Covenant Theology: Obedience, Disobedience, and National Judgment

Words Of Wisdom And Words Of Warning - Part 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Covenant Theology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2023-02-03

Synopsis: In this sermon, John Weaver continues his exposition of 1 Chronicles 28:9, focusing on the words of warning: 'If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.' He explains that this warning has both a positive encouragement to seek God and a negative warning against forsaking Him. Weaver argues that the conditional aspect of this warning applies specifically to David's physical descendants and the Davidic covenant, showing from Scripture that the physical kingdom was conditional upon obedience. However, he distinguishes the spiritual aspect of the covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the greater Son of David, whose spiritual seed will never be cast off forever. Believers may experience temporary forsaking in terms of losing God's manifest presence due to sin, but they are eternally secure in Christ. The sermon concludes with applications on perseverance, seeking God, and the prayer of the aged for God's continued presence.

[John Weaver] First Chronicles chapter 28 and verse 9 David is giving Solomon his son counsel and he says thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searcheth all hearts and and understandeth all the imagination of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever." Of course, I titled this message, Words of Wisdom and Words of Warning, because this counsel is the counsel that David gave to Solomon, his son, and he's passing on this wisdom to his son. And I think the very first words of David to Solomon should be the very first words that we give to our children when he said, and thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father.

[John Weaver] And if you remember last week, I pointed out the word no, meant to know personally, intimately, to know experientially. It is not just simply a historical knowledge or an intellectual knowledge. It is indeed a personal and saving knowledge. And so the second admonition certainly is connected with that when he says, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart. And I pointed out the word serve actually means to work.

[John Weaver] It's translated as till in the book of Genesis. It also has the same implication when God told Abram that his children would serve a strange nation and certainly they were forced to work. They were compelled to work because they were indeed slaves. So the word serve then means basically to work. And of course, then when you go farther, God said that he delivered Israel out of the land of Egypt that they might serve him. So that service is indeed work. And he said serve him with a perfect heart. And then I looked at the fact that the word perfect meant heart that was right in the sense that it was obedient and we looked at it in reference to other scriptures where it said that with a perfect heart they kept his commandments and his statutes and his judgments and so in 1st Chronicles 28 in verse 9 these words of wisdom serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind and the word willing then had reference to that which is pleasurable that it which is delightful, that which causes joy.

[John Weaver] And so, we are to serve Him, not only with a heart of obedience, but something that causes us pleasure as well. So, we have then the words of wisdom. And then secondly today, we come to the words of warning in 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9, when He said, If thou seek Him, He will be found of thee. But if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off forever. And of course, both of these in one sense of the word are indeed words of warning, which I'll explain just momentarily. But the Bible, of course, is replete with warnings. It doesn't matter if you read the Old Testament or read the New Testament, it's full of warnings. In fact, if we did nothing but take two words and consider them in context, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we would have ample warnings. And those two words are simply, take heed. I want to give you two verses out of the Old Testament, then I'm going to quote four from the New Testament.

[John Weaver] So if you will hold 1 Chronicles 28, and then look in your Bibles at Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 9 to begin with. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 9. Notice, if you would please, what the scripture says. Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, unless they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. But teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons. So it says, take heed to thyself."

[John Weaver] Now if you'll skip down to verse 15, here's another warning where it says, take you therefore good heed unto yourselves, for you saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. And so here's a warning against idolatry and making images, but it says take good heed. Over and over in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, you'll run across these words, take heed or take good heed. So let me give you a couple out of the New Testament. In Mark 4 and verse 24, the Bible says, and he, that is our Lord said unto them, take heed what you hear.

[John Weaver] For what measure you meet, it shall be measured back to you. So take heed what you hear. In other words, you make sure that you are hearing the word of God. Take heed what you hear. And then in Luke chapter 8 and verse 18, He says it like this, take heed how you hear for whosoever hath to him shall be given and he that hath not from him shall be taken that which he seemeth to have. So it's interesting how he said take heed what you hear and then he said take heed how you hear.

[John Weaver] And then here's another passage. I'm just quoting them for you. first time of the chapter 4 in verse 16 he said take heed to thyself and thy doctrine. Notice if you would take heed to thyself and thy doctrine continue in them for in doing so thou shalt save thyself and those that hear thee. So he says take heed those are words of warning. One more passage Hebrews 3 in verse 12 where the Word of God says take heed brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God." So, you have these words, take heed, which are warnings all through the Bible. Now, when you look back at 1 Chronicles chapter 28 and verse 9, you do not see the words take heed. However, these are very clear and obvious warnings.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note the latter half of verse 9, since we covered the first half last week. He said, if thou seek him, he will be found of thee. But if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.

[John Weaver] Now, these are indeed words of warning. However, it is in two parts. There is a positive and there is a negative. The positive is very clearly, if thou seek him, he will be found of thee. And, of course, the obvious warning, which is also there, is if you do not seek Him, He will not be found of you. So, you have to understand that this is one warning, but it is in two parts as well. Now, the first truth, the first part of this warning, the positive, is very easily understood.

[John Weaver] In fact, we can quote many scriptures that deal with seeking the Lord. Let me give you just a couple of them. For instance, in Psalm 27 and verse 8, David said to God, when thou saidest, seek ye my face, my heart said, thy face will I seek. And then in Psalm 105 and verse 3, glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them that seek him rejoice. So there are people who seek him. And everyone is familiar with that passage in Isaiah 55, where he said, seek ye the Lord while he may be found.

[John Weaver] Call ye upon him while he's near. Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the evil man his thoughts, and let him turn to the Lord, and he will abundantly have mercy upon him. You can come up with all kinds of scriptures that tell us to seek the Lord. There's a passage in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 13 where God says this and you shall seek me and You shall find me when you seek me with your whole heart Not half-hearted But when you seek me with your whole heart and of course then in Joel chapter 2 in verse 12 therefore also now saith the Lord God turn you even to me with all of your heart." So you can go through the Bible and you're going to find invitation after invitation in one sense of the word to seek the Lord and to search for Him with all of your heart. There are so many verses that it's just almost unimaginable that no one could at least find one of them or at least know one of them.

[John Weaver] There's so many. It's not that part of this verse that really is confounding to a lot of people. It is the negative aspect in one sense of the word. When he said, if thou seek him, he'll be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever. So the question would be, how in the world do we explain that last part of that verse? we forsake him he will cast us off forever."

[John Weaver] Well let me just tell you actually in this warning you have two encouragements. First of all you have an encouragement to seek the Lord and secondly in this latter part you have an encouragement to steadfastness. That is, once you seek Him, once you find Him, you remain steadfast, you do not forsake Him. But, still that does not answer this question, how do we explain that if we forsake Him, He will cast us all forever? Well, I want you to get ready to turn to a number of passages.

[John Weaver] Because I've told you before, to understand any verse you must understand it in its context. Not only the immediate context, but also even the remote context. And the remote context could be not just several chapters over, it could be the whole book, or it could even refer to other books as well. And so you're going to find this same statement, basically, explained in a lot of passages, especially in reference to the one subject that we're dealing with. You remember I told you this message is titled Words of Wisdom and Words of Warning.

[John Weaver] I taught the first half last week, the second half this week, but I even began by telling you that this was the counsel that David gave to his son Solomon. So this counsel then is given in light the Davidic Covenant, listen carefully, and especially in light of David's kingdom and his physical descendants. So, I want you to hold 1st Chronicles 28, turn back in your Bibles if you would, to 2nd Samuel chapter 7. So we have 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, then 1st and 2nd Chronicles. So notice if you would 2nd Samuel chapter 7. We're going to be looking at a number of passages where we're going to see that this specifically and immediately has reference to David's physical descendants to those who are in control of the kingdom. So notice if you would 2nd Samuel chapter 7 and let's begin reading with verse 12. God is speaking to David and he says this, And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to understand something as I go. We're going to see two men in each of these passages. God says in verse 13, He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men.

[John Weaver] But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before him. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee, The throne shall be established forever."

[John Weaver] Now, when you look at this passage, you have to understand that there are two men in view. The first one, of course, is Solomon, David's son, and the second one is the greater Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true son of David, which I will explain a little bit later. God says to David, he's going to set up his seed. He's going to establish his kingdom.

[John Weaver] He shall build a house for my name. And of course, that's exactly what Solomon did. But also the Lord Jesus Christ is building a house as well. And then he says, if he commit iniquity, I will punish him. That would refer to the physical Solomon, David's son. But when God says, His throne shall be established forever, that would refer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, so let me show you that a little further. Look in your Bibles now to 2 Chronicles 6. 2 Chronicles 6. We're in 1 Chronicles, so we're going to 2 Chronicles 6. And notice if you would, beginning there with verse 12 as well. 2nd Chronicles chapter 6 and verse 12. Watch carefully. The Bible says this, 2nd Chronicles 6 and verse 12. And he, that is Solomon, stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands.

[John Weaver] For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits long, five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court. And upon it he stood and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, and said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven nor in earth, which keepeth covenant and showeth mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts."

[John Weaver] Now look what he says,"...thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father, that which thou hast promised him, and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel, yet so that the children take heed to their way." There's those two words. "...take heed to their way, to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me. Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David."

[John Weaver] Now, let me go back and notice, if you would, what he said in verse 16. now therefore Lord God of Israel keep with thy servant David my father that which thou has promised him saying there shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel now the Hebrew word for man is the word ish which means a man a male does not refer to a woman it refers to a man you will remember When God created Eve and brought her to Adam, he said, and using the Hebrew word, she shall be called Ishi, for she was taken out of Ish. She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. So God says, if you take heed of thyself and keep my commandments, There shall not fail thee a man to sit upon the throne of Israel." I hope you're beginning to see that in one sense of the word, in relationship to David's physical descendants, this covenant is basically what you and I would call conditional.

[John Weaver] Now, if you will turn right over to 2 Chronicles chapter 7, let's begin reading with verse 17 and you're going to see it again that it is indeed conditional physically speaking in reference to David's physical descendants so in second in 2nd Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 17 and as for thee now listen to what God says to Solomon as for thee if If thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be a ruler in Israel. But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods and worship them.

[John Weaver] Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of the land which I have given them, and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to everyone that passeth by it, So that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto the land and unto this house? And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them. Therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them."

[John Weaver] Now, if you'll go back to verse 17, he said it like this. And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father, if you will keep my commandments and my statutes, verse 18, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom. End of the words, and then you come down to verse 19, but if you turn away. So, this covenant concerning David's physical descendants was conditioned upon obedience. Since we're in 2nd Chronicles, if you will turn right over to 2nd Chronicles 15, you will see the same truth was given to King Asa. Watch if you would.

[John Weaver] We'll read verses 1 and 2. And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa. And he said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you be with Him. And if you seek Him, He will be found of you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

[John Weaver] Now, here is my question. Did David's physical descendants forsake God, the covenant, and His law? And the answer is yes. You don't even have to look any further than Solomon. It was Solomon who introduced idolatry into Israel. Read 1 Kings chapter 11, where he built all of these altars for his strange wives, even to Baal and to Moloch and all these other altars. So did Solomon fail? Yes. And as someone pointed out, out of all the wives that Solomon had, he only had one son, that was Rehoboam, and he was a fool.

[John Weaver] And he was, because he lost the kingdom. It was divided under him because of his insanity and stupidity is what it amounted to. His wickedness, his rebellion. And then from there it basically went downhill. You had some good kings, you had some bad kings, but obviously, yes. Did the kings fail? Yes. Did the people fail and disobey? And the answer is yes. So if you will turn back in your Bibles to 2nd Kings chapter 17. 2nd Kings chapter 17. All these are together concerning the kings of Israel. 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles. So notice if you would, 2nd Kings chapter 17, let's answer the question Did the kings, did the people forsake God? I could read the whole chapter, but let's begin with verse 13. The Bible says, yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah. Remember Israel's a Northern kingdom, Judah's a Southern kingdom. He testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers saying turn you from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent unto you by my service the prophets.

[John Weaver] Notwithstanding they would not hear but hardened their necks like unto the neck of their fathers that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them. And they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal.

[John Weaver] And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinations and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah. Now watch. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only. And Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statues of Israel which they made. And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them in the hand of the spoilers until he had cast them out of his sight. For he rent Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin of great sin." Oh yes, they did indeed forsake God, they forsook the covenant.

[John Weaver] Now, since we are close, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra. Look in Ezra chapter 8 and verse 22. Because in this passage, Ezra gives us this same truth. Watch it. Ezra chapter 8 and verse 22. Of course, Ezra is taking some people back to rebuild the temple. And notice he said in verse 22, For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him, but his

[John Weaver] power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. So when you read the scripture, you cannot help but see and understand that both the kings as well as Israel and Judah did indeed forsake God. They transgressed his law. They violated the covenant. And when they did so, God righteously and justly forsook them. In fact, he's going to say that just momentarily. So here's the same kind of scenario.

