All right, if you'd like to follow
along, 1 Samuel 16. 1 Samuel chapter 16. You know how much I love these,
love the Old Testament. Most of you know why we study
it so much. You know, when our Lord preached, he preached from the Scriptures. And the Old Testament was all
the Bible he had, right? The apostles, when they preached,
every time they preached, they only had the Old Testament Scripture. And I believe it was last week
I quoted what our Lord said when he said, the scriptures are they
which testify of me. Christ said they are they which
testify of him. I like to call this book a hymn
book. This is, that green book is not
the hymn book. This is the hymn book, H-I-M. This is all about him, all about
Christ, his story of history. This is not just a book of history,
this is his story, the story of Christ crucified. Nearly every
prominent person in the scripture, nearly every character throughout
Old Testament represents the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why
their lives are recorded. The stories about Abraham, he
represents Christ there. We've gone through some of them.
We went all the way through the book of Genesis together, saw
clearly. His son Isaac, on and on you
could go, couldn't you? Abel, Adam, Abel, Moses. What about Joseph? I see smiles on some of your
faces. You'd like to look at that again,
wouldn't you? Beautiful picture. Just on and
on they go. But if you were to ask me which
person in all the Old Testament scriptures, which person most
represents the Lord Jesus Christ, I would say without hesitation,
I say David. David. Because, well, our Lord
called his son, he named his son, the son of David. He named Jesus Christ. That's
what he's called, the son of David. Right? The son of David. All right? Now, this is one of
those stories, and I hope you'll follow along with me. More importantly,
I hope God will open your understanding of this. I remember when I was
a young believer, talking to Brother Todd Nyberg on the phone,
and when the Lord first revealed the gospel to me, and I first
heard some of these Old Testament types, I remember sitting, I
felt like I was a foot off my pier. listening as I heard of
Phibisheth for the first time, or Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer,
or just on and on the stories go. And this is one that you
may not have seen before, this type of Christ here, this representation
of Christ here, all right? David represents the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, the Anointed One, the King of Israel. the
man after God's own heart. That's who David, that's who
this story is about. That's why God wrote this story. I've entitled it Music to a Sinner's
Ears. Look at it again with me. 1 Samuel
16, verse 1. The Lord said unto Samuel, How
long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from
reigning over Israel? And he goes on to say, I have
provided me a king. I have provided me a king from
somewhere else. Saul here. King Saul represents
man. King Saul represents Adam, the
first man, and all that have come from Adam. Adam, you remember,
God put Adam in the garden and he was a king, wasn't he? Adam
reigned over God. brought the animals before Adam
and said, name them. And he named them. And God said,
multiply and subdue the earth. Reign over it. Rule over it.
Adam was a king in the garden. He reigned over this earth at
one time. But the story is, and it's true, it's not just some
fairy tale like modern man thinks. But it's true. Adam was a real
man, and his wife Eve And they rejected God, God's Word, God's
expressed commands to them. They rejected it. It was much
more than a matter of them taking an apple or a fruit and eating
that. It was their absolute rebellion
against God. Satan is the one that manipulated
and what they did in rebellion against God was saying, you don't
have a right to be God over me. We want to be, we want to do
what we want to do. You have no right to withhold
that from us. And they just took that in rebellion.
And see here, well, man failed. God said, the day that you eat
of that fruit, you'll die. That was what God said to that
man. He said, the day you eat thereof,
you'll die. Now, did Adam die that day? God said he would. Did Adam and
Eve, when they partook of that fruit, did they die immediately
that day? Yes, they did. You say, no, they didn't. Adam lived
970 years physically. He physically lived that long,
but he died. You see, this is the death that
God was talking about. He died spiritually. Holy Spirit of God which was
with him, God removed him. Do you remember, Adam began to
be filled with hatred and envy and malice, and he started blaming
his wife immediately, didn't he? He started blaming, and hate
and fear and shame. He said, he was naked and tried
to clothe himself and on and on. Adam died spiritually because
he rebelled against God. He became a sinner. Human nature
became filled with sin. And then Adam, that's the reason
Adam's first boy, Cain, killed his brother. Why? He's full of
his daddy's nature, sin. He no longer had the nature of
God, Adam did. It's gone. God removed it. The
Holy Spirit. He's no longer a holy creature.
