Jorge asked me if we would remember
his brother Ernesto. Ernesto had to go in for emergency
open heart surgery. Tom, you can relate to that.
And he's having some complications right now. So let's bow together
and pray for Ernesto, our Heavenly Father. We ask that you would give the
physicians the knowledge that they need to treat Jorge's brother. Lord, that you would enable him
to recover. She might give Jorge and Janelle
an opportunity to share Christ with him. Lord, that you might
be pleased to use this time to cause him to understand the brevity
of life and the truth of eternity and show him his need
for Christ. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. I don't want to call any more attention to myself
than has already been done. And I hate what happens because
it is a distraction, I know, to our worship. But I do want
to say that I don't have any major health
problems that I know of. I've been tested from head to
toe many times. These experiences that I have
that you just observed started when I was probably about 14. I get lightheaded every day.
Every day. I'm sure it has something to
do with the empty spaces between my ears, but it is an experience
that I have daily. I know when it's coming, as soon
as I feel it, I sit down and it quickly goes away and I go
on about my business. I don't have any problems. When
I have a problem is if I don't sit down right away. And so the
only time that it turns into something more serious is when
I'm up here and I think I can push through it, and I don't. And then that happens. So I just want you to know that
I have low blood pressure, but other than that, and the empty
spaces, as I said, between my ears, I think everything else
is okay. Thank you for your concern, for
your love, and I'm sorry for the distraction. Please open your Bibles with
me to 2 Samuel chapter 23. Noah did make me promise that
I would preach sitting down. It feels strange, but I'm not I promise I'll sit down
before I fall down next time All right Second Samuel chapter 23 If you'll notice with me in verse
13 and 3 of the 30 chiefs went down and
came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam." Adullam translated means justice
for the people. I've titled this message, Justified. Justified. It is the time of
harvest, and how hopeful we are that this will be the time of
harvest now, and that we will meet with the son of David in
the cave of Adullam, and that we will find in him our justification
before God. The word justified in the Bible
appears many times, and it's really the same word as the word
righteousness. It describes one's ability to
stand before God's holy law and have no claims against us by
that law. We've heard people define justified
as just if I'd never sinned. But it's much more than that. If I'm justified in the sight
of God, then I've never sinned. The law of God, which sees everything,
cannot find anything in me that violates that law in any way. And the only hope that I have
to be able to stand in the presence of a holy God is to be justified.
I must be justified. If God's all-seeing law finds
one infraction in my heart or in my life, then I'll be condemned. I'll be judged guilty, and I'll be sent to hell. To be justified means that the
law can find no fault with me. It's gone. It's been put away. It's remembered no more. Now, God can't put away my sin
and justify me without satisfying his justice. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the
son of David, went into the cave of Adullam in order to be able to justify
us. He bore all the sins of all of
his people in his body upon the tree, and he satisfied by the
sacrifice of himself what God required for justice to be met. And so to be justified before
God means that I must be found in him. I must be found in Christ. not having my own righteousness,
which is by the law, but that righteousness which is by the
faith and the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I must
be justified by him. The resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ is the proof that he justified those for whom he
died. The scripture says that he was
offered up for our offenses, that's his death on the cross.
