[0:00] We are going to be reading today in 1 Samuel 18. And it says, As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David.
[0:26] And Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul.
[0:42] And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David and his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt.
[0:53] And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war.
[1:05] And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
[1:33] And the women sang to the Philistine, and the women sang to one another as they celebrated. Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
[1:44] And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, They have scribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have scribed thousands.
[1:57] And what more can he have but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day on. The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day.
[2:18] Saul had his spear in his hand, and Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall.
[2:30] But David evaded him twice. Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand.
[2:47] And he went out and came in before the people. And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him.
[3:04] But as all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. Then Saul said to David, Here is my elder daughter Merab.
[3:18] I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul thought, Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistine be against him.
[3:31] And David said to Saul, Who am I and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?
[3:43] But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel, the Michalathite, for a wife.
[3:54] Now Saul's daughter, Michael, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. Saul thought, Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.
[4:16] Therefore Saul said to David a second time, You shall now be my son-in-law. And Saul commanded his servants, Speak to David in private and say, Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you.
[4:33] Now then, become the king's son-in-law. And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?
[4:54] And the servants of Saul told him, Thus and so did David speak. Then Saul said, Thus shall you say to David, The king desires no bright price, except a hundred foreskin of the Philistines, that he may be avenge of the king's enemies.
[5:14] Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law.
[5:28] Before the time had spired, David arose and went along with his men and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law.
[5:46] And Saul gave him his daughter Michael for a wife. But when Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michael, Saul's daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David.
[6:02] So Saul was David's enemy continually. Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle. And as often as they came out, David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.
[6:22] Amen. This is the word of the Lord. I am Pastor Rick. This is my first time preaching in several months, so it's a blessing to be back with you today.
[6:35] And to continue this series in 1 Samuel. Before we jump into the series, we skip the announcements, but there's a couple of important announcements, so I want to highlight them.
[6:47] So first of all, we have a members meeting today right after the service, so please stick around if you're a member. That will last about an hour, and there'll be some important things going on during the meeting, so please attend.
[6:59] And then we're also moving forward towards the PHC, the Pregnancy Help Center fundraising event, and so if you are interested in helping out with the walk and the fundraiser, you can scan the QR code on your seat, or just go to the webpage to get some more information about that.
[7:16] And also, we're going to have the March for Jesus in Youngstown again in May, and our church is hoping to partner with the organizers for that with an offering, and so next Sunday we're going to have a special offering to put together funds for that.
[7:34] So if you are interested in supporting that, you can bring funds next week and just mark them for the Walk for Jesus and put them in the red box. You can also give online and just instead of putting it towards the general fund, just put other and then specify Walk for Jesus.
[7:51] With those, we're going to turn to 1 Samuel 18, and so I'm going to start with a question that may seem unrelated, but I think it helps paint a picture of what's going on here.
[8:07] So the question, have you ever spilled paint? A couple weeks ago, Josh and I and Esther were cleaning out the basement in the church, and we spilled five gallons of white paint all over the floor, and we kind of jumped to cleaning it up without really making a plan, and so what was originally a big mess spread and got paint everywhere on our shoes, on the floor, in the sink, on the grass, and it was a mess.
[8:39] It took a while to clean up. It's gone now. There's a little bit of evidence left if you look carefully, but it's mostly gone. Josh lost his favorite shoes, so sorry to Josh. I think his wife is relieved, though, so some good came from it.
[8:52] But when I read this story of Saul and David in 1 Samuel 18 and the chapters that come after it, it gives a similar anxiety of a small mess that keeps getting bigger.
[9:08] And so I think that's what we can keep in mind as we read these verses. Everything Saul does to clean up his mess only leaves a trail of blood and paint everywhere he goes.
[9:21] And 1 Samuel 18 brings the end of Saul's reign one step closer. It's already been prophesied, the word of the Lord already spoken, and so these passages are a recount of a God-ordered self-destruction.