He's full of sin. Saul here is a picture of Adam,
and God said he once was king, but I have rejected him. God said to Samuel, I have a
king. I've had him all along. God had
a man in mind the whole time. It wasn't Saul. That's who the
people wanted. God had a man in mind all along.
But he was just too young, he hadn't been born yet, maybe.
And that was David, who represents the Lord Jesus Christ, who's
been God's King from the beginning. He'd been set up from everlasting,
God's King. All right? But so Saul represents
Adam here. And Adam has been rejected in
all of Adam's posterity. And then down through this story
here, it says that Down through this story, it says that all
of Jesse's sons were lined up before Samuel. One by one, they
began to come before Samuel. And Samuel, being a man, he looked
at the first one, Eliah, or Elihu was his name, and he must have
been tall, dark, and handsome. And the oldest son, big, strapping,
handsome-looking fellow. And Samuel, being a man, said,
well, that's got to be him. He's the oldest, and look at
him. It's got to be him. And God said, that's not him.
I projected him. And on and on and on, he kept
bringing these boys, these young men before Samuel, and God kept
saying, that's not them. It's not the first. It's the
last. And then God said, Don't look
on his outward countenance. God doesn't see like you see.
God looks on the heart. Remember Samuel said, God hath
provided him a king after his own heart. God has a king. God has one who is just like
he is. Remember us reading in Hebrews
1 the express image? And in the history of mankind
from the beginning. All men from Adam have been rejected
by God. I don't care what they look like.
I don't care what they sound like. I don't care what we think
of them. Well, he's a good man. He's a
moral man. Well, she's a good woman. She's a moral woman. They
look good. They sound good. They're pious.
They're religious. God's Word says reject it. God's Word says
there's none good, not one. Isn't that what the Scripture
says about mankind? That's what the Scripture says.
All right? Adam and his posterity. All of
Adam's sons are just like Adam, sinful creatures. And God rejects
them all, thumbs down. Why? Because God's absolutely,
perfectly, spotlessly holy and doesn't look on the outward countenance
like we do. He looks on the heart. He looks at what we're thinking.
He looks at our motives. He looks at everything about
us. And if we're honest with ourselves,
everyone in here will admit what's in here. It's not good. But God had one man. one man
all along. He's even called the second Adam.
He's called the second Adam, the second man. You see, God
deals with humankind through two men. All men and women are
under two people. Adam, and they're under condemnation. Everybody in Adam, this is what
Romans 5 talks about. Everybody in Adam, dead, condemned. guilty before God, but if they're
in Christ, Jesus Christ, the second Adam. Ephesians 1 verse
6 says they're accepted. When Christ came, when Jesus
Christ came down to this earth, God had never said this before
about a man. That when Jesus Christ came down
to this earth, God said it out loud twice for everybody to hear,
out loud. twice. God hadn't spoken, Vicki,
for 400 years, since Malachi. He hadn't spoken out loud. But when his Son walked this
planet as a man, God out loud said, Now this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. When Peter stood up at Pentecost
that day to preach, he said, Y'all hear this? Like I said, he didn't say, Y'all
hear this. That's Southern, isn't it? But
he did. If he was preaching today, he'd
say this. Y'all hear this now. He said, there's a man approved
of God. Who is it? Just one. Jesus Christ. And God only approves
of and only will have anything to do with everybody in Him. In Him. By faith in Him. Coming
to Him. Him going for you. Him being
your substitute. And I've got to get into the
story. All right? So God said, I've provided me
a king. And when David came forth, oh,
I'd love to go through all these verses with you. You say you
are. Well, when David came before
Samuel, God said, this is he. I mean, you see the picture there?
