David’s First Victory

David's First Victory

(No. 2913)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1904.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone,
and smote the Philistine and slew him, but there was no sword in the
hand of David." 1 Samuel 17:50.

A CAREFUL reading of the whole chapter will well repay your pains. I
have selected a verse for convenience, but I need the entire narrative
for a text. If you are well versed in the history, we shall have no
need of any preface or translation. So we shall proceed at once to
regard David in his conflict with Goliath and his victory over him,
first, as a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, secondly, as an example
for ourselves. As that which is a type of the head always bears a
relationship to the members and, as the members of Christ's mystical
body now are and shall yet more fully be like Him, it is but one
thought, after all, that we shall be following out in the meditation
that lies before us.

I. Let us begin by calling your attention to the fact that David in
this matter WAS A TYPE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

The early fathers of the Church were very great in opening up typical
analogies. So full, indeed, were they in their expositions and so
minute in their details, that at length they went too far and
degenerated into trifling. Origen, for example, very notably exceeded
what can be regarded as wise interpretation in giving spiritual
meanings to literal records. And others who essayed to go yet farther
than that great master of mysticism, very soon did much damage to the
Church of God, bringing precious Truths of God into serious discredit.
The study of the types of the Old Testament has scarcely regained its
proper place in the Christian Church since the days in which those
gracious men, by their imprudent zeal, perverted it. We cannot,
however, bring ourselves to think that a good thing ceases to be good
because it has, at some time, been turned to an ill account. We think
it can still be used properly and profitably. Within certain limits,
then– limits, we suppose, which there is little danger of
transgressing in these mechanical, dry times–the types and the
allegories of Holy Scripture may be used as a handbook of
instruction–a vade mecum of sound Doctrine.

By the common consent of Evangelical Christians, David is seen to be an
eminent type of the Lord Jesus Christ. With regard to this particular
transaction let us note, at the outset, that before he fought with
Goliath, David was anointed of God. Samuel had gone down to Bethlehem
and poured a horn of oil upon his head. The parallel will readily occur
to you. Thus has the Lord found out for Himself one whom He has chosen
out of the people. With His holy oil has He anointed him. Upon Saul's
head a small amount of oil was poured–upon David's head a full horn of
oil. This may, perhaps, be designed to contrast the brevity and scant
renown of Saul's reign with the length, power and excellence of the
reign of David. Or, being interpreted spiritually, it may denote that
the Law, the old Judaism of which Saul is the type, had but a limited
measure of blessing, while that of the Gospel, which David represents,
is characterized by its abounding fullness. Jesus, the antitype of
David, is anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows! Grace
and Truth came by Jesus Christ. The Spirit was not given by measure to
Him.

David was anointed several times. He was anointed, as you read in the
chapter preceding our text, "in the midst of his brothers"–anointed,
as you find in 2 Samuel 2:4, by his brethren, the men of Judah–and
anointed again, as you will observe in 2 Samuel 5:3, by all the elders
of Israel. We will not go into that, now, but it will suffice us to
note that our Lord was anointed of God, is anointed of His saints and
shall be anointed of the whole Church. The Spirit of the Lord was upon
Him and it was in the power of that Spirit with which He was anointed
of the Father, that He went forth

to fight the great battles of His Church. At His Baptism, coming up out
of the Jordan, He was anointed by the Spirit as it rested upon Him,
descending out of Heaven like a dove–and straightway He went, as He
was driven into the wilderness, and held that notable forty-days'
conflict with the arch-fiend, the great adversary of souls! His battles
were in the spirit and power of the Highest, for the might and majesty
of the Eternal Spirit rested upon Him.

See how the correspondence goes on. Our Lord was sent by His Father to
His brethren. As David was sent by Jesse to his brethren with suitable
presents and comfortable words in order to commune with them, even so,
in the fullness of time, was our Lord commissioned to visit His
brethren. He remained concealed for a while in the house of His reputed
father, but afterwards He came forth and was distinctly recognized as
the Sent One of God, bearing countless gifts in His hands, coming on an
mission of mercy and of love from God to those whom He was not ashamed
to call His brethren. We have read how David was treated. His brethren
did not receive him lovingly. They answered his unaffected kindness
with unprovoked rudeness–they laid bitter things to his charge. How
truly does this answer to the manner in which our Lord, the Son of
David, was abused! He came unto His own and His own received Him not.
Though He came to them with words of tenderness, they replied to Him
with words of scorn. For His blessings they gave Him curses. For the
bread of Heaven they gave Him stones and for the benedictions of Heaven
they gave Him the spite of earth, the maledictions of

Hell!

