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THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of The Chronicles: God's Preservation Of His Davidic And Levitical Covenants

X. God's Timeless Template For His People's Shepherds

(1 Chronicles 17:1-15 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Oppression is a big, widespread problem today, and it needs to be addressed from God's perspective:

(1) Chris Powell's piece, "Lawmakers camouflage state's woes" (Republican-American, November 8, 2019, p. 10A) reported that in Connecticut, "There are no learning requirements for advancing from grade to grade . . . As is standard throughout the country, half of Connecticut's students graduate high school without mastering math and English," sabotaging their future financial welfare, Ibid. Then, "(e)nabled [by] welfare subsidies, many young women . . . have children outside of marriage. Liberated by the subsidies, many fathers don't support their children . . . So the unmarried young women with children . . . become dependent on welfare for life," Ibid. Finally, "(f)atherlessness correlates heavily with educational failure, criminality, physical and mental illness and unhappiness in life," Ibid.

Thus, government programs along with vice leaves many in dependency while the taxpayer is handed the bill.

(2) Many Catholics face oppression in their Church: "Amazon villagers . . . may wait a full year between visits by a priest" due to a shortage of priests there, and "believers only receive Holy Eucharist, the central element of the Catholic Mass, once a year," though Mass is "indispensable to salvation" in the Roman Catholic Church. (Peter Rowe, "Married priests? Women deacons" Yes, says U. S. Bishop," Ibid., p. 6C; Loraine Boettner, Rom. Cath., 1978, p. 189)

"Bishop Robert McElroy, leader of San Diego's diocese," favors ordaining women to address this crisis, but Count Thomas McKenna, founder of Catholic Action for Faith and Family, objects; in Catholic theology, priests act "in persona Christi," that is, "'in the person of Christ'" while "celebrating the Mass and hearing confessions," so the Count asks, "'Our Lord was a man . . . How can a woman act in the person of Christ when she is not a man?'" (Ibid.)

Thus, while Roman Catholic officials wrestle with the complications created by their Church's doctrines, parishioners in the Amazon fear they may not obtain salvation due to being served the Eucharist just once a year!

(3) Many evangelicals face oppression in their churches, too: a believer recently reported to me that an alleged prophet in an evangelical church has made forecasts that have been fulfilled, but are unbiblical. The believer asked if the spiritual gifts God gives the Church can be harnessed by ungodly parties to harm God's discipling in the church!

Need: So, we ask, "What does God direct to address the widespread oppression many people face today?!"

I. God sovereignly elevated David to be king to relieve His people from oppression, 1 Chronicles 17:1-15:

A. The Lord claimed He sovereignly raised up David from being a shepherd to rule over Israel, 1 Chron. 17:1-8:

1. When David was settled in his rich palace as the new king of Israel, he noticed God's ark dwelt in a mere tent in contrast to his palace, so he asked the prophet Nathan about building God a temple, 1 Chron. 17:1.

2. The Lord had Nathan tell David that He was sovereign regarding the matter of His abode, 1 Chr. 17:2, 3-6.

3. God also told Nathan to remind David that the Lord had sovereignly raised him up from being a mere shepherd to rule His people, that He had given David victory over all his foes and made him great, v. 7-8.

B. God clarified that His reason in raising up David so greatly was to relieve His people of oppression, v. 9-15:

1. In 1 Chronicles 17:9-10, God said He was using David to provide stability and peace for His people Israel, what they had not known even during the era of the Judges when they were often "worn out" (balah, B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 115) -- what the KJV renders as "waste" in v. 9 -- by their foes.

2. For this reason, God would do even more for David in addressing His people's welfare: He would build David a dynasty from his descendants, one that would last forever and where God would discipline future Davidic kings to serve rightly and provide a lasting dynasty for Israel's blessing, 1 Chronicles 17:11-14.

3. Nathan then told David of God's Davidic Covenant for David in behalf of Israel's welfare, 1 Chron. 17:15.

II. David was responsible to read Scripture daily and apply it in leading the nation for God's blessing, what would instruct his onlooking subjects on Scripture's truth via David's example, Deuteronomy 17:18-20.

III. When Jesus Who will one day reign eternally on David's throne (Luke 1:26-33) came to earth in His first advent, He like God the Father was burdened as Israel's Supreme Shepherd to relieve Israel's people of oppression, Matthew 9:36. Jesus thus opened His mouth and taught the people many things, Mark 6:34.

IV. God similarly calls spiritual shepherds today to expound Scripture to relieve His people of oppression:

A. As we noted in past messages, Revelation 3:21 with 7:17 predicted God's use of Bible teachers in our era of Church History to nurture His people through Bible exposition, relieving them of oppression.

