Okay, I will tell you the old old story. Because
this world's empty glory is indeed costing us too much. Costing us a great deal of comfort,
peace, joy. First Samuel, you know when Paul
began writing the Romans, you know how it began? He said, Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel of God. And he described it. He says,
the gospel he promised to form by his prophets and the holy
scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which
was made of the seed of David, declared to be the Son of God
with power. Christ of God is the seed of
David, he's the king. God said, I've set my king on
my holy hill of Zion. Though all men don't know it,
like David of old, though all men can't see him, he's unknown
to most, he's revealed himself to his brethren. They all know
he's the king of kings and Lord of lords. That the Father sent
him to reign and rule and yes, be the deliverer, the captain
of their salvation. Sent to his brethren. This whole
message, we're not even going to get to the battle. I'm sorry. No, I'm not sorry. Because the
first part of the Father sending his wonderful man to his sorry
brethren is a story just like Joseph. It's glorious. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span. Christ of God. David was born
of God for the purpose of being the king of Israel. And Christ,
for this cause, he came into this world to be the king. David represents the Lord Jesus
Christ. The purpose, the reason for David's
existence. and every single prominent person
in Scripture. The reason for their existence
and the reason God wrote the story was to bear witness of
Jesus Christ. Why do we preach the Old Testament? Because it's God's Word. And
that's what Christ preached. Wouldn't you have loved to have
heard Him? Do you think He preached on this? When He preached on
the road to Emmaus, you know He preached on the woman's sea.
That's where it all starts. Creation, the woman saved. Don't
you? You know He preached on the Passover
lamb. You know He did. Without shedding of blood, there's
no remission sin. Do you think He preached on the
mercy seat? Do you think He preached? He's made of the seed of David.
This is why David is brought forth. This is why so much is
written of David. Christ is called the Son of David.
Wouldn't you have loved to have heard Him preach this? The disciples
heard him preach it, and apparently they've never heard anything
like it. Why do we preach? Because Christ
preached it, the apostles preached the Old Testament, and these
prophecies of Jesus Christ. You see, the testimony, the gospel
of Jesus Christ is the Spirit, the heart, the soul of prophecy.
To Him give all the prophets witness. That's why this book
was written from first to beginning. The first book to the last book,
it all testifies of Christ. The beginning and the end, because
He is the beginning and the end. He's the first to land, and all
things in between. He's all. The prophecies of Christ prove
Him. To who? Who does He prove Himself to?
Who does He show Himself to? Who does He reveal Himself to?
Who does He remove the veil in the reading of the Old Testament
to? His brethren. His brethren. And if you see
something of His glory, you see something of His sovereign reign
and rule, His love, His mercy is great. The purpose of God
purposed in Christ before the world. If you see something,
bless God, you're one of His brethren. Sorry though you be,
sinful though you be, unworthy though you be. Oh, you're a son
of Jacob, and God hath shown His word to Jacob. Jacob have
I loved? How do you know? He shows you
Christ. That's how you know. That's how
you know. The prophecies prove Him to be
the Christ. He doesn't have to come back
again for us. We know He lives. No, we know He does. He speaks
to us. But He's hidden from the rest.
I keep quoting that verse in 2 Corinthians 3. minds and the hearts of people
in the reading of the Old Testament. Most people read these stories
and they think the story of David and Goliath is how the underdog
can overcome great obstacles. Don't let these big obstacles, you know, defeat you. You can
defeat. That's not what this story is
about. That is not what this story is
about. The underdog defeating the giant. No, this story is
about Jesus Christ all the way through. That's why it was written. To show us Christ. Point to Christ. Now, I was going to make a few
comments on him. I do want you to go back and look
at the description that they gave of David in chapter 16.
The servants. The servants knew him. Saul,
troubled, grieved by an evil spirit. And one of the lowly
servants, like, was it Naaman's little maid, said, there's a
man that can help you. And one of the lowly servants
knew who David was. Saul didn't, but she did, he
did, whoever this was. And look at the description.
Oh, this is Christ. Verse 18, I've seen a son of
Jesse, the Bethlehemite, cunning and playing, the sweet psalmist
of Israel. Who is that? Who wrote the psalms? Jesus Christ did. Jesus Christ did. He taught David's
hands to play the harp. He gave him the words to say. Oh, he's a mighty, valiant man.
They said of David, he's a mighty, valiant man. Powerful, strong,
courageous man. Oh, brethren, there's never been
a man like Jesus Christ. Never will be. Mighty? Oh, might. He said he's given
a name. Valiant? Said his face like a
flint. He ran to the battle. We're going to see David. There's
Goliath. He's not in the defensive posture.
