Address—B. Prost
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I'd like to turn this afternoon, please, to First Samuel, chapter 13.
First Samuel, chapter 13.
And we'll read the 1St 4 verses.
First Samuel 13 verse one. Saul reigned one year and when he had reigned 2 years over Israel, Saul chose him. 3000 men of Israel where of 2000 were with Saul and Mishmash and in Mount Bethel and 1000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin and the rest of the people. He sent every man to his tent.
And to Jonathan Smote, the Garrison of the Philistines. That was in Giba, and the Philistines heard of it.
And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear, And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a Garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had an abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.
Just make a few remarks before we go any further here. You know, I have been struck in reading this passage over and in what we will read subsequently, how that what we have here answers very much to the day in which you and I are living. Because if you read the history.
As we see it here, you find that things were in a very low state in Israel. You find that the judges had completely failed.
And if you want to read a sad book in the word of God, read the book of Judges there. It says several times over that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And I don't know of a sadder book in the Word of God, but the judge is having failed. We find that the people wanted a king. And in this, of course, they did not have the mind of the Lord, as we know. And so God gives them a king, but he gives them the kind of a king that they wanted, they said give us.
King that will go out before us like all the other nations round about us. And the Lord, as it were, said, all right, Oh, let you see what kind of a king he will be. And so here we find that things were in a very low state in Israel. The king whom Samuel had anointed Saul turned out to be a failure. Peter turned out to be one who wasn't a man of God.
And eventually God had to remove him and put his own rightful king on the throne.
The man after God's own heart, David.
But in the meanwhile, I believe the Spirit of God delights to record the encouraging account here of a young man, a young man. And you know, I often think that when things are in a low state amongst the people of God, individual faithfulness stands out. And so I want to speak a little this afternoon of encouragement from the life of Jonathan.
Now, you know, we usually think of Jonathan in connection with failure, and the Spirit of God in faithfulness, you know, records both the failures and the faithfulness of his servants in the Word of God. And so we find Jonathan's failure recorded, and I believe each one of us can look back and.
You might say learn from it, but the Spirit of God delights to record faithfulness.
And here, before all the failure sets in, we find signal faithfulness on the part of Jonathan in a day when everything was in ruins. Notice the situation here. Here we find Saul just having reigned one year. Now, we don't wish to comment on this, except that to mention that perhaps the one year is not strictly accurate in the translation, but that's not really important.
The important thing is here that the Philistines were the adversaries of Israel.
And, you know, all of these nations in the Old Testament that were adversaries of Israel have a typical meaning for us. And it's a very instructive study to notice what each one of them represents. And the Philistines, you know, were not, strictly speaking, some of the Canaanites who are named by the Lord as having to be driven out, but they were to be driven out. But they had a special character.
A Philistines were a thorn in Israel's side all through their history.
And they bring before us, I believe, man, the intrusion of man in the things of God, and taking away that which belongs rightfully to God. And so they were found right in the land, and they were continual thorn in the sight of Israel, taking away that which belonged to the Lord.
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Well, we see here that Saul wants to go out against these Philistines, but there's no power to do it.
No power to do it. And Saul does all the preliminaries. He chooses 3000 men and 2000 with him, 1000 with Jonathan.
But there doesn't seem to be any power to carry out the mind of God and to get rid of these Philistines.
And you know, very often we find that state of things among the people of God today. We find that there is a recognition of the difficulty involved, but no power to deal with the situation. A recognition perhaps, that there is something wrong in our lives. A recognition perhaps, that the enemy has taken that which rightfully belongs to the Lord. A recognition that things are creeping in which are not according to the mind of God.
And yet no power as it seems to deal with the situation.
But here we find a young man by the name of Jonathan, and we're not told how old he was.
But we find him taking those thousand men that were delivered to him, and as it says here in verse 3.
Going out and smiting the Garrison of the Philistines.
Well, I say to you young people, and especially to the young brothers here, this needs to be an encouragement to your heart and to mine, because Jonathan wasn't evidently concerned with the number of men that he had to deal with. No, he went out with 1000 men, 2000 more with his father Saul. But he goes out on his own and he gains a victory.
And you know, the power of the Lord is still there. We'll find later on in the next chapter.
That Jonathan gains an even more signal victory with only himself and his armor bearer. But here he took 1000 men and went out and gained a victory. And so, dear young people, don't be discouraged by the fact that you see failure all around you. We own it. You'll see failure in others. You'll see failure in your brethren. You'll see failure in your fellow young people.