Never was a brother, "the first-born among many brethren," so ill-used
by the rest of the household! Surely that parable of the wicked
husbandmen was fulfilled toward Him. We know it is written that the
owner of the vineyard said, "They will reverence my son," but,
contrariwise, they said, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and
the inheritance shall be ours." Jesus was roughly handled by His
brethren whom He came to bless. David, you will remember, answered his
brethren with great gentleness. He did not return railing for railing,
but with much gentleness he endured their churlishness. In this he
supplied us with but a faint picture of our beloved Master, who, when
He was reviled, reviled not again. "Consider Him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against Himself." His only reply, even to the
strokes which were to effect His death, was, "Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do." "We hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised and we esteemed Him not." Yet for all that, no word of
anger dropped from His lips. He might have said, "Is there not a
cause?" He spoke little, however, in His own defense. Rather He went
about His life-work as zealously as if all who saw Him had approved of
Him. So David, being thus rejected of his brethren, became a type of
Christ.

We pass on to observe that David was moved by an intense love of his
people. He saw them defied by the Philistines. As he marked how they
were crushed in spirit before their formidable enemies, a fervent
indignation stirred his soul, but when he heard the terms of defiance,
he felt that the God of Israel, Himself, was compromised in this
quarrel. The name of Jehovah was dishonored! That braggart giant who
stalked before the hosts defied the armies of the living God! No wonder
that the warm and devout heart of the brave young shepherd was moved
with a mighty heaving! The passion of a warrior kindled in his breast
at the sound of that profane voice of the uncircumcised Philistine who
could trifle with the honor of Jehovah, the God of Heaven and of earth!
A further motive was present to stimulate his patriotic ambition. How
could David's bosom fail to glow with strong emotion when he was told
that the man who would vanquish and slay that Philistine should be
married to the king's daughter? Such a prize might well quicken his
ardor. And with all these motives acting upon him, his determination to
go forth and do battle with the champion of Philistia was prompt and
resolute.

Now in all this he plainly foreshadowed our Lord Jesus Christ. He loved
His own–He was always ready to lay down His life for the sheep. But He
loved his Father. "Know you not," He had said of old, "that I must be
about My Father's business?" "The zeal of Your house has eaten Me up."
And then there was the joy that was set before Him that He should have
the Church for His spouse–that at the peril, not to say the price of
His life, He should obtain her–that He should see of the travail of
His soul in her and should be satisfied. She was to be lifted up to His
royalties and to share His crown and throne. The New Jerusalem, the
mother of us all, was to be unto Jesus the gift of God as His reward!
And this inspired Him, so he went forth and entered upon the battle for
our sakes. Let us pause and bless His name that He ever should have
loved the people and that the saints should have been in His hands! Let
us bless Him that the zeal of God's house did eat Him up–that He
consecrated Himself so fully to the great enterprise! Above all, let us
humbly and gratefully bless Him that He loved us and gave Himself for
us. As a part of His Church whom He had betrothed unto Himself

forever, we are partakers in all that He did! It was for us that He
fought the fight, for us He won the victory, for us He has gone to
Glory. And He will come, by-and-by, to take us up to behold that Glory
and be with Him where He is. While we see the type in David, let us
take care not to forget to adore Jesus, Himself, who is here mirrored
forth to our minds in the achievement of our salvation.

I might, indeed, instance many further details in which David yet
further became a type of our Lord. The whole narrative being full of
minute particulars supplies us copiously with points of analogy. But
there is one thing I would have you specially observe.

