Let us open our Bibles today
to 1 Samuel chapter 17. All of us here today are familiar
enough with this historical event to allow me to begin sort of
in the middle. But I want to begin reading in
verse 38, 1 Samuel chapter 17 and verse 38. And Saul armed
David with his armor, and he put on a helmet of brass upon
his head. Also he armed him with a coat
of mail. And David girded his sword upon
his armor, and he assayed to go. for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot
go with these, for I have not proved them. And David put them
off him. 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 his sling was in his hand,
and he drew near to the Philistine. And the Philistine came on 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
ruddy 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. And the Philistine said to David,
come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air
and to the beasts of the field. 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. God of
the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the
Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee and take
thine head from thee. And I will give the carcasses
of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the
air and to the wild beast of the earth. And all the earth
may know that there is a God in Israel. 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. 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 thence a stone,
and sling it and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone
sunk into the forehead and he fell upon his face to the
earth. So David 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. 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 that their champion was dead, they
fled. I'm speaking to us today from
David's words in verse 45. I come to thee in the name of
the Lord. Let me remind us of two things
about David. First, we know that in several
ways he serves as an Old Testament type or a picture of the Savior,
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I see three ways in this chapter
I want to point out to us, three ways in which David serves as
a picture, as a type of Christ. Now all the scripture speaks
to us of Christ. No matter where we read, no matter
where we look, we are to look for Him. Because if a person
knows every jot and every tittle of the Word of God and does not
know Christ, that person will go out into eternity lost forever
and ever. I see three ways in this chapter.
If you look back in verse number 17, David, how did he come to this
battlefield? Here he was going out to face
the giant Goliath. How did he come here? He was
sent by his father. Notice that in verse 17. And
Jesse, David's father, said unto David his son, take now for thy
brethren an efe of this parched corn and these ten loaves, and
run to the camp to thy brethren. How did David come to the battlefield? He was sent by his father. How
did the Lord Jesus Christ come into this world? He was sent
by his father. Remember the scripture in 1 John
chapter 4 tells us here in his love, not that we love God, but
that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for
our sins. A second thing I see here is
he was maligned. How was he received by his brethren? He was sent by his father to
his brethren, but how did his brethren receive him? They ridiculed
and maligned him. Notice that, if you will, in
verse 28. And Eliab, the eldest brother,
his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the men, and Eliab's
anger was kindled against David. And he said, Why camest thou
down hither, and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in
the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness
of thine heart, for thou art come down that thou mightest
see the battle. I would remind us that in John's
gospel, the first chapter, he tells us he came unto his own,
that is, His people, the nation of Israel, He came unto His own,
and His own received Him not. And Matthew Henry points this
out in his commentary about His own. When we read there, He came
unto His own. He says, as his own things. He came unto his own, as to his
own things. It's not the same as in John
13 in verse 1, where we read, having loved his own, he loved
them unto the end. He came into this world, he was
born, into the nation of Israel. How did his brethren receive
him? They maligned him and they mistreated him. And here's the
third thing, and this is the most important of all. David
single-handedly defeated the giant. That's the most important
of all, isn't it? David single-handedly defeated
the foe of the people of God. And the people of God, that is
God's chosen people, our foe, Satan, who defeated him, Christ
did. And he did it single-handedly. He did it all by himself. I love that verse in Hebrews
chapter 1 and verse 3, which says, Who, that is Christ, being
the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. If you want to see God, look
at Christ. God is the invisible God, but
He has manifested Himself. He has revealed Himself in His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As that verse tells us, He's
the express image of His person and upholding all things by the
word of His power. That is, He upholds this universe. He upholds all things. He upholds
you. He upholds me. Paul said, in
Him we live and have our being. We live and move and have our
being. You of yourself, me of myself,
we don't have the power apart from Christ to even leave this
building today. We live in Him. We move in Him. We exist in Him. He upholds all
things by the word of His power. But now listen, when He, Christ,
by Himself, hath purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of
the majesty on high. He by himself, just like David
by himself, went out and with that sling and that one stone,
he by himself single-handedly defeated the giant. Now, his words that I want us
to consider And I couple his words with the words we read
at the beginning of the service by the Apostle Paul in Colossians
3, where he said, And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus. So David, when he went out against
this giant, he said, I come to thee in the name of the Lord. Whatsoever you do, in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. I have seven observations
I want to make. First of all, in seeking forgiveness,
in seeking forgiveness of sins and acceptance with God, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus. Don't you want to be forgiven
all your sins? Don't you want to be accepted
by God Almighty? Do all seek the forgiveness of
your sins and acceptance with God in the name of the Lord Jesus. What do I mean by that? Well,
in Ephesians chapter four and verse 32, the apostle said, and
be you kind one to another. tenderhearted, forgiving one
another. Now listen, even as God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. To be forgiven of our sins, to
be received by God Almighty, it must be in the name of the
Lord Jesus. God forgives sinners for Christ's
sake. and for no other reason. Let
that sink in. I know most of you here today,
you know what I'm saying, you know this truth, but hear it
again. God forgives sinners for Christ's
sake. What does that mean? It means
that God's forgiveness of sinful men and women comes to us only
through the person and work, the merit, the substitution,
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's forgiveness comes
to sinners only through Christ, for Christ's sake, because God's
justice must be satisfied. We had sinned, broken God's law,
and he by himself Just as David by himself in the name of the
Lord slew this giant, Christ by himself purged us from our
sins. Forgiveness doesn't come through
a person's tears. We don't hear this so much anymore. Maybe in some places it's still
preached. You've got to cry so many tears.
