If you would, you can be turning
to 1 Samuel chapter 17. 1 Samuel chapter 17. I want to deal with basically
the whole chapter, but I'm just going to read verses 40 through
46 for now. 1 Samuel 17, 40 through 46. And he took his staff in his
hand and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and
put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a script. And his sling was in his hand,
and he drew near to the Philistine. And the Philistine came on and
drew near unto David, and the man that bare the shield went
before him. And when the Philistine looked
about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth,
and rudy, and of fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto
David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And
the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine
said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the
fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said
David to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and
with a spear and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name
of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom
thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver
thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head
from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the
Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild
beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there
is a God in Israel. We read here in this chapter,
Israel is at the brink of war with the Philistines. You have
one on one side of the valley and one on the other side. The
Philistines have a great warrior who is formidable, a formidable
enemy, it would seem. I'm just going on what other
says about this man, but Goliath was around 11 foot tall, a little
bit taller than that possibly. He was large compared to other
men. Not only this, but he had very formidable armor. He carried armor that no other
man could have carried. There were none present that
could have went up against this man and won. It caused Israel
to bow down in fear and hide, and they were vehemently afraid,
or greatly afraid. There was no man who was going
to step out into that field to approach unto this enemy. All
knew they were no match for this enemy. We are no match for this
enemy. They were in bondage to this
fear. They could not go out and meet this enemy and no one of
the camp would dare venture out to meet this enemy. To do so
and try to fight this battle by themselves, they knew that
it would be sudden destruction to them. Death would follow and
everyone else would be enslaved to this enemy. What is this enemy? This enemy specifically is the
devil, Satan himself. Him who has the power of death.
He was a warrior who had the power of death. There was not
anyone present who could or would take this enemy on and win. This
enemy having the power of death is in control of everything that
involves death. What is death? Iniquity against
God. We are the children of wrath
even as others. That is, we as we are born in
Adam. And we hate God and defy God
because in death that is all we can do. Satan has the power
of death. Satan is this great warrior we
see in Goliath in this passage. In order to destroy the enemy
and gain control of the other side of the valley, this enemy
must be defeated. There is no other way around
it. Someone has to defeat him, but who would it be? God's people,
God's army are not left without a warrior. There is always a
savior for the Lord of hosts, even if the methods of the Lord
of hosts seem to be contrary to the way man would do things.
His ways are high above our ways. His thoughts are high above our
thoughts. God will accomplish victory the
way he is pleased to do it. He did it here in this passage
and he has done it for the salvation of his people. So I want to look
at the following things today. The shepherd, the arm of the
Lord, the sling of God, a smooth stone. In 1 Samuel 17 and verse 15,
it reads, 1 Samuel verse 15. But David went and returned from
Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. Here we have a
shepherd who is tending his father's sheep. He is doing that which
is needful to make sure the flock is cared for. This shepherd who
tended his father's sheep was about to be sent to the camp
of his brethren. The father wanted to make sure
they were fed and to have this shepherd look in on them. If you will, to see how they
were doing, he was going to go where they were on the battlefield.
In doing what was asked of him of the father, he had an encounter
with the enemy. This enemy came, come up speaking
to the shepherd, and remember it says in this chapter, if you
would read this chapter, it says, he was there 40 days, verse 16. And the Philistine drew near
morning and evening and presented himself 40 days. It tells us that as the shepherd
boy David was there, this enemy came and spoke words against
the host of Israel, who is God and his armies, and David heard
it in verse 23. And as he talked with them, behold,
there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by
name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according
to the same words, and David heard them. What a picture of
our Lord, who left glory, being the shepherd of the sheep. He
left glory to come down where the battle was, to the encampment
where the enemy would be found and encountered. Mark 1 13, it
says, and he was there in the wilderness 40 days, tempted of
Satan, and was with the wild beast and the angels ministered
unto him. He took on Satan himself, being
tested of him who is the prince of darkness, that is Satan. We
have the shepherd of the sheep who looks after his sheep. He
will fight against bears and lions and whatever other enemy
there is that come up against his sheep, his brethren. This
shepherd will not allow the enemies of the Lord of hosts to defy
his armies or take any of his sheep. What would his reward
be in doing this? A bride. the daughter of the
king. That's what it says in verses
25 through 30. And the men of Israel said, have you seen this
man that has come up? Surely to divide Israel is he
come up. And it shall be that the man
who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches
and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free
in Israel. And David spake to the men and
that stood by him saying, what shall be done to the man that
killeth this Philistine and taketh away the reproach from Israel?
