Good evening, church.
Fletcher Reed is the name of a character from a movie called Liar Liar.
Now, Jim Carrey plays Fletcher Reed.
He's an attorney who is not only a professional liar,
but keeps on making these empty promises to his 10-year-old son,
and only to leave him with disappointments and broken heart.
All his son wants to do is spend time with his dad.
He wants his dad to come to his birthday party.
He wants to play catch with him, with his brand-new catcher's mitten.
But Fletcher Reed keeps on breaking his little son's heart.
And that was a sad part of this movie.
And I think we can all relate to this story,
because I'm sure we have our shares of promises that we kept,
and also our shares of promises that we broke.
And also, unfortunately, some of us here may have experienced
what this little boy have experienced,
promise that was made by loving father or mother,
and yet, at the end, it was just broken.
Tonight, we'll see when God makes his promises.
Let us pray.
Lord, our God, we thank you that you gather us here tonight.
There are so many places that we could have gone to,
and so many different things that we could have been doing right now.
But, Lord, you moved our hearts, and you called us to be here.
And, Lord, it is better to spend one day at your house than a thousand elsewhere.
Lord, as we look into your words, and as we are about to receive your words,
Lord, I pray that you will prepare our hearts,
open our ears to hear your words.
So, Lord, pray all this in your precious name.
Amen.
Last Sunday, in 2 Samuel chapter 6,
we learned that the ark of God has returned to Israel.
And King David and the people of Israel celebrated this glorious and joyous occasion.
Now, tonight, we'll continue our study of 2 Samuel chapter 7, verses 1 through 17.
Please turn with me to page 259 in your pew Bible.
Page 259, 2 Samuel chapter 7, verses 1 through 17.
Now, when the king lived in his house,
and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,
the king said to Nathan the prophet,
See now, I dwell in a house of cedar,
but the ark of God dwells in a tent.
And Nathan said to the king,
Go to all that is in your heart,
for the Lord is with you.
So, King David expresses his desire,
and Prophet Nathan knew exactly what was in his heart.
King David wanted to build a house for God.
Bible doesn't tell us whether, you know, this came from,
because he's now living in a palace, you know, built with the cedar.
So, I don't know whether he's feeling a little guilty that God's ark is in a tent.
I'm in a huge, beautiful palace.
The Bible doesn't tell us.
But, Prophet Nathan also agrees with King David's intention.
He's like, hey, that sounds good.
You got my approval.
Go ahead and do it.
The Lord is with you.
Now, God has something completely different on his mind.
So, that very night, God tells Nathan,
now you got to go tell King David what I'm about to say.
Continuing on at verse 4.
But, that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan.
Go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord,
would you build me a house to dwell in?
I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day.
But, I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.
In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel,
did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel,
whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying,
why have you not built me a house of cedar?
King David thought it was a good idea.
Prophet Nathan thought it was a great idea.
But, as Pastor Matt read for us earlier,
from Isaiah chapter 55,
his thoughts are not our thoughts.
And, his ways are not our ways.
Isaiah 55 verse 8 and 9 tells us,
for my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Don't we experience this sometimes?
You know, we think we're about to do something great for God,
and yet God has something completely different,
a whole different plan for us.
And a lot of times, we do not understand,
and we cannot comprehend that at the time.
But maybe later on, in retrospect,
you see clearly why God did it,
certain things at a certain time,
His ways.
So, here,
all David wanted to do was build a house for God.
Instead of having the ark of God sitting inside a tent,
he wanted it to build a nice house of cedar,
and move the ark into the new house.
But God tells King David,
I have something completely different plan for you.
And also,
in Isaiah 66,
verse 1 to 2,
God tells us,
thus says the Lord,
heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What is the house that you will build for me?
And what is the place of my rest?
All these things,
my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
God created the universe.
God made everything.
So, he's telling King David,
I never asked for a house of cedar.
And on a side note,
the ark of God
had a carrying poles.
So, when God gave specific instruction in Exodus,
when they were building the ark,
God never designed the ark
to be mounted in some place,
like, fixed.
He put two carrying poles
to be carried.
Just a side note.
And,
before we look into the actual content
of the promise
that God is about to reveal to David,
let's look at the three aspects of God's promise.
Now, we're reading verses 8,
and second half of verse 9.
Now, therefore,
thus you shall say
to my servant David,
thus says the Lord of hosts,
I took you from the pasture,
from following the sheep,
that you should be prince
over my people.
Israel,
and I have been with you
wherever you went,
and have cut off
all your enemies
from before you.
Here, God tells King David,
it is God who initiates
the covenant.
It has nothing to do with
King David.