And he was raised again because of our justification. The cave or the grave in which
he was buried could not hold him any more than the belly of
the whale could hold Jonah. When the declaration was made,
salvation is of the Lord. The Lord has accomplished the
salvation of his people. Then the whale had no choice
but to vomit up Jonah onto dry ground. And so the cave of God's justice
was forced to open. And the Lord Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead because God was satisfied. Justice was
met. And all those for whom he died
stand without sin in the presence of a holy God. This is our boldness
in the day of judgment, that as he is, so are we. in this world and before him
justified. Justified. Turn with me, if you will, to
the book of Titus. Titus. Chapter three. Titus chapter 3. Look with me at verse 5. Not, and we could preface this
verse by saying, we are justified, we are justified before God,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, But according
to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and
the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Justified by his grace. We did not do anything to merit
our justification. The Lord Jesus Christ did it
all, and he did it all by himself. We left ourselves, or like that
publican who went into the temple with the Pharisee to pray. And
the Pharisee prayed thus unto himself. I love the way the Lord
phrases that. Father, I thank thee that I'm
not like other men. For I fast twice a week, and
I tithe, and I do this and that. trusting his righteousness for
the hope of his salvation, presenting to God the good things that he's
done. The publican, on the other hand, would not so much as even
look up, but smote himself upon the breast and cried, Father,
forgive me, the sinner, the sinner. I have no claim on God. I have
no reason to argue my case or to present my righteousness before
God that I might be justified. And the Lord concluded that parable
with a rhetorical question. He said, which one of these men
went down to his house justified? Justified. The one who sought
to justify himself or the one who could find nothing in himself
that would merit him justification and cried for mercy. Yes, he
is the one who went down to his house justified. is found in the cave of Adullam. Justice for the people. In order for justice to be served,
in order for us to be justified, justice had to be satisfied.
I will in no wise I will in no wise forgive the guilty. I can't put away sin without
a proper sacrifice. And the only sacrifice that God's
pleased with is that one that Christ made. So what is it to
be saved? It's very simple. I'm looking
in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for all of my righteousness,
all of my justification before God. I'm looking to his shed
blood. I'm looking to his perfect obedience. I'm not looking to anything else. I've got no place else to go.
I'm in shut up to Christ. What a
wonderful place to be. What a blessed place to be. David is an old man. We've been
following the life of David for a couple of years now through
1 and 2 Samuel. And for those of you that have
been with us through that journey, you remember in 1 Samuel, chapter
22, David is in the cave of Adullam. And he's hiding out in that cave. from Saul. Saul, in his jealous
rage, is pursuing David, and David hides out in the cave of
Adullam. And these same men that are mentioned
here, the mighty men of David, are first introduced in 1 Samuel
chapter 22. They've been with him for many
years now. David was a young man back then.
Now he's an old man. And these warriors have been
with him throughout all the battles that David has fought and all
the victories that he has achieved. And when they first came to David
in 1 Samuel chapter 22, let's just turn there because I want
you to look at this verse. 1 Samuel chapter 22. Verse 1, David therefore departed
thence and escaped to the cave, Adulam, justice for my people. And when his brethren and all
his family's house heard it, they went down thither to him. And everyone that was in distress, and everyone that was in debt,
and everyone that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him,
and he became a captain over them. And there were with him
about 400 men." This was David's mighty men.
This is the beginning of his army. And this is a description
of those who meet the son of David at the bar of God's justice
and find themselves to be justified in Christ. Three words describe
David's mighty men, his army, his followers, those who have
bowed to him as their captain. Number one, they're in distress.
Number two, they're in debt. And number three, they're discontented. Distress over what? Distress
over sin. Lord, I'm a sinner and I can't
do anything about it. In debt? Yes, I owe God a debt
that I cannot pay. God demands death for sin. And I can't pay that penalty. An eternity in hell would not
satisfy the justice of God. That would not be sufficient.
