may also turn, which he would
be interlocked with. God give someone more also to
dash up, surely, God. Give us enough of a view of our There were men who had deserted,
and there were men who were in hiding. And the army that was
left was 600 men. Now, those last verses I read
in chapter 14, Saul wanted to kill Jonathan because of this
silly rule he broke. You can read about that in chapter
14 where Saul said, nobody's to touch anything until I get
my vengeance upon mine enemies. And Jonathan unknowingly tasted
some honey and his dad was going to kill him for it. And the children
of Israel said, no, you're not going to touch him because God
hath wrought this great salvation in him. Jonathan hath wrought
this great salvation with God. Now here's the point. Jonathan
by himself no help from these Israelites. And you'll remember
from the 13th chapter, this is very important, the Israelites
didn't even have any weapons. They didn't have any swords.
They didn't have any shields. They didn't have any weapons
to fight this great multitude. But Jonathan, let's go back over
what Jonathan did. Look back in chapter 14. Now it came to pass upon a day
that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said unto the young man that
bare his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines'
garrison that is on the other side. But he told not his father,
because he knew his father would object. His father wouldn't want
him trying to do something like this. He was going to take on
30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and foot soldiers like the sand
by the sea, innumerable. I mean, what? And yet this man
says, I'm going to go take on this entire army. And Saul tarried
in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree, which
is a migrant, and the people that were with him were about
600 men. They didn't know what to do, so they just sat down
under a tree. They were at a loss. They didn't have any weapons,
and they had this giant army that were against them. They
were afraid to go out in any move of aggression, so they just
sat down under the tree waiting to see what would happen. and
Ahiah the son of Athetub, the Ichabod's brother, the son of
Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord's priest, and Shiloh, wearing
an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. And
between the passages by which Jonathan sought to go over into
the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side
and a sharp rock on the other. And the name of the one was Boaz,
and the name of the other was Sina. The forefront of the one
was situated northward over Micmash, and the other southward over
against Gibeah. And Jonathan said to the young
man, and this is such an amazing verse of scripture. Jonathan
said to the young man, the bearer's armor, come and let us go over
into the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will
work for us, for there is no restraint to the Lord to say,
by many or by few, two people, just me and you can defeat this
entire Philistine army without any problem. If the Lord's with
us, if the Lord works for us, isn't that amazing? I mean, what
faith this man demonstrated. He really believed if God be
for us, who can be against us? Oh, he believed this so strongly.
Now, let's go on reading. And his armor bearer said unto
him, Do all that's in thine heart. Turn thee. Behold, I'm with thee
according to thy heart. Don't you want to be somebody
like that? He was right there with Jonathan, this courageous
man. Then said Jonathan, and remember
it's not just natural courage, he believed if God be for us,
who can be against us? If God helps me, I can destroy
this entire army on my own. Then said Jonathan, Behold, we'll
pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto
them. This is kind of his Gideon's Fleece type of thing. If they
say unto us, Terry, until we come down to you, then we will
stand still in our place, and we'll not go up to them. We'll
know the Lord's not going to help us. But if they say, come up
unto us, then we'll go up, for the Lord hath delivered them
into our hand. And this shall be a sign unto
us. This was their Gideon's fleece. If they say, we're going to come
down to you, you'll know not to do it. But if they say, you
come up to us, and they actually had to climb up a cliff to get
up to them. And you think of the supernatural power of the
Lord. Here this army is watching them climb up a cliff. And they
could have so easily just thrown things down, knocked them off,
killed them. But they didn't do it. The Lord restrained them.
And they just watched while Jonathan and his armor-bearer climbed
up this cliff to get to this army. Verse 11, And both of them
discovered themselves under the garrison of the Philistines.
And the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of
the holes where they've hidden themselves. And that's what happened
when they got there. All of them deserted, hid, and all these
things. And the men of the garrison answered
Jonathan and his armor-bearer, and said, Come up to us, and
we'll show you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armor-bearer,
Come up after me, for the Lord hath delivered them into the
hand of Israel." This victory's already been won. He didn't say
the Lord will deliver the men to our hands. He says the Lord
hath delivered them into our hands. And this is the way salvation
is. It's what the Lord has already done. He hath delivered them. And notice he says he delivered
them into the hands of Israel. And Jonathan climbed up upon
his hands and upon his feet, and his armor bearer after him.
That's them scaling this cliff. And they fell before Jonathan,
and his armor bearer slew after him. And the first slaughter
with Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about 20 men within,
as it were, a half an acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might
plow. And there was a trembling in the host, in the field, and
among all the people. Now, these Philistines had had
experience with Jehovah before. You remember when they took the
Ark and put it in the temple of their god, Dagon, and 50-some
thousand people the Lord killed, and they moved him into another
city, and there was another great slaughter. The Scripture says
the hand of the Lord was heavy there. And I think that they
all of a sudden realized, we're in trouble. Just with this one
man, Jonathan, and his armor bearer, they knew, we're in trouble. Jehovah is acting in their behalf. Verse 15, And there was a trembling
in the host, the field, among all the people, the garrison,
and the spoilers. They also trembled. And the earthquake, so that it
was a very great trembling. There was an earthquake going
on now. This is the Lord acting in their behalf. There's an earthquake.