I'm coming after you, bud. Your head. Now that's the battle. The description of Christ is
a man of war. Isn't that what it says, Stephen? That's Christ. You know it? He said, do you think I've come
to send peace on earth? Jesus Christ said this. Nay,
but a sword. There's something He has to do
before there can be peace. Do you know that? Most of you
do. Something He's got to do before you can have peace with
God, before you can have peace of mind, peace of heart, peace
within. You've got to deal with your
enemy. And he alone must do it. Oh, David one time said, thanks
be unto God that teacheth my hands to war. David, we're going
to see that David fought battles all his life. He's about 20 years old right
now, maybe 18. He died when he was 70. He fought
battles to the day he laid on his pillar and died. Why? Israel's got enemies everywhere.
Israel's surrounded with enemies. They want nothing more than for
Israel, God's people, to be defeated, to be brought to nothing. Let
us cast their bands asunder, Psalm 2 said. Let us defeat these
people. But God, but God said, I've set
my King on my holy yoke's side. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. He's going to have the heads
of all his enemies. And brethren, you're going to
enjoy it. He says he's a comely person, verse 18. Comely. And the Lord is with him. That's
his name. God with us. Emmanuel. That's Jesus Christ. You see
that? Alright. Chapter 17. The Philistines were gathered
together, their armies, on one side of the mountain, and the
Jews, the Israelites were on the other, and there was a big
valley between them. And you saw that, didn't you? The Philistines,
all through the Old Testament, were enemies of Israel. Constant. Always. All the days of Israel. The Philistines tormented them,
and fought them, and harassed them. That represents sin, sins,
the world. Goliath was their champion. He
represents Satan, the god of this world, the champion of this
world, the one whom God has given some reign over. David came to deliver Israel. That's why he came. That's why
the Lord raised him up. There's this champion. This champion. David's purpose is going to be
known. David's purpose, this champion
that defied God and God's people. God raised David up for this. For this cause. God raised him
up. God sent him. The Father sent him to first
deal with this adversary and our enemy. See that? And God
brought him forth, like David. He's unknown to begin with. He's
a servant. He's keeping the sheep all this
time. But very soon we're going to see, this is the captain of
their salvation. Meek, mild, yes, gentle, loving,
comely, oh, but what way do you see? Why came? Where do you see
his real glory? Wait till you see the purpose
and the cause why He came. You just wait and see Him cut
the enemy's head off with His own sword. Cunning, all right. I want you to turn to Revelation
12 with me, okay? Revelation 12. So many idiots
think they know this book. Oh, boy. You know what the Revelation
is? You know what the book of Revelation
is? How does it begin? I'll give you a clue. The Lord
has given us a clue. It begins this way. The revelation
of Jesus Christ. It's not some mere allegory or
apocalyptic fiction. It's kind of a religious science
fiction. It's a prophecy of Jesus Christ.
And I'm here to tell you most of the things in Revelation have
already happened. There was a battle fought for
the people of God, and I'm here to tell you, it's already happened. And Jesus Christ won. And we
win. How? By the blood of the Lamb. That's what this book says. Revelation
12. You have it? Revelation 12. It says in verse Three, there
appeared a wonder in heaven, a great red dragon. Verse four,
his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast
them to the earth. Who's that? Satan. Our Lord Jesus
Christ said, I beheld Satan. In Isaiah 14, the story is told
of Satan, Lucifer. And our Lord said, I beheld Satan
fall as lightning. Didn't he say that? Why? Because he is Michael who grabbed
him by the tail. and threw him out. He's the one. Stronger than any. Alright, look
at this. Now look at verses 12 and 13. Rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that
dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the
earth and the sea. The devil has come down unto
you with great wrath. You know, he has a short time.
Verse 13. When the dragon Saul was cast
to the earth, he persecuted the woman. That's who's that. That's
the church. Serpent, verse 15, cast out a
flood of water after the woman, everything he says and does. Verse 17, the dragon was wroth
with the woman, went out to make war with the remnant of her seed.
Who's that? That's our adversary, our enemy
who's against the church where Christ was born in the midst
of his brethren. That's what that's all about. That's not Roman Catholicism
and Mary. No, no, that's the church. We've looked at that
before. All right, chapter 13, verse 2. The beasts. This is significant. I saw all
was like a leopard, his feet like the feet of a bear, his
mouth like the mouth of a lion. A bear and a lion. A bear and
a lion. A bear and a lion. Spots. Leopard. Somebody's got to deal with him.