There's no way that I can pay the debt for my sin. And discontented? I'm discontented
with the attempts that I've made to atone for my sins and to make
myself right with God. Every effort that I make to try
to achieve some level of righteousness that will be acceptable to God
leaves me wanting. It leaves me discontent. Does
that describe you? Does that describe you? I'm in
distress, I'm in debt, and I'm discontent. I've got to flee to the cave
of Adullam. It's the only hope that I have
to be justified. Now, back to our text in 2 Samuel
chapter 23. I didn't read all of that verse
13. Let's read it again. And three of the 30 chiefs went
down and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of
Adullam. And the troop of the Philistines
pitched in the valley of Rephidim." Now, Rephidim translated means
giant. Do you remember when David first
fought against the Philistines and one was a giant? Yeah. It was even before he gathered
together his mighty men in the cave of Adullon that we just
read about in 1 Samuel 22, it was before that. It was when
David was but a very young man, a lad. And the Philistines were
amassed in an army against the army of Israel. And Saul and
David's brothers were there. And a giant, a raffidim, came
out into the valley. His name was Goliath. And he offered to the children
of Israel a condition for battle. You send out one representative. And we'll fight, just the two
of us. And whoever wins will win for the entire army. And the others will be the losers
and subject to the winners. And you know the story. Goliath came out and he was so
incensed. that Saul had sent out but a
boy with, as he said, staves and stones. You're going to fight
against me? David said, I'm coming against
you in the name of the God of Israel. David in that story is
not a picture of our bravery. as is often taught in religion
to young boys, you know, be like David and go up against your
giants. David in that story is a picture
of Christ. And he kills the giant with one
sling of the stone. And the Philistines are set to
flee. And the children of Israel defeat
them soundly. And David gets the glory and
he won the victory over the Philistines for the whole army. And so when the Lord Jesus Christ
went to Calvary's cross And he bowed his mighty head and he
cried, it is finished. He got the victory. He got the
victory for his church, for all Israel. And yet there's something very
interesting about this story. Many, many years, David's in
his 70s now in 2 Samuel chapter 23. So it's been 50-something years
since David went up against Goliath, and he's still fighting the Philistines. He's been battling these Philistines
his whole life. Who are the Philistines? The name Philistine means immigrant. They were foreigners that had
invaded the land of Palestine. They came from the island of
Crete. Now, if we go to the book of
Titus, Paul planted a church in Crete and left Titus there
to pastor that church. And when Paul writes the book
of Titus, to encourage him in his ministries there in Crete. Paul says this about the Cretans. He says, they are liars, evil
beast, and slow of belly. The belly is the picture of the
flesh. They're liars, they're evil beast, and they're slow
of belly. And he goes on to say, rebuke
them sharply. These are the Philistines. David's
been fighting these Philistines all his life. From the time he defeated Goliath,
he's still in Rephidim, he's still fighting giants, and he's
still in the cave of Adullam. Is this not the believer's life? from the time that we're converted, from the time that the Lord Jesus
Christ reveals himself as the son of David who defeated the
enemy at Calvary's cross, from the time in which God gives us
a new nature, do we still not have? You know, before we were
converted, we considered We considered Christ to be a stranger and an
immigrant and an unwanted visitor. And now after conversion, we
consider our old man to be that immigrant, that unwanted liar,
that one who is an evil beast and slow belly. And we've been
fighting him all our life. These Philistines were criminals
who lived off the spoil of the ruthless raids of God's people. They were barbarians. There was no saving quality about
them. And yet, they had not yet been
defeated. Child of God, the hope that you have is that
you are justified before God, that in the sight of God you
have no sin, that you're found in Christ perfect in the sight
of God. That's your hope. That's your
hope. That's how you're able to come
to the throne of grace with boldness. You come in your substitute. You come in your savior. You
come in your sin bearer. You come in your surety, the
one who's satisfied everything that God requires in order for
you to stand in the presence of a holy God. And yet you continually you continually
lament as to why you are so self-absorbed. Why am I still so afraid? Why am I so quick to find rest
in my circumstances, and why am I so slow to come to Christ? Why is my heart so cold? Why
am I so full of unbelief? Why do I find true prayer and
true worship to be so difficult? Why is it that I can give better
attention to worldly entertainments than I can to the need of prayer and worship
and studying of God's word. Why am I thus? You cry with your
sister, Rebecca, saying, Lord, why am I this way? And what does
the Lord say? Because there's two nations in
you. Now that you have this new heart, now that you've been made
perfect in Christ, You're still fighting the Philistines, David. Why do I ever doubt God? Why am I? so quick to set my
affections on the things of the earth rather than on things above.
