Redemption City Church
David: Poet, Warrior, King Part 13 (Josh Bachand) 09/01/24 (I Samuel 30-31)
take that. Alright. Well, good morning, everyone. Went to secure a stand, but you know what? It's taped to the ground, so I'll be okay. Yeah, I know. I could take this one. Thank you, Alex. You do get tunnel vision when you get up here. Well, if no one's told you yet, welcome. I'm glad you're here at Redemption City Church, and we just want to extend that invitation, and that welcome to all. My name is Joshua Beshand, and I am the part-time pastoral resident here at the Church for this coming year. And so I get the opportunity to serve with primarily six through 12th graders, and also with the technology. And as Sarah said earlier, we're starting our youth group up in a couple of weeks. If you want to schedule, or you just want to know a little more about that, you can talk to me or on your way out on the side. There's some black tables, and I did print and leave some schedules. And so if you want to know more about that, you can either grab that schedule or reach out to me after the service or on Slack. So you may be joining us here this morning and wondering where we are, or you may be joining us this morning and been on this long, expansive journey that we've been on. We have been going all summer long through the study, a study of the life of David, primarily in the book of 1st Samuel. And we've been looking mostly at the life of Samuel, Saul, and David, and how those have been all going about with Israel, their triumphs, their failures, their faults, their rises. And we'll actually at some point today do a full recap of where we've been. The time isn't now, but that's coming up soon. But I do want to make two key points as we dig into the text this morning and as we come kind of to the end of our series. The first point that I want to make this morning is that the purpose of this book is not to merely draw do's and don'ts from the main characters. Because this is a story with characters, we can pull morality and specific character lessons from our figures. Be like David. Don't be like Saul. But to just do that is doing a disservice to this as a piece of literature and as the living word of God. The comparisons and applications we draw from these stories is way deeper than a one-to-one comparison. And ultimately, none of these characters are the true main focus, nor the ultimate aspiration of who we should be. Rather, the second point I want to make this morning is that God is the main character of First Samuel. David is a man after God's own heart and God's faithfulness, provision, providence, grace, mercy, and judgment are on full display in this book. It's easy to take this text as a moral story, as a tale, but something bigger is going on here. It's a story about God, who he is, and what he has done for his people. And that's the focus of the book of First Samuel. So keep those things in mind as we dig in this morning. We're going to be covering the last two chapters of First Samuel, First Samuel chapter 30 and 31. So if you want to kind of earmark that and have that ready to read here in a little bit, we're going to be digging in there. And these two chapters that we're going to be covering today could not be more stark in contrast. Chapter 30 is my jam, right? In personality, tone, story, I am all about it. There's a conflict, a beautiful resolution, character growth, our hero going from despair to triumph. It is your neatly tightly packaged 22-minute sitcom where everything gets a happy ending at the end, right? Like the office, Ted Lasso, I watch a lot of comedies, right? I get it. I dig this. But then you get to chapter 31. It's brutal. Personally, does not jive with me. No resolution, no happy ending, nothing but chaos, destruction, depravity. It's unflinchingly unapologetic in its presentation. Think like the Breaking Bad, the Sopranos, or Barry, shows that are far too sad for me to watch in their entirety or that I haven't even encountered because I can't handle that. But these two chapters provide the opportunity to do a deep dive on two men who start with an anointing from God to be king and where they end up. We see the fruits of a life lived in humbly seeking after God and the fruits of a life that is constantly obsessed with self-preservation and with power. Both men, worshiped the same God, are both anointed by God, yet have two completely different outcomes. Now, not to contradict myself from earlier, keep an eye out for what God is doing in this text. His nature, his sovereignty, his continued work and plan are all evident in these two chapters today if you keep an open eye out for them. Today, I want to boil down the text to one statement that I want to examine and kind of uses the ones as we go through this text today and it's this. David and Saul's life contrasts a king ruling with wholehearted devotion to God, a king ruling with partial devotion to God, leading us to the perfect king, Jesus. And to break down this text along these lines, here's how we'll be kind of chopping things up today. We're going to look first at first Samuel chapter 30, which is going to go over David's kingship and what that looks like in wholehearted devotion to God. In chapter 31 and the first half, we're going to flip back over to Saul and see his kingship and partiality to God. And finally, using the last half of chapter 31, we're going to look at Jesus' kingship in light of the gospel. And finally, what I hope to impart upon us as a body today is this, that we would follow the true king having assurance in the gospel and sharing it throughout grand rapids. Let's pray together. God, we just thank you for this day and this opportunity that we get to just gather together to dig into your word. And I pray this morning, God, that you would just use these words not as my own, but that they would be from you. That God, your spirit, would just be at work within us to help us to hear what we need to hear and to go forward with us in the way we need to. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. All right. Well, if you weren't with us last week, we left off in an interesting situation. David had been living amongst the Philistines for a time and the Philistines were gathering themselves to go into battle against the Israelites. And when they got to the battlefield, David's sweating it a little bit because he's going to have to go and fight his own people, but providentially gets dismissed from the battle. And so David and his men gather up and they start the three day journey back home to Ziklag. But upon arriving home, something has happened. See, David had been going on these raids for the last 16 or 18 months against the Amalekites. And they found that a fitting opportunity while David and his men and all the warriors were out of town to go and take things for themselves. They burned it to the ground and stole David's wives and everything within the story. Verses one through three tell the story of what David and his men arrived to see. Now, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against Nagabb and against Ziklag. They'd overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went on their way. And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Now, going forward, here's what I would like to do. I would just like to define some terms and put a little context on this story. Because even as I was saying, the Philistines were with David and the Amalekites came and raided and the Israelites, it's a soup, right? And I struggled to keep names and people groups and all that together. So let's just kind of break that down together here for a second. Okay? There's two stories going on simultaneously that we're covering today. The first is David and he's fighting the Amalekites, right? The Amalekites came and they raided this Philistine city, Ziklag, where David had been staying, because the Philistines are out on the battlefield fighting Saul and the Israelites. Now, we're going to cover the Philistines in chapter 31. I'll give a running start on them. Let's focus on the Amalekites for now. The Amalekites have been the mortal enemies of the Israelites. When God's people left Egypt, they were on their way to the Promised Land, the Amalekites were the first group of people to go and attack the Israelites. And this is that famous story where Joshua gets his first military victory. It's the story where everyone has to hold Moses' arms up, because when they're up, they're winning and when they're down, they're losing. That's where this story comes from, the Amalekites. And after this event takes place, God promises to wipe out, to destroy the Amalekites. And so in first Samuel chapter 15, God gives Saul the command to destroy the Amalekites completely. But Saul decides to hold back. He holds back some of the fat and calves, the best sheep, the oxen, the lambs, and other good things, along with King Agag. Saul completely misses the point of God's commandment. And because of this, he was rejected by God as the king of Israel. And David is anointed as the next king of Israel. But Saul does not immediately vacate his position as king. In fact, he does everything possible to secure and hold on to this position. And he has been on a singular mission to kill David by whatever means necessary to maintain his throne. And as the story has been going on, Saul has been stooping to lower and lower lows, pushing David to live amongst the Philistines, which is where we pick up today. So hopefully that gives a little bit of context and weight behind this attack from the Amalekites. It's not, it's deeper than a surface level tribal or land dispute. This is something that has been going on for generations. Back in Ziklag when they arrived, David and his men are gutted. And verse four, we see, then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David's two wives had also been taken captive. I know him and Jezreel, of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed for the people spoke of stoning him. Because all the people were bitter and soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord, his God. And David said to Abathar the priest, the Lord, his God, the son of him, like bring me the Ephod. So Abathar brought the Ephod to David. And David inquired to the Lord, shall I pursue after this band, shall I overtake them? He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and surely rescue." This text is interesting on several different levels. This is the first account we have of David and his men turning against him. They're done. They are ready to kill David and move on. And it's also an interesting text because this is the first activity we have had of God since chapter 26. And the first we've heard about the Ephod since chapter 23. Narratively, it almost feels like David has abandoned God. After all, he's living with the Philistines about to fight Israel. But who David is and where his true allegiances lie, emerge here. David makes a choice that sets him starkly apart from Saul. Because when Saul has been challenged in the past, Saul used his own means to solve his problems. He used threats, murder, even a witch to try and solve his problems. But David, in his moment of crisis, turns to God. He strengthens himself and the Lord by going to someone who is close to God, the priest, and asking God specifically for guidance. And you may be thinking, as you sit here today, how much stronger my faith would be in God is if I just had this access. If I could talk to a priest who could just go to this thing that magically like told me the will of God, that would be I just I long for that. My faith would just be so much stronger. I feel like I could actually believe it's much more tangible. I think that Jesus's disciples had to have felt similar similarly after spending three years with him. And then Jesus says, well, I'm about to leave, but but don't worry, the spirit's coming. And they're like, what? Like, no, this can't actually be greater than you. This kid, how is this thing going to guide us into all truth? We have direct access to you right here. But yet we see how powerful is the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, the same spirit that's in you and in me, God and dwelling in us. You see, my friends, we have direct access to the Father. Hebrews chapter four versus 14 through 16 put it this way. Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need. So yes, there was a priest and yes, there was an ephod, but now we have Jesus as our high priest, accessible at any time who has endured what we have are currently enduring, who offers grace and mercy in our time of need. Now, friends, Jesus is not a cosmic vending machine. He is not a genie. You don't say a magical incantation and get whatever you want from Jesus and life oftentimes doesn't wrap up in nice neat resolutions. But what does God offer? Mercy and grace. My friends, at this point in your life, if you're spiraling, if you feel deep in sin, if you feel deep in depression, doubt in the pits of despair, unsure of how to get out, strengthen yourself and others, be humble and keep coming to God. You see, Saul had this horrible habit of wanting God to just rescue him, to just take care of it. And if God was silent or an answer was a little bit delayed, Saul didn't have the faith enough to go through the wilderness. He lacked the humility to let God be the provider. Now contrast that with David. David is in the wilderness for conservatively about 13 years. Consider, if David, who is in the wilderness on the run for his life, just hitting one of the lowest points in his life so far can have faith and assurance that God will continue to provide for him, it says something. In fact, David wrote a Psalm about it that I'd like to look at together, Psalm chapter four. Answer me when I call, "Oh God of my righteousness. You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer, O men. How long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek afterlies? But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself. The Lord hears when I call to him. Be angry. Do not sin and do not sin. Pondering your own hearts on your beds and be silent. Offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord. There are many who say, "Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord. You have put more joy in my heart than they have when they're grain and wine abound. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep for you alone, O Lord. Make me dwell in safety." I do want to pause here one more time. And just as carefully as I can convey, that some of us, most of us, are going through some heavy, difficult things in our lives right now. And I'm not saying from everything here to just go to God and get over it. Right? To let go and let God, rather, hear this as a small encouragement to keep showing up, to keep coming before God with your palms open, to receive the grace and mercy that God has for you in this time that you find yourself in. Some questions to consider around this is this. Who is someone who can help me strengthen myself in the Lord? Someone that may be spiritually more mature than you, someone that can point you back to Christ? As we find ourselves in the wilderness, what are some evidences of God's past mercy and grace that encourage us today? That's what David was drawing from in Psalm chapter 4. Or maybe for you this week, what is one way, the suite, that you can orient yourself to God? How do you need to practice the habit of just coming before God, ready to receive his mercy and grace? To continue on with our story, David gets the confirmation. He gets to go ahead from God to go and attack the Amalekites. And along the way, God provides an Egyptian slave of the Amalekites, who was left behind for dead, and David and his men give him food and sustenance, and it revives him. And in turn, that Amalekite Egyptian slave gives them information. And David and his men strike. And the miracle here that God provides can be easily missed, because the text says that David and all of his men wiped out all of the warriors, except for 400 men who escaped on camels. Now, David, at this point, came into battle with 400 men. So if you're saying he destroyed everyone there, and just a few 400 people got out on camels, that kind of draws a pretty big contrast here of how many people they had to defeat down there. The odds must have been quite stark. And not only was everyone sans the camel escapees defeated, but God provided giving everything back. And on top of that, his men brought along flocks and herds, and they were calling it David's spoil. And they arrived back at camp where the other 200 men had been staying behind. They were too tired to go into battle. So 400 men went and fought, 200 stayed behind, and they're all back together now at camp. And we drop in here at verse 22, "Then all the wicked and the worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may have, may lead away his wife and children into part." But David said, "You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the ban that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down by the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share all alike." David again shows his orientation towards God and gives us an image into God's heart. I mean, after all, by all worldly assumptions, the 400 men who went and did the fighting, who won the battle, are the right people to partake in the spoil. But this gets kind of flipped on its head with a theology of God's provision and grace. Nothing we have in this world is ours. It's kind of the thrust of what