1 Samuel chapter 17. I'd like to read verses 8 and
9 This is Goliath. And he stood
and cried unto the armies of Israel and said unto them, why
are you come out to set your battle in a ray? Am not I a Philistine
and you servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you and
let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me
and kill me, Then will we be your servants. But if I prevail
against him and kill him, then shall you be our servants and
serve us. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name, that name that's above every name. And Lord, how
we thank you for him, how we thank you for the revelation
of his person, Lord, by your grace, we see him as altogether
lovely. And Lord, we know that you see
him as altogether lovely and Lord, we know you look to him
for everything you require of us. And Lord, we look to him
for everything you require of us. And Lord, we ask that your
gospel might be preached in the power of your spirit. and that
you'd give us hearing ears. And Lord, we ask that you would
forgive us of our many sins and cleanse us. Oh, that we might
be found in Christ. And Lord, we earnestly ask that
you would give us grace to love you more and love one another
more. Bless us for the Lord's sake.
Be with all your people wherever they meet together. And Lord,
we pray for our country. We pray for your blessing upon
the leaders of our country, that we might live a quiet and peaceable
life in all godliness and honesty. And Lord, we especially remember
Emma at this time. We pray for your healing hand
upon her. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. For those of you that don't know,
Emma actually has gone to Cincinnati. They couldn't get everything
done in Houston, and she's there for another round of chemotherapy. So remember them. Now, we're
going to spend several weeks in what is probably the most
well-known story from the Old Testament, David and Goliath. You can't watch sports without
seeing that analogy brought out. Everybody's calling the UK the
Goliath right now. I kind of like that. But David's
always fighting Goliath. And it certainly is an appropriate
metaphor in many ways. of the underdog defeating the
favorite, and that does happen, but that's not the main point
of this story of David and Goliath. The main point of this story
are in those verses I just read. The main point is about representation. Look once again at verses 8 and
9. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said
unto them, Why are you come out to set your battle in array?
And not I, Philistine, and you servants to Saul, choose you
a man for you and let him come down to me. If he be able to
fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But
if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall you be our
servants. Now, there are many beautiful
parts to this story. It's one of the longer chapters
in the Bible. We're going to stay in it several weeks. But
the main point is being defeated in a representative and being
saved. in a representative. That's the
main point of David and Goliath. Now, look up in verse one of
chapter 17. Now the Philistines gathered
together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at
Shoketh, which belonged to Judah, and pitched between Shoketh and
Azekah in Ephdomen. And Saul and the men of Israel
were gathered together and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set
the battle in a ray against the Philistines and the Philistines
stood on a mountain on one side and Israel stood on a mountain
on the other side and there was a valley between them. Now you
can picture this in your mind. And there went out a champion
out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath whose height
was six cubits and a span. Now it's debated as to how long
a span is but this man was anywhere between 9'9 and 11'3. Now you think of the size of
a man like that. Anywhere between 9'9, you know
how high a basketball goal is, to 11'3, and I would say that
is about 11'3, the top of this ceiling. Think how big and imposing
this man must have been. Verse 5, And he had a helmet
of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail,
and the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of brass. Now, his armor weighed 180 pounds. That's how much I weigh. You think of the strength of
a man who would walk around with armor, 180 pounds. Verse six, and he had greaves
of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass upon his shoulders,
and the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his
spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron. One bearing a shield
went before him. Now this spear he had was 26 feet long. Now that, can you imagine? somebody
even getting close to him. The head of the spear weighed
20 pounds. Now this is how big and how large
and how formidable this man was. Could any man whip him? Would
you fight a man like this? What chance would you have against
a man like this if you were to battle this man? Now he was the
champion of the Philistines. His name means denuded. If you want to know what sin
and Satan really is all about, look at this man. He was the
champion of the Philistines. And he comes to Israel and says,
send me a man and we'll fight. You don't need to fight. You
send me a man. You take your greatest champion.
If he can whip me, we'll be your servants. If I defeat him, You
will be our servants. Now, you know who fought him,
David, the son of Jesse. The scripture says he was a man
after God's own heart. Look in chapter 16, verse 1,
he was the man of God's providing. And the Lord said unto Samuel,
how long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected
him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and
go, and I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite, For I have
provided me a king among his sons. He is the king of God's
providing. God provided this king. And this
one who is described as a man after God's own heart is someone
also who had the spirit of God. Look in verse 13. Then Samuel
took the chapter 16. Then Samuel took the horn of
oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the spirit
of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose
up and went to Ramon. Now the spirit of God is the
third person of the Trinity, God, the Holy spirit. And David
had him in such a way as he had this supernatural power. Look
in chapter 17, verse 32. And David said to Saul, let no
man's heart fail because of him, talking about Goliath, thy servant
will go and fight with the Philistine. David volunteers to do this.
And Saul said to David, thou art not able to go up against
this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art 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.
And when he rose up against me, I caught him by his beard, and
smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion
and the bear, and this 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, 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. Now he is well able to defeat
this Philistine because he has the spirit of God. He has the
spirit of omnipotence. What is this giant before one
who has the spirit of God? The giant actually was no match. Two men, David and Goliath. If Goliath wins, Israel loses. If David wins, Israel wins. Two men. And I want you to understand
this. God has only dealt with two men.
Two men. The first man, Adam. The second Adam, Christ. And
if I'm gonna win, it's going to be in Christ. And we're going
to see this very clearly in this passage of scripture. The great,
glorious, mysterious doctrine of representation is what is
found in our text. Being defeated in a representative
or winning in a representative. And I hope the Lord gives us
some understanding of this because there's really no understanding
of the gospel of Jesus Christ without some understanding of
what we're considering right now in this glorious truth regarding
representation. Now, may God give me and you
hearing ears as we consider what this means. Now, this doctrine
of representation, being defeated in somebody else, in a representative,
or gaining victory in somebody else, in a representative, it
is really early in Scriptures. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
one, we'll get back to David in a minute. Genesis chapter one, verse 27. So God created man in his own
image and the image of God created him, male and female created
he them. Now Eve had not been created
yet, had she? Remember she came out of the
side of Adam and she had not yet been created but here God
says he created them because when he created Adam, Eve was
in Adam, and she was created as well, although she didn't
have any existence yet. But He created them. Now, look
in verse 15 of chapter 2. And the Lord God took the man
and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of
the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now remember,
Eve had not yet been created. She had not yet come out of his
side, but he said, in the day you eat, you shall surely die. Now you remember the story, Eve
ate of the fruit. Look in verse six of chapter
three. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food
and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desired to be
make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat. What happened? Nothing. She didn't die at that time.
Why? Well, he said to Adam, in the
day you eat, you shall surely die. Now I don't know how much
time passed between the time when Eve ate of the fruit and
when she gave to Adam to eat. Maybe it was several days, maybe
it was within five minutes, I don't know. But their eyes were not
opened until the scorned reading, and she did eat, and gave also
unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them
both were opened. They were not opened until he
ate. The point being, God dealt with
both of them through this one man, Adam. When Adam ate, they
both became dead in sins. Now, as I've already said, God
has only dealt with two men, the first Adam and the second
Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me for a moment to
1 Corinthians chapter 15. Verse 22, for as in Adam, all represented
in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Everybody in Adam dies. Everybody
in Christ is made alive. Now, here's the point. When Adam
sinned, you and I sinned. It's not merely that his sin
was charged to our account, it's more than that. This thing of
imputation is more than just something, I'm charged with something
that I didn't do. It's more than that. I don't
know how to explain it very well, but I know that when Adam sinned,
the scripture says, you and I sinned too. Let me show you that. Hold your finger, turn Romans
5. I want you to see this for yourself. Romans chapter five, verse 12.
We're going to be coming back to Romans five in a moment, but
Paul says, wherefore, as by one man sin entered to the world
and death by sin, so that death passed upon all men for that
all have sinned. Notice he doesn't say Adam's
sin was charged to them, although it was, but all sinned. When Adam sinned, I myself sinned
as well, because I was in him, and what he did, I did. Now, that's the teaching of scripture. In Adam, all die. Now, somebody may think, how
can it be fair for God to charge somebody else's sin to me? Well, I wanna answer that in
two ways. First of all, it wasn't somebody else's sin, it was your sin.
When Adam sinned, you sinned. And let's say, for argument's
sake, that Adam's sin was not charged to you. What difference does it make?
How have you stood on your own? Let's say you just forget Adam
altogether for just a moment. If Adam's sin wasn't charged
to your account, how have you stood on your own? The fact of
the matter is it wouldn't do me or you any good at all if
Adam's sin was not charged to our account because the fact
of the matter is you and I have sinned just as grievously as
he has done on our own without any connection to Adam. But here
is something that's altogether glorious. If I can be charged
with somebody else's sin so that it becomes my personal sin, I
can also be charged with somebody else's righteousness that becomes
my personal righteousness. I think of what the Lord said
to John the Baptist when When the Lord came to John the Baptist
to ask to be baptized, and you can understand his reaction,
comest thou to me? I need to be baptized of thee.
And the Lord said, suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh
us, me and you, and all the elect, everybody in me, thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness. It doesn't say, thus it becometh
me to work out a righteousness for you, although that's exactly
what he was doing, but it says, thus it becometh us, me and you,
John, to fulfill all righteousness. When Jesus Christ obeyed God's
holy law, I did too. It's not just that his righteousness
is counted to me. Although it is. But just as when
Adam sinned, I sinned. When Christ obeyed, I obeyed. Well, I love thinking about that.
If we're condemned for somebody else's sin, we can also be justified
by somebody else's righteousness. And it's, like I said, it's more
than that. This thing of imputation, it's not merely something being
charged to my account. And we'll see that more in Romans
chapter five, but let me repeat that scripture I just read in
1 Corinthians 15, 22. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. Now that verse of scripture
answers three very important questions. First, what really
happened in the garden? This is an old Henry Mahan outline. What really happened in the garden? In Adam, all die. Graveyard dead. Unable to do
anything to save themselves. What can a dead man do to give
himself life? Absolutely nothing. In Adam, all die. That's what happened in the garden.
Here's the second question. What really happened on the cross
of Christ? Well, in Christ shall all, everybody in Christ, every
one of them, in Christ shall all be made alive. When Christ was hanging on the
cross, he was accomplishing something. And when he died, everybody he
died for was justified, made alive. What happened on the cross? The complete salvation of everybody
in Christ. When he said it is finished,
it really was finished. In Christ shall all be made alive. What happens in a sinner's heart
when God saves him? In Christ shall all be made Alive. Life from the dead. Spiritual life. The life of God
in the soul of man. This is life. This physical existence,
it's not really life. Life is having the life of God
himself in your soul. That's what happens in a sinner's
heart when God saves him. He's given life from the dead. In Adam all die and in Christ
shall all be made alive. Now turn with me to Romans chapter
5 once again. Now remember the point. We're going to get more into
the story of David and Goliath and we're going to spend several
weeks there. But the one point of this story is salvation in
a representative. Could you whip Goliath? No. Somebody must fight this battle
for you. The only way you can win is if
someone fights this battle for you and wins for you. And if he wins, you win. If he loses, you lose. You're
cooked. It's over for you. But if he
wins, you win. Now look in Romans chapter five,
verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man, sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, so that death passed
upon all men. When that one man sinned, death
passed upon all men, for all have sinned, all sinned in him.
When he sinned, you and I sinned. Verse 13, for until the law,
sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is
no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses before there
was a law, Before Mount Sinai, death reigned over Adam to Moses,
even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." Now,
who are those people? Let's talk about babies. Babies
die. Why do babies die? There's only one answer to that
question. Sin. Sin. Now, they didn't sin after
the matter of Adam's transgression. They didn't sin willfully. They
didn't even know it. You know, a baby dies for one
reason. A baby dies because a baby is
a sinner. That's why a baby dies. Now,
people, all kinds of people say, well, are all infants saved?
Well, they may be. I don't know. I don't know. The
Bible doesn't answer that question. It could be that all of them
are elect and I don't know. I hope they are. But if they're
not, it's right. Here's the point. Whatever God
does is right. Amen? Whatever God does is right. And
so I'm glad he doesn't answer that question for us, because
I really feel like if that question was answered in the scripture,
all babies, all infants, if they die, they go to heaven. What's
the best thing you could do for your infant? I mean, some people
would reason it that way. The best thing you can do for
your infants, kill them, because they'll spend eternity in glory. And
if the Bible says infants that die are in hell, can you imagine
how you couldn't deal with the despair of that? It would just
break your heart. You'd just feel horrible. You
couldn't deal with it. So you see the wisdom of God
in not answering this question. with regard to infants. I'm glad
he didn't. I'm glad he didn't. So I don't
like it when people make dogmatic statements about it because you
just can't make a dogmatic statement about that because the Bible
doesn't. There are scriptures that imply that infants are saved.
They don't come out and say it, but they imply it. I think of
David when he lost his baby. He said, I can't come. You can't
come back to me, but I'll come to you, implying that perhaps
his infant was saved. But the point is babies die. Why do babies die? One reason,
sin. They fell in a representative.
They became a sinner and a representative. That's what the scripture teaches.
In Adam, all died. Now let's go on reading. Nevertheless,
verse 14, death reigned over Adam to Moses, even over them
that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression.
And he is the figure of him that was to come. He's a type of Christ
in that he represents all men. Christ represents all of his
people. Verse 15, but not as the offense, so also as the free
gift. For through the offense of one, many be dead, Much more,
the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man,
Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one
that sinned, so is the gift, for the judgment was by one to
condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by one, much more, they which receive abundance of grace
and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. Now, therefore, listen to this,
therefore, as by the offense of one judgment, came upon all
men to condemnation. When Adam sinned, me and you
were condemned." Now, does that say anything less than that?
When Adam sinned, you and I were condemned. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men under justification of
life. Now, all men obviously does not
mean all men without exception, because all men without exception
are not justified. All men means all men in Christ. Every single one of them were
justified by his one act of obedience. Now, salvation in a representative,
salvation in Christ. Look at verse 19. For as by one
man's disobedience, Many were made sinners. You see, everybody
in Adam, when he disobeyed, everybody in him was made a sinner. That's why I'm born bad. I'm
born sinful because I'm born with his sinful nature. The wicked are estranged from
the womb, the scripture says. They go about as soon as they'd
be born, speaking lies and Somebody once said, were babies more intelligent
back then? How could they speak lies as soon as they're born?
But I like what Bruce Crabtree said, as soon as they start crying,
they're lying to you. They're trying to. I always thought
that was interesting the way he said that. He's going to be
here Wednesday night. I'm looking forward. Well, I
won't be here, but he will. So at any rate, I was born bad. You were born bad by one man's
sin. Many were made sinners. Not just
that sin was imputed to them, they were made sinners. Sinners by birth, by choice,
and by practice. Verse 19, once again, for as
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. not simply righteousness
imputed to them or charged to their account, but actually made
righteous, so that every believer is nothing less than the very
righteousness of God Himself, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Isn't that mysterious? Isn't
that glorious? Salvation through a representative. I'm made the very righteousness
of God. Salvation is in Christ. It's for all who are in Christ. It is for all who come to Him
for this salvation. Don't anybody even suspect, well,
I want this salvation, but I'm afraid it's not for me. If you
come to Christ, this salvation is for you. How can I defeat Goliath? By
the Lord defeating him for me. We'll get more into the story
next week.