[John Weaver] So I want you to think about this. Marriage is a covenant. just like civil government is a covenant. But men, if your wife ran off and left you and ran off with another man and then divorced you and married that other man, would you consider yourself still responsible to provide for her and protect her? And the answer would be, of course not. No. She violated the covenant. She's not yours anymore and you have no duty, no obligation to protect her or provide for her in any way.

[John Weaver] It's the same thing here. God had entered into the covenant with David and he said, if your descendants keep my law, if they do this, I will bless them. If they do not do this, then he said, I will curse them.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you. Look in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 21. 2nd Kings chapter 21 and let's begin reading there with verse 12 remember now he said if you forsake me I will forsake you so 2nd Kings chapter 21 and verse 12 look what God says therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wiped the dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies.

[John Weaver] And they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. Now watch this next verse. Moab and Manasseh, who was a king, shed innocent blood very much, till it filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, beside his sin wherewith he made you to sin and doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

[John Weaver] So when David is telling Solomon if you forsake him he will forsake you he is pointing out this is the physical aspect of the covenant because Solomon was a physical descendant of David. Now I have to point out the other aspect of the covenant and that is what I'm just simply going to refer to as the spiritual aspect of the covenant because David only had a physical seed and David also had a spiritual seed and as I pointed out earlier when you read these passages you have to understand that these passages have what we call prophetic telescoping okay so If I had a telescope, and I'm looking right now at David, and I see him right there, beyond him, I see Carol standing. So I'm looking at David, but I see her. And a lot of these passages, they're looking at Solomon, but beyond Solomon, you see the greater than Solomon, you see the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So I'm going to show you a passage where these aspects tied together.

[John Weaver] So if you look in your Bibles to Psalm 89. Psalm 89 and here is the passage that you can see very clearly and very distinctly that there is indeed a spiritual side to this covenant. So in Psalm 89 beginning with verse 19 where God is basically speaking to David. I want you to see what God says. And you have to be able to distinguish between David's physical descendants and his true seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. Watch carefully. Psalm 89 verse 19.

[John Weaver] Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I've exalted my chosen out of the people. I found David my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall be established, mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers."

[John Weaver] So let me point something out. David never occupied all of the land. The kingdom reached its zenith under Solomon. But now we're talking about someone who's going to occupy. Watch verse 26. He shall cry unto me thou art my father my God and the rock of my salvation And what did our Lord Jesus cry my father my father my God my God why hast thou forsaken me? watch verse 27 also I will make him my firstborn higher than the kings of the earth. We're not talking about Solomon In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called the firstborn, and He's certainly called the King of kings and Lord of lords. He's higher than all the kings of the earth. God says in verse 28, My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with Him. His seed, this is going to be the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

[John Weaver] If his children forsake my law, that would be us, and walk not in my judgments, If they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then I will visit their transgressions with a rod, and their nickel with stripes. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness will not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the things that have gone out of my lips.

[John Weaver] Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne As the sun before me, it shall be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness in the heaven. So now we're talking about the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now there's a verse I can quote, but I want you to see it. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter one and verse one. This is the very first verse in the Bible. And the very first verse in the Bible should be extremely informative. That is in the New Testament, very first verse in the New Testament. And I want you to see what it says. Look at it. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. So Jesus Christ. was not just simply in the lineage of David, he was, but Solomon just prefigured the true Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ is not only called the son of David, he's also called the son of Abraham. Now, since you're in Matthew, look in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 42. Matthew 12 and verse 42. And here's what our Lord said. The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it. Why?

[John Weaver] For she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here. Now the word greater in the Greek is the word play on. And it literally means that which is superior, that which is more excellent. So there was the physical Solomon, and now here's the spiritual Solomon. Here's the greater, the superior one, the one who is more excellent. Now, I told you earlier, it is true that David's kingdom reached its zenith under Solomon. And when you read in the Bible all the land that Solomon possessed, and when you read all the riches that Solomon had, and when you read about all the wisdom that God gave Solomon, and yet the truth of the matter is, everything that was given to Solomon belongs to God. And Jesus Christ is God. He's the greater than Solomon.

[John Weaver] And the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof in the world and they that dwell therein. And then the Bible tells us that He is our wisdom. He is wisdom personified. So Jesus Christ, then, is our all and in all.

[John Weaver] Now, since David had a physical seed, David also, through his greater son, The Lord Jesus Christ also has a spiritual seed. Now it is true that that physical seed could be cast off and could be cast off forever in the sense that just because you were the physical descendant of David did not make you saved. Salvation is not by blood. Physical descendants of Abraham are not necessarily saved just because they happen to be a physical descendant of Abraham. Salvation is not by race. Salvation is by grace. Salvation is not by blood. Salvation is by grace.

[John Weaver] And there are plenty of kings that were wicked and vile and died in their sins, as well as plenty of the people. So, will our Lord Jesus Christ cede Can it be cast off forever? And the answer is, no, of course not. I'll show you why. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to begin with, to Isaiah 53. Everyone knows that Isaiah 53 is a chapter dealing with the suffering Messiah. In fact, all you have to do is read the first several verses, and clearly these verses Refer to our Lord Jesus Christ. They're quoted in the New Testament as well Concerning him but look at Isaiah 53 and look if you would please at verse 1 Isaiah writes who has believed our report and whom is the armor of the Lord revealed? for he That is the Lord Jesus shall grow up before him as a tender plant.

[John Weaver] That's the root out of dry ground He hath no former comeliness And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

[John Weaver] Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." So we're talking about Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, skip down if you would please to verse 10, because here's what the scripture says concerning Christ. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, which he did. Now look what the Bible says concerning Christ and his suffering. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see his seed. Now look at verse 11. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." It's not that he might see. It's not that he hopes to see. It's not that he maybe will see. No, he shall see.

[John Weaver] So not one for whom our Lord died is going to be eternally cast off and forsaken. He shall see the travail of his soul. Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of John chapter 10. Here's a passage everyone knows, but look at it. John chapter 10. And look what our Lord said, beginning there with verse 27, John 10, verse 27. He said it like this. John 10, verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me.

[John Weaver] And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." What did he say? I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Never. want you to turn if you would to two passages Philippians chapter 1 and Hebrews chapter 12 Philippians chapter 1 and look if you would then secondly once we get that to Hebrews chapter 12 in Philippians 1 and verse 6 look if you would at that first here's a wonderful verse Philippians 1, 6,

[John Weaver] being confident of this very thing, that he who had begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Did you hear that? Being confident of this very thing, that he which had begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. So if God has started a work in you, he will finish that work. He is not going to start something and then quit. He's not going to begin a work and then walk away from it. Being confident in this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now look in Hebrews 12 and verse 2. In light of this same truth, the Bible says, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Note, if you would, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

[John Weaver] So I could put it to you like this. All right, I have authored three books. I've written three books. So, Steve, my first book, The Christian and Civil Government, I want you to finish it. Well, you can't finish it. And the reason you can't finish it is because you're not the author of it. You didn't begin it. Jesus is the author and the finisher. He began our faith. He finishes our faith. He began our salvation. He finishes our salvation.

[John Weaver] So here is an aspect then of this covenant where Jesus Christ The true Solomon, the true seed of David, is indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, let me tell you something. We are preserved in Jesus Christ. That is what Jude 1 in verse 1 says, that we are preserved in Jesus Christ. And while preservation is a blessing, it also includes what you and I would call perseverance. I'm going to explain something just for a moment.

[John Weaver] Now, just because a believer cannot be cast off forever does not mean that he cannot be cast off temporarily. How can I say that? Well, I'll show you. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 54. I'll explain it. We'll look in Isaiah 54 and verse 8. Look what God says. Isaiah 54 and verse 8. Here it is. God says, in a little wrath, I hid my face from thee for a moment. But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. But note if you would, in a little wrath, I hid my face from thee for a moment. The way that we are forsaken, I'll explain more fully momentarily. is that we lose our joy, we lose our peace, we lose our blessings because of our sins and our disobedience to the Word of God.

[John Weaver] And when we sin as Christians, we receive chastisement. That is why Micah 6 in verse 9 says, Hear ye the rod and him who hath appointed it.

[John Weaver] Now, when we think about this, There's no earthly parent that wishes to bless a disobedient, hard-headed, stubborn, rebellious child. You know, you don't do things like that. If you had a son that you asked him, yeah, you told him to do something, and he didn't do it. And you confronted him. And after you confronted him, he puffed up and cursed you and called you every name under the sun and then spit in your face. Would you look at that child and say, son, just wait right here.

[John Weaver] I want to run to town and buy you a present. You wouldn't say that. You'd say, son, stand still because You can't run away from this one. You've got it coming. I'm going to give it to you. You're going to wear the living daylights out of him where he wouldn't be able to sit down for a week or two. We're not going to put up with disobedience with our children. We're not going to put up with insolence with our children. Do you think God is going to put up with that with his children and we escape chastisement? Let me explain what I'm talking about.

[John Weaver] Every Christian understands There have been times when you were disobedient, when you violated God's principles and God's law, it seemed like the heavens were brass. You tried to pray and your prayer never got out of the ceiling of the room. I mean, it looked as if God was nowhere around. You were all alone. God was not hearing your prayer. God was not answering your prayer. Let me tell you something. There was no problem with God. God is immutable. God does not change. The problem was not with God. The problem was us.

[John Weaver] We were the ones that changed. We were the ones that sinned. And oftentimes our change is not for the better. It's for the worse. And when that happens, we lose, we lose our joy. We lose our peace. We lose our blessings. I'll show you what we lose. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 14. Look in John 14, and we're going to begin reading there with verse 21. Look in John chapter 14. John 14, verse 21. I want you to think about this. John 14, 21.

[John Weaver] Our Lord said, He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and we will manifest myself to him. And will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus entered and said unto him, If a man loved me, he will keep my words, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.

[John Weaver] Now note what he said in verse 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them is he that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. What we lose by our sins is the manifest presence of God. This is a temporary forsaking when we have insulted Him, sinned against Him, transgressed against Him.

[John Weaver] It's not that we're being cast off forever. We're just losing His manifest presence. You remember in the Old Testament how Israel sinned and provoked God. And God told Moses, take that people and get them to land, but I'm not going with you. You remember what Moses said? If you're not going with me, don't send me. I'm not going without you. I want your presence. And when we sin against God, that's why our hearts get cold. That's why our joy decreases. That's why our peace flees away. That's why the blessing seemingly stopped flowing. That's why our prayers never get up past the ceiling because we've sinned against God.

[John Weaver] And the way back, of course, is always through repentance, faith, submission and obedience. Now, I want to cover something because I've had people tell me this. Well, Brother Weaver, you don't understand. I know of someone who used to be a Christian. I mean, he was baptized, he went to church, he did this, he did that, and now he's left the faith, he's left God, he's done everything wicked under the sun and still doing everything wicked under the sun. But he used to be a Christian, and the answer is, no he didn't. Because 1 John 2, 19 says this, they went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they were not of us.

[John Weaver] For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us. The proof that one has ever been genuinely saved is that he continues in salvation and faith. The proof that he's ever genuinely repented is he continues in repentance.

[John Weaver] Now the Bible says this, listen carefully, in Psalm 94 and verse 14, for the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. He is not going to cast us off. Everyone probably can quote this verse, or at least part of this verse. And this is a verse I've quoted to Alice a number of times. She would come to me and she would say, well, I need some new dresses. And I would look at her and I'd say, now, sweetheart, we want to be biblical about this thing. We want to do what the Lord wants us to do, right? Yeah, right. Well, let me give you a verse. This should settle it. Hebrews 13 in verse five, where the Bible says, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. Well, that's not in the context, but that's what the first part of that verse says. But here is why it says that, let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have, for he has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

[John Weaver] In other words, we can be content because we have his manifest presence. We have him. And if we have him, we have everything we need. Okay?

[John Weaver] Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this, the warning that David gave to Solomon is also the same warning that we have in Jesus Christ. That is that we must persevere in the faith. Now the Bible does tell us in Jude one, which I quoted earlier in verse one, that we are preserved in Christ Jesus. But those who are preserved in Christ Jesus, that preservation is manifested by perseverance. That is, we persevere in repentance, we persevere in faith, we persevere in submission, we persevere in obedience. In our perseverance, it's not something that we do in our own strength. It's not something that we have the ability to do in and of ourselves. Perseverance is something, it is a work, that is for sure, but it is also grace. You remember what our Lord said in John 15 in verse 5?

[John Weaver] He said, without me, you can do what? Help me out. You can do what? Nothing. If perseverance is something without Him, we cannot persevere. He must give us the grace. He must give us His mercy in order to enable us to walk pleasing in His sight. Here's the second application. The reason for both encouragements in the warning is so that we may understand that we may seek him whenever we need grace and whenever we need mercy.