David is saying here. And I know as Western Christians and as Western Michiganders, that's kind of hard to wrap our minds around. The principle, at least, of it is hard to live out. I mean, after all, I worked for this or it's my blessing or whatever justification we have attached to our material possessions. It's there for a lot of us. I just want to challenge you this morning to consider what has a vice on your heart? What do you have that you believe is yours and yours alone? And what do you have that could be a blessing to somebody else? Because after all, it's not yours, it's God's. And David here gives us a peek into God's justice in his mercy. The way David views this battle and all the things that came from it is as a divine act of God. I'm giving you a lot of the ponder this morning and I won't apologize, but I'm not going to. What's your theology of stuff? And is your view of stuff you centered or is your view of stuff God centered? And I think the other important question to consider here is, do you live this out to the fullest extent? Because I could tell you my theology of stuff. But I think if you watched the way I lived out my life, my actions don't live up with my theology, at least what I would tell you. So just some things to consider. I like the way that Dale Ralph Davis puts it. He says that David's theology of grace that he shows in this moment keeps him from worshiping himself. David and his humility, his esteem of things not being his own, but rather gods, is one of the very things that keeps him tuned into the heart of the Father. It's why I wanted to just stop and pause on this for a moment. Because to be able to take the treasures that have been given to you by God humbly admit that they are not your own and then use them to the benefit of others is astounding. And it's the mark of someone who is deeply in step with God. And David finishes off his little giving spree here by giving back part of what was taken to the people around Judah. The Amalekites have been making all sorts of raids around the people of Judah which is why David was attacking the Amalekites in the first place. So since David has all their stuff back he goes from town to town and he gives them back their stuff. Pretty cool. Now we're in the tackle chapter 37. And the narrator does a really interesting thing here where he kind of just gives us, I'm getting ahead of myself so I won't do that. We're just going to switch back to Saul and the Philistines, okay. And like I promised earlier, I want to circle back around to the Philistines because like any well crafted story, right, this story ends where it begins. So let's break down the Philistines for a second. The Philistines first show up when Moses sends the twelve spies out to the promised land to kind of get a read on things. What are we up against? What do we need to do? What's the odds here? And they survey the land of Canaan before they enter. And the description that comes back from the twelve spies is we can't attack those people. They're too strong for us. These are amazing warriors, people you don't want to trifle with. This is the description of the Philistines. In the opening chapters of First Samuel, we see the Israelites deep in battle with the Philistines. And the Philistines are slaughtering Israelites and they steal the Ark of the Covenant and they bring it back to their land. And God strikes them with a plague until they eventually bring it back. And then another battle takes place, but God this time strikes down the Philistines. But then something tragic happens. The Israelites assess the situation and they go to Samuel and they side they want a king. They want a human king. Someone who will judge them, lead them to war, who will fight their battles because the threat of the Philistines still looms large. I mean, what if God doesn't protect us this time? And so Saul is chosen as the king of Israel. And he jumps right into battle. He goes and he conquers a man and he comes up against the Philistines. But we get this interesting breakdown where Saul keeps jumping in the battle against the Philistines and he shows again and again that he is not ready to fully trust in God to provide for his help in his victory against the Philistines. Saul all throughout these battles keeps making a plan B. I mean, he wants God's help, but is God going to actually do it? And he constantly shows that his faith is in God as needed basis. It sets up this contrast that gets repeated again and again throughout the narrative of Saul's semi-reliance on God and David's wholehearted devotion to God. And it leads up to the story of David assuming the fight against the Philistine Goliath. Saul wasn't willing to go out there and take on the Philistines anymore. David now is fighting the Philistines. And so the Philistines have been a constant foil for Saul, a true test of his faith and reliance upon God. And now it is those same Philistines who will finally end Saul. And the text this morning is unflinching. It does not turn away. It lays out the situation with no hope. If this was a movie, there is no more quick cuts. The camera is fixed and it's just showing everything play out. The brutality of death, the complete despair of a man backed into a corner. I'm going to be quiet now and let the text do the talking. First Samuel chapter 31 verse 1. Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. And the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Matt Giloboa. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons. And the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abidabb and Malachized Shua and the sons of Saul. The battle pressed hard against Saul and the archers found him and he was badly wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and mistreat me." But the armor bearer would not do it, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. And when the armor bearer saw that Saul was dead he also fell upon his sword and died with him. Thus Saul died and his three sons and his armor bearer and all his men on the same day together. And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them. As far as First Samuel goes this is the climax of the story. This is where everything we have been talking about the summer leads to. So we have to keep in mind everything we have talked about up to this point. Because Saul falling at the hand of the Philistines is not an isolated incident but rather a culmination of events. Saul here reaches the only conclusion that is possible. The only outcome his circumstances could have provided. I mean Saul died not even hoping for God to save him but rather he took his own life to spare his own humility and torture. Saul's reliance on himself and his own power leads him to taking his own life. And this is a great time to circle back around to the point that was made earlier about seeking God. Saul is a man who hedged his bets. Saul is a man who when he didn't hear from God or when he did not like the answer God gave him he could not handle that. He never humbly accepted God's provision and providence for his life. Saul kept trying to make his own way but ultimately God's judgment won out. It makes me wonder what are some of the implications of turning to God. I mean as we turn to God right if we're going to actually wholeheartedly do that some of that means accepting what comes from that. It means that if it's a wilderness season how can you humbly serve God in that? If there is a clear answer then trust God's will. If the answer that God gives you is wait then I guess that means we need to wait. If the answer is no answer at all then maybe it's time to rest in the Lord's presence. And Saul was so unwilling to take any chance on waiting on God, a finding rest in him to find that deepened relationship that comes through experiencing tough times in the presence of God. My advice would be to turn to the Lord and Saul dies and while this is the climax of the story it's also rock bottom as far as the narrative is concerned. Saul's death sets off a power vacuum playing out multiple battles and really interesting narratives that don't get resolved until 2 Samuel chapter 5 when David assumes the role as king. But as it stands right now in our narrative there is no hope. Israel and their king have been defeated and the Amalekites are taking this because as a victory against God himself because they have defeated the one anointed by God which means that they have defeated God. Here's what the Philistines do in celebration. In verse 8 the next day the Philistines came to strip the slain. They found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and set messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. They put his armor in the temple of Asheroth and they fastened his body to the wall of Beshan. But when the inhabitants of J Besh Gilead had heard what the Philistines had done to Saul all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of the sons from the wall of Beshan. And they came to J Besh and burned them there and they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in J Besh and fasted for seven days. That's it. That's the end of 1 Samuel. The Philistines took Saul and they gave him the Goliath treatment by cutting off his head, paraded him around from town to town declaring that Saul was dead and the Israelites had been defeated. I mean if you're looking for some positive to take away from this story at least the people of J Besh Gilead took the body like found some valiant, some bravery in their hearts, went to the city wall, took the body of Saul and his sons and gave them the most kind of nice thing they could do by burning them. This wasn't a common Jewish practice but these bodies are maligned and they're maimed and so burning them was the best thing that they could do and then they buried their bones and fasted and lamented for seven days. Where do you go from here? I mean not a lot left to say it's kind of like Saul's funeral right? In my ministry experience however I've done a few funerals but from those that I have learned from and sat under they always made a good point. If you're going to do a funeral point towards the hope we have in Jesus. Now for us as believing New Testament Christians we know that Jesus is in this passage. No his name is not explicitly mentioned. Again I'm not the gloomy ending kind of guy and eat because I know that even in our darkest day we have hope in Jesus. So let's paint that picture for a second. You see in verse eight when the Philistines had won they took Saul's head and they paraded him around and shouted the good news that Israel and their God had been defeated and they took this message from town to town. They brought good tidings proclaiming that the king is dead and this was a military custom that took place that whenever the king was dead the reigning the new party in charge would go around and they would bring about the good news that there's a new king in town or rather there's some new things going to be happening around here and for some people it was better than others. For others it really wasn't actually good news at all but even if you're on either side of that no matter what it was never as good of a promise as the king made it seem. I mean sure there were promises of this and that but ultimately the good news that was being proclaimed was good news pretty much just for the king and those who were very very close to that king. Now as we mentioned earlier David would become the king of Israel and although he was a pretty decent king in a lot of respects a promise was made in 2 Samuel chapter 12 that an even better king and a kingdom would come from the line of David and this kingdom that is mentioned by Nathan is a kingdom of peace and it's a kingdom