All right, turn with me to 1
Samuel chapter 18 tonight, if you would. 1 Samuel chapter 18. I want us to consider the first
four verses. I've titled this message, Covenant
Love. Covenant Love. Verse one, and
it came to pass when he, that is David, made an end of speaking
unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David,
and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that
day and would not let him go no more home to his father's
house. And then Jonathan and David made
a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. Jonathan loved
David as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself
of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David. And his
garments, even to his sword and to his bow, and two, his girdle. Now, as I said, what we have
before us tonight is a picture of grace and a picture of covenant
love. What is covenant love? Covenant
love is a binding, a committed and faithful love that is rooted
bound by a promise, an agreement between two parties. When it
comes to our covenant love with Christ, let's just be honest,
our fickle commitment and love is, it just don't mean much. But His to us does. Deuteronomy 7.9 says, know therefore
that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which
keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his
commandments to a thousand generations. Lamentations 3.22, it's of the
Lord's mercies that we're not consumed because his compassions
Fail not. I'm so thankful that grace and
mercy is not dependent upon my love and not dependent upon my
faithfulness to God, but His faithfulness to me. Aren't you? And that's what's illustrated
for us tonight. Jonathan's love for David shows
us something of the redeemed sinner's love for Christ, their
Savior. Now David had just saved Israel
by going out and defeating the giant Goliath. And he did so
without any human armor, not picturing, not by man's means. The Lord Jesus didn't defeat
sin by man's means. David did so by the power of
God. And we're reminded again, the
salvation is of the Lord. He slew the giant, removing the
giant's head in the sight of the people. And he by himself
stood in the room instead of Israel. None of them would go
out and meet Goliath. They were trembling in the camp. He did for them, David did for
Israel, what they couldn't and what they wouldn't do. David
was Jonathan's deliverer. so to speak, his savior, so to
speak, the same as he was Israel's. And Jonathan's soul was knit
to the soul of this man of faith. And he loved David as he loved
his own soul. And he loved him with intense
loyalty, as we'll see in future studies. He loved him with a
brotherhood of a kindred spirit. And this was much more than just
being caught up with the motion and the moment. You know, oftentimes
we, by nature, we get caught up in the moment and it fleets
and leaves just about as quick as it came most of the time.
But this, Jonathan was pledging himself to David here. He was
dedicated to his wellbeing, even at personal cost. And you say,
well, how so? How so at personal cost? Well,
Jonathan was heir to Saul's throne. He was next in line to be king,
yet he willingly yielded to David as God's chosen king. And this
love for David was marked by self-denial, no doubt, submission
to God's will. This was God's king. This was
the king that God had anointed. And it was fine with Jonathan.
Self-denial, submission to God's will. And I think about our Lord
Jesus giving up his throne in heaven to become a man and to
die for his people to save them from their sin. Selfless, voluntarily,
he left his throne on high to come for sinful men and women
to die. Jonathan pledges himself to David's
well-being. As we read, he gave David his
robe, his armor, his sword, symbolizing the willing transfer of royal
privilege. Christ's soul was knit to his
elect people. He loves them as he loves his
own soul. Now that's where I find confidence. That's where I find assurance.
He gave up His royal robes and His divine rights, and He made
a covenant of blood with His people. He will remain forever
faithful to them. He's promised in His Word. I'll
love them with an everlasting love. That's His promise to us. I will never leave them nor forsake
them. Never, no never. So we see here
that Jonathan pictures our faithful Lord. Yet, as much as Jonathan
pictures the Lord Jesus, David does so even more. And we'll see that momentarily.
