Samuel, chapter 21. I'd like to read verses 8 and 9. And David said unto Ahimelech
the priest, And is there not here under thine hand spear or
sword? For I have neither brought my
sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required
haste. And the priest said, the sword
of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of
Elah, behold, it is here. wrapped in a cloth behind the
ephod. If thou will take that, take
it. For there is no other save that
here. And David said, there's none
like that. Give it me. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
and the name of thy blessed son. And Lord, we ask that we might
be by your spirit and by your grace enabled to hear your word. Lord, bless us with your presence. Speak to us and reveal thy son
to us. Lord, enable us to stand in awe
of his greatness, of his sufficiency, of his beauty. Lord, what more else could we
ask but to be enabled to see him by faith. Lord, forgive us
of our many sins for his sake and be with all your people wherever
they meet together. And Lord, have mercy on us. Let
us be found in your son. In his name we pray. Amen. And David said unto Himalek,
And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? For I have
neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the
king's business required haste. Now, once again, he's not being
truthful, is he? He's not being truthful. He was
saying he was there on the king's business, and he's not being
truthful with Emelech. He's telling a lie in order to
get what he needed, or he really was on the king's business. the
King of Kings. Now, you can look at it either
way, both of them are right. He was on the King of Kings business,
not King Saul, but the King of Kings. And this statement, the
King's business requires haste, means it's urgent. And indeed,
the King's business is urgent, isn't it? It's very urgent, and
it requires haste. Now, look at Himilek's reply.
And the priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistine whom
thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it's here, wrapped
in a cloth behind the ephod. If thou will take that, take
it, for there's no other save that here. And David said, there's
none like that. Give it to me. Now, this sword
of Goliath actually has a lot of typical significance, doesn't
it? This was the sword used to cut Goliath's head off. This
was the sword used after he was fallen by the rock and the sling
to defeat Israel's enemies. This was the sword that was used
for the salvation of Israel. That's the typical significance
of this sword. Turn back to 1 Samuel 17. You'll remember that David defeated
Goliath without a sword. Verse 45, then said David to
the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear.
And it's talking about that very sword. 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. And this day will
the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I'll smite thee and
take thine head from thee, and I'll give the carcasses of the
host of the Philistines this day, and to the fowls of the
air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth
may know that there's a God in Israel." That was his motive.
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, David
hasted and ran toward an army to meet the Philistine. And David
put his hand in his bag, and took thence the stone, and sling
it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead. And 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. But there was no sword
in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood
upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of
the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith.
And when the Philistine saw their champion was dead, they fled."
Now this is the sword that was used to cut off Goliath's head. It was his own sword. But the
typical significance of this sword is this is the Word of
God. The sword of the Spirit. which
is the Word of God. The Word of God is quick and
powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Only the Word of God
can do this, and what a discerner the Word of God is. Now, David
says, Is there a sword here I can use? Well, all there is is a
Goliath sword. That's all we have. And you know,
I got to thinking about that. That's all we have, isn't it? All we have
is a gospel. But what else do we want? What
else do we, what do y'all have at your church? What do y'all
have for young people? What do y'all have for young
adults? What do you all have for all
these different demographics? What do you have? We've got the
gospel. We've got the word of God. And
Himelech said, that's all we have is the word of God. And
who wants anything else? Do you want anything else? Oh,
I want the word of God. And I love David's reply. He
says, regarding this sword, there's no sword like this sword. Give
it to me. This is what I want. And oh,
isn't this what you want? I want the Word of God. Even
right now, I want the Word of God. Give me God's Word. I want
to hear His Word. There's no sword like this sword.
And he wasn't even talking about the length of it. I'm sure it was
a very long sword. And I'm sure it was very heavy. And I'm sure
it was forged of special steel. And it was a really great sword
physically, materially. But that's not what he was talking
about. There's no sword like this sword. Give it to me. Now,
I think it's interesting that about everything I read about
this period in David's life, people say, well, he was in a
backslidden condition at this time, and he had gone away from
the Lord, and he was using swords because he didn't trust the Lord
anymore, and he didn't trust the sling and the stone, and
he seemed like he could lie so easily. He was in some kind of
backslidden condition. Well, I don't think so. This is, he
did some wrong things. Me and you do too, don't we?
