Against our eyes, through Him
who with us sided, When goods and hindrance go, His moral life
also, The body they make new, God's truth of guidance new,
His kingdom is true, OK, open your Bibles now to the
book of 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter 16. The Lord Jesus Christ
one time told His disciples that the Old Testament Scriptures
testified of him. And one time he was preaching
to two of them after he arose from the grave. It says, beginning
at the books of Moses and Psalms and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them the things concerning himself. So these Old Testament
scriptures are stories which are types and pictures and symbols
of the Lord Jesus Christ, His person, His work. All the story, all the persons
and the events surrounding those persons are pictures and types
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why they are in here.
They are not just history lessons of the Jews, There are stories
and pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ that men and women will
know that He is the Christ, God's salvation. The stories especially
concerning the men, the chief men in the scriptures. There
are many men who were prominent men in the scriptures like Abraham,
Joseph. I love the story of Joseph. with
a type of Christ, Moses, even Moses is a picture of Christ,
Joshua certainly, David, Solomon, and on and on. But the one man
whom God most identified his son with was David, King David. That's who the Christ came from. That's whose seed he came from. And he's called in the scripture,
the son of David. That's what the Christ is called. And because so much concerning
David is a picture of Christ, so much concerning him, the events
surrounding him, his calling as king, and on and on it goes. So this story, though it speaks
of David the king, it more clearly really speaks of the king of
kings, the Lord himself. Look at 1 Samuel 16. Who is David? Well, he is God's chosen king.
That is who he is. He wasn't elected king. Kings
aren't elected. Never have been, never will be. Kings are born that way, aren't
they? Kings are not kings because the
people let them be kings. No, that's not it. Not at all. Because the people allow them
to be. That's not it. David, the people
wanted a king back then. God gave him a king, a king that
they wanted, Saul, a big, tall, handsome fellow, good-looking
fellow. He was a monster. He wasn't God's king. God already
had his king. All along, God had in his mind,
his heart, his purpose, his king. He had already chosen who was
to be king of Israel, his people. But the people couldn't wait,
so God gave him a ruler. But verse 1 of 1 Samuel 16, God
sent Samuel to look for this king. And the Lord said unto
Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul? Saul was this wicked
fellow I was telling you about that was king over Israel, a
usurper. And Samuel liked Saul. I don't
know why. But anyway, the Lord said, How
long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from
reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil. Go,
that is, you are going to anoint my king. I will send you to Jesse
the Bethlehemite, a particular place, a particular man. I have
provided me a king among his sons. I have a king, God said. Man has his king, that's who
they wanted, but I have a king. He's been in my mind, my heart.
He's been king from the beginning. He was always meant to be king. And he will be king, though there
is one on the throne right now. He will be king, my king. And
this is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ. There are many who think they're
kings. thought he would be king. He said, I will exalt my throne
to the stars. Christ said, I beheld him fall
from heaven. And man thinks he's a little
king, doesn't he? Thinks he's king here and there.
But God has always had one king. One sovereign. Been in his mind,
his heart from before the foundation of the world. Scripture says, But He's His chosen, His elect.
He'll bring forth judgment to the people. He's God's King.