Goliath is called, in the Hebrew, not "champion," as we read it in the
English, but the middleman, the mediator If you put the whole case
fairly before your own minds, you will readily see the fitness of the
word that is used. There is the host of the Philistines on the one side
and there is the host of Israel on the other side. A valley lies
between them. Goliath says, "I will represent Philistia. I stand as the
middleman. Instead of all the rank and file coming forth personally to
the fight, I appear as the representative of my nation–the mediator.
Choose you a mediator who will come and contend with me. Instead of the
battle being between the individuals of which the respective armies are
composed, let two representative men decide in, duel to the death, the
question in debate." Now, it is exactly upon that ground that the Lord
Jesus Christ fought the battles of His people. We fell representatively
in the first Adam, and our salvation is now by another
Representative–the Second Adam. He is the Middleman, the "one Mediator
between God and men." In His love to us and His zeal for the Glory of
God, we may view Him as stepping forward into the midst of the arena
which divides the camps of good and of evil, of God and of the
devil–and there facing the defiant adversary–He stands to contend in
our name and on our behalf if we are, indeed, His people, that He may
decide for us the quarrel which never could have been decided by us.
Personally, we should, beyond a doubt, have been put to the rout. But
His one single arm is enough to win the victory for us and forever to
end the conflicts between Heaven and Hell!

Mark well our warrior chief as He goes forth to the fight. The son of
Jesse rejected the weapons with which Saul sought to arm him–he put
the helmet on his head, the mail about his body and was about to gird
the sword upon his loins, but he said, "I cannot go with these, for I
have not proved them." In like manner the Son of David renounced all
earthly armor. They would have taken our Lord by force and made Him a
king, but He said, "My Kingdom is not of this world." Swords enough
would have leaped from their scabbards at His bidding! It was not only
Peter whose too-hasty sword smote the ear of Malchus, but there were
many zealots who would have been all too glad to have followed the star
of Jesus of Nazareth as in former days. And yet more frequently, in
later days, the Jews followed impostors who declared themselves to be
commissioned by the Most High for their deliverance. But Jesus said,
"Put up again your sword into its place: for all they that take the
sword shall perish with the sword."

One of the temptations of the desert was not only that He should have
the kingdoms of the world, but that He should have them by the use of
such means as Satan would suggest. He must fall down and worship
Satan–He must use the carnal weapon which would be tantamount to
worshipping him. Jesus would not have it. To this day the great fight
of Jesus Christ with the powers of darkness is not with sword and
helmet, but with the smooth stones of the brook! The simple preaching
of the Gospel, with the shepherd's crook of the great Head of the
Church held in our midst–this it is that lays low Goliath and shall
lay him low to the last day! Vain is it for the Church even to think
that she shall win the victory by wealth, or by rank, or by civil
authority! No government will assist her. To the power of God alone she
must look. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the
Lord of Hosts. Happy will it be for the Church when she learns that
lesson! The preaching of the Cross which is "to them that perish
foolishness," is, nevertheless, to us who believe Christ, "the power of
God, and the wisdom of God."

See, then, our glorious champion going forward to the fray with weapons
of his own choosing–and those such as human wisdom despises because
they do not appear to be adapted to the work! With great strength and
power, nevertheless, did he go forth, for he went in the name of God.
"You come to me," said David, "with a sword, and with a spear, and with
a shield: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts." Such,
too, is the predominating influence which renders the Gospel
Omnipotent! Christ is God's Propitiation. God has "set Him forth to be
a propitiation for sin." Christ is appointed of God, anointed of God,
sent of God. And the Gospel is God's message, attended with God's
Spirit. If it is not, then it is weak as water–it must fail. But since
the Lord has sent it and He has promised to bless it, we may rest
assured it will accomplish the ends for which it was ordained. "I come
to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts! "These

words might serve as a slogan for all those who are sent of Christ and
represent Him in the dread battle for precious souls. This was Christ's
watchword when, for our sakes and on our behalf, He came to wrestle
with sin, to bear the wrath of God and to vanquish death and Hell! He
came in the name of God!

Mark you well that David did smite Goliath and he smote him effectually
not in the loins, or on the hand, or on the foot–but in a vital point
he delivered the stroke that laid him low. He smote him on the brow of
his presumption, on the forehead of his pride! I suppose he had lifted
up his visor to take a look at his contemptible adversary, when the
stone sank in, which let out forever the boastful soul. So, when our
Lord stood forth to contend with sin, He projected His atoning
Sacrifice as a stone that has smitten sin and all its powers upon the
forehead. Thus, Glory be to God, sin is slain. It is not merely
wounded, but it is slain by the power of Jesus Christ!

