2 Samuel 5.1-10: The City of God

Church Leadership

 1 Timothy 4.12-14

Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.

“Jonathan Edwards was the greatest evangelical mind in American history.”

       // Mark A. Noll, Historian

Colossians 1.18

He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

1 Peter 5.4

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Philippians 1.1

Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:

1 Timothy 3.1-5

^{It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).}

Titus 1.5-9

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

Jerusalem: Past, Present and Future

Matthew 21.7-14

And brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. ⁹The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" ¹⁰When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" ¹¹And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee." ¹²And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. ¹³And He said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN." ¹⁴And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

Matthew 23.37-38

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

Revelation 21.1-5; 8-11

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." ⁵And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new " And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." ⁸"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." ⁹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." ¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹having the glory of God Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

The Bible is about Jesus

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, "Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me," now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, "Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us."

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God's justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people's victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn't just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn't just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He's the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible's really not about you – it's about him.

Small Group Questions:

 

 

·      Why do we not like spiritual leadership?

 

·      Talk about why church leadership is important?

 

·      How important is it to recognize Jesus as the Messiah? Include John 20.30-31 in your discussion.

 

·      What does believing in Jesus as the suffering/rising Messiah mean? Include Isaiah 53 in your discussion.

 

·      Discuss Revelation 21.1-2; 9-10: The holy city, Jerusalem, is also the bride—the church. Talk about what it means to prepare ourselves for the great wedding to Jesus? Morally, theologically, and missionally?

 

·      Discuss Revelation 21.8: this is a description of those who are not part of the Bride who will marry Jesus. The key to this list of sins is “unbelieving” – What do you think about the point of “continuing sin in our lives comes back to a gospel issue (i.e. ‘believing the gospel’)?

 

·      Talk about Martin Luther’s idea that if we were to never break the first of the ten Commandments we would never break any of them – Read the Ten Commandments in your discussion (Exodus 20)

 

·      Talk about the ‘functional saviors’ in your life – the things you put above Jesus which cause the hurt, pain, sin in your lives.

 

 

2 Samuel 2.1-4: The Usual Suspects

Does the Bible encourage Polygamy?

Genesis 2.24

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh

 

Genesis 4.19

Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

 

“The attempt to improve on God’s marriage ordinance (Genesis 2.24) sets a disastrous precedent, on which the rest of Genesis is comment enough; and the immediate conversion of metal-working to weapon-making is equally ominous.”

       // Derek Kidner, Theologian

 

Exodus 20.14

You shall not commit adultery.

 

Deuteronomy 17.17

He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.

 

1 Timothy 3.2, 12

An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households.

 

Titus 1.6

Namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.

“It is possible that David’s marriages to Ahinoam and Abigail were politically motivated. These were both prominent women from the surrounding countryside. Their presence helps David make the transition from ally in a foreign land to candidate for the throne. It is possible even that Ahinoam was the first wife of Saul, so that David’s marriage to her was tantamount to a claim to the throne.”

       // Bill Arnold, Theologian

 

Messy Spirituality

There is nothing wrong with the spirituality of monks but what about the rest of us? Who live in the city, have a wife or husband, three children and broken washing machine? Those of us who are working, single, have friends who make more money than we do? If there a spirituality for the rest of us who are not in a monastery? The answer is Yes! What landed Jesus on the cross was the preposterous idea that common, ordinary, broken, screwed-up people could be godly!

       // Michael Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality

 

Mark 2.17

And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

 

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.”

       // C.S. Lewis, Philosopher

 

Doers of the Word, Not just Hearers

David inquires of the Lord and having heard him and understanding his will he obeys.

       // Bill Arnold, Theologian

 

James 1:22-25

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;  for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

 

Matthew 28.18-20

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 

2 Samuel 1.17-27: The Sound of Music

Lament and Mourning

Laugh with those who laugh, mourn with those who mourn

       //Romans 12:15

 

Compassion constitutes a radical form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken seriously, that they hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humanness.

       // Walter Bruegemann, Theologian

 

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, Saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.        //Luke 19:41-42

"Jesus understands grief as the ultimate criticism that had to be addressed against Jerusalem. Without it there is no newness."

       // Walter Brueggemann, Theologian

 

"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept.

       //John 11:33-35

"The riddle and insight of Biblical faith is the awareness that only anguish leads to life, only grieving leads to joy, and only embraced endings permit new beginnings. “Jesus wept.” I understand the depth of that verse. Jesus knew what we numb ones must always learn again: that weeping must be real because endings are real; and that weeping permits newness. His weeping permits the kingdom to come. Such weeping is a radical criticism, a dismantling because it means the end of all machoism; weeping is something kings rarely do without losing their thrones. Yet the loss of thrones is precisely what is called for."

       // Walter Brueggemann, Theologian

And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.

       //Revelation 21:4

Man in Black – Johnny Cash

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,


Why you never see bright colors on my back,


And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.


Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.


I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,


Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,

I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,


But is there because he's a victim of the times.



I wear the black for those who never read,


Or listened to the words that Jesus said,


About the road to happiness through love and charity,


Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.


Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,


In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,


But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,


Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.



I wear it for the sick and lonely old,


For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,

I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,


Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.



And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,


Believen' that the Lord was on their side,


I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,


Believen' that we all were on their side.



Well, there's things that never will be right I know,


And things need changin' everywhere you go,


But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,


You'll never see me wear a suit of white.



Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,


And tell the world that everything's OK,


But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,


'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.