Scripture says in Psalm 2, He said, though all the world rejects
Him, I've set my King on my holy hill of Zion. He's my King. I made Him King. And you hear
people today talk about make Jesus Lord. God laughs at that. He laughs at that. Nobody makes
his son lord. He made him lord. He made him
king. As I said, you don't elect a
king. You don't allow a king to be king. He allows you to
bow to him. He does the allowing. So God
had his king, which is David, waiting in the wings. And so
it is, God has his king of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. David,
after a while, was despised and rejected of the people. You'd
think the people, when they found out, no, this is God's king,
he's a good king. You'd think they would, even
his own brethren, you know, who knew him, who grew up with him,
could see his character, his beauty. David was a fine man,
from a boy, wasn't he? You'd think his flesh and blood
brethren would see, he's different. He's above us. You'd think his
countrymen, you'd think everybody would see that this is a man
worthy of our submission and respect and worthy of all acceptation. Huh? No, sir. His brethren hated
him. His flesh and blood hated him,
despised him. His oldest brother said, who
do you think you are? David went out to fight for his
people, had a true motive in that. And they said, who do you
think you are? Go back with those sheep. He was a good man. But his brethren
didn't. He was a countryman. And eventually, Saul was after
him. Saul turned the people against
him. And everybody despised and hated him. Except a few. Just a remnant. A remnant of
the people still followed David. Oh, despised and rejected by
the people, but chosen by God and well-pleasing to him. That's
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, go with me now to chapter
22. David is on the run. David is on the run. Chapter
22 with me. I hope the Lord will bless this
to you. David is on the run. He's being pursued by his enemy,
Saul, and the people, everybody. Everybody's against him. He's
on the run. We read that psalm. There's also
another psalm, 57. That speaks a bit. He's in a
cave. Down in chapter 22, verse 1, it says, David therefore departed
thence and escaped to the cave Adullam. Now David for a while was pursued
by Saul and many, but he's going to be exalted. You can write
it down. God said, this is my king. He
told Samuel. It doesn't matter what anybody
thinks or how many people are against him. It doesn't matter
how he looks. Young and don't look on the outward
countenance. You know, you see him that maybe
there's no greatness that you see about him, his outward appearance. That's my king. He's a man after
my own heart. He's the heart of a king. And
though the whole world is against him, and he looks like he's weak,
And nothing is going to come of him. David is going to be
on the throne. You just wait. Soon to be on
the throne. So it is with the Lord Jesus
Christ. He came in weakness. Scripture says he came and made
a little lower than the angels. Subject to the law of God. Subject
to flesh. Made in all points like as we
are. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire
in him. He looked like a common, ordinary Jew. Nothing kingly
about him. Then we see him hounded and pursued
and finally captured and put in prison and tortured and then
finally brutally killed and die. But that is not the end of him.
That is his coronation. They put him in that cave. They
put his body in that cave. But shortly thereafter, he ascended
to the throne. It doesn't matter what men may
say or think, or how many are against him, though the whole
world is. He's on the throne. He's going to be on the throne.
And he is on the throne. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's in
a cave. David is down here in a cave.
We find him in a lowly place. A cave of Adullam. A cave. What is a cave? cleft in the rock, a cave. A cave is a hewn out place in
the rock, a crevice in the rock, a natural formation. Look with
me at Exodus 33. Exodus chapter 33. David is found
in this cave. This is a, and men have, before
they built elaborate housing and so forth, they would quite
often find refuge in a cave. It was of God's making, that
cave. A cave is something which God
himself used out of the rock, a cliff of the rock. Men would
find refuge from storms, from enemies. They would hide in these
caves from their enemies, a refuge. This is what David is doing.
Exodus 33, the Lord God Almighty, Scripture says, is a consuming
fire. Stay with me now. Come on. The
Lord God is a consuming fire. It's not like men are saying
today, He's nothing but love. No, sir. He is love. Glory be
to His name. But He's not first love. He's
first holy and just. He's a consuming fire, the Scripture
says. God cannot be seen God cannot
be beheld in any old place. God cannot be approached any
way. That's why there are so many
religions, people. That's why there are so many denominations.
Everybody does that which is right in his own eyes. That's
what the judges said, doesn't it, John? To begin with, everybody
did that which was right in their own eye. Set up their own little
way of worship. That's why there are so many
denominations and religions all over the world. I am the way. There is one Lord, one faith,
one hope. I am the way. He cannot be approached
any old way. God cannot be approached any
way. He can only be approached one
way. God is only seen. God is only known. God is only
approached through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one mediator
between God and man. The man, Christ Jesus. Not Mary. It's not Saint whoever. It's
not Mohammed. It's not anybody. It's Jesus
Christ. He said, No man cometh unto the
Father but by me. You can't see God and live. He said, No man hath seen God
at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. He has
only seen, known, and approached in Jesus Christ. Look at this
story in Exodus 33. Moses asks the Lord to show him
his glory. Verse 18, he says, Show me your
glory. I beseech thee. The Lord said
in verse 19, I will make all my goodness pass before thee.