And most important of all, you'll see failure in yourself.
But that shouldn't discourage us because God has given us the Ways and Means of dealing with that, and if there is a true heart before him and self judgment before God, then I believe that God delights to give the power to go out and deal with the difficulty in the problem.
But you notice what happened here. Jonathan didn't tell anybody about the victory. He didn't have to. The Philistines heard of it without any problem. But what happens in verse 3?
And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear, and what was the result? And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a Garrison of the Philistines.
Well, you know, sometimes when you go out and do something for the Lord, someone else tries to take the credit for it. And here we find that a man who didn't have the energy of himself, who didn't have the mind of the Lord, didn't have the spiritual power to go out and deal with the situation when his son went out and did it. He takes the credit.
Well, we often find that happening in the things of God, and I believe this is a category that we need to be careful of.
The man who would seek to take the credit to himself for that which others have done. Let you and me not fall in, or let you and I not fall into that category. No, but on the other hand, we don't find that. Jonathan raised his voice to try and set the record straight. Never try to defend yourself. I can still remember our late brother, HE Hayhoe saying that over and over again, to us at least.
Several times in my hearing.
Never defend yourself. Never. And so Jonathan doesn't go out and set the record straight. He simply.
Goes on with the Lord, content to leave what he had done for the Lord's approval.
And you know, in the day in which we live, we find men making a great show of things. And sometimes that creeps into the Church of God, and sometimes there's more outward show than there is spiritual power underneath. But here we find a young man who was content to act for the Lord, and he didn't worry about who heard about it or how they heard about it. He left it for the Lord to vindicate.
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Go down a little bit in the chapter here.
Verse 17.
It would be nice to read a little more of this, but we don't have time to consider it in real detail. But there are some things here that I think are important to notice. Verse 17 and the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the way that leadeth to Ofra under the land of Shual, and another company turned the way to Beth Horan, and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zebolm, toward the wilderness.
Well, the Philistines weren't beaten by 1 onslaught and don't be surprised if when you deal with one situation, the enemy raises up another one. You know, the word of God hasn't promised us an easy pathway, and I often think that sometimes the difficulties that the Philistines brought upon the people of Israel are difficulties which we might encounter amongst the people of God because the Philistines had a sense of.
The true God was, although they were descendants of Ham, as we understand, and no doubt were idle worshippers as we read later on, but they had some knowledge of who the true God was. And yet there was only constant opposition to the people of God. And often I think that the opposition that we encounter from the Philistines in the land of Israel is typical of that which we might encounter amongst those who take the name of being the.
God. And so here we find that once again they come out, but this time in three companies.
Oh, you might say that's even worse. One goes this way, one goes that way. How are we ever going to deal with the situation?
Well, it can be pretty discouraging. And as we said before, it was a time in Israel's history when things were at a very low ebb. But I love to think of the fact that here in Israeli history, everything had failed. The priesthood had failed, the judges had failed, the king had failed, and now what was left? What was left?
Oh God was shortly going to put his rightful king on the throne.
And beloved young people, the Lord is shortly going to manifest his rightful King, his Lord of all. The Lord Jesus Christ is going to come perhaps today, and you and I be caught up to be with him. But in the meanwhile, we find, we find tucked in between the failure on the one hand, and the display of God's rightful King on the other, we find the individual faithfulness of a young man who counted on God.
Notice what happened Here, though, Things were even worse.
Not only were the Philistines going out in three companies, but notice verse 19. Now there was no Smith found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistine said, lest the Hebrews make them swords or Spears. But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share, and his Coulter, and his axe, and his matic.
Yet they had a file for the mattox and for the cultures, and for the forks and for the axes.
And to sharpen the goats.
Just imagine, not only were the Philistines attacking, but no Smith throughout all the land of Israel. And so here we find that the children of Israel, whenever they wanted to have anything done by a blacksmith, they had to go down to the Philistines to get it done. They had no one in their own land and of their own nation who could do that for them. And of course the Philistines, very naturally, having control of the situation, would be very glad to sharpen farm tools.
For them and to fashion the things that are mentioned here in connection with farming. But a weapon of war? Oh no, they wouldn't allow them to have those. What a condition for the people of God to be in. What a condition I say for the people of God who only a short while before had subdued the land of Canaan under Joshua, and the Lord had said, no man should be able to stand before you. And how God had given them such wondrous victories.