But I want us to think about David and Jonathan's relationship
and how it was a covenant relationship. The relationship between Christ
and His people is a covenant relationship, and it was established
before the world ever began. This covenant that Christ made
with His people was confirmed and approved by the testator's
death. What is a testator, you might
ask? The testator is the one who makes a will or a covenant,
and in the believer's case, that's Christ. According to Hebrews
9, a will, a last testament, last will and testament, we have
it in our day. It only goes into effect, and
you know this, after the death of the one that made it. As long
as the testator is alive, the last will in Testament doesn't
mean anything, not until they die. So Christ's death was necessary
to put this new covenant into operation. That's basic. We know
that from our own lives. And let me say this. I hear men
preach the Lord's death as just a tragic event. It was much more
than a tragic event. It was the necessary act that
sealed the new covenant in His blood. Christ must die before
you and I could be an heir of the promise and salvation God
provided for us. Without the death of Christ,
the believer's testator, the covenant could not have taken
effect. And his sacrifice confirmed God's promises to his people. It secured their salvation. Christ's
covenant with us French provided everything for the heirs of Christ's
last will and testament. According to Christ's promise,
his oath, his covenant. He's not a man that he should
lie. He's faithful to promise. What God promised through Christ,
He'll keep. What Christ did for us, He did. And therefore, we reap the benefits
of our testator. What do we receive? Well, we
receive the adoption of sons and daughters. His spirit bears witness with
our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then
heirs, join heirs with Christ. Romans chapter eight, 15 through
17. We received the gift of the Holy
Spirit. We were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest. You know what earnest
is? It's earnest money, a security
deposit. We receive the earnest of our
inheritance, Ephesians 1, 13 and 14. And my, we received forgiveness
and we received righteousness in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace. Ephesians 1, 7. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made what? The righteousness
of God in him. We received forgiveness and righteousness,
and we received eternal life. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. The blessings just keep coming. Eternal life just isn't about
endless time. It's about the quality and nature
of our lives. Too many people reduce life eternal
to a never-ending existence. Listen, it's much more than just
a clock that just keeps on ticking. Well, Timex claims to do that. But according to the scriptures,
friends, eternal life is really about who you live with and how you
live. The bliss of everlasting life
has to do with life in the fullest. A life that's abundant. A life that's meaningful and
connected to God, and it's only through Jesus Christ. It's a quality of life marked
by peace and joy and love and purpose, not just endless years. Now, if eternal life was only
about duration, I want you to think about this. Just eternal
life without Christ. It would be meaningless. I mean,
even miserable. The Lord Jesus, praying to His
Father in John 17, verse 3. It's been on the front of our
bulletin for many, many years. He said, this is eternal life,
that they may know You. That they may know You. The only
true God in Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. See, eternal
life is knowing God through Christ. It's not just cloud hopping forever
in heaven and possessing a mansion with fruits of gold and pearly
gates and all that. To live forever without Christ
leaves us eternally separated from the very source of our love
and our joy and our peace and our purpose. Heaven's not living
forever. Heaven is Christ. Heaven is heaven
because Christ is gonna be there. If Christ is not there, there's
nothing about heaven that's appealing to live forever without the one
who loved me and gave himself for me. He's the one that makes
it heaven. And the blessings of God in our
inheritance from this covenant of love just It just keeps coming. Believers now receive and possess
personal access to God. As I endeavored to pray before
I started the message, it's because of this covenant of love that
Christ has for us that we can approach boldly into the throne
of grace. We can draw near to God with
boldness because of His shed blood. We've received all spiritual
blessings. Every one of them. According to Ephesians 1.3, we've
been blessed with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places
in Christ, our testator. And all things are ours. We're
Christ and Christ is God, 1 Corinthians 3.21. And our Father is pleased
to give us the kingdom. Somebody gets the key of the
city and that's a big deal. Listen, you've got the key to
God's kingdom. Because of our covenant with
Christ, we will inherit resurrected bodies and we'll obtain final
redemption. We'll receive glorified bodies,
bodies without sin. I can't wait for that. Even we
ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to with
the redemption of our body, Paul said in Romans 8, 23. Christ
who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like
unto His glorious body. Are you listening to what God
has for us? His glorious body according to
the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto
Himself. Philippians 3.21. And as heirs
with Christ, we receive a new identity as children of God.
