Read I Samuel chapter 19. I Samuel
19. I want to read the first ten
verses. And Saul spake to Jonathan his
son, and to all their servants, that they should kill David.
But Jonathan's son, or Jonathan Saul's son, delighted much in
David, And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul, my father, seeketh
to kill thee. Now, therefore, I pray thee,
take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret
place, and hide thyself. And I will go out and stand beside
my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune
with my father of thee. And what I see, that shall I
tell you. And Jonathan spake good of David
unto Saul, his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin
against his servant, against David, because he hath not sinned
against thee. And because his works have been
to thee very good, for he put his life in his hand, and slew
the Philistine, the Lord wrought great salvation for all Israel.
Thou sawest it, and didst rejoice. Wherefore then wilt thou sin
against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?" And Saul
hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan. Saul swear, as the Lord liveth,
he shall not be slain. And Jonathan called David, and
Jonathan showed him all the things. And Jonathan brought David to
Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. And there was
a war again. And David went out and fought
with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter.
And they fled from him. And the evil spirit from the
Lord was upon Saul, as he said in his house, with his javelin
in his hand. And David played with his hand. And Saul sought
to smite David, even to the wall with the javelin. But he slipped
away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into
the wall. And David fled and escaped that night." Let us pray. Our God and Heavenly Father,
we come into Your presence because of what Jesus Christ has done
for us. We know that we are welcome as
your children into the Father's house to speak with you and pour
our hearts out to you concerning those things which trouble us,
afflict us, to ask for help in understanding your word, to seek
mercy and grace for this time of need. Father, we ask that
you might be pleased tonight to show us the meaning of these
words Grant us understanding and fix our eyes and hearts upon
Jesus Christ. Father, we pray for those of
our company who are sick. For Cynthia who is in the emergency
room with this fever, we pray the doctors will be able to fix
her quickly. Continue to pray for Laverne. We pray that you
would bring her to a good measure of health. Help her, Lord. Help
her with this breathing thing. For Wayne and Mickey and Henry
and those others who requested prayer. For Carl Bohr and son. those who've lost loved ones,
we ask, Lord, that You might be with them and watch over them.
Father, we ask that You would do what only You can. We know
that You are able to heal and strengthen. We've seen You do
it, and we ask, Lord, that You would do it again. And we know
also that You have a plan and a purpose, and we bow to Your
will in all these things and know that whatsoever comes to
Your children comes by the good hand of mercy and grace. Father,
we ask tonight as we look at this Word that we might be caused
in our hearts to truly worship You in spirit and in truth. Draw
our minds to where they should be. Make us see what we ought
to see. Enable me to declare the things
of grace, to say right things concerning Thee, and to uplift
and exalt our Lord Jesus Christ. I ask this in Christ's name and
for His glory. Amen. The title of my message tonight
is two words. His name. Now in this passage,
we once again see the jealousy and envy of Saul against David. And there is a progression here.
Saul is no longer seeking to covertly destroy David. Before
it was secret meetings and planning ways he could kill David. His
secretive bloodlust for David was not met with success, so
now he makes his clandestine designs to become common knowledge
among his people. The command from the king is
now open, it's blatant, it's right out in front of everybody,
and it's very violent. He calls his son Jonathan and
his subjects together, his servants together, and says, we're going
to kill David. we're going to kill David. The progression of
Saul's hatred is directly proportional, I believe, to the acclaim of
David. That's what starts this whole
thing going. The more popular the name of
David has become, the more virulent Saul's detestation is revealed.
The more beloved that David has become to the people, the more
hatred as they are the more hated as David become to Saul. That's
the directly proportional thing. And this I think is proven if
we look at the last phrase of verse 30 of chapter 18. It says
here, speaking of David, so that his name was much set by." His
name, that is the name of David, was much set by. David behaved
himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul and his
name was much set by. Now this is a picture of what
happens when the elect come to know and know of the lord jesus
christ as they grow in grace and knowledge of the lord jesus
christ they hear of him through the word they hear of him uh... of word of mouth of those who
have learned of his heroism of his might and of his wisdom god
sent his preachers into the world to tell the story over and over
and over again to repeat repeated in rehearsing in the years of
its people with a sublime redundancy to tell of the magnitude of the
skill of the mighty Christ and what He did on Calvary's tree.
