1 Samuel chapter 21, please. Tonight I want to look at two
verses, verses 8 and 9. 1 Samuel 21, beginning in verse
8. And David said unto Ahimelech,
Is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? For I have neither brought my
sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required
haste. And the priest said, the sword
of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of
Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. And if thou will take that, take
it, for there is none other save or except that here. And David
said, there's none like that. Give it me. Now, I know that
I have preached on the subject of Goliath's sword before, but
I couldn't find the message, and I couldn't find my notes,
and maybe it was a message within a message, and that's why I couldn't
find it. It doesn't really matter. But
I will say this concerning these two verses concerning Goliath's
sword. It's an amazing picture. an amazing
illustration of the gospel provided by the sword of the spirit, which
is the word of God. David said, there's none like
it. There's none like it. And every believer will say,
there's none like the gospel. Give it me, give it to me. We won't get it any other way.
It's gotta be given to us. There's no other gospel. We have
but one sword, the Word of God, and we have but one gospel, Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. And as you know, David here is
on the run from Saul. And he comes to Himalaya, the
priest, and he says, I'm on a mission for the king. He wasn't, he was
running. The mission, he said, required
haste. And David said, I brought no
sword or any weapons with me. So Ahimelech says in verse 9,
I have here in the temple the sword of Goliath whom you killed. It's in storage in the temple
behind the ephod. In other words, it's the only
sword I got. The priest is saying, I have
but one sword. There is no other, he says. Save
or accept that one. And I was thinking to myself,
do you and I have but one sword? There is no other. Accept that
one. And David adds, there's none
like it. None like it. Give it me. There's no gospel
like our gospel. There's no other gospel, period. Now, I could read this to you,
but I think it would be helpful for us to see it in order for
me to make my point. Hold your place here and turn
with me to Galatians 1, if you would. We'll come back to 1 Samuel. Look at Galatians 1 with me. You know this passage well. Verse
6. Galatians chapter 1 verse 6. Paul writes, Galatians 1 verse
6, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him They called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. And then
immediately in verse seven, he says, and clarifies, which is
not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert
the gospel of Christ. Now the gospel that the Galatians
were being swayed by And I might add, along with the gospel that
this religious world is being influenced by today, is not another
gospel. Paul says in verse seven, but
there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ. What men are preaching today
in most religious circles is a perversion of the gospel of
Christ. Any other message, any other
preaching is a perversion that will do nothing, Paul says, but
trouble you. Now, that word trouble there
means agitate. It means disturb. It means to
confuse you. Paul said any other gospel, which
is not another, but any other preaching will do nothing but
trouble you, agitate you, disturb you, and confuse you. And it's not talking about a
mild annoyance, but a trouble that causes spiritual unrest. Trouble that'll shake your confidence
in the sufficiency of Christ. That's our only hope. My standing
before God depends totally and completely upon the sufficiency
of the Lord Jesus. What He did, His finished work,
not anything that I do, all my work's worthless. Worthless. The sufficiency of Christ. There
are many today who are teaching that faith in Christ and His
finished work's not enough. Well, let me tell you something,
if it's not, all of us are in trouble. Man, they say, must
add some work of his own to be saved. You've heard it, and so
have I. It's very common. It can't be that simple, folks.
We've got to do something. I've got to do something. I've
got to make a decision. I've got to raise my hand. I've
got to say a prayer. I've got to come up. I've got
to do something. As we discussed Sunday with our
Christ, we can do nothing. We can't do anything to save
ourselves. The word another, that word another
can mean an alternative version, but when it comes to the gospel,
there is no such thing. There is no alternative version. There's no alternative period. There's no other legitimate gospel. The perversion of the gospel
is a lie. Anything other than what Paul
said we've preached unto you is a perversion, it's a lie. The perversion of the gospel
is that, it's misrepresented, it's twisted, and it's corrupted. The Greek word translated into
English for another. Now listen to this, this'll help
you. Translated, the Greek word translated into English for another
in verse six is heteros. It means of a different kind.
