Shadows to Substance Conference (Day 1 Claude Ramsey) CHRIST OUR TRUE KING

1 Chronicles 17 and the Promise of an Everlasting Throne

If you would, turn in your scriptures this morning, or this afternoon now, to 1 Chronicles, chapter 17. Stand with us, if you would, to honor the reading of God's holy word. We're going to read from verse 7 in 1 Chronicles, chapter 17, through verse 15.

These are the words of the living God. So this is Nathan speaking to David. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house. When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And I will not take my steadfast love from him as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever in accordance with all these words and in accordance with all this.

Vision.

Nathan spoke to David. If you would, you may be seated. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, as I come to you today, I can do nothing or say anything other than thank you, God. Thank you for the truth of your word, for the power of your word, for the peace that you give in your word, for the confidence that you give us in your word, for the hope that we have in your word.

And Lord, I'm reminded of what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 15, that these things were written aforetime for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope.

And for that, God, I thank you and I praise you today. I pray, God, add your blessings to your word, and thank you again for this privilege to be gathered with your people in this place, for it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

I think getting started, when you're a preacher, getting started is one of the hardest parts. But I'm reminded, sitting back there a little while ago, I'm reminded of one of the old preacher stories, you know the stories that all preachers somehow find, you can't find no biblical evidence for them, but they're good stories.

I'm reminded of a story of a young preacher, I mean, he was on fire for God, studied, prayed, an old country church called him, ten members at most in that little country church, way out yonder, probably in Hagerman, Idaho, pretty far out.

He didn't know nobody, came to the church, him and his wife. One of the old members that had been to that church since it was founded, however long it had been founded, died, and he was asked to preach this old man's funeral.

The graveside was even further out in the country, he went, followed the directions best he could when he arrived, there wasn't nobody there but two backhoe operators, but he was just godly enough that he said, there's two people here, I'm going to go ahead and preach the gospel.

So he reared back and he preached everything he knew, he preached from Genesis to Revelation, he preached the doctrines of grace, he threw it all out there, laid it all on the table, and about an hour later he got finished, he looked at them two backhoe operators, he said, now what do y 'all think of that?

They looked at each other, and the one looked back at the young preacher, he said, mister I got to tell you something, we've been putting in septic tanks for 25 years, and they never seen nothing like this.

One of the best ways that I can describe where we're at right now is, listen, you've got to know that it is a blessing to be in a church where the Word of God is preached. It is a blessing to be in a conference like this where these men stand, and they put in the effort and the time and they preach and they teach us what the Word of God says.

And the Word of God, as the writer of Hebrews says, the Word of God is quick. The Word of God is powerful. The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts to the dividing asunder of the soul and of the spirit.

It's a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of our hearts, whether you're old or young. Guess what you need to know today? You must be born again. And the only way that you can be born again is that the Holy Spirit of God regenerates your heart and makes you anew.

And how and where does that come from? From the Word of the living God. So young and old, take heed today. I've been given the task this morning of preaching on the subject of David to Christ, Christ our true King.

Christ as the Substance of All Scripture

Christ is the true subject matter of all Scripture. All was written to bear witness to Jesus. He is the sum of the whole Bible. He's the sum of the whole Bible prophesied, typified, prefigured, demonstrated.

He's to be found in every page, on every leaf, in every line of the Scripture. When we go to the Bible, we must go to see Christ. When we open up the books, we must ask, show us Christ, or we die. It is who He is whom we look for.

So today, as we go through our time together, let's keep Christ in the forefront. Let's keep Christ in our eye as we peruse the Scriptures today. We'll be looking at a few other passages today, but I ask you to keep an open Bible, to keep your fingers licked.

If you've got to lick your fingers, if you're using your phone, don't lick your fingers. When you use your phone, that don't work good. It works the same with an iPad, I've learned this. So let's keep Christ in our eyes.

In the country churches, an old song is sung, Brethren, we have met to worship. How many of you all know that song? Man, you all are missing out. Country churches, there's a song called Brethren, we have met to worship.

Now, I can't sing, I'll try to hum it a little bit, but it goes something like this, Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God. Will you pray with all your power while we try to preach the word?

And then the song says, All is vain unless the spirit of the Holy One comes down. Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around. And then the next verse, or the last verse actually, says, Let us love our God supremely, let us love each other too.

Let us love and pray for sinners till our God makes all things new. What we read to you here, that first section of Scripture, that's the shadow. That's the typification. That's the sign. That's the blurred view of our King, Jesus Christ.

Now, if you want to see a clear view, turn in your Scriptures to the book of Revelation, chapter 4. And here, we see the shadow removed and we see the glory revealed, Revelation, chapter 4. Revelation, chapter 4, verse 1, the Scripture says this, After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in the heavens.