God is the one who
pursued
David.
It's just a gentle reminder
of King David's
humble beginning.
God is telling David,
you are a young shepherd boy
watching sheep,
but I pursued you,
made you king
over my people,
and I was with you
in every battle,
every war.
I cut off your enemies.
It is God
who initiates
the covenant,
and it is God
who pursued
David.
He pursued
and he is pursuing
us
with his unchanging
and life-giving
love.
It is he who
loved us first,
not
we loved him first.
Imagine with me
a,
imagine you are
a young
baseball player.
You have been
playing for
a minor league
and now you
had your huge
break.
Now you just
got picked
from the
major league,
so now you are
playing in a
major league
as a rookie.
But,
you are struggling.
You can't hit.
You keep striking
out.
And to make
things worse,
at a critical
moment,
you just made
a double play.
Often times,
you are walking
back to the dugout
with people
booing you.
now you are
scared.
You are hearing
rumors that
they are not
going to renew
your contract.
Matter of fact,
they will probably
send you back
to the minors.
So,
he is
scared.
He does not
know what to
do.
And every
minute,
free time
he gets,
he is practicing.
He is practicing
his batting skills.
He is practicing,
practicing.
And then,
out of blue,
there is a voice
from behind.
Son,
relax your
shoulders.
And for a second,
he thought he
heard a ghost.
Like,
who is here?
And when he
turned around,
there was
Carr Ripken
Jr.
watching him.
And he just
told him,
son,
relax your
shoulders.
Now,
he is just
completely blown
away.
Why is Carr
Ripken Jr.
here,
watching me
practice?
And then,
to blow him
away even
more,
Carr Ripken
Jr.
tells him,
son,
I have been
watching you
since Little
League.
And I
watched you,
you know,
every chance
I got,
I watched you
throughout high
school,
I watched you
college days,
and I watched
you while you
played for the
AAA.
And now,
I'm here to
help you.
And this
player is just
speechless.
I mean,
the legend,
the Hall of
Famer,
he wants to
be my
mentor.
Carr Ripken
Jr.
tells him,
you come here
every week,
I will teach
you all my
secrets,
and I'll make
you into the
next Carr
Ripken
Jr.
This is just
a secular
example.
But how
surprised
would this
player be?
He had no
idea.
He had no
idea the
legendary
Carr Ripken
Jr.
watched him
since his
Little League
days.
And now,
in midst of
his struggle,
he offers,
I will mentor
you.
He didn't
initiate anything.
He didn't
write letters
to Carr Ripken
Jr.
and say,
please mentor
me.
He showed
up out of
nowhere,
and he says,
I will mentor
you.
God pursued
us.
Just like
here,
God is
pursuing
King David.
God
initiates
his covenant,
and God
pursues us
with his
unchanging
love.
And in
second,
God's promise
is not
contractual.
You know,
we make
promises,
but a lot
of times,
you know,
our promises
can be
contractual.
Like,
if I do,
if you do
ABC,
you do this
for me,
and I'll
do the
same for
you.
But if
you don't
do ABC,
then I
don't have
to keep
my end
of the
bargain.
That's
promise,
but it's
more like
a contract.
But God's
promise to
us is
not
contractual.
It has
nothing to
do with
our
performance.
Just like
we read
here,
God
pursued
David.
he made
him a
king over
his people.
He fought
all David's
enemies,
and it
had nothing
to do with
David's
performance.
I'll give
you an
example of
a contractual
promise.
It's a
funny story.
Last year,
my son asked
me to buy
him a new
video game
system.
I said,
okay,
as long
as you
bring home
all A's
this semester,
then I'll
buy you
a new
video game
system.
It was
like a
contract.
You do
this,
I'll do
that.
At the end
of the
semester,
he brought
home all
A's.
Now I
have to
do my
end of
the
bargain.
I looked
up pre-owned
certified
video game
system.
There is
such a
thing.
Pre-owned
certified
video game
system,
and I
bought him
a video
game
system.
But lately
he's been
complaining
to me
that,
you know,
the Asian
parents,
Asian
parents have
a whole
different
grading
system.
So I
say,
yeah,
what's
that?
And my
son tells
me,
to you
guys,
A means
average.
B means
below
average.
C means
can't come
home.
D means,
no,
I'm sorry,
C means
can't have
dinner.
D means
don't come
home.
F means
find another
family.
I said to
my son,
well,
no,
that's not,
I'm glad
this is being
recorded.
I said,
no,
that's not
your parents'
system.
That was
your
grandmother's
system,
my tiger
mom.
so,
the point
I'm trying
to make
here is
that it
has nothing
to do
with our
performance.