He's like a bear and a lion in these spots. All right, read on. Who do you
think this is about? Verse 4. They worshipped the
dragon. Who? The people all over the
world. Chapter 14. I looked, and lo, a lamb stood
on Mount Zion. Where is he? He's on Mount Zion.
Who's with it? 144,000, heavy and tame. Father's name written on his
forehead. Look. Look, brethren. I looked and lo, look. The Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. Chapter 17. One more, okay? Look
over here. Chapter 17. How significant? We're looking at chapter 17 in
Revelation 17. See, it's the same story. Revelation
17 verse 14 says, These shall make war with the Lamb, and the
Lamb shall overcome them. Why? He's Lord of lords. He's
King of kings. Those that are with Him are called
and chosen and faithful. What's this book about? What's
Revelation about? The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The gospel of our salvation.
Allegory? No, it's truth. The truth as
it is in Him. Go back to our text. So there
went out a great champion, enemy, an adversary of Israel. Do you
remember the story in Genesis of Exodus of Pharaoh and Egyptians? Huh? Goliath and the Philistines
represent the same people, same persons. They represent the adversary,
the enemy of God's elect, God's people, Satan, sin, the world,
like Pharaoh and Egypt. And God raised up a man to bring
them out Egypt? He sure did. Goliath and the Philistines,
there are many, there are constant, powerful enemies of God's people. Goliath's weapon, I'm not going
to read that again. We read about his weapons, didn't
we? About the stature of this man,
his head and shoulders, waist and shoulders above everybody,
nine and a half feet tall. The weapons, his warfare, his
armor was formidable, fearful. Formidable, but not impregnable. Big word means one little arrow
will get through it. Powerful, but not all powerful.
Stay with me. Satan's power is great, and I
can't describe it right now. I can't do it. Scripture says
he's like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And yet he
has wows and witticisms and tricks and snares and pits and traps. He's cunning, he's wily, he's
crafty. There are many. His weapons are
many and powerful. We're not wrestling with flesh
and blood, but principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness
in high places, rulers of the darkness of this world. No man,
no mere mortal is a match for him. And he's been dealing with
human nature, he's a master of human nature and he knows how
to deal with it. He deceived the first woman,
the perfect woman that was on earth. And nobody's a match for him. But one. Satan's powerful. But he's not
all powerful. His weapons are formidable, they're
not indomitable. Martin Luther, who, I love that
man. I love that man. Martin Luther
wrote a psalm. He said, did we in our own strength
confide? He talked about his craft, the
devil, his craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate. And he said, if we in our own
strength confided or depended upon, our striving would be losing. If not, the right man were on
our side. The man of God's own choosing. And just ask who that may be.
Christ Jesus, it is He. Lord Sabbath is His name from
age to age the same. He. must win the battle. And you know what Luther went
on to say? One little word will fail him. One smooth stone. We're going
to look at a shepherd, a shepherd's strip, a stone, and a sling that
defeated the Abbasid. So Goliath was a formidable foe
and our adversary. This is not a game here. This
is not an allegory. This is not a fairy tale. This
is true. We've got a mighty foe. And if God would open our eyes
to see the enemy all around us, like the Philistines bow, like
the Amalekites bow, but if God opens our eyes to see, That every
one of God's people has an angel of mercy. And that He that is
with us is much greater than they that are against us. He
that is in you, among you. David's right in the middle of
his brethren. And I was going to have you turn
to 1 Corinthians, but listen to this. Let me just read it
to you a little bit here. 1 Corinthians 15. I declare unto
you the gospel of God which I preached unto you. He said Christ came,
He was seen of His brethren. That's what it says. He said Christ came, how He died
for our sins according to the Scripture, buried, rose again
according to the Scripture, and seen of His brethren. Over 500,
He was seen of His brethren. Why? Because if Christ is not
raised, then our faith is vain. We're getting our sins. If Christ is not who God says
He is, Scripture says He is, if He didn't come to fight our
battle, then we're goners, we're hopeless. Listen to this. As Goliath said, choose you out
of man. If he wins, you win. We're your servants. The world,
the enemies, everything will somehow serve God's people. But
if we win, if I win, Goliath said, if I win, you're going
to serve us. You're going to be one of us. And 1 Corinthians 15 says, In
Adam all die. Even so, in Christ shall all be made of that. See,
two men, the fate of humanity is in the hands of two men. Okay,
Adam, what happened? He died. They were like salt,
under the influence of, under the dominion of, captivity to
the God of this world, right? Oh, but bless God, the second
Adam, The second Adam who is of the Lord, the Lord from glory.
First man is of the earth, earthy. The second man, Adam, is the
Lord from glory. Alright, go back to our text
here. First Samuel 17. Now here's the beauty of this
story. The father sent the son to his
brethren. Sorry brethren, they didn't receive
him at first. Now David, verse 12, was the
son of that eve for sight of Bethlehem, Judah." Remember?