You've got to go down to a mourner's bench. You've got to go down
to the altar in the church or something like that, at the front
of the church, and you've got to shed tears. Forgiveness doesn't
come through a person's tears. It doesn't come through a person's
sufferings. Some people believe that through
their suffering in this life that forgiveness will come. An
ocean of tears could not satisfy God's justice for one sin. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal, no like or no,
these for sin cannot atone? Thou must save and thou alone. A person's sufferings cannot
satisfy God's justice. What so many people do not understand,
and if you understand this today, it is because God has given you
this understanding. Every sin that men commit is
against God. Every sin. Every sin that you
have ever committed, every sin that I've ever committed, and
they have been mountains of sins. Sins that we do not even recognize
that we're guilty of. I heard one man say, and I like
this, he said, if I started on the East Coast, New York and
started walking across the continent all the way to San Francisco.
And every step I take, I confess my sins. He said, when I got
to San Francisco, I still would not have confessed all my sins.
And that's true of all of us. I don't care who you are. And every sin that we've committed
is against God. Now, God is not like you. He's
not like me. You might satisfy me and I might
satisfy you in some way if I have offended you. But God is infinite
and to satisfy God it's going to take an infinite sacrifice. It's going to take a sacrifice
that pleases God, and it has to be perfect. In Leviticus,
the scripture says the offerings that were given had to be perfect
to be accepted. And the Lord Jesus Christ, because
He is both God and man, His sacrifice, it has a value. His blood has
a worthiness that clenches from sin, that purges from sin. but
only His blood and only His sacrifice. Every sin is against God and
God is infinite. That means it's going to take
an infinite sacrifice to please, to satisfy God's justice. Keep your place here if you will,
but look over a few pages into the book of Psalms. Psalm 51. David knew what I have just said. David knew this. In his sin, there was many sins involved
in his sin. It wasn't just the adultery,
wasn't it? It wasn't just the look, the lust. That's how it began. But it wasn't
just that. It involved more. You know, you
let a little sin get in, and it gets his head under the tent
door like the camel, and before long, the camel's in the tent.
And sin is that way. It starts off maybe small, but
it escalates, doesn't it? And David's, his sin maybe began,
maybe it began because he wasn't out in battle. When the kings
go forth to battle, he stayed at home. Now, I don't know what's
in that. Maybe it began there. He wasn't
where he should have been. And then he looks over the wall,
over the roof, and he sees Bathsheba, and there's that lust, that concupiscence,
that very beginning of sin in his heart. And he sins for her,
and then there's the adultery. And then there's a sin, sinning
for her husband and getting him drunk as he did. Remember this
whole episode. There was just one sin after
the other until finally it involved the death, the murder of her
husband. He was responsible. He had sinned
against each one of these persons. But notice when he confesses
his sins, he's seeking forgiveness. He's in repentance. Have mercy upon me, O God. And aren't you thankful today
that God is a God of mercy? In fact, the scripture says,
He delighteth in mercy. That ought to make us Jump up
and click our heels together just to know that the God with
whom we have to do, He delights in mercy. That's what we all need. And
He's a God of mercy, a God who delights in mercy. Have mercy
upon me, O God. He's a God of mercy, but a person
says, well, I just throw myself on the mercy of God. Listen,
His mercy is found in Christ. In the name of the Lord, in Christ,
have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according
to the multitude of Thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgression. And when you blot something out,
the way they blotted it out was as we think of ink. There it
is written in the ledger. The dead is written there. And
the sins are all listed there. And for them to be blotted out,
it's going to take something powerful to blot out the sins,
the iniquity. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me. I need to be washed. I need to be cleansed from my
sin. Wash me throughly from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions. No one is ever forgiven who doesn't
acknowledge his transgressions. But that was a problem the Pharisees
had, wasn't it? The religious rulers, the religious
leaders in the days when the Lord Jesus Christ was here in
the flesh. Your master, they said, he receiveth
and eateth with sinners. They couldn't fathom that. And our Lord said, I didn't come
to call the whole Those that are whole, they don't
need repentance. I came to call the sick sinners
to repentance. One of the most difficult things
for any of us, saved and unsaved, is ever to say, I'm guilty. Period. I'm guilty. We always have to add something,
don't we? I'm guilty, but I'm guilty, but
you know, no, I'm guilty, period. I acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin, it's ever before me. But notice, against thee. Well, I thought you sinned against
Bathsheba. He did. I thought you sinned against
Uriah. He did. I thought you sinned against
Joi. He did. No. And thee only have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. In other words,
he took God's side against himself. And that's what repentance is.