We're new creatures in Christ. Old things passed away. All things
have become new. We receive legal justification
and righteousness. There's nobody that can condemn
me. There's nobody that can charge me. Because Christ died for me. It's God that justifies. We receive
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit lives within our
hearts. We receive eternal life and eternal
fellowship with God. Every spiritual blessing. Suffering
with Christ now and glory with Him later. The coming kingdom,
a renewed creation, resurrection and eternal fellowship with Christ.
And that's just a few. Well, we'd be here all night
if we tried to dissect and talk about every blessing that we
had in the Lord Jesus. But now back to David and Jonathan's
covenant. Now again, in verse one of our
text, 1 Samuel 18, it says, when he, David, made an end of speaking
unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David,
and Jonathan loved him. He loved David as his own soul.
I want you to think about what's going on here. Jonathan is here
listening to David talk to his father Saul. He waited, it says,
until David was finished speaking. When David had made an end of
speaking. That's a very significant tidbit. There's a lesson there
for us to learn. You know what a tidbit is. It's
tasty food. That's tasty food, spiritual
food. Proverbs 18 verse 13 says, he
that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and
shame unto him. Now, what's that talking about?
Well, when hearing the truth, when hearing the gospel, the
hearer should not judge or react to just part of the gospel message
without understanding the full context. You see, the gospel
includes The holiness of God, the sinfulness of man. If you
just hear a man is a sinner and you just hear that over and over
and over, you know, it just becomes just a fact. Well, I'm a sinner. I
know I'm a sinner. But to see God is holy. and that
you have no hope as a sinner before a thrice holy God, that's
hearing the whole message. Hearing Christ's death and burial
and resurrection. Why? Because He must die in our
place in order for us to live. We see the need of repentance
and faith, the promise of the eternal law, because it also,
and it declares the cost of discipleship. Listen, this isn't just a tiptoe
through the tulips. It's through much tribulation
that we enter the kingdom of God. And those of you that have
lived for a while now, you know that to be so. The gospel demands
a serious, informed response. You can't truthfully answer what
you think of Christ without a full understanding of what he's done
for sinners. And that's what some folks never
hear. There's churches meeting all
over this country, this world, that have never heard what Christ
truly has done for sinners. He's made salvation possible. He's made it available. And it's
all up to you. That's not the message. The message
is He's done for you what you couldn't do. You cannot come
to Him. He drew you with the cords of
love. You will not come to Him. He made you willing in the day
of His power. That's the message. The Lord Jesus cautioned his
hearers in Luke chapter 14. He said, you need to sit down
and you need to count the cost before you build a tower to make
sure that you have the sufficient requirements to finish it. If
you lay the foundation of a house, You're building a house, you
lay the foundation, and you don't have the ability or the finances
to finish that house? You're gonna be mocked and ridiculed
as foolish. Well, look at this, that guy's
had that foundation built for three years and never gone any
further with it. What a fool, he didn't count
the cost. And the Lord Jesus reiterates this thinking by asking
in that same passage of scripture, he said, what king would go to
war without making certain that he has the army and the ability
to win the battle? Now, a lot of folks today in
religion talk more than they listen. They speak hastily and
they respond without full understanding. They assume they know before
hearing something or someone out. It's foolish and it reflects
arrogance, not wisdom. Biblical wisdom is listening
and asking God for discernment. Lord, what does this mean? What does this passage of Scripture
mean? Give me understanding. I'm telling
you, if we would do that, if we would ask God before we meet,
before we hear preaching, before we open our Bibles and read,
if we would ask God, God, help me to understand this. You'd
be amazed. You'd be amazed. We shouldn't
be. We have not because we ask not, and when we ask, we ask
amiss, to consume it on our own lust. Jonathan heard the gospel from
David. Now, bear with me on this. That's
when his soul was knit to him. And though we're not told exactly
what David said, David's words to Saul come immediately after
the slaying of Goliath. And having observed this great
feat, the question of the hour had to be, from those that observed
it, a little shepherd boy going out to meet this giant warrior,
and all his armor and his big spear and his sword and all that,
with a sling shot. A stone? They had to say when
Goliath fell to the ground dead, they had to say, how did he do
that? How did he do that? And being
fresh on everyone's mind, don't you just imagine that all Israel,
especially King Saul, wanted to ask David that. How'd you
do that? And there's no doubt in my mind that David would have
told Saul and everyone that heard, including Jonathan, what he told
Goliath in chapter 17. Look back at that chapter 17,
verse 46. I can just imagine this is what
David is reiterating to the folks there that are listening to him.