[John Weaver] He's going to be found. When we seek him with all of our hearts, whether we need patience, whether we need mercy, whether we need help, whether we need a particular blessing, he said, you shall find me when you seek for me with all your heart. Those that seek the Lord, He shall be found of them. There is absolutely no need for any child of God to suffer and to fail when we have the omnipotent God with infinite resources as our Father. The reason we fail and the reason we do without is because we refuse to seek Him as we should. There's no reason for unanswered prayer.

[John Weaver] because He loves us and He delights to answer our prayers. There's no reason for you and I to live without peace and blessing because He told us if we seek Him, He will be found of us. We must learn the truth that we have to walk in faith. We have to walk in obedience and submission.

[John Weaver] Now, in light of this, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 71 because I want to show you two verses that I use quite frequently in my life. And I tend to rely on these over and over as the years go by. You know, the problem with getting old is you just can't do what you used to do. You just don't have the strength. You just don't have the ability. Well, David understood that. And look what he said in Psalm 71 and verse 9. Psalm 71 and verse 9. David said, cast me not off in the time of old age. Forsake me not when my strength faileth.

[John Weaver] That's a pretty good prayer, isn't it? Forsake me not when my strength faileth. And our strength does fail, I can assure you. But the one that I really like is found in verse 18. Look what he says.

[John Weaver] Now also when I'm old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not until I've showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come. I changed that a little bit. And I read it like this, now when I am old and bald-headed. Oh God, forsake me not until I've showed thy strength into this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come. I tell people I still marvel at younger men who have all their strength and all their power. And I have several younger men around me that help me, for which I'm extremely thankful.

[John Weaver] And one of them, said to me recently about being young and strong. And I looked at him and I said, let me tell you something. There are things that a young man can do that an old man cannot do. But there are things that an old man knows that a young man does not know. And so I said, don't push your luck. Oh, listen. David said, forsake me not, but I'm old and gray headed, until I've showed thy strength to this generation. When you read, I think it's Psalm 91, it's in the Psalm 90s, talking about old folks, what does he say? He is saying that when you get old, you'll be fat and flourishing in the house of God. Yeah. So old men, Do not necessarily need to say, I'm going to sit by and do nothing. No, he said, Lord, let me show this generation your strength and your power.

[John Weaver] Words of wisdom, words of warning. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. Help us, Lord, to make application to our lives and to live for thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen. ♪ ♪ you

Words Of Wisdom And Words Of Warning - Part 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	kXTN8YjBLnw
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Obedience, Disobedience, and National Judgment
Genre	Sermon
Date	2023-02-03
Dictation Name
Book	Book 107: Words Of Wisdom And Words Of Warning — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	80

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Review

Weaver reviews the first half of 1 Chronicles 28:9, emphasizing that knowing God is a personal, experiential knowledge and that serving Him means working with a perfect, obedient heart and a willing, joyful mind.

First Chronicles chapter 28 and verse 9, David is giving Solomon his son counsel and he says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 28:9

"Thou Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imagination of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever."

Of course, I titled this message, Words of Wisdom and Words of Warning, because this counsel is the counsel that David gave to Solomon, his son, and he's passing on this wisdom to his son. And I think the very first words of David to Solomon should be the very first words that we give to our children when he said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 28:9

"And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father."

And if you remember last week, I pointed out the word "know" meant to know personally, intimately, to know experientially. It is not just simply a historical knowledge or an intellectual knowledge. It is indeed a personal and saving knowledge. And so the second admonition certainly is connected with that when he says, "Know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart." And I pointed out the word "serve" actually means to work. It's translated as "till" in the book of Genesis. It also has the same implication when God told Abram that his children would serve a strange nation and certainly they were forced to work. They were compelled to work because they were indeed slaves. So the word "serve" then means basically to work. And of course, then when you go farther, God said that he delivered Israel out of the land of Egypt that they might serve him. So that service is indeed work. And he said, "Serve him with a perfect heart." And then I looked at the fact that the word "perfect" meant a heart that was right in the sense that it was obedient and we looked at it in reference to other scriptures where it said that with a perfect heart they kept his commandments and his statutes and his judgments. And so in 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9, these words of wisdom, "Serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind," and the word "willing" then had reference to that which is pleasurable, that which is delightful, that which causes joy.

And so, we are to serve Him, not only with a heart of obedience, but something that causes us pleasure as well. So, we have then the words of wisdom. And then secondly today, we come to the words of warning in 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9, when He said, "If thou seek Him, He will be found of thee. But if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off forever." And of course, both of these in one sense of the word are indeed words of warning, which I'll explain just momentarily. But the Bible, of course, is replete with warnings. It doesn't matter if you read the Old Testament or read the New Testament, it's full of warnings. In fact, if we did nothing but take two words and consider them in context, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we would have ample warnings. And those two words are simply, "take heed." I want to give you two verses out of the Old Testament, then I'm going to quote four from the New Testament.

The Words of Warning Introduced

The second half of the verse contains both a positive encouragement to seek God and a negative warning that forsaking Him leads to being cast off forever. Weaver notes that the Bible is full of warnings, often using the phrase 'take heed.'

So if you will hold 1 Chronicles 28, and then look in your Bibles at Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 9 to begin with. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 9. Notice, if you would please, what the scripture says.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 4:9

"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. But teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons."

So it says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 4:9

"Take heed to thyself."

Now if you'll skip down to verse 15, here's another warning where it says, "Take you therefore good heed unto yourselves, for you saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire." And so here's a warning against idolatry and making images, but it says "take good heed." Over and over in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, you'll run across these words, "take heed" or "take good heed." So let me give you a couple out of the New Testament. In Mark 4 and verse 24, the Bible says, "And he," that is our Lord, "said unto them, Take heed what you hear." "For what measure you mete, it shall be measured back to you." So take heed what you hear. In other words, you make sure that you are hearing the word of God. Take heed what you hear. And then in Luke chapter 8 and verse 18, He says it like this, "Take heed how you hear for whosoever hath to him shall be given and he that hath not from him shall be taken that which he seemeth to have." So it's interesting how he said "take heed what you hear" and then he said "take heed how you hear."

And then here's another passage. I'm just quoting them for you. 1 Timothy chapter 4 in verse 16, he said, "Take heed to thyself and thy doctrine. Notice if you would, take heed to thyself and thy doctrine, continue in them for in doing so thou shalt save thyself and those that hear thee." So he says "take heed," those are words of warning. One more passage, Hebrews 3 in verse 12 where the Word of God says, "Take heed brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God." So, you have these words, "take heed," which are warnings all through the Bible. Now, when you look back at 1 Chronicles chapter 28 and verse 9, you do not see the words "take heed." However, these are very clear and obvious warnings.

Now, I want you to note the latter half of verse 9, since we covered the first half last week. He said, "If thou seek him, he will be found of thee. But if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever."

The Positive Warning: Seek the Lord

Weaver cites multiple Old Testament passages that call people to seek the Lord with their whole heart, emphasizing that God promises to be found by those who earnestly seek Him.

Now, these are indeed words of warning. However, it is in two parts. There is a positive and there is a negative. The positive is very clearly, "If thou seek him, he will be found of thee." And, of course, the obvious warning, which is also there, is if you do not seek Him, He will not be found of you. So, you have to understand that this is one warning, but it is in two parts as well. Now, the first truth, the first part of this warning, the positive, is very easily understood. In fact, we can quote many scriptures that deal with seeking the Lord. Let me give you just a couple of them. For instance, in Psalm 27 and verse 8, David said to God,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 27:8

"When thou saidest, Seek ye my face, my heart said, Thy face will I seek."

And then in Psalm 105 and verse 3, "Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them that seek him rejoice." So there are people who seek him. And everyone is familiar with that passage in Isaiah 55, where he said, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found."

"Call ye upon him while he's near. Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the evil man his thoughts, and let him turn to the Lord, and he will abundantly have mercy upon him." You can come up with all kinds of scriptures that tell us to seek the Lord. There's a passage in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 13 where God says this, "And you shall seek me, and you shall find me, when you seek me with your whole heart." Not half-hearted. But when you seek me with your whole heart. And of course then in Joel chapter 2 in verse 12, "Therefore also now, saith the Lord God, turn you even to me with all of your heart." So you can go through the Bible and you're going to find invitation after invitation in one sense of the word to seek the Lord and to search for Him with all of your heart. There are so many verses that it's just almost unimaginable that no one could at least find one of them or at least know one of them.

There's so many. It's not that part of this verse that really is confounding to a lot of people. It is the negative aspect in one sense of the word. When he said, "If thou seek him, he'll be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever." So the question would be, how in the world do we explain that last part of that verse? "If we forsake him, he will cast us off forever."

The Negative Warning: Forsaking and Being Cast Off

The difficult part of the verse is the warning that if one forsakes God, He will cast them off forever. Weaver begins to explain this in light of the Davidic covenant and its conditional nature for physical descendants.

Well let me just tell you actually in this warning you have two encouragements. First of all you have an encouragement to seek the Lord and secondly in this latter part you have an encouragement to steadfastness. That is, once you seek Him, once you find Him, you remain steadfast, you do not forsake Him. But, still that does not answer this question, how do we explain that if we forsake Him, He will cast us off forever? Well, I want you to get ready to turn to a number of passages. Because I've told you before, to understand any verse you must understand it in its context. Not only the immediate context, but also even the remote context. And the remote context could be not just several chapters over, it could be the whole book, or it could even refer to other books as well. And so you're going to find this same statement, basically, explained in a lot of passages, especially in reference to the one subject that we're dealing with. You remember I told you this message is titled Words of Wisdom and Words of Warning.

I taught the first half last week, the second half this week, but I even began by telling you that this was the counsel that David gave to his son Solomon. So this counsel then is given in light of the Davidic Covenant, listen carefully, and especially in light of David's kingdom and his physical descendants. So, I want you to hold 1 Chronicles 28, turn back in your Bibles if you would, to 2 Samuel chapter 7. So we have 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, then 1 and 2 Chronicles. So notice if you would 2 Samuel chapter 7. We're going to be looking at a number of passages where we're going to see that this specifically and immediately has reference to David's physical descendants, to those who are in control of the kingdom. So notice if you would 2 Samuel chapter 7 and let's begin reading with verse 12. God is speaking to David and he says this, "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom."

The Conditional Aspect of the Davidic Covenant

Examining 2 Samuel 7, 2 Chronicles 6-7, and other passages, Weaver shows that God's promise to David's physical descendants was conditioned on obedience. The kings and people did forsake God, leading to judgment and being cast off.

Now I want you to understand something as I go. We're going to see two men in each of these passages. God says in verse 13, "He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men." "But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before him. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee, the throne shall be established forever."

Now, when you look at this passage, you have to understand that there are two men in view. The first one, of course, is Solomon, David's son, and the second one is the greater Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true son of David, which I will explain a little bit later. God says to David, he's going to set up his seed. He's going to establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. And of course, that's exactly what Solomon did. But also the Lord Jesus Christ is building a house as well. And then he says, "If he commit iniquity, I will punish him." That would refer to the physical Solomon, David's son. But when God says, "His throne shall be established forever," that would refer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, so let me show you that a little further. Look in your Bibles now to 2 Chronicles 6. 2 Chronicles 6. We're in 1 Chronicles, so we're going to 2 Chronicles 6. And notice if you would, beginning there with verse 12 as well. 2 Chronicles chapter 6 and verse 12. Watch carefully. The Bible says this, 2 Chronicles 6 and verse 12. "And he," that is Solomon, "stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands."

"For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits long, five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court. And upon it he stood and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, and said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven nor in earth, which keepeth covenant and showeth mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts." Now look what he says, "...thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father, that which thou hast promised him, and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel, yet so that the children take heed to their way." There's those two words. "...take heed to their way, to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me. Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David."

Now, let me go back and notice, if you would, what he said in verse 16. "Now therefore, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel." Now the Hebrew word for "man" is the word "ish," which means a man, a male. Does not refer to a woman, it refers to a man. You will remember when God created Eve and brought her to Adam, he said, and using the Hebrew word, "She shall be called Isha, for she was taken out of Ish." She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. So God says, "If you take heed of thyself and keep my commandments, there shall not fail thee a man to sit upon the throne of Israel." I hope you're beginning to see that in one sense of the word, in relationship to David's physical descendants, this covenant is basically what you and I would call conditional.

Now, if you will turn right over to 2 Chronicles chapter 7, let's begin reading with verse 17 and you're going to see it again that it is indeed conditional physically speaking in reference to David's physical descendants. So in 2 Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 17, "And as for thee," now listen to what God says to Solomon,

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 7:17-22

"as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be a ruler in Israel. But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods and worship them."

"Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of the land which I have given them, and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to everyone that passeth by it, so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto the land and unto this house? And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them. Therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them."

