Allen Jackson - Legacy, Eternity and You - Part 2
I would compare that to David, Solomon's father. He didn't come from a notable family of power and wealth. David came from a pretty typical family structure. Now, he wasn't in the optimum position. He was the youngest. He had several older brothers. It's a very humble beginning. There's no great wealth that's mentioned. Secondly, he's given an assignment in life, when we meet David, that has very little affirmation, very little to celebrate. It's not like a momentum machine. He certainly wasn't born to the purple. When we meet David, he's a shepherd. And if you don't know, the shepherds were on the lowest rung of the social ladder. So, even if he was fulfilling a role to serve his family, it'd be a lot like, you know, our teenagers today, the height of their promise in their life, you know, they're working for a fast food joint.
Now, most of us start with some jobs that are not particularly celebrated, but when we meet David, there doesn't seem to be any momentum. There's just no apparent momentum in his life. He's not considered exceptional by his father. His brothers are somewhat jealous of him. When they know that Samuel is coming to the house for something, they don't know what, they don't even bother to bring David in the house. They leave him in the field. And they're not too concerned about him. He's the kid, he's the youngest one in the family, and they give him a job where he has to face real threats like lions and bears. We won't let our kids ride a bicycle without a helmet, and they're sending the youngest one out in the field. "Yeah, I mean, there's probably a bear out there but have a good day".
I mean, there's just no momentum there any way you look at it, and his life, you know, his story emerges in a season of some real significant turmoil. King Saul is failing, God has withdrawn his blessing from the leader of the nation. I have a little feeling about that. I mean, everything's in turmoil, it's roiling a bit. The hand of God isn't upon them in the way it had been. They're at war with the Philistines when David takes another step in the journey with us. And he's called just to take food to his brothers. He doesn't qualify for the army. He doesn't have any particularly military ability. He doesn't have any training. I mean, they say it flat out: He's got no qualifications to be there, he's just delivering some bread and cheese. He has the encounter with Goliath, we'll comment on that a bit more, but then he spends years as a fugitive.
I mean, I know Samuel came to the house and said, "You're gonna be king. God's chosen you," but there was a king and his brothers didn't like it, and it was a private deal. It wasn't like there was some big social media release. There was no big PR campaign. They didn't crank it out ahead of the convention to convince everybody this was the choice. No, but I mean, none of that is present. David is anointed and he has some success on the battlefield in the most unlikely circumstance against someone where he's totally outmatched. But that brings hatred towards him. It amps up the jealousy, and so he's forced to live as a fugitive, and David is expected to believe what Samuel said was from God. Have you ever reflected upon that? The last of the judges, I mean, his best days are behind him. The tribal leaders long ago said, "We don't want you to be king over us anymore. You're a lousy father and you're getting kind of old. We don't want your leadership. We want a king".
And so, Saul was chosen to be king. Now, the cranky old judge or prophet shows up at your dad's house and says, "God's anointed you to be", you'd have to think he's having a little cognitive problem. We have a king. And David had to choose to believe what Samuel said. He had to believe it when he's hiding in the desert, in a cave. He had to believe it when he's being hunted for his life. He didn't get a registered letter with an official seal from the state of Israel. Now, in fairness, David proved to be a good leader, but I think we could agree he was a little prone to violence. I mean, even God acknowledged that. Nobody wanted to take bad news to David. Nobody smart.
There's a couple of instances where people volunteered, but it was a little weird. And if that weren't enough, the people that agreed to follow him, at least initially, I think the best way to describe it was they were a little sketchy. It wasn't like he got the cream of the crop. He wasn't getting people from, I started to say "elite schools," but I don't believe in those anymore, not the ones we've listed. But in 1 Samuel 22 it says, "All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around David, and he became their leader".
The people that wanted to help David were the people that were in debt, they needed a new start. The perpetual grumblers. I think we could also say about David that he was remarkably loyal to God's assignment. He never stopped no matter the difficulty or the opposition. He was also very loyal to the authority over his life, loyal to his friendship with Jonathan, loyal to Saul, who was the king. He refused to take his life. Now, we looked at the New Testament commentary on Solomon, the wealthiest. In many respects, we could argue the most successful in military campaigns, at least for a season of his life. The wisest of all the kings. David is a very different story, but the New Testament commentary on him is very different as well.