And yet here now they're reduced to such a state that they don't even have a sword or a sphere.
With which to fight.
You know, I often think that that's the way we look at things today.
Most children of Israel, you know, they had to go down to the land of the Philistines to get their things sharpened. And sometimes, you know, you and I might begin to feel that, well, there's nothing amongst the Saints of God. We have to go out somewhere else in order to get food for our souls. In order to get that which we need to be able to carry on, we have to go out somewhere else. And you know, beloved young people, if we do that, we'll find that others are going to take control of the.
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Situation And here they were in the land of Israel. The enemy was glad to see them spend their time farming, but to what end? So that the Philistines could come in and collect it all. But if there were a question of defending that which rightfully was theirs, oh, then they saw to it that there was no spear or sword in their hand.
Well, may that exercise your heart and mind. Do we have to go down to the land of the Philistines? Do we accept it as a matter of course? Do we accept the fact that perhaps there isn't ministry amongst us that is needed to meet the need? O beloved young people, and I say it to my own heart, the Lord delights to give that which is needed. The Lord delights to give that which is needed. May we never be content to rest in that state of affairs. But may we be exercised before.
God, as to why this has been allowed, Why was it allowed in Israel? What had happened? Oh, I believe the Lord was displeased with them for their walk in their ways. They had failed under the judges, signally failed. The king had failed. They had asked for a king and reluctantly, after they insisted on it, Samuel gave it to them. Samuel anointed the king. But now God is letting them see the fruit of their own will. And I say it again to my own heart.
The difficulties and problems amongst the Saints of God today are the fruit of the allowance of our own ways and the fruit of worldliness which is crept in. And the difficulty here was that there were a large number who didn't seem to care, who didn't care about it. That was the problem.
But notice here in verse 22. So it came to pass in the day of battle that there was neither sword nor spear found in the handy of hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan. But with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.
Why was that?
Here were two people that had weapons, one who didn't know how to use them, but he had them, and one who by the grace of God was going to use them for God's glory. Let me say, beloved young people, if you want to have a sword or a spear and you're exercised about it, God will give it to you. Where did Jonathan get it? I don't know, but he was exercised about it.
And you know so much of the difficulty. And again, I speak to my own heart.
Amongst the people of God today is the want of heart for Christ, the want of heart for Christ, and if there were more heart for that Blessed One and for what is due to Him, oh, then may I suggest there'd be an exercise as to why there wasn't a Smith in the land of Israel? Was it that there was no Israelite that was capable of learning how to be a blacksmith? Was it that there was no Israelite that could do it?
No, I'm afraid it was that they simply said, well, what can we do? I'm not a Smith. I don't know how to do it.
So we'll just have to go down to the land of the Philistines. And of course, the Philistines impoverished the people of God.
When they were the ones whom God had brought into that good land and promised, as we read in Deuteronomy and other scriptures, that they would be the head and not the tail.
Now I don't mean to imply that we should speak in that spirit. I merely imply that when it is a question of the Lords honor and glory, let us never be satisfied with anything less than what God gives. Let us never be satisfied to give up that which is precious to the heart of God. And you know, if there's an exercise in your heart and mind, God will provide. You'll remember in the book of Judges how that Gideon when the Philistines came in, or rather the Midianites came in and impoverished.
And burn the crops. What did he do? Oh, he thrashed wheat behind the winepress. Oh, that was valuable to him. And he wanted to have that which God had given. And God used him in blessing and deliverance to the whole nation. Here we see a similar example of a young man. Although there was no Smith in the land of Israel, he said, by the grace of God, I'm going to have weapons. And he did. Now he didn't yet have the opportunity to use them, but when he had the.
Happens and God gave the opportunity.
May I encourage you, young people?
I've said it before, but it bears repeating.
Haven't exercised before the Lord.
To enjoy that which he has given to you. Do you enjoy the blessed truth of God which he has given? I was talking to a young man not too long ago. I don't think he's here today, but I don't think he'd mind my mentioning this incident. We were looking over some of the good written ministry which we have. And I said to him, you know.
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You should read this good written ministry that we have. You're at the age now when it would be good to start.
Yes, he said, I've got some of it. Well, I said, this is the age to start reading it. May I encourage you, dear young people, to read our good written ministry, to get yourself a sword, to read the word of God for yourself, so that you'll have, you might say, those weapons which are necessary in order to enjoy the portion that God has given you.
