Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 17.
1 Samuel chapter 17. I'd like to begin reading in verse 38. And Saul armed David with his
armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head. Also, he
armed him with a coat of mail. I think it's interesting. This
is the same thing that Goliath was wearing. He was wearing a
brass helmet and a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon
his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it.
He hadn't tested it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot
go with these for I've not proved them. And David put them off
him, that armor that Saul had provided him to fight Goliath.
He said, I don't want it. And he took it off. 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 a sling was in his hand and he drew near to the Philistine. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence. Thanking you. That salvation
is in your son. And that salvation is by your
grace. Lord, we. asking thy son's name that you
would be pleased to meet with us and to speak in power to our
hearts. And Lord, allow us to worship
thee in spirit and truth through thy gospel. We come only in your
son's name. And Lord, we wait for you to
speak to us from your word to reveal him. We confess our sins. We pray for forgiveness and cleansing
for the Lord's sake. And Lord, be with all your people
wherever they meet together. Lord, we would remember Emma
at this time that your healing hand would be upon her and that
you'd bless that dear family. Bless us for the Lord's sake
and be with us, Lord. Let us have your presence. In
Christ's name we pray, amen. And why, pray tell, would David
need soul armor? Now I want you to remember that
he had already fought a lion and a bear with bare hands and
defeated them. And a lion and a bear would have
destroyed Goliath pretty easily. And he had no need for this armor
that Saul was trying to provide him. He had the Lord battling for
him. Look in verse 45 of this same
chapter. 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. Now, what's
more powerful, the name of the Lord or this armor of his providing? Since it's on. Verse 46, this day, the Lord
will deliver thee into my 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. Who needs Saul's armor when I
have the Lord on my side, his name, his protection, his power? Now, I think it's very interesting
that Saul had the same kind of armor Goliath had, a helmet of
brass and a coat of mail. and a coat of mail is a tunic
made of metal scales and supposedly offering protection. Saul knew
nothing of the faith of David. You see, we don't need the world's
armor, do we? We really don't. If I have the Lord, why would
I want this kind of armor? I mean, he did not need it. He
did not want it. We do not need the world's armor. Now, that doesn't mean the believer
doesn't have armor. Turn to Ephesians chapter 6 for
just a moment. This is the armor David had.
Ephesians chapter 6. Beginning in verse 13, wherefore
take unto you the whole armor of God. Now he had that armor,
not human armor, but he had the armor of God that you may be
able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand.
Stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth. And that's
the first piece of armor we have, the truth. I love beginning right
here with the truth. The truth of who God is. The
truth of how he saves by his grace. The truth of who Christ
is. The truth of who I am. The truth
of my utter need of the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth of sovereign
grace. Don't you love beginning here
with the truth? Now, if I don't start with the
truth, I don't have anything. Here's where we begin. The truth.
What a piece of armor that is. I want the truth, don't you?
I want to know the truth about myself. I want to know the truth
about God. I want to know the truth about
this word. I want the truth of how he saves. Now that's where
we begin, the truth. And what a great place to begin. What armor that is, the truth. And then next, he says in verse
14, stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and
having on the breastplate of righteousness. Now, this righteousness
that he's speaking of is the only righteousness there is,
isn't it? That's the righteousness of God. That's the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. And that's the only thing that
protects me, having this breastplate of His righteousness, His perfect
righteousness. We have such confidence. I'm
the righteousness of God. Every believer is. We actually
possess righteousness. This isn't a combination of his
and mine because I don't have any. There's only one righteousness.
He is, but what a breastplate, what a protection for the heart
this is. Having the very righteousness of Christ as my personal righteousness
before God. Oh, how I love that piece of
armor. And then he says next in verse 15, your feet shod.
with the preparation or the foundation of the gospel of peace. Now,
our shoes, I need some good shoes. And some, my shoes is the gospel
of peace. The gospel of how Christ is my
peace with God, the peace of justification, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
the peace that comes from the blood of Christ, having made
peace through the blood of his cross, What a pair of shoes. Now, and I'm in this battle,
I don't want to be barefooted. Our walk is in the gospel of
peace. And what a pair of shoes this
is. And look what he says next. In verse 16, above all, taking
the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked. Now there's only one thing that
quenches the fiery darts of the wicked, faith in Christ. Nothing else. Not your ability
to put down temptation and ward it off. No faith in Christ. It's the only movable piece of
armor. It's the most important. Above all things, take the shield
of faith. Simple reliance on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, I want that shield right
now. I want to rest in him. I want to believe him. And then
he says in verse 17, and take the helmet of salvation. Now,
a helmet's to protect the head. What protects my head? Salvation
is of the Lord. And you can never leave that,
can you? Salvation is of the Lord. The
only thing that protects my mind, my understanding is this, God's
salvation. Now, what a helmet this is. I
don't need Saul's brass helmet. What good will that do? Didn't
do him any good, did it? You know, when David came at
him with that stone and sling, and it evidently went right through
the brass helmet and sunk into his head and killed him. So,
oh, what a helmet this is, the helmet of salvation. And here's
the only weapon of offense The sword of the spirit, verse 17,
and the sword of the spirit. This is the only thing that we
use for offense is the word of God, the scriptures, the truth.