I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious. and will show mercy on whom I
will show mercy. He said, Thou canst not see my
face, there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said,
Behold, though, behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt
stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass, while my glory
passeth by, that I will put thee in a A cliff of the rock. A cave. And I'll cover you with my hand
while I pass by. You're going to see my back parts.
You're going to see something of my glory. Not all of it, you
can't do it and live. But some of it. And you're going
to have to be in a cave to do it. A cliff of the rock. What is this speaking of? The
Lord Jesus Christ. Not only is David a picture of
Christ, that cave he was in. was a picture of Christ, in whom
God's glory is seen, in whom we are hidden. When God, who
is a consuming fire, comes by, we will not be consumed if we
are found hidden in Christ the rock. When the waves come, if
we are standing on the rock, Christ will not be swept away
by them. A cave is a hiding place. A man, the scripture says in
prophecy, shall be a hiding place. And all of God's people will
go there to Him, to be hidden. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. We don't approach God in the
old way. We approach Him by faith in Jesus Christ only. God is holy. I'm unholy. God is just. He will by no means
clear the guilty. I'm guilty. How must I approach
Him? You've got to hide me in the
Bible. Hide me, O my Savior, hide. in Christ. That's what salvation means,
to be found in Him, hidden. You see, God's people, their
lives are hid with Christ in God. A cave is also a burial
place, is it not? A cave is a burial place. Back then, they would bury in
tombs. When we come to Christ, we'll
see Him as Christ's crucified burial. buried. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory, saving the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. These men,
when they go back to the text, 1 Samuel 22, these men who came
to David, look at it, verse 1 Samuel 22.1, David departed fence
and escaped to the cave Adullam. And this is not the last time
David is found in this cave and another time. You look it up
for yourself. 2 Samuel. He went back there. What a picture that is of, we
always behold Christ crucified, buried, risen. Verse 1, when
his brethren in all his father's house heard. that has heard David was there,
they went down thither to him. And these men came to David. And when they came to David,
they had to go down in this cave with David. Understand? David is in that
cave. And they've got to go down there in that cave with David. Identified with him. Hidden with
him. That's what the scripture says,
we're crucified with Christ. And what Christ did, he did not
for himself, he did it for us. He was buried, that our sins
might be buried and put away. And we're crucified with him. These men, when they went down
in that cave with Christ, they were cut off from the world.
Right? Down in that cave, they were
cut off from the world, and the world was cut off from them.
What they did when they went down in that cave was tell the
whole world, we want out. We want in. We want out of this
world. We want nothing more to do with
it. We want to abide with Him. This is our King. And let the
whole world go by. We'll just stay right here with
David. Safe and secure from all alarm.
What a picture that is. of how the believer comes to
Christ and renounces the world and is crucified to the world
and the world to him. Who came? Who came to this cave?
Verse 1 says, When his brethren in his father's house heard,
they went down there to him. Who came? It wasn't his enemies. It was his brethren. Who came? Who heard? It's Father's house. They heard and they came. What
does the Scripture say? The Lord says, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. He said, My sheep know my boy.
I know them. They follow me. My brethren.
Christ said, They shall all be taught of the Father. And every
man that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me. God has his elect people. His
chosen people. Brethren to the Lord Jesus Christ.
They hear. They hear. These people heard
where David was and they came to him. Look at it again. It
says, And they went down thither to him. They went down. To get to David, you've got to
come down. He lowered himself, did he not, to abide in a cave? To get to David, they had to
lower themselves. And the Scriptures, It says he
that humbleth himself shall be exalted. We are humbled before
we are exalted. We bow ourselves. We bow down
before we are lifted up. We become broken before we are
restored. We are convicted before we are
comforted. That is why the message is not first a message of love
and peace, peace. There is no peace between the
natural man and God. God is angry with the wicked
every day. Man must be brought down. from his pride. God has
purposed it to stain the pride of all glory. Man glories in
himself. He must be brought down, right?
