2 Samuel chapter 1. I'd like to read verse 26 of
2 Samuel chapter 1. I am distressed for thee, my
brother Jonathan, very pleasant. As thou been unto me, thy love to me was wonderful
passing the love of women. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
with Thanksgiving. We're so thankful. that your
God and beside thee is none else. We're so thankful for who you
are. We're so thankful for your glorious attributes. We're so
thankful for your word that you've given us. We're so thankful for
your gospel. We're so thankful for your son.
We're so thankful for the free forgiveness of sins. We're so thankful for your mercy
and grace. Now, Lord, meet with us, speak
in power to our hearts from your word. And Lord, forgive us of
our sins for Christ's sake, and give us grace to love you more
and trust you more. Give us grace to love one another
more. Bless us for the Lord's sake, in his name we pray, amen. David's description of Jonathan's
love He says, thy love to me was wonderful passing the love
of women. What a description. Thy love
to me was wonderful passing the love of women. Now I believe
Jonathan to be a man of faith who loved God. I have no question
about that. We read of him before we ever
read of David. And you remember there in the
14th chapter how he went and took on a garrison of the Philistines
and said, with God, it doesn't matter what he can say with many
or few. He was a man who loved God. And we're introduced to him,
like I said before, we're introduced to David. But Jonathan's first
experience of David was when David was fighting Goliath, and
he heard all these words. And this is very special. Turn
with me to 1 Samuel chapter 17. Now, remember, Jonathan loved
the Lord, and he heard David saying these things, and it just
knit his heart in love to David. Look beginning in verse 23. And as he talked with him, 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. And all the men of
Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore
afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man
that's come up, surely to defy Israel as he come up? And it
shall be that the man who killeth him, the king shall enrich him
with great riches, and will give his daughter, and make his father's
house free in Israel. And David spake to the men that
stood by him, and I have no doubt Jonathan was listening, saying,
what should be done to this man that killeth the 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 Jonathan heard that. And you can be sure he was impressed
by what he was hearing. Look in verse 32. And David said
to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will
go and fight with the Philistine. And Saul said to David, now I
have no doubt Jonathan was beside him. And Saul said to David,
thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with
him for your but a youth. And he a man of war from his
youth. And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's
sheep and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of
the flock. And I went out after him and smote him and delivered
it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught
him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew
both the lion and the bear, and the uncircumcised Philistine
shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of
the living God. David said, Moreover, the Lord
that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the
paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. And
I have no doubt that Jonathan was listening to all this. And
can you imagine how his heart was so impressed with David?
Look in the same chapter, verse 40. And he took a 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 script. And his
sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
And the Philistine came and drew near unto David, and the men
that were 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 ruddy, and of a 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'll give thy flesh unto the
fowls of the air and 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 thy head
from thee. And I'll 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. And all this assembly shall know
that the Lord saveth not with sword or spear, for the battle
is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. 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. And David put his hand in his
bag and took there 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. So David prevailed
over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the
Philistine and slew him, and there was no sword in the hand
of David." Now, can you imagine how much Jonathan admired David
after this? Because you admire him, don't
you? I admire him. I mean, we love him. Our heart
is just drawn out in love to this man who stood so mightily
against the enemies of the Lord. We just admire him. And think
of David. Think how many times you've read
the Psalms that David has written. And the Psalms expressed what
was in your heart better than you could express it. You just
read the Psalms, and I think that's the closest anyone's come
to praying, is when we read the Psalms and identify with what
David is saying. We love David, don't we? We love David. Well, so did Jonathan. So did Jonathan. Oh, how he admired
David. He admired him as God's anointed. Now, the love that passes the
love of women is a completely supernatural love. It's the same
love John spoke of in 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4, verse 7, Beloved,
let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loveth
is born of God and knoweth God now this is a supernatural love
it's given in the new birth and everyone that loves is born of
God and knows God verse 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God,
for God is love. Now, this is that love that our
Lord spake of when he said, by this shall all men know you're
my disciples, by your love one to another. This is the same
love that John spoke of in 1 John 3, 14, when he said, we know
that we pass from death to life because we love the brethren."
Now think of that statement. We know we pass from death to
life because we love the brethren. Look in 1 John chapter 5 verse
1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God and everyone that loveth him
that begat, speaking of God who gives life, loveth also him that's
begotten of him. By this we know that we love
the children of God when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments, and the commandments are not
grievous." Now here's the bottom line of this, thinking of Jonathan's
love to David. Jonathan loved David because
of David's love to the Lord. That's what he admired. That's
what he esteemed. That's what he viewed so highly. And when you see this in somebody,
you see, if I'm a believer, I love the Lord. And I love anybody
who loves him. Now that's what this love is
all about. If somebody loves God, you love
that person because they love the person that you love. And
you have a completely different attitude about that person. You
look at that person like nobody else. When you love that person,
when you see that that person, by the love of God, shed abroad
in their hearts, they have this love to Him. They do. Every believer
does. And understand this. When I talk
about love to God, somebody starts thinking, well, I don't love
Him enough. I know you don't. Neither do I. Neither do I. And I don't
feel good about my love. I don't think it was worth it.