Now, when the elect hear the story, they spend their life
seeking to know more about Him. Paul, after he had preached the
gospel some 30 years in Philippians chapter 3, said, this is all
I want. I want to know Him and be found
in His righteousness, not my own, which is of the law. This
is all that the child of God wants us to hear of and to know
more about Jesus Christ. The longer they know Him, the
narrower their scope becomes. The longer they know Him, the
narrower their view becomes. Till they cannot hear or bear
to hear anything else but Him. That's all they want to hear.
That's all they want to hear. The longer they know Him, the
more precious He becomes in their sight. They want to hear His
name much set by. Much set by. That's what this
means here, that David's name had become precious to the people. David's name had become the important
name in all of Israel, and so his name was much set by, and
immediately following that, we hear the words of Kosol, we need
to kill David. We need to kill David. The enemies of the gospel are
okay with those who preach and believe the gospel as long as
they show at least some tolerance if not acceptance of other views
and are silent about the truth that they believe. I've been
many a place where men have said that the gospel is finding a
foothold. I hear that a lot, especially
folks who leave the gospel and go to a church and say, well,
I'm trying to teach them and we're getting a foothold here,
you know, and where people are starting to learn And they say
that only to have the same men later say, well, it didn't work
there, I'm going to try it in another place. I've been in places where I was
invited to preach the gospel, and the preacher said, now, we're
solid in grace here, we want to hear the gospel of grace,
but when I get there, they saddle up to me and whisper, now, don't
be so open and obvious with the message. Don't be right out there
with the message. As if you can sneak up on someone
with the truth. You can't sneak up on someone
with the truth. You can't have somebody believing something
that they don't know they believe. It just ain't gonna happen. The
gospel, and this is important to understand, the gospel knows
nothing of footholds. The gospel knows nothing to footholds
whatsoever. It comes, according to Scripture,
with violence and force against the very gates of hell, and those
gates are torn asunder, bolt and bar, and cannot withstand
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. The gospel, Christ
and Him crucified, is said to be the power and the wisdom of
God. Now, we do not and cannot persuade
men to do anything but change religions. That's all we can
get men to do. And we can't do that. If we're persuasive enough
and our argument is good enough, you can persuade men to change
religions. But it takes the power of Almighty
God for a sinner to change gods. And changing gods is the only
way you're going to be saved. You're going to have to change
God. Barney used to say, if I'm going to introduce you to this
God, I've got to kill your God first. He's got to go. He's got
to go. When God slays the interloper,
The believer's mind and heart are set on the Lord Jesus Christ. His name is much set by, so much
so that any other name pales in value. Religious denominations,
creeds, regulations, things that are held near and dear to the
heart of false believers, they don't mean anything to the believer.
They mean nothing whatsoever to them when the name of Christ
is much set by. And you can know this in your
own experience, that when you begin to set by the name of Jesus
Christ, much in your life, in every conversation religion comes
back to Him and nothing else, that the people don't like that.
The people don't like that. That name to the believer is,
as the Scripture says, the only name under heaven given among
men whereby we might be saved. You speak to a believer of peace,
of hope, of righteousness, of good works, the law, holiness,
duty, acceptance, or perfection, and there is only one thing that
they will say to you, Christ is all. Saul became angry. and vicious
and became open in his anger and hatred for David when David's
name was much set by. Christ is all to the believer.
And when this becomes a reality, when the heart of the believer
is fixed on this name, the false king and their court are filled
with anger and hatred and desire to kill. Let me show you that
in Scripture. In Acts chapter 2, Simon Peter
has taken the Old Testament Scriptures and showed men that they talk
specifically about Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 2. He tells them that God delivered
him by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. He
goes on to say that David found corruption. So when he was talking
about David being raised up, he was talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ and not about David. Then over in Acts chapter 4,
in verse 12, we read these words. Here's what it all comes down
to. Neither is there salvation in any other name. Now, if you
look back at chapter 1 of Acts, you'll find that he was speaking
to multitudes of people from all cultures, religions, lifes,
lifestyles, educations, all kinds of people. And also speaking
to the Jewish people that were gathered there that day. takes
away all their religion and centers on the Lord Jesus Christ, neither
is there salvation in any other name, for there is none other
name unto heaven given among men whereby we might be saved."
Now this automatically will have a reaction among people. They can't help themselves when
it's all narrated out. You see, Peter here sets by the
name of Christ very much. He sets that name by. Now look
at verse 16 through 18 of the same chapter. See the result.
