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David: A Man After God’s Own Heart Series – Sermon #12 The Road To The Throne Intro: The nation of However,
a little farther north, one of Saul’s sons, a man by the name of Ishbosheth has
survived. Abner, who was the head of Saul’s army, quickly proclaims Ishbosheth
as the King of Israel, 2 Sam. 2:8-10. This sets the stage for a brutal civil war in
Thus
we have the background for our Scripture passage. The road to the throne for David was a
difficult and rocky road. It wound its
way through some tragic and very dark byways.
David was had been scorned, hated, and vilified. He had been hunted, hounded and harassed.
But, eventually, David ended up right where the Lord had promised him he would:
he ended up on the throne as the King of all As
I read and study the events that surrounded David’s rise to power in I
would like for us to follow David as he travels the road to the throne today. I
want to point out those places where
A.
2:1-4a The New King Is Crowned Davids big day has come. The moment he had waited for since he was a
teenager had finally arrived. He is
accepted, adored and anointed by his people.
He is crowned king by the people of B.
2:8-11 The New King Is Challenged No sooner is David crowned king
in This
event set the stage for the first real division within the nation of (Note: What does this have to do with us? I see here a parallel between these events
and what happens in our own lives when we come to Jesus for salvation. You see, when we are saved, we get a new
King. I would just remind you today that
we serve the Lord Jesus Christ. When a
person comes to Jesus for salvation, they cannot accept Him as Savior today and
then make Him Lord later. He is the Lord
Jesus. It impossible to divorce His role
as Savior from His role as Sovereign! In
other words, you cannot have Jesus as Savior unless you are willing to have Him
as your King as well. I realize that
some folks don’t like that or believe that, but your objects do not change the
facts. Jesus is Lord of all, Now,
that having been said, it is possible for a believer to offer Jesus Christ
partial submission. We come to Him for
salvation with good intentions. We want
to be saved and we want to go all the way for the Lord, but somewhere along the
way, we begin to pull back. We begin to
hold back areas of our lives that we control as we see fit. We keep back
compartments of our heart that we reserve for our own use. Instead of laying everything at the feet of
Jesus and acknowledging Him to be the Lord over every square inch of our life,
we hold back areas, often large areas, over which we rule. It
may be some habit that we refuse to lay down.
It may be some person that we refuse to separate from. It may be some activity that we refuse to
give up. It may some command that we
refuse to obey. It may be some old grudge that we will not forgive. The possibilities are endless, but the
results are the same. When we do this,
we are guilty of partial submission to the Lord. We are saying to Jesus, “I want all that you can give
me. I want Heaven. I want a get out of Hell free card. I want your best Jesus. But, I will not give you my best in return.
How many are living in that place
today?) II.
2:12-4:12 THE PLACE OF PAINFUL STRUGGLES ( A.
A Time Of Terrible Warfare
2 Sam. 3:1 tells the tale. There was long warfare between the house of
Saul and the house of David. (Note: When a believer’s life is
only partially submitted to the Lord, warfare is always the result. You see, from the moment we are saved, until
the day we leave this world, the house of Saul (the old nature) makes war
against the house of David (the rule of Christ in our hearts). This warfare is clearly stated in the pages
of the Bible, Gal. 5:17. This is not just some abstract thought,
however. We have all experienced the
trauma this battle can cause. It is
stated best by the words of Paul as he described this battle from his
perspective, Rom. 7:14-25. David also talked his battle with the sins of
the flesh, Psa. 19:12-13; Psa. 65:3. I
can identify with these men, how about you?
Where can the saint of God find victory over this warfare? In total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus
Christ, Gal. 5:16. When the flesh rules, there will always be
conflict in the soul So,
if there is warfare in your soul this evening and you are paying a high price
as the casualties of this war mount up in your life; the best thing you can do
is lift high the flag of surrender.
Acknowledge Jesus as your King and let His peace reign in your life.) B.
A Time Of Tragic Waste
In any war there are casualties. A
quick look at 1. 2:16-17
Many men died in the first conflict of this war 2. 2:18-29,
32 A young soldier named Asahel was slain by a seasoned warrior named
Abner. 3.
2:30-31 20 of Davids men are
dead and 360 of Abners men die. 4. 3:27-29
Abner is murdered by Joab 5.
4:1-12 Ishbosheth is
beheaded while he sleeps by two assassins, and they are executed by David when
they take the head of Ishbosheth to David. Sadly,
none of this ever had to be! If (Note: As we think about the warfare in our own lives, and of
the times when we have walked in partial surrender to the Lordship of Jesus;
what has been wasted in our own lives?
Certainly time has been wasted.