And remember that David cut off Goliath's head with his own sword.
Augustine, in his comment on this passage, very well brings out the
thought that the triumph of our Savior Jesus Christ is here set forth
in the history of David. He, "through death, destroyed him that had the
power of death, that is, the devil." "He death by dying slew"–cut off
the giant's head with his own sword. The Cross that was meant to be the
death of the Savior was the death of sin! The Crucifixion of Jesus,
which was supposed to be the victory of Satan, was the consummation of
His victory over Satan! Lo, this day I see, in our conquering Hero's
hand, the grizzly head of the monster, Sin, all dripping with gouts of
gore! Look at it, you that once were under its tyranny! Look at the
terrible lineaments of that hideous and gigantic tyrant! Your Lord has
slain your foe! Your sins are dead–He has destroyed them! His own arm,
single-handed and alone, has destroyed your gigantic enemy! "The sting
of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to
God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Blessed
and magnified be His holy name!

And when David had thus achieved the death of Goliath, he was met by
the maidens of Israel who came forth and sang in responsive verse,
accompanied with the music of their timbrels and joyous dancing, "Saul
has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." So he had his
triumph. Meanwhile, the hosts of Israel, seeing that the Philistine
giant was dead, took heart and dashed upon the adversary. The
Philistines were frightened and fled, and every Israelite that day
became a victor through the victory of David. They were more than
conquerors, through him that had loved them and won the victory for
them. So let us now think ourselves to be victors. Our Lord has won the
victory. He is gone to His Glory. The angels have met Him on the way.
They have said, "Lift up your heads, O you gates, even lift them up,
you everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in." And they
that have been with Him have answered to the question, "Who is this
King of Glory?" They have said, "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord
mighty in battle. The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory."

And this day the feeblest Believer triumphs in Christ! Though we should
have been beaten, nor could we have hoped for victory–yet now through
Jesus Christ our Lord, we chase our enemies! We trample sin under our
feet and we go from strength to strength through His completed victory.
There is much for you to think of here. Will you think this over for
yourselves? It is better I should not do all the thinking for you. You
will find the analogy capable of much amplification. I have given you
only, as it were, a sort of charcoal outline–a rough draft. Make a
picture of it at your leisure and it may prove a beneficial study and a
profitable meditation.

II. With much brevity let us now revert to David as AN EXAMPLE FOR
EVERY BELIEVER IN CHRIST.

Above all things, it behooves us, dear Brothers and Sisters, to
consider that if we are ever to do anything for God and for His Church
we must be anointed with holy oil. Oh, how vain it would be for us to
grow zealous with a sort of creature carnal fanaticism and to attempt
great things in sheer presumption which can only issue in utter
failure! Unless the Spirit of God is upon us, we have no might from
within and no means from without to rely upon. Wait upon the Lord,
Beloved, and seek strength from Him alone! There cannot come out of you
what has not been put into you. You must receive and then give out.
Remember how the Lord Jesus describes it–"The water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life." And again, in another place, "He that believes on Me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water."

You cannot do David's work if you have not David's anointing! When you
remember that your Divine Master tarried for the heavenly anointing,
you can hardly expect to do without it! Be not so foolish. Christ went
not to His public ministrations till the Spirit of God rested upon Him.
The Apostles tarried at Jerusalem and went not forth to preach till
power were given to them from on high. The point, the pre-requisite,
the sine quanon with us, is to have that power. Oh,

to preach in that power–to pray in that power–to look after wandering
souls in that power! Your Sunday school work, your home missionary
work, your evening form of ministry for Christ must be done in that
power! Get to your knees! Get to the Cross! Get to your Master's feet!
Sit still in faith and hope until He shall have given you the strength
that shall qualify you to do the Master's work, in the Master's way, to
the Master's praise!

David, too, stands before us as an example of the fact that our
opportunity will come if our efficiency has been bestowed, without our
being very particular to seek it. David fell into position. The place
he was fitted to occupy, he was Providentially called to fill as a
great man in Israel. Little did he guess, when he went with the load of
bread, and corn, and cheese, that he was, before long, to be
distinguished beyond all other men in Palestine! Yes it was so.
Beloved, do not be in a hurry to look out for your sphere. Be ready for
your sphere–your sphere will come to you. I speak to many dear young
Brothers who are studying for the ministry. Be prepared for any work
rather than be looking out for some particular work. God has His niche
for you. You will land on your feet–depend upon that. Be ready. Your
business is to be ready. Have your tools well sharpened and know how to
handle them. The place will come to you, the best place for you, if you
are not so much looking after that which meets your taste, as after
that which proves you to be a vessel fit for the Master's use! David
finds his occasion. He has received the Spirit, first, which is the
main thing–and then he has found the occasion which calls out his
credentials.