And the first voice which I heard speaking to me like a trumpet said this, Come up here, and I will show you what must first take place after this. At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, one seated on the throne.

Do I need to tell you who that is? That's Jesus. One seated on the throne, and he who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian. All around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders clothed in white garments with golden crowns on their heads. And from the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder.

And before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

The first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within.

And day and night they never cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and who is and who is to come. And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who is seated on the throne.

And they worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne saying this, Worthy are you, O Lord and God, to do what? To receive glory, to receive honor, and to receive power.

Why?

Because you created all things and by your will they exist. For by your will they are and they were created. So we see in brief, we see the shadow, the foreshadowing, the typification of the eternal king that was to come, the person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

We see that in full glory there. So again, first of all, Christ is the truth and the substance of all the types and shadows that these men have been preaching on. Christ is the substance. Christ is the fullness of the types and the shadows that Jeff and the rest of these men are going to be preaching on the rest of this week.

Christ is the substance and Christ is the matter of the covenant of grace. Under the old covenant, Christ is veiled. Under the new covenant, Christ is revealed. Christ, Jesus, is at the center and he's the meeting place of all the promises of God.

He's the meeting place.

Why?

Because the scripture says that in him all the promises of God are yes and amen.

It's not what if.

It's not if this takes place or if that takes place. It is what it is as the old saying goes. Jesus is everything. And to be honest, I know we think about these types and we think about these shadows.

We think nobody is intimidated or really, well I say nobody. If you're afraid of the dark, bless your heart, right? You see shadows, you might get afraid. Especially if you've got a beard here today and a shadow scares you, don't tell nobody else.

Just work through it. Yeah, figure it out.

Exactly.

But as we approach the idea of King David and him being a shadow and a type of Jesus Christ, again, no one really gets excited about seeing a shadow because there's no saving efficacy in a shadow. No lasting saving efficacy in the shadow.

Let me say that. Greg did a fantastic job this morning of laying out this typification to us. There is nothing other than mystery that is fascinating about the shadows. Which leads us to inquire and ask ourselves this question today.

What is a mystery as revealed in the Bible? What is a mystery as revealed in the Bible? And how do we define and how do we understand biblical mystery? I am thankful that despite the fact that we have theologians in the church house today, we've got scientists in the church house today, aerospace engineers in the church today.

I am thankful that the Lord gives us wise and faithful people of God throughout history that we can turn to to find some answers when we don't know them ourselves. Samuel Rinehan in his book, The Mystery of Christ, said this, defining a mystery.

He said, a mystery as expressed by Paul is not something intentionally hidden so as not to be found or understood. But rather it's something that's revealed partially. Something made known incompletely.

Mystery is not a means of concealing but a way of revealing. Mystery is a mode of revelation. And this church is why we need both the Old and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the mystery of Christ is revealed partially, incompletely.

But in the New Testament, the mystery of Christ is unveiled. It's completely drawn back and we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In his work, A Handbook on the New Testament, use of the Old Testament, G .K. Bill wrote this.

He said, the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament is the key. It's the key to the theological relation of the Testaments themselves. Plain language, you can't understand the Old Testament without the New Testament and you ain't gonna understand the New Testament unless you look at the Old Testament.

We need both.

And if I might be so have liberty to say this, despite what Andy Stanley or any other of those scripture denying liberals say, we still need the whole Bible. Front to back, we need the Word of God. In his book, Christianity and Liberalism, J. Gresham Machen said this.

The Christian message has come to us through the Bible. If you wanna know who God is, you gotta look here. If you wanna know who his son Jesus Christ is, you must look here. If you wanna know how to be saved, you must look here.

If you wanna know how to live right after you get saved, guess what? You must look here. Outside of the scriptures, there is no hope. Machen went on to say this. Why shall we think about this book in which the message is contained?

He said, he went on to postulate, according to the Christian view, the Bible contains an account of revelation from God to man which is found nowhere else. Nowhere else can you find this. So in the shadow, in 1 Chronicles, in the shadow, in the top, there is truly little to no substance.

But in Christ, who is the object which casts the shadow, there are unfathomable depths and unfathomable heights of truth to which you and I, brothers and sisters in Christ, might fasten on to, that we might cleave to, that we might grasp tautly, that we may refuse to ever let it go, that we may be like the old saints who would say, I would rather die than deny Christ.

When we consider that the object which casts the shadow is far greater than the shadow itself, it's then, it is then that we truly begin to appreciate the object of our worship. David is not the object of our worship.

David was a man whom the Lord set his affections on. Certainly this is true. However, he is not the one in whom you should bank your faith, and bank your confidence, and bank your trust, and bank eternal life on.