Man thinks he's a little king. Man actually thinks he lets God
save him. He's doing God a favor. We must
be brought down to see that we're nothing. Brought down. Humbled
before we're exalted. And only the really helpless
need a king. You know that? These people that
came to David We're going to see in a minute why they came
to them. We'll go see what they were feeling,
what they were thinking, why they came to David. Why would
you resort to a king that nobody received that's in a cave? We're
going to see why. And only the really helpless
need such a king. Only buck privates need a real
captain. Did you catch that? Only sinners
need a sovereign Savior. The wise, mighty, and the noble,
they don't need a sovereign. The righteous don't need Christ.
All but sinners do. Now, let's look at them. It tells
us who these fellows were, what they were going through. Verse
2. It says, Everyone, everyone, all of his brethren in his father's
house had heard where David was. They went down to him. To him. To him. And every single one
of them, this is what they were all going through. Stay with
me now. Every single one of them bore
these three marks. Read it. Every one that was in
distress. And every one that was in debt. And every one that was discontented. gathered themselves unto David, and he became a captain over
them. And there were with him about
four hundred men. Relatively few, but his. The king's, let's look at the
king's subject, the captain's crew. I know of at least one
fellow in here it ought to be. The captain's crew. My father one time preached a
message called The King and His Motley Crew. If you were going
to round up a bunch of soldiers, was this the ones you'd have? Could they do you any good? That's
not the whole point. It's the captain that's going
to do them good. He's the one that's going to
be their Savior. He didn't need them. He didn't
ask them to come help Him. They're coming to Him for help. These were a sorry bunch of fellows,
weren't they? Sorry bunch. Everyone, it says. You know,
Scripture says one time that the Lord went into a town and
it says He healed everyone that had need of healing. Every single person that knew
they were bad sick, had a bad disease, and were dying, it's
only one person that could cure them. He healed them all. Oh, this is a faithful saint
and worthy of all acceptation. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. Jesus Christ is going to save
every sinner. Yes, sir. Everyone who's in distress and
in debt and discontented, they have a captain. He healed all
them that had need of healing. Every one. Oh, I love Psalm 65
forward. It says, Blessed is the man whom
thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee. And this is how God
Almighty brings every single person to Jesus Christ. Not that
they have need with We're going to see it's not just financial
help. It's not just like a change of venue and this
and that. Not temporal troubles. That's
not it. Everybody has that. And preachers
offer people a happy life if they just accept Jesus. That's
not how you come to Christ. That's not how God brings people
to Christ. But everyone who He brings bears
His mark. Everyone. Alright, let's look
at it. It says, everyone in distress
came to David. Everyone in distress. The scribes
and the Pharisees and the hypocrites would come to Christ because
they were religious. They were interested. He said
some interesting things. They liked to hear him preach.
They didn't need him. They didn't come to him. by faith. They liked to argue, didn't they? They wanted to catch him at his
words. They wanted to prove him. I'll believe that if you can
prove it. Show us a sign and we'll believe. He didn't commit
himself to them. They didn't come to him, did
they? They were just curiosity seekers. They thought there was
some goodness in them. They thought that they were moral.
They thought God was well pleased with them. They thought they'd
done this and done that for God, so surely God would. We don't
need this man to get us there. We'll get there ourselves, thank
you. We don't need all this talk of His righteousness. We don't
need that. We be not sinners, then you be
not His. You be not Christ's. But this is for those who despair
of themselves, those in distress over themselves. God brings every
single person who comes to Christ in distress over themselves,
in absolute despair of any goodness in themselves. Uh-huh. I mean, He brings you down to
see that I'm a nothing, that why would God love me? Why God
doesn't need me? I've never done any good. In
my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I can't think of a good thought.