Well, notice what happens in verse 14 in chapter 14.
Now it came to pass upon a day that Jonathan the son of Saul, said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come and let us go over to the Philistines Garrison that is on the other side. But he told not his father.
Oh, here we find that once again the Lord stirred up Jonathan to act for him, but it doesn't seem that this time he had 1000 men with him. It seems that this time he and his armor bearer all alone.
And you know, you might say, well, how can we manage to do anything for the Lord? How can we manage to serve the Lord in our assembly?
There's just a few there, just a few gathered together. It would be nice to be in a large assembly where there's a real work of God going on and perhaps a real interest in the Sunday school and in the gospel.
But you know, here we find that it didn't take a big crowd for the Lord to act. Only two, Only two. And so Jonathan says, let's go over. Looked like an impossible situation because the Garrison of the Philistines no doubt was a large number of men. And yet here Jonathan goes all on his own. And notice he didn't tell his father.
Here's an important principle, dear young people, if you're going to do something for the Lord.
And you feel the exercise before the Lord, it's well to perhaps share that exercise with another who may be one with you, as Jonathan did with his armor bearer. But don't broadcast it around. No need to do that. No, it'll only spoil the work of God. And I think Jonathan here has seen how that his father had spoiled the work of the Lord previously, and how that instead of being a help to him, Saul had been a hindrance. And so he doesn't tell his father.
About it, which was wise.
Notice where Saul is verse two, and Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree, which is in Migron, and the people that were with him were about 600 men.
Oh, how sad.
I speak to my own heart. How often I have been sitting under a pomegranate tree when there was work to be done. How often I have been found relaxing when there was work of the Lord to be done. And you know, I don't mean necessarily something that takes.
The form of service, such as preaching the gospel, or going out to hand out tracts or going out to visit someone.
May I speak plainly, and I trust you'll bear with me.
Have we sometimes sat under a pomegranate tree instead of going to the prayer meeting? Have we sometimes sat under a pomegranate tree instead of going to the reading meeting?
It's much more relaxing, isn't it? It's easier after a hard day at work to come home and sit under a pomegranate tree, so to speak. But oh, may I suggest you, dear young people, as I do to my own heart and to each one of us. We'll never have a sword or a spear or the ability to act for the Lord if that's the way we go on. Am I sitting under a pomegranate tree? Instead of stirred up about the state of things amongst the people of God, here was a man who had a sword and a spear.
And yet he sat there and didn't know how to use them and notice what happens in the end of verse three. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. Well, they didn't even notice when someone else was acting for the Lord, which was just as well in its way. They didn't notice that Jonathan was gone. They were so busy, as it seems, taking it easy, that they didn't notice that someone else had had the energy to get up and do something.
Verse four and between the passages by which Jonathan sought to go over under the Philistines Garrison.
There was a sharp rock on the wooden side and a sharp rock on the other side, and the name of the one was Bozes, and the name of the other Sinai. The forefront of the one was Scituate, northward over against Mishmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah.
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It wasn't going to be easy, was it? The world has an expression about our being sometimes between a rock and a hard place. In other words, there's not very much room to maneuver. That's the way Jonathan and his armor bearer found it. There wasn't much room to maneuver. It was going to be a difficult thing. And you know, if you set out to do anything for the Lord, the enemy is going to throw every roadblock in your way that he can, and he's.
To try and persuade you that it's not worth the effort. And you know, dear young people, it's harder in this day and age than it was perhaps even some years ago. I can well remember being at the funeral of the wife of a dear brother. The brother himself is now with the Lord, and at his wife's funeral we were talking over.
Some of the good things that God had given his people, and one brother made a remark to him like this, he said.
You know, it would have been blessed, perhaps, to have lived in the days when God was really working. And you know, we look back to those days, he said, when those giants of the faith who dug out the truth for us in the last century, We're so characterized by devotedness to the Lord and by faithfulness, he said. We look back to those brothers and to the wondrous reward that the Lord will give them for their faithfulness.
And the old brother made a wise remark. He said, You know, brother, he said that's true.
But he went on to say, I think there may be an even greater reward for those who are prepared to go on in faithfulness to the Lord in a day of ruin, because when things were happy and healthier, one could be born along by the crowd. But now it's a question of putting out real energy in order to follow the Lord. And dear young people, that's the way it is today, and it's not just true.