People have lost months and years of their lives and service to God
because they refused to bow in total submission to the King. Testimonies have been wasted. Opportunities have died before our very eyes
while we wandered through the quagmire of partial submission to King Jesus. Some people have allowed the whole of their
Christian lives pass by, while they stubbornly refused to yield to His absolute
control in their lives. What a
waste! What a tragedy! Won’t it be sad to stand before Him at the Judgment
Seat of Christ and find out what could have been? Won’t it be a harsh day when you have to
stand and give an account of all the wasted days, wasted opportunities and
wasted blessings? Thank
God, not another moment has to be wasted!
The entire direction and devotion of your life can change in this very
instant. All that needs to be done is
for you to surrender your all to Jesus and acknowledge Him to be your King,
your Lord and your absolute Master.) ( Often
our lives are like that bag of cement. They take on shapes that were not
intended and become hardened in that shape. That bag of cement was meant to
become a part of some beautiful structure but, because it did not reach its
place of service, it became a useless rock in the form of a bag of cement. God
wants to make something beautiful of your life. Don't let His purpose be
thwarted by a bump in the road of life.
What a waste![1]) C.
A Time Of Troubled Waiting
While all of t his warfare and waste is going on, what is David doing? If you read these chapters, he is not doing
much at all. He is mostly passive as the
battles are being fought around him. He
is merely waiting on that moment when everything God has promised him will be
delivered into his hands. For David it
was a time of patient, but troubled waiting. (Note: When Jesus saved us by His
grace, He saved us for a purpose. Do you
believe that? What was that
purpose? He saved us to serve Him and to
do His will in the world, Eph. 2:10; Matt.
5:16; Col. 1:10; While
He waits, He speaks to us about our condition.
He speaks to us through the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost, When
He does these things, He is merely trying to show us that He has a better way
for us to live our lives. If we will
only yield to Him, the warfare and the waste will be handled by Him. The casualties will diminish and life will
take on new meaning. When Jesus is
recognized to be the King of kings and the Lord of lords in our life, He
establishes a kingdom of peace, love, joy and blessing. That’s what we all want! It only comes when Jesus is Lord of a life!) III.
5:1-5 THE PLACE OF PROFOUND SURRENDER ( A.
v. 1 They Acknowledge A Relationship They come to David
acknowledging the fact that there is a family relationship between them. They are saying, “David we are connected by blood.
Only one with that family connection would have been fit to rule over them. (Note: One of the first steps in
yielding control of your life totally to the rule of King Jesus is to recognize
our connection to Him. He is qualified
to be our King because He died on the cross to redeem us from our sins, 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 1:5; Isa. 53:4-8. When we came to Him for salvation, we became
connected to Jesus by His blood! Most of
us came to Jesus to get out of our sin trouble, right? But, in any genuine salvation experience,
there is also a genuine desire to repent and to serve the Lord, 1 Pet. 1:14-15; B.
v. 2a They Acknowledge A Responsibility (Note: If we would just stop to
think of what Jesus has done for us, we would immediately see our
responsibility to Him. The very fact
that He would die for us and save us from our sins and from an eternity in Hell
is cause enough for us to bow before Him in humble surrender to His Lordship in
our lives. If we acknowledge the fact
the He saved us we are also admitting the truth that we owe Him our very
lives. The very least we can do is
surrender to Him as our Lord and our King, C.
v. 2b They Acknowledge A Revelation They verbalize their
understanding of the fact that David was King of Israel by the will of
God. They seem to grasp the truth that
to bow to David as their king is to bow to the will of God for their lives and
for their nation. (Note: So it is in our walk with
the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus is
Lord! Not because I say so, but because
God has said so, Conc: The road to the throne was long
and hard for David; but he finally arrived there and was crowned king of all But,
let’s not be too hard on those folks. I
am speaking to people today who have yet to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord
and King in your life. You are saved,
but you are not totally surrender to Him.
He is still walking the hard, long road to the throne in your
heart. Now,
I know that we all have trouble in this area.
I know I do! There are times when
I seem to say, “Lord, how about letting me sit on the throne for a while? You ever do that? I wonder how many of us are saying in our
hearts today something like this: “God being my witness, I want to enthrone Him
in my heart and life and declare Him to be Lord of all. I want to bow at His feet and yield
everything to Him. I am tired of the
warfare. I am tired of the wasted
opportunities. I am tired of making Him
wait to have what is truly His. I want to bow once and for all and surrender
everything to Jesus. I am His by
relationship. I know that He is King by
revelation and I know that I have a responsibility to bow before Him and
enthrone Him in my heart as my Lord and King? Is that your heart tonight? If it is, follow through on that desire. Bow before Him and end the battles, end the
bloodshed and enthrone Jesus in your heart.
If you are not saved, realize all that He did for you and come to the
King for what your heart needs today.
Those who love the King obey the King, |
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