that I did choose thee, Lord,
for, Lord, that could not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niber. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I want to preach to you this
morning on the subject David, Goliath, and the Gospel. Now most people are at least
vaguely familiar with the story of David and Goliath. David killing the giant Goliath
and delivering Israel. And people like to use this story
to inspire the little guy. You can win if you do your best. Remember David and Goliath. It's
used in sports so often. You know, David slays the Goliath
when a small team defeats a powerful team. But did you know that every
story is given to illustrate the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ? And there is a certain aspect
of the gospel that is made known in the story of David and Goliath. Now, listen real carefully. According
to the scriptures, God deals with two men, Adam and Christ. You are either in Adam or you
are in the Lord Jesus Christ. God will deal with you as you
are in Adam, guilty, condemned, or he'll deal with you as you
are in Christ if you're in Christ. Now in the story of David and
Goliath, we have a story where if David wins, all Israel wins. If Goliath wins, Israel loses. There's two men. Two men. Now keep that in mind. And in
this we see the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, beginning
in verse 4 of 1 Samuel chapter 17, if you can open up your Bibles
and read out of 1 Samuel 16 and 17, I believe it would be very
helpful. We read in verse 4 of 1 Samuel chapter 17, and there
went out a champion of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath
of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 11 feet tall. Now can you imagine such a formidable
foe as this? 11 feet tall. 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. This gives you some idea how
big this man was where his armor weighed 180 pounds. And he had greaves of brass upon
his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the
staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, twenty-six feet long. And his spear's head weighed
six hundred shekels of iron, twenty pounds, and one bearing
a shield went before him. And he stood and cried unto the
armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to
set your battle in array? And not I, a Philistine, and
you servants of Saul, choose you a man for you, and let him
come down to me. Let's don't have both armies
fighting. I will represent the Philistines.
You choose a man who will represent you. Verse 9, 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. And the Philistine said, I defy
the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight
together. When Saul and all Israel heard
these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly
afraid. And I can certainly understand
that. What man could stand before a man who was 11 feet tall with
a 26 foot sphere? You couldn't even come close
to it. And he says, you bring a man and fight. If he can whip
me, we'll be your servants. If I can kill him, you'll be
our servants. And then in verse 12 of this
passage of scripture, now David, now we're introduced to David,
was the son of the Eprathite of Bethlehem, Judah, whose name
was Jesse. David and Goliath. Now, what about David? David
was a very special man. Two times, God said regarding
David, he's a man after my own heart. His heart beats with mine. He was the man that God chose
to take the place of Saul. Remember, Saul was rejected.
King Saul tried to offer to God a sacrifice on his own without
the priest. What he was doing was bypassing
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's when God rejected
him because he thought he could come into God's presence without
the priest, without the Lord Jesus Christ. So God provided
David a man after his own heart than David. Oh, what a special
man. He was a simple man like you
and I are by nature. You can read his history and
know that. But he was a man that God greatly
blessed. The sweet psalmist of Israel.
David is the one of whom it was said of Christ, he's the son
of David. And yet Christ was David's Lord. Now, let's read some about David
in 1 Samuel, chapter 16, when we're introduced to him. Now,
verse 6, and it came to pass when they were come, the Lord
had told Samuel, my king, the one I've anointed, is in the
house of Jesse. You go and find him there. And
let me just tell you what took place. Jesse had eight sons,
and one thing Jesse was sure of, it wouldn't be David. Maybe
one of the other seven boys, but it wouldn't be David. David
was just a shepherd. He was a young man, and he didn't
even bring him to see Samuel. He brought his, paraded his other
seven sons before Samuel, and the Lord said, they're rejected.
They're not them. And Samuel said, do you have
any other boys? He said, well, there's one, but I know it's
not him. He's out keeping the sheep. Now let's start reading
in verse 11 of 1 Samuel 16. And Samuel said unto Jesse, are
here all thy children? He said, there remaineth yet
the youngest. And behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said
to Jesse, send and fetch him, for we'll not sit down till he
come thither. And he sent and brought him in.