For you, it's true for any of us. But it's more true for you because the devil knows that if he can get you dear young people turned aside, the assemblies will gradually dwindle down. And how sad it is to go to an assembly and see older people sitting there at the meetings, but no young people. Oh, I often think the devil loves to see that because he knows that as those older ones are called home 1 by 1, unless there are young people to take their places, the testimony will fail.
Well, here we find that poor Jonathan and his armor bearer were between 2:00 sharp rocks. Not just rocks, sharp rocks. Difficulties. But it doesn't turn them back.
Verse six and Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor come and let us go over under the Garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few. Oh what wondrous faith here where Jonathan says, let's go over to these Philistines. We don't need a big a big crowd in order to.
Work for the Lord, he doesn't need a large number. And you know, no doubt Jonathan had looked back at those days.
When other men had gone out and had fought for the Lord in a remarkable way.
And he says, oh, there's no, there's no restraint. The Lord can save by a few. And you know, we need young people who are willing to take this step of faith. We need young people who are willing to go out not in their own self-confidence. Now, let's make no mistake, but in the sense that in spite of its being a day of ruin, the Lord has not changed.
But notice verse seven. And his armor bearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart turn thee. Behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. Oh how blessed. You know we can't all be Jonathan's, can we? We can't all be Jonathan's. But may the Lord give us more armor bearers. You know armor bears have a special place in the word of God.
And you find out that Joab's armor bearer.
Is named in David's Mighty Men, while Joab himself is left out. You find that these armor bearers who were men who stood in the background, men who simply carried the armor for the one whom they served, yet had a signal place in the ways of God on occasion. And here we find the armor bearer who's not named was the one that encouraged Jonathan to go on.
Beloved young person, maybe you say to yourself, I don't have the kind of energy to go out and do this.
Could you be an armor bearer? I love to see a sister who's an armored bear. I can think of some right now who have been armored bears in assemblies. I can think of one right now who was a real encouragement to me some years ago. And many a time there has been a sister who has acted in this capacity to encourage even a brother or another sister when it was a question of doing something for the Lord.
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Notice that little phrase in verse 7?
Turn thee. Why did he say that? Oh, I believe because Jonathan was losing heart. Jonathan had looked at the difficulties in the way he'd seen those sharp rocks. Perhaps he thought of the big number of the Philistines that was there and he, as it were said to his armor bear. I don't know. He turned around to his armor bearer to say what he said in verse six. The armor bearer says turn around. Jonathan, turn. I'm I'm with you. I'll stay with you. You take the lead.
And I'll come behind you. Isn't that blessed? I can remember a young man who had the exercise to go out and speak on the street corner, and he wanted to go, but he felt a little timid about going on his own. And so he asked an older brother if he'd go with him. And the older brother said yes. He said, I don't want to say anything because I'm supposed to speak this evening and I don't want to ruin my voice.
But he said, I'll come with you and stand with you while you speak, if you like. And so they went together.
After the young brother had spoken, the older brother stepped out, ruined his voice or not. He felt so in the enjoyment of the things of Christ. He wanted to have something to say, to preach the gospel and what to God that there were more of us who were exercised. Here was an armor bearer who evidently had the interests of God's people at heart, who valued the land that God had given and who wanted to see that land defended for the Lord. And so he says to Jonathan Turnley, you know, if you see.
Young person or an older one wanting to do something for the Lord. Oh, sometimes I think we don't have any idea what an encouragement it is for someone to come to us and say go ahead, I'm behind you, I'll help you with it if you like. Do you have an exercise to do that I'd like to be of help to you? What an encouragement that is.
Verse 8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will Passover unto these men, and we will discover ourselves under them. If they say it us unto us, tarry until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. But if they say thus come up unto us, then we will go up, for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand, and this shall be a sign unto us.
Well, Jonathan still didn't have very much confidence in himself.
And that, in one sense, was good. He did a little bit of the way Gideon did before he put out a fleece, because he wasn't really sure that the Lord was going to use him. I don't think that Jonathan had any doubt about the Lord's power. I don't think that Jonathan had any question that the Lord could work, but it was a question of wanting to be sure that they had the Lord's mind about doing it.
And you know, that's a good thing. It's a good thing to inquire of the Lord. We find that David did that constantly throughout his life.
And we should never be in a big hurry to go ahead unless we feel that we have the Lord's mind. And so Jonathan, as it were, puts out the fleece and he says, all right, we'll go up and we'll let them see us. And depending on the way that they respond, we'll decide whether we're going to go ahead. And so they go up and notice what happens.
