Laying Down Our Lives

Let's turn please to the book of 1st Samuel to start this afternoon. 1st Samuel, we're going to read here at verse, chapter rather 17. We'll begin at verse number 22.

Continue on with the theme that we tried to start a little bit yesterday as we looked at Abraham and Isaac, and Isaac there on top of the mountain in Genesis 22 when he looked at the empty altar and the moment that he realized that that altar was for him. It was for him. We're going to continue with another young man.

His name is David. You know the story here of David and Goliath. And David's going to come to another similar situation.

Having been taught of God, he's going to be used by God to stand for the things of God. This is what's taking place here as he's going to check out the battle. We'll begin at verse number 22 of 1st Samuel 17.

And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage and ran into the army and came and saluted his brethren. And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words, and David heard them. Now this man was defying the armies of the living God, and David now hears the same defiance.

And verse 24, And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up, surely to defy Israel is he come up? And it shall be that the man who killeth him, the king, will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel. Verse 26, And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine and taketh away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? Verse 32, And David said to Saul that no man's heart fail because of him.

Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock.

And I went out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he defied the armies of the living God.

And David said, Moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of the Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head.

Also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them.

And David put them off of him, and took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in a script. And his sling was in his hand, and he drew near unto the Philistine. And we'll read more later, but we'll take up this man David first.

The idea yesterday was laying down one's life upon the altar of consecration when we come to Isaac. What we have here is another man who was taught of God as a young man. What it is to lay down his life.

And you're going to see the theme throughout what I have to say. We're going to take a look at another illustration in the New Testament. But we get the example from the Lord Jesus Christ.

We're going to read several verses, or I'll quote them maybe from John chapter 10, about the Lord Jesus Christ laying down his life. I'm concerned today as we think about the altar of consecration, if we really understand what it means, if we really understand the significance and the beauty and the magnitude of it to be available for God. David was a young man as he's keeping his father's sheep, and the lesson that God taught him personally in that wilderness, with those few sheep, as his brother might say, was a lesson that God was teaching him for the things of God in the future.

And what you're learning as a young Christian here today, as you're learning, there are a majority here probably of young people. Looks like the young folks are over here and the old folks are over here. That's alright.

What you're learning in life is God teaching you for the time that's going to come in your life when you're going to have to stand for the things of God. Make no mistake about it. There is an enemy that is defying the living God today.

Are you willing to lay down your life on the line for the honor of your God? You see, this man David, he learned something very precious as he's watching those sheep. And we can learn something very precious about David as he's watching his father's sheep. Number one, he's treating them like they're his own.

His own. What is the value of just a single lamb? The enemy came, the lion came, the bear came, and they took a lamb. A bear can only carry, a lion can only carry one at a time.

But I'll tell you this, the enemy that is against God's people today is seeking to devour the whole works. And he'll do it with a single swipe if he can. And David now is seeing what's taking place.

And without even so much as a recorded thought about it, he goes after that. Why? Because of the value of that one sheep. And he goes after the lion, and he goes after the bear, and God does something miraculous.

It's almost as if God gave David the strength of Samson here for a moment. To kill those animals with his bare hand. A lion on one occasion.

A bear on another occasion. What is God teaching this young man? He's teaching him the value. The value of a lamb.

The value of a sheep. Because there's a day coming in David's life where he's going to be over the flock of God. And if he's going to be over the flock of God, and if he's going to be a king in Israel, the king in Israel, he's going to have to approve God.

God is going to have to be real to him. It's going to have to be more than just theory. It's going to be experiential.

And so a young believer here today, a young person here today, older ones today, he's going to have to understand what it is to, without thought, run into the battle, knowing that God must meet the need, or his people will perish. You see, that's it. It isn't David in his own understanding of his own strength.

It's David in the understanding of his God, and understanding God's appreciation and care for his people. The assembly is God's assembly. The people in the assembly are God's people.

And this man now hears him defying the living God. So what's worth fighting for? Some of us haven't figured that out. Some of us want to fight over everything.

What is it that's worth laying down your life for the people of God? In this context, there is a man that is blaspheming God. There is a man that is defying God. There is a nation that is seeking to overthrow the people of God.

Yesterday, a brother came to me at lunchtime and asked me something about what I spoke on in the morning. And he said, does that mean that we can't do anything fun for ourselves? If we're going to offer ourselves a living sacrifice unto God, it was a very good question. What it means to be willing to lay down your life for God is just simply this.