Bank it on Jesus Christ. I recall the words of the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 2. If you want to turn there, Acts chapter 2 verse 22. Some of you may recognize right off the bat what this is. This is the Apostle Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost.

While you're turning there, let me say this. I hate to have heard that over the years, there are people say that expository preaching, or preaching large sections of scripture when you preach, quoting large sections of scripture when you preach is plagiarism.

They're idiots. How else are we going to preach if we don't preach the Bible? We won't find salvation no other place. But the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost begins this sermon, and he says this, Men of Israel, hear these words.

What words?

Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works, and wonders, and signs which God did in your own midst. As you yourselves also know, this Jesus, this same Jesus, was delivered up according to the definite plan and the foreknowledge of God, you crucified him.

And by wicked hands, you have slain him. But God has raised him up, having loose the pangs of death, because it was, I love this, it was not possible that he could be holden by death. For David said concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.

Here we go back to the shadow. The psalmist David says this, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced, and my flesh also will dwell in hope.

For you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption. The psalmist goes on to say, you have made known to me the path of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.

And then he goes into the explanation of the text he just quoted, brothers. I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he is dead. And not only is he dead, but he's buried. And not only is he buried, but his tomb is with us to this day.

And if you want to know what's in that tomb, it's the bones of David. He is absent from the body, but he is present with the Lord. And the scripture goes on, and it says this, Peter said, being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw, and he spoke about the resurrection of the Christ.

That he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This is a beautiful example of scripture interpreting scripture. This Jesus God raised up, and that of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself said, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. In the biblical account of David's life, we see many undeniable realities.

That the Lord, by means of his sovereignty and his providence, that he works so according to the counsel of his own will, that we have to conclude that through the many, and through the unmistakable and intentional workings of the mighty hand of God, that David was no doubt a type and a shadow of the Christ.

But that's all.

He was not the Christ. He was not the Christ. So typified by his life, by the guiding hand of the Lord, set forth unto us are hearing this word even today, the mystery of the gospel, and I could be wrong on my date here, at least 1 ,000 years before Jesus Christ was being proclaimed.

Let's be clear. This typology, this foreshadowing was not a chance or a random series of events.

Know this.

It was not a random series of events or chance events that took place that just happened to be similar to one another. But they are exact fulfillments of what was prophesied concerning our Lord and our Savior, which, by the way, is why we can be certain, why I can look at you, Jeff, and say Jesus Christ is king.

No doubt about it. He is king. And so I would ask you this. Is Jesus your king? That's rhetorical, by the way. Is Jesus Christ your king? Know this. He's king of kings and he's Lord of lords without your consent.

It wasn't up for a vote, as they say in the country. It wasn't up for a vote. He is still the king. The Apostle Paul, Greg quoted it this morning. The Apostle Paul stated to the Philippian church, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

That's Philippians chapter 2, verse 5 through 11. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not think it proper to be equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation and he took upon him the form of a servant and he came in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and he became obedient unto death.

What kind of death?

Even the death of the cross.

Wherefore,.

As a result, God has highly exalted him and he's given him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in the earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess, Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Repetition does us good, don't it, Greg? You can bow now or bow later. There truly is a choice. Bow now or bow later, but that's it, because you will bow because Jesus Christ is King. Another of the old hymns says, O sinner, come to Jesus now at his dear feet, just humbly bow.

Confess to him your every sin. He'll save and cleanse you, give you peace and joy within. I know that's a reality. Do you know that today? Are you saved? Have you been born again? Is Christ your King?

Brethren, we have met to worship our King today. We have been worshiping him for, I'm still on Eastern time here, for several hours we've been here. But he's still worthy. He's still worthy. And I know that this sermon has nothing to do with total depravity.

However, we do touch on the fact that our great God has turned the depravity of man to use it for his own glory and for the good of his elect. For God used David, David, a man. What kind of man was he?

A sinner man. What kind of man are you? A sinner man. What kind of woman are you? Sinner women. What kind of sinners are children? Sinner children. Born in sin, shaped in iniquity.

None good.

Thank God we sung an imprecatory psalm. Did y 'all notice that? That was an imprecatory psalm that we sung right before I got up here. So we hear this moving forward as quickly as I can.

I gotta hurry.

All right.

Jonathan Edwards said this concerning the likeness between David being the type in the shadow of Christ. Jonathan Edwards said, there's yet a more remarkable manifest and a manifold agreement between the thing said of David in his history and the thing said of the Messiah in the prophecies.

His own name, David, signifies beloved. Thank the Lord. David was God's elect. In an imminent manner. But not more imminent than God's own son. We hear the words recorded in Matthew's gospel. Matthew chapter three, verse 13 through 17.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by, to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. And John would have prevented Jesus and said, Lord, I have need to be baptized by you. But Jesus answered him.

