Jesus The Better David by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Old Testament is background, New Testament is foreground

Romans 15:3-4

We are showing Jesus as the seed of David, and still talking about his divinity

Paul is quoting from the scriptures. The scriptures are Genesis to Malachi

Paul is talking about Jesus but making reference to Old Testament writings. He shows Jesus as an example we imitate in his disposition towards trials and sufferings

The Old Testament is background for New Testament writings. The New Testament is foreground for Old Testament writings

The Old Testament is context for New Testament writings. The New Testament is explanation of Old Testament writings

What qualifies the epistles to be scriptural is that they have their context in the Old Testament writings

New Testament words are first Old Testament words

When I teach on justification, there can be different meanings, but I'm speaking in a church as a pastor. The meaning has to be consistent with doctrine

A football coach says, that's a foul, chances are maybe you used your hand to hit the ball. If a pastor says that's an error, it means you misinterpreted scripture

When they write in the New Testament, they have to use the meaning of the words from scripture. Justification can't mean secular justification when Paul is talking about justification. It's audience context

A believer should be able to meet anyone reading any part of the Old Testament and show them Christ

Acts 8:26 downwards

Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch, explained from the book of Isaiah that it referred to Christ, and baptized him

Philip was ordained a deacon in Acts 6. He is called an evangelist in Acts 21:8

He did it as an evangelist, not because of a teaching anointing

We say evangelists just preach the word and pastors explain the gospel, but Philip could preach the gospel and he could explain it. So it's for everyone

You can meet an unbeliever talking about Solomon or about misunderstood Old Testament scriptures, like God killing children. Through Solomon you can bring out Christ

From there you expand to them that all of it is written in the scriptures

The good shepherd and the context of John 10

John 10:11-17

They will hear my voice means they will hear my word

To understand the word shepherd, you don't go to the dictionary. You go to Genesis to Malachi. Use a word in its context. What is a goal in football is a foul in basketball

The premise for John 10 is John 9

John 9:6-7

Healing the blind was a Messianic sign

Psalm 146:8

Only the Lord opens the eyes of the blind

Isaiah 35:4-5

Isaiah 42:6-7

This is probably where Paul got his theology of Jesus taking the form of a servant Philippians 2. The Servant is with a capital S, he is stepping into the office

Isaiah 61:1

The response of the people when Jesus healed these blind eyes: they called him Son of David

Matthew 9:27

Matthew 12:22-23

The multitude understood what it meant to heal a blind person and a mute person

According to their rabbinic literature, if you were mute you were demon possessed. They had ways to cast out demons

When Jesus cast out Legion, he asked him his name, and called him out by name

A mute person can't tell you the name. So casting out that demon was reserved for God. Healing a mute person was a Messianic sign

The people said he does it by Beelzebub. Jesus was showing he is the father of spirits, a title only for God

John 10:21

Giving sight to the blind was a Messianic sign, showing that Jesus was the Messiah and he is God. They also said Son of David, and they understood that as an office

Matthew 20:30-34

That Son of David has an understanding behind it

Mark 10:46-52

Blind Bartimaeus called him Son of David right before his triumphal entry

John 9:32-33

3 things in John 9

1. Jesus healed a blind man, a Messianic sign showing he is the Lord and he is God
2. The healed man was excommunicated John 9:34
3. Jesus went to look for the excommunicated man. The man didn't find Jesus John 9:35

The context for John 10: somebody was born blind, was healed, was excommunicated, and then Jesus went to him

John 10 begins with Jesus teaching about the shepherd and the sheep, making a distinction between the good shepherd and the bad shepherds. John 9 and John 10 are a contrast

The bad shepherds are the people who excommunicated the man and said he was born in sin. That's how the pastoral office was before Jesus came

The religious leaders cast the man out. Jesus sought him out

The religious leaders condemned him. Jesus revealed himself to him

The religious leaders failed to care for him. Jesus demonstrated the care of a good shepherd, not just by healing but by ministering to him

Bad people throw people out. Good people find them and bring them in

Jesus situating himself as the promised shepherd

If New Testament words were first Old Testament words, then Jesus calling himself the good shepherd is the promise of the good shepherd in the Old Testament being fulfilled right before them

This prophecy was playing out, confirming that he is the promised good shepherd

Ezekiel 34:23

Does that sound like Jesus' words in John 10:16?