Verse 11 And both of them discovered themselves under the Garrison of the Philistines, and the Philistines said, Behold.
The Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
Well, be prepared to take a little persecution if you do something for the Lord, If you act for the Lord, be prepared to take a little persecution. Here are the Philistines made fun of them. Oh, they said, look at this, the full of the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
Well, Jonathan and his armor bearer weren't disturbed by that, but they give the right answer. The men say in verse 12, come up to us and we will show you a thing. And so there God as it were, gave them the signal that he was going to work for them. And so Jonathan and his armor bearer go ahead and notice what happens verse 13.
And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armor bare after him.
And the and they fell before Jonathan and his armor bearer slew after him.
Again, it wasn't an easy task.
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It was degrading. They had to climb up on their hands and knees.
I don't know whether any of you have done that on occasion. I know I have done it, and I can remember an occasion or two and I've had to do it in front of other people and been laughed at. I can remember on the farm where we used to live, sometimes going down to a big Cliff or ravine, and sometimes, if we weren't careful, we'd slide down and have to climb up on our hands and knees with our friends at the top making fun of us and so on.
Well, it wasn't anything too serious, but it was a kind of a humbling way to go out to battle, wasn't it?
It didn't have much outward show connected with it to have to go up on your hands and knees toward a group of men that were standing there making fun of you. And you know you'll find once again that if you're going to do something for the Lord, the Lord may allow it to be done under circumstances where all the glory has to be to Him. Someone has made the remark very aptly, that the service that humbles you is true Christian service.
And any service for the Lord that lifts us up in pride.
Is probably not according to the mind of God. Now sad to say, no matter what we do for the Lord, self tends to get into it. But just the same I believe the Lord has ways of humbling us and showing us that all the power and all the glory must be to him. And so here we find that the Lord didn't allow Jonathan and his armor bearer to advance as it were on their feet with everything seemingly going for them.
No, they have to defeat the Philistines through weakness.
And you know what reminds us of the way that David had to approach Goliath a few chapters further on. David had to go with a stone and a sling. He had to go with Goliath mocking him and telling him that he was going to feed him to the birds and that how was he going to fight with him when he didn't have any weapons and so on. And so be reminded, dear young people, that our blessed Savior won the victory in the same way. And the more that you go on for the Lord.
So the more you will find that the truest sign of the servant of God is humiliation. And we find, I believe in the New Testament, that the greatness of the servant was in inverse proportion to his humiliation. And so we find one like the apostle Paul, whom God used so mightily.
Being humiliated over and over again, not only did he have to be able to say that he was the chief of sinners, but he had to say in Ephesians that he was less than the least of All Saints.
He had to go through numerous trials and difficulties, as we find in Second Corinthians.
But God gave him the greatest revelations that man has ever been given from a risen Christ in glory.
And so if you want to serve the Lord, the Lord will take away from you everything that has to do with pride. Don't, don't, don't worry about that. Never mind. Because all the power must be from him, and the glory must be for him. And so here they call up on their hands and knees. But having gone through all these difficulties, notice what happens verse 13. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer slew after him.
And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made.
Was about 20 men within, as it were, and half acre of land which a yoke of oxen might plow.
Again, it wasn't anything outstanding by man's standards. Quite an astonishing feat though, for two men to have killed 20 men on their own without any help from others. But it wasn't a very impressive sight. Only a small piece of ground, only a small number of men driven from it. But oh, it was the work of God. And again, dear young people, let me say this, never despise the smallness of the work.
Because.
If it is a work of God, the Lord can use it. And here it wasn't a question of the smallness of the work. No doubt it would have been more fitting, perhaps, if Jonathan could have gone out with a large army and completely routed to Philistines. But all we find that God begins in a small way to exercise individual faith, and then the Lord begins to work. And so don't be discouraged by starting something small.
Because God often works that way. He works that way in order that we might realize that all of the power must be from Himself. But notice what happens next. Verse 15 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people, the Garrison and the spoilers also they trembled and the earthquake. So it was a very great trembling.
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And the Watchmen of Saul and Gibeah Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down.
One another.
All we find now here the Lord begins to work, the Lord begins to make his power felt. The Lord allows things like an earthquake and a trembling in order to melt those Philistines away. And you know, if there's a real exercise of faith, dear young people, you and I can draw an unlimited resources of power and limited resources of power.
Now, I don't mean to be misunderstood here.