He said to Goliath, this day will the Lord deliver thee into
mine hand, and I'll smite thee, and take thine head from thee,
and I'll give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this
day, and to the fowls of the air, and to the wild beast of
the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God
in Israel. That's our message, friends.
There's a God in Israel. I, David, The shepherd boy didn't
do this, God did this. And all this assembly, verse
47, shall know that the Lord, who? The Lord, not David. That the Lord saveth not with
sword and spear, for the battle is whose? The Lord's. And He'll give you into our hands. Friends, the gospel message is
telling the helpless and the trembling, which Israel pictures,
what God the Son has done for them. That's our message. We're
not talking about what we've done. We haven't done anything.
We're telling folks what God's done for sinners. That's what
preaching is. It's a faithful saying, worthy
of all exaltation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
do what? Save sinners. Who saved sinners? Christ came
into the world to save sinners. We don't save anybody. We can't
save ourselves. Christ put away their sin. He
crushed the serpent's head. He defeated death. Oh, death,
where is thy sting? He defeated the grave. Oh, grave,
where is thy victory? Christ has the keys to death
and hell, Revelation 1, 18. And I just love this verse, Romans
8, 3. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, our flesh, God sending,
oh I love this, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. That's why
God sent Christ into the world. You want to know why He sent
His Son into the world? Why did He send Him in the likeness
of sinful flesh? In the likeness, He had no sin. He sent him for sin. That's right,
for sin. That the Lord Jesus might condemn
sin by putting it away. Isn't that what David did to
Goliath? Who represents sin? He put an end to him. And he
gave God all the glory and credit. David said, Saul, this isn't
my doing. This is God's doing. I didn't
defeat that giant. I just threw the sling. That's what we as preachers do.
We throw the stone, the gospel, Christ, with the sling, and God
determines where it lands. It hit Goliath right here. It
hits his people right here. But God determines where the
stone lands. And Jonathan heard David. He
waited until David was done speaking. He heard all that David said.
He listened all the way until he was finished. And he loved
that message. He loved the message that David
brought. Don't you love this message?
The message of salvation is of the Lord. And Jonathan's soul
was knit to this God-sent Deliverer. And so is yours. So is yours,
and so is mine. It's a faithful saying. It's worthy of our acceptance.