In Acts 13, Paul is describing him. It's a bit of a history lesson. He said, "God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul the son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. And after removing Saul, he made David their king. And he testified concerning him: 'I found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'"
Now, I know they're simple phrases, but I want you to think about them for a moment. If you were going to be analyzed by the halls of heaven and you had option A and option B, and option A is you're a fancy dresser, and option B is you would do anything you were asked to do, which would be your goal? And we've walked through it pretty quickly, but you can reflect on it. One came from a set of circumstances that didn't really hold any promise for honoring God, and one came from a set of circumstances where it seemed like, how could you miss? You've been trained in this most of your life. David is mentioned more than 50 times in the New Testament in some very remarkable ways.
I brought you one more example because I think it's a stunning acknowledgment of David. It's Revelation 22 and verse 16, which is just almost the end of the book. And the context, I think, is apparent. "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches". Jesus said, "I sent you my angel with the story". And then he self identifies, he said, "I am the root and the Offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star". It's a very interesting description, the root of David, the originator of David, and all the blessings which emerged. Jesus said, "Before Abraham, was I am". And at the end of the New Testament, he's reminding us before David sat on the throne. I just imagine David. "I'm the root of David". But he also identifies as the offspring of David, "I'm from the lineage of David".
And it's the conclusion of our New Testament. It's the conclusion of the story and Jesus identifies with David. That's a pretty remarkable affirmation. A truly remarkable identification with David, a shepherd king, not someone that anybody imagined would be powerful. Now, remember our topic, I want you to think a little bit about your own legacy. I want you to think more than a little bit about eternity and the role that you imagine you would have. I'm sorry if you have been coached towards the goal that the only thing you really want to consider is making the cut because there's far more to it than that. Paul said, when he was anticipating his execution, he said he knew he anticipated a crown of righteousness. He said, "There's not just one for me. There's one available for all who are longing for the appearing of the Lord".
I asked you a moment ago, what's your longing for? Do you think about it? Are you living as if you think about it? I put some conclusions in your notes, I won't belabor them, but the circumstances of birth, whether you're born in a palace or you're born in the house of a shepherd, apparently are not the greatest determining factor of your significance in the kingdom of God. That's good to know because the devil will try to tell you you were born in the wrong place, you were born to the wrong group, you were born at the wrong time. He will try to convince you for some reason you were disqualified by circumstances that are completely beyond your control. It's a lie. It's a lie. Please don't believe the lie. Folks, we desperately need an awakened church and I really believe that means we will walk out from under the deception and the lies that we have accepted from the pit.
There's a second observation I would make, that the opposition, or the lack thereof, you can have tremendous opposition or almost none, and that will not prove to be the greatest determining factor of your legacy.
Thirdly, God's blessings and assignment. You can have tremendous blessings from God, unique in all of human history. You can be blessed in a way that would cause you to supersede your peer group completely. You can be the GOAT, recognized, celebrated, honored for such, and completely fumble your opportunity in the kingdom. Please don't imagine, you see, many of us spend so much time and energy and effort and emotions frustrated because we think someone else got an advantage over us because of the physical gifts they have or the intellectual gifts they have or the emotional skills, whatever they may be. Even you think God blessed somebody in a way. And it's very clear, if you put these two lives side by side, the blessings were not what determined the significance of their lives.
I would submit, fourthly, that extraordinary obedience isn't even the primary factor. Because as remarkable as David is, and for all he's celebrated, his obedience was a bit faulty. I mean, if you want to lump adultery and murder into faulty.
And fifthly, you know, their gifting. Their physical gifts, their intellectual gifts, that's not the determining factor. It really began to be unsettling with me because I sat and played with these lists and I kept adding to them and removing them and trying to rearrange them. Their family support wasn't the determining factor. It wasn't who was cheering for them, who was affirming them. Most of us know, if you've read your Bible before, that Solomon got in trouble because he married all these foreign women who worshiped other gods and they turned his heart in another way. Sometimes the authors almost, you feel like they're trying to convince you that Solomon didn't make a choice, but he did. He chose all those wives and he knew better. He knew it was outside the boundary. He took a path that led him away from God, willfully, knowingly.
You can have supernatural wisdom and still make ungodly choices. But David's success didn't come because his family was so ironclad in the support of him. His brothers were jealous. When he went to take them food for Goliath and he heard Goliath bellow his challenge, he said, "Oh, I can do this". His brothers made fun of him, and it only got worse as he progressed through life. David's family was a mess. Absalom his son led a rebellion against him. His son didn't come and say, "I am so grateful for the kingdom you have built, that you captured Jerusalem and established a capital city, and you put our feet on a pathway. You've taught us to honor God". None of that. His son said, "I want your job". And he stood outside the palace and said, "If I was king, I'd give you what you want".