He did some wrong things and we don't excuse the way he lied,
but this is the son of David or the son of Jesse. David, who
the Lord is going to come through. This is the man after God's own
heart. That's what the Bible calls him,
the man after God's own heart. And here he is wanting this sword. And I think this is our response
to the gospel. We hear the gospel. We hear the
word of God. We say, there's nothing like
that. There's nothing that can be compared with that. Give it
to me. That's exactly what I want. That's exactly what I need. Nothing
like this. give it to me." Now, there is
nothing like the Word of God. I think of the author of this
book. God Himself. What would you give to have a
book that was actually written by God Himself? We have it. You think of the subject of this
book. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, the darling of His Father. Who can compare to Him? There's
nobody like Him. You know, we never say, the Lord's like that person,
do we? The Lord's like Don, or the Lord's
like, we don't say things like that. I mean, because there's
nobody you can compare Him to. Any comparison we would make
with regard to the person of Christ would be bringing him
down, wouldn't it? Now, we can say regarding people,
they're like the Lord. I mean, by grace, they're like
the Lord. They manifest the fruit of the
Spirit and so on. We can say they're like the Lord,
but we don't ever say the Lord's like so-and-so. That's why idolatry
is so forbidden. He said, you won't make any likeness
of me at all, of anything. Idolatry is absolutely forbidden
because it's bringing the Lord down. Any comparison we make,
there's no one like him. There's no one like this book. There's no gospel like this gospel. And I love the way this book,
nothing like this book, there's no error in it. It's written
by God. It reveals the truth of the character
of the invisible God. All you and I are going to truly
know about the character of God himself, the invisible God that
we can't see, is found in this book. And I think this book reveals
the true character of man, doesn't it? Now, don't you love the honesty
of this book? made this statement about himself.
We know that the law is spiritual. Romans 7, 14. We know that the
law is spiritual, but I'm carnal. I'm sold under sin. I'm a slave
to sin. Now, what would you think about
somebody that makes a statement like this? What's wrong with
him saying this about himself? He's a slave to sin. Isn't he
saved? Doesn't he know God? What's wrong
with him? Only the Bible speaks in language
like that. Men won't speak that way, will they? But this is honesty. I love the honesty of the scripture
with regard to the character of men, what we really are. Only
the scripture tells us how a sinner can be right with God. Oh, thank
God for this book we call the Bible. There's no sword like
this sword, and there's no one that can be compared to the Lord. He said, I am God, and there
is none like me. There's none as holy as the Lord. I love it when that rich young
ruler came to the Lord. And he said, good master, what
good thing can I do to inherit eternal life? And the Lord knew
that this man was coming to him as another man. He knew he didn't
know he was the son of God. He was just coming as another
man. And he replied to him. He said, why call Thou me good? You see, this fellow was saying,
I'm a good man and you're a better man. What can I do to reach your
level of goodness is what he was saying. And the Lord said,
why call Thou me good? There's none good but one only. That is God. You see, God is
who he is, and there's nobody like him. He says, there's none
like me. You know, only he is sovereign. There's not two sovereigns. You
know, we read about sovereign nations or, you know, sovereign
nations influenced by other nations. Well, there's only one sovereign,
that's him. Only he is omnipotent, all powerful. Only he is omniscient. He's never learned anything.
He's never informed of anything. He never responds to anything.
He never reacts to anything. He never worries. Only he is
omnipresent. You can't go anywhere where He's
not. He's always there. I mean, who
can you compare to the Lord? There's none, this sword that
reveals this one. There's none like Him. There's
none like it. There's no one that can even
be compared to Him. Only He. is wise, God only wise. I love that. You know, we talk
about wise men and women. Well, they're wise if they're
in Christ Jesus, the Lord, and he is their wisdom, but God only
is wise. Don't you love his wisdom? How
he is. He's so wise. He has made a way to be just
and justify somebody like me and you in a way that honors
his justice. Even when in and of ourselves,
we're nothing but guilt. Now that, only he has the wisdom
to devise that, only he has the wisdom to execute that. Every
attribute of God is altogether glorious and cannot be compared
with anything. Only he is one God in three different
persons. Nobody like him is there. I mean,
I think of the mystery of this. God is one God in three distinct
persons. Can you compare him to anybody?
No. Only he is immutable. Only he
cannot change. He said, I'm the Lord. I change
not. Only he is immutable. You think about how mutable you
are. I think about how mutable I am. I mean, one day, I'm I'm in good shape. The next day,
I'm so weak that I think I can't even get up and talk. We change
so much, but not Him. Not Him. You know, holiness can't
change, can it? If holiness could mutate, it
wouldn't be holiness, would it? Holiness is immutable, and only
He is holy. None is holy as the Lord. I'd just love to think about
how there's no one that we can compare Him to. There's no book
that can be compared to this book. Beware if you start loving
some book as much as you do the Bible. I mean, the words of men
are so, just not anything to them really. But oh, there's
no love like his love. I love to think about that. God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." There's
no love like His love. He said, Behold, I've loved you
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Now, I want you to believe her.
There's never been a time when He didn't love you. The Lord
Jesus says, as thou hast loved me, so have I loved them. Now that's the way the Lord loves
you. However, the Father loves Christ. That's the way Christ
loves you. Thou hast loved them as thou
hast loved me. Now, is there any love that can
be compared to that love? There's no love like His love.
