Not to Abolish but to Fulfill

Q: What does the Bible say about the anointing of David and Saul?

The Bible depicts David and Saul as both anointed kings, highlighting God's sovereignty in their roles, yet only David fulfills God's ultimate plan. In the Bible, Saul was anointed as the first king of Israel by God through Samuel, establishing him in a position of authority. However, as Saul's disobedience to God grew, his ability to fulfill the role diminished. In contrast, David was later anointed, demonstrating God's choice for a king who would ultimately lead Israel in righteousness. This anointing illustrates the sovereignty of God in appointing leaders while also highlighting the fulfillment of God's covenantal promises through David, who serves as a typological figure foreshadowing Christ, the ultimate King.

Q: How do we know Christ fulfilled the law?

Christ fulfilled the law through His perfect obedience and sacrificial death, satisfying its demands and securing salvation for His people. Christ, as affirmed in Matthew 5:17, states that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. This fulfillment was realized through His perfect adherence to the law throughout His life and by bearing the penalty for sin on the cross. Romans 8:3 explains that what the law could not do, weakened as it was by our sinful nature, God accomplished by sending His Son. Therefore, through Christ's sacrifice, justice is served, and the righteous requirements of the law are satisfied, allowing believers to stand justified before God. This underscores the beauty of the gospel and the importance of Christ's role in fulfilling what the law could not achieve.

Q: Why is the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

God's sovereignty assures Christians that all events in life serve His purpose and plan, providing comfort and hope amidst struggles. The biblical doctrine of God's sovereignty is crucial for Christians as it conveys that God is in control of all aspects of life, from the mundane to the grand. This sovereignty means that nothing happens outside of His divine will, which encompasses both the good and the suffering we encounter. Romans 8:28 assures us that God works all things together for good for those who love Him. Understanding God's sovereignty provides believers with the comfort that their trials are not meaningless but part of His redemptive plan. By recognizing God's governance over their lives, Christians can navigate challenges with faith, knowing that all circumstances ultimately serve His purposes.

So we'll be back in 1 Samuel 24. We'll pretty much stay there the whole morning. It's a somewhat well-known event in scripture. I remember hearing about it as a kid. I remember coloring pages of David holding that piece of cloth. Never really thought about what that could possibly mean. You know, I think a lot of times in this world we try to find behavioral lessons in a lot of these things.

And sure, there are ways to get that from the scripture. Absolutely. And this could be taken that way as well, but once again, it is so much more than that. David is consistently, through the scripture, a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is no different in the way that this is carried out. I really enjoyed this scripture and studying it. It's amazing to me.

We constantly talk about the sovereignty of God and how everything in our lives is orchestrated by his power and his will. From the most minute aspect of our lives to what feels like much bigger events. And they all have purpose. And they all have reason.

And quite often we don't know the purpose or the reason. because we simply can't contain what's inside the mind of God. But this one is unique to me in the fact that it is such a strange circumstance that he orchestrated for what seems like a really obvious opportunity for David to end this awful sequence that he was living. And when, in fact, what ended up happening was nothing of the sort. Matter of fact, a whole lot of nothing happened. There was some confrontation. But he was put in this situation where he had the opportunity, and a fully justified opportunity, to end all of his problems. He had the timing.

He was in there in a cave. So at this point, if we want to just step back and look at a bigger picture of this, He was stuck in a cave because he'd basically been manhunted by Saul for quite some time. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the long story of David and how he ended up being anointed. At first he was close with Saul and Saul saw him as a threat and Saul was cursed to kind of lose his mind and became aggressive in the idea of killing David. And that's exactly what was happening.

So he's hiding in a cave with his men. And hiding there for obvious reasons. He's trying to stay alive. I thought I would take my glasses off, but you are all very blurry. There we go, that's better. So he's hiding to save his life. And who walks in alone?

The man that's trying to kill him. the man that is the source of all the problems in David's life. And he had a perfect opportunity. There's 3,000 men outside this cave. Their only job is to either hunt down David or protect Saul, and they're out of the picture. It's just Saul, alone, going to the bathroom. He had every opportunity to end every problem that had been presented to him. And yet he didn't. And his reasoning was, I will not destroy what the Lord has anointed.

And we'll get into this a little bit later, but we do have to remember that Saul, who we all think of in a very dark light, was anointed king by God. So David, By choosing not to, by being ordained to not take this opportunity, that reveals something much greater than just David being a good person or turning the other cheek.

This reveals the true king, who he was. They were both anointed at this point. Now, by rule, Saul was still king. by God's anointment, David would become king. This reveals that. This reveals the true king, the king who doesn't come to destroy, the king who comes to fulfill. He had the opportunity and the power to destroy and instead chose to fulfill. because it was the Lord's will. So, stepping back, Saul is king. He was chosen king by God. He was anointed by God.