The men gather together, they take counsel and they say, What
shall we do to these men? Talking about Peter and the apostles
as they preach. For that indeed a notable miracle
has been done by them is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem,
and we cannot deny it. But that it spread no further
among the people, let us straightly threaten them that they may speak
henceforth to no man in that name. When that name is set aside,
the attack goes against that name. And they called them and
commanded them not to speak or at all nor teach in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't mention that name anymore.
What happens is, you can go along in religion, you can even believe
the gospel of God's sovereign grace if you'll just keep your
mouth shut. You'll be alright. But once that
name is much set by, once that name becomes the center of your
conversation, once you focus in and scope only in Jesus Christ,
everything else goes away. Many years ago when I first came
here, the Mormons used to come see
me. You know them fellas all with a first name, they wear
white shirts and a tie and their name is Elder. I have one of
them named Elder. I don't know why they named him
that first name, but that's what their name is. It's what it says on their
tag anyway. They'd come see me in my office and they wouldn't
talk. And I used to argue with them and use their cult or their
doctrines and covenants and the King Follett discourse and Solomon's
pausing novel that they turned into the Book of Mormon. And
I'd talk to them about that. And I got nowhere with them.
We'd just argue back and forth. And one day I said, I'm not going
to do that anymore. And the next time they showed up, I said, let's
talk about Jesus Christ. The conversation, there's no kidding,
lasted about 35 seconds. And they never came and saw me
again. When that name is much set by,
you know this when you talk to your brothers and sisters, to
your friends and family in this natural world. When you talk
to them about Christ and you narrow down the scope to that
name being much set by, the conversation gets real quiet real quick. They've
got to believe that there's more than that when there is nothing
else than that. There is no other name under
heaven. Look over at chapter 5 and verse 40 of Acts. It says, And to him they agreed,
and when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they
commanded them that they should not speak in the name of Jesus
Christ, and let them go. All they want them to do. They
don't mind them having their religion. They don't mind them
being able to heal people. They don't mind being able to
help people out, or to pull all their goods, as our brother preached
on recently, and divide among themselves. They don't mind any
of that. What they mind is that name. Because that name settles
everything. You see, religion wants flesh. Wants flesh. The believer is
fully satisfied with the manna from heaven. Religion wants recognition. The believer wants his savior
to be recognized. And his motto is, he must increase
and I must decrease. Now some would say that there's
more to preach than Christ. I've heard that all my preaching
life. He said, I have more to preach than Christ. But for the
believer, that name is much set by. Tell me of Christ. I remember a story Spurgeon told
one time of a fellow preaching and he was a He was a young preacher,
and he really worked hard on his message. He got all his ducks
in a row. He got his outline perfectly outlined. And he preached
a really good homily. Hermeneutically, it was solid.
It was a good, solid exposition of a scripture. And after he
finished, he went out and was shaking people's hands at the
end of the church, and he asked an old man, he said, did you
appreciate, did you enjoy the message? He said, not very much.
Not very much. He said, why not? He said, wasn't
it prepared well? He said, oh yes, it was prepared well. He
said, wasn't it outlined well? He said, very good, very good
outline. Well, what was the problem? He said, no Christ in there.
That name is what the believer wants to hear. That name is much
set by, and as soon as it is, the world begins to want to kill
and get rid of that name. The phrase much sent by is often
interpreted and in fact if you have a marginal reading in your
Bible you'll probably see that the name, that word means precious. So that his name was precious. Precious. That's an important
word in the Word of God. Look at a few passages of scripture
with me. Take your Bibles and turn to
Proverbs chapter 18. Proverbs 18 and verse 10, The
name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth
to it and is safe. That's a good thing I'd say,
wouldn't you? A good thing. Look at Song of Solomon, just
a few books over. Harvard's Ecclesiastes, Song
of Solomon. In verse 3 of chapter 1, it says,
Because of the savor of thy good omens, thy name is as ointment
for forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. And what it's talking
about, those who are virgins are those who are espoused to
Christ, the church, the body of believers. If you're out here
tonight, you are a virgin espoused to the Lord Jesus Christ. What
that means before God, you're pure. You're pure. Thy name is like an ointment
poured forth. In Philippians chapter 2 it says
that God has given Jesus Christ a name that is above every name,
that at that name every knee should bow and every tongue confess
that He is Lord to the glory of the Father. Over in Hebrews
chapter 1, in that great first chapter of Hebrews that sets
the tone for the whole book, in Hebrews chapter 1, In verse 4 it says, Being made
so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they. A more excellent name than they.
