4thSunday in Advent: Date: December 20, 2020
– THE SERMON: 2 Samuel 7:8-16
Theme: The Son of David Is Mankind’s Only Hope of Salvation
I. God’s Superior Plan
II. The Reign of the Son of David
III. The Son of David –Your Hope of Eternal Life
SERMON TEXT: 2 Samuel 7:8-16
8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 10 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.
12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ (NKJV)
PRAYER; THE LORD’S PRAYER
HYMN 645:1, 5 Behold, a Branch is Growing
1. Behold, a Branch is growing Of loveliest form and grace,
As prophets sung, foreknowing; It springs from Jesse’s race
And bears one little Flow’r In midst of coldest winter
At deepest midnight hour.
5. O Savior, Child of Mary, Who felt our human woe;
O Savior, King of Glory, Who dost our weakness know,
Bring us at length, we pray, To the bright courts of heaven
And to the endless day.
( Pastor Theodore Barthels )
Bulletin: Read Bulletin
Sermon: Read Sermon
THE ORDER OF SERVICE: (p. 22 Worship Supplement 2000)
THE EPISTLE LESSON: Romans 1:1-10
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (NKJV)
THE GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 126-38
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
Sermon
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
2100 16th Street SW
Austin, MN 55912-1749
Pastor Ted Barthels
Sermon preached on
December 20, 2020
4th Sunday in Advent
Scripture Lessons: Romans 1:1-7, Luke 1:26-38
Hymns: 99; 105:1,4,5,8; 645:1,5; 97:1,4
Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sermon Text: 2 Samuel 7:8-16
8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 10 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.
12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ (NKJV)
This is the Word of God.
Sanctify us, oh Lord, through Your truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.
In Christ Jesus, The Son of God and Son of David, our Savior, dear fellow Redeemed:
INTRO: Jesus’ title as the Christ – the Son of David!
Our text leads us to a deeper understanding of one of Jesus’ titles as the Christ. We are familiar with it, at least hearing it or reading it when we go through the gospels, but we may not be as familiar with its divine origins or its significance for us. One of the historic Scripture readings for Advent is also used on Palm Sunday, Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. The aspect of that event I would call to our attention this morning is the cry of praise that was used by the crowds as Jesus approached Jerusalem. They cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the Highest.” Jesus was identified as the Son of David! That meant a great deal to the people of Jews at that time. It indicates that they had indeed identified Jesus as the Messiah promised of old, and that they found His relationship to David as being significant. But why was it so significant? That is what we seek to learn from the Spirit’s inspired record of David’s life. The Spirit would have us see Jesus, —
THEME: The Son of David as Mankind’s only Hope.
We learn here of —
I. God’s Superior Plan.
In the verses before our text we are told that David had a plan. He had figured out what he was sure had to be the best way for him to honor God. He was going to build a temple for the Lord. David was sure that this would serve the Lord well and honor God’s name. David consulted Nathan the prophet, who assured David that it was a good plan that the Lord would bless, except this wasn’t the Lord’s plan. It wasn’t that David was planning something evil. It just wasn’t the Lord’s plan for David, or for the building of a house to the honor of God’s name. The Lord had a better plan, a superior plan. It wasn’t going to be accomplished by David himself, but by David’s Son.
As we read through the verses of our text we might find ourselves a little twisted up and turned around trying to follow exactly who the Lord is talking about as the Lord explains His superior plan to David. Some of what the Lord revealed to David will be fulfilled by David’s immediate successor, his son Solomon, but David catches the implications of God’s words that there is something greater planned by God. This was something that would honor God beyond David’s greatest plans, beyond any temple Solomon would build, a temple that was counted as one of the wonders of the ancient world.
You may have heard the expression; “Man proposes but God disposes.” It is oftentimes impossible for us to understand and difficult for us to accept that the Lord has different plans for us, and for His kingdom than we possess in our hearts and minds. This is all the more true when we are striving for something that is good and honors the Lord. Sometimes it simply doesn’t correlate with God’s plan. We forget that we are not able to see “the big picture” of the course of human events as the Lord has them laid out for the advancement of His kingdom in this world. So, let’s learn a lesson of faith from David, who responded to God’s plan with praise and thanksgiving proceeding from faith. None of God’s plan was going to come to pass during David’s lifetime. The Son of David that the Lord spoke of wasn’t to come for many centuries, yet David thanked and praised the Lord for the amazing grace that the Lord had bestowed upon David and his lineage, that the Messiah would come from among David’s descendants. May God so open our hearts to receive His will with such praise and thanksgiving.