Now, he was ready, and with all of the beautiful countenance
and goodly to look on, and the Lord said, Arise, anoint him,
for this is he. Now, look at this description
of David. Ready. That's where we get the
word earthy from, or Adam from. He was a man. And he was of a
beautiful countenance and goodly to look upon, which typifies
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a real man. He's the champion
of Israel. He's the one who can defeat Goliath.
You and I can't do it. Only he can. And he's a real
man, bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh. And he's of a beautiful
countenance. That's referring to his beautiful
attributes, his holiness, his justice. His righteousness, His
sovereignty, all that God is, He is, because He is God. God manifests in the flesh, and
He's goodly to look on, so much so that He said, Look unto Me,
and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God, and beside Me is none else. He's the man of God's providing,
and verse 13 says, 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
Ramah. Now, if you go on reading in
this passage of Scripture six times, there's a reference to
David keeping his sheep. David had a special relationship
with his sheep, which speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ, that
great shepherd of the sheep. Now, look at this description
of him in verse 18, the same in chapter 16. And remember,
when we're reading this description of David, we're really reading
a description of David's Lord. Then answered one of the servants
and said, Behold, I've seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, that's
cunning in playing. He was a skilled musician. And
it was he who was used to play music to Saul when Saul was troubled,
and that would drive the evil spirit from Saul. But here's
the point. Christ Jesus, the Lord, can speak
peace to a troubled heart. Only he can speak peace to a
troubled heart. And he's also described as a
mighty, valiant man, an almighty, powerful man, a man of war and
prudent in matters. or words. Every word he says
is the Word of God. You know, when I speak, I have
a measure of the Spirit of God. I have a measure of the Spirit.
But when he spoke, every word recommended itself as the very
Word of God. He is the Word of God, and his
words are words of spirit and words of life. And he was a comely
person, and the Lord is with Can he defeat Goliath? Oh, easily. Easily. This young man upon whom the
Spirit of the Lord was upon, goodly, humbly in his person,
this glorious individual is well able to defeat Goliath because
the Lord is with him. One plus the Lord is a majority.
The Lord can easily destroy Goliath, and He'll use David to do so.
Now, David's three oldest brothers. Now, let's go back to that scene.
Here's Israel, and here are the Philistines. One set on one hill,
another on another. There's a valley in between,
and Goliath would come down and scream out to the armies of Israel,
send me a man to fight me every day. Three of David's older brothers
are in the army at this time. Remember, David is just keeping
the sheep. And three of his brothers are
in the army at this time. And we read in 1 Samuel 17, beginning
in verse 23, where his father Jesse had sent him to bring his
brothers something to eat and see how they were doing. And
as he talked with them, his brothers, Behold, there came up the champion
of the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of
the Philistines, and he spake according to the same words. David heard him at this time
challenge Israel and say, bring a man to fight me. And David
heard them. And all the men of Israel, when
they saw the man, they fled from him. They were scared to death
and were so afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have
you seen this man that has come up, eleven feet tall with a twenty-six
foot long spear? Who knows how he must have weighed
seven or eight hundred pounds, a huge giant. Surely to defy
Israel as he come up, and it shall be that the man who kills
him, the king, will enrich him with great riches and will give
him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel. Now, this is the reward of the
Lord Jesus Christ in defeating Goliath. When he went to the
cross, defeating the Goliath of sin and so on. There's so
much that could be said about that. But when he went to the
cross and put away the sins of God's elect and defeated their
enemies. Here's what he did. He enriched
himself with great riches. He achieved glory that he would
not have had unless he did this. And he's given the king's daughter.
That's talking about the church. All of the elect. His bride. And his father's house is free
in Israel. Everybody he died for is set
free. If he paid for my sins, that
means I'm free. That means I don't owe anything.