[9:39] And that's what I want to focus on today. But before we jump into the specifics of 1 Samuel 18, some of you may not have seen and heard all of the messages up to this point, so I want to do a brief recount of the major events in 1 Samuel up to this point.
[9:59] So at the beginning of the book, Hannah prays for a son, and God answers her prayer with a son, Samuel, who she dedicates to the Lord, and he becomes the last judge of Israel.
[10:10] And then after some fighting and some major mistakes, they reject, the people of Israel reject their true king, God, and they ask Samuel for a human king.
[10:27] And so God answers their request and gives them Saul to be their first human king, and he was tall and handsome, and the human idea of an ideal king.
[10:41] But Saul, continuing in his fight against the Philistines, he didn't trust in God, and so when the time came, he took things into his own hands, he didn't trust God, and so God rejected him from being king and told him that the kingdom would be torn from him.
[11:00] But it wasn't immediate. Saul continued as king, he continued holding on to his kingdom, and he continued battling the Philistines.
[11:10] And two weeks ago, as Brent preached in 1 Samuel 17, the Philistine champion Goliath defied the armies of Israel and the God of Israel, and so God humiliated Goliath by sending a boy, David, to strike him down with a stone.
[11:28] And after this, the armies of Israel begin marching home in victory to triumphantly return to Israel, and we arrive here in 1 Samuel 18.
[11:42] Before we get into it, I want to pray and ask the Lord for guidance as we search his word. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity to hear your word, to learn from your word.
[11:56] I pray that you will open our ears to hear and our hearts to understand that we may grow in our knowledge of you, our wisdom of you. Apply it to our lives, Lord, that we may learn to be more like you and so exalt your holy name.
[12:13] We thank you and praise you. Pray that you will speak through me today. Give me wisdom. Give me patience. Help me to articulate well what you have given to speak.
[12:25] In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. For our first point, I want to look at 1 Samuel 18, 1, and I've titled this point, Brothers in Arms. This is the beginning of David's heroic rise in Israel.
[12:43] He's defeated Goliath, the champion, and as he returns to camp, the first to honor him for his success was Jonathan, the son of Saul. This was the same son who earlier defeated a Philistine garrison, as told in 1 Samuel 14.
[13:01] And he found success in defeating the Philistines by trusting in the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, as told in 1 Samuel 14, verse 12.
[13:13] And now David has found similar success in defeating the Philistine champion Goliath by also trusting in the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, as told in 1 Samuel 17, 46.
[13:30] And so Jonathan and David, they were warriors, and they counted themselves representatives of God. Their shared battlefield experience, although in two different accounts, their shared devotion to the people of God and to his name has forged them into brothers in arms with battlefield experience.
[13:55] And so when Jonathan hears of David's victory, the verses say, his soul was knit to David and he loved him as his own soul in the first verse here.
[14:08] This word love, ahaba in the Greek, or Hebrew I mean, is the same word used to refer to God's love for his people, as told in Hosea 11, 4, Jeremiah 31, 3, and many other verses.
[14:27] David and Jonathan's friendship, their love was forged in battle, and it was in battle that their souls were knit together. Their covenant of brotherhood, of friendship, this was actually a common practice in the ancient Eastern cultures, that they would form a covenant of brotherhood friendship, and it would be sealed with witness and ceremony, as it was between David and Jonathan.
[14:53] And so this story about David and Jonathan, it's kind of an anecdote, a subplot, if you want, within the larger narrative of Saul and David, but it's reoccurring.
[15:07] We see many accounts of Jonathan's devotion to David. David would later sing, my brother Jonathan, very pleasant have you been to me.
[15:19] Your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. This battlefield brotherhood was the deepest love that David knew, except, of course, his love for the Lord.
[15:36] Jonathan's commitment to David continued throughout the rest of 1 Samuel, and even into 2 Samuel, and we'll see many accounts of this as we continue through the weeks, through the remainder of 1 Samuel.