I gather from David's example that when we feel a call to do something
for God and for His Church, we need not wait until those whom we hold
in respect coincide with us as to the propriety of entering upon the
service. Had David said–"Well, I shall wait till Eliab, Abinadab and
Shammah, my elder brothers, are all perfectly agreed that I am the man
to fight Goliath"–I suspect he would never have fought with Goliath at
all! Great deference is due to the judgment of our seniors, but greater
respect is due to the motions of the Spirit of God within our heart. I
would to God there were more regard shown for those inward monitions
among Christians than there is known to be in these times. If you have
a thought put into your heart, or a charge laid upon your conscience,
obey it, man! Act up to it, though no one else perceives it or
encourages you. If God has shown you His counsel, at your peril hide
the presage or shrink from the performance! What? With the fear of God
in our hearts and a commission from God in our hands, shall we halt and
hesitate and become the servants of menP. I would rather die than have
to come into this pulpit to ask your leave, or to get any man's consent
as to what I shall preach!

God speaks, by His Spirit, what He has to say to me and, by the help of
His good Spirit, I will deliver it to you as I hear it from Him. May
this tongue be silent before it becomes the servant of man! David was
of that mind. He felt he had something to do and though he could listen
to what other people had to say, yet they were no masters of his. He
served the living God and he went about the business entrusted to him
undaunted by any judgment they might form of him. He that speaks for
God should speak honestly. Let others criticize and sift the chaff from
the wheat. He must expect that. But as for himself, let him give out
that pure wheat as he believes it to be and fear no man, lest he comes
under the condemnation of the God of Heaven! Go, my Brother, about your
business, if God gives it to you to do. If I upbraid you, what of that?
I am but a man. Or if all those in whose good esteem you would gladly
stand, turn upon you with hard suspicions and cutting censures, they
are but men and to God alone is your allegiance due! Go about your
Master's work as David did, with dauntless nerve but modest demeanor.
He would be an evil servant who, after once getting His Master's
orders, should leave them unperformed and excuse himself by saying, "I
met one of my fellow servants and he said he thought I might be too
bold in my adventure and, therefore, I had better not attempt it." To
your own Master you will stand or fall! Take care that you stand well
with Him!

Learn from David, too, to return quiet answers to those who would
roughly put you aside from your work. Generally it is better to return
no answer at all. I think David spoke not so well by word as by deed.
His conduct was more eloquent than his language. As he came back from
the fight, holding up the giant's head, I could hope that Eliab saw him
and that Abinadab and Shammah came out to meet him. If they did, he
might simply have held up the trophy and allowed its ghastly visage to
reply for him. It is not, they would think, after all, because of his
pride or the evil of his heart, or from an idle curiosity to see the
battle that he has come. They would perceive that he had come to do
God's work in his own way–that God had helped him to gain the victory,
rout the foe and relieve the fears of Israel–and that through the man
whom they despised the Lord had made His own name glorious!

Learn again, from David's example, the prudence of keeping to tried
weapons. I have often heard it spoken of as an unlikely thing that
David could kill the giant with a stone. I think those who talk so miss
the point. What missile could be handier or better suited for the
occasion? If the fellow was tall, a sling would carry a stone high
enough to reach him. And if he was strong, very strong, the sling would
give such impetus to the stone that David could assail his adversary
without getting within his reach. It was the best weapon he could have
used. Oriental shepherds, if those of olden time were like those of
modern days, had practice enough to make them proficient in slinging
stones. They spend many hours both alone and with their fellows over
feats of the sling. It is generally their best weapon for the
protection of their sheep in the vast solitudes. I do not doubt that
David had learned to sling a stone to a hair's breadth and not miss. As
for the sword, he had never had one in his life, for there was neither
sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with
Saul and Jonathan, save that which was found with Saul and Jonathan,
his son. We are told as much as that in the 13th Chapter. The
Philistines had so completely disarmed the whole populace that they had
not got any such weapons. With the use of them, therefore, David could
not have been familiar. And as to the coat of mail–a cumbersome,
uneasy, comfortless equipment–the wonder to me is how the knights of
old did anything at all in such accoutrements! No marvel that David put
the thing off. He felt most at ease in his own shepherd's garb.