When Jesus was talking in John 10, he was talking through scriptures. He wasn't freestyling

John 5:39

Jesus is saying if you had been reading the Bible correctly, there is no way you would have missed me

The Pharisees and Sadducees had 2 problems

1. Hardness of heart. They were offended at him
2. Misinterpretation of scriptures

That's why you have to learn doctrine. What made them wrong was not the scriptures but how they understood them

The same scripture Jesus used as evidence of his Messianic ministry was the one that showed them he was blasphemous

Psalm 119:11

Some Israelites call the law too grievous, a burden. David is somewhere singing that the law is sweet. Same scripture, how you read it

A gate protects strangers from coming in. But you can also see a gate as a prison, they don't want me to come out

You can see a gate as protection or as restriction. It's how you see it

Ezekiel 34:23

Are you seeing the connection between the good shepherd and David?

When it was time to heal blind eyes, they called him Son of David. Jesus is saying his functionality in healing blind eyes is because he is the good shepherd

Who is the good shepherd? The Son of David

David is mentioned here as a shepherd. He is also mentioned as though still alive, even though dead

Notice that Jesus called himself the shepherd, and so does God in this book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 34:11-16

God is calling himself the shepherd. He seeks out his sheep. Does that look like what Jesus did with that man?

This helps you understand Psalm 23. What does it mean to lie down in green pastures? Sheep eat grass, that is sheep's bread

Matthew 4:4

So when he says he makes me lie down in green pastures, he is saying he feeds me with knowledge and revelation. He's not saying he gives me clothes

So when Jesus calls himself the good shepherd, he's saying I'm God

The promise to David and the seed

2 Samuel 7:2

2 Samuel 7:12-16

This is God speaking back to David, pronouncing these promises over him

When David wanted to build God a house, the thing touched God

God said, you want to build me a house? Wow, I like you. But you will not build this. Instead I want to build you a house, your kingdom, your throne

What you want to do for God is what he will do for you. If Jesus asks you for living water, it's because he wants to give it to you

Seed is the Hebrew word zera: posterity, the one who prolongs your days. God promised he will continue in David's seed

Ezekiel was prophesying as though David is still alive, though David was dead. Ezekiel wasn't making a mistake

He did it because of the promise in 2 Samuel 7. David's seed is still David to God

This redefines death. To God, death does not mean someone leaves the earth. He sees death as exile or separation from him, being absent in his plan

A dead man to God is a man that is absent in God's plan

John 10:10

Jesus is speaking to people who are alive about giving life. It means they were dead in God's plan. He came to bring them into God's plan. That is what life is to God

Ephesians 2:1

Genesis 2:17

Did Adam and Eve die that day? They were exiled from God's plan. Being separated from God and absent in God's plan is what it means to be dead

David in the body is not alive. In God's plan he is alive, through his seed

David's seed is understood in 2 persons

1. Solomon, in God's plan for Israel as a people, to typify the work of Christ building a nation whose light shines in the earth Isaiah 60:3
2. Christ Matthew 1:1, Luke 3:31, Romans 1:3, Acts 13:23, Revelation 5:5, Matthew 22:42-45

So you have Solomon, the earthly line, and then you have Christ showing the established eternal priesthood

Stretch yourself to study these scriptures. We will not lose the act of reading scriptures

Solomon reveals 2 things

1. A new order of kingship 1 Kings 1:30
2. The building of God's temple, the place of worship. David could not build it because his hand was bloody 1 Chronicles 22:9

The new order of kingship from this text is rest, peace and quietness. David was a man of war

It is offensive to interpret Matthew 11:12 as warfare. That's not the meaning

Matthew 10:34-35

He told you how he will bring the sword. He went for family, not kingdoms

In his death, burial and resurrection there is a new order of family. If two of us are in the same family but are not both saved, we are not in the same family eternally