[15:46] But more than his love, Jonathan also honored David, as we see as we move into chapter 18, verse 4.
[15:57] He received honor after defeating Goliath. And here we see the king's son, Jonathan, remove his royal robe, remove his armor, his sword, his bow, and his belt, and give them all to David.
[16:13] In ancient Eastern cultures, to receive even a single article of clothing from the royal family was the highest possible honor. And so he receives this great honor from Saul's son.
[16:26] This reminds me of when Pharaoh gave his signet ring to Joseph, and actually their stories are quite similar, and how Daniel received gifts and honors from Nebuchadnezzar.
[16:38] And so, we see that this is a recurring theme throughout the Old Testament. The Lord gave David success and honor, not only from Jonathan, but among the people of Israel.
[16:51] The servants of Saul were pleased to have him become commander of the armies of Israel. But his success doesn't last long before someone takes notice.
[17:04] And so as we move into the second point in 1 Samuel 18, 6, I want to look at this. And I've titled this point A Kingdom Torn.
[17:17] When Saul and his armies return from vanquishing Goliath, as they march past the cities, the women of these cities, they come out with tambourine and dancing to celebrate the victory.
[17:30] And they sing. Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands. Saul could have received their praises with joy, given glory to God for providing a rescuer, an unlikely hero, as he had many times in the book of Judges.
[17:51] He could have rejoiced at his servant David, receiving greater honor for his faith, for his bravery in rescuing the people of Israel. But rather than rejoice in the victory of his army, his champion, and his God, Saul grew jealous and he grew angry.
[18:12] How could they only ascribe a thousand to me, but ten thousand to David? The thought that the people could love David more than him drove Saul to jealousy and also to fear that the words of Samuel were coming to pass, that his kingdom was being torn from him and given to his neighbor.
[18:34] He feared that David would rise to take the throne and be the end of his family legacy, his family name. But the very next day, God sent a harmful spirit upon Saul so that he raved with anger.
[18:52] David tried to help Saul find rest. He played the lyre for him to help Saul find peace. He had done so several times in the past.
[19:03] And we find in 1 Samuel 16, 16 through 19, that when David played the lyre for him in the past, Saul loved him. He honored him because he was the only one who could bring him peace.
[19:18] But this time, it wasn't a minor outburst. He raved with jealousy and anger. And in his anger, he tried to spear David to the wall.
[19:31] Not once, but twice. Both times missing. I imagine he must have been humiliated in the presence of his servants.
[19:42] Right? David, this relatively small man, had just killed Goliath from across the battlefield with a stone. And now Saul, this massive, handsome king, can't kill someone in a confined space from a few feet away.
[20:00] Twice, he missed him, humiliating himself. And I admit, this is a bit humorous, perhaps a comic scene in the writer's mind. But it's also heartbreaking.
[20:13] Saul had come from lowly estate. He was the son of a donkey farmer of the tribe of Benjamin. He had been anointed by Samuel, but he has become so consumed by his own glory that he would rather kill his servant, who is now the Lord's anointed, than risk the throne, go to another.
[20:34] In only a few years, he's lost all sense of humility and become the king Samuel prophesied in 1 Samuel 8. But despite his efforts, David evaded him both times.
[20:50] And Saul grew increasingly afraid, knowing that the Lord was with David and no longer with him. He knew it was inevitable. The throne was to be torn from him and given to his neighbor.
[21:01] And every day, this reality felt more inevitable. He knew he couldn't kill David or stop his sons and servants, the people of Israel, from admiring him.
[21:13] So next, he exiled him. He made him a commander of thousands, which should be an honor, but also sent him to the battlefield, to the front lines, where he would live in exile, not in the king's presence anymore.
[21:29] But every day, he was victorious. He was successful in battle. And even Saul, Saul, was in awe of David. All Israel and Judah grew to love David because of his success.