And in 2 Peter chapter 2 it says, Unto you who therefore believe,
he is precious. He is precious. That means of
great value and great honor. It's that name that we want to
hear. There is a name. I love to hear, I love to sing
His Word. Sounds like music in my ear,
the sweetest sound on earth. Saul's previous plots have come
to naught. Now his heart is set on murder. His heart is set on murder and
he's the enemy of the Savior. That's the way it is. When that
name As much sit by, the enemies of the gospel come out. Look
over at John chapter 11. In John chapter 11, look first
at verse 53. It says, From that day forth
they took counsel together to put Jesus Christ to death. Now
this is religious, folks. This ain't a bunch of drunks.
This ain't Council of the Whorehouses in town. This is religious folks. Good, law-abiding, upstanding,
upright, virtuous, men full of rectitude. These are fine people. And they said from that day forward.
Now what has happened here, what has happened here, the Caiaphas
has torn his clothes and There is no representation before God
now except for Jesus Christ. And Caiaphas spoke a prophecy
that he didn't even know what he was saying back in verses
51 and 52. And you can read that later if you want to. But verse
53 says, Then from that day forth they took counsel together to
put him to put him to death. Now look at verses 55 through
57. And the Jews' Passover was nigh at hand, and many went out
of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify
themselves. Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves
as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not
come to the feast? Now both the chief priests and
the Pharisees have given a commandment, that if any man knew where he
was, he should show it, that they might take him. What's their
interest that day? Is it in the feast? Are they
going to Jerusalem to be purified? They're going to Jerusalem to
murder Jesus Christ. That's what they want to do.
That's all it is. Why? Because in this prophecy
that Caiaphas gave, he set by the name of Jesus Christ without
even knowing it. Without even knowing it. Now back in our text
in verses 2 and 3, Saul has sought to involve Jonathan in his hateful
plot, but Jonathan loves David and has made a covenant to protect
him. It says in verse 2, but Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted,
butchered David. And Jonathan told David, saying,
Saul, my father seeketh to kill thee. Now therefore, I pray thee,
take heed of thyself unto the morning, and abide in a secret
place, and hide thyself. And I will go out and stand beside
my Father in the field where thou art, and I will commune
with my Father of thee, and what I see, that I will tell thee. Jonathan loves David. He's made
a covenant with him. He's interested in protecting
David in that name that is much set by. And this carries a lot
of weight when you think about it in that this one who speaks
to his father is the heir to the throne. And we find him setting
himself against the throne. He is the heir to the throne.
And He sets Himself against the throne. And this is an example
of what happens to a sinner when he sees the value and honor of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He cares not for the things of
this world. One man said, as soon as you meet Christ, you
go to the graveyard and bury everything. Bury everything. Family, finances, the whole shooting
match, because that's not what matters anymore. Though the believer
might be an heir of great things, In the sight of Christ, the things
of the earth grew strangely dim. Family and future are set aside
for the relationship with Jesus Christ. For Jonathan, the defense
of David was everything. He was next in line now for the
throne. The throne meant nothing to him,
nothing whatsoever, because he loved David. Believers are set
for the defense of the gospel. You can say anything about them
you want to. You can do your religious deeds and all your
religious play-pretties, and that's not going to bother them.
But don't mess with them here, because here's where you'll find
somebody standing fight on that blessed name of Jesus Christ
and what He accomplished. In verses 4 and 5, Jonathan intercedes
for David. Look what it says, And Jonathan
spake good of David, unto Saul his father, and said unto him,
Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because
he has not sinned against thee, and because his works have been
to thee very good. For he did put his life in his
hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great
salvation for all of Israel. Thou sawest it, and did rejoice.
Wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay
David without a cause? This is the words of Jonathan
to his father. And notice well that Jonathan
does not plead his friendship with David. He does not tell
the king that he's made a covenant with David. He does not even
play his trump card that he's a royal himself and he has a
standing in the court and has a right to be heard. He declares
what? The merits of David. That's what
he does. He declares the merits of David. and how he has well served the
king for the good of the king. He declares that Saul had once
loved David and rejoiced in his accomplishment and there was
no cause upon which Saul might seek David's life. There was
no reason. Our Lord said this, they hated
me without a cause. They hated me without a cause.
Our Lord never done anything worthy of death. He went about in this world doing
good. He healed people that had no
interest in Him whatsoever. He healed people that were never
believers. He was a selfless human being
who never did anything for himself, always did that which would honor
the Father. And they wanted to kill Him. Why? Because His name
is much said by Him. They hated me without a cause.