There is no grace like His grace. It's called saving grace. Give
it to me. By grace, you're saved. Give
me that grace. I'm like David. Give it to me. Give me that love.
I want to be loved by Him, don't you? I love the hymn, I stand
amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and I wonder how
he could love me, a sinner condemned unclean. I want that love, give
it to me. I'm just like David, there's
no sword like that. Give it to me. What about his forgiveness?
Now, forgiveness is such a beautiful, glorious thing when the Lord
enables you to forgive somebody from your heart when they've
wronged you, when they've done something and you forgive them,
but you don't forget it. Somebody says, if you don't forget
it, you didn't really forgive. That's foolishness. If that's
the case, nobody's ever forgiven anybody of anything. You remember
things. And you forgive easy in the sense
that you think of how the Lord forgave you and you're worse
than they are in the first place. It's not hard to forgive when
you know the gospel. But you think of his forgiveness.
He says, I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their
sins and their iniquities. I will remember no more. Now that is, the Lord doesn't
look at my, I remember what you did. No, no, it's been blotted
out. Now there's no forgiveness like
that forgiveness sits there where I think of this when I'm in glory,
standing before the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord's not gonna
look at me and think, I remember. No, there's nothing there to
remember. Now there's no forgiveness like this forgiveness. A forgiveness
where the Lord doesn't even remember their sins because there's nothing
there to remember. There's nothing that can compare
with His presence, the light of His countenance. There's nothing
that can compare with standing in awe of Him and standing in
awe of His glory and seeing the greatness of this person. There's
nothing like that. There's nothing this world has
to offer that can be like fellowship with Him and beholding His glory,
communion With Him, being enabled to pray. When the Lord gives
you grace to pray, what's more pleasurable than that? When you're
enabled to pour your heart out before Him, oh, there's nothing
like this. Give it to me. There's nothing like faith. What
a mysterious thing faith is. To actually believe on Him. To trust Him. as my personal
righteousness before God and really believe that He's my righteousness. Oh, the joy and the peace of
believing, the scripture says. There's nothing like faith, is
there? When the Lord enables you to believe the gospel, you
know He's giving you the grace to do it, don't you? You know
it didn't come from you. It's not the product of you working
something up. It's the gift of God. And what
a blessing it is to be enabled to believe the gospel. Faith,
the gift of God. By grace, you say, By gracing,
you say through faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift
of God. Lord, give me this gift. I'm like David, give it to me,
give it to me. Nothing like hope. The hope I
have of standing before God in judgment with absolutely nothing
to fear. What hope? The hope of knowing
that everything that God requires of me, I have in Christ Jesus. And that I'm complete right now
in the Lord Jesus Christ, lacking nothing. What hope there is.
And the hope that everything between judgment day and now
is working together. God is orchestrating everything
for my good and for his glory. What hope there is for the believer. There's no hope like this. There's
one hope. Oh, give me this hope. There's nothing like charity.
Faith, hope, and charity. These three. There's nothing.
You know, isn't it a blessing? when you're enabled to love God
as He is, without even thinking about the strength or the power
of your love. You're not even thinking about yourself, you're
thinking about Him. And you love Him. And you admire Him. And
you admire the way He saves. You love Him. And you love His
people. You love them as they are. You see the warts and the
discrepancies and inconsistencies and you say, well, I've got more.
I love them. God loves them. I love them. They're loved in
Christ Jesus. What a blessing it is to be enabled to practice
this thing of charity. Love is kind. Love is, oh, the
beautiful description of love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.
Isn't it a blessing to be enabled to love somebody, to be enabled
to love God? Nothing like this. Give it to
me. And there is nothing, and I know this by experience, and
I really believe this when I say it, there is nothing like being
enabled by the grace of God to hear the gospel in the power
of the Holy Spirit and know you're hearing God's gospel and you
believe it. The world doesn't have anything
to offer that's as good as that. And I can say this. I'd rather
hear the gospel than preach the gospel. I love preaching. I love it that God has called
me to preach the gospel, but I would rather hear the gospel
than preach the gospel. I get more assurance. The time when I have full assurance
is the time when I'm hearing the gospel. I know I'm a child
of God. I know I'm one of His. I know
He's speaking to me. Now I might leave and go out the door and
I forget it and have to come back in and hear again. But what
assurance there is in hearing the gospel. There's nothing like
it. There's a lot of things I love. Y'all know how much I love sports.
I love ball games and love the excitement of all that kind of,
a lot of, but none of that stuff compares with hearing the gospel. I love it. There's nothing like
this. Give it to me now. Himelech said, all we have is
this sword. Nothing like this Lord, give
it to me. And you and I are allowed to
ask the same thing. We hear of this glorious gospel,
the word of God, this person we worship, there's nobody like
him. And we're allowed to say to the Lord himself, give it
to me for Christ's sake. Okay.