[21:44] However, Saul still would not abdicate his throne. He fought against the will of the Lord. Sadly, his efforts only seemed to bring this reality that he fears closer every day.
[22:00] His efforts served to increase David's success, his fame, his opinion among the peoples of Israel and Judah. with every attempt to fight against the Lord's will.
[22:11] He covers himself and everyone around him in blood and in paint. As we move to the third point, I want to focus on the verses from 17 through to 32.
[22:25] And I've titled this point A Bride Price Unfit for a King. And you'll see why I've titled it so as we move through the verses.
[22:35] But starting in verse 17, Saul's jealous rage grew each day, each time David found success in battle.
[22:46] And so he comes up with another plan. He'll give his daughter Merab to David as wife. Only one thing. He asks that David be more valiant in battle and continue to fight and put his life at risk.
[23:03] Now this may seem like a good piece on Saul's account. But if we go back to 1 Samuel 17, 25, what had Saul told his armies he would give them if they slew Goliath?
[23:17] His daughter. David had already won Saul's daughter, so to speak, and not to be out of touch. But he had already claimed what Saul had offered.
[23:29] but Saul changed his requirements and sent David to perform more valiant acts. Rather than keep his word, he asked more of David.
[23:43] And we get an insight into Saul's mind. He thought, if I cannot kill him, perhaps he will die in battle. It's quite sad that he would use his own daughter as a pawn just to cling to his throne.
[24:03] He would use everyone and everything in his life to manipulate those around him and cling to what he thought was his. But in contrast to this, when David is informed of Saul's offer, he thought, and the author put it for us, who am I and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king, as we see in verse 18.
[24:34] David was humble. Despite his success in battle, he doesn't trust in his own accomplishments. He doesn't grow arrogant. Instead, he trusts in the God of the armies of Israel.
[24:48] But he continues to fight valiantly. He continues to win battles. He seems invincible in Saul's eyes. And so, Saul again revokes his promise and ends up giving his daughter to another man.
[25:07] Second time, he breaks his word. But his deception doesn't end here because soon after, his other daughter, Michael, grew to love David.
[25:20] and when Saul found out about it, he was pleased. I kind of get this idea of the pleased king in the Lord of the Rings movie, this evil, pleased man, not pleased in the sense of good, but pleased in the sense of, here's another chance for me to ruin David.
[25:47] David. His motives were deceitful, and he demanded a high price, a high bride price for his daughter, hoping again that this would lead to David's death, a fourth time he sought to kill him.
[26:05] Again, he doesn't hesitate to use his daughter to manipulate David. In his pride, he's willing to use again everyone and everything in his life to grasp the last threads of his kingdom.
[26:19] When Saul's servants, who love David, inform him that he is to be the son-in-law of the king, again he says, does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?
[26:36] Verse 23. Although David has been exceedingly successful in battle, he has the love of Israel, the love of Saul's servants, the love of Saul's daughter.
[26:47] He remains humble. He thought himself a poor man of no reputation, unworthy to be honored as son-in-law of the king. But this time when he hears the bride price, he is well pleased.
[27:01] After all, it gives him an opportunity to strike down a hundred more uncircumcised Philistines and to offer their foreskin to the king, as the bride price.
[27:15] And he goes above and beyond, striking down two hundred, delivering the foreskins, and now Saul is in his debt, and Saul cannot back out of his promise. And so he keeps his word, giving his daughter to David for wife, and making David son-in-law to the king.
[27:37] Again, Saul sees and knows that the Lord is with David. He was able to strike down two hundred Philistines. He sees that his daughter loves David, that the people love him, and he grows more afraid, not so much of David, but of losing his throne.
[27:54] David's success continues every day. He goes out and comes in often, attacking the Philistines and defeating them until his name is highly esteemed in Israel.
[28:08] Imagine Saul's frustration. Four times he's tried to kill David, to preserve his throne, but instead David's success has only served to bring the end of Saul's reign nearer.