Every man that walked before Samuel. You reject it. Reject
it. Oh, he looks good. What's wrong
with him? Nothing outwardly, but God's look on him, rejected,
rejected. David came forth, this is he.
And in the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, made
of woman, made under the law, that redeemed them which were
under the law. And he walked this planet, and God said, this
is he, my King, my Lord. Arise, anoint him, bow before
him. That's your King. You're going
to be accepted in him. That's it. The Spirit of God was upon David. Look at verse 13. Samuel took
the horn of oil, and every line, every jot, every tittle here
is, I wish we had time to look at it. But Samuel took the horn
of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. He was
one chosen from among the people, Nancy. You love that verse in
Psalm, don't you? in the midst of his brethren.
He was a man just like they were, but he was God's man. of Christ. Holy Son of God. All right, look
at verse 14. So do you see who these people
represent here? That's why this is written. You
see that? Some of you, I believe, do. I
wish that everyone did. All right, look at verse 14.
But the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit of the Lord, departed
from Saul. You see that? Departed from Saul,
and like I said, that's a picture of man, by nature, who was holy,
but fell. And now he no longer has this
holiness, this life of God. He's dead and trespasses in sin.
And look at this, verse 14. And an evil spirit from the Lord
troubled him. Isn't that something? An evil spirit, a devil, troubled
this man. Who sent the devil? What does that say? Isn't that
amazing? See, I don't understand that.
God sent an evil spirit. That's what that says. That's
not the first time it's said that either. Not the only time. It says it again in another place.
An evil spirit troubled Saul. And like I said, when Adam fell
in the garden, when mankind fell into sin, the Spirit of God left
him. And man became a sinner in thought,
in word, in deed. And he began to be plagued by
this evil within. Plagued. If you know yourself, you feel
this plague. David wrote about it in Psalm
38. He said, My loins are filled with a loathsome disease. We
all have spiritual AIDS. That's what we have. Well, verse 15 says, The Saul's
servants came to him and said to him, What your problem is, behold
now an evil spirit from God's troubling you. Saul was filled
full of hatred and envy and jealousy and anger and lust and just filled
full of sin. And he didn't know what was wrong
with him. He said, I was rotten to the core, wasn't I? And these
servants of Saul came to him and said, now here's your problem.
Here's your problem. They said, an evil spirit from
the Lord is troubling you. That's your problem. These servants
told him that. And who are these servants here?
Who are these servants here? This is the gospel preacher.
This is me. Standing up in front of you, Saul. Any Saul's in here? I'm talking about the sons of
Adam. I'm just talking about people who are troubled with
this. And the servant stood up in front
of Saul and said, here's your problem. You've got an evil spirit
in you, troubling you. That's your whole problem. And
this is man's problem. I'm not talking about the devil.
I'm not talking about Satan. Although he's real, and demons
are real, the Scriptures speak much of it. Christ spoke much
of Satan. He is real, and I'm not poking
fun of him like these foolish fellows do all the time. He's real. And people are prone
to blame everything they do on the You remember that ridiculous
comedian years ago who used to say, the devil made me do it,
you know. Well, that's pretty much what people say, you know.
Well, it's not him. That's not who we're talking
about. We're talking about this thing of sin, this evil nature
that's called me, self. This evil nature called self,
the old man, the old man that Paul talks about in Romans 7. And when a true servant stands
up, and Paul said in one place, he said, we preach not ourselves.
This is on our bulletin, isn't it? We preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord. He is our subject. He is our
theme. And he said, but we're your servants
for Christ's sake. What does the servant of the
Lord do? He stands up before sons of Adam. He stands up before
these sons of Adam, men and women like yourselves. What does he
stand up and tell everybody? What's the first thing he tells
everybody? Everybody who's full of trouble and turmoil. Does he say, God loves you? Is that what they said to him? They say that Jesus died for
you, that God doesn't want this bad thing to happen to you, and
that he loves you, he needs you. It's all over every sign in Franklin
County and other places. You know, God loves you, God
loves you, God loves you. Jesus needs you. None of the apostles said that.