God's
grace to
us is
a gift.
Not
because we
achieved
certain
level
of a
spirituality.
Not
because we
achieved
certain
amount
of deeds.
It is
his grace
to us
a gift.
And
third,
God does
not make
empty
promises.
He's not
like Fletcher
Reed.
Fletcher
Reed in
the movie
makes plenty
of empty
promises.
Just like
what Pastor
Matt read
for us
earlier,
I'm going
now back
to Isaiah
55
verses
10 and
11.
For as
the rain
and the
snow
come down
from heaven
and do
not return
there but
water the
earth,
making it
bring forth
and sprout,
giving seed
to the
sower and
bread to
the eater,
so shall
my word
be that
goes out
from my
mouth.
It shall
not return
to me
empty,
but it
shall
accomplish
that which
I purpose
and shall
succeed
in the
thing for
which I
sent it.
So when
God
makes
promise,
his word
does not
return to
him empty.
So
before we
look into
his actual,
the actual
content of
his promise
with David,
the three
aspects,
it is God
who initiates
and God
pursues
us.
Secondly,
he does not
look at our
performances.
It is his
sovereign love.
His grace
is a gift
to us
and God
does not
make empty
promises.
Now let's
look into
the promise
that God
makes to
David.
Verses,
second half
of verse
nine,
starting,
and I
will make
for you
a great
name,
like the
name of
the great
ones of
the earth.
And I
will appoint
a place
for my
people Israel
and will
plant them
so that
they may
dwell in
their own
place
and be
disturbed
no more.
And
violent
men
shall
afflict them
no more
as formerly
from the
time
that I
appointed
judges
over my
people Israel.
And I
will give
you rest
from all
your enemies.
Moreover,
the Lord
declares
to you
that the
Lord will
make you
a house.
When your
days are
fulfilled
and you
lie down
with your
fathers,
I will
raise up
your offspring
after you
who shall
come from
your body
and I
will establish
his kingdom
forever.
He shall
build a
house
for my
name
and I
will
establish
the throne
of his
kingdom
forever.
I will
be to
him a
father
and he
shall
be to
me
a son.
When
he commits
iniquity,
I will
discipline
him with
the rod
of men,
with the
stripes
of the
sons of
men,
but my
steadfast
love
will not
depart
from him
as I
took it
from
soul,
whom I
put away
from
before you.
And your
house and
your kingdom
shall be
made sure
forever
before me.
Your throne
shall be
established
forever.
When I
was
reading this
passage,
the language
was a little
confusing.
He talks
about
David's
son,
he talks
about
kingdom
lasting
forever,
he talks
about
his son
committing
iniquity,
and then
he talks
about
I'm going
to discipline
him,
and then
he talks
about
your
kingdom
is going
to last
forever.
It's
confusing.
So,
if this
is a
paper,
a promise,
one page
is completely
a promise
for the
near future,
like
King David's
son Solomon
is going
to build
a temple
for God,
and so
on.
The other
page is
full of
eternal
language.
Your kingdom
lasts forever.
Your throne
will be
established
forever.
If I had
two people,
one on
each side,
one is
reading me
the eternal
language,
and the
other one
is reading
me non-eternal
language,
I will
be confused.
I think
it's
somewhat
like that.
The
language,
his promise
of
immediate
future,
few
generations
down the
road,
and his
promise
of
eternal
kingdom,
which is
fulfilled
by Jesus,
it's written
together
simultaneously.
So,
when you
read this,
you can
get confused.
Like,
for instance,
like verse
14,
it says,
I will
be to
him a
father,
and he
shall be
to me
a son.
This is
a familiar
promise,
because in
Hebrew
chapter 1,
when they
describe Jesus,
the same
language is
used.
I'll be a
father to
him,
he'll be a
son to
me.
So,
first,
let's
separate
this
language
into
eternal
promise,
and the
promise
of
what's
going to
happen to
David,
his son,
and his
descendants.
Going back
to verse 9,
the second half
of verse 9,
I will make
for you a
great name,
like the name
of the great
ones of the
earth,
and I will
appoint a
place for
my people
Israel,
and I will
plant them
so that they
may dwell in
their own
place,
and be
disturbed no
more.
So,
God cut
off all
David's enemies,
and they
begin to
enjoy peace
and prosperity.
And then,
goes down
to verse
12,
when your
days are
fulfilled,
and you
lie down
with your
fathers,
I will
raise up
your
offspring
after you,
who shall
come from
your body,
and I will
establish
his
kingdom.
He shall
build a
house for
my name,
and I will
establish the
throne of
his kingdom
forever.