[28:23] The tragic events of Saul and David's lives, they brought to my mind two realities of the unfolding narrative of 1 Samuel. We'll see them again and again.
[28:36] First, although Saul intended to kill David, it was God who thwarted his plan. More than this, everything he did only served to increase David's fame and success.
[28:53] Every time he tried to preserve his throne, it became a stumbling stone before him. And this isn't a surprise to anyone who knows the words of Proverbs 3.34.
[29:05] towards the scorners, God is scornful. Perhaps you don't know that word, it doesn't stand out to me, but James put it this way in 4.6 when he quoted it, and 1 Peter as well in 5.5, God opposes the proud.
[29:25] God is not passive or absent in 1 Samuel 18. He is working in active opposition to Saul, to his pride. 1 Samuel 18, verse 10 says, a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul.
[29:42] It is God who sends the harmful spirit. It is God who undoes his plans. In all Saul's attempts to hold the throne, God is actively opposing him and humbling him.
[29:57] God stands in opposition to all who are proud. He brings their plan to ruin, as we heard in Psalm 2, when Brent preached on it a few days ago.
[30:10] Psalm 2, starting in verse 1, I'll just read a little bit of it. It says, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed.
[30:22] He who sits in the heaven laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury.
[30:33] Nebuchadnezzar came to recognize this truth when God made a wild animal out of him. After he recovered, he says in Daniel 4, 37, now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, for all his works are right, and his ways are just, and those who walk in pride, he is able to humble.
[31:08] The Lord is gracious and slow to anger. He gives Saul numerous times opportunities to repent and obey his word, but in his pride he wars against the will of God.
[31:23] He sets himself in opposition to God. He makes every effort to preserve his rule, but God has spoken. He is not a man that he should have regret or lie.
[31:36] Saul opposed the Lord, and so the Lord opposed Saul. Saul's pride became the vessel for God's wrath. For the remainder of his life, everything Saul sets his mind to do against God's anointed becomes his undoing.
[31:54] He tracks blood and death and paint everywhere he goes. The second reality in 1 Samuel 18 is found in the second half of Proverbs 3 34.
[32:06] I only told you half of it. It begins towards the scorners, he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.
[32:19] James put it in 4 6 and 1 Peter in 5 5, 5, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Here in 1 Samuel, David's humility is juxtaposed with Saul's pride.
[32:35] The Lord's grace is illuminated by his wrath. Just as Saul's pride became the vessel for the Lord's wrath, David's humility became the vessel for his grace.
[32:48] God worked despite Saul's intentions to bless David, to bring continued success in battle among the people. He turned all Saul's evil plans together for good for those who loved him.
[33:04] Just as he had for Joseph in Genesis 50 20, as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. Even though Saul was king, tall and handsome, the people would celebrate David's victories more than Saul's, and Saul would live in fearful awe of him because the Lord was with David.
[33:28] All Israel and Judah loved David. Through his success, the tribes of Israel, who were just a few chapters ago in a civil war, will be united and blessed and exalted.
[33:42] Look for a moment, if you've got your Bibles open, at 1 Samuel 2, verses 1 through 8. I'll give you a moment to flip there. This is Hannah's song.
[33:57] She says, My heart exalts in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation.
[34:10] There is none holy like the Lord, for there is none beside you. There is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly let not arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
[34:29] Skipping down a few verses. The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust. He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.
[34:44] For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world. As Saul is consumed with jealousy, pride, and rage, the Lord raises up a poor shepherd from the dust and sets him with princes.
[35:00] As he promised generations before, he brought unity and peace and blessing to Israel, and through them he will bless the earth. As we close, how do we apply this to our lives today?
[35:17] It would be easy to conclude, emulate David. Be like David, you'll receive honor and exaltation.