Speaking about a different kind of gospel. Then in verse seven,
the Greek word for another is a different word, it means It's
called a loss, and it means another of the same kind. Now what Paul
is saying here is this. There isn't another gospel of
the same kind. The so-called gospel that these
Galatians were hearing and what men are hearing today wasn't
good news at all. It wasn't no gospel. That's what
the gospel means, good news. Who's the good news for? Wretched,
no good sinners. You know, it's kind of like having
a steak and a shoe. You can chew on both of them,
but only the steak is good to eat. And only the steak could
give you the spiritual food that you need for sustenance. Another
gospel is not another of the same kind, because there is no
other kind of gospel. There is no other gospel. There
is no other good news for sinners. The so-called gospel that's being
preached today among the masses is counterfeit. No, it looks
good to folks, and it sounds good to folks, and, you know,
multitudes flock to it. You know, I've heard it said
of this church here. Heard it with my own ears and
heard it through other people. That few a people that go there
can't be right. Well, you better read your Bible
because the Bible is very clear about there's only few that find
the way to life. Not broad is the way that leads
to destruction, but only a few. And that's what we got here tonight,
just a few. Even when we're at full capacity,
we're but a few. That's why Paul immediately says
in verse eight and nine, you know, to pervert is to lead someone
away from what's right. And Paul immediately says in
verse eight, but though we are an angel from heaven, preach
any other gospel unto you than that which we've preached unto
you, let him be accursed. And as we said before, so say
I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you, then
that ye have received, let him be accursed. He says it twice.
That's how important this is. One gospel, no substitutes. And like a Himelech, we have
but one. I've only got one sword to give
you. I've only got one gospel to preach
to you. David said, there's none like
it. Every believer says it, there's none like it. When you truly
hear it, there's nothing like it. When God reveals the words
of this book to you in your heart, there's nothing like it. It's
an amazing, amazing book. There's not another, give it
me. Give it to me. Give it to me. It's the one that we must have
to be saved. As I said, the gate to life,
eternal, straight and narrow. The road to reconciliation with
God is just the same. Because straight is the gate
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life. And how many find
it? Few. Just a few. There'll be
to find it, Matthew 7, 14. Oh, this is a narrow, narrow
gospel. This is a narrow, narrow message. There is but one God. The Lord
our God is one God. Deuteronomy 6.4. There's but
one mediator between God and men. The man Christ Jesus. There is but one Lord, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism. Ephesians 4, 5. There is but
one Savior, neither is there salvation in any other, for there
is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved. Acts 4, 12. There is but one
Spirit, and there is one Spirit even as you are called, and one
hope of your calling. There's only one hope. There's
no other hope but this hope. that being the certain expectation
of eternal life with Christ. There is but one way to the Father. The Lord Jesus said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh to the Father
but by me. Just one way. Just one way. Christ is the way. There is but
one shepherd. The Lord Jesus said there will
be one foal and one shepherd. There is but one sacrifice for
sins forever. But this man, the Lord Jesus,
after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God. We know why He sat down. Why? His work was finished. Accomplished. Now, the Gospel connection of
Goliath's sword here has to do with how it represents the victory
that God had already won by His own strength. Now think with
me for a minute. Back in 1 Samuel 17, you don't
have to turn there. I'm going to go back to 1 Samuel
21. You may not need to. But in 1
Samuel 17, verse 47, David told Goliath when he went out to meet
him, Goliath laughed. They sent a boy out here to meet
me. And David said, This, he said,
and all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with
sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's. And he will give
you, speaking to Goliath, into our hands. Now, Goliath's sword
was a trophy of God's triumph. This was the Lord's victory,
not David's. David slung that stone, but the
Lord directed it right into Goliath's forehead. This is the Lord's
victory. And the stone incapacitated Goliath
the giant, but David went and took his own sword and killed
him with it. Cut his head off with it. This
was a trophy of what God had done. Not what David had done. In the Gospel, Christ has already
defeated our great enemy of sin, whom Goliath rightly pictures. We've said that many times. What
a picture of sin Goliath was. And just as David carried into
battle the weapon of the defeated enemy, he said, give it to me. There's none like it. Give it
to me. And as He carried that weapon of the defeated enemy,
believers today carry into battle the proof of Christ's victory
on the cross. That's our sword, the Word of
God. When the Lord Jesus was tempted
by Satan in the wilderness, He used the sword of the Spirit
as His only weapon. It is written. It is written. It is written. That's the sword
we have. There's none like it. Give it
to me. Give it to me. David's current
trouble with Saul, it differed from his conflict with Goliath.
