All we'll see tonight, chapter
18, verse 1. 1 Samuel, it came to pass when
he had made an end of speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan
was knit with the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his
own soul. Now, David pictures the Lord
Jesus Christ throughout his life. in so many ways and here we have
a marvelous example of just that. The first thing we see in this
passage though is Jonathan's love for David. But we know that there's something
that happened before this. And this is our story, our first
experience of God's grace is to fall in love with the Lord
Jesus Christ, is it not? Oh, I know the Lord bestows His
grace much earlier than that. He said to Jeremiah, before I
formed thee in the belly, I knew you. And he wouldn't just say,
I know about you. He's saying, I loved you when
you were still in your mama's belly. And the Lord's grace we know
is upon us in eternity itself, in the everlasting covenant of
His grace, wherein the Lord Jesus agreed to be our surety. His
blood is the blood of the everlasting covenant. And He is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Before there was a
sinner, there was a Savior. But we experience His grace we
realize that there is grace when we see the Lord Jesus Christ.
And to see, to know him, is to love him. Why did Jonathan love David according
to the text? Well, it doesn't tell us in verse
one, does it? But we know from our study why. When David was just a shepherd
boy, out in his daddy's fields keeping the sheep. It doesn't
say anything about Jonathan's feelings for David then, does
it? He didn't take any notice of
him. He was just like everybody else. Nobody took any thought
for him, naturally speaking. In 1 Samuel 16, we saw that David
was passed over. He was overlooked. There was
no beauty about him that anybody should desire him. When God sent
Samuel down to anoint his king, David wasn't even considered
a candidate. But Jonathan began to love David
when he saw what David had done for him. Is that you? You see, Jonathan
was one of these ones described in chapter 17, verse 11. It says, When Saul and all Israel
heard the words of the Philistine, Goliath, When he came out, you
remember, and boasted and said, send me a man, and I'll fight
him. And whoever wins, me or him, the other, the whole nation
will serve the winner, the one who wins, the nation of the champion. And it says, when they heard
his words and saw how great he was, they were dismayed and greatly
afraid. Who was? Saul and all Israel. That includes Jonathan, doesn't
it? And in verse 24 of chapter 17, it says, all the men of Israel,
when they saw the man, they fled from him and were so afraid.
But then Jonathan watched. He sat on the sidelines just
like you and I did. And he watched as their substitute,
their representative went out and fought the enemy and utterly
destroyed him. You notice it called it a slaughter
in our text. He slaughtered him. How did he do it? With one act. One sling of one stone. He destroyed
our enemy. And the next thing you know,
Jonathan loves David. Oh my. You talk about the gospel
story. My story. My testimony. This
is the trembling sinner. afraid and unable to overcome
that which threatens our destruction daily. If anybody had any idea
that you're hanging over hell by a spider web, and you know
what you're hanging on? The mercy of God. If he lets
you go, you're a goner. If he takes you up, you're forever
blessed. And it's at his sovereign discretion.
He gives life to who? Whom he will. Whom he will. helpless and hopeless and scared. But then somebody preaches the
gospel and we see the son of God coming and doing for us what
we could not do for ourselves. We see him as our substitute,
our representative. As it goes with David, so it
goes with all the people of God. And we see him as our champion,
overcoming our enemy and destroying him. How did he do it? With one
act. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Let's
read about it. Here's our champion. Here's the
champion. It's just pictured by David.
David's just a shadow. Hebrews 10 in verse 9. Here's
our champion. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will. David said, thy servant will
fight this Philistine. I'll do what nobody else will.
Did you do the will of God? Has anybody ever done, did Adam,
did anybody? No? But Christ said, lo, I'll
come and I'll do his will. I'll do it in every jot and till.