And the watchman of Saul and Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and
behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating
down one another." Now all these thousands of men started killing
each other. The Philistines killing one another.
God acting in behalf of Israel. You know, they didn't have any
weapons, but did they need any? They didn't need him. You see,
the Lord saves not with sword or spear. He understood what
David understood. The battle is the Lord's. And
the Lord achieves this big victory for them without a sword, without
them having any weapons, and that's very significant. Then
said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and
see who's gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold,
Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. And Saul said
unto Hiah, Bring forth the ark of God. For the ark of God was
at that time with the children of Israel, and it came to pass,
while Saul talked unto the priests, that the noise, they heard something.
They heard this big noise that was made before all these people
slaying one another, the Philistines. And it came to pass, they heard
this noise that was in the host of the Philistines, went on and
increased, it kept getting louder and louder. And Saul said unto
the priest, Withdraw thine hand. And Saul and all the people that
were with him assembled themselves. And they came to the battle,
and behold, every man's sword, this is what they saw, every
man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture,
which means a great destruction. They wiped out each other. Moreover, the Hebrews that were
with the Philistines before that time, now these are the deserters,
they had deserted Israel and joined up with the Philistines
because they were afraid. Moreover, the Hebrews that were
with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them
in the camp from the country roundabout, even they also turned
to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.
When they saw Israel's winning, they went ahead and joined back
up. Even they. They were allowed to take of
the spoil. Now, would you have let them
have anything? I wouldn't have. I mean, they were deserters.
And yet here they come and partake of this great spoil. And then
he says in verse 22, Likewise, all the men of Israel which had
hid themselves in Mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines
fled, even they also followed after them in the battle. So
the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed over unto
Beth-Avon. Now, verses 17 through 23 describes
the people who got to enjoy the spoils of Jonathan's victory. You know that Jonathan represents
the Lord Jesus Christ. He by himself purged our sins. No help for me and you. We didn't
participate in this battle. The battle is the Lord's. And
this thing of the salvation of our souls, he did it all. Don't you believe that? He did
it all. Now, who gets to share in his
victory? I think this is pointed out in
this passage of Scripture. Now, the first thing that was
pointed out about this army that was to defeat the Philistines,
they had no weapons to protect themselves. Look back in chapter
13, verse 19. Now, there was no smith
found throughout all the land of Israel. The Philistines said,
lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears. All they had was farming
implements. They didn't have any way of protection. Now, what this represents is
me and you, we don't have anything to protect us. We don't have
anything to fight with. We're completely, humanly speaking,
unable to stand before this great army. Now, what this represents
is what we call total depravity. Nothing to work with. Now, total
depravity doesn't mean that everybody's out murdering and pillaging and
robbing banks. There are some people that do
that. But what total depravity means, you would, apart from
the grace of God. There isn't any sin that you
and I would not commit apart from the grace of God. But what
total depravity means is, Every faculty that we have is dominated
by sin. I don't, you know, most people
say, well, I believe in total depravity, but I believe man has a free
will. Well, if you believe man has a free will, you don't believe
in total depravity. Man's will is controlled by his nature,
his sinful nature. And we don't have anything to
work with in this battle. I don't have any way of battling
Satan or my flesh or sin. I'm totally helpless. I'm totally
dependent upon the Lord. Now, if you have anything that
will enable you to fight, you're on your own. God will only work through those
who have nothing to work with. Would that describe you? I've
said this so many times, I hope it comes home to somebody, me. It's one thing to believe in
the doctrine of total depravity. It's quite another to believe
that you yourself are totally depraved. Now, they had nothing
to work with. But you know what? It's good
news when you have nothing to work with. When you find out
that you have nothing to work with, that is when you hear the
gospel. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Romans 5, 6 says,
When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. Now, it's a blessed thing to
not have anything to work with, because only then can you look
to Him to do everything for you, like Jonathan completely defeated
the Philistines with no help. Now, if there's nothing in you
for God to work with, you have no weapons to win this war, you
believe yourselves to have no spiritual strength, you can't
promise you'll be better, you can't do good, you can only do
evil, for you to be saved it must be somebody else working
in your behalf. Well, that's what Jonathan was
doing. And that's what the Lord Jesus Christ does in behalf of
His people. Now back to Saul sitting under
a pomegranate tree with his 600 men without weapons and they
didn't know what to do. Look in verse 17. said Saul unto the people that
were with him, Number down, see who's gone from us. And when
they'd numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not
there. Now they knew something was going on. They didn't know
what though. But they said, who's gone? What's the cause of all
this ruckus we're hearing? And they found out Jonathan was
gone. So it came to pass, they heard, and Saul said to Ahaia,
bring the ark of God. For the ark of God was that time
with the children of Israel. It came to pass while Saul talked
unto the priests that the noise, here's the first thing that happened,
all of a sudden they heard something. They heard something. There was
a noise that they heard. They heard the noise of the battle. There was something they heard.