Yes, but it was still a matter of life and death. Saul was out
to kill David, just as Goliath was that day on the battlefield.
And listen, our struggles in life may differ from our past
ones. We may be struggling with something
today that's different from what we've struggled with in the past,
but we still carry the same weapon with us. That being the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That being the Holy Word of God. It's written. It's written. We are, right now, presently,
more than conquerors. through Him, that, past tense,
loved us. Because Christ loved us, He still
loves us. If He ever loved us, He loves
us still. He loved us from the foundation
of the world, and having loved His own which were in the world,
He loves them until the end. That's good news. We're reconciled to God because
of His finished work. And what Christ has already done
assures us of the success of our battles today. Goliath's
sword was unique. There was none like it. That's
what David said, none like it. There is no other weapon for
the believer like the gospel, which is found in the Word of
God, which is the sword of the Spirit, Hebrews 4.12. And all
our struggles in this life, our human struggles, fail against
our enemies of the soul only The power of God in Christ truly
saves and sustains us. Our defense is useless. We're helpless. We're dead. What can we do? And
we don't need a different or another weapon. We need to take
up the same Word of God that has already been proven in Christ. That's what this is. It's the
sword of the Spirit. The cross is the proof of our
victory. Satan in this life, and he whispers
in our ear and says, well, a Christian, you call yourself a Christian.
A Christian wouldn't do the things you do. A Christian wouldn't
say the things, act the way you do. We point to the cross. We
point to the Lord Jesus Christ hanging on the cross, and we
say, get thee behind me, Satan. Christ has done for me everything
that God requires of me. No sword like it. There's none
like it. None like it. Give it to me. We don't need
new power. We need to remember that we've
already won. We have the same proven weapon.
We face today's trials with yesterday's triumph. The work of our redemption
is finished. That means complete. That means
there's nothing else to do. That means we can rest. For by
one offering, being His own, He, Christ, has already passed
in. He's already perfected forever
those who are sanctified. Hebrews 10, 14. All the prophecies
of the Old Testament promised, pictured, and pointed to the
Messiah's suffering. There's one coming. And He is
going to, by the shedding of His own blood, put away your
sin. All the prophecies of the Old
Testament had their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. From
the bruised heel of Genesis 3.15, to the pierced hands and feet
of Psalm 22, to the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, they were
all fulfilled and finished in Christ's sacrifice. I only have one sword. Only one. God, please give it
to me. The Old Covenant was fulfilled
and ended. The sacrificial system, the endless
animal offerings that served as no more than a shadow that
pointed to Christ, they were completed. Once the true Lamb
of God was slain, Those sacrifices that shadowed the sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus were no longer needed. That's what the book
of Hebrews is about. The veil of the temple. The day
that Christ gave up the ghost. The veil of the temple was ripped
from top to bottom. Right then, sin's defeat was
sealed. Satan's dominion was finished.
Over. The separation between man and
God was removed. The Holy of Holies, where God's
presence dwelt, separated from the rest of the temple, was that
place where only the high priest could enter into once a year
to do what? To offer sacrifice, an offering
for the sins of the people. When that veil tore that day,
It symbolized the barrier of sin being removed. And by the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ, direct access to God was now
possible for all believers. That's why we can come boldly
into the throne of grace to find mercy and help in the time of
need. end of the old covenant rituals.