I come to do thy will, O God. And he taketh away the first,
that he may establish the second. The first what? The first covenant
of works that we broke, that we couldn't live up to the conditions
of. And He came and established the second. What's the second
covenant? It reveals that He kept the first
one. And that because He did, God's people are forever blessed
in Him. Unconditionally. Unconditionally
blessed. By the which will, we are sanctified. What will? God's will and Christ
keeping it, doing it. That's our holiness. Through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all, He did
God's will perfectly, establishing Himself as our righteousness,
and then became our sin offering. Offered His body, His soul, His
very soul. an offering for sin. And every
priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sin. The blood of an animal
never remitted one sin. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. from henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. People talk about progressive
sanctification. Have they read this? It's E.D. Dunn. Them that are
having perfected forever them that are sanctified. That's my
sanctification. I don't know about you, but I'll
tell you this about you and me and everybody else. If your sanctification
has anything to do with your performance before God, you're
a goner. You're a goner. It's just that simple. If you
ever see God's anointed, is that what David was? God's chosen
anointed king. If you ever see God's anointed,
The Lord Jesus Christ, that's what the word Christ means, the
anointed one. If you ever see him doing this
for you, what we just read in Hebrews chapter 10, you will
fall head over heels in love with him from that moment on. How did the Lord Jesus Christ
ravish your heart, you that know him? How did he do that? In Solomon's
Song, chapter four, verse nine, the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking
to his church And he says, thou hast ravished my heart. Oh, a
wonder of wonders. The word literally means to make
the heart beat faster. When I met Vicki, my heart started
beating a little faster. And the day I married her, it
was beating real fast. He also has ravished our heart. How did he do that? How does
the Lord Jesus do that? Why do you love Him? Well, John
removed all doubt in 1 John chapter 4, 19, didn't he? When he said,
we love Him because, here's why, He first loved me. He first loved
me. How did you know that He loved
you? How'd you find out? 1 John 4,
9. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us. Because that God sent his only
begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Is that how you found out? Somebody
stood up and told you about the son of God coming down here for
sinners like you. And manifesting the love of God
by giving himself. He said, this is my body which
I broke for you. This is my blood which is shed
for you. And you saw him for the first
time, one time. Oh yes, it takes place, salvation's
an eternal work, but you experienced it in time on a certain day.
I don't even know what day it was, what year it was, doesn't
make any difference, does it? I'm like Paul, I want to know
Him now, don't you? I want to press forward toward
Christ, not look back to an experience. But God in time reveals His...
Paul said, when it pleased God, He revealed His Son in me. Is
that when it happened to you? That's exactly when it happened
to me too, when it pleased God. And we fell in love. Do you love The Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I don't love him like I
ought to love him. I didn't ask you that. That's not what I asked. Did
the Lord ask Peter? Lovest thou me as thou ought
to love me? Is that what he asked him? No.
Aren't you glad that his love is the cause of our love and
not vice versa? I don't want anything to be based
upon my love or my anything else. Do you? David did what he did for Jonathan
long before Jonathan loved David. God doesn't save you because
you believe the gospel. You believe the gospel because
God saved you. We love him because... But do you love him? Do you love him? The gospel is
the revelation of what God hath done for thee. When Jonathan
saw David as his champion, as his redeemer, as his victorious
representative, he fell in love with him and that's when I fell
in love with Christ, when I saw Him as my substitute, my champion,
living for me, dying for me, doing for me what I couldn't
do for myself and paying for what I did do. Our love is the result of His
love, not the cause, but I insist upon asking this question, just
as our Lord did, do you love Him? Why do I insist upon that? Because
Paul said if any man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him
be accursed. Let him be anathema maranatha.
If you don't love Christ, you ought to go to hell. That's what
that says. You deserve it and you sure enough
will if you die hating the Lord Jesus Christ. Kiss the Son lest
He be angry and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled
but a little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. Let me say it again. If you love
Christ, it's because He first loved you. By grace are you saved
through faith. And that faith is His gift to
you as your victorious representative. And let me say this too. Your eternal soul hangs upon
your answer to this question. What think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? We're born enmity against God.
There's no question about that. God doesn't save us because we
love him. In that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Sinners. What think ye of Christ? I want
you to notice something else in our text in verse three. Look
at verse three. Then Jonathan and David made
a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. If you look
at the text, everywhere that it's talking about Jonathan,
it mentions Jonathan's name. And everywhere else where it
just says he, it's David. So this is not being repetitive
here. Jonathan loved David as his own soul and it was mutual. It was mutual. But notice this about the love
of the Lord Jesus for his brothers. It's covenant love. There's a
covenant made. David, the one who pictures Christ
in our text, spoke of the Christ as he lay on his deathbed. And
do you know what he said? You do because I've quoted it
a thousand times. And I'm going to do it a thousand
and one right now. David said in second Samuel 23
five, although my house be not so with God, he had a horrible
rebellious vow family yet. And David was one of them. I
don't need to recount to you the sins of David tonight. Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. How can
you make an everlasting and eternal covenant with somebody that's
not eternal? He made the covenant in eternity
and he let David in on it in time. That's how you do that.