It's taking God's side against ourself. I'm guilty. You're right. You're just. That's, you proclaim
that I'm guilty, that I'm a sinner. I agree. I confess it. I know it so. It is for Christ's sake, and
only through Christ's sake, through His sacrifice, Him satisfying
God's justice, that God forgives sinners' sin and accepts them. So that's the first thing I would
say. In seeking the Lord's forgiveness
and acceptance with God, seek it in the name of the Lord. Number two, in seeking God's
face in prayer, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. We've
all heard that repetition is the best teacher. We've all heard
that, haven't we? Repetition is the best teacher.
I know it's so because in one discourse, the Lord Jesus Christ,
speaking to his 11 disciples after Judas has already gone
out, a discourse that could not have lasted over maybe an hour
or two, he told them four times, over and over and over and over
again, when you pray, when you ask, Ask in My name. Ask in My name. First He said, Whatsoever you
shall ask in My name, that will I do. Then He said, If you shall
ask anything in My name, I will do it. Third, He said, Whatsoever
you shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. and forth, hitherto have you
asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive. We must, in prayer, in seeking
God's face in prayer, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
I mean by that, we must recognize that yes, we have an audience
with God Almighty. If we are His children, but we
have an audience with Him only through His Son. There's that
mediator, he's that one mediator between God and us. And when
we go to him in prayer, we come to him in the name of the Lord. We ask in his name. We recognize,
yes, we have God's ear. That's what the psalmist said.
I cried unto the Lord, and he inclined his ear unto me. Yes, we have God's ear. when we come to Him in the name
of the Lord. But if we go in any other way,
trusting in any other thing, it's not our fine words, it's
not phrases that we've heard other people use and then we
copy them, but it is always and only for Christ's sake, because
of His blood and righteousness, that He hears us. I remember
calling upon a new believer many years ago when I was in Mexico. I went to a particular village
and I still remember this night. It's been many years ago. We
met in a house, small house with a grass roof for years. And I
looked over at him and his name was Pedro. I even remember his
name, Peter. He never prayed in public before.
And so I asked him, I said, Pedro, could you pray for us? And he
looked at me and he shook his head. And he began his prayer
like this, Senor, that's Lord, forgive me for what I'm about
to say. And I've thought about that over
the years. That may be one of the best prayers I've ever heard. Forgive me for what I'm about
to say. Because you see, even our praying,
we need Christ. Without Him, without His blood,
without His righteousness, we have no right and we have no
standing. to come to God Almighty and ask
of Him. But in His name, we have that
privilege. I said, in some ways, I've thought
that was one of the best prayers I've ever heard. I realize that
only in some ways, because we are His children, and we need
to remember that. We are God's children. And we
do have access unto the Father through Jesus Christ, the righteous. Just like every parent in this
building today, if one of your children called you, you might
be at your office and you might tell your secretary, if you have
one, don't put any calls through. And then she says, you've got
a call. I told you, but it's your son.
But it's your daughter. OK. OK. we've got access unto the Father
because we are His children. Third, in the name of the Lord,
in seeking forgiveness of sins and acceptance, in the name of
the Lord, in prayer, in calling upon God, seeking His face, it's
not the position, it's not the words, no, it's in the name of
Christ. And third, in preaching and teaching
God's word. Do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus. The Apostle Peter, he tells us
in his epistle, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. That is, set him apart. We don't talk about God like
we do everyone else. He's not our kopi. He's not our
buddy. God is God, and we are us. Sanctify the Lord God in your
heart, His name. When our Lord taught His disciples
to pray, the very first part of that prayer is, hallowed,
sanctified, set apart, be thy name. Sanctify the Lord God in
your heart. And be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that
is in you with meekness and fear. We all have a responsibility
to sanctify the Lord in our heart, to set him apart so that when
we are asked, why do you have a hope? Why is it that when it
seems like everything around us is going to put, and you just
seem to have a calmness about you, and why is that? What's your hope? Well, sanctify
the Lord God in your heart and be ready when people ask you,
what's your hope of eternal life? You believe you're going to die,
don't you? Well, sure, we all do. We're going to face God. There's an eternity out there
before us. What is your hope? Sanctify the
Lord God in your heart and be ready. My hope is Christ and
Him alone. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. I've had some good frames. I've
had some good feelings. I really have. And I love to
feel Christ. I love to feel God. I love to
feel. But listen, feelings may be deceiving. You see, even people who are
part of cults, they have feelings too. Oh no. I dare not trust
the sweetest frame. but wholly lean on Jesus' name. When we go out to preach or to
witness or to testify, it must all be done in the name of the
Lord, trusting in Him and God to bless His word, trusting in
God to make His word effectual. You know, Paul, he wrote to the
church at Corinth and he said, I planted And that's very important. There's not going to be a harvest
without first a sowing. Then he said, a pile of water.