Christ's death gave us access to God. Those temporary sacrifices
which pointed to Christ, the ultimate sacrifice, were done
away with. No more need for them. The veil tearing signified that
the Lord Jesus, His sacrifice was final and sufficient, making
those rituals obsolete, Hebrews 9, 11 through 14. And I remind you that the veil
of that temple did not tear by human hands. It was torn from top to bottom,
showing us that this is God's doing. not done by human efforts
and means. Reconciliation with God comes
one way, by God's grace, not by the work of man's hand. How
many times does the Scripture tell us? Not by works of righteousness
that we've done. Not by works lest any man should
boast. Time and time and time again. It's by grace through faith,
not of yourself. The tearing of the veil represents
the removal of the barrier between God and man. The people of God
now have direct access to God. I love the thought of that. That's
why we can in prayer go to the Lord. We don't have to go through
a man. We don't have to go through a
priest. We don't have to go through the preacher. We go directly
into God's throne of grace. Boldly, yet humbly, because of
what Christ has done for us. God is ready to hear and God
is ready to help. Our problem is we don't go and
ask Him for it. That's right. I'm speaking to
me. According to Colossians 2, verses
14 and 15, the Lord Jesus blotted out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to the cross." What were those handwriting
of ordinances? Handwriting means record. Somebody
kept a record. It's a certificate of debt, is
what it means. Like a promissory note at the
bank. You go down to the bank, and
you say, hey, I need $2,000. And they don't just hand you
the money, do they? No, they want some collateral, and they
want you to sign a note. You've got to sign your name.
That's a handwriting of a handwritten ordinance. You sign a piece of
paper acknowledging that you owe. The creditor then has this
handwritten document proving your obligation to pay them back. and don't, and see what happens.
Spiritually speaking, these handwriting of ordinances is God's record
of our sin debt. The word ordinances mean decrees,
statutes, legal requirements. This being God's righteous law,
that's what this is talking about, the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, contrary to us. These handwriting of ordinances
were opposed to us. They accused us, they condemned
us. They were hostile and opposed
to us. And Paul is stressing here the
law's role as a witness against us. When we stand before God
in the courtroom of justice, one of the witnesses against
us as sinners will be the law. The law will stand on that day
and say, never once did He keep one of my statutes, one of my
decrees. Law is like an unmovable wall,
but nothing is unmovable to God. He removed this charge of the
law justly by the Lord Jesus fulfilling the law in our room
and stand. He didn't just sweep it under
the rug. misplace these handwriting of ordinances, he blotted them out. He blotted them out with the
red crimson of His own blood. You know, in times past, debts
were sometimes nailed up publicly to declare that they'd been paid,
and sometimes they were even displayed publicly when they
were unpaid. But here, the charges against
us were displayed on the cross. How do I know that these handwritings
of ordinance against me have been blotted out? Look to the
cross. The Lord says He's nailed it
to the cross. He said they're paid in full,
paid in full. Not as to shame us, but as proof
that Christ bore them. He bore them in His own body
on the tree. You know, I remember, I don't
know that they do it anymore. Of course, the newspaper is not
a very almost non-existent anymore. But I remember when they used
to put your name in the local paper when you hadn't paid your
property taxes. And by such and such a date,
you know. And if you didn't pay them on
time, I don't know if this was their purpose. I don't think
it was necessarily to remind you you hadn't paid them. Most
people knew that they hadn't paid them. But I think they could
have been there to kind of shame you into too paying them. Well,
looky here. Glenn Hansen hadn't paid his
property taxes. I thought Glenn was more responsible
than that. You know what I'm saying. This
is a bit embarrassing. So, if you couldn't pay them
on time, you sure wanted to pay them before your name came out
in the paper. Kind of shamed you into paying them. But these
handwriting of ordinances that the law of God charged against
us, friends, they weren't filed away. They weren't tore up unpaid. They were paid in full by the
Lord Jesus shedding His blood for those who owed them. He satisfies the law's demands
in our room instead. He was publicly displayed as
the payment of them. How do I know that my sins are
paying full? By looking to Christ on the cross.