For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy
the armies of the living God? And the people answered him after
this manner saying, so shall it be done to the man that killeth
him. And I'm gonna stop right there.
Our great shepherd who left all glory to come down to fight the
battle so that he might win his bride from the king. Hebrews
13 verses 20 through 21 reads this. Now the God of peace that
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will. Working
in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ
To whom be glory forever and ever amen But then again in Isaiah
62 5 we read this For as a young man marrieth a virgin so shall
thy sons marry thee and as the bridegroom rejoices Rejoiceth
over the bride so shall thy God rejoice over thee It is Jesus
Christ who is our great shepherd, who has come to fight the enemy
of the Lord of hosts, and it is he who has won the battle.
What is he? The arm of the Lord. The arm. What does it mean, the arm of
the Lord? You know, men, we know what this
is, right? Stand in the, do this. Why is this done? Why do bodybuilders
do this? Strength. It's a show of strength. When we read in scripture the
arm of the Lord, we are reading of the strength of the Lord.
He which by his own hands and his own feet will accomplish
the work of God for salvation in his people, for his people. Psalm 89, 13 reads, thou hast
a mighty arm, strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Now
if you would, turn with me to Isaiah 63, Isaiah 63. In verses three through six. Isaiah 63, verse three. I have
trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none
with me. For I will tread them in mine anger and trample them
in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments,
and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in
mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked,
and there was none to help, and I wondered if there was none
to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought
salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me. And I will tread
down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury.
And I will bring down their strength to the earth. God Almighty is
his own strength. He is his own working out of
the salvation of sinners through Jesus Christ the Lord, who is
the arm of the Lord. We are talking about the shepherd
that is our brother. Jesus Christ could only save
mankind if he came down to this earth and was made flesh. That
is the Lord of glory. That one which is high above
who hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. He had to come down
to where his people were in order to secure salvation for them.
This was all in his purpose to do from the very beginning. It
would be all for his honor and glory. There was none other that
could have done this. None other had strength to do
this. He was the only one who could
do it. It could only be one man that could go out and fight this
enemy. Psalm 77 verse 15 says, thou hast with thine arm redeemed
thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, see law. Now in our
passage, there is something that this arm holds. What is it? A
sling. Now this arm of God would hold
in his hand the sling. What is this sling that could
be seen in his hand? What can we say that it typifies?