Jonathan gained a victory this day. It was a small victory compared with the victories of David when he came on the throne. But you know, these victories were precious, I believe, to the eye of God because they were done under such adverse circumstances. If I might say so reverently, I believe it was easier for a man to be a soldier under David than it was to act as Jonathan did here, because David went out with wondrous power.
And it's not recorded in Scripture that David ever lost a battle, and fittingly so, because David is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ coming in power and glory to set up his Kingdom. But oh, here we find that these things that were done were precious to the eye of God because they were done in a day when everything else was given up. And you know, there is a work that God would have you do for the Lord, perhaps in your own home assembly.
And if you start off doing it for the Lord and with real faith and dependence upon Him, I believe you'll see the power of God manifested there. I know those who are right here in this room who have seen that happen.
I may be forgiven for this next remark, but I'll excuse it by saying it's not original with me.
An old brother amongst us once made this remark to a few of us.
And again, I say it reverently and humbly, but I believe it was a voice to my own heart.
He said. I think we need to be careful how we use that term, laboring brethren.
He said, you know, he said, who in my estimation really labor as much as those who travel around, and I know that my brethren here who have that privilege would agree with me. He said those who really labor just as much are those who day after day, week after week, month after month, and maybe year after year in their own local area, carry on a work for the Lord and make the necessary.
In order to do it, I say it reverently. Is God going to give a reward for that Sunday school class that you took week after week, month after month, where nobody saw it? I believe he will. Is God going to take recognizance, reconnaissance of those things which you have done in your own local area, which Nolan saw? And maybe you had to make a sacrifice. Maybe you've been a help to someone in the assembly, you've been faithful at the meetings, you've tried to help that.
Who needed help? You've tried to be an encouragement to someone. You've kept a gospel testimony going in your own local area. But perhaps in a small way, Oh, the Lord takes notice of that. And it often takes more spiritual energy to do that kind of thing because day after day, week after week, it's perhaps the same difficulties, the same discouragements, the same problems that are always there. And the devil is going to make it in this day and age, so difficult for you to do.
That you may end up, as I may, sitting under a pomegranate tree. Well, May God give us grace not to do that, but to have the spiritual energy to go out for Him, and earnestly, first of all, to contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints, and then, as it says, to be ready to every good work.
Well, we find here that finally, if I can say so, without.
Without being funny, this all begins to catch on. Saul begins to catch on. The man who doesn't have the faith himself says, oh, there's something going on here, but he didn't yet know who was doing it, and he had to make inquiry to see where it all came from. And you know, that's the way it should be.
Saul only saw what was the evidence of the Lord's work. He didn't find out until long afterward.
That Jonathan was in the background and then the only thing that Saul could do was to try and spoil the work of God.
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We don't have time to go into that later on in the chapter. I leave it to you to read it for yourself. How that Saul, in attempting to intervene again, almost was allowed to destroy the instrument that God was using in his work. Well, it's blessed, you know, when the instrument can be kept in the background and that we, when people see a work going on, they see the evidence of the Lord's hand and not your hand or mine.
Well, notice also some of the encouragement that happened here though, and I want to draw attention to these things.
Verse 19 And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased. And Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thy hand. And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle.
And behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
Oh, we find that Saul, while he's busy trying to find out who started that work of the Lord, there's so much commotion going on that finally Saul says to the priest, don't bother, let's go and be of help. Isn't that blessed? And you know, when a work of God begins, we often find that some who perhaps don't have any heart for it themselves.
Are drawn out by the evidence of the Lord's work and they come over to it. Now Saul didn't yet know who was responsible for it. He didn't yet know who D started it all. But there was so much going on, he said, as it were to the priest. It's not it doesn't matter who who started it. Don't bother. Let's go over there. Well, the work of the Lord is an attraction to others, even if their hearts are not right. But it's a blessed thing to see that when the Lord works, it reaches out even.
Whose hearts are cold? But there were others that came to the battle. Notice in verse 21.
Moreover, the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country roundabout even, they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.
Now this is a very striking verse. It seems that some of the people of Israel had gotten so discouraged with the condition of things that rather than be identified with Israel, they had gone over to be identified with the Philistines. Isn't that sad?
Has it happened to some amongst us? Have there been those amongst us who, ashamed to be identified with those gathered to the Lord's name, have gone out and become identified with others? There's still hope. There's hope. Oh, there's always a way back. And here we find that the work that Jonathan began for the Lord was such that those who were in a wrong position were unable to see their wrong position, and they were encouraged to.