It's not the cross that's saved. It's the Christ of the cross.
And this was a gift of God to His people. You know, Goliath's
sword was a gift to David. You can't earn this sword. Did
you hear me? You can't earn this sword. You
can only receive it. It's faith's hand that takes
it. Give it to me. Give it to me. And when God does,
we take it. David didn't buy the sword. He
didn't say, Hemelech, I've got a little gold here. I'll give
you that for the sword. It was handed to him. It was freely given to him. Salvation
is not earned. It's received by faith. We don't
forge and make the sword by our own hands. We simply take it
in our hand. The cross is not something that
we build. The victory of the cross is not
something that we achieved. It's the finished work of the
Lord Jesus for us to trust in. It's trusting in the past work
of a present Savior. There's none like it. Lord, give
it to me. The weapon of the enemy becomes
the instrument of deliverance. Now you think about that. Let
me say it again. The weapon of the enemy, what
was Goliath's sword, David's enemy, became the instrument,
his instrument of deliverance. What do I mean by that? Well,
the sword that once threatened David's life was now in his hand
to protect him. And in the same way, the cross,
the instrument intended by Satan for Christ's destruction, became
the believer's very means of salvation. And what the enemy meant for
evil, God turned it to good. That's the way God does things.
He's not the author of evil, but He takes man's evil. And
he turns it and makes it work for his people's good. The sword
of Goliath assured that victory in the past would bring provision
in the present. David faced Goliath with a sling
and a stone and the promise of God. And God delivered. And the
sword of Goliath was a reminder of that. When David looked at
that sword, the first thing that came to his mind was how God
delivered him that day on the battlefield from the giant Goliath. And when we hold God's Word,
when we look to Christ on this battlefield of life, we're reminded
of the same thing. This is the doing of the Lord. The Lord did this. Being confident
of this very thing. What are we confident of? That
He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the
day of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus will never leave
us nor forsake us. There's none like that, is there?
Oh, friends come and friends go. You know, we have good intentions. I'll always be there for you.
How many friends I've had say that, that they're not there
for me now? But He, the Lord Jesus that began a good work
in you, He'll perform it until the end. Until the end. He'll never leave us. He's incomparable. And God's people say, Father
in heaven, give Him to me. Give him to me. If I don't have
him, give him to me right now. David recognized the uniqueness
of the sword in the gospel. Christ himself is the incomparable
weapon and refuge for the believer. There's no other savior. We looked
at that a moment ago. Every other sword is dull compared
to him. Well, the sword of the Spirit
is sharper than any two-edged sword. It's able to divide us
under the bone in the marrow, the soul and the spirit. God's
provision is always found in His presence. He and His Word
are sharper than any two-edged sword. Goliath's sword was kept
behind the ephod in the tabernacle. the place of God's presence.
And the gospel reminds us, friends, that the strength that we need
for our battles, future battles, comes by drawing near to God.
Let us therefore come boldly into the throne of grace. Why? That we may obtain mercy, find
grace, help, and time of need. That's where we find true help.
That's where we find and obtain mercy and grace, in the presence
of God. And when David said, give it
to me, this shows the urgency in our trusting in Christ. The priest said, I've got one
sword. I only got one. It's the sword
of Goliath. David said, there's nothing like
that. That's a special sword. Give it to me. Give it to me
right now. Right now. Urgency. Our desperate need of the gospel
boils down to this. Without the gospel and without
Christ, who is the gospel, there is no hope. Because Christ in
you is the hope of glory. Christ in you and me is the hope
of salvation. We're guilty all of sin to come
short of the glory of God. No exceptions, no excuses. Well, you know, I believe that
if man does the best that he can, God have mercy on him. Well, your best is not good enough.