The sling used by God would be a weapon that no one would have
expected to be used. The whole event that takes place
is not what anyone would have expected to defeat this kind
of enemy. What was the device used to defeat this enemy? Galatians
3 verse 13 says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. The enemies thought they had
defeated the shepherd. Even on the day when they had
said they would not kill him, it was the very day that they
did. It was this tree which they would hang him on and this very
device that was used against our great shepherd. He would
suffer the shame and the guilt being hung on a tree. The enemy
despised the shepherd. Who was this enemy? Fallen sinful
man. fallen sinful man which every
one of us are by nature. Romans 5.10 reads, for if when
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. So
all were enemies of God, but there were some for whom he would
engage in this battle to allow them to go free. This sacrifice
would make them free indeed. This army which is led by that
one who is the prince of darkness and has the power of death, it
was this instrument, this weapon, if you will, which Jesus Christ
would be lifted up on and in doing so would save his people
from their sin. There was no need for a sword
or spear or shield. He was fighting in the name of
the Lord of hosts. All that was needed was a stone. It says in verse 40 he took five
smooth stones. I'm not real sure of the significance. I'm sure there's a significance
of five stones, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. I didn't
have time to study it. But he used one of those smooth
stones against Goliath. And I'll have a little more on
this later, but the word smooth here means smooth. As far as
I know, or I can tell from the search that I've done, this word
is only used in this passage, and that's it. The word simply
means smooth. However, it is derived from a
word that means smooth, or that is to apportion or separate. What was this stone? This smooth
stone was Jesus Christ being the perfect spotless lamb of
God, dying the just for the unjust. the only one that could have
brought down this mighty warrior, the enemy of the armies of the
Lord of hosts. He was that one man and only
man that could have done what he did and not be destroyed by
the enemy. Although he was the perfect spotless
lamb of God, the smooth stone with no blemishes, perfect for
the work that was needed to be accomplished, elect and precious,
a cornerstone, This righteous, just man, God Almighty Himself,
was made sin for us, bearing our sins in His own body. He was not a sinner, but He was
made sin. The very thing that I am, He
was made sin so that I might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. It was completely the intentions
of this one who would fight this enemy that he would kill this
enemy so that there would be no one that could assault the
armies of the Lord of Hosts. He was fixed upon defeating this
enemy because the justice of the Lord of Hosts demanded it.
It was his promise to us in the beginning. In Genesis 3 verses
14 and 15 we read, And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because
thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and
above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go,
and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his head. This bruising of the head is
a fatal blow that would completely do away with this enemy. The
word means to gape. So Jesus Christ, by dying on
that tree, crushed the head of the serpent, that is, the devil,
that those who are in him would not taste of death. He fell in
their stead and won. First Samuel 17 and 49. And David
put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slain
it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone
sunk into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. This enemy of our great shepherd
has been decapitated. This enemy has no more hold on
us. Death has been dealt with in
Jesus Christ our Lord. We are given the promise of eternal
life through Jesus Christ, our Lord, if we believe. Now in conclusion, I have some
things I want to say. Now this is a little bit of hard
language, but it has to be said. Ellen, I've been reading some
J.C. Philpott, and he said some things in one of his messages
that I believe it's needful for us to hear in my message. There
are some that have grown up under sovereign grace. J.C. Philpott says it's like this,
that they have eased into sovereign grace. There are those professors
of grace who are children of incest. He likens them to Lot
and his two daughters, who you know the account. They got pregnant
from their father, Lot, as well as her sister, and those born
from that were Moab and Ammon. The scripture calls Lot, that
righteous man, Lot. They might be tied to a righteous
man or women in that they are part of their family, but they
do not have the grace of God upon them. They will agree with
and hold to the doctrines of grace, but there is no grace
upon them. Jeremiah 48, 11 reads. Moab hath
been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lease,
and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel. Neither hath
he gone into captivity, therefore his taste remained in him, and
his scent is not changed. These are those who never experience
any turmoil of soul, never any tribulations, nor do they ever
experience any real joy of soul in hearing of the great shepherd.
Their scent has not changed. That is, their life has not changed
at all. They were just eased into the
preaching of grace, but have no real experience of grace.
If you read the account of Moab and Ammon, they were always left
alone. No one touched them, so they
had it easy. What does this result in? Excuses,
one after the other. Any excuse not to hear God's
gospel and not to be with God's people, it does not matter what
the excuse is, whatever it is, it will do. I cannot give you
exactly what it will look like one way or the other, but I will
say this. A child of God cannot go on continually
and not be a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God's people
are more likely to have to have someone tell him to go away,
you're sick, stay away. You cannot keep them from being
around God's people and his people. You don't have to beg the child
of grace to be around God's people. Ailments will not be enough to
keep them away, and I mean totally keep them away. No friends and
what they think will keep them away. No family, including spouses,
will keep them away. God's people follow the great
shepherd for he is their salvation. They know the fear of God and
know the bondage that death brings. But they also know the joy of
hearing of the great shepherd and what he has done. Only God
can give this grace. But if he does not, your scent
will not be changed. You will be indifferent to anything
of the gospel. It will not be important enough
for you. Nothing will change. Those for whom God does something
for, it changes your way of life. Just like those in the chapter
of our text, they seen the enemy and were in bondage to fear.