His name was Jesse. He's first called the son of
Jesse, isn't he, before his name is revealed. He was ever with
the Father, wasn't he? Jesse was with the Father, the
Ancient One. That's Christ, the Proverbs 8,
isn't it? It says in verse 14 that David
was the youngest. He's the youngest. But you know
what the Scripture said? The elder shall serve the younger.
It's always been so. All flesh shall bow to him, like
Joseph of old. These brethren of David are going
to bow the knee to him. They're going to reign with him.
And you know what he was doing all along, all the time, before
he was anointed, before he fought this battle? Verse 15, David
went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. You'll find him in the house
of bread. You'll find him feeding his father's sheep. Psalm 121. Go there. Psalm 121. Where was David? Where was he
in the beginning? When they said, are these all
your sons? And Jesse, it's like it finally
occurred to him, like it dawned on him. Behold, the youngest. Where is he? He's keeping the
sheep. He always has. He said, I can
tell you a story of his conquest. He's a good shepherd. Oh, he's
a great shepherd. I've made him my chief shepherd.
He's never lost a sheep. Behold, he's keeping the sheep. He's always keeping the sheep.
Where was He in the beginning? Keeping the sheep. After He came
and played that music to Saul, you know what He did? He went
back to His Father's house to keep the sheep. What about our
Lord Jesus Christ? Where was He in the beginning?
Where was Jesus Christ in the beginning? Keeping the sheep.
He's always been the Keeper of Israel. Where is He now? After He conquered our great
enemy. Where is He now? Where did He
go? Back to the Father's house. What's He doing? Look at Psalm
121, verse 4. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. Verse 7, the Lord shall preserve
thee from all evil. Verse 8, the Lord shall preserve
thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even
for evermore. He's the shepherd. The Lord is
my shepherd. Go back to our text. Now, it
says in verse 17, that the father said unto David his son, take
now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, ten loaves,
and run, hurry, make haste. to the camp of thy brethren, and carry these ten cheeses to
the captain of their fowl. Look how thy brethren fare. Look
on them. Go to them. See how they're doing.
Take their pledge. That is, hear their story. Hear
their needs." And now he went and saw, and they and all the
men were fighting and fighting and fighting. Would you turn
with me to the book of Ruth? Okay? Before the king is anointed,
there's a woman, a young woman with child. Are you with me? Am I listening?
Before the king was anointed, before he's brought forth, there's
a woman with child. A poor woman and a people. A time of famine. The book of
Ruth. In this story, this book should
be named the book of Boaz. Chapter 2, verse 1. It says, Naomi had a kinsman
of her husband, a mighty man of wealth, family of a limonneck,
and his name was Boaz. That name means strength. This
story, for those who don't know, A man and his wife had left the
house of God of Bethlehem of all places. They left Bethlehem
and went into a heathen country and he died. Boy, if that isn't
the story of the gospel, where did it begin? And he died and
left her a widow. And then she found a young woman
named Ruth and she married her son. And he died. They all died. There's death and destruction
and poverty. They have needs and they lost
everything. A picture of mankind, okay? And
they're coming back. And they called her. There's
Naomi. She said, don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. I'm bitter. Mary,
I'm bitter. I went away full. I came back
empty. That's man. And then chapter
2 begins with Moab. Now, the good news. There's a
man named Boaz. Do you know that that's the name
of one of the pillars that holds up the temple? There were two
pillars named. One of them was named for Boaz's
strength. He's holding up the temple. Boaz was his name. Strength is
who he is and what he does. Strength, the pillar of strength.
Alright? Boaz is Jesse's grandfather. Boaz is David's great-grandfather. David comes from this man. Boaz was born to this end, Mary
a widow. Boaz represents the Lord Jesus
Christ, and of his seed, of his lineage, a stronger than he is
coming. Who? David. Yeah, but no, keep
going. The lineage of Christ in Matthew
2 begins by saying He's the Son of David. And Boaz is in that
lineage. Alright? Boaz is a type of Christ,
a wonderful type. But let's just look at this.
Read on. Verse 2, Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go
to the field and glean ears of corn after Him in whose sight
I shall find grace. And she said, Go, my daughter.
That's what we tell our sons and daughters. The greatest thing
we can tell them is seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He's near.