Of course we are not going to infer that unsuitable instruments are
desirable. We teach nothing so romantic or absurd! It well becomes us
to use the most suitable tools we can find. As for those stones out of
the brook, David did not pick them up at hazard–he carefully chose
them, selecting smooth stones that would exactly fit in his sling–the
kind of stone he thought best fitted for his purpose. Nor did he trust
in his sling. He tells us he trusted in God, but he went to work with
his sling as if he felt the responsibility to be his own. To miss the
mark would prove his own clumsiness–to hit his target would be of
God's enabling. Such, my Brothers and Sisters, is the true philosophy
of a Christian's life. You are to do good works as zealously as if you
were to be saved by your good works–and you are to trust in the merits
of Christ as though you had done nothing at all! So, too, in the
service of God, though you are to work for God as if the fulfillment of
your mission rested with yourselves, you must clearly understand and
steadfastly believe that, after all, the whole matter, from first to
last, rests with God! Without Him, all you have ever planned or
performed is unavailing.

That was sound philosophy of Mahomet's when the man said, "I have
turned my camel loose and trusted in Providence." "No," answered he,
"tie your camel up and then trust in Providence." Do the best you can
and trust in God. God never meant that faith in Him should be
synonymous with sloth. Why, for the matter of that, if it is all God's
work and that is to be the only consideration, there is no need for
David to have a sling! No, there is not any need for David at all. He
may go back, lie on his back in the middle of the field, and say, "God
will do His work–He does not need me." That is how fatalists would
talk, but not how Believers in God would act! They say, "God wills it,
therefore I am going to do it"–not, "God does it and, therefore, there
is nothing for me to do." No, "Because God works by me, therefore I
will work by His good hand upon me. He is putting strength into His
feeble servant and making use of me as His instrument, good for nothing
though I am apart from Him. Now will I run to the battle with
confidence and I will use my sling with the best skill I have, taking
quiet, calm, deliberate aim at that monster's brow since I believe that
God will guide the stone and accomplish His own end."

When you are bent on serving God, give Him your best. Keep not back
anything of nerve or muscle, anything of skill or wisdom you can
dedicate to the enterprise. Say not, "Anything will do. God can bless
my lack as well as my competency." Doubtless He can, but undoubtedly He
will not! Be careful to do your best. David in his old age and his
riper experience would not offer to God that which cost him nothing. Do
not attempt to render unto God slovenly service and flatter yourselves
that he will bless it. He can bless it–but that is not the way in
which He usually deigns to work. Though He often takes rough tools, He
fashions them and polishes them for His use. He can convert rude men
into able ministers of the New Testament. Think not, however, that His
Grace will excuse your presumption. But go with the instruments you
have proved. When any of you working men attempt to preach the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, do not try the fine arguments that are often used to
combat infidels. You will never manage them! They will be sure to
embarrass you!

Tell your neighbors and friends what you have felt and handled of the
Word of Life. Declare to them those things that are written in the
Scriptures. These texts are the smooth stones that will suit your
sling. Keep to these things. Why, they tell us nowadays, that we ought
to take up those arguments which are invented by modern
philosophers–examine them, study them–and come forward on the Sabbath
and at other times to answer them–that we should use historical

research and logical acumen to rebut infidel calumnies! Ah, Saul's
armor does not fit us. They that like it may wear it, but, after all,
to preach Christ and Him Crucified–to tell out the old, old story of
eternal love and of the blood which sealed it, the manner of
Redemption, the Truth of God's unchangeable Grace–this is to use those
stones and that sling which will surely find the forehead of the foe!