Why is it that I hold other people to a higher standard than I hold
myself? Why am I so proud and self-righteous
and impatient and judgmental? Why am I this way? All my life, until we shed this
flesh, We're going to be fighting the Philistines. And the older you get, the more
you're going to see how slow of belly, how evil beast, and
what a liar that immigrant is. He's an unwelcome visitor. He's an unwelcome visitor. Yeah,
he's always there. The Lord told Rebecca when she
asked, why am I thus? And he said, because there's
two nations in you, speaking of Jacob and Esau, and two manner of people. Two different types of people
that are in you. Jacob, yes, a supplanter by nature,
but the new man, the new man. And Esau, the man of the earth. Esau was born first, a picture
of how we come into this world, born of the flesh, natural birth comes first and
our spiritual birth comes later. But the Lord said to Rebecca,
the young, the older, the older Esau will serve the younger. That was an opposite way. The younger was always to serve
the older. The older was the one in charge,
but no, the older, that old man, is going to serve the younger. In other words, every single
time, every single time that we are reminded by God's Spirit
that we are in debt, that we're discontented, that we're in distress, He drives us back to Christ,
drives us back to the cave of Adullam, drives us back to see
who we are and what we are in Christ Jesus for all our hope.
Oh, we loathe our sin and we long to be free from it altogether,
and the only way that we can find any hope against our sin
in this world. And the only restraint that we
can find from our sin manifesting itself in outward behavior is
to believe what God has said about being justified. This is
my hope. This is all my salvation. David
said, though my house, the tabernacle of this flesh, be not so with
God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant. That
covenant's ordered in all things. That covenant is sure. Christ
has done it all. This is all my salvation, all
my desire. yourselves to be dead indeed
unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ. Sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you're not under the law, you're
under grace. The only thing that restrains
sin, and it doesn't change the nature of that old man, he's
just as sinful as he's ever been, but the only thing that restrains
that sinful nature from manifesting itself outwardly is grace. The law won't, the law, the strength
of sin is the law. If I try to restrain my old man
with the law, with the dos and don'ts of the law, all it's gonna
do is aggravate my sin. It's gonna make it worse. But when God's grace, and we
read that in Titus, By His grace, we are justified. By His grace,
we find our hope and all of our salvation in Christ. How is it that I'm going to be
justified? Well, let's go back to our text. There's a beautiful story here
about these men that David had. In verse 14, and David was with
them in a hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in
Bethlehem. Bethlehem, the city of David,
the birthplace of the Lord Jesus Christ, translated means The
city of bread, this is where I get my life. And the three mighty men, so
I'm sorry, verse 15, and David longed and said, oh, that one
would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which
is by the gate. And the three mighty men break
through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well
of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought
it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink
thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it
far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Is not this the blood
of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore, he
would not drink it. These things did these three
mighty men." Now, John chapter 7, on that great day of the feast,
the Feast of Tabernacles, when the water offering was being
poured out and there was great silence in the tabernacle, in
the temple, The Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice and said, if
any man thirst, let him come unto me. Let him come unto me
and out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. We can't
think about this well in Bethlehem without thinking about John chapter
four and what the Lord Jesus said to that woman at the well.
When he said, if you knew who it was that said unto you, give
me to drink, you would ask of him and he would give you living
water. And she finally said, Lord, give me this
water. Give me this water that I need
not come here and draw from this well anymore. The Lord identified himself.
as that well. The water that I shall give you
shall be a well of everlasting life." This well at the city of Bethlehem
where the bread of life is found is a picture of Christ. And the only way that David is
going to survive in the cave of Adullam is by the water of
life that comes from, but somebody else had to go get it for him. Somebody else had to bring it
to him. Isaiah chapter 12, verse three
says, with joy, with joy, draw water out of the well of salvation. The Lord Jesus himself is that
well of salvation. And with joy, we draw water from
that well. But who's gonna bring us that
water? David couldn't leave the cave. David had to have someone else
bring it to him. Go back with me, if you will,
to verse 8. Now, there are 30 men named in chapter 23 of the
mighty men of David. There were 37 in all, but 30
of them are named here in this chapter. But out of those 30,
there are three that break through the garrison of the Philistines
and go into the house of bread and bring David the living water
of life. And he's going to be justified
in the cave of Adullam. But out of those 30, there are
three that are named here, beginning in verse 8. These be the names of the mighty
men whom David had, the Techmanite, which sat in the seat. This was
the chief over all the mighty men of David. This was the commander.