The thief on the cross, who that very day went with Christ to
paradise, did not speak of himself. He looked at the Lord Jesus Christ
and said, This man hath done nothing amiss. He pled the merits
of Jesus Christ. To those for whom his name is
much set by, their testimony is not a rehearsal of what they
have done for the Master. I get so tired of people telling
me what they've done for Jesus. Or the many evidence that they've
produced to prove that they are Christians and therefore must
be trusted and their word carries some weight. The testimony of
the believer is plain, it's simple, it's singular. Christ is precious. Christ is all and in all. He is that pearl of great price.
He is the one true and living God who alone is worthy of praise. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,
that has redeemed us by His blood out of every kindred, nation,
tongue, and people. Don't ask me what I do for Jesus. I don't
do anything for Him. He done everything for me. And
if I recognize anything I do as having done for Him, it's
probably just self-righteousness and it has no basis whatsoever.
If men hate Jesus Christ, it's without a cause. Make sure, as
you sit by that name, make sure they hate you without a cause
too. Don't be a rear end. Don't act like one. Just because
you know the truth. You show the same kindness your
Master did. Religion gets in your face, you
can get it in their face. He did too. Generally speaking,
you show kindness and mercy to people and sit by that name.
Sit by that name. They ought to hate you without
a cause. They hate you, not because of what you are. They already
ought to hate you for that. You're a wretch and I am too.
That's worthy of hatred. But don't let them hate you for
the gospel you preach. Don't give them a cause for that. If
men hate Christ, They hated him without a cause. Saul hated David. Why? It was without a cause. Because David's name was precious
to the people. Verse 6 reveals something. It
says, And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan. And Saul sware,
As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain. He said, You convinced
me, Jonathan. I repent of what I was thinking.
I will not kill him." And this reveals that men can be persuaded
in the conscience and yet never converted in their heart. The
world holds Reformation in very high esteem. They like to hear
about people turning over new leaves. and changing direction
in their life. They like to hear about ex-people,
ex-drunks, and ex-whores, and ex-prostitutes. They love the
ex-generation. People love to hear about that.
Their world holds it in high esteem. Religion holds it in
very high esteem. Men account that their turnings
and reformations have spiritual value. They believe that. Saul,
in his promise, even invokes the name of Jehovah as his witness.
I swear by the name of the Lord I won't kill that man. But his
ersatz repentance has put a temporary blip on the radar of his malice.
But you know what? That was enough for David. This Reformation was enough for
David. You know why? Because he didn't know Saul's
heart. And you don't either. We know it now, in hindsight,
because God has written down for us. But if we'd been there,
we wouldn't have known Saul's heart. David comes back. Like every believer, we cannot
know the heart of another and every reformation is accepted
pretty much as a true change by one who knows Christ. Isn't
that the case? And sometimes it's costly. Sometimes it hurts
our feelings. Sometimes we're just shown to
be how goofy and stupid we really are, how gullible. But the fact
is, if you see a person change and reform and stop doing this,
stop doing that, a believer is just tickled to death about it.
Happy about it. Wants to believe that that person
has been saved. That's what we want to believe. We do not set
ourselves up as judges of men. We don't wait for men to prove
themselves or form a committee to assess whether their change
is real. We don't put them on a watch-care
program before they can join up with us. We don't have some
counsel to question them on how much they know about the Scripture
in order for them to be saved. And this often causes heartaches,
but the believer is more ready to show mercy than to indignantly
be a suspicious judge. It's just that fact. How often
shall I forgive? Seventy times seven. An innumerable
account. David returns on the basis of
this reformation, because Jonathan went and told David what Saul
had said. On the basis of that reformation,
David returns to the king. He returns to the council, he
takes up his harp, and once again seeks to be the servant of the
king, the servant of the king. He is the rightful king. He is
the anointed king, but he is the servant. Our king of kings
came to this world as a servant of men. Being found in the fashion
of men, he made himself a servant A servant. The book of Mark is
written, the gospel according to Mark is written about Christ
the servant. Christ the servant. John is Christ
the Son of God. Luke is Christ the Son of Man.
Matthew is Christ the King. Mark is Christ the servant. Christ
came to this world to serve. He said, I came to minister.
Not to be ministered to and to give my life a ransom for many.
What did David do? He returned evil for good. a
return good for evil. The good times, however, are
not going to last very long. David is back in the court. Everything
seems right. Saul has sworn not to kill him.