The blood of Jesus is more powerful than biological blood. I am more a brother to a fellow believer than to my biological brothers if they are not saved

That's the idea of church. You don't join a church and change it like clothes. What you joined was a family

Notice his tense. He did not come to bring peace on the earth. That's not his job. People are fighting everywhere

He came to bring men into his peace John 14:27

There will be chaos in the earth but we are in peace as believers

Luke 16:16

Matthew 11 and Luke 16 are parallel. Everything in Matthew 11 is in Luke 16. The meaning of Matthew 11:12 is rendered clearly in Luke 16:16

He is not talking about spiritual warfare. Now that John is preaching, a lot of people want to be saved and are coming to John for repentance. That is the violent entry

So that text is not warfare, it is evangelical. Don't take my word for it, I just showed you the Bible

Solomon shows a new order of kingship, which is peace and rest. And the second thing is the building of God's temple, a place of worship

1 Chronicles 22:10

When Jesus was on the earth, Herod was king and was not from Judah. After Solomon, the kingdom was divided instead of established. What God was speaking about was his Christ, far beyond Solomon

The promises to Solomon are fulfilled in Christ

He builds a new kingdom, a new Israel, a new people as their shepherd, and he builds God a new temple. That's why Jesus said I'll break down this temple

The new kingdom

John 10:16

Solomon is serving as a type and Jesus is the establishment of that promise, the antitype. New kingdom

Jesus gave other indications that the nature of this new kingdom reaches all people

He healed a Roman centurion's servant Luke 7:1-10, went through the Gentile region of the Gerasenes Mark 5:1, and ministered to a Samaritan city John 4

Matthew 28:19

"All nations" doesn't mean all countries. In a country you can have different nations. In Nigeria we have about maybe 250 nations

To qualify as a nation you have a common heritage, common history and the same language. So you have the Yoruba nation, the Igbo nation

The correct translation is all peoples. Disciples is mathetes: pupils or students. What Jesus told us to raise are students. You come to church to learn like a student

1 Corinthians 10:1-2

Baptizing can mean physical baptizing, but it is two-fold. In the cloud refers to doctrine. In the sea refers to physical baptism

So baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit means immersing them in the revelation of God the Father, the Son and the Spirit, and also in water to typify newness of life

Jerusalem means the place where I see peace. Every believer is Jerusalem because peace is in us. We carry the prince of peace

Exodus 19:5

The promise was made to the old kingdom

1 Peter 2:9

God now makes that promise in the new covenant to the people in this new kingdom

To them it was "if you will obey". To us it is "you are", because we obeyed by believing in Jesus

God gave the law on Mount Sinai as evidence they were his people

Then he gave the outpouring of the Spirit in the upper room. They spoke with new tongues declaring the wonderful works of the Lord

This is evidence that the Spirit is on our inside. The upper room is Zion

Revelation 5:9-10

Kings and priests, the fulfilment of Exodus 19:5

Jesus as the king: Matthew 2:2, Matthew 27:37, Revelation 19:16

The second thing Solomon did: build a temple

1 Corinthians 6:19

Jesus builds God a new temple. The temple is not a building, it is people

John 2:19

He was talking about his body. What happened in 3 days? His resurrection. In his resurrection a new temple is built, you and I

Matthew 27:46

When Jesus was dying on the cross, because he was about to destroy the temple and raise it up, who did he quote? David Psalm 22:1

Some ask, if Jesus is God, why did he say he was forsaken? It was a Messianic sign. What is written in Psalm 22 is written concerning me

It was like he was dying in grand style. You didn't kill me, I'm laying down my life. This is the script

His death and resurrection are the manifestation and fulfilment of God's promise to David of his seed reigning forever

Acts 2:29-30

Peter explains the outpouring from David's conversation in Psalm 16:8-11, and also quotes the prophet Joel

Jesus and David are not the same

Jesus was correcting them. If David says the Lord said to my Lord, then he is greater than David

Jesus is without sin, David isn't. Jesus is all the good David ever was and the good he could not be. He is not just the best of humanity but the image of God expressly