Now,
here,
he's telling
David,
your son,
the wisest
man ever
lived,
is going
to build
a temple
to honor
my name.
God
and you
see that
happening
a little
bit later
in the
book.
And what
is this
language about
when he
commits
iniquity,
verse 14,
I will
discipline
him with
the rod
of men,
with the
stripes
of the
sons of
men.
Well,
David's
descendants,
as you
study the
first and
second
kings,
first and
second
chronicles,
they start
worshiping
idols,
they become
rebellious,
they don't
always keep
the law.
So,
God raises
sometimes
different enemies
to discipline
them,
like a
father
disciplines a
child.
So,
this is
all about
what's going
to happen
right after
you,
and also
a little
bit down
as your
descendants,
you know,
do this
and that.
God made
a similar
promise to
Abraham,
14
generations
before
David.
In
Genesis
chapter 12,
God makes
promise with
Abraham,
and basically
the promise
contains three
blessings.
One,
God tells
Abraham,
look at the
stars,
can you
count the
number of
stars?
I will
make your
descendants as
numerous as
stars in
the sky.
Second
blessing,
he tells
them,
I am
going to
make you
a father
of a
nation.
So,
a nation
is born,
and that
nation is
Israel.
And then
the third,
the third
blessing is,
through you,
Abraham,
all nations,
all families,
all ethnic
groups will be
blessed.
Now,
you know,
him having
descendants,
him becoming
father of a
nation,
yes,
that is a
non-eternal
promise.
All nations,
all people
getting blessed
through Abraham,
that is an
eternal blessing,
that's a
spiritual blessing,
blessing,
which is
fulfilled by
Jesus.
So,
at this
point,
you may
ask,
but what
do these
promises,
which were
made thousands
of years ago,
have to do
with us
today?
Well,
that third
blessing God
gave Abraham,
all nations
will be blessed
through you,
it has
everything to
do with us
today.
God sent
his son,
Jesus,
to die
for our
sin.
and he
gave us
salvation.
So,
those who
believe him,
believe my
son,
will have
salvation.
And that
promise is
still ongoing
as the
gospel is
preached
here in
all different
parts of the
world.
Just like
God said to
Abraham,
all families,
all nations,
all ethnic
groups,
will be
blessed
through you.
Going back
to the
promise that
he made
with King
David,
the eternal
promise that
your kingdom
will last
forever.
Your throne
will be
established
forever.
No human
kingdom can
last forever,
but Jesus'
kingdom
will last
forever.
Again,
God sent
his son
to die
in our
place.
He
resurrected,
he overcame
the death
power of
sin,
and now
his kingdom
will last
forever.
So God's
promise to
David is
fulfilled
through
his descendant,
Jesus.
And again,
what does that
have to do
with us
today?
Well,
you receive
Jesus,
you have
salvation.
But there's
a little bit
more,
actually a lot
more.
Let's turn
to John
14.
It's on
page
901
in your
pew Bible.
I would like
us to look
at two more
passages.
pages.
Please turn
with me to
page 901,
John
chapter 14,
verses 2
to 3,
and then
we'll also
read verses
15 through
18.
Here Jesus
tells us,
in my
father's
house
are many
rooms.
If it were
not so,
would I have
told you that
I go to
prepare a
place for
you?
And if I
go and
prepare a
place for
you,
I will
come again
and will
take you
to myself
that where
I am
you,
where I
am,
you may
be also.
Isn't it
funny?
King David
wanted to
build a
house for
God.
Here Jesus
tells us,
I have a
house,
my father's
house.
There are
many rooms
and I'm
going to
take you
there.
Let's look
at verses
15 and
18.
He promises,
Jesus promises,
if you love
me, you
will keep
my commandments
and I
will ask
the father
and he
will give
you another
helper,
the Holy
Spirit,
to be with
you forever,
even the
spirit of
truth whom
the world
cannot receive
because it
neither sees
him,
nor knows
him,
you know
him,
for he
dwells
with you
and will
be in
you.
I will
not leave
you as
orphans.
So,
you know,
after you
receive Jesus
and,
yes,
I'll be
with him
eternally in
his kingdom,
but what
about from
now till
we get
there?
Are we
going to
be like
orphans?
Is Jesus
telling us,
I die for
you on the
cross,
my job's
done,
okay,
see you,
you know,
when I
see you.
It's not
like that.
Jesus said,
I will
not leave
you as
orphans.
My
spirit,
the helper,
Holy Spirit,
will be with
you and he
will live
inside you.
God.
And what
does this
mean?
Let's
look at
another
passage.