Next, observe that from the work which David began, he ceased not till
he had finished it. He had laid the giant prone upon the soil, but he
was not satisfied till he had cut off his head. I wish that some who
work for Christ would be as thorough as this young volunteer was! Have
you taught a child the way of salvation? Do not leave off till that
child is enrolled in the fellowship of Believers! Have you faithfully
preached the Gospel to any congregation of people? Continue to
instruct, counsel and encourage them until you see them established in
the faith! Or if you have refuted a heresy, or denounced a vice, follow
up the assault until the evil is exterminated! Not only kill the giant,
but have his head off! Never do the work of the Lord imperfectly. Never
spare, in pity, any device of the devil. Bad habits and besetting sins
should be leveled with a decisive blow. But let not that be enough!
Give them no chance of recovering their strength. With humble penitence
and earnest resolution–in reliance on God and detestation of the
foe–see to it that the head shall be taken from the sin as well as the
stone sunk in its forehead! In so doing you may look for help you had
not reckoned on. You have no sword with you–you have not wanted to
cumber yourself with one, even as David had no need to carry a sword in
his hand, for Goliath was carrying a sword with him which might well
serve for his own execution. Whenever you serve God, you strive against
error–and remember that every error carries the sword with which it
will be slain!

In maintaining the cause of the Truth of God, we need not be surprised
if the fight is long. But we may always count on the pride of the
adversary turning to his own hurt. The conflict will be shortened by
himself. When the invaders, most of all, relied on the alliances they
had formed, it often happened that Israel won the day through the
Moabites and the Assyrians falling out among themselves. Very
frequently it has been God's plan to let His adversaries turn upon each
other and end the fight to His servants' comfort! Behold the giant's
head taken off with his own sword! Let it be before your eyes for a
sign. It matters not, Brothers, though we should be in the minority on
certain eminent matters, as we undoubtedly are. The question for you
is, are you right? Are you right? The right is sure to win! Have you
the Truth of God on your side? Have you the Bible on your side? Have
you Christ on your side? Well, you may belong to a despised community.
You may be associated with a very few and a very poor people. Flinch
not–let not your heart quail. Had you no strength with which to
overcome the adversary excepting that which is promised by God, you
have quite enough!

But there lies in ambush, in the camp of your adversary, an assistance
and an aid to the Truth of God that you have not, perhaps, thought of.
The old dragon stings himself to death! As vice consumes the vitals of
the man who indulges in it, so does error, in the long run, become its
own destroyer! Full often the Truth of God shines out the more brightly
from the very fact that an error has beclouded the world with its dense
shadows. Go on, then! Strive with coolness and courage! Be not daunted
by the comely face, the princely figure, or the battle array of your
antagonist! Let not his vaunting words deter you. Call on the name of
Jehovah, the Lord of Hosts, and use, even in God's battles, those
weapons which you have tested and proved. But take care to go through
with God's work–do it thoroughly, looking unto Jesus, the Author and
Finisher of your faith–and so, Beloved, you may expect to go from
strength to strength and bring glory

to God!

I would we were all on the Lord's side–that we were all the soldiers
of Christ. Do any here confess that they are not? Are there any of you
who feel sin lying heavily upon you and yet you gladly would be at
peace with God, in fellowship with Jesus? Beloved, Jesus has never yet
rejected one that came to Him! It has never yet been said that His
blood was not able to cleanse the vilest soul! Go to Him! You cannot
give Him greater joy than by going to Him and confessing your sin and
seeking His mercy. He wants to be gracious. He slays sin, but He takes
pity on sinners. He is ready to pardon them. He is the enemy of
Goliath, but He sits on Zion's hill, glad to welcome the very poorest
of the poor that come to Him. If you are the worst sinner that ever
lived, He is still able to save to the uttermost! If you have no hope
and no con-fidence–if you feel as though sentence had gone forth that
you should die forever, your fears are not due to God's counsels. He
has not spoken the bitter things you have imagined against yourself!
Give ear to what He has said–"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He
will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly
pardon."

Oh, to be on Christ's side maintains the heart in calm and inflames the
soul with joy, notwithstanding the pain that now tortures your nerves,
or the shame that mantles your cheeks! But ah, to be on the other
side–to be an enemy of Jesus–is a woe that blights all present joy
and promises all future curses! The future, the future, the future!
This is the worst of all to be dreaded. "Kiss the Son, lest He be
angry, and you perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a
little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him." The Lord
give you, every one of you, to be thus timely wise, for His name's
sake! Amen.