In 1 Samuel 10, it says, then Samuel took a flask of olive oil, poured it onto Saul's head, and kissed him, saying, has not the Lord anointed you ruler over all his inheritance, the first king of Israel? that was put in place by God. Before that, Israel was ruled by judges, individuals like Samuel. This was the first king anointed over Israel, anointed by God. But David was also anointed many years later. It says in 1 Samuel 16, 13, so Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. And from that day on, the spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. So two anointed.

One current, one coming. Now that's a pattern that we're gonna see. First, second. Current, coming. Saul, we have to remember, is real. He was established by God. But he cannot bring the kingdom of Israel to its fulfillment. That is also ordained by God. And that's become very clear in his disobedience. When Saul was first king, he was a good king. fruitful, obeyed the Lord. And then over time he became disobedient and God punished him by losing his mind.

So he cannot bring the kingdom to its fulfillment. He cannot produce righteousness for Israel. And scripture tells us something of something that's very similar to this, ordained by God. put there first, but cannot bring its kingdom to fulfillment. It's the old covenant, it's the law.

It says in Romans 7.12, so then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. In Romans 8, it says, for the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, weakened by sin. God did, sending his own Son. So the law, it first says in Romans 7, is holy.

It's good. We're terrified of the law, as we should be, because all it does for us is nothing good. But the law itself is good. It's very good. The law is so good, it is what made Christ perfect. He followed it perfectly. Were it not good, why would Christ want to follow it? Why would the king of kings live by it?

So of course the law is good, but there's no righteousness in it. There's no way to fulfill the kingdom of God, the church of God. So do you see the connection between Saul and the law? They're both real, they're both necessary, they're both from God, but they are not final. And they are both weakened by sin. Saul began being disobedient to God in every way.

And in Romans 8, it says here, for what the law is powerless to do, which is to save sinners, because it is weakened by sin. Because of our sin, there is no salvation found in the law. Cannot be. There's no forgiveness in the law. The law's job is to point out sin, and unfortunately, we have a lot to point out. And now we switch from Saul to David. David, a wonderful character in the Bible in so many ways, and he just so often shows us the beauty of what Christ is and who Christ is and what he's done. Look at him. Look at the similarities already.

Already anointed, but not yet enthroned. The true king, but rejected. Chosen by God, and hunted by men. Sounds familiar, because this is exactly how Jesus Christ entered the world. Says in John 1 11, he came into that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. So David is forced to hide as Christ was unrecognized for who he truly was. Both are rightfully king. Both are anointed by the Father, yet not received. And then Saul walks into this cave, alone, completely exposed, totally vulnerable.

Everything in that moment said, take advantage of this opportunity. Even David's men. He said, this is the day the Lord has spoken of when he said to you, I'll give you your enemy into your own hands to do with as you wish. Take the throne. That's essentially what he would have been doing, because he was the next anointed king. To kill Saul would have been to take the throne. to end the hunt of his life, to end the danger that he constantly lived in. But what does David say?

I will not lay my hand on my Lord because he is the Lord's anointed. That is the work of the Spirit. We've seen through scripture how David can make awful decisions. This is not him being better today. This is the power of the Spirit of God putting this in his mind and in his heart, holding him back from who he truly is. David alone, Saul would be dead. But the Spirit told him, this is the Lord's anointed. He's trying to kill you, but he is the Lord's anointed. It says two verses later in Samuel 24, my hand will not touch you.

He refuses. Why? Because he will not destroy what God has established. He doesn't think he knows better. And now look at Christ. John 6, 38, it says, for I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me. John 8, 29, I always do what pleases my Father. David says, I will not strike. Christ says, I will not act on my own. I will not go outside of the will of my father, the plan that has been set before me, even though I have the strength to do it.

Now he didn't do this in a cave, he did it in the garden. He said in Matthew 26, do you think I cannot call on my father? Now this is shortly before he is taken to Golgotha. This is shortly before he is, shortly before the cross. They are about to arrest him and what does he say? Do you think I cannot call on my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels?

I could stop this. I could end it right now. But he says, but how then would the scriptures be fulfilled? They say it must happen in this way. It is the will of my father. I could stop this, I could end this, but he does not. Because the old covenant must be fulfilled. He references that, he doesn't just say, this is the will of my father, he says, how then would the scriptures be fulfilled?

How would the law be satisfied if I were just to say, erase all of this? How can God still be just if sin isn't punished? Saul stands as a shadow of this old covenant, real, established from God. David will not take this kingdom by force, just like Christ will not avoid the cross by his power, which he could. He says it himself, I could. The law has purpose. It even has authority. But it was never the end. It was never the answer. And David, the true king, does not destroy Saul. Just as Christ, the true king, did not come to destroy the law. In Matthew 5, 17, it says, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. This is Christ saying these words. I have not come to destroy what my Father has established.

Just like what David said in that cave, I have not come to destroy the Lord's anointed. David fulfilled what Saul could not, just as Christ fulfills what the law could not. So David says in that cave, I will not strike the Lord's anointed, and he's right, he should not.

So we say the first anointed of God, Saul, the law, was not meant to be struck down according to the will of God. But when the true anointed comes, when the true king comes, it says in Isaiah 53, he was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. So as the first anointed was not to be struck down according to the will of God, The second anointed had to be struck down according to the will of God. He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all. The true king, the true anointed, was not to be spared.

