Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church Unknown

-Sung Psalm- 30---Last time we looked at the Coming of the Lord - and now we turn to the Day of the Lord.--The idea of the Day of the Lord is closely connected with the theme of -Judgment Day- in scripture.--Isaiah 13-6-9 speaks of the Day of the LORD as the day of destruction.--Jeremiah 46-10 refers to the Day of the LORD as the day of vengeance.--Ezekiel 30-3 speaks of the Day of the LORD as the day of doom for the nations.--The whole book of Joel is organized around the Day of the LORD as the day of judgment.--Amos 5-18-20 warns that the Day of the LORD is a day of darkness - not light.--Zephaniah 1 speaks of the bitter sound of the Day of the LORD.--And Malachi 4 says that the Day of the LORD will be a day of consuming fire.--So when Paul speaks of the -Day of the Lord- here in 1 Thessalonians 5, he is building on a familiar theme.--While the coming of the Lord is used at the end of chapter 4 as a comfort and encouragement, the day of the Lord has a very different connotation---And while the main theme is the judgment day at the end of history, it is important to recognize that for each of us, we all face the Day of the Lord.--For each of us it is appointed to die once - and then judgment. And no one knows the hour of his death---As John Chrysostom put it, -Do not place your confidence in your youth, nor think that you have a very fixed term of life, 'for the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night.'...Let the old man keep this admonition- let the young man heed this advice.---So as we look at the Day of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 5, remember that this life is the training ground for the next. How you live now sets the trajectory for eternity...

What is 1 Samuel 25 doing-- Is it simply an interesting story about David that the author decided to -throw in- just for fun-- Probably not. And especially because chapter 25 is sandwiched in between the two stories of how David spared Saul. And the story of Abigail is carefully crafted. The narrative is carried by speeches - and the longest and most important speech is right at the middle - and in the voice of Abigail.--The story of Nabal and Abigail is at the very center of -The Adventures of David.- It is surrounded by the two episodes of Saul being given into David's hand- it is preceded by the story of David in the Judean wilderness- it is followed by David in the land of the Philistines. The Adventures of David begin with the death of Goliath. They end with the death of Saul.--And in the middle come the deaths of Samuel and Nabal.--In these central episodes in 1 Samuel 24-26 we hear of what will happen to all of David's enemies. David's enemies will be destroyed - not because of David's might and power, but because the LORD was with David.--It is not David's military might, but his faith and trust in Yahweh that give him the victory- Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD- And as that was true for David, so was it most powerfully true for our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore it is true for us as well- Wait upon the LORD and he will accomplish his purposes for you...

-Sung Psalm- 80---In 2-19, Paul asked, -what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming-- Is it not you-- For you are our glory and joy.- --In 3-13, Paul prayed, that God -may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.---Here in 4-15, he speaks of -we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord.---And again in 5-23, -may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.---When Paul speaks of the coming of the Lord, he is usually referring to the future coming of Christ - but that future coming cannot be divorced from his first coming.- -We have seen throughout this series that Paul is centered on the themes of faith, hope and love. We are to keep believing God in our work of faith. We are to keep loving God and neighbor in our labor of love. And all of this because of our steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ---What is lacking in our faith is endurance. What is lacking in our faith is simply that our faith has not yet persevered to the end---That is why hope is so important in Paul's letter. And hope is intimately bound up with the coming of Christ - as we saw in 3-11-13----and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. --What is it that motivates our love for one another and for all-- Hope.--What is it that establishes our hearts blameless in holiness-- Hope.

In these central episodes of 1 Samuel we hear of what will happen to all of David's enemies. They will be destroyed - not because of David's might and power, but because the LORD was with David.--It is not David's military might, but his faith and trust in Yahweh that gave him the victory- -Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD-- And as that was true for David, so was it most powerfully true for our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore it is true for us as well- Wait upon the LORD and he will accomplish his purposes for you.--It is important to point out that -waiting on the LORD- does not mean that you never do anything- Rather, it means that you wait for the LORD to do what he has promised - and then, when God says -Go-- you go.--But sometimes it is the tempter who says -now is the time-- David in the wilderness reflects the three temptations of Deuteronomy 6-11, -Do not say in your heart, these nations are too great for me.- -Dt 7-17- -Do not say in your heart, my power has gotten me this wealth -Dt 8-17- -Do not say in your heart, it is because of my righteousness- -Dt 9-4---These three temptations come back in the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. And we will see how Satan's temptation of Jesus is prefigured when David's men say, strike down Saul, and you can have the kingdom now----But David refuses. Why-- Because David knows what God has said- You don't strike down the LORD's Anointed- When you know what God has said - and what God calls you to do and to be - the temptations of the wilderness do not have nearly so much power over you- And you can have simple confidence in God that he will do what he has promised...

-Sung Psalm- 130---We have seen throughout this series that Paul is centered on the themes of faith hope and love. We are to keep believing God in our work of faith. We are to keep loving God and neighbor in our labor of love. And all of this because of our steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ---What is lacking in our faith is endurance. What is lacking in our faith is simply that our faith has not yet persevered to the end---That is why hope is so important in Paul's letter. Even though he doesn't use the word -hope- in chapter 3, the concept of hope was very much the whole point of verses 11-13----...and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.---Notice the connection that Paul makes between love and holiness. The Lord Jesus makes you increase and abound in love for one another and for all - that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God...

Tonight is all about the Messiah in hiding. The book of Samuel makes frequent reference to -the LORD's anointed- -Ha Meshiach Yahweh-. David often uses it to refer to Saul -as we'll see next time-, but it has an unmistakable connection to David as well, because David is also the LORD's anointed. He is the Messiah.--Once you have seen this, it is easy to see parallels to Jesus as he teaches and makes disciples in Galilee - hiding in the wilderness, gathering followers, as he awaits God's timing --My hour has not yet come...----Jesus recapitulates the history of Israel - and since Israel has failed, and God has anointed David to be the king who succeeds where Israel fails, it is not surprising to see David himself recapitulating the history of Israel.- -David must wander in the wilderness -as Israel had done, and as Jesus would do-, and wait for the LORD's appointed time. The new feature is the feature of betrayal. This wasn't as much of an issue for Israel in the wilderness, because their treason arose from within.--But David is not only supposed to succeed where Israel failed, he is to lead Israel back into the right way - and not surprisingly, not all Israel will be entirely eager to follow---The LORD's anointed - the Messiah - has no place to lay his head, and worse, he will be betrayed even by those whom he has delivered from their enemies-