And that's what he did for me. The covenant was made a long
time before David was ever born. And then one day David found
out about it. God made it with him. He made it for him long
before. And then one day he made it with
him. And he said, this covenant is ordered in all things. And
sure, it's not like the first one. It's not waiting on me to
ratify it, to fulfill any conditions of it because there are no conditions. It's ordered in all things and
sure. And David said this about it. This is all my salvation
and all my desire. My salvation Entirely has to do entirely with
what God did for me And not anything that I might imagine that I did
for him And that's all my desire I don't
want it any other way to you Paul said all my works and my
heritage I Put all that behind me and count it, but done that
I may win Christ That's the way I like that's my desire for him
to save me and Because that's what I need. And then he said
this, it's ordered in all things and sure, for this is all my
salvation and all my desire, whether he ever saves anybody
else or not. Although he make it not to grow. If God just saved
one sinner, we'd have to praise him forever. Just like we do
now. It'd be just as marvelous that
he would save one worm like me. God speaks to all sinners in
Isaiah 55. Turn over there with me. David spoke of that everlasting
covenant that God had made with him. Listen to the language of God
Almighty through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 55 and verse
1. Ho, everyone that thirsteth! Come
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and
eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me and
eat ye that which is good. And let your soul delight itself
and fatness. As you heard the gospel this
past weekend, where's your soul delighting in fatness? Have you
ever feasted like that in your life? We were feasting upon that
which is good. This world doesn't know what's
good, do they? I can't even explain that to
somebody. And it doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ, can you?
It doesn't make any sense to them. It doesn't taste the same
to them. We feasted upon the goodness of God in Christ as
he was set forth in his gospel. And God calls upon the sinner,
incline your ear and come unto me. Verse three, hear and your
soul shall live. Faith cometh by what? Hearing
and hearing by the word of God. That's how God quickens sinners.
That's how he gives life to whomsoever he will, by causing them to hear
something. And look at what he said, your
soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with
you. He made one with David, he made
one with me, but it's the same covenant. Even the sure mercies
of David. That same covenant that God made
with David. And David said, it's ordered
in all things and sure. That's the one I'm talking about,
God said. an everlasting covenant of mercy. Now look at verse 4 of our text.
1 Samuel 18 verse 4, And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe
that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even
to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. Jonathan takes
off his clothing and his sword and all and gives it to David. And maybe you're thinking, well,
surely the roles are reversed here. Surely the typical roles
are here reversed. And Jonathan, rather than David
is become typical of Christ because Christ is the one who gave us
his robe. Isn't that right? Oh yes, he
did. He absolutely did. There's no
question about that, is there? And all through the scriptures,
the clothing is representative of our standing before God. What
happened when Adam and Eve first sinned in the garden? What was
the first thing they realized? They didn't have any clothes.
They stood before God in open shame. And the Lord slew an innocent
victim and took its skins and covered them. And now they're
standing with their sin covered by blood, by the offering of
innocent blood, a clear picture of the gospel. And all through
God's word, it's that way. In Romans 13, verse 12, turn
over there with me. Let's look at this, Romans 13.
Verse 12. Paul said, the night is far spent,
the day is at hand. Talking about the last times.
One of our pastor friends told us this weekend, these are the
last of the last times. I don't know if he's right or
not. He's not sure. But we feel that way, don't we? We believe
that because we see the evidence of it from the Word of God. The
night is far spent. Paul was saying it a long time
before we're saying it. The night's far spent. The day
is at hand. If it was at hand then, what
about as we're sitting here tonight? It's at hand. The kingdom of
heaven is at hand is what Christ preached. Repent because it's
at hand. Let us therefore do what? Cast
off the works of darkness. What's the works of darkness?
Your works. Oh, my bad? Yeah, your bad works
and your good work. They're all bad, except in Christ. Our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags in the sight of God now. Cast off the works of darkness
and let us put on the armor of light. You see the picture here?
We're taking something off and putting something on. And let
us walk honestly, verse 13, as in the day, not in rioting and
drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife
and envying. It's funny that bickering and fighting and not
being able to get along with people is compared to being a
drunk. Just as bad, isn't it? But look
at verse 14, here's what we're to do, but put ye on the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's our covering. He's our
righteousness. He's our standing before God
and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Paul said in first Corinthians
15, 53, this corruptible must put on in corruption. We're to put him on now and one
day we'll have him on for good. From then on, we'll be like him. We'll be satisfied when we awake
with his likeness. When the Lord Jesus Christ saved
me, he brought me the best robe.