This was the one who had the highest place of honor and the
highest rank. chief among the captains. The
same was Adino, the Esnite, and he lifted up his spear against
800 whom he slew at one time. Now God had given these mighty
men of David supernatural strength. They had, well, Adino, he defeated
800 Philistines by himself. with his own spear. Who do these men represent? All this story is a gospel story,
we know that. And verse nine, and after him
was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the Ahodahite, one of the three
mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were
there, gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone
away. He rose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary and
his hand clave to the sword. And the Lord brought a great
victory that day and the people returned after him only to spoil."
So this second of David's mighty men defeated the Philistines
with a sword and became so dehydrated that he could not turn loose
of the sword until he, until he, his hand was so cramped it
was cleaved to the sword until he got the victory and the rest
of the people came in and just gathered up the spoils that he
had won. And after him was Shemna, the
son of Agee, a Heroite, The Philistines were gathered together into a
troop and there was a piece of ground of lentils and the people
fled from the Philistines. So these Philistines had taken
over this plot of land where the food was for the children
of Israel and Shemna went in and defeated the
Philistines and enabled the people to get access to the food. So
one of them defeats 800 Philistines. The other one takes his sword
and destroys the whole garrison of Philistines. The third one
delivers the food. Now these are the three men that
when they hear David say, oh, that I had some water from the
well that is at the gate of Bethlehem, these are the three men that
went to Bethlehem where all the Philistines were gathered together
and broke through and brought David water. Verse 12, and he stood in the
midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Philistines and
the Lord wrought a great victory. I'm sure that we could see Christ
himself in these three mighty men. And I want us to look at
these three men as a picture of the Lord Jesus bringing to
us the water of life through the person of the Holy Spirit. A dino the first, the chief of
the mighty men. His name translated means ornament,
ornament. And surely the Lord Jesus sent
his Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to be an ornament to
his glory. It is the spirit of God that
brings the message of the gospel to our hearts and reveals to
us the beauty and the glory and the perfection of Christ. He does not draw attention to
himself. He always points to the Lord Jesus. We need the spirit of God to
go into the bread of life, the scriptures, and to bring to us
the water of life from the well while we wait in the cave of
a doodle trusting in the justice of God accomplished by Christ
for all of our salvation. A dino defeated, he killed 800 Philistines. And how it is that we need, you
know, the scripture says that the word of God, and I remind
us again that we never separate the written word from the living
word. The word of God is a two-edged sword. It has to kill before
it can make a life. And so here we find a dino putting
to death that old man and causing us to acknowledge him for what
he is, a corpse. When the Spirit of God comes,
the evidence of that is that we cry with the Apostle Paul,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? My old man is but a dead man. He cannot do
anything to bring forth life. The spirit of God who kills that
old man has to bring the new man. And he brings that new man
by revealing the glory of Christ to my heart and giving me faith
to believe on Christ. Eleazar, his name translated
means God has helped. David said, I look to my right
hand, I look to my left hand, I can find no man to help me.
I look to myself, I can't help myself. I'm in the cave of Adullam,
I dare not leave. If I'm going to be justified
in the presence of God, I've got to stay right here in Christ. I can't go to the well and get
the water myself. I need Eleazar to bring me that
water. I need God. by his spirit, in
the spirit of Christ, to bring me the water of life that I might
live. The third of David's mighty men
is called Shammah. And Shammah's name translated
means astonishment. So here we have the ornament
of Christ, we have We have the ministry of the Holy Spirit enabling
us where we are unable to help ourselves. And we are astonished
that God would have mercy upon us. We would never, those who have
had the mighty men of David go to Bethlehem and bring them water are never They never think, well, I deserve
this water. And they would never think that
if God didn't bring this water to somebody, that it wasn't fair. They're astonished that God would
have mercy on anyone, and they're most especially astonished that
God would have mercy upon them. Lord, why would you? Why would
you save me? David pours out the water onto
the ground as an offering to the Lord. And I see in this somewhat of
an evidence of being justified before God. The evidence that God has spoken
to me, the evidence that the water of life has been brought
to me by the Spirit of God is that I acknowledge Him in
all the work that He's accomplished for my salvation in worship. I'm brought to bow before Him. Worship. The Lord told that Syrophoenician
woman that she was a dog and that the bread was for the children,
not for the dogs. And she said, truth Lord, and
she worshiped him. She worshiped him. How oftentimes we find that.
