Studies in the Gospel Message
THE subject of the Sabbath-school lesson for June 21, the twelfth in the present series, is Building the House of David. The Lord’s promises to David were, “I will build thee an house,” and “thine house . . . shall be established forever.” The fulfillment of these promises involved the gift of the “only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It meant that the Lord pledged that his Son should be “born of the seed of David according to the flesh,” and that he would retain his human nature forever. All this will plainly appear from a study of the scriptures which deal with this subject. The real house is not the building in which the people live, but the people themselves. The Lord said to Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” When the jailor inquired the way of salvation, Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” In both these instances it is clear that “thy house” meant the family of which the person addressed was the head. A house or family is builded and continued when children are born into the family. Thus when Boaz took Ruth to be his wife, the elders of the city said, “The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachael and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel.” To build a house or family so that it would be established forever would evidently be to give to that house or family one who would remain as head of the house forever, and whose children would live as long as he did. This is exactly what the Lord has done for David’s house. Isaiah prophesied of this when he said, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.” When this prophecy was fulfilled, the angel said, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” This was he whose birth was foretold to Mary in these words: “Thou shalt . . . bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.” David’s son is also “the Son of the Highest,” and is therefore David’s Lord, even as David6the prophet declared, “The Lord said unto my Lord.” The gospel is the good news that the Son of God has become the Son of man, the last Adam, the head of a new humanity, having been born of the seed of David according to the flesh. And so the Son of God was born of the flesh in order that we might be born of the Spirit, and those who are thus “born again” become members of that house which the Lord is building; “whose house are we.” The promise to Abraham was, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed,” and the promise to David was none the less broad, as is shown by the interpretation given by the Holy Spirit to a prophecy whose real meaning might otherwise have been overlooked. At the time of the first conference at Jerusalem, the apostle James, after hearing the statements of the different brethren, said, “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.” From this it is clear that the material with which the house, or tabernacle, of David is to be built will be gathered out of “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” and the means by which this will be accomplished will be the preaching of “the everlasting gospel.” It is well to remember that “except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” This same truth is put in another form in these words: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” The Head of the house or family of David is the one “of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,” “the head of all principality and power,” “the head of the body, the church.” The building of the house is the building of his body, the church. To accomplish this he has given special gifts. “When he ascended on high, he . . . gave gifts unto men. . . . And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain . . . unto a full-grown man . . . that we may be no longer children . . . but . . . may grow up in all things into him, which is the head, even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body, unto the building up of itself in love.” The work of preaching the everlasting gospel in these last days so as to build up the house of David cannot be done except through the gifts which were imparted for “the building up of the body of Christ.” In the light of the scriptures which we have read, it is plain that the Lord’s promise that he would establish the house of David forever must be the assurance that the gift of his Son to the flesh would never be withdrawn. In this fact is the certainty of our eternal salvation. We are the body of Christ. So long as he remains in the body, so long is humanity the temple of the Holy Ghost, and we are saved by his life. Should he withdraw himself from the flesh, then he is separated from us, and the gospel is no longer “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” But there can be no other gospel than that of the revelation of Christ in the flesh. “He that hath the Son hath the life.” And so we may each one adopt the words of the psalmist: “I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.”