None of the prophets said that. These servants didn't say that
to Saul. What did they say? They told him the truth. They
got to the heart of the problem. And I've said this so many times
before, but when we go to the physician, when we go to the
doctor, why do we go to him? Do we go to him to have him salve
over the problem? If we had a deadly disease, a
cancer, and we do, it's called sin. Do we go to the doctor
knowing if we have cancer and go to the doctor and say, tell
me something good, speak peace to me? He says, you've got cancer
and we're going to have to cut it out. It's going to be painful
and hurtful. I don't want to hear that. Yes,
we do. That's the problem. We go to
a doctor to tell us the problem, don't we? Paul said that in the
latter days, people will seek out preachers. Tell us, having
itching ears, tell us what we want to hear. Don't tell us our
problem. Don't call me a sinner. Why not? That's the problem. Something's got to be done about
it. That's what the whole thing's about. That's why all these problems
happen to us. That's why this world's in the
shape it's in. That's why we're in the shape
we're in. You've got an evil spirit troubling
you. That's what a gospel preacher comes to a man or a woman or
a young person and doesn't say, smile, God loves you. You better
frown, you're in a mess, you're a sinner before a holy and righteous
God who's angry with the wicked every day. That's what the scripture
says. Isn't that right? My old brother Scott Richardson,
who's no stranger to trouble, my, my, he said this statement
one time. He said, I've never heard any
bad news since I've heard the good news. That's so. I like that. That's
a good statement. Talk about the gospel, the good
news. After you hear the gospel, nothing is ever really, and God's
people gag at bad news. My, my. Heartbreaking news. But it doesn't overcome them
since they've heard the good news. Since they know who's on
the throne, since they know who sent it, since they know who
did it. But let me add this to that statement.
You'll never hear the good news. No one will ever hear the good
news. The gospel will never be gospel. That's what gospel means,
good news. It'll never be gospel to you
unless you've heard the bad news. What's the bad news? No good. Rotten. Sinner. Ah, boy. What about you? Have
you found one in here? That's the reason, you know,
we preach. A lady told one of our ladies one time, after she
heard two or three messages from this place, she said, oh, y'all
talk about sin. She said, you talk too much about
sin. But I tell you this, we do. We
do talk a lot about sin because Jesus Christ doesn't mean a thing
to you, really, unless you know something about sin. The gospel's
not gospel to anybody unless they know something about sin. And that's the reason that so-called
churches are full of entertainment and all that, and everybody's
just having a big old time. Barnard used to say preachers
are entertaining people on the road to hell. There are no sinners anymore. It's an unpopular thing to stand
up and call people sinners. Well, until we hear that, until
we realize what we are by nature, until we do, the gospel won't
mean anything. Alright, look at verse 16 here
in 1 Samuel 16. Verse 16. So Saul heard this
bad news, didn't he? They said, you've got an evil
spirit. That's your problem, an evil spirit. In verse 16,
and they said, and they recommended, they said, let our Lord now command
thy servants, seek, ask, that a man, to seek out a man who's
cunning, a cunning player on a harp. Seek out somebody who can play
the harp for you. And it shall come to pass when
the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that if he starts playing
with his hand, you'll be well. Find you a man who can play the
harp, or the guitar, like in our day. And when he starts playing
this music, and you begin to be troubled, and he plays for
you, a skillful man, and you hear that music. It's going to
be well with you. Seek out such a one. Such a one. You need to hear something that
will soothe your soul. Soul music. Verse 17, And Saul
said unto his servants, Well, provide me now a man. Is there
one? Do you know of such a man? Do
you know a fellow that can play well, that he's good on that
harp? If you do, bring him to me. Send him to me. I need him. Provide him for me. And do you
see the picture here, what this is? This is every sinner who's
troubled with himself within himself. Everybody's got troubles
and trials. Unspeakable troubles and trials.