Sounds like he's running for office in the 21st century. And it wasn't just at that level. One of his sons raped one of his daughters. I mean, his family was a challenge. We took a class at Hebrew University on David and his kingship, and the professor was religious, and I remember when we got to this part of... it was like he was embarrassed to tell the story. So it wasn't the family support that made the difference. So the conclusion is, most of the things we would say we would need in order for us to fulfill what God has for us really were not the differentiation between these two lives. So I made a list, I think, rooted in their reality, but I'll leave it to you. I think one of the things that separated David's outcome from Solomon's was David led a life where he sustained humility.
Now, I'm not saying he was perfect, he made some mistakes, but there's multiple places where you get glimpses into David's heart beyond the Psalms. This would be a series if we did this through the Psalms. When he refused to kill King Saul. He had the opportunity on more than one occasion to have eliminated his adversary, shortened the civil war. You could have said, "We were gonna spare lives," and he refused to do it. David lived his life with a remarkable display of effort and intent. There were multiple places where David could have coasted and he didn't seem to make that choice. And when he did, he got into trouble. Somebody sent me a note this week, I thought it was appropriate.
When David heard the challenge from Goliath, the friend that sent me this said, "Some people would have told David to just pray for Goliath and not cause a scene". You went to deliver lunch, don't be political. The third thing that seemed to be a part of the distinction in David's life was his willingness to repent. On more than one occasion he made mistakes that brought the judgment of God, beyond just the incident with Bathsheba and then with her husband. And when he was confronted for his sin, he didn't try to bully his way through it. He didn't pull rank. I've often thought one of the more difficult assignments in all of scripture was Nathan the prophet that had to go tell the king that he knew he was an adulterer and a murderer. We would be afraid to make such a revelation in our current political environment. And I promise you, King David had far more unbridled authority than anybody we know.
And Nathan the prophet went and said, "I know who you are and I know what you've done". The only reason I believe Nathan would have been willing to do that is he understood something of the character of David, and David chose to repent. If you're not familiar with Psalm 51, you should read it. It's the Psalm of David's repentance. There are other places in his life. David knew how to say, "I've been wrong". We desperately need that gift back in our churches. David didn't say, "It wasn't my fault. Bathsheba shouldn't have been bathing on the roof. She shouldn't have married a foreigner to begin with". There were many, many excuses he could have given. He didn't do that. I think it's time for us to ask the Holy Spirit if there's any place in our lives, or in the life of our service to the Lord, where we need to repent. I don't want you to be burdened with guilt and shame. That's not my goal.
But to ask the Holy Spirit if there's any place that, if you would relinquish it to the Lord, would bring freedom to you. Saul couldn't do that and he lost his kingdom. Solomon didn't do that. Based just upon the biblical record, I think it's more likely that King Nebuchadnezzar would be in heaven than King Solomon. There's no effort, there's no evidence, that Solomon had a dramatic change of heart or a willingness to acknowledge the error of his ways and reverse his course. But he was a fancy dresser. David, on the other hand, was a man after God's own heart. I brought you a proclamation. I gotta quit because I want us to say this over one another.
I know, don't send me a note. I think it's so important to have the habit of saying what God says about us and the habit of receiving it. All right? So we're gonna do this differently tonight. Those of you that are seated on the floor, stand with me. Get your notes, you're gonna need them, and we're gonna do what you're never allowed to do. We're gonna turn around to church and we're gonna pronounce a blessing over those people in the back. You have to turn around, because that also puts you right in line with those cameras and all those people that aren't here.
All right, so if you're in one of the other rooms on campus with us tonight, you're gonna receive this blessing because when the people in the back of the room get up, you're gonna get up in those other rooms and pronounce the same blessing on us. And if you're at home, you're gonna pronounce the blessing on those of us here. So although right now we look like we've got the biggest number, there's thousands and thousands of them. So if you're getting ready to read this blessing with me, you gotta use your outdoor voice because they have to hear you in Nebraska, and in Nebraska the wind's blowing, always. This isn't original with me, I took it from Ephesians, but it was Paul's prayer for the church in Ephesus and it seems appropriate for the church in the earth today. Are you ready to receive, those of you? That was kind of lukewarm. Here we go:
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and earth derives its name. And I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Hallelujah. Hey, y'all hang on just a minute. We're not done. They're gonna bless us. Stand up. You can't just receive, bunch of takers. We got enough of those. We don't wanna be that generation. Now, those of you that just said that prayer with me, we're gonna receive a blessing. If you don't want yours, give it to me. If you're at home, you read it with us. If you're in New Harvest or All Nation, you gotta pray this blessing with us. In New Harvest, they got babies. They need a blessing. All right, let's read it together:
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.