B. This ministry was further clarified by Jesus in His call for Peter to shepherd His people in John 21:15-17:

1. Jesus told Peter (a) first to "Feed [Boske] my lambs [arnia]" (John 21:15b NIV, ESV), (b) then to "Take care of (Tend ESV) [Poimaine] my sheep [probata]" (John 21:16b NIV) and (c) finally to "Feed [Boske] my sheep [probata]" (John 21:17b NIV, ESV). [U. B. S. Greek New Testament, 1966, p. 412]

2. Christ thus taught the threefold shepherding work of (a) expounding basic Biblical truths to new converts ("Feed my lambs"), of (b) expounding Scripture and pastorally guiding maturing believers ("Take care of, tend my sheep") and of (c) expounding Scripture's deep truths for mature believers ("Feed my sheep").

Lesson: Where God raised up David to be king over Israel to relieve His people of oppression through David's reading and heeding Scripture in shepherding Israel, God sent Jesus to relieve His people of oppression by teaching them God's truths, a timeless pattern for God's shepherds of His people throughout history!

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ for salvation, John 3:16. (2) May all who shepherd God's people in any way give basic Bible truth to new believers, teach and guide maturing believers in Biblical truths and expound deep Scripture truths for the mature to relieve God's people of oppression!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

We apply this sermon's lesson to shepherd God's people by Bible exposition on the issues in our introduction:

(1) On students learning math and English, since mastering these subjects affects one's ability to make a living, God wants children to master them in school now so they can one day earn a living, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12.

(2) On unwed young women having babies, Ephesians 5:3 prohibits immorality for all believers.

(3) On fathers supporting their children, 1 Timothy 5:8 demands that fathers provide for all their dependents.

(4) On fatherless children, John 14:15-18 ESV directs that the indwelling Holy Spirit acts as a believer's Divine Parent, so those who were raised without fathers need merely rely to on the Holy Spirit to function well in life!

(5) On the Catholic Church's Amazon crisis, (a) the Mass does not provide salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). People in the Amazon need only trust in Christ and rest in Him for unconditional salvation security, John 3:16; 5:24.

(b) On the Latin phrase "in persona Christi" that means "in the person of Christ," this issue began when 4th century Church fathers tried to justify the doctrine of the Persons of God in the Trinity, and they interpreted Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 2:10 to be that he forgave a man "in the Person of Christ." The Greek term they rendered "Person" is prosopon that means "person" elsewhere in Scripture only at 2 Corinthians 1:11. (Theol. Dict. N. T., vol. VI, p. 778) Elsewhere in Scripture, prosopon means either literally "face" or figuratively "presence" (Ibid., p. 777). Jerome followed these 4th century fathers at 2 Corinthians 2:10, translating the phrase "in the Person of Christ" into his Latin Vulgate as "in persona Christi," and the Roman Catholic Douay-Rheims Version and even the Protestant King James Version in turn followed Jerome to give their respective translations of "in the person of Christ," Ibid. The Roman Catholic Church has used Jerome's Latin phrase "in persona Christi" to develop its belief that a priest stands in the very place of God or of Christ to turn the communion elements into the actual blood and body of Christ in transubstantiation and to absolve people of their sins upon hearing their confessions. ("What is the biblical basis for Catholic theology of a priest being in 'persona Christi'?" christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/57802)

However, in the context of 2 Corinthians 2:10, Paul merely claimed that he forgave a man "in the presence of Christ," that is, with Christ as his Witness, so Paul was urging his readers to forgive the man with Christ as their Witness just as he did! Thus, there is no Biblical basis for the Roman Catholic Church's "in persona Christi" belief!

The Catholic Church adds that John 20:23 and Matthew 16:19 teach the apostles were to forgive or to retain the sins of others, but what they would actually do is expressed in the Greek in passive perfect tenses (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftns. to John 20:23 and Matthew 16:19; U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 409, 63; Wm. D. Mounce, The Analyt. Lex. to the Grk. N. T., 1993, p. 108, 279, 132, 300). The apostles thus only announced God's decisions, they did not initiate them! Matthew 16:19 and John 20:23 do not support the Roman Catholic "in persona Christi" belief!

(6) Regarding prophets, (a) Jesus in Matthew 7:15-20 said false prophets would be known by their fruits, by what they produce, so if what they predict is unbiblical, they are false prophets. (b) Indeed, many will try to impress Jesus in the final judgment of their miraculous deeds, but He will deny He ever knew them, Matthew 7:22. (c) The Holy Spirit sovereignly assigns believers spiritual gifts at salvation (1 Corinthians 12:11), so these gifts cannot be harnessed by evil parties. (d) Rather, Satan and his people deceptively parade as beings gifted by God, 2 Corinthians 11:14-15. (e) Regardless of all such deception, Christ keeps sovereignly building His true Church, Matthew 16:18.

May we trust in Christ for salvation. May we shepherds expound God's Word to relieve His people!