Now, you won't hear. Not really. And remember, faith
cometh by hearing. hearing by the Word of God. The hours come and now is when
the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live." Now all of a sudden they heard something.
They heard something about the battle. I don't think they knew
what it is at this time, but they heard this battle going
on. They heard this great noise in
the Philistine camp where the Philistines were destroying one
another. They heard something. Verse 19,
And it came to pass, while Saul talked with the priests, that
the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and
increased. And Saul said unto the priests,
Withdraw thine hand. And Saul and all the people that
were with him assembled themselves. Now my marginal reading says
they were come together, but you know I looked that word up,
assembled, and it's usually translated cried together, cried out. It's not just that they assembled
themselves and said we're going to have a church service. They
all, with one consent, began to cry out. As a matter of fact,
Proverbs 107.19 translates the same word. Then they cried unto
the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of all their
distresses. They cried. Now here's what happens
when you find out you have nothing to work with, and then you You
hear the noise. You hear the gospel. You know
what you'll do? You'll cry out, Lord, save me. Lord, I can't
save myself. Save me. They cried out. They assembled themselves and
they cried out. Verse 20, and Saul and all the
people that were with him assembled themselves. They cried out together
when they came to the battle, and behold, here's what they
saw. Every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very
great destruction, a very great defeat. This is what they observed.
Now this is what you see when you see. You don't have anything to work with. You hear the victory battle. You hear the battle that's going
on that the Lord accomplished. You hear. You cry out. And then
you see, you see this great victory. Now, who got to partake in this
great victory? Who got to enjoy the spoils of
this great victory? Well, we know Saul and his 600
men, the men who had nothing to work with, no weapons. But
these two descriptions are just amazing to me. And really, it's
not amazing because it's the only way I'd be saved. Verse
21, The Hebrews that were with the
Philistines before that time, they deserted Israel and gone
over to the Philistines. They thought, I'll have it better
there. They left, they deserted. Who knows why? But I know this,
they deserted. And would you give the deserters
some of the spoil? After they deserted Israel and
joined up with the Philistines, and then they see that the Israelites
are winning because the Lord is working on their behalf. All
of a sudden they join back up with the Israelites and they
enjoy of the spoil. Now would me or you let them
have anything? No. But isn't that exactly what the Lord
has done for me and you? As sinful and cowardly and traitorous
we are. You know, every time we sin,
we're traitors. Traitors to the Lord. And yet the Lord, in His
mercy, receives these traitors and lets them enjoy of the spoil. You see, the gospel's for sinners,
isn't it? It's for traitors. I wouldn't have given these people
anything, but the Lord does. Because this is who the Lord
saves. This is who the Lord saves. Verse
22, likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in Mount
Ephraim. Turn back to chapter 13. Verse five, and the Philistines
gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, 30,000
chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and people as the sand, which
is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and pitched
in Mekmash, eastward from Beth-Avon. This is where the Israelites
were, when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait,
for the people were distressed. The people did hide themselves
in caves and thickets and rocks and in high places and in pits.
And some of the Hebrews, deserted and went over to Jordan to the
land of Gad and Gilead. Those were the deserters. Now,
these were cowards. I would have been a coward too.
I mean, humanly speaking, they couldn't stand up before this
mighty army. Yet the Lord let them in on this great victory
that Jonathan wrought. Isn't that wonderful? Jonathan wrought the victory.
Look in chapter 14 verse 45. And the people said unto Saul,
Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation
in Israel? That's exactly what Christ did.
He wrought this great salvation in Israel. He did it all. And
this, like I said, this is really more miraculous than David taking
on Goliath. I mean, David taking on Goliath
with a sling and a stone and killing him? Well, that was a
mighty victory, and that's a beautiful gospel type. But this is more
miraculous. He took on the entire Philistine
army and was victorious by the grace of God. He understood there's
no restraint with the Lord to save by many or by few. Now,
once again, here, free grace opens the door for anybody. That's what free grace does.
It opens the door for anybody. Deserters, cowards, men who have
nothing to work with, Free grace opens wide the door for anybody. I love free grace. Most folks
believe in earned grace. You do something in order to
get this grace. God's grace is his response to
you doing fill in the blank. That's not free grace. That's
earned grace. No such thing. Free grace opens
up the door for the vilest sinner this side of hell to come in. We see who is allowed to come
in and partake of these spoils. Now, free grace is for people
who have nothing to work with. No weapons. All they have is
sin. Free grace is for people who
hear. They hear what's being said.
They see that salvation is of the Lord. They hear that message
by the grace of God. Free grace is for people who
cry out. They cry out, Lord, save me,
do something for me. Let me be partaker of this victory
you've won. They cry out. Free grace is for
people who have deserted. People who are cowards. People
who really believe that salvation must be of the Lord. They not
only see it in the scriptures, they see it's the only way they
can be saved. They don't just argue doctrine.
They see this is the only way I can be saved for Jonathan,
the Lord Jesus Christ, to completely work out my victory. Now, if
you and I ever see that salvation really is of the Lord, No matter
how bad we are, we'll cry out just like they did. May God give
us grace all to do that. Can you, you're doing mom.