I can't do a good deed. I never have, never will. But
if anybody gets to heaven by their works, it sure won't be
me. He brings them to despair over
themselves and distress over themselves. Uh-huh. That's what
conviction of sin is. It's not conviction over circumstances. the conviction of what we are
before a holy God. He brings them into distress
over themselves, their sinful condition, in despair of any
goodness in themselves, in despair of any hope. I've talked to you. I've talked to various ones of
you that tell me, oh, I just don't know. I believe this. I don't think I'm going to make
it. That means you need somebody
to get you there, don't you? That's what it means to come
to Christ. You're in distress over your own condition. And
you need somebody. You need a captain. You're weak,
in distress. The word distress. Have you ever
been in distress? Ships out to sea that are foundering. Ships out to sea that are about
to sink. are in distress. Barnard used to say that, you
know, this whole American society, and everybody say that nobody's
been lost. You don't see people in these
meetings come running down, you know, weeping and crying over
their sinfulness. No, no, no. They've got marital
problems. They've got this problem, that
problem. This is all. He shall save his people from
their sins, the Scriptures say. You ever been in distress? Worried. When you're in distress, you're
worried, aren't you? Distress. Being worried, afraid. To be in distress means you're
afraid of something. Huh? The fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom. But there's no fear of God before
the eyes of this generation. Why should they? He loves them
and Jesus died for them. Now everyone whom God brings
to Christ, He brings them into this state of fear before Him.
That's the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy is
understanding, the Scripture says. He brings them into distress. Afraid. Yeah, afraid of God. I'm afraid God's not going to
have anything to do with me. I'm afraid God's going to condemn
me. That's what it means. Afraid of the enemy. Afraid of
going down. The word distress, I looked it
up here in this text. The word distress means in a
narrow place. That is hemmed up. Cornered. Heimed up in a corner, heimed
in, shut up, confined, trapped. You know, God Almighty, this
gospel entraps His people, encircles them. Paul, you know, riding
his high horse thinking he was somebody from somewhere and going
to do something for God and all. He didn't even know God. Religious
all those years. Didn't even know God. Zealous
for God. Didn't even know God. riding his high horse through
one day, and the Lord, he says, a light shone round about him. It circled him, got him off his
high horse, put him in the dust on his face, and it said, Now
you know whose Lord he is. You don't do anything for me,
and I must do everything for you. The gospel is called a net that
encircles. The net, the gospel is not The
gospel is not like modern fishing techniques. We use lures, artificial,
fake, to entice the fish and try to get them to swallow something.
That's modern preaching for you. If they don't take that, try
something else. And people swallow whatever hook, line, and sinker,
whatever tastes good to them, whatever tricks on them. The
gospel is called a net. Christ said the gospel is a net.
Fish don't do anything when a net gets around them. They're passive. They're swimming along minding
their own business. They don't want to be captured. Oh, but
if the great fisherman throws that net over and circles them,
then what happens? What do you think happens to
a fish when he's caught? He's in distress. Caught, hemmed
up, trapped. Distressed. These fellows were
in distress, these men. You know, formerly these fellows
were forced to work for King Saul. They were forced subjects,
willing yet forced subjects of King Saul. King Saul was an evil
king. You read the story, he exacted
hard things upon the people, tough on the people. And so they
were just in distress over who they had been serving. Are you
hearing that? They were in distress over who
they had been serving all this time. For a while, they thought
everything was all right. But then God brought them to
the point to see that you are serving a wicked man. You are
going down with him. So God brought them into distress
over their present state. The imminent danger that they
were in if they didn't bow to his true King. Do you hear that? Do you follow that? They ran
to David. Verse 2 says, Those that were
in debt. Everyone that was in debt. Everyone that was in debt. I'm
not talking about people that had a little money in the bank
and they were making payments. that they were getting along.
