Good morning. Lynn threw a hot cup of coffee
in my face. That's what happened to me. She
got mad at me. I can't control her. It's those
dermatologist things. I hate being so vain. I'm thinking people are looking
at that. Well, I'm sorry, but that's what I just went to the
dermatologist. That happens sometimes. Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 14. No, I don't think so. I hope
not. Maybe it is. 1 Samuel chapter 14. I'd like to
read verses 23 and 24 together. So the Lord saved Israel that
day. And we've looked for the last
couple of weeks at that miraculous deliverance where Jonathan took
on the entire Philistine army. And he's such a beautiful type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Lord saved Israel that
day and the battle passed over into Beth-Avon and the men of
Israel were distressed that day. That very day that the Lord saved
them They were in great distress. For Saul had adjured the people,
saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening,
that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people
tasted any food. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name, that name that's above every name. And Lord, we
ask that we might be enabled by your grace to sit at his feet
and hear his word and rest utterly and entirely in him. We ask that we might see him
as he is, high and lifted up, and the all-sufficient Savior
of sinners. Lord, we ask that his name would
be glorified. Lord, we confess our sins that
are ever before us, but Lord, how we thank you for the forgiveness
and cleansing of sins, and how we thank you that in thy blessed
Son we have no sin, and that we're holy and unblameable and
unreprovable in your sight. Now, Lord, bless us for the Lord's
sake. all your people wherever they
meet together. May your gospel go out in power. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen. Now I would like to read
seven or eight verses with this thought in mind that they were
saved that day and yet they were troubled on that very same day. Verse 23, let's read from verse
23 down through verse 32. So the Lord saved Israel that
day, and the battle passed over into Beth-Avon. And the men of
Israel were distressed that day, that very day. For Saul had adjured
the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food
until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none
of the people tasted any food. And all they of the land came
to a wood, and there was honey upon the ground. And when the
people were coming to the wood, behold, the honey dropped. But
no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.
But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with
the oath. That's when he was out at that battle, defeating
the Philistines. He wasn't there when he made
this oath. Wherefore, he put forth the end
of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb
and put his hand to his mouth. And his eyes were enlightened. Then answered one of the people
and said, Thy father straightly charged the people with an oath
saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day. And
the people were faint. They were weak and weary. They
didn't have anything to eat. Then said Jonathan, My father
hath troubled the land. See, I pray you, how mine eyes
have been enlightened because I tasted a little of this honey.
How much more If happily the people had eaten freely to-day
of the spoil of their enemies, which they found, for had there
not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines? And they
smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Agilon, and
the people were very faint. And the people flew upon the
spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on
the ground. And the people did eat them with the blood. contrary
to the law. You're not supposed to eat food
with meat with the blood in it and we'll consider more about
that next week but the point is Israel was saved that very
day and that same day they were distressed and that word distressed
is the same word that is used with reference to the children
of Israel when they were brought into bitter bondage. The very
day that they were saved by the Lord, that same day, they were
distressed. They were brought into bitter
bondage. That is the word taskmaster. Remember when they were treated
in Egypt by the taskmasters who made them make bricks without
straw, and how cruel they were, and how they brought them into
bondage. On the very day that the Lord saved them, they were
brought into bitter bondage. What were they troubled by? Why
were they so distressed? As soon as they were saved that
day, a man-made rule was introduced. Saul makes up this rule. Nobody is to eat anything until
I'm avenged of my enemies. Now, where's Saul coming from?
I mean, the Lord did everything. Now, all of a sudden, he takes
this upon himself. I'm the one going to avenge myself
of the Philistines. When the Lord had already defeated
them, all they had to do was take the spoil. But he makes
this man-made rule for his own self-interests. And it brought
Israel into great distress that day. And I think the timing of
it is so amazing. Now, as soon as salvation by
grace is seen and received, The Lord did this, didn't he? And
that's what salvation by grace means. The Lord does it all.