David was a man after God's own heart because:

1. He typified the Christ
2. He was after God's plan. After God's heart means after God's plan, not just that God likes him
3. He was zealous to establish the new and be part of it

These are the difference between him and Saul

Why it had to be David

God is no respecter of persons. Don't think God just picked David like that

Luke 1:38

Even if God is going to use your womb as Mary, you must say be it unto me according to your word

Bonke said one day the Lord told him, you're not my first choice. He asked, second? No. Third? No. After four he kept quiet. It's in his biography

God told him several people were asked to go to Africa, and he was the one who answered. Just imagine that

We don't even know if Mary was the sixth virgin. It looks like the angel was looking for consent. "Be it unto me" is I agree

Luke 1:34, Luke 1:18

Mary asked how would this be. Zechariah asked how can this be. Two different things. "Can" is possibility, "would" is explanation, tell me how you want to make it happen

One question is in belief, the other is in unbelief

Luke 1:19

The angel Gabriel felt insulted. He had to introduce himself. An angel felt insulted that someone doubted his word, and we doubt God's word

When God gives you a promise and you say, can it happen? Think of what's happening in everyday life

Israel spent 400 years in Egypt. They didn't know God had a deal with their great great great great grandfather. The promise was oblivious to them

When the cry reached heaven, it didn't mean they prayed to Yahweh. Moses was teaching them the way of the Lord

The only language they understand is not my word, it's signs and wonders. The rod becomes a snake because a cobra is on Pharaoh's head, something familiar as a god

God said, I promised your forefather. Even though he is dead, I don't owe any man. Even though he's not yet collected it, I have to pay back, in his children

On the last day we approach the throne of righteousness and justice. Nobody will approach that throne saying God didn't do me well

If you can say, God you lied to me, how can that God judge you? He will not owe you

Election of grace

There is something called the election of grace. Election of grace is empowerment working grace

God always picks busy people for his assignments. There is not one jobless person God gave ministry to in the Bible. He will meet you when you are fetching water, not sleeping in your room

If God didn't pick Solomon, who? Absalom? Adonijah? It makes sense that it is Solomon. Read the book of Proverbs. The guy wrote 1,500 songs

You can't be a Christian man and not be romantic. You are not full of the spirit. I'm talking to myself

If the Bible says God is no respecter of persons, look at the lives of people God chose. You see a level of high intelligence

When somebody says I'm doing this by God's grace, ask what God's grace is making you do

There has to be consecration and discipline. You know what it means to sit down in one spot for 7 hours studying God's word? That kind of person can't fail an exam

In as much as there is an election of grace pertaining to David, the components of his life show it makes sense

The connections between David and Jesus

1. Strong desire for order in God's house and for the purpose of God's house

   Psalm 69:9

   That is what Paul was quoting in Romans 15:3. This is the "as it is written"

   Psalm 69:10

   John 2:15

   The Bible says he made a whip. It's one thing to buy, another thing to make. The cute Jesus you have in your mind went somewhere to make a whip

   He was a 33-year-old man. We can imagine him kicking things, dragging people. Don't forget he had an anointing

   That is the zeal David was talking about. David had that too. He couldn't stand it when people were disdaining God

   It's not actually prayer, it's heart position. Once the heart position is correct, God gives an encounter and leads you in prayer

   You can't pray, God use me, I'm a virgin, I want to carry Jesus

   He wants to see in your heart that no matter what I tell you, you will say be it unto me according to your word

   Matthew 5:8

   If God will come to you, the only way you will see him is with your heart. What brought him was your heart

   Saul had the mechanics to be a powerful apostle. He was already zealous. God only had to redirect it. You like traveling, I got you, you will travel

   Peter is a Jew. God needed someone who could talk to Caesar. Paul has dual citizenship

   Samuel at the house of Jesse: the oil didn't pour on Eliab and all of them. You will say, how can God just pick David? The next chapter shows you what God saw

   For 40 days Goliath abused the army of God and nobody said anything. A teenager with the heart of a king said, who is this uncircumcised Philistine?