They were living from check to check, but they were getting
by. No, no, no, no, no. These were fellows who were about
to go into debtor's prison. Back in the old days, if you
started incurring debt and couldn't pay for it, they'd throw you
in jail and lock it up and not let you loose until the debt
was paid. And most of the time, your wife
or whoever, they couldn't pay it either. So you stayed there
and rotted and died in debtor's prison. That's a good picture. Those that are in debt. See,
Saul was a cruel taskmaster, as I said. He exacted heavy labor
and taxes on the people from everybody. Heavy debts. They
incurred heavy debts to him that they could not pay. Scripture
says the way of the transgressor's heart. It exacts a great toll
on human beings. Heavy toll. It renders all of
us deep in poverty, spiritual poverty. In our sinful lives
we have lived many years, and we have incurred a heavy debt
to God's law. This is not just theological,
but God's law demands that we keep his law. God's law and God's
justice says, Thou shalt have no other. Well, all our lives
we have had other gods. God's law says, Thou shalt not
covet. That's all we do. God's law says
that. So we keep running up the things that are against us, the
crimes against us, to God's law and justice. We become, you know,
according to a man's crime is how many years he serves, right? That's how many years he serves.
And we start building up years. It's against a holy God, infinite
God. And our sins are infinite. And
we've got a debt. We're deep in debt. We can't
pay it. We incur great debts to God's beneficence. God Almighty has
been good. You read the article in the Bulletin,
God is good to all. God gives, God gives, God gives.
What does he require of man? just to thank him for, to acknowledge
him for, to worship him. That's what he required. And
we incur great debts of love. We ought to love God. But nobody
does, as they should. We ought to be thankful to God.
We ought to be in gratitude to God. We ought to serve God. It's
our reasonable service, isn't it? A reasonable service to serve
him. And these are debts that we build
up we cannot pay. Sin debts. The crimes against
us keep building up. How are we going to pay for them?
These men that came to David, they were in such deep debt that
they didn't see any way out. They were over their heads in
debt. You've been there. Maybe you are now. What if somebody,
there was somebody that could actually pay it off? Pay it off. Only one. He'd run to him, wouldn't he?
We sing the song, Jesus paid it off. All the debt to law and justice in thirty-three
years, it took him that long. That's how deep it was, the debt,
but he paid it. He worked thirty-three years.
Old Jacob worked seven years for Rachel and then worked seven
more. It was a long time to have a
bride. The Lord worked thirty-three years before that to pay it all. All the debt I owed. Sin had
left the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. All
who came to David. Listen to this. This was good
news to them. All who came to David, deep in
debt, who were broke, were penniless. They couldn't do anything for
David. Preachers everywhere asking people
to do something for God. There was a so-called church
out near the lake that they were building a building and a sign
out front said, Bricklayers, God needs your help. In other
words, they didn't have the money and they were asking people to
donate their labor. And it said, Bricklayers, God
needs your help. He who laid the foundation of
the world, he who laid a rock in a sure place, that chief cornerstone,
Christ's chief, needs our help. That's blasphemy to the highest
end. God needs your help. He said
in Psalm 50, he said, If I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you.
He said, The tail of a thousand hills are mine. He said, If I
needed money, I wouldn't tell you. God doesn't need our money. I want you to send your money
and do the Lord's work." He said, all the gold and the silver and
all the mines is mine. What kind of God do people have
anyway? The ones that came to David were
in debts. They were in debts. They didn't have anything to
contribute to David's cause. They were broke. These are the
only people who are going to come to the Lord Jesus Christ,
dead, broke, penniless paupers, beggars to a king for a handout. Away with this nonsense today.
Huh? This gospel is for people that
have nothing, are nothing, can't do nothing, can't think anything,
can't get anywhere, can't do anything. Help me, king, captain,
captain! I'm broke, I'm helpless, I'm
in distress. Would you help me? It's for lost people who need
a Savior. It's for sinners who need a righteousness.
It's for guilty death row inmates who need a reprieve that only
the governor can give himself. The helpless who have one hope. God doesn't help those who help
themselves. He helps the helpless. Indebted. That's what it means
to be indebted. In debt to God, a debt you can't
pay, debt to his law, sin, piled high, and you'll never by any
lifetime of penance do away with it. But you come to Christ with
a word, and you can say, freely forgiven. Oh, every one of them
came to David. You know what David said to every
one of them? Every one of them came to him.