At any given time, at any given place, you will put the things of God first. That doesn't mean you can't go on vacation. But that doesn't mean you make your vacation when the gospel meeting comes to your town.

You see, when God calls, when the occasion arises, you don't know when the occasion is going to arise. And I don't know when the occasion is going to arise. Well, we know some of the occasions that are going to arise.

We know that we're going to be there on Sunday morning and Sunday night and on Wednesday night. Those are givens in our life. And we know we're going to come with something to offer God in the worship meeting.

And we know as brethren that have the responsibility and the privilege to participate audibly that we're going to come exercised for a Sunday morning, but not determined to speak. To come exercised, to be willing. Having already laid down your life throughout the week for some time, something for God.

That's the idea. So that when the time comes, David can go. David sees it.

And there he is and he hears the defiance against God. It isn't defiance against David. Sometimes I think we need to get over that.

It's not worth fighting for if it's just an offense against me. Oh, I'll say, you know, brethren and sisters, that a little bit of offense comes, they're up in arms and they're swinging. That's not what David's doing.

David's going to lay down his life for the honor and glory of God. What about you? What about you? When something's coming, starting to try to come into God's assembly, something, let's say, that is seeking to take away the preeminence of the Holy Spirit of God. Something that's seeking to take away the wisdom and the foreknowledge of God.

Isn't that really blasphemy of God? When people are trying to bring in things that are trying to control God? Interesting, isn't it? When we're in control of the assembly, and maybe God's not in control anymore, we want the Spirit of God in control. We would have it no other way. Here, this man is defying the living God, and David is willing.

You see, there's always the risk. What if David goes to battle and he's mortally wounded as he kills the giant? Now, there's always that risk, isn't there? There's always that possibility that it could be the last time that I lay down my life for him. But you see, David understood the value of the nation of Israel as God's flock.

And David, having been already taught of God, his power, his ability, his wisdom in dealing with the enemies of God. And so David runs into the battle. Something we need to take note of here.

He'd proved God, but he hadn't proved Saul's armor. Just a word of caution. Never take armor from a guy who couldn't trust his own armor.

Never take the instruction from a man who couldn't trust his own armor. Oh, Saul, if this armor is so good, why aren't you out there? If this is the right way, Saul, if all of this chain mail and all of this helmet and all of this massive sword is the way that God is going, why aren't you there? Never put the things of men over the proving and testing of God in your life. For what God teaches you personally is the most valuable teaching you'll ever get.

And for these guys that want you to put on their mail that hasn't worked for them, forget it. Forget it. So he's not interested in the armors of Saul, the fleshly man.

He wants nothing to do with the flesh in this moment. And it's all going to be for God. And David's confidence is in God because God taught him before the battle.

And those of you that have lived long enough, you understand what that means. My question is this. Even though you've been taught of God, in a day gone by, I'm talking to the older brethren and sisters here.

Have you laid down your life? Well, well, there's more important things. I got lots of stuff going on. I can see that there's an issue, but what? I can see that there's a danger, but what? How do we answer that? I'm speaking to myself.

Well, to be honest, God, that something I have is more important, something in my life is more important than people defying you. We wouldn't say that. That would be silly to say.

Something personal that's in my life is more important than the nation of Israel, David could say. Oh, David proved already, didn't he, that it was that lamb that was worth more than his life. And that lamb was worth the risk of facing that lion and that bear.

And so we're learning again. There's an empty altar and a laid-down life. Here we've got an enemy attack and a laid-down life.

Just to give you food for thought, I do believe that in a conference like this that God is calling people. There are 340 million people in the country of the United States. Brother Al here is over 70, so I'm going to take the people under 70.

In the United States of America, the commended workers under the age of 70 among the gospel halls that we're in fellowship with is roughly 10. I'm not counting Al because he's over 70. I'm not counting all the other brethren that are still good and still active that are over 70.

There's not too many people in this audience that are over 70. What happened? What happened? I remember as a kid coming to Blue River Conference and there wasn't enough time for the preachers. There might be a dozen brethren here.

There might be 15 brethren here. There would have been no pauses then, would there? What has happened is this. The altar of consecration is still empty.