There's a field. There's a field with His people
gleaning. Go there. And she went, verse 3, and came and
gleaned in the field after the river. And her half, it just
so happened, Catherine Polk, that she landed in Boaz's field. Did you hear what I said? Jesus Christ has a church, and
it's not on every corner. It's hard to be found. There
were many fields in Israel that day, and one belonged to Boaz
and her hep. She found grace. That's what
it said to begin with. If we found grace, we're going
to fly to Boaz's field. We're going to be where Boaz
is going to redeem it. Where Boaz is going to buy back
everything. Where Boaz is going to face one
that has a claim over us. Where Boaz must buy it all back. We have nothing. We have no strength. Look, if you're going to shout
somebody, I'll do it for you. Verse 4, alright? So, behold,
behold! Verse 4. Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. Are you with
me? And said, the Lord be with you
now, said the Lord bless thee. Yes, Ruth, Naomi, You, me, are
going to be blessed by a greater than Boaz. Boaz said, verse 5, whose damsel
is this? He took note of her before she
ever saw him, before she knew who he was. He knew her, knew
all about her. Gave orders concerning her, didn't
he, Matt? He said, you let some hands fall on purpose. Don't
let anybody touch her. Why, he's the keeper of Israel. He charged the young man concerned
in her. And when she found out who he
was, verse 10, she fell on her face and bowed her face to the
ground and said unto him, if I found grace in your sight,
oh, take knowledge of me. I'm just a stranger. He was thinking,
I already have taken knowledge of you. I knew you before you
knew me. I set my love and affection upon
you before you ever gave me a thought. Ruth. And he will never leave her. He said in verse 11, it's been
fully shown to me about you. I know all about you. Verse 13,
she said, well, let me find favor in your sight. So, here's what
happened. He said, you spoke friendly to
me, verse 14. So Boaz said unto her, at mealtime
you come hither, and eat of the bread, dip your morsel in the
vinegar. And she sat beside the reaper, and he reached her parched corn. What did David
take his brethren? Take to my brethren some parched
corn. I don't have time to deal with
that. Christ is the corn of wheat that fell in the ground. Parched
corn means it's scorched. It's burnt. It's a burn off.
It all represents Christ. Parched corn. Look how much He
left her with. Look at verse 16. They let fall
some handfuls of purpose on her, for her, and leave them, that
she may glean and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the field
the evening, beat out that she gleaned. It was an event. David was told by the father
to take an ephah, a parched corn, to the brethren. He's the same. Same God. That's a bushel. A bushel. Fill it up. Overflow it. Take this to my
brethren. Take this message to my brethren. One grain of which,
planted, just bring forth a whole field. What kind of bread was
it? Barley. Barley. Ruth came at the beginning of
the barley harvest. Barley is poor people's bread. Poor people's
bread. Well, it ain't over. Hold on
a minute. Hold on. Hold on. Alright, so the last verse of
chapter 2 says the end of the barley harvest and the wheat
harvest. No, but it's just the beginning for Ruth. So Naomi
said to her, verse 1, said to Ruth, I seek rest for you, that
it be well with thee. Verse 2. Now Boaz, he's our kindred,
he's the one that had the right to redeem, she went on to say.
And Naomi told Ruth, you go down to where he is, and
you lay down at his feet, and you just wait. You just wait. And you'll see. I know the man. And so, she did. And verse 17,
I close with this, it says, when Naomi or Ruth went out to glean
and he left her a great portion, and she said, these six measure
of barley gave he me. And he said to me, this is what
Ruth is saying that Boaz told her, don't go empty to your mother-in-law. Then said she, Naomi, well sit
still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.
For the man, he'll not be in rest until he has finished the
thing this day." He's going to finish this. So, David is sent,
he's an unknown king, but he's revealed to his brethren. And
he's sent to his brethren. And they, I didn't get to this,
but the oldest, beginning with the oldest and the others, they
didn't receive Him, did they? They rejected Him. They despised
Him. They said bad things about Him. There's nothing bad to say
about Him. It's all good. He's goodly. He's
comely. He's goodly to look to, look at. He's altogether lovely,
the Son. And that's Jesus Christ. And
we saw no beauty in Him, no form of comeliness, no beauty that
we should desire Him, did we? When he first heard the gospel,
it didn't mean anything to us. But God sent him to his brethren,
to his leg. And they're going to know who
he is. And in time, they're going to bow their knee to him. They're
going to believe him. They're going to see that without
him, they can't do nothing. That if David hadn't come, We'd
be foes. We'd be servants of our foes. We'd be just like the world.
We'd be lost and undone just like them. If Christ hadn't come,
we'd be out in the world, without God, without hope, in this world. But God, the Father sent the
Son to be the Redeemer, the Captain in ourselves. Wednesday night,
we're going to see the battle. He'll come. Alright, Brother
John. Seeing it close.