It's worthy to our bowing. It's worthy of our praise and
worship. What is it? Christ came into
the world to save sinners. And when a sinner sees this and
hears this, their souls are gonna be knit to Christ if they truly,
really hear it. And there's no doubt in my mind
that David felt the same way toward Jonathan. Later, when
Jonathan was killed in battle, David said, I'm distressed for
thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been
unto me. Our love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women. And David here is speaking of
a higher kind of loyalty. Their relationship was marked
by sacrifice and faithfulness and a covenant commitment. It was deeper. David's saying
it was deeper and more steadfast than any romantic relationship
he had ever experienced with a woman. No doubt this picture,
pictures and typifies the love that a believer in Christ had
for one another. I don't love the Lord Jesus like
I should, but I love Him. And I ask the Lord to help me
love Him more every day. As I alluded to in the beginning,
Jonathan was the rightful heir to the throne, but he wanted
David to be on the throne. And Jonathan wanted David to
have the glory, and that's what every believer wants. I want
him to be my king. He's the king of kings. I want
Him ruling and reigning on the throne. I want to be His servant. That's how we feel as believers
about the Lord Jesus. Jonathan knew the Lord's hand
was upon David. Now look again with me to verse
4. It says, And Jonathan stripped
himself of the robe that was upon him, and he gave it to David. and his garments, even to his
sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle." So the first thing
we see here is that Jonathan strips himself of all that he
has. Did you hear me? His robe and his garments represent
his self-righteousness. And in the light of David, Jonathan
sees that his righteousness is nothing but filthy rags. You
know, as valiant as a warrior as Jonathan was, as he proved
to be in, I believe, chapter 14. Remember when he told him
and his arm bearer, he said, we'll take on the whole army
if we've got to. If the Lord lets us know that's
what we're to do, we'll do it. But he stood on the sidelines
when Goliath mocked just like the rest of Israel did. And when
David went out and faced the giant now, that Jonathan's in
the presence of David, he's like, I don't need these. I don't need these. When we come into Christ's presence,
we come stripped. Bartimaeus, when he went to the
Lord, you remember he cast off that garment? He cast off his
beggar's robe. You know, beggars in ancient
times wore these old, torn, patched garments as robes, and these
garments made them identifiable by their appearance. They were
dirty. They were worn. And it identified the wearers
as beggars. These ragged robes were the trademark
of professional beggars. You know, Bartimaeus was a professional
beggar. We've got professional beggars
today. You see them on corners and so do I. But these robes indicated their
status. And Bartimaeus cast his beggarly
robe off because he believed, he really believed that he wasn't
gonna need it anymore. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And Jesus stood still. He called
Bartimaeus to him. Bartimaeus said, I don't need
this anymore. Don't need it anymore. He was confident that he would
receive his sight. He no longer need to be a beggar. It's the same with us. We cast
off our beggarly garments and we're now heirs to the King of
Kings. Don't need this beggarly robe
anymore. I'm going to come to God with
no price in my hand will I bring. Like a poor beggar, we let go
of the old to receive the new. The Lord Jesus took our garments
upon Himself. On the cross, our filthy robes
became His. The Lord Jesus was made sin.
David puts on Jonathan's robe, and Christ put on our robe. And
He gave us His. Huh? He gave us His, didn't He? Perfect robe of righteousness.
Our sin was put on Christ. He paid it in full. And He that
knew no sin, who was made to be sin for us, gave us His perfect
righteousness. And now I wear the robe of a
king. Not a pauper, a poor beggar. Every ruined sinner has nothing
of their own to count on. They're stripped of all. And
they only have Christ. The only righteousness I've got
is His. And that's all I need. That's
all God sees. Though He was God, He became
a man. Why? That He might die our death.
He was God manifest in the flesh. He was equal with God. He made
Himself of no reputation. Don't you just love that? He
was somebody. He made Himself nobody. We're
nobodies trying to make ourselves somebody, but he was somebody
who made himself nobody. He became a man, and when he
did so, he became a servant, and he died the death of a criminal.
He was numbered with the transgressors, Isaiah said. He was crucified
with male factors, Luke 23. He was made a curse for us, according
to Galatians 3. He became obedient to the death
of the cross, Philippians 2a. Who did? God did. David had refused the king's
armor, picturing Christ laying aside the glory to live among
sinners. But the Lord Jesus took on our
flesh, our sin, as David did Jonathan's, to put the believers'
sin away forever. Oh, David pictures Christ. Jonathan
also gave David his sword. Jonathan became completely dependent
on the protection of David. Everything Jonathan had to protect
himself, he gave to David. He gave him his sword, he gave
him his bow, he gave him his girl, his armor. I don't need
it. I don't need it anymore. I laid down my ability. I laid down all that I think
that God might use. And none of it's worth using.