The prodigal son, you remember the story. He found himself in
the hog pen after he had demanded his inheritance from the father
and said, I want what's coming to me now. And he went out and
spent it all on riotous living. And one day he woke up in the
hog pen and said, looky here, I'm in the hog pen. And even
the servants in my father's house are better off than me. I'll
go to my father's house. And he went and he saw the father
coming to meet him, running to meet him. And he said, I know
I'm not your son anymore. I forfeited that. Just make me
a servant and I'll be happy. And the father said to his servants,
go kill the fatted calf and let's celebrate. My son who was lost
is found. And he said, bring the best robe
and put it on him. That's what my Father did for
me. He sent His Son down here to be my representative, to be
my righteousness. And He gave me the best robe.
And I stand in the Lord Jesus Christ. My standing before God
is perfect. I'm holy. I'm righteous. I'm
spotless. Unblameable and unreprovable
in the very sight of God. Because of the robe of His righteousness.
And there's no question about that. He took my place. He bore
my sin in His own body on the tree and made me the very righteousness
of God in Himself. But how did He do that? How did I wind up with the best
robe? And the answer to that question is the reason why there's
no reason whatsoever to think that the roles should be reversed
in our text. Yes, Christ gave me his righteousness. Yes, I stand before God in his
robe, his perfect spotless robe without seam. You remember when
we saw that? His robe was without seam, no blemish. But the reason I have his robe
on is because he took my robe. Jonathan gave David his robe. He bore my sin that I might be
made the very righteousness of God in Him. He hath made Him sin for us who
knew no sin that... Have you noticed that word, that,
in this? He took my clothes that He might
give me His. This is called the doctrine of
substitution, but it's so much more than a doctrine. It is in reality before God now. In reality. And I'll tell you
this, and you know this is right, me, you, we don't really know
what's real until God shows us what's real. We're creatures
of sense, aren't we? We tend to think that what's
real is what we can perceive with our senses. But what's real
is what God has said and what God has done. And this thing that we call the
doctrine of substitution, it is in reality a complete transfer. It's a perfect exchange. My rags
for His riches. My sin for His holiness. My death for His life. My condemnation for His blessing.
My failure for His victory. My evil for His goodness. My shame for His honor. My hell for His glory. It's a
complete exchange. He became what I am, that I might
become what He is, the very righteousness of God Almighty. Has God revealed this to us?
He came down here, Paul said this weekend, that we might go
up there. You remember the story of the
Good Samaritan. It says in my favorite words
in the text, The Good Samaritan, it says, and he came where he
was, where that man lying, bleeding in the ditch, he came where he
was. Why did he do that? You remember Christ's prayer
in John 17? I will, that those that you have given me be with
me where I am. The Lord Jesus came where I was,
that I might forever be where he is. And that's glory. That's what glory is. That's
what heaven is. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. It's not
a place only. God said there's a place by me. Is that what He said to Moses?
There's a place by me and I'll set your feet on a rock. That's
heaven. It's just not up in the sky somewhere. It's with Christ. Surely, if you cannot love the
Lord Jesus Christ, it's because you cannot see Him. Jonathan saw David in all of his human glory. Nobody
thought that he was able. They mocked him. They scoffed.
He wouldn't even wear the armor that they said at least, if you're
going to be that mismatched, at least put on some good armor.
Don't need it. Got no use for it. Nothing is added to His victory. He, by Himself, purged my sins. God give us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. Without our help, without
our aid, without our man-made aids and helps. Their hindrances
is all they are. And Jonathan watched as one man
went out. And you think about, you think
about the experience of this. The deal was, Goliath had said,
if I win, then Israel serves the Philistines from this day
forward. And you imagine what a hell that would have been.
Bitter, violent, horrible enemies. It would have been better for
the Philistines to kill them all on that field that day right
then and there and get it over with. But by becoming their servants
from that day forward, the Israelites would die every day. Every day. Every day. And here goes this little shepherd
boy. And if he fails, then everybody expected him to. But as we read in our text, God
was with him. And as Paul said, God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. And as Jonathan watched that
little shepherd boy go out there and defeat the mightiest, most
intimidating champion imaginable with one act, the next thing
we read is that Jonathan loved David as he loved his own soul. Have you ever seen what we read
about in Hebrews chapter 10 a while ago? The Lord Jesus Christ, by
one offering, perfecting forever them that are sanctified. Have
you ever seen him shed his precious blood for you? We sing that song,
it is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. Oh,
I believe Jesus died on a cross and was buried in a rosary. The
devil believes that. Have you ever seen that he died
for you and fallen in love with the Son of God. If not, it's
simply because you cannot see him. As soon as Jonathan saw
who David really was, they all thought they knew who he was
before. But then on that day, they witnessed him as he was.
God's anointed king and the champion of God's people. And then they fell in love. May
God give us grace, eyes to see him, and a heart to love the
Son of God. Let's bow in prayer.