And he said, let it be so now for thus it is fitting us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water and behold, the heavens were open to him.

And he saw the spirit of God descending on him like a dove and remaining on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said this. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Again, in Luke's gospel, we read in Luke chapter nine, verse 28 through 35.

Luke chapter nine, verse 28 through 35. Now about eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter and John and James and went up to the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white.

And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep.

Wasn't that just like them, right? They were heavy with sleep. But when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us that we are here.

Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. And then we have it in the scripture, not knowing what he said. I guess he just got beside himself. Country terms, he just was happy in the Lord.

Maybe Lord, we should just build three tabernacles here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. But what does the scripture say? As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

A voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my son whom I have chosen, my chosen one. Listen to him. Shadow to substance. So we should wrap up here. Undoubtedly, David was a top number of ways, but his kingdom and his reign are in the forefront.

Because what did God promise? An everlasting kingdom. And who else is fit to be the head of an everlasting kingdom, but an everlasting king? The everlasting God. So I'll close with this to this morning.

I'll close with a quote from John Flavell. And then I'm going to read an excerpt from a sermon by Shadrach, Meshach, and Lockridge, S .M. Lockridge. John Flavell said this first, We now come to the regal office by which our glorious mediator executes and discharges the undertaken design of our redemption.

Had he not, as our prophet, opened the way of life and salvation to the children of men, they could never have known it. If they had clearly known it, except as their high priest, he had offered up himself to infiltrate and to obtain redemption for them, they could not have been redeemed virtually by his blood.

And if they had been so redeemed, yet had not he lived in the capacity of a king to apply this purchase of his blood to them, they could have had no actual personal benefit by his death. For what he revealed as a prophet, he purchased as a priest.

And what he so revealed and purchased as a prophet and a priest, he applies as a king. First, by subduing the souls of his elect to his spiritual government, then ruling them as his subjects and ordering all things in the kingdom of providence.

For their good.

We are called, brothers and sisters, to make much of Jesus, to worship our king. He, from types and shadows to fulfillment and substance, the bottom line is this, our king is glorious. Our king is magnificent.

Our king is eternal. Our king is worthy of the honor and the praise of all men. S. M. Lockridge put it this way. He said, the Bible says concerning Christ, he's the king of the Jews. He's the king of Israel.

He's the king of righteousness. He's the king of the ages. He's the king of heaven. He's the king of glory. He's the king of kings. And he's the lord of lords. David said, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows forth his handiwork.

No means of measure can define his limitless love. No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastlines of his shoreless supply. No barriers can hinder him from pouring out his blessing. He's enduringly strong.

He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast. He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful. He's impartially merciful. And Lockridge said, that's my king. Who is his king? He's God's son. He's the sinner's savior.

He's the centerpiece of civilization. He stands alone in himself. He's august. He's unique. He's unparalleled. He's unprecedented. He's supreme. He's preeminent. He's the loftiest idea in literature. He's the highest personality in philosophy.

He's the supreme problem in higher criticism. And he's the fundamental doctrine in true theology. He's the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion. Lockridge goes on. He's the miracle of the age. He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call him.

So if you say he's better, well, he's better than the best. He's higher than the highest. In bad language, he's gooder than the goodest. He's Jesus Christ and he's the king of kings and he's the Lord of lords.

He's the miracle of the age. He's the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously. Do you realize that today? That you have needs in your life right now. You have needs in your heart. The greatest of those needs is to be saved from the wrath of God in your sin.

He is able to simultaneously save you individually today. He is able to supply your physical needs. He is able to care for you. Know this, that he cares for his own. He's available today for the tempted and the tried.

He sympathizes and he saves. He guards and he guides. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young.

He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent. And he beautifies the meek, according to the Sermon on the Mount. Lockridge asked this question, do you know him? My king is the key of knowledge.

He's the wellspring of wisdom. He's the doorway of deliverance. He's the pathway of peace. He's the roadway of righteousness. He's the highway of holiness. He's the gateway of glory. He's the master of the mighty.

He's the captain of the conquerors. And he's the head of the heroes. Do you know him today? Jesus Christ is our true king. The psalmist himself declares this as we literally close. Psalm 24. Psalm 24.

The type.

The shadow declares this. The king himself of the natural land declares this concerning the king of all kings. And he says this, the earth is Yahweh's. And the fullness thereof, the world and all those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

And then the question is asked, who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who will stand in his holy place? And the answer is given, he who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and who does not swear deceitfully.

He, this man, will receive the blessing of the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors.

Why?

So that the king of glory may come in. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.

Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord of hosts. He is the king of glory.