Praying with all prayer and supplication, praying to our God to have mercy
on us. Now, what a set of armor this
is. The whole armor of God. David says, why would I want
this stuff you have when I've got this? the armor of God. Now, I love thinking about this.
I mean, David, he's, it seems like he's, he's almost taking
a risk. I'm not having any armor. I'm
going to face this Goliath without this helmet and shield and coat
of mail. I'm going out on my own. But
that, that doesn't seem safe. Actually, it's the only safe
thing there is, isn't it? To trust Christ only. What a shield of armor. Let's
go back to our text in verse Samuel 17. And Samuel armed David, verse
38, with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head.
He armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon
his armor, and he said to go, for he had not proved it. He
hadn't tested it. He didn't know that it would really work. And
David said unto Saul, I can't go with these, for I've not proved
them. And David put them off. I've had no experience with this
armor. It's never protected me before. I don't want it. I don't
want it. I wish you and I would have that
attitude towards all the world's armor, the world's religion.
Who wants it? I have no desire for it. I have
no need for it. I've got armor that I've proved
and tested. The Lord Jesus Christ and the
salvation that's in him. Now look in verse 40. And he
took his staff in his hand and he chose him five smooth stones. Now these stones were obviously
very old because they were smooth. They had been in the creek, in
the running water, and they'd made them very smooth. And he
chose five smooth stones 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 with these five smooth stones. Now, I love the way the Lord
Jesus throughout the scripture is called a stone, a tried stone,
a sure stone. What a stone he is. Look in Psalm
118. And this is quoted throughout
the new Testament. Verse 22, the stone, which the
builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. This
is the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our eyes turned
to Isaiah chapter eight. Verse 14, and he shall be the
Lord Jesus for sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and
for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel for a gin
and for a stare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He's a safe place
for some and a stone of stumbling for others. Look in Isaiah chapter
28. And all these scriptures are
quoted several times in the new Testament. Verse 16, therefore, thus saith
the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone,
a tried stone, a proven stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation. And he that believeth him shall
not make haste. Now, a stone. And David picked
out five stones. Now, why the number five? Is
there any significance to The five stones? Why didn't he pick
out six? Why didn't he pick out four?
Why five stones? Now there's something to numerology
in the scriptures. I don't claim to understand it,
but I've read some about it. For instance, seven is the number
of perfection, isn't it? When we read of the seven spirits
of God, it doesn't mean there's seven different spirits. It means
the perfections of the spirit of God. He's complete. Seven
is the number of perfection and completion. Number six is the
number of man. Adam was created on the sixth
day. And you remember when we read a six, six, six in the book
of revelation, people think, Oh, what's that? You know, six,
six, six. Well, that's the number of man. Failure upon failure
upon failure. That's all man is, is a failure.
Six, the number of failure. And from what I've read, it makes
sense to me. Five is the number of grace. Now, where do you get
that, five being the number of grace? Well, it comes from the
tabernacle. If you look at the construction of the tabernacle,
everything is in fives, everything. You have five curtains, the different
aspects of who Christ is, with the badger skin, his humanity,
and all the curtains of deity, purple and blue and white is
purity, but you have five curtains. You have five boards on each
side. You have five silver sockets. The tent is five cubits high. The altar is five by five. Everything
is in five, even the sides of the courtyard, 50 cubits by 100
cubits. They're all divisible by five.
Five is the key number. And the tabernacle is the grace
of Christ. And so I love this five being
the number of grace. Now, what's going to defeat Goliath? Grace. grace. That's the only thing that'll
defeat Goliath grace. Now somebody's thinking five.
Well, does that have anything to do with the five points of Calvinism?
I don't think so. I love the five points of Calvinism.