Or I don't look at somebody and say, well, but here's the deal. Don't you love
God's sovereignty? That means you love Him. Don't
you love His justice? That means you love Him. Don't
you love His way of saving sinners? That's because you love Him.
So don't think about your love. Think about Him. And that's what
draws out your love to Him. And anyone who loves Him you
love. And that's what Jonathan's love
to David is all about. It's the love that our Lord spoke
of when he said, by this shall all men know you're my disciples,
by your love, one toward another. Now in first Corinthians chapter
13, Paul tells us what this love looks like. It's one of the most glorious
chapters in the Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Would you turn with
me there? And every time I read this chapter
or think about what this chapter says, I think, I need to read
this chapter more. It's such a beautiful chapter. And this
love that Paul expresses here is the love that Jonathan had
to David. It's the love that believers
have toward one another. It's a supernatural thing. It's
the gift of God's grace. It's given in the new birth.
The fruit of the Spirit is what? Love. That's the fruit of the
Spirit. And I think all those other things
are manifestations. Love, joy, peace, gentleness,
long-suffering, goodness, and so on. It's all product of this
love that is spoken of. The fruit of the Spirit is love.
Now, in verse 31 of chapter 12, Paul said, "...but covet earnestly."
The best gifts. And you know, we do covet the
best gifts. I want to have any gifts he has
to give. Yet, show I unto you a more excellent
way. Now this way is better than any
gift. And then he goes on to say, though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, though I can speak
so fluently I sound like an angel. And have not charity, I am become
as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the
gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, I can tell you
what everything in the Bible means. And though I have all
knowledge, And though I have all faith so that I could remove
mountains, miracle working faith, and have not charity, what? I'm nothing. I'm nothing. Verse three, and though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, I give everything that I have
to feed the poor. And though I give my body to
be burned as a martyr for the cause of God and truth, and have
not charity, it profits me nothing. Now do you see the importance
of this? It's the difference between being born again and
not being born again. It's the difference between having
the grace of God and not having the grace of God. The fruit of
the spirit is love, is charity. This love that Jonathan had toward
David. Now he goes on to describe this
love. Verse four, charity suffereth
long. It's long suffering. It's patient
and it's persevering in bearing the offenses and injuries toward
you that those who love you or those that you love do to you.
Now everybody that you love, they're going to do you wrong.
You know what else? You're going to do them wrong
too. You are. That's just the facts. That's the way life is. But if
you love somebody, you know what? you're patient toward them, even
if they wrong you. You're patient toward them. Now,
if you don't love somebody, you're not going to have this long-suffering.
You're not going to have this patience toward them. But if
you love somebody, this is how you will be. And you can be sure
that Jonathan was that way toward David. Charity is long-suffering. It suffers long. It's long-tempered. And charity is kind, gracious,
easy, good. That's charity. It's kind. It's not mean. It's not mean-spirited. It's not quick to criticize.
It's kind and gracious. And I love the word easy. Easy. My yoke is easy. Same word. My yoke is easy. Oh, the yoke
of the Lord Jesus Christ is so easy. And love is kind. Not mean, but kind. Look what it says next in verse
4. Charity envieth not. Now I think of Jonathan toward
his love toward David. You know, Jonathan was the one
who should have been king. He was in line to be king. He
was the son of Saul. And when God anointed David as
king, was Jonathan envious? No. He was glad. He rejoiced. You see, if you
love somebody, you do not envy that person. If you're envious,
if you're jealous at them being blessed or prospered, you don't
love them. If you love somebody, you do
not envy them. Love envieth not. Isn't this beautiful? This charity
the Scripture speaks of. You know, really, 1 Corinthians
13 is one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible, but let's
go on reading this description of love. The same love that Jonathan
had toward David that's the gift of, that's the fruit of the Spirit.