Now, if you'll go back to verse 17, he said it like this. "And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father, if you will keep my commandments and my statutes," verse 18, "then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom." End of the words, and then you come down to verse 19, "but if you turn away." So, this covenant concerning David's physical descendants was conditioned upon obedience. Since we're in 2 Chronicles, if you will turn right over to 2 Chronicles 15, you will see the same truth was given to King Asa. Watch if you would. We'll read verses 1 and 2.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 15:1-2

"And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa. And he said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you be with Him. And if you seek Him, He will be found of you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you."

Now, here is my question. Did David's physical descendants forsake God, the covenant, and His law? And the answer is yes. You don't even have to look any further than Solomon. It was Solomon who introduced idolatry into Israel. Read 1 Kings chapter 11, where he built all of these altars for his strange wives, even to Baal and to Moloch and all these other altars. So did Solomon fail? Yes. And as someone pointed out, out of all the wives that Solomon had, he only had one son, that was Rehoboam, and he was a fool.

Historical Fulfillment: Israel and Judah Forsook God

Weaver demonstrates from 2 Kings 17 and other texts that both the Northern and Southern kingdoms forsook God, violated the covenant, and were consequently cast off by God, fulfilling the conditional warning.

And he was, because he lost the kingdom. It was divided under him because of his insanity and stupidity is what it amounted to. His wickedness, his rebellion. And then from there it basically went downhill. You had some good kings, you had some bad kings, but obviously, yes. Did the kings fail? Yes. Did the people fail and disobey? And the answer is yes. So if you will turn back in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17. All these are together concerning the kings of Israel. 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles. So notice if you would, 2 Kings chapter 17, let's answer the question: Did the kings, did the people forsake God? I could read the whole chapter, but let's begin with verse 13. The Bible says, "Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah." Remember Israel's the Northern kingdom, Judah's the Southern kingdom. "He testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers saying, Turn you from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent unto you by my servants the prophets."

"Notwithstanding they would not hear but hardened their necks like unto the neck of their fathers that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them. And they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal." "And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinations and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah." Now watch. "There was none left but the tribe of Judah only. And Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them in the hand of the spoilers until he had cast them out of his sight. For he rent Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin." Oh yes, they did indeed forsake God, they forsook the covenant.

Now, since we are close, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra. Look in Ezra chapter 8 and verse 22. Because in this passage, Ezra gives us this same truth. Watch it. Ezra chapter 8 and verse 22. Of course, Ezra is taking some people back to rebuild the temple. And notice he said in verse 22, "For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him."

So when you read the scripture, you cannot help but see and understand that both the kings as well as Israel and Judah did indeed forsake God. They transgressed his law. They violated the covenant. And when they did so, God righteously and justly forsook them. In fact, he's going to say that just momentarily. So here's the same kind of scenario.

The Spiritual Aspect: The Greater Son of David

Weaver explains that the Davidic covenant also has a spiritual aspect fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the greater Solomon. Psalm 89 and Matthew 1:1 show that Christ is the true Son of David whose kingdom is eternal and whose seed will never be cast off.

So I want you to think about this. Marriage is a covenant, just like civil government is a covenant. But men, if your wife ran off and left you and ran off with another man and then divorced you and married that other man, would you consider yourself still responsible to provide for her and protect her? And the answer would be, of course not. No. She violated the covenant. She's not yours anymore and you have no duty, no obligation to protect her or provide for her in any way.

It's the same thing here. God had entered into the covenant with David and he said, "If your descendants keep my law, if they do this, I will bless them. If they do not do this, then he said, I will curse them." Now, let me show you. Look in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 21. 2 Kings chapter 21 and let's begin reading there with verse 12. Remember now he said, "If you forsake me, I will forsake you." So 2 Kings chapter 21 and verse 12, look what God says. "Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies."

"And they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day." Now watch this next verse. "Moreover Manasseh," who was a king, "shed innocent blood very much, till it filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin and doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." So when David is telling Solomon, "If you forsake him, he will forsake you," he is pointing out this is the physical aspect of the covenant because Solomon was a physical descendant of David. Now I have to point out the other aspect of the covenant and that is what I'm just simply going to refer to as the spiritual aspect of the covenant because David not only had a physical seed, David also had a spiritual seed. And as I pointed out earlier, when you read these passages, you have to understand that these passages have what we call prophetic telescoping. Okay? So if I had a telescope, and I'm looking right now at David, and I see him right there, beyond him, I see Carol standing. So I'm looking at David, but I see her. And a lot of these passages, they're looking at Solomon, but beyond Solomon, you see the greater than Solomon, you see the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So I'm going to show you a passage where these aspects tied together.

So if you look in your Bibles to Psalm 89. Psalm 89 and here is the passage that you can see very clearly and very distinctly that there is indeed a spiritual side to this covenant. So in Psalm 89 beginning with verse 19 where God is basically speaking to David. I want you to see what God says. And you have to be able to distinguish between David's physical descendants and his true seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. Watch carefully. Psalm 89 verse 19.

"Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I've exalted my chosen out of the people. I found David my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall be established, mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers."

So let me point something out. David never occupied all of the land. The kingdom reached its zenith under Solomon. But now we're talking about someone who's going to occupy. Watch verse 26. "He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation." And what did our Lord Jesus cry? "My Father, my Father, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Watch verse 27. "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." We're not talking about Solomon. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called the firstborn, and He's certainly called the King of kings and Lord of lords. He's higher than all the kings of the earth. God says in verse 28, "My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with Him. His seed," this is going to be the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ, "His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven."

"If his children forsake my law," that would be us, "and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then I will visit their transgressions with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness will not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the things that have gone out of my lips." "Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness in the heaven." So now we're talking about the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now there's a verse I can quote, but I want you to see it. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 1 and verse 1. This is the very first verse in the Bible. And the very first verse in the Bible should be extremely informative. That is in the New Testament, very first verse in the New Testament. And I want you to see what it says. Look at it. "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." So Jesus Christ was not just simply in the lineage of David, he was, but Solomon just prefigured the true Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ is not only called the son of David, he's also called the son of Abraham. Now, since you're in Matthew, look in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 42. Matthew 12 and verse 42. And here's what our Lord said. "The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it. Why?"

"For she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here." Now the word "greater" in the Greek is the word "pleion." And it literally means that which is superior, that which is more excellent. So there was the physical Solomon, and now here's the spiritual Solomon. Here's the greater, the superior one, the one who is more excellent. Now, I told you earlier, it is true that David's kingdom reached its zenith under Solomon. And when you read in the Bible all the land that Solomon possessed, and when you read all the riches that Solomon had, and when you read about all the wisdom that God gave Solomon, and yet the truth of the matter is, everything that was given to Solomon belongs to God. And Jesus Christ is God. He's the greater than Solomon.

And the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. And then the Bible tells us that He is our wisdom. He is wisdom personified. So Jesus Christ, then, is our all and in all.

The Security of Christ's Spiritual Seed

Using Isaiah 53:10-11, John 10:27-29, Philippians 1:6, and Hebrews 12:2, Weaver argues that those who are Christ's seed will never be cast off forever; they are eternally secure and preserved in Him.

Now, since David had a physical seed, David also, through his greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ, also has a spiritual seed. Now it is true that that physical seed could be cast off and could be cast off forever in the sense that just because you were the physical descendant of David did not make you saved. Salvation is not by blood. Physical descendants of Abraham are not necessarily saved just because they happen to be a physical descendant of Abraham. Salvation is not by race. Salvation is by grace. Salvation is not by blood. Salvation is by grace.

And there are plenty of kings that were wicked and vile and died in their sins, as well as plenty of the people. So, will our Lord Jesus Christ's seed be cast off forever? And the answer is, no, of course not. I'll show you why. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to begin with, to Isaiah 53. Everyone knows that Isaiah 53 is a chapter dealing with the suffering Messiah. In fact, all you have to do is read the first several verses, and clearly these verses refer to our Lord Jesus Christ. They're quoted in the New Testament as well concerning him. But look at Isaiah 53 and look if you would please at verse 1. Isaiah writes, "Who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he," that is the Lord Jesus, "shall grow up before him as a tender plant."

"That's the root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows."

"Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." So we're talking about Jesus Christ. Now, skip down if you would please to verse 10, because here's what the scripture says concerning Christ. "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin," which he did. Now look what the Bible says concerning Christ and his suffering. "He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see his seed." Now look at verse 11. "He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." It's not that he might see. It's not that he hopes to see. It's not that he maybe will see. No, he shall see.

So not one for whom our Lord died is going to be eternally cast off and forsaken. He shall see the travail of his soul. Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of John chapter 10. Here's a passage everyone knows, but look at it. John chapter 10. And look what our Lord said, beginning there with verse 27, John 10, verse 27. He said it like this. John 10, verse 27, "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me."

"And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." What did he say? "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish." Never. I want you to turn if you would to two passages, Philippians chapter 1 and Hebrews chapter 12. Philippians chapter 1 and look if you would then secondly once we get that to Hebrews chapter 12. In Philippians 1 and verse 6, look if you would at that first. Here's a wonderful verse. Philippians 1:6,

"Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." Did you hear that? "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." So if God has started a work in you, he will finish that work. He is not going to start something and then quit. He's not going to begin a work and then walk away from it. "Being confident in this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ."

Now look in Hebrews 12 and verse 2. In light of this same truth, the Bible says, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Note, if you would, "looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith." So I could put it to you like this. All right, I have authored three books. I've written three books. So, Steve, my first book, The Christian and Civil Government, I want you to finish it. Well, you can't finish it. And the reason you can't finish it is because you're not the author of it. You didn't begin it. Jesus is the author and the finisher. He began our faith. He finishes our faith. He began our salvation. He finishes our salvation.

So here is an aspect then of this covenant where Jesus Christ, the true Solomon, the true seed of David, is indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, let me tell you something. We are preserved in Jesus Christ. That is what Jude 1 in verse 1 says, that we are preserved in Jesus Christ. And while preservation is a blessing, it also includes what you and I would call perseverance. I'm going to explain something just for a moment.

Temporary Forsaking vs. Eternal Casting Off

Believers may experience temporary forsaking in the sense of losing God's manifest presence, joy, and peace due to sin, but this is chastisement, not eternal rejection. The way back is through repentance and obedience.

Now, just because a believer cannot be cast off forever does not mean that he cannot be cast off temporarily. How can I say that? Well, I'll show you. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 54. I'll explain it. We'll look in Isaiah 54 and verse 8. Look what God says. Isaiah 54 and verse 8. Here it is. God says, "In a little wrath, I hid my face from thee for a moment. But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." But note if you would, "In a little wrath, I hid my face from thee for a moment." The way that we are forsaken, I'll explain more fully momentarily, is that we lose our joy, we lose our peace, we lose our blessings because of our sins and our disobedience to the Word of God.

And when we sin as Christians, we receive chastisement. That is why Micah 6 in verse 9 says, "Hear ye the rod and him who hath appointed it." Now, when we think about this, there's no earthly parent that wishes to bless a disobedient, hard-headed, stubborn, rebellious child. You know, you don't do things like that. If you had a son that you asked him, yeah, you told him to do something, and he didn't do it. And you confronted him. And after you confronted him, he puffed up and cursed you and called you every name under the sun and then spit in your face. Would you look at that child and say, "Son, just wait right here."

"I want to run to town and buy you a present." You wouldn't say that. You'd say, "Son, stand still because you can't run away from this one. You've got it coming. I'm going to give it to you." You're going to wear the living daylights out of him where he wouldn't be able to sit down for a week or two. We're not going to put up with disobedience with our children. We're not going to put up with insolence with our children. Do you think God is going to put up with that with his children and we escape chastisement? Let me explain what I'm talking about.

Every Christian understands there have been times when you were disobedient, when you violated God's principles and God's law, it seemed like the heavens were brass. You tried to pray and your prayer never got out of the ceiling of the room. I mean, it looked as if God was nowhere around. You were all alone. God was not hearing your prayer. God was not answering your prayer. Let me tell you something. There was no problem with God. God is immutable. God does not change. The problem was not with God. The problem was us.

We were the ones that changed. We were the ones that sinned. And oftentimes our change is not for the better. It's for the worse. And when that happens, we lose, we lose our joy. We lose our peace. We lose our blessings. I'll show you what we lose. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 14. Look in John 14, and we're going to begin reading there with verse 21. Look in John chapter 14. John 14, verse 21. I want you to think about this. John 14:21.

Our Lord said, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." "And will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him."

Now note what he said in verse 21. "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them is he that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him." What we lose by our sins is the manifest presence of God. This is a temporary forsaking when we have insulted Him, sinned against Him, transgressed against Him. It's not that we're being cast off forever. We're just losing His manifest presence. You remember in the Old Testament how Israel sinned and provoked God. And God told Moses, "Take that people and get them to land, but I'm not going with you." You remember what Moses said? "If you're not going with me, don't send me. I'm not going without you. I want your presence." And when we sin against God, that's why our hearts get cold. That's why our joy decreases. That's why our peace flees away. That's why the blessing seemingly stopped flowing. That's why our prayers never get up past the ceiling because we've sinned against God.