I hate the term Calvinism. I hate it because that almost
makes it sound like it came from a man. But I love what we call the doctrine
of grace. Total depravity, unconditional
election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance
of the saints. Don't ever speak of that in a
negative term. We love the five points in that
sense. Historically, what had been going
on, some people had been saying that men were not totally depraved.
They had the power of free will. Election was conditional. God
foresaw who would believe, and he saved them. Atonement was
universal. Christ died for everybody. God's
grace could be resisted, and God's people could fall away.
That's what was being taught, and that's where the doctrines
of grace came from. They said, no, that's not so. Take the opposite. Now, do these five stones represent
the five points of Calvinism? No. No. I'm sure of that. Can somebody preach a gospel
and not preach what we call the five points? No. It's impossible. But still, I feel quite sure
five points of Calvinism has nothing to do with these five
stones. But there is something these five stones mean. Turn with me for a moment to
Romans chapter 8. Now, what does it take for my
salvation? What does it take for your salvation? Now, in this passage of scripture,
we have the five golden links of salvation. And there's five. Is there significance to that?
I think so. Look in verse 28, Romans chapter eight. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
call according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow." Now
that's the first link, whom he did foreknow. Now for me to be
saved, for you to be saved, God has to foreknow me. He has to
forelove me. That's what foreknow means. It
doesn't simply mean he knew about me. Before I formed thee in the
belly, God said to Jeremiah, I knew thee. Now for me to be saved, God is
going to have to know me, foreknow me, forelove me. That's where
it begins. Salvation begins with the foreknowledge
of God. Any objections to that? No. It's
mysterious. To think that God has always
known me, to think that God has always loved me, to think that
I've always been accepted in the beloved and viewed in the
beloved. That is so glorious, so mysterious. How? Y'all, I know this. If God had to wait until time
to begin to love me, he couldn't love me because of who I am. But thank God his knowledge was
beforehand, whom he did foreknow. Not what he foreknew, whom he
did foreknow. Now, believer, Christ foreknew you. He's always known you. He's always
loved you. He's always seen you as the apple
of his eye. Well, that's a hard thing to
get hold of, isn't it? Lord looks at me that way. He
really does. Whom he did foreknow. Now here's
the next link of salvation. We begin number one with foreknowledge. Look what it says in verse 29.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Now here's the second golden
link in salvation. Predestination. I love predestination. I've been predestined to be perfectly
conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Now that's what predestination
is. God predetermined beforehand that I was going to be just like
Christ, that Christ might be the firstborn among many brethren. That's what predestination is.
God predetermined that he's going to have a bunch more children
just like his son. Oh, how we love predestination.
I wouldn't want to face life without it. My destiny has already
been determined by God. Perfect conformity to the image
of Jesus Christ. My sins put away and I made,
this is my destiny to be just like him. And then thirdly, verse
30, moreover, whom he did predestinate, them
he also called. Now this is the call of irresistible,
invincible grace. Now for me to be saved, God's
gotta foreknow me, God's gotta predestinate me, and God's gotta
call me. He's gotta call me by his grace.
I'm dead in sins, I won't come to him unless he calls me. Lazarus, come Come forth is the
call of almighty, invincible grace. Lazarus, come forth. I love to think of the Lord speaking
to some man or woman dead in sin right now and saying, come
forth, and all of a sudden they live and come forth. That's the
way it happens. The irresistible call of grace. We preach Christ crucified unto
the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness, Christ, the power of God, and
the wisdom of God. Lord, call me, call me. And then we read in verse 30,
moreover, whom he called, them he also justified. And this is the great work of
Christ on my behalf. He justified me. This is the
fourth thing that's absolutely necessary in this golden chain
of salvation. I'm justified. I'm justified
by what Christ did. Now, I love thinking about this.
Every time I preach, I get to remind myself, I'm justified. I'm justified. That means I stand
before God right now without guilt. perfect in God's sight,
perfect in the righteousness of Christ. No sin to be condemned
for. I'm not guilty. It's not simply
that my sins are covered, although they are, but they're covered
in such a way as I stand before God without guilt, justified
in God's sight. I love the way the Lord said
of that poor old publican in the temple. He was beating on
his breast, praying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And the Lord
said, I say unto you, that man went down to his house justified
rather than the other. Oh justification by what Christ
did for me. And the fifth thing he mentions
is glorification. You see this chain is let down
and then brought back up into glorification. I've been glorified. And this is not talking about
I will be glorified. I've been glorified. That's the
way this is written. It's already taken place. You say, well, you don't look
very glorified to me. Well, I might not look it, but that doesn't
mean I'm not. In God's sight, I am glorified. I'm already in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, these are five chains, and
that's scriptural. Can I make an argument for the
five points? I don't think so. But can I make
an argument for this? Why did David pick up five stones?