He defeated their enemies. They were safe and secure by
him. As soon as salvation by grace
is seen and received, the devil will go to work by adding manmade
rules and regulations. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. Happens every time. As soon as
grace is preached, these man-made rules will be introduced with
some self-serving end behind him. I'm gonna make this rule
so I can get vengeance on my enemies. This is what is called adding
to the Word of God. Yes, salvation is by grace, but,
but. It's the nature of a goat to
but, isn't it? their nature. Now, verse 25, and all they of the land came
to a wood, and there was honey upon the ground, and they were
hungry. But they couldn't eat of that honey. And when the people
were coming to the wood, behold, the honey dropped, but no man
put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. They
were afraid of this man-made rule. And isn't it a shame when
we become so afraid of man-made rules? It happens to us. We're
flesh. And somehow there's an appeal
in the flesh to any kind of man-made rule that somehow we think we
can do. They were faint and they saw this honey that would have
been so good and they didn't touch it. Verse 27, but Jonathan
heard not when his father charged the people with the oath. He
was out defeating the Philistines in that miraculous victory. This
is such a special chapter, chapter 14, the way Jonathan was used.
He didn't hear anything about this commandment not to eat honey,
wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand,
and dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth,
and his eyes were enlightened." Now that's a powerful word. His
eyes were enlightened. Now remember, this land was a
land that God had promised that would be flowing with milk and
honey. The manna that fell from heaven
tasted like wafers and honey. You remember that? God's food
tasted like wafers and honey. David said that the judgments
of the Lord The judgments. He's not just talking about the
mercy, but the judgments of the Lord. And isn't the cross the
great judgment of the Lord? I mean, justice and judgment
were accomplished by what he did on the cross. Salvation was
accomplished. Sin was punished. All of God's
people were justified. David said, the judgments of
the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired
are they than fine gold, sweeter also than honey. and the honeycomb. What the Lord accomplished on
the cross, that great judgment, He said, for judgment have I
come into this world. And that's exactly what He did on the cross.
He accomplished salvation. And that judgment that He accomplished
truly to the believer, to every believer, is sweeter than honey. David said in Psalm 119, 103,
how sweet are thy words to my taste, yea, sweeter than honey
to my mouth. Now, honey is the representation
of the word of God in the gospel. You can see that from these scriptures
that I've just quoted regarding the judgments of the Lord, the
words of God. They're sweeter than honey. And what I ask myself, when I
think about the judgments of the Lord. And David calling them
sweeter than honey. And the judgments of the Lord,
more than anything else, what that's a reference to is the
great truth of justification by Christ. When Christ died, every believer
was justified. Justified. That means right now,
before God, I have no sin, no guilt. I stand before God Himself
and He looks at me and He says, He's without sin. Now, that's
a whole lot more than a doctrine I give assent to. That's honey. That's sweet. Oh, the gospel
of God's grace is so sweet to the taste. Jonathan ate of this
honey. Now, Saul's command was, do not
eat this. Do not touch it. Do not taste
it. Do not handle it. On the very day of deliverance,
this man-made rule was introduced, preventing them from eating freely. Look at verse 30. where he said,
how much more if happily the people had eaten freely, freely,
freely today of the spoil of their enemies, which they had
found freely eating of the honey of the spoil. Now the people
were afraid to eat because of the oath Saul had made. And Jonathan
didn't know about this. It took place while he was fighting
the Philistines and He comes back with the Israelites. He
sees this honey on the ground. He freely eats it. Freely. Don't miss that word. Freely. And you know what happened? His eyes were enlightened. I
love thinking about this. His eyes were enlightened. He
all of a sudden could see things that he could not see before. The only way that our eyes are
enlightened is by feeding freely on the gospel. Eating the honey. And when we eat, we will see
things as they really are. And don't miss this. Only in
eating the gospel freely, Oh, I love that word freely. Not
trying to measure up to something. I need to be this way before
I can eat, or I need to be that way before I eat. No, just come
and dine. Eating on the gospel, eating the honey, only then will
we see things as they really are. And by that, I mean we will
see things from God's perspective rather than our own. Now, let
me repeat that. We'll see things from God's perspective. rather than our own. We're not walking in darkness,
but rather in the light of the gospel, the light of who he really
is, and the light of who we really are. and the light of how he
saves completely by Christ. What a thing it is to be enabled
to see as God sees. Like I love that scripture, Colossians
1, 22. I could quote it every day, every
hour, that he is, through what he did, he's presented us holy
and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight, in God's sight. And I love thinking about this,
how God sees things. is the way they really are. The way you and I see things
is not the way they really are. We just don't see things right
in any way. But how God sees things is the
way they really are. Jonathan's eyes were enlightened. He didn't have to deal with this
man-made rule that his father introduced. He ate freely. Then somebody told Jonathan about
the curse. Look in verse 28. Then answered
one of the people and said, thy father straightly charged the
people with an oath saying, cursed be the man that eateth any food
this day. this day of deliverance. What
a horrible thing that they were given this day of deliverance
and then all of a sudden Saul introduces this man-made rule
for his own self-interest and all the people that very day
are afraid to eat because of this rule. Now how does David
or Jonathan respond to this? He said, in verse 29, then said,
Jonathan, my father hath troubled the land. See, I pray you, how
mine eyes have been enlightened because I tasted a little of
this honey. You see that nobody would have been cursed for eating
this honey because this was a man-made rule. You see what happened to
me when I ate. My eyes were enlightened. And
that's the feeding off the gospel. Eating freely of the gospel.
