The Rod and Restoration
II Samuel 12:15-31
Rev. Bruce Brown
I. The LORD’s Rod and Personal Anguish (verses 15-23)
a. David Before Death (verses. 15-17)
b. David After Death (verses 18-23)
II. The LORD’s Restoration and Public Triumph (verses 24-31)
a. A Restored Household (verses 24-25)
b. A Restored King (verses 26-31)
"David’s restoration as a man and as king was remarkable. It was not perfect, and it was not complete. But it was enough to point us to the kingdom of God in which all things will be put back in their proper order. That is what the death of Jesus was about (see Colossians 1:20). At the very heart of the restoration of all things is the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:14; 2:13; 3:13). The Lord Jesus Christ restores people who come to him, just as he will one day gloriously restore all things." ~ John Woodhouse
The Path to True Freedom
July 4, 2021
II Samuel 12:1-15
Rev. Bruce Brown
I. The LORD Liberates by the Word (verse 1)
II. The LORD Liberates Through Wisdom (verses 2-7)
III. The LORD Liberates in Wrath (verses 8-15)
"David’s confession provides a model because it was direct and open, and without excuse. “I have sinned,” he said, and so also should we when our transgressions are revealed. Moreover, David acknowledged that his sin was chiefly against God himself. Not that he had not sinned grievously against many people, but his sin’s chief wickedness was its offense to the Lord. Remember that this confession takes place after a most terrible punishment has been pronounced. But David did not quarrel with God’s severity against him. He was without defense in God’s court, and he confessed his sin without reservation." ~ Richard Phillips
Crime and Cover Up
II Samuel 11:1-27
Rev. Bruce Brown
June 27, 2021
I. The Causes of David's Crime (verses 1-5)
II. The Cover-Up David Commits (verses 6-2
III. The Conviction in David's Case (verses 26-27)
"David’s fall urges Christians to pray for themselves and especially for the protection of their leaders. This is why Jesus taught: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41). Paul likewise exhorts us: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2). Lesser men and women of faith than David are cautioned by his fall to keep close to God and pray for the Father to “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13)." ~ Richard Phillips
Kindness and Courage
II Samuel 10:1-19
Rev. Bruce Brown
June 20, 2021
I. The King’s Covenant Love Brings Contempt (verses 1-5)
II. The King’s Commander Imparts Courage (verses 6-14)
III. The King’s Crushing Conquest (verses 15-19)
"The early church recognized that the rebellion against God’s Christ described in Psalm 2 came to its hideous fulfilment at the cross of the Christ, and continues in the persecution of the Christ’s people. For it was Psalm 2 which they turned into prayer when they were first persecuted (Acts 4:25-29). Hanun did not take a personal dislike to the delegation. He disgraced them because of his antagonism towards David. And we, if we suffer as Christians, are suffering for Christ’s sake." ~ Tim Chester
Kindness to a Dead Dog
II Samuel 9
Rev. Bruce Brown
June 13, 2021
I. The King's Ardent Search (verses 1-6)
II. The King's Adopted Son (verses 7-11)
III. The King's Abundant Supper (verses 12-13)
"Christians may be certain to receive all the blessings of adoption as God’s children because of the words “for Christ’s sake.” These words provide the key to all the blessings of God’s covenant, for as Paul extolled, God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3). John said that our “sins are forgiven for his name’s sake” (1 John 2:12). For Christ’s sake we are justified, adopted, sanctified through the Spirit, and glorified in the end as the people of God. All these eternal riches are offered to sinners through faith in Jesus. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” he urged (Matt. 11:28). “Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Rev. 22:17)." ~ Richard Phillips
The Conquering King
II Samuel 8:1-18
Rev. Bruce Brown
June 6, 2021
I. The King’s Conquest (verses 1-6, 13-14)
II. The King’s Collection (verses 7-12)
III. The King’s Catalog (verses 15-18)
“Both Old and New Testaments testify that, on the whole, mankind and nations do not long to receive but live to resist Christ’s reign and that He will establish His rule at the last not by popular demand but by armed might (see, e.g. Ps. 2; Isa. 11:3-5; Joel 3:9-17; Zech. 14:1-5, 12-15; 2 Thess. 1:7-8, 2:8-10). The church tends to mute this strong biblical note… But surely the cross has taught us that no one defeats the dominion of darkness in a bloodless coup. Nor will history simply ooze into the Kingdom of God. That Kingdom will come at the last because Christ, David’s seed, imposes it over all objection and opposition and conquers all His and our enemies.” ~ Dale Ralph Davis