And the way back, of course, is always through repentance, faith, submission and obedience. Now, I want to cover something because I've had people tell me this. "Well, Brother Weaver, you don't understand. I know of someone who used to be a Christian. I mean, he was baptized, he went to church, he did this, he did that, and now he's left the faith, he's left God, he's done everything wicked under the sun and still doing everything wicked under the sun. But he used to be a Christian." And the answer is, no he didn't. Because 1 John 2:19 says this, "They went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they were not of us."

Applications: Perseverance and Seeking God

Weaver applies the warning by urging believers to persevere in faith, recognizing that preservation is manifested through perseverance. He encourages seeking God for grace and mercy, and closes with a prayer from Psalm 71 for God's presence in old age.

"For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us." The proof that one has ever been genuinely saved is that he continues in salvation and faith. The proof that he's ever genuinely repented is he continues in repentance. Now the Bible says this, listen carefully, in Psalm 94 and verse 14, "For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance." He is not going to cast us off. Everyone probably can quote this verse, or at least part of this verse. And this is a verse I've quoted to Alice a number of times. She would come to me and she would say, "Well, I need some new dresses." And I would look at her and I'd say, "Now, sweetheart, we want to be biblical about this thing. We want to do what the Lord wants us to do, right?" "Yeah, right." "Well, let me give you a verse. This should settle it. Hebrews 13 in verse 5, where the Bible says, 'Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have.'" Well, that's not in the context, but that's what the first part of that verse says. But here is why it says that, "Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have, for he has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

In other words, we can be content because we have his manifest presence. We have him. And if we have him, we have everything we need. Okay?

Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this, the warning that David gave to Solomon is also the same warning that we have in Jesus Christ. That is that we must persevere in the faith. Now the Bible does tell us in Jude 1, which I quoted earlier in verse 1, that we are preserved in Christ Jesus. But those who are preserved in Christ Jesus, that preservation is manifested by perseverance. That is, we persevere in repentance, we persevere in faith, we persevere in submission, we persevere in obedience. In our perseverance, it's not something that we do in our own strength. It's not something that we have the ability to do in and of ourselves. Perseverance is something, it is a work, that is for sure, but it is also grace. You remember what our Lord said in John 15 in verse 5?

He said, "Without me, you can do what?" Help me out. You can do what? Nothing. If perseverance is something, without Him, we cannot persevere. He must give us the grace. He must give us His mercy in order to enable us to walk pleasing in His sight. Here's the second application. The reason for both encouragements in the warning is so that we may understand that we may seek him whenever we need grace and whenever we need mercy.

He's going to be found. When we seek him with all of our hearts, whether we need patience, whether we need mercy, whether we need help, whether we need a particular blessing, he said, "You shall find me when you seek for me with all your heart." Those that seek the Lord, He shall be found of them. There is absolutely no need for any child of God to suffer and to fail when we have the omnipotent God with infinite resources as our Father. The reason we fail and the reason we do without is because we refuse to seek Him as we should. There's no reason for unanswered prayer. Because He loves us and He delights to answer our prayers. There's no reason for you and I to live without peace and blessing because He told us if we seek Him, He will be found of us. We must learn the truth that we have to walk in faith. We have to walk in obedience and submission.

Now, in light of this, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 71 because I want to show you two verses that I use quite frequently in my life. And I tend to rely on these over and over as the years go by. You know, the problem with getting old is you just can't do what you used to do. You just don't have the strength. You just don't have the ability. Well, David understood that. And look what he said in Psalm 71 and verse 9. Psalm 71 and verse 9. David said, "Cast me not off in the time of old age. Forsake me not when my strength faileth."

That's a pretty good prayer, isn't it? "Forsake me not when my strength faileth." And our strength does fail, I can assure you. But the one that I really like is found in verse 18. Look what he says. "Now also when I'm old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not until I've showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come." I changed that a little bit. And I read it like this, "Now when I am old and bald-headed, O God, forsake me not until I've showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come." I tell people I still marvel at younger men who have all their strength and all their power. And I have several younger men around me that help me, for which I'm extremely thankful.

And one of them said to me recently about being young and strong. And I looked at him and I said, "Let me tell you something. There are things that a young man can do that an old man cannot do. But there are things that an old man knows that a young man does not know." And so I said, "Don't push your luck." Oh, listen. David said, "Forsake me not, but I'm old and gray headed, until I've showed thy strength to this generation." When you read, I think it's Psalm 91, it's in the Psalm 90s, talking about old folks, what does he say? He is saying that when you get old, you'll be fat and flourishing in the house of God. Yeah. So old men, do not necessarily need to say, "I'm going to sit by and do nothing." No, he said, "Lord, let me show this generation your strength and your power."

Words of wisdom, words of warning. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. Help us, Lord, to make application to our lives and to live for thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Conditional Nature of the Davidic Covenant for Physical Descendants

Summary: The promise of a continuous throne for David's physical descendants was conditioned on their obedience; failure to obey resulted in being cast off.

Evidence: Weaver cites 2 Chronicles 7:17-19: 'if thou wilt walk before me... then will I establish the throne... but if you turn away... then will I pluck them up by the roots.'

The Greater Son of David and the Spiritual Covenant

Summary: Jesus Christ is the true, greater Son of David whose kingdom is eternal and whose spiritual seed will never be cast off.

Evidence: Weaver points to Psalm 89:27-29: 'I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth... his seed also will I make to endure forever.'

Eternal Security of Believers

Summary: Those who are truly saved, as Christ's spiritual seed, are eternally secure and will never be cast off forever.

Evidence: Weaver quotes John 10:28: 'I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.'

Temporary Forsaking and Chastisement

Summary: Believers may experience a temporary loss of God's manifest presence and blessings due to sin, but this is corrective, not eternal.

Evidence: Weaver references Isaiah 54:8: 'In a little wrath, I hid my face from thee for a moment.'

Perseverance as Evidence of Preservation

Summary: The preservation of the saints is manifested through their perseverance in faith, repentance, and obedience.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Those who are preserved in Christ Jesus, that preservation is manifested by perseverance.'

Seeking God with the Whole Heart

Summary: God promises to be found by those who seek Him earnestly, and believers are encouraged to seek Him for grace and mercy.

Evidence: Weaver cites Jeremiah 29:13: 'You shall seek me, and you shall find me, when you seek me with your whole heart.'

Key Arguments

The warning in 1 Chronicles 28:9 is primarily directed at David's physical descendants regarding the conditional aspect of the Davidic covenant.

Summary: Weaver argues that the warning 'if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever' applies to the physical line of David and the kingdom, which was conditional upon obedience.

Evidence: He explains: 'this counsel then is given in light of the Davidic Covenant... and especially in light of David's kingdom and his physical descendants.'

The physical descendants of David did forsake God and were cast off, fulfilling the conditional warning.

Summary: Weaver demonstrates from Scripture that the kings and people of Israel and Judah forsook God, leading to their rejection and exile.

Evidence: He reads 2 Kings 17:15: 'they rejected his statutes, and his covenant... and they followed vanity.'

The Davidic covenant has a spiritual fulfillment in Jesus Christ, whose seed will never be cast off.

Summary: Weaver distinguishes between the physical and spiritual aspects of the covenant, showing that Christ's kingdom is eternal and His people are secure.

Evidence: He cites Psalm 89:28-29: 'My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with Him.'

True believers cannot be cast off forever, but they can experience temporary forsaking through loss of God's manifest presence.

Summary: Weaver explains that while eternal security is assured, sin can cause a believer to lose the sense of God's presence and blessings temporarily.

Evidence: He says: 'What we lose by our sins is the manifest presence of God. This is a temporary forsaking.'

Perseverance in faith is the evidence of genuine salvation.

Summary: Weaver argues that those who truly belong to Christ will continue in the faith, and those who fall away permanently were never truly saved.

Evidence: He quotes 1 John 2:19: 'They went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they were not of us.'

Scripture References

1 Chronicles 28:9

Context: The primary text of the sermon, containing David's counsel to Solomon to know and serve God, and the warning about seeking and forsaking.

Deuteronomy 4:9

Context: Used as an example of the warning 'take heed to thyself' in the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 4:15

Context: Another Old Testament warning to 'take good heed' against idolatry.

Mark 4:24

Context: Jesus' warning to 'take heed what you hear.'

Luke 8:18

Context: Jesus' warning to 'take heed how you hear.'

1 Timothy 4:16

Context: Paul's admonition to 'take heed to thyself and thy doctrine.'

Hebrews 3:12

Context: Warning to 'take heed' against an evil heart of unbelief.

Psalm 27:8

Context: David's response to God's call to seek His face.

Psalm 105:3

Context: Encouragement to rejoice in seeking the Lord.

Isaiah 55:6-7

Context: The call to seek the Lord while He may be found and to forsake wicked ways.

Jeremiah 29:13

Context: Promise that seeking God with the whole heart results in finding Him.

Joel 2:12

Context: Call to turn to God with all the heart.

2 Samuel 7:12-16

Context: The Davidic covenant promising a seed, a house, and an eternal throne, with chastisement for iniquity.

2 Chronicles 6:12-17

Context: Solomon's prayer referencing God's promise to David that there would not fail a man to sit on the throne if his children take heed to their way.

2 Chronicles 7:17-22

Context: God's conditional promise to Solomon: if he walks in obedience, the throne will be established; if he forsakes God, Israel will be plucked up.

2 Chronicles 15:1-2

Context: The prophet Azariah tells Asa that the Lord is with him while he is with God, and if he forsakes God, God will forsake him.

2 Kings 17:13-23

Context: Account of Israel's persistent disobedience, rejection of God's covenant, and resulting judgment and casting off.

Ezra 8:22

Context: Ezra's statement that God's hand is for good upon those who seek Him, but His power and wrath are against those who forsake Him.

2 Kings 21:12-16

Context: God's declaration that He will forsake the remnant of His inheritance because of Manasseh's sins.

Psalm 89:19-37

Context: The psalmist recounts God's covenant with David, including the promise of an eternal throne for his seed, which ultimately points to Christ.

Historical References

David's counsel to Solomon

Context: The sermon is based on David's words of wisdom and warning to his son Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:9.

Solomon's idolatry and introduction of false gods

Context: Weaver notes that Solomon introduced idolatry into Israel by building altars for his foreign wives, as recorded in 1 Kings 11.

Rehoboam's folly and the division of the kingdom

Context: Solomon's son Rehoboam lost the kingdom due to his foolishness, leading to the division of Israel.

Manasseh's shedding of innocent blood

Context: King Manasseh is cited as an example of a wicked king who caused Judah to sin, leading to God's judgment.

Jeroboam's making Israel to sin

Context: Jeroboam son of Nebat drove Israel from following the Lord and made them sin a great sin.

The Queen of the South (Queen of Sheba)

Context: Jesus references the Queen of the South coming to hear Solomon's wisdom, contrasting it with His own greater wisdom.

Important Quotes

If thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.

Significance: This is the central verse of the sermon, containing both the positive encouragement and the negative warning that Weaver expounds.

Take heed what you hear.

Significance: Weaver uses this quote from Mark 4:24 as an example of the many 'take heed' warnings in Scripture.

Take heed how you hear.

Significance: From Luke 8:18, this quote emphasizes the importance of the manner in which we receive God's word.

And you shall seek me, and you shall find me, when you seek me with your whole heart.

Significance: This promise from Jeremiah 29:13 underscores the condition for finding God—wholehearted seeking.

I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

Significance: Weaver quotes Jesus' words in John 10:28 to affirm the eternal security of believers.

Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.

Significance: Philippians 1:6 is used to support the doctrine of preservation and perseverance.

They went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they were not of us.

Significance: 1 John 2:19 is cited to argue that those who permanently fall away were never truly saved.

I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Significance: Hebrews 13:5 is quoted as a foundational promise of God's abiding presence with His people.

Discussion Questions

How does understanding the conditional nature of the Davidic covenant for physical descendants help us interpret the warning in 1 Chronicles 28:9?

Context: Weaver explains that the warning of being cast off forever applied to David's physical line and was fulfilled when the kings and people forsook God.

In what ways is Jesus Christ the 'greater than Solomon,' and how does this affect our understanding of God's promises?

Context: Weaver points to Matthew 12:42 and Psalm 89 to show that Christ fulfills the spiritual aspect of the Davidic covenant with an eternal kingdom.

What is the difference between being 'cast off forever' and experiencing a temporary loss of God's manifest presence?

Context: Weaver distinguishes between eternal rejection and the temporary chastisement believers may face when they sin, using Isaiah 54:8 and John 14:21.

How does the doctrine of perseverance relate to the assurance of salvation?

Context: Weaver argues that preservation is manifested through perseverance, and that those who are truly saved will continue in faith and repentance.

What practical steps can we take to 'seek the Lord with our whole heart' when we feel distant from Him?