It's in
Acts,
it's
9,
page 911,
911 in
your pew
Bible.
Acts
chapter 3,
Acts chapter
3,
verses 22
to 23,
and then we
will look at
verses 25
to 26.
Verse 22,
Acts chapter
3,
verse 22.
Moses said,
the Lord
God will
raise up
for you
a prophet
like me
from your
brothers.
You shall
listen to
him in
whatever he
tells you
and he
shall be
that every
soul who
does not
listen to
that prophet
shall be
destroyed
from the
people.
So once
again,
through
Moses,
God is
telling his
people,
I will
raise up
a prophet
like Moses.
He's
talking about
Jesus.
And you
should listen
to him
when he
comes.
Verses
25 to
26,
you are
the sons
of the
prophets
and of
the covenant
that God
made with
your fathers
saying to
Abraham,
now we're
going back
to the
covenant
that he
made with
Abraham.
and in
your
offspring
shall
all the
families
of the
earth
be
blessed.
God
having
raised
up his
servant,
he's
talking about
his son
Jesus,
sent him
to you
first
to bless
you
by
turning
every
one of
you
from
your
wickedness.
By
turning
every
one of
you
from
your
wicked
ways.
other
translations
says
turning
every
one
of
you
from
your
sinful
ways.
I
think
we
all
struggle
with
sin,
the
idols
that
we
have
brought
into
our
lives.
You
know,
secret
sin
that we
flirt
with
and
then
you
keep
doing
that
and
you
do
that
enough
it
becomes
your
habitual
sin
become
addiction
and
then
you
keep
on
doing
it
then
it
has
grip
on
you.
It
makes
you
captive
to
sins.
And
I
think
some
people
call
it
a
besetting
sin.
It
makes
you
powerless
because
the
sin
has
such
a
grip
on
you
may
be
confessing
every
day
but
you
just
cannot
be
set
free
from
that
sin.
Verse
26
God
having
raised
up
his
servant
send
him
to
you
first
to
bless
you
to
bless
you
by
turning
every
one
of
you
from
your
wicked
ways
sinful
ways.
This
is
God's
promise.
We
struggle
we
try
to
be
set
free
but
we
just
cannot
do
that
with
our
own
human
strength.
Cling
on to
God's
promise.
As
we
learn
today
that
his
promise
he
doesn't
make
empty
promise
and
he's
pursuing
us
right
now.
He's
pursuing
each
one
of
us
with
his
unchanging
life
giving
love.
A
grace
that's
a
gift.
So
when
you
try
to
break
away
from
this
with
your
own
human
strength
or
with
seven
steps
of
this
or
seven
steps
of
that
you
just
cannot
sometimes
you
cannot
break
away
unless
God's
power
in
you
through
Holy
Spirit
breaks
you
loose.
then
you
will
turn
away
and
get
set
free.
I
just
finished
reading
John
Newton's
biography
really
some
parts
were very
hard to
read
especially
when
you know
when
they
talk
about
John
Newton
is the
man
who
wrote
the
words
for
the
famous
song
Amazing
Grace
and
in
few
minutes
we're
going
to
sing
that
song
but
before
he
tasted
God's
amazing
grace
his
life
was
in
complete
disgrace
as
a
slave
ship
captain
there
was
so
much
atrocity
that
was
committed
in the
ship
and
he
called
himself
the
most
vile
wretched
person
and
yet
after
he
received
the
good
news
the
gospel
his
life
started
to
change
God
changed
his
life
completely
around
from
being
the
most
vile
person
to
a
preacher
and
then
it
didn't
stop
there
John
Newton
played
one of
the
key
roles
in
abolishing
slave
trade
in
England
along
with
William
Wilberforce
so my
brothers and
sisters in
Christ
as you
leave here
tonight
just
if there's
one thing
you take
away
please
please take
away
Acts
chapter
3
verse
26
that he
made
this
promise
to us
that he
will
bless
us
to turn
away
from
our
wicked
ways
and like
Jesus
said
there are
many
rooms
in our
father's
house
and he's
not
gonna leave
us like
orphans
and the
Holy Spirit
dwells in
us
let us
pray
Lord our
God
we thank you
for your
promise
and Lord
we thank you
and praise you
because you
pursued us
you loved
us first
and you
kept your
promise
you sent
your son
to die
in our
place
so that we
can have
eternal life
and then you
didn't just
stop there
you said
I will not
leave you
like orphans
but my
spirit
the helper
will dwell
in you
to turn
you away
from
your wicked
ways
so Lord
we thank
you
and we
praise you
for all
you did
and what
Jesus did
on the
cross
for each
one of us
in Jesus
name
amen