You know, when the Lord says, feed my sheep, this is what this
is talking about. The gospel is our food. It's
our necessary food that enlightens us, that shows us how things
really are. You know, the only way you see
how you really are is with the light of the gospel. You see
your own sinfulness, your need of Christ, the sufficiency of
Him. That's enlightenment. That's God enlightening. Now,
then said Jonathan, verse 29, my father had troubled the land.
This was not good at all. See, I pray you, mine eyes have
been enlightened because I tasted a little of this honey. Now look
what he says next, verse 30. How much more if happily the
people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies
which they'd found. For had there not been a much greater slaughter
among the Philistines, much more would have been done if we would
have eaten freely. Now, Saul had tried to prevent
the people from freely eating, and Jonathan says, if you would
have, you would have been strengthened to do much more. This was the
spoil the Lord had provided them freely. No restraints, nothing
to hold them back. Freely eat of this honey, the
sweetness of the gospel, being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Now, as soon
as the Lord gives them this victory, Satan is at work, as soon as
it happens, in producing this man-made rule, seeking to prevent
them from eating. Now, Satan does not know who
the elect are. If he knew who the elect were,
he wouldn't bother with you. But he doesn't know whether you
and I will fall away. He doesn't know whether you and
I will go in the direction of works. He doesn't know that.
So he's going to do whatever he can to introduce his man-made
rules. And he'll do anything to get
us to turn back to works, to not eat freely of the honey of
the gospel. Now, this is quite a thought,
though. Jonathan said there would have been a much greater slaughter
a greater victory if we had eaten freely." That's what he says,
isn't it? Not eating freely has hurt us. Now, let me ask a couple of questions
about this. This is what I want to spend
a few minutes on. Does speech like this call into
question the predestination of all things? Now, the reason If we want to
look at things as we should look at it, the reason they didn't
eat freely was because, well, God's will's being done. The lot is cast in the lap, but
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. And we know that
all things work together for good, to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. God was in absolute
control of everything, and it's still true. If we'd eat freely, things would
have been better for us. Now, I don't pretend to understand
all that, but I do believe it. It's kind of like the absolute
sovereignty of God should never produce a fatalistic attitude
regarding anything we do. If somebody says, you're going
to have a very successful garden this summer, everything is just
going to be great. Do you say, well, I'm not going
to do anything then? No, we would never do that humanly. We just
wouldn't do something like that. No, we'd give ourselves, well,
I'm going to work hard. I'm guaranteed success. I'm going to give myself
completely to this. I'm going to have this great garden. We
don't say, well, since God's determined I'm going to have
a good harvest, I'm not going to do anything. The absolute
sovereignty of God should never, ever be something that causes
us to be fatalistic and kind of sit back and it's going to
happen. Don't worry about it. Now, what
I'd like to do is read some scriptures to you. First turn to Psalm 81. Psalm 81. Beginning in verse 8. Well, let's begin reading in
verse 6. I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were
delivered from the pots. I delivered him from this bondage,
this works. Thou callest in trouble, and
I delivered thee. I answered thee in the secret
place of thunder. I proved thee at the waters of
Meribah, Sila. Hear, O my people, and I'll testify
against thee. O Israel, if thou wilt hearken
to me, there shall no strange god be in thee, neither shalt
thou worship any strange god. The Lord is intolerant of that.