Context: Weaver encourages believers to seek God for grace and mercy, emphasizing that He will be found when sought earnestly.

How can older believers continue to show God's strength and power to the next generation, as David prayed in Psalm 71?

Context: Weaver applies Psalm 71:18 to the role of the aged in demonstrating God's faithfulness and power to younger generations.

Applications

Persevere in faith and obedience

Summary: Believers must persevere in repentance, faith, submission, and obedience, relying on God's grace to do so.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'we must persevere in the faith... we persevere in repentance, we persevere in faith, we persevere in submission, we persevere in obedience.'

Seek God for grace and mercy

Summary: Whenever we need grace, mercy, or help, we should seek the Lord with all our hearts, trusting that He will be found.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'He's going to be found. When we seek him with all of our hearts, whether we need patience, whether we need mercy, whether we need help...'

Do not rely on your own strength

Summary: Perseverance is not something we can do in our own strength; we must depend on Christ, for without Him we can do nothing.

Evidence: Weaver quotes John 15:5: 'Without me, you can do nothing.'

Pray for God's presence in old age

Summary: Like David in Psalm 71, believers should pray that God would not forsake them in old age but use them to show His strength to the next generation.

Evidence: Weaver prays: 'Forsake me not when my strength faileth... until I've showed thy strength unto this generation.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:12:38Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:52:05Z