Someone might say, okay, I see fear here, but where is the joy?
Verse 52. 1 Samuel 17, verse 52. and the men of Israel and Judah
arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines until thou come
to the valley and to the gates of Ekron and the wounded of the
Philistines fell down by the way, Sherem, even into Gath and
into Ekron. This joy results in shouting
and joining in on the battle and pursuing the enemy. God's
people will want to be a part of what is going on and will
join their brethren. Those who have been given grace,
they hear these words. And it came to pass when the
Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David, that
David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
He was set like a flint, that is, like a rock to perform that
which he was sent to do. This enemy, along with all the
enemies that were with him, defied the Lord of hosts. There was
no fear in him. The enemy would be destroyed
and he was the only one who could do it. Only one man could go
out and fight. Hebrews 2 verses 14 and 15 reads,
for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same. That means
he became flesh and blood. that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. Those men in our passage were
in fear of this enemy and they were in bondage to that fear.
They were not easing into this. One fatal blow was all it took. Jesus Christ saved us because
it was he that destroyed the enemy. There was no turning around
or changing his mind. He is the Lord of glory, the
Lord of host himself, who has come down and did what was needed
to purchase our salvation. Those for whom were in bondage
to fear before the enemy, which is death, this was done one time
and one time only, Joe. It was the faith of Jesus Christ
who stood and stands between those who defy the Lord of host
and his armies. Hebrews 10.10 reads, by the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once. If someone else stands in your
way and you are a part of the armies of the Lord of hosts,
the Lord will not allow it to continue. If he does, then maybe
you're on the other side of the valley with the enemy. The battle
is won. There is nothing else to be done.
Do you believe that? As I said previously, David pulled
five stones from the brook. I've read that this number is
significant of grace, and maybe that's true. It certainly would
seem to indicate it here. But you have the five loaves
of bread that could indicate that. I can't say it one way
or another because I haven't studied it, but think about this. He had one stone which was Him
being the spotless Lamb of God and being made sin for us. This
stone being used to save His people from their sin. There
were still four stones left in his bag when he was done, so
as four stones left in his bag. Now this is true whether it is
indicative of grace or not, but this passage is true. First Corinthians
1.30 reads this, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
Our Lord by His own hands, Him being the strong arm of the Lord,
has defeated death and thereby giving us eternal life. He has
been made unto us all these things. He is the Great Shepherd, that
One who makes sure we are protected and safe, being made all things
to us. The sling of the cross with that
smooth stone being offered up, him being made sin for us, the
just for the unjust, has taken our sins as far as the east is
from the west. He now sits on his throne. Revelations
12.10 reads, And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now has
come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and
the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren
is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
He maketh intercession for us to any who would accuse us, having
the stones of perfection in his bag. Our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ promised from the beginning that it would be He that would
crush the enemy. He has forever done this by His
coming down and dying for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. We have nothing to fear. Jesus
Christ is the arm of the Lord. He has all power and has destroyed
the enemy. All honor and glory goes to Him,
for it is He that has done all the work. Isaiah 53 one says,
who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? Those for whom God chose from
the foundation of the world, those who are his, are his brethren,
and it will come to pass at his own time, when he will be pleased
to reveal himself to them. When he does, you will see him
in the gospel, believing the report. I pray it is today. But I know his arm is not too
short that it cannot save. But it will be his arm that does
the saving and not your own arm. Or someone else's arm. We may
be a small group, but our God is not small. We serve the Lord of Hosts. We, by his grace, fight against
anyone who defy the Lord of hosts and his armies. How do we do
this? Preach the gospel. Do you believe that he has destroyed
the enemy by the power of his might? Rest in him, give honor
and glory to him, for it is all his. Mason, will you lead us
in prayer, please?