Because you got to be perfect. and you cannot do that. We cannot
save ourselves. We're powerless. Morality, religion,
good intentions cannot erase our guilt or change our hearts. Jeremiah 13, 23, can the Ethiopian
change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do
good that are accustomed to do evil? No. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to what? His mercy. He saved
us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost. Who does this washing of regeneration? Who does this
renewing? The Holy Ghost. God, the Holy
Spirit. And it's David's response of
give it me that shows us face urgency. This is an urgent, urgent
thing. Oh, I wish we could truly see
it. Even we who love the gospel, even you and I whom this has
been revealed to, we still see it, our need of it through a
glass darkly. We'd act a whole lot different
if we saw it clearly. We still see it darkly and dimly. But this shows the dependence
we have on the giver. David doesn't rely on his own
strength. He depends upon God's provision through the priest. Christ is our high priest. Believers
are given to Christ so they can fulfill his purposes. And Christ
is given to believers to ensure their successes in the purposes
of God. Turn with me one other place
in closing, John 17. I turned you back to 1 Samuel
21 and didn't need to. But look at this. I've thought
about this so many times. John 17, I want you to look at
verse six. And I don't know if you've ever paid
attention to this, probably have. I read over it hundreds of times. and never really paid much attention
to it. But the Lord says here in John
17, verse six, he says, praying to his Lord, his high priestly
prayer, he says, I have manifested thy name unto the men. Now look
at this, which thou gavest me out of the world, thine they
were, and then look what he says, and thou gavest them me. and
they have kept thy word. First, the Lord says, you gave
them to me. You gave me men out of the world,
men and women out of the world. Then he says, thou gave them
me. He does not say, he does not
the second time say, thou gavest them to me. He says, but thou
gavest them me. Well, does that just mean that
that little word, too, didn't get translated? No, it means
more than that. You gave them to me, and you
gave me to them. God hands over sinners to Christ
for redemption, and at the same time, He gives Christ to them
as their Savior. I'm my beloved's, and my beloved's
mine. When David said, give it me,
we see a picture of trust. Trust in who and what God has
provided. We don't obtain salvation by
what we do, but in God giving Christ to us to live in and by
and through Him. David depends on the priest to
hand over the sword. We depend on God to give us Christ,
who is the Word. Dependence on God is essential
in both cases. We depend on God to give us to
Christ and we depend on God to give Christ to us. But isn't
that a beautiful realization and revelation that Jesus Christ
is mine? David receiving Goliath's sword
was an act of faith being given to Christ as an act of grace
by God. David received by asking. We
have not because we ask not. Believers believe by God's deliberate
giving. Lord, give it to me. Give me Christ. Give me revelation. Give me the gospel. Give me strength. Give me understanding. David
didn't request time to think about that. A Himalayan said,
I've got Goliath's sword. That's the only sword I've got. If you can use that. He didn't
say, well, let me think about it. He said, give it to me. Right now, give it to me. He reaches for what He knows
and saves Him. For instance, today is the day
of salvation. Faith sees no alternatives. There are none. David doesn't
ask for another weapon. He knew this was the one. He
said there's none like it. Christ is the only way. He is
the way. There's none like Him. Faith
is personal. Give it me. Give it to me. Not
just to someone, but to me. We often pray for the Lord to
save our loved ones. And we should. We ought to be
praying that the Lord save us. To whom coming, we must come
to Him. I was saved, I'm being saved,
and I shall be saved. Give Him to me. We can't be saved by another's
faith. It's got to be our faith. David
saw this one kind of provision, and he laid hold of it without
delay. Do we see God's one and only
provision? That being the Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, if we do, we must bow to Him without delay and say, there's
none like that. give him the name.