He was meant for the cross. When you have a small sliver of an idea of who that man was, if you are a believer in him and you understand what he's done for you, the idea of him being born to suffer is hard to take. It's an ultimate sign of love. But it was not just love. At the cross, this was justice. For the wages of sin are death.

This is not a flexible rule. There is no give there. This is a decree from God. Now, we are so used to our own rules that really have no power. We can break them and bend them all we want. A decree from God is permanent and unbreakable and unchangeable.

Sin must be punished by death, period. It will be punished by death. And there are two ways that that can happen. It can be you paying that price or it can be Christ. Sin cannot be overlooked. It can't be even dismissed. He says he does not leave the guilty unpunished. So the question is not will sin be punished? The question is who will be punished. Who will bear it? Because the record of sin cannot simply be erased. This is what Christ was saying when he said, I could have my father send legions of angels and end all of this, but sin cannot just be wiped away. It needs to be paid for. Colossians, it says, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, he has taken it away. But he doesn't stop there. He hasn't just taken it away. It says he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

Christ had all the power to ask for those angels. and he would have been justified in doing it because he can do nothing but good. But in order for us to be saved, sin needed to be paid for. So that sin was nailed to the cross in the body of our perfect and dear Savior. The record is not waved away, Our record was fully and justly dealt with. It was nailed to the cross. And this is why David did not strike Saul, because what God establishes is not just simply undone. It is fully carried out and it is fulfilled.

And this is why Christ did not simply upend the law and wipe the record clean. If he had simply erased the record, God would not be just. And that is another decree, God is just always. What more proof do we need than his own son on the cross? God is just. So Christ does not destroy the law, he fulfills its demand.

And what a demand. Every time the law has been broken by every one of God's people, that is a mountain of sin we cannot imagine. We can't imagine our own. One sinful heart. And it says in Isaiah, the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. If we are held accountable, if I'm held accountable for my sins, I can never pay that price, which is why hell is eternal. I can never finish paying what I owe. I'm not good enough.

Christ is so good and so glorious that he paid for the sin of all of his people and finished it, fully paid. That sin is gone forever. Is that you? Then praise God. It says in 2 Corinthians, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. This was not optional.

This was the only way that God could remain just and somehow justify what we are. In Romans 3, verse 26, it says, God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement. through the shedding of his blood to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance, he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time so as to be just to the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. so he could be just and the one who justifies.

It is the beauty of the gospel. God is the one who is owed. We had no chance of paying him what he was owed, so God willed away. in which what was owed to him could be paid by him. That's how much we have to do with this. All we bring is the debt. God brings the justice and the payment.

So David stands in this cave and says, I will not strike the Lord's anointed. And that's right, because the first anointed was not to be struck down. According to the will of the Lord. David will not destroy what God has established. And Christ will not destroy what God has established. He will not bypass it. He will not overturn it. He will not simply erase what is demanded. He will fulfill it.

Fulfill, I love that word because it's final and complete, but it also doesn't carry the weight of what he did. He will bear it. The wrath owed for every sin of every one of God's people since the beginning of Adam. Born and held and paid for and suffered by the perfect son of God. Not because God lost control, not because man prevailed. This was the will of his father because sin must be punished, justice must be satisfied, and his people must and will be saved.

How glorious. He would not spare his own son for you. And because his own son was struck down and forsaken, our record is not just ignored, our record was cleared. Because Christ was crushed, God was just, and his people are completely justified. Because Christ was found guilty, God is just. and we are found completely innocent. Child of God, your sins were not simply wiped away.

They weren't just forgiven. They were paid for. Your sins were punished to their fullest extent. Nothing was held back. Who was punished for you? The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was punished for you. Christ Jesus, God in flesh, perfection, the Word, the Creator. He is the one that paid your debt. Is that not enough? It is. It is everything you need. He is everything you need and he is all that you need.

He chose the will of his father and he went that direction when in fact he could have killed Saul in that cave. But he would not destroy what his father had established. He would not go outside of the perfect plan, the only way in which God's people would be saved. He would not spare himself for you.

There is no more glorious truth in all of creation than that. Your sins are gone, never to be seen again. Praise God. Our Father, we thank you so much. We can't thank you enough. for what you are and what you've done. You have made it so the vilest of sinners can be glorious in your sight. You have taken what is so much a part of us and thrown it away, never to be seen again, paid for by our perfect Savior. You have done all of this on your own in spite of who we are. And we thank you and glorify your name. And we so look forward to the day when we can do that perfectly. We pray this and thank you for all of this in the perfect name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Take out your chorus books once again, and this time we'll turn to number 23, The Mystery of Godliness.

Not to Abolish but to Fulfill

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the anointing of David and Saul?

How do we know Christ fulfilled the law?

Why is the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

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Not to Abolish but to Fulfill

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the anointing of David and Saul?

How do we know Christ fulfilled the law?

Why is the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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