314 I The Shepherd Have Done Wrong 315 Time Drew Near For David to Die

Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner

1. “I, The Shepherd, Have Done Wrong.” Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 11 Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 24 -1 Kings 1

2. 2 Samuel 24:17 NIV When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, "I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family."

3. God the Holy Spirit tells us for man’s sin the whole creation groans and travails in pain. The slaughter of every beast, the sacrifice of every lamb proclaims with a louder voice than words can declare the horrid evil of our transgressions.

4. When David saw the destroying angel brandishing his dreadful sword over Jerusalem, he remembered his own sin with great grief, knowing that it was his sin that brought the judgment of God upon the guiltless sheep of Israel. The people were not guilty, but David of numbering Israel. Yet, they suffered for David’s transgression. The thought of that fact crushed David’s heart.

5. Oh, how our sins ought to crush our hearts before our crucified Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:18 NIV For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. Righteous For The Unrighteous

6. May God the Holy Spirit cause our hearts and minds to think always, throughout every day, of the sufferings of the holy Lamb of God for our sins, that we may constantly bow before Him in repentance and lift our hearts to Him in praise, gratitude, and love.

7. We get some idea of the evil of sin when we behold the apostate spirits cast out of heaven. We see something of the terrible evil of sin when we think of the curse of God upon the earth and upon all the sons and daughters of Adam sinning in him. Sin’s Great Evil

8. The destruction of the old world by water, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, and the everlasting torments of the damned in hell, all give us some sense of sin’s enormous evil in the sight of the holy Lord God.

9. But if we would see sin in all its exceeding sinfulness and tremendous evil, we must go to Calvary. There we behold the Lamb of God, taking away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Here, at the foot of the cross, let us take up the words of David and ask our own hearts, while confessing that we have sinned and done wickedly, What had this Lamb of God done?

10. Hebrews 7:26 NIV Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. He who knew no sin became sin.

11. Oh, blessed, Holy Spirit, let me set my heart upon the Lord Jesus, my almighty Guarantor, and remember in all He did, in all He sustained, and all He suffered, He bore my sins in His own body on the tree, and not a single sin of omission or commission was left out! Devotion Desired

12. All my iniquities, all my transgressions, and all my sins, the Lord Jehovah laid on His only Son, as Aaron laid the sins of Israel on the paschal lamb on the great day of atonement.

13. Leviticus 16:21 NIV He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task.

14. Help me, Holy Spirit, with increasing confidence of faith, with holy hope, with passionate joy, and with ever-increasing dedication, to look upon Christ my Guarantor and glory in Him, unceasingly in Him, who of God is made to me Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption.

15. “Time Drew Near For David to Die.” Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 12 Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 2-3

16. 1 Kings 2:1 NIV When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. 2 "I am about to go the way of all the earth," he said. "So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses.

17. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: 'If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.'

18. There is something very moving about a person’s dying moments, those moments when immortal souls are about to leave their earthly tabernacles and enter into eternity. As our lives draw near their end, we see things differently than we have in the past.

19. These things are true of all people dying. But when God’s saints are about to die, their dying moments are both instructive and comforting. Of course it is much better being in the company of a dying saint than a nonbeliever. I am always anxious to know what they will say, as they prepare to step into Jordan’s chilly waters. One on his deathbed told me his greatest concern was making sure his kids are serving Jesus.

20. Here we are brought again to David’s deathbed. What shall we learn from this man? What does God the Holy Spirit teach us in the life and death of this man of faith, this man after God’s own heart? There is much more to be learned than I will mention today; but if God the Holy Spirit will set these things in our hearts, they will serve us well.

21. As he lay dying, David the King of Israel was very concerned to provide God’s people with a man to succeed him who would be an even better shepherd to the Lord’s sheep than he had been. Faithful men, who have served the people of God faithfully all their lives, are always very concerned for the well-being of God’s church they are leaving behind. A Concerned shepherd

22. Of all the thoughts pressing upon the heart of a faithful shepherd, this must be one of his heaviest concerns: Who will the Lord set over this household? Who will God send to go in and out before his people? Who will the Lord God raise up to feed his people with knowledge and understanding? Nothing is of greater concern to a faithful gospel preacher than the souls of those to whom he devotes his life.

23. And when he comes to die, no weight is heavier. David’s determination to thrust out Adonijah and establish Solomon in the kingdom vividly portrays a dying, faithful shepherd in his concern, desire, and earnest prayer that the Lord would cast out all the Adonijah’s who serve their own bellies and send the people a shepherd after his own heart!

24. Our Lord Christ still has the keys. He still walks in the midst of His churches. He is still King upon His throne. When David died, Solomon reigned. When the Lord God puts out one light, He can easily cause another to shine. He has the stars in His right hand!

25. Great as this man David was, he was a sinner, just like you and me. David was a man found in obscurity, brought into royalty, and elevated to the highest possible dignity by the hand of God. How God blessed him! How God honored him! How God used him! A Forgiven Sinner

26. Then David fell by horrible transgression, giving the enemies of God occasion to blaspheme. David was recovered by that same, divine, omnipotent hand of grace that had lifted him up on high. David died as a sinner chosen in eternal love, redeemed by precious blood, saved by sovereign mercy, and preserved by immutable grace, — a forgiven sinner!

27. What mercy! Well might we pray this day as Balaam blessed. Numbers 23:10 NIV Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my final end be like theirs!” 11 Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!" 12 He answered, "Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

28. As David was the man after God’s own heart, we see in him a very obvious type of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah’s elect, our Savior. 2 Peter 1:17 NIV He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." A Type of Christ

29. As David fought the battles of the Lord, as he slew Goliath, the armies of the uncircumcised Philistines, and all Goliath’s sons, it was Christ, our mighty David, who alone obtained the victory over all our foes and won our everlasting salvation.

30. As David was anointed king over Israel and Judah contrary to the wishes of Saul and contrary to all the expectations of men, our blessed Redeemer was crowned king in Zion in direct defiance of Herod and of the Jews who declared that they would not have this man to reign over them.

31. As David made his way to the throne, by a relentless series of persecutions, afflictions, and distresses, so our Savior purchased our redemption and won His crown by all the sorrows He endured in His body, in His heart, in His soul, in His life, and in His death.

32. Go again and again, my soul, to Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, was betrayed & arrested. to Gabbatha , Pilate tried to set Jesus free, the crowd shouted “ Take him away! Crucify him! ” and to Golgotha, His sinless blood was sacrificed to wash our away sins & He died. Go a thousand times a day to the cursed tree and see the glory of our great David voluntarily made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him!

33. He became sin & died for us, but death could not hold Him! Jesus rose from the grave! We serve a risen Savior!

34. Mark 16:5 NIV As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"

35. After his death David could no longer be a type of Jesus, he remained in the ground… A dead prophet! Acts 2:29 NIV “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.

36. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

37. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “’The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ 36   “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

38. HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS?

39. Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

40. He was buried and rose on the third day.

41. When He did this He solved 2 problems we all have. He solved our sin problem because He nailed our sins to the cross; & He solved our grave problem when He rose from the dead because it proved we could also rise from the dead.

42. Jesus said, if we want to get in on of all this we must . . . BE BORN AGAIN. FOLLOW HIM; &

43. ISN’T THAT GREAT NEWS? WHO ARE YOU GOING TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH TODAY?

44. Mark 16:15 NIV  He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Numbers 6:24 NIV '"The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.“’