Charity vaunteth not itself." It doesn't boast or promote itself. You know, Jonathan promoted David
over himself. And if you love somebody, you
don't have any problem promoting them over yourself. Now, if you
don't love somebody, you're going to always be promoting yourself
over them. You're going to be vindicating
yourself and justifying yourself in all things. But if you love
somebody, you're not going to vaunt yourself. You're not going
to push and promote yourself. You're going to promote the object
of your love, always. That's what love does. It does
not vaunt. itself. Jonathan promoted David
over himself because he loved him. He loved him as his own
soul. It says in verse 4, love is not
puffed up. It's not swollen with pride and
haughtiness. And what humility Jonathan expressed
to David. He wanted David to be promoted
over himself and he always took the lowest seat. He always took,
with regard to David, he wanted David's glory over his own. And
that's what love does. Now this is most especially true
with regard to the Lord. We want Him to be promoted over
ourselves and over our own works and so on, but love is not puffed
up. It's not swollen with pride. Look what it says next in verse
five. It says, does not behave itself unseemly. You know what
that means? That means it's not rude and
disrespectful. Now, all of us know what it means
to be treated disrespectfully by someone. And it hurts, doesn't
it? It hurts. Now, it's true respect is earned. It's not given by way of entitlement.
And it's also true that we should never treat anyone with disrespect. I don't care who it is. And love
is never rude and disrespectful. Now, if you don't love somebody,
you'll be rude to them. You'll be disrespectful. You'll
treat them bad. But if you love somebody, you
won't. Love does not behave itself unseemly. And how Jonathan demonstrated
that with David. And look what it says in verse
5 next. Love seeketh not her own." It's not self-seeking. Jonathan's love was clearly that
way toward David. He sought David's good, didn't
he? Love is not self-seeking. Not true love. And then it says
next, love is not easily provoked. Now, If you don't love somebody,
you're easily provoked by what they say. And you're quick to
find fault. But when you love somebody, you
put the best construction on what they say. You're not always
condemning what they say. You're not always fine. No, you
put the best construction. And you're not offended easily.
You're not touchy around somebody you love. You're putting the
best construction. Love is so beautiful. And then
it says next. Love thinketh no evil. It keeps no records of wrongs
is what that word means. It keeps no records of wrongs.
I'll remember that, not if you love somebody. Love doesn't hold
grudges. Love doesn't keep records of
wrongs. It forgets it. Aren't you glad the Lord's that
way? What if the Lord kept records of wrongs of you? You'd be in
trouble, wouldn't you? And I would too. But love doesn't
do that. It thinketh no evil, it keeps
no records of wrongs. Verse six, love rejoices not
in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. It doesn't rejoice
in iniquity. You don't rejoice in the fall
of somebody you love. As a matter of fact, if you love
somebody, do you want them exposed? You want people to see things
about them you don't lend. I dare say, all of you that know
Len, I hope you haven't anyway. I bet you've never heard her
talk bad about me. Bet you haven't. Now, could she say things bad
about me? Absolutely. She knows me like nobody else
in this room knows. She knows me. But you know what? She loves me. She loves me, and
she covers it. She didn't want me to be exposed. And that's the way we are with
somebody we love. If you have a spouse, you see some faults. There's only one person I wouldn't
change, and that's the Lord himself. There's things about everybody
I know that I'd change if I could. And if you knew me, there's plenty
of things you'd change about me, but not the Lord. Wouldn't
want him to be changed in any way. But regarding the people
we love, we don't want their faults exposed, do we? Why? Because we love them. We recognize
the fault, but the scripture says, love covereth a transgression. It doesn't expose. If you want
somebody to be exposed, you don't love them. It's really that simple.
Love covers a transgression. Aren't you thankful his love
does that? Covers a transgression. Look what it says, it rejoices
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, in verse six. And
that word rejoices in the truth is a different word than the
rejoicing not in iniquity. The word means literally to rejoice
in another's joy. You rejoice in another's joy.
That person you love, when they're promoted and exalted, you rejoice
in it. You're not envious, you rejoice
in their joy. Look what it says in verse 7.
Charity bears all things, and that's very similar to thinks
no evil. It means it covers with silence
all things. It doesn't want to expose. It
doesn't want things to be. It covers with silence all things. When you're speaking of your
spouse, make sure you always speak highly. Make sure you always speak highly.
When you're speaking of anybody you love, make sure you always
speak highly and cover with silence. Oh, I wish I'd learned to do
this. You know, when I'm saying this, I'm thinking, well, how
can you speak so much negative stuff? Well, because I'm, there's
no excuse for it. May the Lord enable us from this
time forward to cover with silence anything negative about anyone
we love. Isn't love beautiful? I mean
this is the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the fruit of
the Spirit. This love that Jonathan had toward David. It bears all
things. It covers with silence all things.
