The Sling and Stone\u20141Sa_17:1<\/p>\n
Among the events which have, during the past week, been considered, the combat of David with Goliath stands forth most prominently; and to some of the circumstances of that great deed, our attention may this day be profitably directed.<\/p>\n
Although we do not, with some, think that \u201cthese things are an allegory,\u201d or that this great combat was a type of our Lord\u2019s victory over Satan, or even of man\u2019s combat with the enemy of his soul\u2014it is impossible for the experienced Christian to read it without being reminded of eventful passages in his own spiritual history. There is no doubt some mysterious connection between even the external things of scripture history, and the inner things of our spiritual life, which \u201cthe wise\u201d are enabled, by the Spirit\u2019s teaching, to discern, and which renders the seemingly least spiritual parts of the holy writ richly nourishing to their souls.<\/p>\n
The reader will remember the feelings with which the son of Jesse undertook this combat. Its is with precisely the same feeling that we should advance to the contest with the enemy of our souls. He is far more powerful than we; and those who have not faith to oppose to him the invincible weapons of the Spirit of God, waver and tremble as he advances. But the experienced Christian, whose faith is unshaken, looks around him, and beholds with wonder so many of his brethren tremble before the defier of God\u2019s sacramental host. Their fear is unknown to him. He inquires with David\u2014\u201cWhat shall be done to the man who takes away the reproach from Israel?\u201d And the answer is\u2014\u201cThe man that killeth him, the king shall enrich with great riches,\u201d\u2014the \u201criches of the glory of his inheritance.\u201d \u201cHe that overcometh,\u201d saith the Lord, \u201cshall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.\u201d Note: Rev_21:7. Faith in this promise, and hope to attain the reward, determine him to exertion. He heeds not the reproaches of the fearful brother who dares not resist the enemy; he will not listen to those who would persuade him that his strength is not equal to the enterprise; for he knows that the strength on which he relies is not his own, but that of the All-strong\u2014the Strengthener. Firmly, therefore, he advances to the conflict, exclaiming\u2014\u201cI come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, whom thou least defied.\u201d<\/p>\n
This, and no other, is the spirit with which we must struggle with all the temptations of the world, the devil, and the flesh. \u201cNot that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.\u201d Note: 2Co_3:5. With this sufficiency we can do everything required of us. \u201cI can,\u201d says Paul, \u201cdo all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.\u201d So can we. But we must remember, that from the moment we renounce His strength and rely upon our own, we are no longer to be compared to the commissioned servant of God, executing his purposes upon the evil and impious; but are rather like the simple unguarded youth which David would have been, had he acted on no other confidence than his own.<\/p>\n
Although the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, yet we must use such weapons as we have\u2014such as we best know how to use. The power and courage which David possessed would have availed him little without his sling and his stone; and the powers of resistance which God has graciously consented to afford us, will be equally useless unless we apply them through the appointed means\u2014these are prayer, watchfulness, resistance to sin, resolutions of holiness, and a frequent participation of the means of grace. The gifts of God avail us nothing without the disposition to use them, and this disposition is also his gift, which will not be refused to any that diligently seek it. So God gives the sun, the rain, the soil, the seed\u2014but man must till the field and sow the ground, or else there will be no harvest. It is God that gives the increase; but yet Paul must plant and Apollos water. It is God who gives the talents; but man must put them out to the exchangers, or else Christ at his coming will not receive his own with usury. The grace of God is an invincible weapon; but we must employ it, or it will rust\u2014will no more fight our spiritual battle, than a sword will defend us while we delay to draw it, or than the stones of the brook could avail David while they only lay in the sling. Again, the sling and the stone would both have been useless, had not the Spirit of God, guided the hand of David; and in like manner must the Christian be convinced that the means which are given to him of contending with sin, are only efficacious because \u201cit is God that worketh in us to will and to do.\u201d Php_2:13. The certainty that all our strength is from above, and the determination actively to employ that strength, must go together; neither will effect anything without the other; but the two combined will, by the blessing of God, finally beat down Satan under our feet.<\/p>\n
If there be any who, like Eliab, are not only afraid to engage in the contest themselves, but are ready to reproach its with \u201cpride and naughtiness of heart,\u201d because we have determined to follow the Lord wholly, and to subject our conversation to a rule of severer holiness than they can bring themselves to bear\u2014let us answer with David, \u201cIs there not a cause?\u201d There is every conceivable cause. \u201cThere is gratitude for love which eternity could never repay; there is love which eternity could never satisfy; and there is even private interest, which is more effectually promoted by the service of God than by any other assignable means.\u201d Note: Rev. H. Thompson\u2019s Davidica.<\/p>\n
There may, again, be some who, like Saul, will tell us that we are too weak to contend with all the difficulties which lie before us\u2014and they will offer us, as Saul offered David his armor, a panoply of worldly precepts and maxims for the conduct of life, taken from their own experience, and adapted to persons like themselves; but which, not being founded on the strict and undeviating model of Christ\u2019s law, are no more fitted to our use, than the massive and cumbersome armor of Saul became the slender and unaccustomed David. Our answer must be, we \u201ccannot go with these.\u201d We \u201chave not proved them;\u201d and did we prove them, we should find them useless indeed. We must go in the might of the Lord, and in that alone; and with this, we shall go forth conquering and to conquer the enemies of our peace, till we receive the end of our faith\u2014the salvation of our souls.<\/p>\n
Autor: JOHN KITTO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sling and Stone\u20141Sa_17:1 Among the events which have, during the past week, been considered, the combat of David with Goliath stands forth most prominently; and to some of the circumstances of that great deed, our attention may this day be profitably directed. Although we do not, with some, think that \u201cthese things are an … Continue reading ““269. THE SLING AND STONE\u20141 SAMUEL 17:1””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16621\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}