You see, a man can be persuaded to change direction. In my early
childhood and in my youth, I changed directions many times. I didn't
change back, but I did change many times under religious influence. A man can be persuaded to change
his direction. A man can be persuaded to change
his behavior. Conscience can bring temporary
reformation, but out of the heart comes the issues from death,
saith the Scripture. An Ethiopian cannot change the
color of his skin. A leopard cannot change his spots.
An unbeliever cannot be persuaded to believe. He cannot. You see, faith is
a gift that God gives to His people. And when He gives it,
they get it, and with it, they believe what God has said. As soon as David's name again
began to set by because a war came up, David went out and acquitted
himself well. He slew many. And in fact, the
language here says that the Philistines ran away from his face, David's
face. They feared David, the Philistines
did. The wrath and hatred of Saul
once again comes back. As the Proverbs said that Peter
quoted in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 22, the dog has returned
to his vomit and the hog back to his water. When David returned
in victory to take his place as a soothing servant of the
king, once again Saul fills his hand with the javelin. and aims
for the heart. But no weapon formed against
David shall prosper. Our Lord has encamped us about
according to Psalm 34 and verse 7. It says, The angel of the Lord encampeth
around about them that fear Him and deliver them. You are surrounded
tonight. No weapon formed against you
shall prosper. Saul wants to kill David. Why? That name is
being set aside again. It's being set by. People are
hearing it. That name is precious to the
people. The javelin stuck in the wall.
David slipped out and escaped. Now some might consider David's
action cowardice. I mean, after all, David was
a warrior. You don't think he could have took Saul? It wouldn't have been three falls,
it would have been one fall. That sling and one rocket would have
all been over with. But some see his act as an act of cowardice. David slipped out and escaped. Some think that he should have
chose martyrdom. Chose martyrdom. Now let me tell
you something about martyrdom. If martyrdom can be chosen, then it's not martyrdom. A person becomes a martyr when
that's all that's left, when he can't do anything else. He
doesn't choose martyrdom. If he can be chosen, it's not
martyrdom. It's nothing more than a self-righteous effort
to make one's suffering or death seem meritorious. Your death
is not meritorious, nor is your suffering. accomplishes nothing
except what you deserve. It certainly doesn't help anybody
else out. There is but one suffering and
one death that has merit and that is the death of God's dear
son. That death hadn't merit enough to fully satisfy God's
holy demand. David escaped because he believed
God. He believed God. God said, you're
going to be the king. Well, I better get out of here.
This guy is throwing fears at me. Is that cowardice? Look at the words of our Lord
in Matthew chapter 10. In Matthew chapter 10 verse 16,
our Lord says, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst
of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents
and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will
deliver you up to councils, and they will scourge you in their
synagogues. You shall be brought before governors and kings for
My sake, for the testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when
they deliver you, take no thought how what you shall speak, for
it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak.
For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father which
speaketh in you. And brothers shall deliver up the brother
to death, and father to the child. And the children shall rise up
against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And
ye shall be hated of all men for my sakes. But he that endureth
to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in
this city, flee ye to another. Flee ye to another. For verily
I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of
Israel till the Son of Man come again." The Lord says, if he
gets hot in town, they don't want you there. Leave. Get out. No reason for you to die just for the sake of dying. David left because he believed
God. He believed God. His name was much set by. When the name of the King of
Kings is much set by, you can count on this, the enemy and
his heart is fully set to put you out of business. I can't remember the name of
that medieval soldier or king who swore that he would rid the
world of the name, his name was Julian, of Christ. He swore, I'm going to wipe the
name of Christ off the face of the earth. And he went to battle
with everybody who claimed to be a Christian he could find
and killed as many as he could. And he called Christ that Nazarene. That's how it is, that old Nazarene.
Gonna rid the world of the name of that Nazarene. And one day in battle, he was
struck in the heart with a spear. When he fell down on the ground,
he was bleeding out of his mouth, and the blood was forming red
mud on the ground. And history says he picked up
a handful of that wet, bloody mud from his own body and held
it up in the air and said, Oh, Nazarene, thou has conquered. Thou has conquered. When that
name is much set by, Trouble is going to come. And
the only thing you have to do to avoid it is just keep your
mouth shut. Talk about religious stuff. Talk about church attendance.
Talk about prayer. Talk about Bible study. Talk
about all that stuff. People just love that sort of stuff.
But bring it down to this one thing. My salvation. The salvation
of all whom God saves is singularly and absolutely the name of Jesus
Christ. Nothing else. trouble will begin. Father, bless us through our
understanding, we pray in Christ's name, Amen.