It believes all things. You know what that means? It
believes the best. It believes the best. It doesn't
believe the worst. It's not always negative and
critical and judgmental. It believes the best. It believes
all things. And what it can't see, it hopes
for. It hopes for all things. And
it endures all things. It's never reduced to inactivity. If you really love someone, you
never stop loving them. That love is never reduced to
inactivity. Charity never fails. It's never reduced to inactivity. But whether they be prophecies,
they shall fail. Whether there'd be tongues, they
shall cease. Whether there'd be knowledge, it shall vanish
away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when
that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be
done away. I think that's speaking of the full canon of the scriptures.
When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child.
I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish
things. For now we see through a glass
darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I'm known. And now abides faith,
hope, and charity, these three, but the greatest of these is
charity. You see, my faith will one day
be turned to sight, and I won't need it anymore. My hope will
one day be turned to experience, and I won't, it won't be a hope,
it'll be experience. But that charity shall remain. Now, here's the most important
part of this verse. You know, talking about David
said, oh, I'm distressed for thee, Jonathan. Thy love to me
was better than women. Thy love was wonderful to me.
Now, here's where we really enter into what David was saying. We think of the Lord's love to
us. Thy love to me was wonderful. Now, you think of his love. When
I think of his love to me, one of the things I love to think
about, I first got to begin here when I think of his love to me.
His love to me is not unconditional. People talk about unconditional
love. Unconditional love. I want to be loved unconditionally.
You know, that's the most ridiculous thing to say. It's silly. There's
no such thing as unconditional love. God doesn't have it. Nobody
has it. You see, in Christ, I am lovely
to God. However lovely Jesus Christ is,
that's how lovely I am. I'm not looking at God loving
me unconditionally, because if He could love me unconditionally,
He'd stop loving me unconditionally. but his love to me is in his
son. Nothing shall separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So that
love to me is wonderful. To think that God actually looks
at me, me, Todd Norbert, sinful Todd Norbert, and says, behold,
my love, there's no spot in thee. Thou art all fair, my love. And that's what Christ did for
us. He made us. lovely to God, without spot, wrinkle, or any
such thing, without blemish, holy and unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight, now His love to me. Oh, how wonderful that is
to think that there was never a time when He began to love
me. It's an eternal love. Behold,
I've loved you with an everlasting love. Me, me. I'm glad he loves you all that
way too. I really am, but I'm thinking about myself right now.
His love to me was wonderful. To think that he actually never
began to love me. He's always loved me and he always
will love me. And it's what a giving love. God so loved the world that he
gave He gave His only begotten and
well-beloved Son. He gave Him for me. Now, I don't
understand that. I know His first cause is His
own glory. I've got to start there because
if I just think He did it for me, I can't grasp that. But what
glory He gets in giving his son for someone as unworthy as me,
how that magnifies his grace, how that magnifies his love and
his mercy. Oh, his love to me is wonderful. It's a love that will never end. It's a love that I can't mess
up because it's all in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now, charity,
God's charity toward me is glorious. His love to me was is wonderful. Passing the love of women. I
mean this is, we love romantic love. Aren't you thankful for
your spouse? And we love romantic love. I love that. But this love
can't even be compared to romantic love. It passes the love of women.
It's altogether divine. It's the fruit of the Spirit. It's what every believer enjoys. And so when we read, I think
it's so debauched. And everybody's thought it. Everybody's
thought it before. When you read of Jonathan's love
to David passing, the love of women, and people thought, well,
is that some kind of unclean, homosexual type of love? And
people thought that. People have even said that. People
have maintained it. No, no, don't debase this like this. This is
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And when I read
that passage of scripture with regard to what David said, I
guarantee you there were hearts set ablaze with love to David
because of what he said to Goliath in love to his Lord and faith in
his Lord. We look at that and we love him
just the way Jonathan did. And so every believer shares
in that love. We have a love that passes the
love of women. But even more so, we have his
love to us that all passes the love of women. The love of God
which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now, in closing, one more
verse of scripture. Chapter 14, verse 1 of 1 Corinthians
13. Here's his conclusion to all
this. Follow. Earnestly pursue after charity. Make this your goal. Make this
your pursuit. Make this the thing that you're
asking the Lord to give you, Lord, give me this charity, this
charity. You know what? I was, I was thinking
about charity and I was thinking about being in a home,
two believers, and they might be going through rough times.
Everybody, you know, being married is hard, isn't it? Somebody says,
no, well, not hard. Being met, but what I'm, being
met, not to, Liam's the one that has the hardness, not me. So,
but what I'm saying is, even with regard to your spouse, do
you see in them love to the Lord? And that's enough to make you
love them, isn't it? That's all, I mean, they might
make you mad in so many other ways. Well, look at that. If
you see in them love to the Lord, that's gonna draw out your love
to them. Make love. Make charity your
aim.