[35:29] And that's not untrue. It's just not, I think, as effective a way to apply this to our lives. First, I want to echo a point from Brent's sermon a few weeks ago, and also perhaps steal a quote from Matt Chandler.
[35:48] You're not David or Saul. If you don't believe me, here's a test. Would you rejoice at the opportunity to collect 200 foreskins from your enemies?
[36:02] Would you try to pin your enemy to the wall with a spear? No? The story's not about us. It's about the genesis of an absolute monarchy set 3,000 years ago and 6,000 miles from here.
[36:20] In addition to that, David was not exalted because of his heroism. He was exalted because of his humility, because he trusted only in the Lord of hosts, the God of the angels, the armies of Israel.
[36:37] But also, he was exalted because the Lord exalted him. What I mean by that is, David did not decide to come from humble estate.
[36:48] He did not decide to be born the son of Saul's servant, Jesse, the Bethlehemite. His humility was not something he emulated or forced through self-determination.
[36:59] It was an aspect of his nature. God brought about in him. He was of humble estate. In his helplessness, he trusted in God when facing the spear of Goliath.
[37:12] He had faith in God when facing the spear of Saul. He had humble faith that the Lord would deliver him and exalt him.
[37:24] And this humility, as Augustine put it, was the vessel of God's grace. God raised up a humble servant to be the vessel of his grace.
[37:35] He raised him up in order that he may pour out blessing upon his people. The hero of 1 Samuel is not David. It is the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.
[37:50] What then should we take away from Saul's pride in David's humility? I think we need to reflect on our own hearts and decide, are we more prone to Saul's pride or to David's humility?
[38:05] Personally, at times, especially when paint spills, I find myself far more like Saul than like David. I suspect the same is true of some of you here.
[38:18] If we take an honest look at our hearts, our own lives, the reality is every time we choose sin and self over God, we exalt ourselves and our sin.
[38:31] We cling to the threads of our sovereign reign. But God has torn the kingdom of sin from us. Every time we in pride oppose God, he will oppose us.
[38:47] But there is good news. Whether you're a Christian battling pride and sin for ten years now, or you have never read this book before, there is good news.
[39:06] God has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. Luke 1.52. He has dethroned sin and death.
[39:19] He has sent his anointed, capital A, king, capital K, Jesus the Christ. He has exalted his humble servant.
[39:30] He has humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted his name above every name and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
[39:47] The blood of Christ has been poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26.28. Repent and have faith that his grace is sufficient.
[40:02] Pray to him for the first time or for the 490th time. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgression.
[40:16] Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from sin. Then I shall be clean, whiter than snow. Trust that Jesus' blood is sufficient to wash away the sin, the tears, the blood, and the paint.
[40:33] He only asks one thing. Faith. Believe that his grace is sufficient. Come to him with humility. Stop trusting in your own righteousness.
[40:45] Stop fighting your own war against sin. Let your pride die with Christ. Let your humility be raised to life with him, trusting fully and only in the completed work of Christ.
[40:58] God lavishes his grace upon those who are most in need of mercy. And those who are most in need of mercy are the humble.
[41:11] James in 4.10, the very next verse, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
[41:23] When the spirit of Christ convicts you of the remnant of sin in your life, when by grace you're disciplined by God, humble yourself under his mighty hand.
[41:33] Trust in him and he will exalt you. His exaltation, it begins with humility, with obedience, with a life of increasing Christlikeness.
[41:46] And it ends with eternal life. When we are humble, we become the vessel through which God pours out grace into the world.
[41:57] And remember, you're not alone. As Christians, we are called to the same commitment to one another that Jonathan had to David. We are to be quick to love, quick to defend, quick to rescue, and quick to honor our brothers and sisters in Christ.
[42:15] We are brothers in arms, forged in battle. We are called to encourage one another, to bear one another's burdens, and to confront one another's sin.
[42:27] Above all, remember Jesus' words. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. blessed are the humble, for they shall inherit the earth.
[42:43] Let's pray.