Clean Transcript

Words Of Wisdom And Words Of Warning - Part 2

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

First Chronicles chapter 28 and verse 9, David is giving Solomon his son counsel and he says, "Thou Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imagination of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever." Of course, I titled this message, Words of Wisdom and Words of Warning, because this counsel is the counsel that David gave to Solomon, his son, and he's passing on this wisdom to his son. And I think the very first words of David to Solomon should be the very first words that we give to our children when he said, "And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father."
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And if you remember last week, I pointed out the word "know" meant to know personally, intimately, to know experientially. It is not just simply a historical knowledge or an intellectual knowledge. It is indeed a personal and saving knowledge. And so the second admonition certainly is connected with that when he says, "Know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart." And I pointed out the word "serve" actually means to work.
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It's translated as "till" in the book of Genesis. It also has the same implication when God told Abram that his children would serve a strange nation and certainly they were forced to work. They were compelled to work because they were indeed slaves. So the word "serve" then means basically to work. And of course, then when you go farther, God said that he delivered Israel out of the land of Egypt that they might serve him. So that service is indeed work. And he said, "Serve him with a perfect heart." And then I looked at the fact that the word "perfect" meant a heart that was right in the sense that it was obedient and we looked at it in reference to other scriptures where it said that with a perfect heart they kept his commandments and his statutes and his judgments. And so in 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9, these words of wisdom, "Serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind," and the word "willing" then had reference to that which is pleasurable, that which is delightful, that which causes joy.
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And so, we are to serve Him, not only with a heart of obedience, but something that causes us pleasure as well. So, we have then the words of wisdom. And then secondly today, we come to the words of warning in 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9, when He said, "If thou seek Him, He will be found of thee. But if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off forever." And of course, both of these in one sense of the word are indeed words of warning, which I'll explain just momentarily. But the Bible, of course, is replete with warnings. It doesn't matter if you read the Old Testament or read the New Testament, it's full of warnings. In fact, if we did nothing but take two words and consider them in context, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we would have ample warnings. And those two words are simply, "take heed." I want to give you two verses out of the Old Testament, then I'm going to quote four from the New Testament.
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So if you will hold 1 Chronicles 28, and then look in your Bibles at Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 9 to begin with. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 9. Notice, if you would please, what the scripture says. "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. But teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons." So it says, "Take heed to thyself."
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Now if you'll skip down to verse 15, here's another warning where it says, "Take you therefore good heed unto yourselves, for you saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire." And so here's a warning against idolatry and making images, but it says "take good heed." Over and over in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, you'll run across these words, "take heed" or "take good heed." So let me give you a couple out of the New Testament. In Mark 4 and verse 24, the Bible says, "And he," that is our Lord, "said unto them, Take heed what you hear."
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"For what measure you mete, it shall be measured back to you." So take heed what you hear. In other words, you make sure that you are hearing the word of God. Take heed what you hear. And then in Luke chapter 8 and verse 18, He says it like this, "Take heed how you hear for whosoever hath to him shall be given and he that hath not from him shall be taken that which he seemeth to have." So it's interesting how he said "take heed what you hear" and then he said "take heed how you hear."
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And then here's another passage. I'm just quoting them for you. 1 Timothy chapter 4 in verse 16, he said, "Take heed to thyself and thy doctrine. Notice if you would, take heed to thyself and thy doctrine, continue in them for in doing so thou shalt save thyself and those that hear thee." So he says "take heed," those are words of warning. One more passage, Hebrews 3 in verse 12 where the Word of God says, "Take heed brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God." So, you have these words, "take heed," which are warnings all through the Bible. Now, when you look back at 1 Chronicles chapter 28 and verse 9, you do not see the words "take heed." However, these are very clear and obvious warnings.
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Now, I want you to note the latter half of verse 9, since we covered the first half last week. He said, "If thou seek him, he will be found of thee. But if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever."
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Now, these are indeed words of warning. However, it is in two parts. There is a positive and there is a negative. The positive is very clearly, "If thou seek him, he will be found of thee." And, of course, the obvious warning, which is also there, is if you do not seek Him, He will not be found of you. So, you have to understand that this is one warning, but it is in two parts as well. Now, the first truth, the first part of this warning, the positive, is very easily understood.
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In fact, we can quote many scriptures that deal with seeking the Lord. Let me give you just a couple of them. For instance, in Psalm 27 and verse 8, David said to God, "When thou saidest, Seek ye my face, my heart said, Thy face will I seek." And then in Psalm 105 and verse 3, "Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them that seek him rejoice." So there are people who seek him. And everyone is familiar with that passage in Isaiah 55, where he said, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found."
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"Call ye upon him while he's near. Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the evil man his thoughts, and let him turn to the Lord, and he will abundantly have mercy upon him." You can come up with all kinds of scriptures that tell us to seek the Lord. There's a passage in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 13 where God says this, "And you shall seek me, and you shall find me, when you seek me with your whole heart." Not half-hearted. But when you seek me with your whole heart. And of course then in Joel chapter 2 in verse 12, "Therefore also now, saith the Lord God, turn you even to me with all of your heart." So you can go through the Bible and you're going to find invitation after invitation in one sense of the word to seek the Lord and to search for Him with all of your heart. There are so many verses that it's just almost unimaginable that no one could at least find one of them or at least know one of them.
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There's so many. It's not that part of this verse that really is confounding to a lot of people. It is the negative aspect in one sense of the word. When he said, "If thou seek him, he'll be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever." So the question would be, how in the world do we explain that last part of that verse? "If we forsake him, he will cast us off forever."
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Well let me just tell you actually in this warning you have two encouragements. First of all you have an encouragement to seek the Lord and secondly in this latter part you have an encouragement to steadfastness. That is, once you seek Him, once you find Him, you remain steadfast, you do not forsake Him. But, still that does not answer this question, how do we explain that if we forsake Him, He will cast us off forever? Well, I want you to get ready to turn to a number of passages.
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Because I've told you before, to understand any verse you must understand it in its context. Not only the immediate context, but also even the remote context. And the remote context could be not just several chapters over, it could be the whole book, or it could even refer to other books as well. And so you're going to find this same statement, basically, explained in a lot of passages, especially in reference to the one subject that we're dealing with. You remember I told you this message is titled Words of Wisdom and Words of Warning.
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I taught the first half last week, the second half this week, but I even began by telling you that this was the counsel that David gave to his son Solomon. So this counsel then is given in light of the Davidic Covenant, listen carefully, and especially in light of David's kingdom and his physical descendants. So, I want you to hold 1 Chronicles 28, turn back in your Bibles if you would, to 2 Samuel chapter 7. So we have 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, then 1 and 2 Chronicles. So notice if you would 2 Samuel chapter 7. We're going to be looking at a number of passages where we're going to see that this specifically and immediately has reference to David's physical descendants, to those who are in control of the kingdom. So notice if you would 2 Samuel chapter 7 and let's begin reading with verse 12. God is speaking to David and he says this, "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom."
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Now I want you to understand something as I go. We're going to see two men in each of these passages. God says in verse 13, "He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men."
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"But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before him. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee, the throne shall be established forever."
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Now, when you look at this passage, you have to understand that there are two men in view. The first one, of course, is Solomon, David's son, and the second one is the greater Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true son of David, which I will explain a little bit later. God says to David, he's going to set up his seed. He's going to establish his kingdom.
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He shall build a house for my name. And of course, that's exactly what Solomon did. But also the Lord Jesus Christ is building a house as well. And then he says, "If he commit iniquity, I will punish him." That would refer to the physical Solomon, David's son. But when God says, "His throne shall be established forever," that would refer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Now, so let me show you that a little further. Look in your Bibles now to 2 Chronicles 6. 2 Chronicles 6. We're in 1 Chronicles, so we're going to 2 Chronicles 6. And notice if you would, beginning there with verse 12 as well. 2 Chronicles chapter 6 and verse 12. Watch carefully. The Bible says this, 2 Chronicles 6 and verse 12. "And he," that is Solomon, "stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands."
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"For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits long, five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court. And upon it he stood and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, and said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven nor in earth, which keepeth covenant and showeth mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts."
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Now look what he says, "...thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father, that which thou hast promised him, and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel, yet so that the children take heed to their way." There's those two words. "...take heed to their way, to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me. Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David."
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Now, let me go back and notice, if you would, what he said in verse 16. "Now therefore, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel." Now the Hebrew word for "man" is the word "ish," which means a man, a male. Does not refer to a woman, it refers to a man. You will remember when God created Eve and brought her to Adam, he said, and using the Hebrew word, "She shall be called Isha, for she was taken out of Ish." She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. So God says, "If you take heed of thyself and keep my commandments, there shall not fail thee a man to sit upon the throne of Israel." I hope you're beginning to see that in one sense of the word, in relationship to David's physical descendants, this covenant is basically what you and I would call conditional.
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Now, if you will turn right over to 2 Chronicles chapter 7, let's begin reading with verse 17 and you're going to see it again that it is indeed conditional physically speaking in reference to David's physical descendants. So in 2 Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 17, "And as for thee," now listen to what God says to Solomon, "as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be a ruler in Israel. But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods and worship them."
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"Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of the land which I have given them, and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to everyone that passeth by it, so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto the land and unto this house? And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them. Therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them."
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Now, if you'll go back to verse 17, he said it like this. "And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father, if you will keep my commandments and my statutes," verse 18, "then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom." End of the words, and then you come down to verse 19, "but if you turn away." So, this covenant concerning David's physical descendants was conditioned upon obedience. Since we're in 2 Chronicles, if you will turn right over to 2 Chronicles 15, you will see the same truth was given to King Asa. Watch if you would.
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We'll read verses 1 and 2. "And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa. And he said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you be with Him. And if you seek Him, He will be found of you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you."
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Now, here is my question. Did David's physical descendants forsake God, the covenant, and His law? And the answer is yes. You don't even have to look any further than Solomon. It was Solomon who introduced idolatry into Israel. Read 1 Kings chapter 11, where he built all of these altars for his strange wives, even to Baal and to Moloch and all these other altars. So did Solomon fail? Yes. And as someone pointed out, out of all the wives that Solomon had, he only had one son, that was Rehoboam, and he was a fool.
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And he was, because he lost the kingdom. It was divided under him because of his insanity and stupidity is what it amounted to. His wickedness, his rebellion. And then from there it basically went downhill. You had some good kings, you had some bad kings, but obviously, yes. Did the kings fail? Yes. Did the people fail and disobey? And the answer is yes. So if you will turn back in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17. All these are together concerning the kings of Israel. 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles. So notice if you would, 2 Kings chapter 17, let's answer the question: Did the kings, did the people forsake God? I could read the whole chapter, but let's begin with verse 13. The Bible says, "Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah." Remember Israel's the Northern kingdom, Judah's the Southern kingdom. "He testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers saying, Turn you from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent unto you by my servants the prophets."
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"Notwithstanding they would not hear but hardened their necks like unto the neck of their fathers that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them. And they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal."
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"And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinations and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah." Now watch. "There was none left but the tribe of Judah only. And Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them in the hand of the spoilers until he had cast them out of his sight. For he rent Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin." Oh yes, they did indeed forsake God, they forsook the covenant.
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Now, since we are close, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra. Look in Ezra chapter 8 and verse 22. Because in this passage, Ezra gives us this same truth. Watch it. Ezra chapter 8 and verse 22. Of course, Ezra is taking some people back to rebuild the temple. And notice he said in verse 22, "For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him."
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So when you read the scripture, you cannot help but see and understand that both the kings as well as Israel and Judah did indeed forsake God. They transgressed his law. They violated the covenant. And when they did so, God righteously and justly forsook them. In fact, he's going to say that just momentarily. So here's the same kind of scenario.
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So I want you to think about this. Marriage is a covenant, just like civil government is a covenant. But men, if your wife ran off and left you and ran off with another man and then divorced you and married that other man, would you consider yourself still responsible to provide for her and protect her? And the answer would be, of course not. No. She violated the covenant. She's not yours anymore and you have no duty, no obligation to protect her or provide for her in any way.
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It's the same thing here. God had entered into the covenant with David and he said, "If your descendants keep my law, if they do this, I will bless them. If they do not do this, then he said, I will curse them."
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Now, let me show you. Look in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 21. 2 Kings chapter 21 and let's begin reading there with verse 12. Remember now he said, "If you forsake me, I will forsake you." So 2 Kings chapter 21 and verse 12, look what God says. "Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies."
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"And they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day." Now watch this next verse. "Moreover Manasseh," who was a king, "shed innocent blood very much, till it filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin and doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord."
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So when David is telling Solomon, "If you forsake him, he will forsake you," he is pointing out this is the physical aspect of the covenant because Solomon was a physical descendant of David. Now I have to point out the other aspect of the covenant and that is what I'm just simply going to refer to as the spiritual aspect of the covenant because David not only had a physical seed, David also had a spiritual seed. And as I pointed out earlier, when you read these passages, you have to understand that these passages have what we call prophetic telescoping. Okay? So if I had a telescope, and I'm looking right now at David, and I see him right there, beyond him, I see Carol standing. So I'm looking at David, but I see her. And a lot of these passages, they're looking at Solomon, but beyond Solomon, you see the greater than Solomon, you see the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So I'm going to show you a passage where these aspects tied together.
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So if you look in your Bibles to Psalm 89. Psalm 89 and here is the passage that you can see very clearly and very distinctly that there is indeed a spiritual side to this covenant. So in Psalm 89 beginning with verse 19 where God is basically speaking to David. I want you to see what God says. And you have to be able to distinguish between David's physical descendants and his true seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. Watch carefully. Psalm 89 verse 19.
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"Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I've exalted my chosen out of the people. I found David my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall be established, mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers."
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So let me point something out. David never occupied all of the land. The kingdom reached its zenith under Solomon. But now we're talking about someone who's going to occupy. Watch verse 26. "He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation." And what did our Lord Jesus cry? "My Father, my Father, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Watch verse 27. "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." We're not talking about Solomon. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called the firstborn, and He's certainly called the King of kings and Lord of lords. He's higher than all the kings of the earth. God says in verse 28, "My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with Him. His seed," this is going to be the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ, "His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven."
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"If his children forsake my law," that would be us, "and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then I will visit their transgressions with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness will not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the things that have gone out of my lips."
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"Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness in the heaven." So now we're talking about the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Now there's a verse I can quote, but I want you to see it. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 1 and verse 1. This is the very first verse in the Bible. And the very first verse in the Bible should be extremely informative. That is in the New Testament, very first verse in the New Testament. And I want you to see what it says. Look at it. "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." So Jesus Christ was not just simply in the lineage of David, he was, but Solomon just prefigured the true Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ is not only called the son of David, he's also called the son of Abraham. Now, since you're in Matthew, look in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 42. Matthew 12 and verse 42. And here's what our Lord said. "The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it. Why?"
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"For she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here." Now the word "greater" in the Greek is the word "pleion." And it literally means that which is superior, that which is more excellent. So there was the physical Solomon, and now here's the spiritual Solomon. Here's the greater, the superior one, the one who is more excellent. Now, I told you earlier, it is true that David's kingdom reached its zenith under Solomon. And when you read in the Bible all the land that Solomon possessed, and when you read all the riches that Solomon had, and when you read about all the wisdom that God gave Solomon, and yet the truth of the matter is, everything that was given to Solomon belongs to God. And Jesus Christ is God. He's the greater than Solomon.
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And the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. And then the Bible tells us that He is our wisdom. He is wisdom personified. So Jesus Christ, then, is our all and in all.
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Now, since David had a physical seed, David also, through his greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ, also has a spiritual seed. Now it is true that that physical seed could be cast off and could be cast off forever in the sense that just because you were the physical descendant of David did not make you saved. Salvation is not by blood. Physical descendants of Abraham are not necessarily saved just because they happen to be a physical descendant of Abraham. Salvation is not by race. Salvation is by grace. Salvation is not by blood. Salvation is by grace.
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And there are plenty of kings that were wicked and vile and died in their sins, as well as plenty of the people. So, will our Lord Jesus Christ's seed be cast off forever? And the answer is, no, of course not. I'll show you why. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to begin with, to Isaiah 53. Everyone knows that Isaiah 53 is a chapter dealing with the suffering Messiah. In fact, all you have to do is read the first several verses, and clearly these verses refer to our Lord Jesus Christ. They're quoted in the New Testament as well concerning him. But look at Isaiah 53 and look if you would please at verse 1. Isaiah writes, "Who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he," that is the Lord Jesus, "shall grow up before him as a tender plant."
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"That's the root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows."
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"Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." So we're talking about Jesus Christ.
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Now, skip down if you would please to verse 10, because here's what the scripture says concerning Christ. "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin," which he did. Now look what the Bible says concerning Christ and his suffering. "He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see his seed." Now look at verse 11. "He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." It's not that he might see. It's not that he hopes to see. It's not that he maybe will see. No, he shall see.
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So not one for whom our Lord died is going to be eternally cast off and forsaken. He shall see the travail of his soul. Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of John chapter 10. Here's a passage everyone knows, but look at it. John chapter 10. And look what our Lord said, beginning there with verse 27, John 10, verse 27. He said it like this. John 10, verse 27, "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me."
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"And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." What did he say? "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish." Never. I want you to turn if you would to two passages, Philippians chapter 1 and Hebrews chapter 12. Philippians chapter 1 and look if you would then secondly once we get that to Hebrews chapter 12. In Philippians 1 and verse 6, look if you would at that first. Here's a wonderful verse. Philippians 1:6,
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"Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." Did you hear that? "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." So if God has started a work in you, he will finish that work. He is not going to start something and then quit. He's not going to begin a work and then walk away from it. "Being confident in this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ."
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Now look in Hebrews 12 and verse 2. In light of this same truth, the Bible says, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Note, if you would, "looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith."
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So I could put it to you like this. All right, I have authored three books. I've written three books. So, Steve, my first book, The Christian and Civil Government, I want you to finish it. Well, you can't finish it. And the reason you can't finish it is because you're not the author of it. You didn't begin it. Jesus is the author and the finisher. He began our faith. He finishes our faith. He began our salvation. He finishes our salvation.
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So here is an aspect then of this covenant where Jesus Christ, the true Solomon, the true seed of David, is indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, let me tell you something. We are preserved in Jesus Christ. That is what Jude 1 in verse 1 says, that we are preserved in Jesus Christ. And while preservation is a blessing, it also includes what you and I would call perseverance. I'm going to explain something just for a moment.
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Now, just because a believer cannot be cast off forever does not mean that he cannot be cast off temporarily. How can I say that? Well, I'll show you. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 54. I'll explain it. We'll look in Isaiah 54 and verse 8. Look what God says. Isaiah 54 and verse 8. Here it is. God says, "In a little wrath, I hid my face from thee for a moment. But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." But note if you would, "In a little wrath, I hid my face from thee for a moment." The way that we are forsaken, I'll explain more fully momentarily, is that we lose our joy, we lose our peace, we lose our blessings because of our sins and our disobedience to the Word of God.
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And when we sin as Christians, we receive chastisement. That is why Micah 6 in verse 9 says, "Hear ye the rod and him who hath appointed it."
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Now, when we think about this, there's no earthly parent that wishes to bless a disobedient, hard-headed, stubborn, rebellious child. You know, you don't do things like that. If you had a son that you asked him, yeah, you told him to do something, and he didn't do it. And you confronted him. And after you confronted him, he puffed up and cursed you and called you every name under the sun and then spit in your face. Would you look at that child and say, "Son, just wait right here."
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"I want to run to town and buy you a present." You wouldn't say that. You'd say, "Son, stand still because you can't run away from this one. You've got it coming. I'm going to give it to you." You're going to wear the living daylights out of him where he wouldn't be able to sit down for a week or two. We're not going to put up with disobedience with our children. We're not going to put up with insolence with our children. Do you think God is going to put up with that with his children and we escape chastisement? Let me explain what I'm talking about.
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Every Christian understands there have been times when you were disobedient, when you violated God's principles and God's law, it seemed like the heavens were brass. You tried to pray and your prayer never got out of the ceiling of the room. I mean, it looked as if God was nowhere around. You were all alone. God was not hearing your prayer. God was not answering your prayer. Let me tell you something. There was no problem with God. God is immutable. God does not change. The problem was not with God. The problem was us.
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We were the ones that changed. We were the ones that sinned. And oftentimes our change is not for the better. It's for the worse. And when that happens, we lose, we lose our joy. We lose our peace. We lose our blessings. I'll show you what we lose. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 14. Look in John 14, and we're going to begin reading there with verse 21. Look in John chapter 14. John 14, verse 21. I want you to think about this. John 14:21.
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Our Lord said, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." "And will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him."
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Now note what he said in verse 21. "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them is he that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him." What we lose by our sins is the manifest presence of God. This is a temporary forsaking when we have insulted Him, sinned against Him, transgressed against Him.
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It's not that we're being cast off forever. We're just losing His manifest presence. You remember in the Old Testament how Israel sinned and provoked God. And God told Moses, "Take that people and get them to land, but I'm not going with you." You remember what Moses said? "If you're not going with me, don't send me. I'm not going without you. I want your presence." And when we sin against God, that's why our hearts get cold. That's why our joy decreases. That's why our peace flees away. That's why the blessing seemingly stopped flowing. That's why our prayers never get up past the ceiling because we've sinned against God.
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And the way back, of course, is always through repentance, faith, submission and obedience. Now, I want to cover something because I've had people tell me this. "Well, Brother Weaver, you don't understand. I know of someone who used to be a Christian. I mean, he was baptized, he went to church, he did this, he did that, and now he's left the faith, he's left God, he's done everything wicked under the sun and still doing everything wicked under the sun. But he used to be a Christian." And the answer is, no he didn't. Because 1 John 2:19 says this, "They went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they were not of us."
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"For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us." The proof that one has ever been genuinely saved is that he continues in salvation and faith. The proof that he's ever genuinely repented is he continues in repentance.
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Now the Bible says this, listen carefully, in Psalm 94 and verse 14, "For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance." He is not going to cast us off. Everyone probably can quote this verse, or at least part of this verse. And this is a verse I've quoted to Alice a number of times. She would come to me and she would say, "Well, I need some new dresses." And I would look at her and I'd say, "Now, sweetheart, we want to be biblical about this thing. We want to do what the Lord wants us to do, right?" "Yeah, right." "Well, let me give you a verse. This should settle it. Hebrews 13 in verse 5, where the Bible says, 'Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have.'" Well, that's not in the context, but that's what the first part of that verse says. But here is why it says that, "Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have, for he has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
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In other words, we can be content because we have his manifest presence. We have him. And if we have him, we have everything we need. Okay?
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Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this, the warning that David gave to Solomon is also the same warning that we have in Jesus Christ. That is that we must persevere in the faith. Now the Bible does tell us in Jude 1, which I quoted earlier in verse 1, that we are preserved in Christ Jesus. But those who are preserved in Christ Jesus, that preservation is manifested by perseverance. That is, we persevere in repentance, we persevere in faith, we persevere in submission, we persevere in obedience. In our perseverance, it's not something that we do in our own strength. It's not something that we have the ability to do in and of ourselves. Perseverance is something, it is a work, that is for sure, but it is also grace. You remember what our Lord said in John 15 in verse 5?
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He said, "Without me, you can do what?" Help me out. You can do what? Nothing. If perseverance is something, without Him, we cannot persevere. He must give us the grace. He must give us His mercy in order to enable us to walk pleasing in His sight. Here's the second application. The reason for both encouragements in the warning is so that we may understand that we may seek him whenever we need grace and whenever we need mercy.
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He's going to be found. When we seek him with all of our hearts, whether we need patience, whether we need mercy, whether we need help, whether we need a particular blessing, he said, "You shall find me when you seek for me with all your heart." Those that seek the Lord, He shall be found of them. There is absolutely no need for any child of God to suffer and to fail when we have the omnipotent God with infinite resources as our Father. The reason we fail and the reason we do without is because we refuse to seek Him as we should. There's no reason for unanswered prayer.
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Because He loves us and He delights to answer our prayers. There's no reason for you and I to live without peace and blessing because He told us if we seek Him, He will be found of us. We must learn the truth that we have to walk in faith. We have to walk in obedience and submission.
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Now, in light of this, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 71 because I want to show you two verses that I use quite frequently in my life. And I tend to rely on these over and over as the years go by. You know, the problem with getting old is you just can't do what you used to do. You just don't have the strength. You just don't have the ability. Well, David understood that. And look what he said in Psalm 71 and verse 9. Psalm 71 and verse 9. David said, "Cast me not off in the time of old age. Forsake me not when my strength faileth."
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That's a pretty good prayer, isn't it? "Forsake me not when my strength faileth." And our strength does fail, I can assure you. But the one that I really like is found in verse 18. Look what he says.
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"Now also when I'm old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not until I've showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come." I changed that a little bit. And I read it like this, "Now when I am old and bald-headed, O God, forsake me not until I've showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come." I tell people I still marvel at younger men who have all their strength and all their power. And I have several younger men around me that help me, for which I'm extremely thankful.
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And one of them said to me recently about being young and strong. And I looked at him and I said, "Let me tell you something. There are things that a young man can do that an old man cannot do. But there are things that an old man knows that a young man does not know." And so I said, "Don't push your luck." Oh, listen. David said, "Forsake me not, but I'm old and gray headed, until I've showed thy strength to this generation." When you read, I think it's Psalm 91, it's in the Psalm 90s, talking about old folks, what does he say? He is saying that when you get old, you'll be fat and flourishing in the house of God. Yeah. So old men, do not necessarily need to say, "I'm going to sit by and do nothing." No, he said, "Lord, let me show this generation your strength and your power."
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Words of wisdom, words of warning. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. Help us, Lord, to make application to our lives and to live for thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:12:38Z