And you know what he said? First thing I'm going to do is
whip out all debts. Everybody here doesn't owe a
dime from here on out. And when I ascend the throne,
everything I have is yours. This was too good to be true
for them. But David, I know you haven't done a thing, and you,
yes. But David, God's king, I'm going to sit on the throne. You
know these sorry bunch of fellows, if you read the whole story,
these sorry bunch of fellows, Kelly, they became captains themselves. You read it later on, David's
mighty men, captains. They didn't start out like mighty
men. And none started out like mighty men. They were on the
run. for their lives. Look at the
last thing, it says, and everyone that was discontented, everyone
that was discontented. Have you ever been discontented
and didn't know what you were discontented about? You had everything
to be content with, but you're not. I believe, I'm sure that's
why God doesn't give human beings any contentment. No matter how
much things they have, they just can't find peace and contentment.
Can't do it. No matter if they're a billionaire
and they want another one, another billionaire. There's no peace,
God said to the weak. Nobody's going to find any contentment
but in one place. If you get to that place, you
can not have a dime and be content. Paul was in prison, had nothing
and nobody said, I'm content. Why? These men were unhappy. They
were unhappy. That's what it means to be discontented. They were not content with themselves. You read the quote by John Calvin
in the bulletin? I don't write these bulletins
because I enjoy doing it. I'd rather not. Anything I'd
rather do than write this bulletin. He says, men imagine they're
complete in themselves. They're just real content with
themselves, but only because they swell with waste matter.
Or when? They're full of it. John Calvin,
the great theologian, back then said, in plain language, they're
full of it. They're so content with themselves
because they're just full of it. I had to put that to him. People are so content with themselves, but God brings
his people, his brethren, his Father's house, to be totally
discontented with themselves, unhappy with themselves, unhappy
with the world. These men were discontented with
the world they were living in. They were discontented under
Saul. They were discontented with everything. They were not
happy in their service to Saul or anything.
When the Lord, when the God, Lord God, when the Spirit of
God begins to deal with every one of His people, He makes,
He brings them to this point. He makes them to be discontented. And oh, they don't know at the
time what it is that they're unhappy about. And we always
use your dad as an illustration of this, but it's a good one.
Her dad, my father-in-law, was a well-to-do man, had a lot of
this world's goods, and was a noted man in a large so-called church
there in Ashland. a well-respected man in the community
and all that, a leading member of that so-called church. But
for some reason, one day, he and his wife do their Christian
duty, go to church and bring their kids all dressed up. And
after a while, he became discontented with what he was hearing. And
he went to the preacher. And this was his words to the
preacher. He said, I don't know what I'm
not hearing, but I'm not hearing it. He said, I don't know what it is,
but I'm not satisfied. I'm not happy. Now since Ed,
that's my father-in-law's name, Ed was one of the largest givers
in the church. He was a hardworking man. He
earned a lot of money and he gave. He was a generous man.
And he was one of the biggest givers in the congregation. This
alarmed the preacher greatly. He said, Oh, Ed, oh. He actually
said, Come back next Sunday and I'll do better. That's what a
hireling says, doesn't it? He did. He said that. Ed said,
I don't know what I'm not hearing, but I'm not hearing. He said,
I need to hear something. Hell's fire, damnation. I need
to hear something. I don't know what it is. He made him discontent. You see
that? Discontent. And this is what God does for
every single one that he reveals the truth to. He makes them discontent
with this crap that's called modern religion, that there's
nothing to be found in it. It leaves you empty, discontent,
unhappy. All this stuff going on, all
this stuff that's supposed to do things for people, and bless
God, if he It makes a person discontent. It's a great blessing.