That means I'm doing what I want to do. Oh, what a glorious thing
he does in saving his people. Now, remember, David is a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we read in verse 26, And David
spake to the men that stood by, saying, What shall be done to
the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach
from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised
Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him,
and after this man are saying, so shall it be done to the man
that kills him. He'll be enriched with great riches. He'll have
the king's daughter, and his house will be free in Israel. Now David's older brother, Eliab,
was listening at this time. And Eliab, his elder brother,
when he heard him speak to the men, Eliab's anger was kindled
against David. And he said, Why comest thou
down hither? And with whom hast thou left
those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness
of thy heart, for thou art come down that thou mightest see the
battle. He accused David of having a wrong motive. He said, You're
just coming to watch the battle. And David said, What have I now
done? Is there not a cause, the glory of God, the good of his
people? Is there not a cause? Our Lord
Jesus came with a cause, the cause of the glory of His Father,
to honor His Father, to put away the sins of His people. Oh, what
a cause to glorify His Father. Verse 30, And he turned from
him toward another, and spake after the same manner. And the
people answered him again after the former manner. And when the
words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before
Saul, and he sent for him. So men heard David say, I'll
fight this giant. Who is he to defy the armies
of God? And so Saul sins for him. He
wants to hear what he's got to say. So we read in verse 32.
And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him.
Thy servant will go fight with the Philistine. And Saul said
to David, thou art not able to go up against this Philistine
to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he a man of
war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, thy
servant, now David is going to give his qualifications to fight
this giant. Listen real carefully. 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 after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth.
And when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard, and
smote him, and slew him." Now, David killed a lion with his
bare hands. He says, this giant is going
to be no match for me. You see, the power of God, the
Spirit of God was upon him. Verse 36, "'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, he knew where his strength came
from, the Lord's deliverance. It was the Lord who defeated
this lion and this bear. David said, moreover, the Lord
that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the
paw of the bear will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said unto David, go and the Lord be with thee. So
as you go on reading, Saul wants to help David. And so Saul gives
David some of his armor. He thought this will help him
fight that giant. Now let's read beginning in verse
38. And Saul armed David with his armor. He put a helmet of
brass upon his head, and he also armed him with a coat of mail.
And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he was saved to
go, for he had not proved it. David didn't want it. He said,
I don't want this armor. I don't need this armor. He's not going to use human protection. He's not going to use human methods.
He's not going to use human means. He does not want this armor. You know, men try to come up
with all kinds of ways to promote the gospel and to make it more
attractive. And maybe we'll be more successful if we do it this
way or if we do it that way. And that's a bunch of foolishness.
That's all it is. Men's methods and men's ingenuity
is not needed. Just preach the gospel. So you
know what David did? He said, I don't want this armor.
I don't want man's help in any way. So he picked out five stones,
verse 40, and he took a staff in his hand and chose him five
smooth stones out of the brook and put them in a shepherd's
back, which he had even in his grip and his sling was in his
hands. And he drew near to the Philistine. Now, he drew near
to him with five stones, no armor, no sword, no shield. He didn't
use human means. He drew near with these five
stones. Now, why the number five? I got
to thinking about that. There's significance to it. Not
four, not six, five. Why the number five? In Romans
chapter eight, Paul concludes that chapter by saying, we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. We're victorious. We're more than. This is talking
about every believer. We're more than conquerors. And
he talks about the victory the Lord Jesus won for every believer
to make them more than conquerors. Now, if you go up to verse 28
of that same chapter, it begins like this. And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose. Now, these are
the people who get this glorious victory, who are more than conquerors. Those who love God, not those
who don't, but those who do. Those who are the called according
to his purpose. And then he goes on to give five
aspects of salvation. Listen real carefully. Four.
Whom he did foreknow, them he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Now, what shall we then say to
these things, these five things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now, here is the five stones
of David. First, God's foreknowledge. The
foundation of the Lord standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord
knoweth them that are His. He knew me before time began. He said to Jeremiah before, I
formed thee in the belly. I knew thee. Now, this is talking
about God's love of His people beforehand. All of God's people
had a relationship with God before they were ever born. It's called
the elect. He foreknew them, and all He
foreknows He saves. Next, He speaks of predestination.