The Glory of Following Christ
John 21:20-25
Rev. Bruce Brown
May 30, 2021
I. The Demand to Follow in Contentment (verses 20-22)
II. The Necessity to Follow with Care (verses 23)
III. The Glory of Following in Confidence (verses 24
"Each of our lives is a sovereign creation of God. Our worth and our effectiveness, God’s favor in our lives, is not to be determined by comparison with others. We are not to be involved in unprofitable musings about the relative providences of our lives—how one brother has it easier than another, or how one ministry is fraught with hardship and another is not, or why one believer becomes famous and another remains obscure. We are each simply to follow Christ." ~ Kent Hughes
God Centered Prayer
Rev. Bruce Brown
II Samuel 7:18-29
January 3, 2021
I. Who Am I, LORD? (verses 18-22)
II. Who is Like Your People? (verses 23-24)
III. How Then Shall We Pray? (verses 25-29)
“God has promised believers in Jesus Christ not merely a Messiah-King to come but our personal admission into the glories and riches of his reign. Paul writes that believers are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:17). Jesus, moreover, promises that those who conquer through the faith that he gives will “sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Rev. 3:21; see also Matt. 19:28). If we learn from God’s Word how great are the promises made to us in David’s greater son, Jesus Christ, then we may be moved to sit before the Lord and pray with a humility, wonder, thanks, and praise rivaling that of King David.” ~ Richard D. Phillips
LORD and Promise
“LORD and Promise”
Rev. Bruce Brown
II Samuel 7:1-12
I. The LORD of the Promise (verses 1-11)
a. He is a Humble LORD (verses 5-7)
b. He is a Gracious LORD (verses 8-1
II. The Promise of the LORD (verses 12-17)
a. It is a Forever Promise (verses 12-13, 16)
b. It is a Steadfast Promise (verses 14-15)
“The same eternal security attends all of God’s covenant promises, including those that guarantee eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Since Jesus is the Son of God born to reign as King on David’s throne, those who believe in him may enter his forever kingdom of salvation. Jesus said: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. . . . For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:37, 40). This is God’s forever covenant with you, a promise that neither death, nor sin, nor an eternity of time will ever break, if you will believe on Jesus, the offspring of royal David and the Son of the God of grace." ~Richard D. Phillips
Joy Before the Lord
Rev. Bruce Brown
December 13, 2020
II Samuel 6:12-23
I. The Humility of David’s Joy (verses 11-13)
II. The Hunger Behind David’s Joy (verses 14-15,17-19 )
III. The Hostility Toward David’s Joy (verses 16, 20-23)
“Even though there are occasions when the people of God have cause to be solemn and reflective, or to be crying out to the Lord in brokenness of heart, the predominant theme of our personal devotion and public worship ought to be a rising sense of the joy of salvation… As he (the Christian) worships the Lord and reflects on his grace to his people, [the Christian’s] heart is lifted above the earth-bound horizon of his problems and, from the high ground of communion with the Lord, he sees everything in the perspective of the finished work of Christ: sin forgiven, the future secure, the Lord with him as the way, the truth, and the life, and heaven opened as his everlasting inheritance in his beloved Savior!” ~ Gordon Keddie
The Delightful Danger of Drawing Near
Rev. Bruce Brown
December 6, 2020
II Samuel 6:1-11
I. The Desire of the LORD’s Presence (verses 1-2)
II. The Danger of the LORD’s Holiness (verses 3-9)
III. The Delight of Dwelling with the LORD (verses 10-11)
"But just as God is holy, so also the gospel of Jesus Christ is a holy revelation of salvation. We must not treat it casually. We dare not neglect the offer purchased by the death of God’s own Son. If Uzzah suffered a temporal death by violating God’s law, we risk a far greater, eternal death by rejecting the holy gospel of Jesus Christ. John 3:36 warns us, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Richard D. Phillips
The King and His Castle
Rev. Bruce Brown
II Samuel 5:1-25
November 29, 2020
I. The King Reigns by God's Pleasure (verses 1-5)
II. The King Reigns in God's Place (verses 6-12)