The laying down of the life for the glory of God, that altar is empty. David says, what is this dog that is defying the armies of the living God? And God uses him in a tremendous deliverance of the people. The last one I want to look at in my little thoughts here.

There are so many avenues that we can go through in being taught of God. You think of Manoah when they were going to have Samson and he wanted to be taught of God how to raise up the child. And you think of Moses in Psalm 90 and he wanted to be taught of God to number his days.

And you go right on down through, but we're going to go to 1 Thessalonians for a verse. This is really the verse that got this whole train of thought going in my thinking. 1 Thessalonians in chapter 4. Verse number 9. Paul is writing to a young assembly, a very young assembly with very young converts.

Verse number 9, Paul says this, But as touching brotherly love, you need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. Ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And so Paul, he wanted to get back to the Thessalonians to make sure everything was going good.

And he's getting this good report back from Timothy that things are going well. And here there's this young assembly and Paul says you've been taught by God to love one another. What's this? This is an extreme affection.

We're going to go to 1 John now. We'll read chapter 3 there. 1 John chapter 3. We're going to read verse 16.

Well, verse 14, we'll start there. John writes, Now here's my verse. The brethren.

In the hymn that Jim gave out to start this meeting, verse number 3, we sung this, Laying down our life for the brethren. If it was the empty altar in Genesis 22 and it was the enemy attack in 1 Samuel 17, and here we've got the extreme affection of 1 John 3. To love one another. To lay down our lives for one another.

The Lord Jesus said in John chapter 10, He says, Verse 17 says, Verse 18 says, To lay down our life for the brethren. Would you lay down the life for the person beside you? If it wasn't your wife or your husband or your kids? Probably not. Would I? Pretty tough task, isn't it? But you know, if you're giving up something that you wanted to do or intended to do, to go help a widow in the assembly rake her yard, you've put her above you.

And in one of the simplest forms, you gave your life for her. It took your time. It took your energy.

That which you had intended to use on yourself and for yourself, for whatever it might be, and you stopped in your tracks and you looked, maybe you drove by the house and saw her out there trying to rake her yard, and you needed to stop what you were doing, and you did it for her. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. There's a great need with someone, and you're up all night in prayer.

And you need to sleep just as much as anyone else needs to sleep, but you can't sleep, and so you're praying for this person, whatever it might be, and you're laying down your life for them. You see, this is why it's a living sacrifice. As long as we live, there'll be the altar of consecration.

As long as we live, there'll be the enemy attack. As long as we live, there'll be the opportunity to display the love of Christ and the extreme affection of loving our brethren. If someone pulled out a weapon and was going to have something happen here, I can tell you this, that there would be brethren there that would be rushing to lay down their life for God's people here.

Is it too much for God to ask of us to set aside our dreams for the unglorifying task of serving the brethren? Is it too much for God to ask of me for the dirty job of washing my brother's feet? In the context of chapter 3, it was those that had this world's good, and they saw a brother in need, and they shut up their bowels of compassion. Is it too much for God to ask of me to temporarily help, and temporary means, my brother or my sister? What does it mean to lay down our life? Christ is the example. He came from the heights of glory.

He come from the very throne room of eternity. And He took upon Himself a body, and He went to the cross of Calvary, and there He laid down His life for the sheep. He laid it down that He might take it again.

And remember the Scripture, He that seeks to save his life shall lose it, but he that loses it for my sake shall find it. Are we missing the whole point? That we haven't yet found life until we've laid it down. That's what He's teaching.

We have yet not experienced and found life as long as we're seeking to save it. As long as we're seeking to preserve it for ourselves, we're trying to... What's He teaching? Let it out. Let it go.

Lay it down for Him. And you will find it. You will find it.

That's not my word, that's what He said. That's what Christ said. And so, brethren that have laid down your life for the assembly, from those of us that are younger, thank you.

You've borne the burden in the heat of the day. For those of us now, if the Lord be not come, and we're here another 50 years, could that be said of us? What's your assembly going to be like in 50 years if the Lord be not come? What are you going to be like in 50 years if the Lord be not come? The searching reality today of the sacrifice of Christ to save you from your sins, and to purchase you with His precious blood. Is He asking too much? If He says, give me your life, it's His.

It's not our own. We've been bought with a price. Trust these simple meditations on laying down our life at the empty altar, during the enemy attack, and the extreme affection to love one another.