And that's very important. Planting and watering. But even
so, God must give the increase. There's not going to be an increase
unless God blesses. Whatever we do, do it in the
name of the Lord, in teaching and preaching, witnessing, Do
it in the name of trusting in Him, looking to Him, relying
upon Him. And fourth, in giving. In giving, do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus. We're not to be like the Pharisees
who They gave to be seen of men. Nothing pleased them more than
when they gave that somebody was looking, you know. In fact,
our Lord said they even sounded a trumpet. Look with me in Matthew
chapter 6. That's not the way we are to
give. We are to give in the name of
the Lord. We're to give because the Lord
has given so much to us. Sometimes when I call on men
to pray, before the offering is taken up, I've heard this
time or two, maybe more. It's always good to hear, we're
just giving back a small part. Praying to God, Father, we're
just giving back a small part of what you've given. We give
in the name of the Lord, because he's given to us. We don't give
to get. What an era, what an untruth
has been preached in places that call themselves Christian places. That we are to give in order
to get. No, no, we're to give because
we love Him. And we love Him because He first
loved us. Give in the name of the Lord.
Our Lord said, Take heed here in Matthew 6 verse 1. Take heed
that you do not your alms, that is your charitable giving before
men, to be seen of them. Otherwise you have no reward
of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine
alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory
of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. That's what they wanted, they
got it, that's it. But when thou doest alms, let
not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine
alms may be in secret. And thy father which seeth in
secret himself shall reward thee openly. Fifth, in being baptized
do all in the name of the Lord. Follow His command. If you today
are considering your thinking about this matter of baptism,
do it in the name of the Lord. It's a picture of the gospel. And if you have believed the
gospel, you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then do it in the
name of the Lord. You say, well, I'm afraid. Sure
you're afraid. I wonder if anyone's ever been
baptized that wasn't somewhat fearful. I know I was. I know I was. Fearful of many
things. Fearful that I'm going to discredit
my profession. But then, thank God, I learned
it's not me holding him. It's him holding me. What a great
blessing that is. I didn't put myself in his hand,
and I'm not going to take myself out of his hand. The Father put
me in the Shepherd's hand, and I'm safe. If you believe in Christ, He's
put you in Christ's hand. Confess Him in the name of the
Lord in baptism. Sixth, in coming to the Lord's
table, do it in the name of the Lord. Looking upon the broken
bread and the wine which is poured out, as symbols of His great
sacrifice, that one sacrifice that put away the sins of His
people forever. And the last thing, seventh,
in living day by day, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. When considering a matter, this
will help to be our guide. When we think, may I do this?
Should I do this? May I go there? Should I go there? Should I wear this? Dress this
way? Should I not? If you cannot do
it in the name of the Lord, that's a good answer. If you cannot
look at whatever it is in the name of the Lord, don't look
at it. If you cannot do this in the name of the Lord, don't
do it. whatsoever, Paul said, in word or deed, in the name
of the Lord. David approached that giant.
That giant was 10 feet tall. He wasn't as broad as he was
tall, but he was big this way too. David, a young lad, I don't know
how old he was, but just a young lad. He had a shepherd's staff,
and that giant said, do you come to me with staves, just like
a little puppy dog coming to me? Is that the way you come
to me? No, David said, that's not the
way I come to you. I come to you in the name of
the Lord of hosts. And into his pocket went that
hand and out that stone, and he only needed one. He had five
of them, but he only needed one. And that giant, you better believe,
he was protected. He had on his armor. But I tell
you, there's always a cheek in the armor when God sends the
stone, when God directs the arrow, and it will meet its mark. David went in the name of the
Lord, and he came away victorious. And that's the way for us to
live, isn't it? In the name of the Lord, whatever, whatever
we do. Well, I pray the Lord would bless
this message to all of us here today. We always need to hear
it. I need to hear it every day. Whatever I do, do it in the name
of the Lord. Number 505, and we will observe
the Lord's table this evening, God willing. Number 505, and
let's stand as we sing.