I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land
of Egypt. Open thy mouth wide, and I'll fill it. Now how is
it filled? I'm to open my mouth wide. But my people would not hearken
unto my voice, and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up
into their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in their own
counsels." Oh, I don't want that to happen to me, do you? I don't
want the Lord to just give me up to let me do what seems right
to me and think my own thoughts. And look what he says in verse
13, "'Oh, that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel
had walked in my ways. I should have subdued their enemies
and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the
Lord should have submitted themselves unto him, but their time should
have endured forever. He should have fed them also
with the finest of wheat, and with honey out of the rock should
I have satisfied thee. Oh, that my people would have
hearkened to my voice. If they would have done this,
this is what I would have done." Now, there isn't any other way
to look at that than that. Does that militate against the absolute
sovereignty of God? No. But I know this, if I open
my mouth wide, it'll be filled. And if I don't open my mouth
wide, it will not be filled. Turn with me to Malachi chapter
three. Last book in the Old Testament. Verse 8. Will a man rob God? Malachi 3,
verse 8. Will a man rob God? Yet you have
robbed me. But you say, wherein have we
robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. You're cursed with a curse, for
you've robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes
into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and
prove me now therewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will
not open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing,
that there shall be not room enough to receive it. Now, the
only way those windows are opened and that blessing is poured forth
is by me not robbing God. That's, well, how can a man rob
God? Does God need anything? No. No,
He doesn't need anything. He doesn't need anything you
have or I have. This is not trying to manipulate people into giving,
but it's talking about faith. It's talking about trusting God,
giving. He will open the windows of heaven
in blessing. Now, that's what God says. Turn
with me to Luke chapter 6. And this all runs straight with
Jonathan saying, if we would have eaten of the honey, things
would have been better. Luke chapter six, verse 27. But I say unto you,
which hear. I hope I'm one of those people
that hear, don't you? I say unto you, which hear. Love
your enemies. Do good to them which hate you.
Bless them that curse you. Pray for them which despitefully
use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer
also the other. And him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid
not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh
thee. And of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not
again. And as you would that men should do to you, do you
also to them likewise. For if you love them which love
you, what thank have you? The word's actually grace. Where's
their grace there? For sinners also love those that
love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you,
what grace have you? For sinners also do the same.
And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what grace
have you there? For sinners also lend to sinners
to receive as much again. But love your enemies and do
good and lend, hoping for nothing again. And your reward shall
be great, and you shall be the children of the Highest, for
He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Now, look here,
verse 37. Judge not, and you shall not
be judged. But understand this, if you judge,
you'll be judged. He says, Condemn not, and you
shall not be condemned. But understand this as well,
when you condemn, you will be condemned. Forgive, and you shall
be forgiven. But understand this, the Lord
said this, if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither
will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses. That's the
same thing Jonathan is saying. Give, and it shall be given unto
you. Good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running
over shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure
that you meet, it'll be measured to you again. God's gonna measure
out the blessings you have in the basket you bring. You bring
a big basket, he'll bring big blessing. You bring a small basket,
that's what he says. With the measure you meet, it's
gonna be measured to you again. Look in Luke chapter 13. You know, this is one of those
scriptures I just look at and I'm amazed by. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, verse 34,
Luke chapter 13, verse 34. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which
killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto thee.
Now watch this. How often would I have gathered
thy children together as a hen doth gather her brood under her
wings, and you would not. Behold, your house is left unto
you desolate, and verily I say unto you, you shall not see me
until the time come when he shall say, blessed is he that cometh
in the name of the Lord. And that passage of scripture
says he would and you would not. And those are the words of the
Lord. Well, how do you, how do you, Get that in with everything
else you believe about God's absolute sovereignty and His
will all being done. I don't know. I'm not worried about that. These are the words of the Lord.
He said, how often would I? And you would not. Now, Jonathan
said, if you would have eaten freely, we would have had much
greater slaughter. Child of God, eat May God give me grace to
do this. May He give you grace to do this.
Eat the promises of God freely. Eat the honey. You miss great blessing. I miss
great blessing. If we don't eat the honey, of
his provision that he gives freely. And may the Lord deliver us from
a fatalistic attitude about things. I don't want to be that way.
Yes, I believe in God's absolute sovereignty. I don't want to
be a fatalist out of it. And I don't want to introduce
man-made rules and regulations that distress God's people on
the very day of His providing this glorious victory. Eat the
honey and may our eyes be enlightened.