Back and identify themselves with the people of God. Isn't that blessed? Well, it doesn't give them an excuse for going off and identifying with the Philistines. Oh no, Oh no. And you notice the word that God has to use in describing them. He calls them Hebrews, but he doesn't call them Israelites. He calls them Hebrews because they were identified with the Hebrews, that is, with the nation.
But it was the term, you might say, of contempt that was used.
To describe them, whereas here we find the word of God says those that were with Saul and Jonathan were Israelites, Israelites. Oh, you know the name Israel was the name that was given to Jacob. That means a Prince with God. And oh, how blessed to be identified with that divine place, with those who were going on perhaps in much weakness, but in the place where the Lord had put them, but nevertheless, how blessed.
That that work of the Lord which began was used of God to draw back those who were even in a wrong position. Well May God give us grace to be exercised, that if there have been those who have gone out from us, that we not turn our back upon them, but that rather we seek by the grace of God, that there might be that amongst us which would draw them back. Because, as one brother used to say, there ought to be enough power amongst us to attract every true Christian in the area.
Now if you think about that for a moment, it's the most profound statement. There ought to be enough power amongst us to attract every true Christian in the area.
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Verse 22 Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in Mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the day of battle. Oh, how blessed here were those that didn't go as far as the others in going off into the land of the Philistines and identifying with them. But they were afraid, and they'd hidden themselves here, it says in Mount Ephraim.
Oh, I often think there are many amongst us who hide themselves like this.
Some who want to be identified with those gathered to the Lord's name. And you ask them, do you wish to continue being in fellowship? Oh, yes, I do. But sad to say, they've hid themselves in the caves, in places in Mount Ephraim. We don't see them very often. Something has to draw them out of those hiding places. What will draw them out? You and me, No.
Oh.
Attraction to Christ, seeing that which the Lord is doing and you know, may we have grace that there might be that amongst us which would attract them to Christ so that Saints which are continually going off into hiding places will be attracted back. You know, it's well sometimes to visit individuals like that and to try to be a help to them. But you know, they're first of all has to be an attraction to that Blessed One himself.
They have to be attracted to Him. But you know, if you and I are exercised about that state of things, I believe that God, you might say, would bring that about, which would cause them to come out of their hiding places. And so here they come. And what does it say? They followed hard after them in the battle. Oh, it wasn't just a feeble going on, but they were encouraged to go right out there and get right into it with the rest of them in order to act for the Lord.
Said, may I say to you, dear young people, if there is someone who's come to these meetings, who's been in a hiding place for a while, oh, don't stay in a hiding place. The Lord is the same and he wants you to come out. But May God give you not merely to come out of your hiding place when you see a work of the Lord, but oh, May God give us more Jonathan's and more armor bearers who have the courage to rely on the Lord in a day of ruin and to act for him when everything seems against them.
Notice verse 23. So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed over unto Bethaven.
Notice it doesn't say that the battle ended. No, dear young people, the battle will never end until the rightful king is on the throne. And don't expect to gain a good victory and then be able to rest on your laurels, because that's just the time that the enemy will come in more strongly than ever. And that's why it says in Ephesians chapter 6 when the armor is in question.
It says and having done all to stand, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, that simply means that we may go out and buy the power of God, and in relying on Him be used of the Lord in a marvelous way. But then we tend to sit down after the battle and think, Well, we did it.
And then the enemy can get an advantage.
And you know, nothing is worse than a great victory if it's not recognized that we have to go back to Gilgal. And so we find here that Gilgal figures prominently in the things of God. And I believe that's the important thing to remember, that after every victory we have to go to the place of self judgment and recognize that it was all of the Lord and that he gave the power and the encouragement to do it all.
Well, I say again, the rightful king was just about to be manifested.
Just go on a chapter or two and we find that God brings David onto the sea. And Jonathan, it says his soul was knit with the soul of David. Oh, he recognized that here was the man that God was going to use to deliver Israel fully from the clutches of the Philistines. But before that king appeared on the scene, I believe God used Jonathan in continual warfare to maintain his rights in a place where.
Enemy was seeking to overrun them. Well, May God encourage your heart and mind as we await the Lord's return. We're just on the very eve of it. I feel it. And so I'm sure to most of you, perhaps all the Lord is coming soon. May He encourage our hearts to go on for Him who is the same and who never changes.
Maybe we could sing. I know.