He's my protector. He's my Savior. He trusted David
to be His protector. He gave up everything that He
trusted in to David. That's what every believer in
Christ does. We trust in His protection. We trust in His care
for us. The Lord Jesus is a friend that
sticketh closer than a brother. That's what we're talking about
tonight. Covenant love. That's why we sung the songs
that we sing. What a friend we have in Jesus.
There's no friend like Him. I found a friend. That song should
say, that friend found me. I found Him because He revealed
Himself to me. He's a friend that sticketh closer
than a brother. Growing up, I had three friends
that were brothers, and they were all about 14 to 15 months
apart. at the age of 15 or 16, you couldn't
tell much difference in their ages. The oldest was about a
year and a half older than me. The middle brother was my age.
The youngest brother was a little younger, so on. And like brothers,
they fought all the time. And they were tough because they
fought one another. You know, you practice fighting,
you get pretty good at it. And that's why they were tough.
And they fought each other quite frequently. But I'm going to
tell you something. If you dared to fight one of them, you're
going to have to fight all three of them. That's how most brothers are. We got a friend that does all
our fighting for us. He sticks closer than a brother.
He's the ultimate example of loyalty and sacrifice. Abraham
was called the friend of God. And the Lord said to his disciples,
you're my friends. And to think that he's my friend. My, my. By his grace, I love him as I
love my own soul. He's my friend closer than a
brother. You know, growing up, As an only
child, I can remember always wanting a brother. Now that I'm
older, I'm kind of glad I didn't have one. But friends, now I have
a friend. I have a savior. I have a substitute. I have a surety. I have a friend
that sticks closer than a brother. The Lord answered my prayer.
and He gave me Himself. He's a friend that sticks closer.
He knows me better than anyone else. He sacrificed Himself and
He died for me. Greater love hath no man than
this, that He lay down His life for His friend. He laid down
His life for me. The Lord Jesus constantly pleads
my cause. All others may leave me, but
Him never. He'll never leave me nor forsake
me. His bond to me is eternal. God accepts me in Christ alone. I'm accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1.6, Christ is referred to as the believer's best friend.
Christ is the beloved. My beloved's mine and I'm his.
That's what Solomon said. And that's what every believer
can say. He's called God's beloved son. God said, hear him, hear
him. He's out to do you good. He's
God's dear son. He's the one who has delivered
us from the power of darkness and have translated us into the
kingdom of his dear son. He's God's dear son. And he's
dear to me. And he's dear to every believer.
Colossians 1 13. He's precious. unto us who believe
he's precious, 1 Peter 2, 7. Oh, what a beloved, dear, and
precious friend we have. He loves us unconditionally.
You think about what that is, without condition, not based
on anything we do. He loves us in spite of us. Jonathan's love for David was
noble as was David's for Jonathan, but it was also prophetic. And
this covenant of love points us to Christ, our true and faithful
friend. It's a bond forged by God. The
soul of Jonathan was knit. It was made one. That's what
that means. With the soul of David, God did something supernatural
in Jonathan's heart. toward David, as God does in
the believer's heart toward the Lord Jesus. It's a love that
reflects the gospel. Jonathan loved David as his own
soul. It wasn't possessive, it wasn't
competitive. It was full of humility and surrender. This shows Christ's covenant
love for us. This was a covenant sealed with
sacrifice. Jonathan stripped himself and
gave all to David. A believer must trust God to
strip them and give all to Christ. This was a relationship of loyalty
and trust. They made a covenant. It was
bound by an oath. And it was a loyal oath. It would endure hardship. Betrayal
and even death. Remember what David did from
Mephibosheth? He said, is there any of the
house of Saul I may show mercy to? For Jonathan's sake. Lord
Jesus' soul is knit with ours by grace. He loves us as his
own soul. That just blows my mind. He gave
up his royal robe and His divine rights. He made a covenant in
blood. It was His blood. He took our sin upon Himself,
and He clothed us with His perfect righteousness, and He remains
faithful forever. What a friend. Do you enjoy such
a covenant with Christ? May God be pleased to make it
so for His glory, our good, and for Christ's sake.