You know what? It makes them real unhappy with
this mess. This is a mess of religion. Empty, needy, discontent, unsure
of oneself, discontent. And it says, and I quit, it says,
and David, they gathered themselves unto him. Every one of them,
they came to him. People all the time, I'm looking
for a church, I'm looking for a church. Well, you'll find there's
one on every corner. But if somebody says, I'm looking
for the truth, I want to know the true God, I want to know
the true Christ, I need true salvation. You come to a person,
you don't come to a religion. You come to a person, that's
who you'll find. You come to a person, you'll
hear the gospel of a person. That's all you'll hear. That's
all you'll need from then on out. You won't need religious
entertainment. You'll need to hear of him. Him. They came to him. They gathered
under him, and he became a captain over there. Now, this used to mean more than
it does now. I ain't kidding about anybody. No, no, I'm just
kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding
old Lee here. He's a captain. No, they don't
give anybody. They're a few good men. They
make a few good men. Well, in this case, God made
one good man, the captain. But what I'm trying to say is,
while you're turning to Hebrews 2, I'm going to quote this in
closing. Hebrews 2, God made Christ the captain of
his people, like David. When you come to Christ as a
captain, a captain used to be, now in the old days, where's
Darnell, there you are, we studied Civil War, you a lot, me a little. And you see, I'm from Kentucky,
they weren't even interested when it was being fought. But
a captain back then, now he didn't stand back in the back when the
fight was going on. He wasn't back there, you know,
tending to the horses. He was up front. He led the charge. In other words, when he was heading
out toward the enemy, he was in front. He's the leader. He's the courageous one. He's
the strong one. He's going to take the first
bullet. General Lee was not the hero.
He sat back there in the back. No bullets could touch him. We'd
make a hero out of him, don't we? While he ordered thousands
upon thousands of people to the brutal slaughter. It's funny,
isn't it, how men make heroes out of fellas like that? I'll
tell you who the hero was. A fella up on the front line. A fella holding the standard,
holding the flag. Couldn't even bear a gun, but
he's holding the standard. But the captain back in the old
days, the captain of the cavalry, the captain of the infantry,
he led the charge. The captain of a ship back in
old naval times, sailing days. But he stood at the helm if everybody
else jumped ship. If the ship's going down, the
whole ship's going down, everybody's diving for sake, he's not leaving. He's going to go down with the
ship. That's his ship, the captain. See, when you come to Christ,
you're not coming to a weak, helpless, somebody that needs
you, that you can do something for, that you can add to his
cause. You're coming to a captain. You're
scared to death. Buck Privates who have had no
experience, scared to death. There's just captains who've
been through battle after battle. That's the man he wants to be
with, hiding behind him, leading the charge. Captain, you come
to Christ for your help. You come to Christ for everything.
Christ is all and in all to all of his people. Look at Hebrews
chapter 2. It says this. It became him.
Verse 9, Hebrews 2. We see him made a little lower
than the angels, like David in a cave. Why? For the suffering
of death, Christ crucified. But now, where is he now? Crowned
with glory and honor. Verse 10, And it became him for
whom are all things, by whom are all things. What a declaration
of the truth here this is. The salvations of the Lord. Huh?
This right here. For whom are all things. He did
it for his glory. By whom are all things. It's
all by him. He does it all. In bringing many
sons to glory. Who brings whom? Who saves whom? To make the captain of their
salvation perfect through suffering. Christ is the captain of his
people. He's never lost a war. What kind
of captain would you follow? Let me ask you. A captain who loses most of his troops. He really doesn't have a plan. He wants to win. He's not sure
if he can or not. But if y'all will help me, we'll
get through this. Or a fellow says, boys, we're
taking the hill. I mean, I'm taking the hill.
You can come with me or not. I'm taking the hill. And he's
done it before. And never lost a troop, never
lost one soldier. Would you follow him? Woo! With
confidence. Let's go! You resort to a man
like that. That's the only Lord that people
call on. How shall they call on Him that
they do not believe? That's the only one they'll call on for
salvation. A true captain of salvation. He who can actually
do the job. And does it. And leads all his
people to safety. Alright, what number? 231? 201.
Stand as we sing first and last verses of
number 201. Stand with me. 201. Tis the grandest thing through
the ages from, Tis the grandest thing for a mortal tongue, Tis
the grandest thing that the world has sung, Our God is able to
deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Lo, by sin oppressed, come to
Him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. Tis the grandest thing, let the
tidings flow, to the guilty heart, to the sinful soul. Look to God
in faith, He will make thee whole. Our God is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Filled by sin, O friend, approach
Him through Christ our God is able to deliver thee.