We also have been richly blessed by these words of the Lord and —
II. The Reign of the Son of David.
So the Lord said to David in our text:
2 Samuel 7:12-13 When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
The Lord conveyed His meaning to David with the Spirit opening David’s understanding to comprehend that the Son of David the Lord was speaking of, the One whose kingdom would be established forever, was the Messiah. The house that the Son of David, the Messiah would build would honor God because of its spiritual nature.
So it was that Jesus came as our King when He was born in Bethlehem. Recall how the Wise Men made their inquiries. They asked, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2) King Herod thought of this Newborn King as a rival and sought to destroy Him. He was not a rival to Herod, for Jesus was so far superior to Herod or even Caesar that they could never imagine the power and might and dominion of Jesus. And yet when Jesus was interrogated by Pontius Pilate He testified, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:36-37)
Jesus’ kingdom was and remains on a far higher plain than the kingdoms of this world. No country, no empire can aspire to the majesty that Jesus possesses or the glory of His kingdom. Jesus came to secure His kingdom. He secured His throne by laying down His life for a world of sinners. He secured His kingdom by rising from death, that He might rule forevermore.
Jesus has dominion over all the earth. And yet He rules His people, His kingdom with grace as He takes possession of our hearts with the gospel. When in our text the Lord tells David that his Descendent will build Him a house, He is speaking of this spiritual building that comprises the Church of God. Peter in his first epistle captures this thought when he wrote of us and all believers: “you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house,” (1 Peter 2:5) We are the stones that Jesus the Son of David has put in place as a part of the temple of God that we might serve to the praise and glory of our Redeemer and Savior God.
Jesus, the Son of David has established this kingdom, an He has built this house and continues to build this house as more redeemed sinners are called to faith and take their place in God’s holy temple. This is the eternal kingdom of God’s Son, the Son of David.
Jesus is the Son of God and He is the Son of David. This is more than a title. It is an essential truth to our salvation. By faith you know —
III. The Son of David –Your Hope of Eternal Life.
Our epistle lesson for this morning picked up on this truth that began with the Lord’s promise to David. God’s Son is the One who lies at the heart of the Gospel. When Paul preached the Gospel it was about God’s Son who was descended from David according to the flesh. The point is that the two natures of Christ are both very real and true and essential for our salvation. The angel Gabriel said it all to Mary as we read in our gospel lesson this morning: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:31-33)
Now let’s stop to think about this. In the Old Testament the Son of God appeared as the Angel of the Lord, as a messenger of God first to Abraham, and then also to Jacob. For these excursions into His creation the Son of God took on a human form. He ate a meal that Abraham had Sarah prepare for them. When He appeared to Jacob the two of them physically wrestled, the Lord dislocating Jacob’s hip, and Jacob holding on tight to the Lord and refusing to let Him loose unless the Lord bless him. On both of these occasions the Son of God appeared human, but He wasn’t truly human. It was nothing more than a brief visit to deliver a special message. What we need to understand is that Jesus was born into this world as the Son of David. This was and remains different. We confess in the Athanasian Creed, that the Son of God took the manhood into God. He is God and Man, and He became so by the miracle of His birth of the Virgin Mary.
Your life depends on this being true. It wouldn’t be enough for the Son of God merely to appear human. We need a Savior who was fully human, yet without sin. The Lord promised David that David’s Son would sit on His throne forever. As the Son of David Jesus did what we have all failed to do, what we could not do. He fulfilled the law for us so that His righteousness could be credited to us for our salvation. And then as a human Jesus bore the guilt of the world and suffered and died as our substitute. He bore our sins in His body on the cross. Our hope of life and salvation is in the Son David.
Jesus is fully human, and yet He is the eternal God. That is how Jesus was born and that is who He is to this day and forevermore. Jesus is the eternal Son of God, our Savior! What He accomplished in His life, death and resurrection was sufficient to save us all from sin and death. Jesus, the son of David, came into the world that we might have life in His name. Beside Him there is no hope of life or salvation! In Him we have life.
“Hail, hosanna, David’s Son! Help Lord, hear our supplication!
Let Thy kingdom, scepter, crown, Bring us blessing and salvation,
That forever we may sing: Hail, Hosanna! To our King.
(The Lutheran Hymnal 55:4)
AMEN.
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Amen. (Romans15:13)