Sickness and death and sorrow and this and that. Everybody's
got that. What I'm talking about here is
trouble with yourself, sin. This is where salvation comes
from. Are you with me? Everybody's
troubled by things, everybody. But for the person who's troubled
with himself, now, here's the good news. You need some, a man. who can play on your heart. And when you're troubled with
this sin, he'll do you well when you hear it. Do you well. Every
troubled sinner needs to ask this question, is there one that
can do that for me? Is there one? Look at verse 18.
One of these servants, one of them said, verse 18, then answered
one of the servants and said, Behold, I have seen a son. of Jesse, the Bethlehemite. I've seen, in other words, he
says, and I believe he heard him first. I believe he heard
about him first. He heard somebody say, you ought
to hear David play the guitar. Who? David's son. Jesse's son,
David, you ought to hear him pluck those strings. And this
fellow said, oh, was he playing somewhere tonight? And he said,
yeah, down at such and such place. And this fellow went down there
and he heard of him with the hearing of his ears, he said.
And then he went down there and he heard him and saw him play,
and he sat there and rapped as this David, this son of Jesse,
played and played and played. And boy, he just fell in love
with him. And then he heard about Saul,
who was in trouble, and somebody said, what you need is somebody
who can play. And he said, I've got just the one. He's heard
him. Joe, he's heard this fellow.
He's seen him. He knows him. He comes to Saul
and says, I've got who you need. I know who you need. I've got
such a one. Look at verse 18. Behold, I've
seen a son. Scriptures, why does it talk
about David being the son and so on and so forth? Because Christ
is called the Son of God, who is arisen with healing in His
wing. And a true servant, a true gospel preacher, I'll tell you
what he's going to do. When he hears you've got troubles,
you know what he's going to tell you? Not of what? I'm going to tell you about who
I've heard. I know someone. I've heard him. I had the same
problem. And when I went down there, I
heard him. I saw him. He's something. And then he describes
him here. Look at verse 18. He describes,
I've seen the son of Jesse of Bethlehem at. It's no coincidence
Jesus Christ is born in Bethlehem. No coincidence at all. Read on. He's a cunning fellow in play. The word cunning means skillful,
means he can flat play. He's able, that's what it means.
Cunning, he's able to play. He's able. Is there such a one
who can play this guitar and put away my problems? Yes, he's
able. I've got a sin problem, sinners
have. You don't understand, preacher,
don't, don't salve over the problem. Don't tell me God loves, don't
tell me. I got real problem, but I got just the real one for
you. I got real blood to put away
those sins. I've got a real substitute, a
real mediator, not Mary, not Saint Joseph, Saint Christopher,
Saint Tith, the one sitting at the right hand of God himself,
whom God hears every time, whom God always hears. A real
mediator, a real advocate for real sinners. I've got a real
gospel. I've got a gospel that saves.
It doesn't try to, it saves. I know a Christ who saves. And
I'm getting ahead of myself. Is he able to save? Yes, he's
able. Read on. Read on. It says he's cunning
in play, and he's a mighty, valiant man. Mighty and valiant man. I bet this servant heard about...
Do you remember the story of David slaying the lion and the
bear? Do you remember that story? That actually happened. David... I know men don't believe this,
Who cares? David in the scriptures says
he slew, barehanded Rick, says he barehanded grabbed a lion
by the beard and killed that old boy. The lion was after his
sheep. He was a shepherd, a good shepherd,
never lost a sheep. That's where he was when they
found him. That's Christ. He's always been
keeping his sheep from the beginning. There's a lion after one of his
sheep, and David grabbed him and cut his head off. A lion,
a real lion. And a bear one day came down.
Did the same thing. Came down. Started to sound like
Donny Bell now. He come down. Bear come down
out of the woods. Forgive me. Y'all understand
that language, don't you? Bear came down from the woods,
and David grabbed ahold of him and killed him. That's a true
story. And this servant who was telling
to Saul, he said, he's mighty, he's valiant, you wouldn't believe
who he's killed and what he's slain. Bear handed. And people, I'm telling you,
we talk about Jesus Christ, and these fellows, you know, stand.