Well, here are the five stones of salvation. And they're so
beautiful. And David just picked up these
five stones. He only needed one, but still
the scripture points out he picked up five. And I think it's interesting.
I tried to read some people and there's some people that said,
well, he had five. He had more than one just in case he missed
the first time he'd have another one. I thought, how ridiculous.
No, these, uh, these five stones represent salvation. The number
of grace, grace is the only thing that is going to defeat the life.
And because of these five stones, let's draw five conclusions. Verse Romans chapter eight. What verse 31, what should we
say then to these things, these five stones for knowledge, predestination,
calling, justification, and glorification, all being historic, not prophetic. all being already accomplished.
That's why when somebody says, I'm for sure for heaven is if
I'm already there, I'm sure than that. I'm already there in the
person of Christ. If I'm united to him, I'm seated
together with him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. That's what
the Bible says. Now, what do we can say to all of this? Verse
31, what should we say then to these things? If God be for us,
who can be against us? If God's for me, who can be against
me? Nobody and no thing. If God's
for me, oh, I have, I'm like Jacob. Jacob said, all these
things are against me. How many times have you said
that? All these things are against me. Well, you may think that,
but they're not. They're all for you. If God be
for us, who can be against us? There's nothing to fear. There's
absolutely, right now, there's nothing for me to fear. Winston
Churchill said, there's nothing to fear but fear itself. No,
don't even fear that. There's nothing to fear, period.
If God be for me, who can be against me? Verse 32, he that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not? What could possibly prevent him
from freely giving us all things? Now do you hear that? There's
nothing to prevent God from giving you all of his grace. There's nothing you can do to
mess it up. I'm so thankful for that because
if there's something I could do to mess it up, I would. There's
no doubt about that. But there's nothing that can
prevent God from freely giving me all things. Look in verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Because of this great golden
chain, because of these five stones of the number of grace,
there's absolutely nothing to be laid to my charge. I can't
be condemned. I can't be accused of anything.
Somebody says, well, I know about something you did. No, you don't. You can't bring anything to my
charge. God justified me. You're going to have to bring
it up to God. I saw him do this. How do you think the Lord's going
to respond to that? Don't you love the power of this response?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? God justified
him. And if God justified me, you
know what? I'm justified. And then he says in verse 34,
who is he that condemneth? How can I possibly be condemned?
It's Christ that died. If Christ died for me, I can't
be condemned. Oh, what confidence there is
here. Oh, don't you love these five
stones he picked up? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather, that's
risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us. There's no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus. I can't be condemned. I can't
be damned. I can't be judged. I'm safe in Christ Jesus. Now,
I don't suppose it was kind of funny. I was, um, when I was
working on something this week, I, the thought crossed my mind. What if you're not saved? What
if you end up hearing Christ say to you, depart from me, ye
that work iniquity? I never knew you. I started thinking,
I started getting scared. What if this is all a joke? What
if it's not even real with me? And I'm just saying all this.
Have you ever think that way? What if I'm really not saved?
What if I don't really know the Lord? You know, I can think all
those things. It has no bearing on the truth.
No bearing whatsoever. I'm just as secure when I'm thinking
stuff like that as when I'm enjoying full assurance because Christ
died. I can't be condemned. It's Christ
that died. Don't you love that? Who is he
that condemns? It's Christ that died. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. I need nothing else. And then he says in verse 35,
who shall separate us from the love of Christ? No separation. No separation from Christ. I
can't be separated from Him. I'm eternally, vitally united
to Him, and nothing can separate me. Because of this number five,
the number of grace, all seen in the tabernacle, Christ Jesus. The tabernacle is such a beautiful
portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because of this five, four
knowledge, Predestination, calling, justification, glorification,
the complete work of Christ, the golden chain of salvation.
That's what old David picked up. Five stones. Did Goliath
have a chance? Absolutely not. Why would David
want the world's armor when he had this armor? When he had this
gospel? You can have anything else you
want. It's worthless. When we have this gospel, oh,
David picks up those stones. Now, Lord willing, next week,
I want to have a lesson on Goliath. What did Goliath believe? What
did Goliath think? That's the first time we've ever
really dealt much with Goliath except for his armor. But next
week, that's what we're going to look at.