Words Of Wisdom And Words Of Warning - Part 2

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, John Weaver continues his exposition of 1 Chronicles 28:9, focusing on the words of warning: 'If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.' He explains that this warning has both a positive encouragement to seek God and a negative warning against forsaking Him. Weaver argues that the conditional aspect of this warning applies specifically to David's physical descendants and the Davidic covenant, showing from Scripture that the physical kingdom was conditional upon obedience. However, he distinguishes the spiritual aspect of the covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the greater Son of David, whose spiritual seed will never be cast off forever. Believers may experience temporary forsaking in terms of losing God's manifest presence due to sin, but they are eternally secure in Christ. The sermon concludes with applications on perseverance, seeking God, and the prayer of the aged for God's continued presence.

Introduction and Review

First Chronicles chapter 28 and verse 9, David is giving Solomon his son counsel and he says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 28:9

"Thou Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imagination of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever."

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 28:9

"And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father."

The Words of Warning Introduced

So if you will hold 1 Chronicles 28, and then look in your Bibles at Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 9 to begin with. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 9. Notice, if you would please, what the scripture says.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 4:9

"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. But teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons."

So it says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 4:9

"Take heed to thyself."

The Positive Warning: Seek the Lord

Weaver cites multiple Old Testament passages that call people to seek the Lord with their whole heart, emphasizing that God promises to be found by those who earnestly seek Him.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 27:8

"When thou saidest, Seek ye my face, my heart said, Thy face will I seek."

The Negative Warning: Forsaking and Being Cast Off

The Conditional Aspect of the Davidic Covenant

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 7:17-22

"as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be a ruler in Israel. But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods and worship them."

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 15:1-2

"And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa. And he said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you be with Him. And if you seek Him, He will be found of you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you."

Historical Fulfillment: Israel and Judah Forsook God

The Spiritual Aspect: The Greater Son of David

The Security of Christ's Spiritual Seed

Using Isaiah 53:10-11, John 10:27-29, Philippians 1:6, and Hebrews 12:2, Weaver argues that those who are Christ's seed will never be cast off forever; they are eternally secure and preserved in Him.

Temporary Forsaking vs. Eternal Casting Off

Applications: Perseverance and Seeking God

In other words, we can be content because we have his manifest presence. We have him. And if we have him, we have everything we need. Okay?

Words Of Wisdom And Words Of Warning - Part 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	kXTN8YjBLnw
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Obedience, Disobedience, and National Judgment
Genre	Sermon
Date	2023-02-03
Dictation Name
Book	Book 107: Words Of Wisdom And Words Of Warning — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	80

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review: Weaver reviews the first half of 1 Chronicles 28:9, emphasizing that knowing God is a personal, experiential knowledge and that serving Him means working with a perfect, obedient heart and a willing, joyful mind.
The Words of Warning Introduced: The second half of the verse contains both a positive encouragement to seek God and a negative warning that forsaking Him leads to being cast off forever. Weaver notes that the Bible is full of warnings, often using the phrase 'take heed.'
The Positive Warning: Seek the Lord: Weaver cites multiple Old Testament passages that call people to seek the Lord with their whole heart, emphasizing that God promises to be found by those who earnestly seek Him.
The Negative Warning: Forsaking and Being Cast Off: The difficult part of the verse is the warning that if one forsakes God, He will cast them off forever. Weaver begins to explain this in light of the Davidic covenant and its conditional nature for physical descendants.
The Conditional Aspect of the Davidic Covenant: Examining 2 Samuel 7, 2 Chronicles 6-7, and other passages, Weaver shows that God's promise to David's physical descendants was conditioned on obedience. The kings and people did forsake God, leading to judgment and being cast off.
Historical Fulfillment: Israel and Judah Forsook God: Weaver demonstrates from 2 Kings 17 and other texts that both the Northern and Southern kingdoms forsook God, violated the covenant, and were consequently cast off by God, fulfilling the conditional warning.
The Spiritual Aspect: The Greater Son of David: Weaver explains that the Davidic covenant also has a spiritual aspect fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the greater Solomon. Psalm 89 and Matthew 1:1 show that Christ is the true Son of David whose kingdom is eternal and whose seed will never be cast off.
The Security of Christ's Spiritual Seed: Using Isaiah 53:10-11, John 10:27-29, Philippians 1:6, and Hebrews 12:2, Weaver argues that those who are Christ's seed will never be cast off forever; they are eternally secure and preserved in Him.
Temporary Forsaking vs. Eternal Casting Off: Believers may experience temporary forsaking in the sense of losing God's manifest presence, joy, and peace due to sin, but this is chastisement, not eternal rejection. The way back is through repentance and obedience.
Applications: Perseverance and Seeking God: Weaver applies the warning by urging believers to persevere in faith, recognizing that preservation is manifested through perseverance. He encourages seeking God for grace and mercy, and closes with a prayer from Psalm 71 for God's presence in old age.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

The warning in 1 Chronicles 28:9 is primarily directed at David's physical descendants regarding the conditional aspect of the Davidic covenant.

Weaver argues that the warning 'if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever' applies to the physical line of David and the kingdom, which was conditional upon obedience.

He explains: 'this counsel then is given in light of the Davidic Covenant... and especially in light of David's kingdom and his physical descendants.'

The physical descendants of David did forsake God and were cast off, fulfilling the conditional warning.

Weaver demonstrates from Scripture that the kings and people of Israel and Judah forsook God, leading to their rejection and exile.

He reads 2 Kings 17:15: 'they rejected his statutes, and his covenant... and they followed vanity.'

The Davidic covenant has a spiritual fulfillment in Jesus Christ, whose seed will never be cast off.

Weaver distinguishes between the physical and spiritual aspects of the covenant, showing that Christ's kingdom is eternal and His people are secure.

He cites Psalm 89:28-29: 'My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with Him.'

True believers cannot be cast off forever, but they can experience temporary forsaking through loss of God's manifest presence.

Weaver explains that while eternal security is assured, sin can cause a believer to lose the sense of God's presence and blessings temporarily.

He says: 'What we lose by our sins is the manifest presence of God. This is a temporary forsaking.'

Perseverance in faith is the evidence of genuine salvation.

Weaver argues that those who truly belong to Christ will continue in the faith, and those who fall away permanently were never truly saved.

He quotes 1 John 2:19: 'They went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they were not of us.'

Scripture References

1 Chronicles 28:9: The primary text of the sermon, containing David's counsel to Solomon to know and serve God, and the warning about seeking and forsaking.
Deuteronomy 4:9: Used as an example of the warning 'take heed to thyself' in the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 4:15: Another Old Testament warning to 'take good heed' against idolatry.
Mark 4:24: Jesus' warning to 'take heed what you hear.'
Luke 8:18: Jesus' warning to 'take heed how you hear.'
1 Timothy 4:16: Paul's admonition to 'take heed to thyself and thy doctrine.'
Hebrews 3:12: Warning to 'take heed' against an evil heart of unbelief.
Psalm 27:8: David's response to God's call to seek His face.
Psalm 105:3: Encouragement to rejoice in seeking the Lord.
Isaiah 55:6-7: The call to seek the Lord while He may be found and to forsake wicked ways.
Jeremiah 29:13: Promise that seeking God with the whole heart results in finding Him.
Joel 2:12: Call to turn to God with all the heart.
2 Samuel 7:12-16: The Davidic covenant promising a seed, a house, and an eternal throne, with chastisement for iniquity.
2 Chronicles 6:12-17: Solomon's prayer referencing God's promise to David that there would not fail a man to sit on the throne if his children take heed to their way.
2 Chronicles 7:17-22: God's conditional promise to Solomon: if he walks in obedience, the throne will be established; if he forsakes God, Israel will be plucked up.
2 Chronicles 15:1-2: The prophet Azariah tells Asa that the Lord is with him while he is with God, and if he forsakes God, God will forsake him.
2 Kings 17:13-23: Account of Israel's persistent disobedience, rejection of God's covenant, and resulting judgment and casting off.
Ezra 8:22: Ezra's statement that God's hand is for good upon those who seek Him, but His power and wrath are against those who forsake Him.
2 Kings 21:12-16: God's declaration that He will forsake the remnant of His inheritance because of Manasseh's sins.
Psalm 89:19-37: The psalmist recounts God's covenant with David, including the promise of an eternal throne for his seed, which ultimately points to Christ.

Historical References

David's counsel to Solomon: The sermon is based on David's words of wisdom and warning to his son Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:9.
Solomon's idolatry and introduction of false gods: Weaver notes that Solomon introduced idolatry into Israel by building altars for his foreign wives, as recorded in 1 Kings 11.
Rehoboam's folly and the division of the kingdom: Solomon's son Rehoboam lost the kingdom due to his foolishness, leading to the division of Israel.
Manasseh's shedding of innocent blood: King Manasseh is cited as an example of a wicked king who caused Judah to sin, leading to God's judgment.
Jeroboam's making Israel to sin: Jeroboam son of Nebat drove Israel from following the Lord and made them sin a great sin.
The Queen of the South (Queen of Sheba): Jesus references the Queen of the South coming to hear Solomon's wisdom, contrasting it with His own greater wisdom.

Important Quotes

If thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.

This is the central verse of the sermon, containing both the positive encouragement and the negative warning that Weaver expounds.

Take heed what you hear.

Weaver uses this quote from Mark 4:24 as an example of the many 'take heed' warnings in Scripture.

Take heed how you hear.

From Luke 8:18, this quote emphasizes the importance of the manner in which we receive God's word.

And you shall seek me, and you shall find me, when you seek me with your whole heart.

This promise from Jeremiah 29:13 underscores the condition for finding God—wholehearted seeking.

I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

Weaver quotes Jesus' words in John 10:28 to affirm the eternal security of believers.

Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6 is used to support the doctrine of preservation and perseverance.

They went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they were not of us.

1 John 2:19 is cited to argue that those who permanently fall away were never truly saved.

I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Hebrews 13:5 is quoted as a foundational promise of God's abiding presence with His people.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does understanding the conditional nature of the Davidic covenant for physical descendants help us interpret the warning in 1 Chronicles 28:9?

[Context]

Weaver explains that the warning of being cast off forever applied to David's physical line and was fulfilled when the kings and people forsook God.

[Question]

In what ways is Jesus Christ the 'greater than Solomon,' and how does this affect our understanding of God's promises?

[Context]

Weaver points to Matthew 12:42 and Psalm 89 to show that Christ fulfills the spiritual aspect of the Davidic covenant with an eternal kingdom.

[Question]

What is the difference between being 'cast off forever' and experiencing a temporary loss of God's manifest presence?

[Context]

Weaver distinguishes between eternal rejection and the temporary chastisement believers may face when they sin, using Isaiah 54:8 and John 14:21.

[Question]

How does the doctrine of perseverance relate to the assurance of salvation?

[Context]

Weaver argues that preservation is manifested through perseverance, and that those who are truly saved will continue in faith and repentance.

[Question]

What practical steps can we take to 'seek the Lord with our whole heart' when we feel distant from Him?

[Context]

Weaver encourages believers to seek God for grace and mercy, emphasizing that He will be found when sought earnestly.

[Question]

How can older believers continue to show God's strength and power to the next generation, as David prayed in Psalm 71?

[Context]

Weaver applies Psalm 71:18 to the role of the aged in demonstrating God's faithfulness and power to younger generations.

Applications

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