He's slain some mighty, powerful, people. Do you know of anybody who you
look at and say there ain't no hope for him? I mean an out-and-out, I call
them gutter snipe, you know, gutter dweller, whatever he may
be. I look at some religious people
like that, saying no hope for them. They're too self-righteous.
Do you know anybody like that? Just an old, no good, nobody wants, he's not good to
anybody. Even his mother, you know, thinks,
what a... He's saying no hope for him. Know anybody like that? That's what they say about me. I know you don't believe that.
You've never seen me anyway, but looking religious. Start
to say good, but no, I don't look good. But at least I look
outwardly religious, don't I? He's mighty. He's valiant. He can take an absolute Wild
asses coat. And ride him. Put a saddle on
him. I mean one who's never been ridden
by man and nobody thinks he'll ever be ridden. When he gives
the order, put that saddle on him. When he says it's time,
put that saddle on him. I'm getting on. I'm going to
ride him. And puts a bit in his mouth.
He does it. He's mighty. Who am I talking
about now? I'm talking about Jesus Christ.
who takes gutter snipes. Doesn't have to do it. Who needs
a gutter snipe? He doesn't. He doesn't have to
do it for anybody, let alone everybody, but he does for some
of them, to the praise of the glory of his grace. Why do you
think I'm preaching about him this morning? Because this is my story. This
is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. John Newton,
the old slave trader. Amazing grace that saved a wretch
like me. I once was bound, lost. Now I'm found. Was blind, now
I see. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear. Grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour He made me first believe. Grace that brought me to the
land. Grace will lead me home. Well, he's mighty. He's valiant. Read on. He's a man of war, though.
Now, wait a minute. He's a man of war. You see that? He's a man of war. Modern religion likes to talk
about Jesus, don't it? Oh, he's gentle. Catholicism
says this is a rote a common statement about gentle Jesus,
meek and mild. Have mercy on us, your child.
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild? He's a man of war. It wasn't
a gentle Jesus that overtook me. That wasn't what slew me,
seeing a man of war. That wasn't what slew the people
of Pentecost, is seeing this sovereign Lord sitting on the
throne. A man of war. Let me tell you this. He'll either
be your head or he'll have it. Is that too powerful? And I'm
not asking, we don't ask people to accept Jesus here. No sir.
What we say is bow down before this sovereign Lord. It's your
reasonable servant. Because he is Lord. He is King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. And he doesn't need you. I'm
not telling anybody, God needs you. We don't God bargains with
God. We don't say, if you do this,
I'll do that. We ain't in no position to bargain with God.
We've offended God. Christ is the only one who did
something to appease God. And God said he put him on his
throne. Psalm 2, Hebrews 1, put him on his throne. He said, now
kiss him, lest he be angry. We don't bargain with God. People,
I hear it all the time. I'll get religion if you do this,
if you do that. Why should God strike a bargain
with creatures He doesn't need? He'll either be our head. We'll
either bow to Him and acknowledge Him, or He'll have our head.
He's a man of war. Or He don't. He's prudent in
matters. He's prudent in matters. Does
your Bible give a reference over in the middle there in speech?
He's prudent in speech. This fellow, Stan, went to hear
him play and hear him sing, and he said, Oh, no man sang like
this fellow. Ever heard him sing? And he said,
Oh, his voice is just mesmerizing. If you ever hear the Son of God
speak, No man speaks like this man.
He's prudent. He's wise. He's wisdom itself.
