♪ ♪ To answer His call ♪ ♪ The hope
is breathing ♪ ♪ And giving my all ♪ ♪ O Jesus, Lord and Savior ♪ ♪ I give myself
to Thee ♪ ♪ I bow in Thy holy name ♪ Our Father, we thank Thee for
the light of Your Word to our hearts this evening. We pray Thee to go before us
in this week to come, guide our footsteps, direct us into that
way which is right, good, and for Your glory. We pray that
You save the lost, those that are idolaters and worshipers
of wicked things. Make them to be worshipers of
Jehovah Jesus, the Son of God, the Lamb of God. And now may
your Spirit speak on, and may your grace be with us till we
meet again. We ask this through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. Yeah.
The Battle for Jerusalem
Series David Series
The Battle for Jerusalem after David was crowned King
| Sermon ID | 12814023259 |
| Duration | 50:44 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Language | English |
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