His Glory Among The Nations
HIS GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS
1 Chronicles 16:14-25 (ESV):
14 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
15Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
16 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, 17which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, 18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance.”
19When you were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it, 20wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, 21 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, 22 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. 24Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! 25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.
I would like to begin this sermon by asking, “How many of you here are Christians? Raise your hand. To be clear, I’m not asking who among you have been baptized, are mem bers of Bible Church International, or are attending our church regularly, or a good person. My question is whether you are a Christian based on the definition of the New Testament - you have repented of your sins by faith, acknowledged Jesus Christ as God's Son, accepted
His death on the cross as payment for your sins, and totally committed your life to Him as your Lord and Savior.
Now, the follow-up question is: How many of you are missionaries? Raise your hand as well. Perhaps you are hesitant about the second question. Honestly, if you responded pos itively to the first question, you should have no problem seeing yourself as a missionary. Be ing a Christian and a missionary is for sure the same thing.
Webster’s dictionary defines a missionary as “a person sent on a mission, especially on a religious mission." By that definition, every Christian is a missionary because every Christian is on a mission. And what is our mission? Undoubtedly, verse 24 defines the mis sion of God’s people to the world, “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”
If you genuinely believe that man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then we are called to help all the people of the world know the true God they must glorify and enjoy forever. The problem is: How do we do that? What are some things we need to help others know about our God?
Before we examine our text, let’s try to understand the context of our passage first. This morning's text is part of David’s Thanksgiving song after restoring the Ark of the Covenant at the Tabernacle in Jerusalem. If you go back to the earlier chapters, you will find the Philistines stealing the Ark from Israel because they associated their victories and prosperity with the presence of the Ark in their midst. However, the moment they took the Ark, instead of blessings, God sent them curses. So, in the end,
they returned the Ark to the nation of Israel. Fast forward to now, the Ark is back at the Tabernacle, where it should be. After David commanded Asaph to lead in worship, he himself started praising God, beginning in verses 8 up to 36. Here, we find our key text about our mission as God’s people. This context is essential because it estab lishes that missions are founded on the believer’s worship response to God. So, the more they appreciate God, the more they will share His glory with others who do not know Him. Ex amining the text, what are some things we need to help others learn about our God?
I GOD’S GRACIOUS COVENANT (VS. 15-18)
As we begin with our main text, the first thing we must declare about God is His gra cious covenant. Let’s read verses 15-18 – “Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance.”
Whenever we mention the word “covenant,” several concepts immediately come to mind, such as “promise,” “vow,” and “contract.” With my limited time, we cannot be exhaus tive in our discussions about this covenant, but simply explain it, the promises can be traced back to God’s promises to Abraham found in Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV):
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country[b]and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
If you break down these verses, you will find four essential promises:
A. The Promise of a Great Land – God promised to bring him and his family to a new land (v. 1)
B. The Promise of a Great Nation – God promised He would make him into a great nation (v.2).
C. The Promise of a Great Name - God promised to bless Abraham and make his name great (v. 2)
D. The Promise of Blessing Others Through Him – God promised blessings that would go be yond himself but all the families of the world (v. 2). This promise is fulfilled through the coming of Jesus Christ.
God made these great promises to Abraham, which He will repeat to his son Isaac and
grandson Jacob. If you notice, I referred to this covenant as gracious because righteousness was not required before God made these promises. Abraham only needed to act in faith by simply departing from his country.
Fast-forward to the New Testament covenant. As believers, we are
attached to God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When we trusted Jesus by faith, we became part of God’s family. Our mission included helping others experi ence the richness of God’s grace that can only be found in Jesus Christ. Paul wrote about this truth in Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV):
4ButGod, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Yes, just like Abraham, we are undeserving, yet God showed us grace and mercy when He led us to Jesus Christ. I love how Nancy Spiegelberg applied God’s grace to us as sinful be ings.
“Lord, I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup, uncertain in asking for any small drop of refreshment. If only I had known you better, I would have come running with a bucket.”
Are you grateful for God’s grace in your life? Show your gratitude for His grace by de claring Him to the nations!
II GOD’S GOOD CARE (vs. 19-22)
The next truth about God that we want others to know is found in these words in vers es 19-22 – “When you were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it, wander ing from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to op press them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”
From these words, David recalls Israel’s incredible deliverance from Egypt and journey to the Promised Land. Along their routes to Canaan, they were vulnerable to being am bushed and destroyed by powerful nations, but God’s excellent protection and care were with them. I especially love the words in verse 22: “Touch not my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm!” To appreciate these words, we must understand that “the anointed ones” refer to people God has chosen and set apart for His purposes, including leaders like David and prophets.” Clearly, this title applies to God’s people as a whole rather than just to specific individuals. God warned the kings of the nations around them that they could not harm God’s anointed ones or they were going against His will and authority.
Today, we can go through life with the same assurance of protection. I’m sure you are familiar with these verses that promises God’s protection:
Psalm 121:7-8 (ESV):
7The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
You and I also have the same promise in the New Testament found in
2 Thessalonians 3:3 (ESV):
3But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
We live in a very dangerous world, so everyone needs God’s protection. The other Fri day, Bro. Mike and Sis. May were at our prayer and worship gathering here at church. During the service, the Lord used their “Ring” camera to notify them about two strangers trying to enter their home. So, they were able to scare the housebreakers by sounding their alarm (let’s watch a portion of the video). Praise God for His protection of their home!
As God has promised to protect and care for His people, He wants to extend the same blessings to your unsaved loved ones and friends. Share with them the Gospel of Jesus be cause only He can protect not just their body but, most significantly, their soul. Remember this verse:
Matthew 10:28 (ESV):
28And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
III GOD’S GREAT CHARACTER (v. 25)
Lastly, we should highlight the last reason why we want to declare God’s glory among the nations in verse 25 – “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.”
The sad reality is that when we remain silent and do not declare God's glory to others, we deprive them of getting to know the most extraordinary God who can bring so many blessings into their lives.
I hope that by this time, you already have a much better understanding of what Jesus has done for you because your appreciation of our great Savior will compel you to share Him with others. Remember:
“If Jesus is worth having, then He is worth sharing.”
People around us need love, hope, peace and joy. They can indeed find them all in Je sus. After years of rebelling against Jesus, I was brought back to the Lord through Bible Bas ketball. After I was restored back to Him, one of the praise songs that I enjoyed singing was Something Beautiful, written by Gloria Gaither. Let me close with this song:
Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life
If there ever were dreams
That were lofty and noble
They were my dreams at the start
And hope for life's best were the hopes
That I harbor down deep in my heart
But my dreams turned to ashes
And my castles all crumbled, my fortune turned to loss
So I wrapped it all in the rags of life
And laid it at the cross
So many people today need to know God’s glory, which can be found only in Jesus Christ. The reason why BCI exists is so we can declare His glory among the nations.
Bishop Jeremiah Lepasana/Nov. 3, 2024
Leading People To A Life Of Commitment And Productivity In Christ
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