And a comely person. The fellow looked at David and
heard him play and heard his voice and said, Oh, what a lovely
fellow he is. And if you'll ever see Christ
in this gospel, he's altogether lovely. Everything about him. Even him sitting on a throne
like that. Even him sitting on a throne. You say, that God scares
me. It's how he's supposed to. Fear the Lord, the Scripture
says, Proverbs 9, 10, 1, 7. Fear the Lord's beginning of
wisdom. Beginning of wisdom. But he says, under those that
fear me, I'll look with mercy and kindness and smile on them,
those that fear me. And then that perfect love that
he tells them about, cast that off you. See that? And you find these altogether
lovely. And you wouldn't have Christ
any other way but seated on a throne, reigning and ruling. You wouldn't
have Him walking around begging people to do stuff. Would you have your preacher
acting like a fool, like some of these fellows do, putting
on clown suits and running around acting like a fool, standing
on this roof, bringing a reproach to the Son
of God and the gospel? Put little signs out on our pulpit,
clever little, stupid little signs. Would you have me do that?
Well, my God doesn't do it either. He's no beggar. We're the beggars. Read on. It says here, the Lord's
with him. Well, God's with this fellow.
And when Christ came, the Scripture says, call his name Immanuel,
which be interpreted, God with us." God was manifest in the
flesh. Oh, boy. Okay, so Saul, let me
hurry, I've got to quit. Verse 19, Saul sent messengers
unto David and said, send me, when he heard, when he heard
about this fellow, he heard about his need. He was troubled within. He heard about this fellow that
could play, and he was goodly and sweet and kind and comely
and prudent, and he said, I've got to have him. Send him, would
you? He called David's dad. He called
on the father, Joe, David's father, and said, would you send me your
son? Huh? Look at it. Sent messages. Send me David,
thy son, with the sheep. Shepherd of the sheep, I'm a
lost one. I reckon he'd find me, help me. Oh, what'd Jesse do? What'd the
father do? It's all called on him. What'd the father do? Here
it is, verse 20. Jesse took an ass, and he put
something on it. This is marvelous. What'd he
put on it? Well, he said, what does he need?
He needs a little bread, a little wine. And let's see what else. A lamb. He needs a lamb. We'll send a lamb. We'll send
all this with my son. Some of you know what this is
saying, don't you? This is the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. And it's no coincidence that
when the Son of God came riding into Jerusalem, what was He sitting
on? An ass. Well, who's sitting on the ass?
Bread and wine. The Lamb of God. What's bread
and wine, preacher? What's this table all about?
What bread and wine? Christ said, this is my body
broken for you. This is my blood shed for you. John said, behold the Lamb of
God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is Christ sent to a helpless
sinner by the Father. And He comes to Him with just
what He needs. What does he need? He needs something
done by sin. Who can do it? Christ can do
it. And he did it. He didn't just try it, he did
it. The body, the bread represents Christ's life that he lived.
He said, this is my body. Christ lived here on this planet,
not just to show us how to live, not just so we'd imitate Jesus.
We can't live holy enough to please God. Can't do it. Christ did. That's why He came. He said, I've come to establish
righteousness as a man. As a man. And God said, no, there's
a man I approve of. And now Christ said, now, you
can't get to God but by me. You've got to have this righteousness
that I have worked out. God sees right through yours.
Can I tell it again? Can I tell about what I think
about man's righteousness? I know you've heard it. Surely
somebody hadn't. You see, God says you must be
holy for I'm holy. That's what God said. That we
can't. People are everything, the best
deeds. Isaiah 64, 6 says all our righteousnesses are filthy
rags. That means the best that we do
has got some evil motive or something wrong with it. Man, God even said the plowing
of a wicked man, a plowing of an unbeliever is wickedness.
A man out there plowing his field. Why? Well, it's good, honest
work, isn't it? No, God looks on that man's heart. And in the psalm, Isaiah said,
our righteousness is our filthy rags. Religion doesn't save us. Getting in that pool doesn't
save us. Shaking my hand, my hand, you don't shake my hand
to do anything. We don't come down here and mourn
and kneel down all here. None of this will put away sin. We've got to have a righteousness,
a covering. We've got to have something that
God can't see through. What is it? It's this robe of
righteousness that Christ worked out. It's called imputed righteousness. If the scripture is full of Romans
4, imputed, he said, all that believe, all that come to Christ,
he imputes this righteousness to. He takes off this life that
he lived and he gives it to them. He puts it on them. And Joe,
when God sees the believer, he sees them holy. Why? How? They didn't do it. They're
wearing what Christ made. You see that? And when I talk
about our righteousness, it's this filthy rag. Man's righteousness
is like these hospital gowns that people wear. You ever worn
one? You know, people come in to see
you and you've got this gown on. And how are you doing, Bill? I'm fine. Are you looking good?