that will never end but this payoff of this greater king and greater kingdom doesn't come quickly. If you trace the biblical narrative we go through a lot of kings in the lineage of David and some of them were better than others some were downright despicable and eventually these descendants of David become subjugated under a greater power and they kind of lose their ability to actually be a king and make decisions and they kind of become kings and name only and then Rome takes over and there are no more kings over Israel. David's ancestors become basically common folk and that lineage is still continuing but it's a far cry from this person who's going to come and establish an amazing kingdom and even though at this point in history Rome is in charge Israel has not forgotten. In fact they're hungry they're longing for it because they want someone to come and save them from this corrupt government to save them and establish this amazing kingdom they'll rescue them from oppression and eventually Jesus enters the scene and he claims to be the Messiah and the people are ready because Jesus keeps talking about a kingdom but it's not what they're expecting. He preaches about how the meek and the power of us will be exalted in this kingdom and this kingdom's focus is not the saints but rather the sinners and everything about this kingdom is upside down because Jesus is also saying the kingdom is here but it's also not yet and when the time comes for swords to be drawn and for things to happen for the revolt to begin and the conquest to ensue Jesus chooses yet another subversion of this kingdom and he submits himself to death. Instead of fighting back in action and in words and standing up he gives himself up on the cross and for all that we're watching that day had to been thinking. Up on a tree lies another failed attempt of God's people getting their king and their promised kingdom. My friends we know better. You see this man who is dead on a cross is not just any man he is Jesus. He is the son of God the true awaited Messiah the king of kings who came in flesh yet still fully God and though tempted never sinned giving himself as the perfect sacrifice to atone for sin once and for all and this dead man on a cross did not stay dead long after three days Jesus rose again and Jesus's death burial resurrection and ascension defeated the powers of sin and death providing a way for us to be redeemed and restored to relationship with God. Jesus established a kingdom where we get to live in the hope redeeming work and the peace that it brings now. We are justified now and we get to share that hope we have in Jesus and live in the transformative work of Christ. But this kingdom will be fully consummated when Christ returns where those who are in Christ will reign forever with Christ where there will be no more pain there will be no more suffering there will be no more death and Jesus's return will prove that God rules and reigns overall and his promise made to David of his eternal kingdom reigns true. This is good news. The idea of people going from town to town to tell the good news that this king in this kingdom had arrived was used by Christians. It's where we get the word gospel. We redeem this word to its fullest and most beautiful and perfect form the gospel. The good news that Jesus's kingdom is not a kingdom where the king puts himself first but rather us that this king is perfect that he has no fault he has no blame he is the ultimate king the perfect king and Jesus's kingdom stands against everything we see in these earthly kingdoms. You know not only stand against it resolves wickedness evil our sinfulness shame hurt sickness selfishness greed are all answered and absolved by Jesus and his work on the cross. We take refuge in the fact that Jesus is our Savior and Lord that we have been redeemed from the kingdom of sin and death something that we could not escape on our own and have been invited into the kingdom of forgiveness and grace. King Jesus has saved us from sin and death abolishing it forever more and providing a way to the Father through himself and that our merit our worth our actions can't save us or can't even elevate us in this kingdom but by God through Jesus we receive the gift of salvation the forgiveness of sins and the inclusion in this perfect forever kingdom. I think that's a pretty good king. I think that is good news. Amen. I want to read just a quick piece from Ephesians 2 verse 8. For it is by grace you have been saved and this is not from yourselves rather it is the gift from God. For those that have been with us for the whole summer or even if this is your first Sunday here in this series I do think there's something today that we can walk away from and take with us from this. So I just want to pose three quick questions to think on you can write these down these will also be in the discussion guides if you're a part of a community group but here's something to kind of think through on the way home and I don't have oh Susie's gone and I don't have these in my slides. There we go. Thank you. In what ways do I try and have a plan B instead of trusting in God? How do I need to turn to God in this season of my life? And for some of us how do I need to accept the realities of the gospel in my life? How do I need to take the reality of the good news and accept it or live it out? You ponder this and write these down. I encourage you to pray with me. God we just thank you for who you are and for the good news that we have in the gospel. God we thank you for your son Jesus for the gift of salvation that he brings. I pray God that going forward we can continue to live in these realities to accept them, to be encouraged by them, to embrace them as true. God this morning help us to just find peace in that assurance. It's in your name we pray. Amen. At this time we want to transition to our time of