III. The King Reigns with God's Presence (verses 17-25)
"By faith, let us see Jesus as he is, exalted at God’s right hand in the heavens, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1:21). Christ’s kingdom is now advancing by faith as new believers are gathered in, with the time soon ahead when all of creation will be transformed into the city of his glory and peace. Revelation 14:1 anticipates the coming scene of his glory, together with his gathered people: “behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.” Of this coming scene, the angels sing, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). Let us therefore hasten to make covenant with King Jesus through faith in his gospel, securing our own place in his city that will endure in glory forever." ~ Richard Phillips
The Wrath of the Weak
Rev. Bruce Brown
II Samuel 4:1-12
I. Assumptions Reveal Our Sin (verses 1-8)
II. Gratitude Remedies Our Idolatry (verse 9)
III. Justice Reassures God’s Saints (verses 9-12)
"It was a glorious thing for Israel to have in David a king who would enforce God’s bloody justice upon the wicked. But in Jesus Christ we have a higher sovereign and a better Savior. Christ is a king who not only inflicts justice on his enemies but who takes upon himself the penalty of his peoples’ sins, offering his own blood to save us from the severe judgment we have deserved. If in our waywardness we find God's mercy to seem severe, we nonetheless rejoice over every stroke, every loss, and every trial that leads us to the crowning mercy and the glory of knowing Jesus Christ.” ~ Richard Phillips
The Pursuit of Peace
Rev. Bruce Brown
II Samuel 3:1-30
November 15, 2020
I. Seeking Peace through Personal Advantage (verses 2-5)
II. Staging Peace for Personal Gain (verses 6-21)
III. Stalling Peace with Personal Revenge (verses 22-30)
“If we are to have peace and blessing in the church, then Christians must be led by those who are servant-hearted and zealous for the good of God’s people even at their own expense.…. For the believer in Jesus, the basis and the power of peace is Christ himself. For “he himself is our peace,” Paul writes, who has made all believers one “and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph. 2:14). Sinners may have peace with the very God they have offended through the peace that Jesus gives through his own blood. And it is through born-again Joabs, looking on the Abners of their lives, their hearts melted with the peace of Christ, no longer burning with the fires of resentment and hatred, that Jesus extends, promotes, and offers his peace to a dying, divided, and sin afflicted world.” ~ Richard Phillips
A House Divided
“A House Divided”
Rev. Bruce Brown
II Samuel 2:12-3:1
I. The Death of Unity in Israel (vss. 12-17)
II. The Death Blind Obsession Brings (vss. 18-24)
III. The Deep Divide and Better Blood (vss. 25- 3 vs. 1)
“Do not be surprised that the best human efforts achieve less than we hope for. Often much less. Do not be disillusioned when what we do achieve is weak and fragile. It is (as it has always been) God’s work to bring in His kingdom. Only when He establishes his kingdom will we know the peace for which we long. Only when we remember Bethlehem will we pray authentically “Thy kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10)” ~ John Woodhouse
Kingdom Ambition
Rev. Bruce Brown
November 1, 2020
II Samuel 2:1-11
I. How the King Began His Reign (verses 1-4a)
II. How the King Extended His Reign (verses 4b-7)
III. How the King Was Opposed (verses 8-11)
“These events provide us with an opportunity to contemplate the reign of our LORD Jesus Christ. Our King Jesus has begun to reign, not in Hebron, but in Heaven. He is the King who in perfect obedience exercises God’s good rule. His Kingdom really is God’s Kingdom. His word (even to his would-be enemies) is a word of grace, extraordinary mercy, and kindness. He is the one who will bring the kindness of God to those who come to him.” ~ John Woodhouse
Kingdom Matters
Rev. Bruce Brown
March 8, 2020
II Samuel 1:1-16
I. The Kingdom Brings Full Disclosure (verses 2-10, 15-16)
II. The Kingdom Calls Us to Sincere Grief (verses 11-12)
III. The Kingdom Operates on godly Fear (verses (13-26)
“Will you learn from what the young Amalekite learned (too late) about God’s king? If you take God’s kingdom seriously, you must take righteousness seriously. Jesus is King: do not imagine that any wrongdoing will every bring you a benefit worth having. Jesus is the Christ! To seek first the kingdom of God will mean to seek His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).” ~ John Woodhouse