You know, you do. You look good up front. You look
good to the average person, but don't turn your back. Don't turn
around. Or you'll show what you are. I used to see a sign on the back
of horse trailers. Don't be what you see. And that's us. I don't care how
good somebody looks up front. I don't care how religious, how
they appear to mankind. God sees them for what they are.
They're righteousness like those hospital gowns. We need something
to cover. And that's the body, that's the
life of crying the blood. What about the blood? Well, what
about the wine? Well, God can't just forget sin. That's what makes him holy. That's
what makes him just. God is a just God. God can't
just up and say, well, boys will be boys. Well, forget it, you
know. I forgive you. No, he's got to pay. Punish those
sins. That's what this whole book is
about. That's what every lamb that was slain, every bullock,
blood. That's why rivers of blood were
shed throughout, to show us that by the shedding of blood, there's
remission of sin. The soul that sinneth must die,
die, die, die. We've got to pay for our sins,
Deborah. That's why Christ died. Because
God said, you don't deserve to live. You're a sinner. You don't
deserve to live. I don't need you. But you needed
Christ, didn't you? That's why he came. He didn't
come because he needed you. He came because you needed him.
You needed a lamb. Put away your sin. He came and
when he hung on that cross and shed his blood as a man for his
people, for men, when he shed that blood, he said, it's finished. Put away all the sins of all
of God's people are gone forever. God's pleased with us now. You
say, but I'm still a sinner. That you are. And that's why
you need to hear this heart. Read on with me. It says that
David came to Saul and stood before him, verse 21, and he
loved him greatly. Boy, if you ever see Christ,
if God ever sets him forth before your eyes, you'll love him greatly. You'll demand that this preacher
preach nothing else. And he loved him greatly. And
what happened? He became his armor-bearer. David carried his
armor. What's that? Christ became our
sin-bearer. Christ became our armor, the
whole armor of God. Read on. And Saul sent to Jesse,
and here's the further request. After Saul heard of it, and David
finally came to him and all that, he sent word to the father and
said, would you just let him stay with me? That's what he
said, Joe. Just let him live here. Just
let him live right here. Abide with me. Don't let him
leave me. If he leaves me, I'm in a mess
again. Would you just let him just live with me? Just in me? And that's what every sinner
who hears this gospel says to God. Lord, cast me not away from
that presence. Leave Christ with me from here
on out. I need him. And it says in verse
23, And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was
upon Saul, that David took a harp. David took a harp. And so he
played with his hand. And so Saul was refreshed. Whenever
he got to feeling real bad, David took his harp. And Saul was so
refreshed. And it says right on, it was
well. And the evil spirit departed
from him. And if you ever hear this gospel,
you'll want to hear it from then on out. And nothing else will
love you. soothe your troubled soul. And
you realize what your real problem is. And somebody tells you about
this real Savior, not this wannabe Savior, but this real Lord who
does something real for real sinners. You want to hear that? It's music to your ears. Music
to your ears. Come ye sins, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and power. He is able, He is able, He is
willing, doubt no more. Now ye needy, come and welcome,
God's free bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings you nigh. Without money, without money,
come to Jesus Christ and buy. Let not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires,
Is you feel your day doth end. This he gives you, this he gives
you, Tis the spirit's glimmering gift. Come ye weary, heavy laden, bruised
and mangled by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. Not the righteous, not the righteous,
sinners Jesus came to call. Oh not the righteous, not the
righteous, sinners Jesus came to call. Let's stand. John Davis, I wonder if you'd
come up here and lead us in prayer.