   God anointed him in 1 Samuel 16 because he saw his heart in 1 Samuel 17

   Demystify it. Pick one person in scripture and think through why God picked this person. When their life starts to play out you see it

   Moses was the only one who could read and write

   Jesus picked fishermen, 60% of his disciples could use a boat, and a tax collector who knew every corner of Israel. You will see an intelligence at work, always

   Apart from the sovereignty of God and the Trinity, everything in scripture is given to us for teaching

   If I'm supposed to teach, there is a technology behind it. If 1 + 1 will not always be 2, don't tell me to teach it

   From the moment you introduce teaching, you are saying it's predictable. If you do it like this, you get these results

   Look at Joseph. What is different about him from his brothers?

2. They both prayed for others, as intercessors

   Psalm 122:6-9, John 17:20-23

3. They both prayed for deliverance and protection

   Psalm 59:1-2, John 17:11-12

4. They both expressed gratitude to God

   David would dance when it came to the presence of God. Never outgrow lifting hands, dancing in church, giving praise. People might not understand you, but don't conform

   A lady told us she was embarrassed growing up because her dad was the loudest. Once the pastor said something, he said Hallelujah. As she grew she realized her dad had a child-like heart

   It's beautiful when your children catch up on a revelation you were living that they didn't understand

   You are dancing in front of the church and your teenagers say, wow, my dad. After 5 years they meet Jesus and say, I want to be like my dad

   Some of us stand in praise and worship like God offended us. No matter how old you are, you are not older than the Ancient of Days. You are still a child

   Psalm 51:17

   One of the secrets of David. If I have a broken and contrite heart, with God I can get away with anything

   That is why some people whose way is not pure will say, leave me and my worship. They can be wicked people, but when it comes to praise and worship, if they sneeze, God has answered

   Worship is a response to revelation. When they say holy, holy, it means different, different. They are seeing something new. People who worship, God gives them more reason to worship

   Illustration: the honorarium

   I preached somewhere and was given an honorarium of about $2,000. It was the first money from preaching. I gave it to my wife and said use it to buy anything you want

   She brought me food, knelt down and thanked me so much. I said, Jesus, how can I get another $2,000? I was looking for ways to buy her something more. How much more God?

   When people give you something and say don't mention it, don't listen. Mention it

   You see somebody dancing and people are calling him a fool. God will see to it that they see he is not a fool

   One of the major secrets of David's life is praise

   And the zeal for the house of God. David can't be in church and chairs are being packed and say it's not my department. These are things God is looking at

   A lady in church took it upon herself to beautify the toilet. People don't see it, but God saw it. She has a testimony

   If God is lifting me, don't envy me. Ask me what I paid. What are the components of this lift?

   I went to preach for Apostle Lawrence Oyor. He said, the last time I saw you, this time is different. What's your back end? Spiritual people know

   Genesis 22:16-17

   Isaac was on the altar when God said that

Worship is a heart tuned to God's heart

Luke 10:21

If it is worship, you will find me there. Some say, I see people falling on the floor but I don't feel anything

The woman with the issue of blood didn't feel anything but her blood. After she touched him, power entered. You do it till it touches you

We don't lift our hands because it touched us. We lift our hands so he can touch us

We don't kneel because the worship entered. We kneel because we heard something consistent with what we know about him. As we kneel he gives us an experience of that knowledge

This is a supernatural church. In that hour Jesus rejoiced. The Greek word is agalliao: to jump and to spin around. God can jump and spin around, and you can't

He wore a gown, you wear jeans. There was no way it could have been dignified. In their culture the legs should not show, it was seen as nakedness

That thing David did, lifting his clothes to dance, is what Jesus did in Luke 10. Michal asked David, what are you doing? 2 Samuel 6:14-20

This is a heart tuned to the readings of God's heart

When we hear worship, our mind goes to songs. In the temple they didn't sing, they killed something. Dying to shame. Dying to yourself

Psalm 29:9

In the temple you shout glory. We don't say glory because we want to catch a vibe. We are establishing that this is the temple of God, God is here