The Lord healed those 10 lepers and one come back and bowed at
his feet and worshiped him. Which one of those 10 lepers
was justified before God? You see, worship is always the
evidence. Returning to him with thanksgiving
and praise and rendering to him all the glory for my salvation. That's what David's doing. He
said, I didn't do anything for this water. These men jeopardized
their own lives. It was by their blood that I
get this water. He poured it out as an offering. There are two bodies of water
in Israel. The first one is the Sea of Galilee
and the second one is the Dead Sea. And both of these bodies
of water receive their water from the same source. The Jordan
River flows down from Mount Hermon and flows into the Sea of Galilee
and it flows out of the Sea of Galilee on the south end and
continues down through Palestine until it empties into the Dead
Sea. The Sea of Galilee is teeming
with life. It's where the disciples fished. It's where the life was. There
was towns all around the Sea of Galilee. The Dead Sea is just
that. It's dead. There's no life there. What makes the difference in
these two bodies of water? The Dead Sea has no way for the
water to leave except by evaporation. The water that goes into the
Dead Sea has no exit on the south side of the Dead Sea. It can
only evaporate and over time, the more the fresh water evaporates
back into the atmosphere, the more concentrated the Dead Sea
becomes with minerals. No evidence of life whatsoever
in the Dead Sea. People talk about common grace. There is no such thing as common
grace. There's nothing common about grace. And yet most of the time when
people talk about common grace, they're talking about the fact
that God sends the rain on the righteous and the wicked and
the righteous. The blessings of God. We all
breathe God's air. live on God's world, all of the
blessings that we enjoy in this world come from his hand. A man
can receive nothing except to be given to him from God. And
so if that's what common grace means, then that's fine. Because
all men receive what they have from God. What is the difference with those
who are justified? The difference with those that
are justified is that the water of life that they receive, it
has an outlet. It has an outlet. Its outlet
is to offer back to God thanksgiving, praise, worship. Lord, this life
that I have is all from you. We acknowledge him for his righteousness,
for all our justification. And we're astonished that he
would bless us with salvation. The unbeliever goes through this
world just daily receiving things from God, presuming that he deserves
them or that they'll just come again tomorrow. Oh. And then they presume upon
God for salvation. God wants to save everybody.
And God will respond to my decision to let him save me. That's the
Dead Sea. David poured out this water. put it back in the same place
it came from. It came from the ground, he poured
it out on the ground. God's people who are justified
in Christ, they know that they didn't do anything to justify
themselves before God. They know that all of their justification
is by free and sovereign grace, and their only response is worship. Thanksgiving, praise. Justified. I can't find any evidence in my life that I'm justified
before God. and we don't look for others
to affirm our justification. The evidence of justification
is faith, it's worship, it's praise, it's... Lord, you did it all. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, thank you. for your mercy, withholding from
us what we deserve. Thank you for your grace, giving
to us what we could never earn. Thank you for the cave of a dulem.
Thank you for justification, perfectly justified. Lord, thank you. for delivering
us from our distress, paying our debt, and making us satisfied
with the offering that Christ has made for all of our salvation.
Thank you for your Holy Spirit in bringing to us the water of
life. Lord, our battle with the Philistines
is a constant, a constant struggle. Know how we need this work of
grace and this gift of faith on a daily basis. Lord, for thy
glory's sake, bless us to that end. We ask it in Christ's name.
Amen. What's Tom? 168. 168. Let's stand together.