Somebody says, do you believe in predestination? Of course
I do. God predestinated that all of the elect be just like
the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he predestines to come to
pass, comes to pass. It can't be defeated. Then he
says, Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called. This is
the call of invincible, irresistible grace. If God calls you, you'll
respond. Oh, the call of God. It's irresistible. When he said the Lazarus come
forth, Lazarus came forth. He that was dead came forth,
and whom he called, then he also justified." This is the work
of Christ. He takes guilty sinners and makes
them not guilty. They're justified. I have perfect
righteousness before God through the Lord Jesus Christ. and whom
he justified, then he also glorified. In Christ, I'm already glorified,
already perfect, already accepted. That's real. Now, he takes these
five stones. These are the five links of the
gospel. Somebody preached the message
once, the golden chain of the gospel, the five links, and here
they are. And the Philistine, verse 41,
came and drew near unto David, and the man that bared the shield
went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw
David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth and ready
and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto
David, Am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine
cursed David by his gods. He thought they'd bring somebody.
They're bringing somebody like this to me. I'm a mighty man
of war, a giant, and they bring this young person. And the Philistine
said to David, Come to me, and I'll give thy flesh unto the
fowls of the air and the beasts of the field. Then said David,
the one that was a man after God's own heart, the one who
believed God. 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 this day. Listen to this faith of David.
This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand. Now we understand
that the only reason we're saved, if we're believers, is because
the Lord saved us. He did it all. And he gives all
the glory. And David understands that. He
says, this day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand. And
I will smite thee, and take thy head from thee, and I will give
the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto
the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that
there is a God in Israel." That was David's motive. And all this
assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and
spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you
into our hands. Now, there is an understanding.
That God saves without our help. Listen to me. I'm saved. You know what that means? That means I'm accepted by God. That means all my sins are put
away. That means I have the great grace
of God upon me. That means he'll keep me all
the way to the end. I'm saved. And the reason I'm
saved is the Lord saved me and he did it all. He did it all. Salvation is of
the Lord. And it came to pass when the
Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David, that
David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
And David put his hand in his bag and took then to stone and
slain it. And the Lord directed the stone
right into the Philistine's forehead. It crushed through his skull
into his brain and he fell down upon his face to the earth. So
David, verse 50, 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. It was God who did this, not
David. And in salvation, we say it's
God who did this, not man. Man's works, man's free will,
man's efforts, man's intentions, get no credit. God did this. And everybody that God has saved
will be in complete agreement with that. God did this. 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. And the men of Israel and of
Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines until they came
to the valley. They took them and got all of
their spoil. Now, when was it when they got
up and flew and got after the Philistines and pursued them
and killed them and took their spoil? After the victory was
already won. And that's what every believer
does. We see that the Lord won our victory for us. He did it
all. And we take up the spoils. We
believe the blessings of the Gospel. I'm justified before
God. I have no guilt. I'm sanctified
wholly before God. I've got all the promise of His
providence that everything's working together for my good
and His glory. We receive all the spoils after
we see that our David, the Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ,
has defeated our great enemy, our sin, our inability, He saved
us. Now, in this story of David and
Goliath, we have the gospel. Two men fought. If David wins,
all of Israel wins. If Goliath wins, Israel loses. And this represents the two men,
Adam and Christ. We're either in Adam, guilty
and condemned, or in Christ victorious. Now, what is the evidence that
one is in the Lord Jesus Christ? They believe the gospel. They
look to Christ only as everything in their salvation. They look
to their great David. This is a glorious, glorious
story regarding the gospel. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
we have this message on CD, DVD, and cassette. If you call the
church or write, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyre, a
friend that God would be pleased to make Himself known to you.
That's our prayer. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com,
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen.