Our Father in heaven, our gracious God, bless your word to our hearing the glories of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ set before us, his power, his honor, his legacy, his glory, and to see once again that greatness in the kingdom of God comes through sacrifice and service, through humility, through commitment, loyalty, covenant, and that greatness and power and glory don't come in the ways that the world sets before us, even though that's what we see all the time. So turn our sight away from those things and our hearts away from pursuing greatness and power the world's way. and refresh us once again in Christ's way, in the way of Christ's kingdom, in the way that your Word sets before us. Let us remain steadfast in your Word and not be enticed by the world's way of things. So please, Father, we ask, open our hearts, our ears, our eyes, strengthen our faith to receive this Word of God and to be led in the way that is right and true, and the way before you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's turn together to 1 Samuel chapter 20. We're starting midway through the chapter, verse 24. So we've looked at the first 23 verses of the chapter. Jonathan warning David. And they have a discussion. They devise a plan. Jonathan and David refreshing or renewing if you will their covenant with each other Before the Lord and Jonathan stating things as they are in verse 23 Behold the Lord is between you and me forever and we looked at that covenant and that promise and certainty last time and tonight we're going to look at verses 24 through 42 and and the continuation of that covenant loyalty and faithfulness, but also, as Saul puts it, what the stakes are for Jonathan and his devotion to David. So David hid himself in the field, and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall, Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, something has happened to him, he is not clean, surely he is not clean. But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today? Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. He said, let me go for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers. For this reason, he has not come to the king's table. Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan. And he said to him, you son of a perverse, rebellious woman, Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.' Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, Why should he be put to death? What has he done? But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month. For he was grieved for David because his father had disgraced him. In the morning, Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David and with him a little boy. And he said to his boy, run and find the arrows that I shoot. As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, is not the arrow beyond you? And Jonathan called after the boy, hurry, be quick, do not stay. So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master, but the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, go and carry them to the city. And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. And Jonathan said to David, go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, the Lord shall be between me and you and between my offspring and your offspring forever. And he rose and departed. And Jonathan went into the city. and so far the reading of God's Holy Word. Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, it's very natural for all of us that we want to be well known, we want to be remembered, we want to make a difference, we want to know somehow that our lives matter. We want to know that they matter to the people that are around us. We want to know that they matter in the church. We want to know that they matter in the community. We want to know that our lives have made some kind of a difference in this world. And even after we're dead, we want to be remembered in some measure and in some way and for some things. And Saul puts that all in one way for us. When he says to Jonathan, you and your kingdom will never be established. As long as the son of Jesse is alive, you and your kingdom will never be established. And Saul sums up for us so much that sinful human heart, that sinful desire to be adored, to be known, to be remembered, to have our kingdom established. And it's the world's way. It's the way of the kingdom of darkness. It's the way of the kingdom of man. It's the way of the city of man, as Augustine would put it. Let's lay up ourselves upon a pedestal, upon a throne, on the heights of glory, in front of everybody else, because that's really what's at stake. And that's why Saul curses his son. You son of a perverse and rebellious woman. How could you do this to your own shame and the shame of your mother's nakedness? Your choice for the son of Jesse is not only foolish, but it's an affront to me. It's a dishonor to me. You bring dishonor on the whole family and on the whole kingdom. Don't you realize what's at stake? Because brothers and sisters, the kingdom of man is about power. Power to do whatever you want. whenever you want, however you want. And isn't that something that's all close to the hearts of all of us? Isn't that what we want? Don't we want to be able to do what we want, when we want, and how we want it? Absolutely we do. And we learn that at a very early age. It's not taught to us. It's something that's very natural to us because we're conceived and born in sin. I want to do it my way, and I don't want to listen to you, mom and dad. I don't want to listen to anybody. Not only do I want to do what I want, when I want, and how I want, I don't want to be held accountable to anybody. I don't want anybody else to tell me what to do. I don't want anybody else to tell me, no, I can't do what I want to do. I want that kind of power over my life. I want to be able to declare what's right for me. I want to be able to declare what's good for me. The Kingdom of Man wants to be God. I want to bring down the law. I want to declare the rules. I want to decide the boundaries and the parameters of my life. I want to decide when, where, and how. And I don't want to answer to anybody else. I know what's best for my life. And that power, that desire for power to be able to do what we want, how we want, and when we want, then gets also extended to a power over. The kingdom of man is also about a power over. I not only want to dictate what I get to do, but I also want to tell you what to do. And I want my law and my rule and what's best for me also to be laid on you. We're living in that right now. That's our society right now. Small groups and segments that have a loud voice and a lot of power and a lot of money want to dictate terms for the rest of us. And they want to do that completely apart from the law of God. Because they don't want God to tell them what to do either. But now they also want to get in power so that they can tell us what to do. And whether that's to eradicate the church entirely, or even the regular family, certainly those are things that they're attacking and going after, But that too is at the heart of man, and we have that as well. Even when we're playing with our friends sometimes, right, boys and girls? And we want to direct how the play goes. No, don't do it that way, I want you to do it my way. I want to be able to exercise that kind of power. Saul has that kind of power. He can tell Israel when to go to battle and when not to go to battle. He can withdraw the troops when he wants to. He can send out armies of men. Don't you want that, Jonathan? Don't you want this position? Don't you want to be sitting on the throne someday telling Israel how to go about things? Don't you want to be in the seat of power negotiating terms with other nations? Exercising power over them? I think it's rather ironic that Saul, built up with all of his power, has his seat against the wall. You know why he has his seat against the wall? So that nobody's behind him, because he doesn't trust anybody. And he shouldn't anyway. He's not a very good king. He doesn't trust anybody. So he has this seat of prominence, but nobody can be behind him. No threats, no danger, everything's laid out before him because he is in a position of pretended power. The kingdom of man is about power, it's about power over, it's also about honor. I want to be adored. I want to be respected. I want to be exalted. I want to be loved. I want to be liked. I want people to look up to me. I want people that listen to my opinion to be hanging on my words. And when I speak, things happen. And we all want that. We want to be praised. We want to be acknowledged for the things that we do and for our talents and for our abilities. We want someone to sound the trumpet of our praises. And if they won't, then we will in some measure, in some way. So whether it's in conversation and we make a little insertion there, well, I did this, and we're trying or we're fishing for some kind of compliments from people, or maybe it's even greater than that. Erecting entire buildings in big places and putting your name all over it. Look at what I've achieved. That too is so close to the human heart and something that we desire so much. We want to be recognized. We want people to fall down in worship of us. We want that kind of honor. And we want to leave a legacy. The Kingdom of Man is also about legacy. It isn't just enough that we receive the praises and the adoration now while we're living, but we want that to carry on. We want to live on. We want our memory to carry on. So that 50 years from now, people are still speaking our names, or maybe 100 years from now, And there's a tragic irony in that pursuit as well, too. Anybody remember who the MVP in the MLB was 10 years ago? Does anybody remember who the MVP of the NFL was 10 years ago? Does anybody remember the names of the people who won the Nobel Prize five years ago? Maybe a few of us do. Most of us have no idea. Because these things are not that important. But everything that's laid before you from the world says that it is. That this is essential. This is vital. This is something you need to live for. You need to ensure that people remember your name. And Saul, Saul knows Because of what everybody knows, eternity is written in the heart. David's son is later going to write that in Ecclesiastes. Eternity is written on man's heart, and Saul knows that. But he knows that he himself is not eternal. So what's also at stake for Saul in this, you and your kingdom, if Jonathan continues on the throne, then through his son, Saul, in a way, gets to live on. And the legacy of Saul can continue through Jonathan. That's why this is so important to him too. If you screw this up, Jonathan, then my legacy dies. So he throws a spear at him. Because Saul also didn't have the advantage of reading these other words from David's son in Ecclesiastes. So Saul accuses Jonathan of being an illegitimate son and a rebel. Because he won't live for vanity. He won't live for his own kingdom. Doesn't Jonathan understand what he's giving up? And you see, those who crave power cannot understand people who don't. That's why our world is perplexed by us as Christians, This is why our world is afraid of us as Christians. Because we don't live by their rules. We're not seeking this kingdom. Why was the New Testament Church such a threat against the Roman Empire? What was always the charge? These Christians are teaching something that's not lawful for us as Romans. They're talking about resurrection? We don't know what to do with that. That's not a philosophical teaching among us. And they talk about a king, Jesus, and it's not Caesar. They're insurrectionists, you see. They're not living for the kingdom of Rome. They need to be cast out. They need to be dealt with. You need to come down with a heavy hand. Our world's exactly the same today. What do you mean you're not living for the kingdom of this world? What do you mean you're not living for the kingdom of man? Don't you know what you're giving up? Don't you know that you could have power, and honor, and legacy, and prestige? Don't you know you could have all of these things? Isn't that the same temptation that the devil laid against Jesus? Bow down to me in worship. You see all the kingdoms of the world? He showed them all. You can have all of them. And you don't even need to go to the cross. You don't need to die. You don't need to suffer. I'll give them to you right now. All you need to do is bow down in worship. The world says the same to you and to me. Bow down in worship at the throne of the kingdom of man. And you can have all that this world has to offer. It'll be all yours. There are no limits on you other than what you place on yourself. And it's vanity. It's empty. That's where the Kingdom of Man and the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Christ, are such at odds. The world says that this is all about power. And the Kingdom of Jesus Christ says power comes through sacrifice. Power comes through not indulging sin and not chasing sin, but dying for it. Dying for sinners. Power comes in defeating sin. Power is displayed in a cross through death. Jesus dies. That's powerful. or a king that loves his enemies so much that he dies for them, rather than just wiping them out, because his love is powerful. And if we want to talk about honor and glory, then we have only one to talk about in the kingdom of God, and that's God himself, who is glorious above all else. Holy, righteous, there's none like him. The creator of all things. He has no need of us. We can't feed him. We can't bring him any food or any drink. He doesn't need those things from us. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. All the beasts of the field are his. And if he was hungry, he wouldn't ask us anyway. There is nothing we can provide for him. He has no counselor. No one has taught him. And the depths of the wisdom of God are far beyond our ability to even begin to comprehend. So deep is his wisdom. Power, honor, legacy in the Kingdom of God is through humility, through service, through sacrifice, through following not our own will and doing what we want, when we want, how we want it, but doing what God wants, what God declares, what God reveals as being the only truth in the Word of God. That's the Kingdom. that we've been brought into in the grace of Jesus Christ. That's the kingdom that we serve. And it is not about our honor. It is not about us being adored. It is about adoring our Savior. It is about serving our God and our Lord. Does that cost us? You see, that's what Saul doesn't get because he craves power. And he's looking at Jonathan, you fool. This is to your shame. You're giving up this kind of power for a son of Jesse? You know who that's about. It's not just David. It's Jesus. Yes, we are giving up the world's power. We are giving up the world's honor. We are giving up a world's legacy. We are giving up the kingdom of man. We're giving up our own kingdoms. The kingdom of you and yourself, and we do it gladly for a greater son of Jesse, for Jesus. The first thing that needs to happen for us to enter into the kingdom of Jesus Christ is for our own kingdom to come apart. You need to forsake it, give it up, throw it away, toss it aside, discard it, run from it. Because it's vanity, and it crumbles, and it's nothing. Leave it behind. Don't live your life pursuing the honor and the glory and the praise that the world pretends to offer. But truly seek the things above where Christ is, seated at God's right hand. Live a life of faith. Say to the world, I don't want anything that you promise me. I have all that I could ever need and more. In Jesus Christ my Savior, in the Son of Jesse, He is worthy, He is honorable, He is worthy of living for. And I will gladly give up myself and my sin to follow Him. He's everything. The world is nothing. The kingdom of man is nothing. When Christ comes again, all of these kingdoms of men and women and children, all these kingdoms of the world, they're all going to bow. They're all going to be done. There's only one King. There's only one King. Hebrews 11 says, By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. Brothers and sisters, I know that this is hard for us to understand sometimes because ambition can be very close to our hearts and that desire to be loved and respected and well-liked by the world is very close to our hearts. We love those honors and we want to be remembered for our sakes and for what we've done. But our lives are for the Lord. They are not for achieving our goals and our desires, but for living for God, for working for God, for worshipping the Lord and living in the Kingdom. And David understands that and Jonathan understands that. And Saul, and again, it always seems like he has a spear nearby, he throws one at Jonathan and that's it. Jonathan gets up, he doesn't say anything and he's angry and he leaves. And then he goes to David. Because Jonathan also understands this about the Kingdom of God. It's about loyalty to the true King. And maybe another man would have gone out and maybe had been impacted by the words. I think we've got to consider that as well. Jonathan is not impacted by Saul's words, but somebody else might have been. Maybe Jonathan hadn't thought about it in these kinds of terms before. Oh, wait a minute. I guess I didn't really realize that I was giving up the entire kingdom. We know better as readers about Jonathan. But somebody else might have gone out and said, you know what, actually, I guess I'm not really willing to give that up, and I know that David is hiding behind the rocks, so now he's in a very vulnerable place, and here's my opportunity to destroy my enemy. Jonathan is not like that at all, but a man of loyalty and devotion to the true King. Jonathan, and we've seen this as we've been looking through 1 Samuel, Jonathan has the kingdom of Jesus Christ perspective on things, and he knows what is really at stake. And he knows the empty words of his father Saul. So he goes out as planned and prearranged with David. He takes a servant boy with him. He fires the arrows. The servant boy has no idea what's going on. He's probably just thinking, boy, Jonathan's really off today. Normally he hits that mark at least by the third shot. And he's just missing them. No, isn't the arrow beyond you? Don't just stand there. Get going. Grab the arrows. Let's go. And they're done, and he hands the serving boy all of his things, and the serving boy leaves, and the covenant's been kept in kingdom loyalty. And David comes out and he bows three times before Jonathan. Again, he takes that lesser position. I deserve to die, but I haven't because of your covenant faithfulness and your loyalty to the kingdom of the Lord. And they express their love and their affection for each other, and it's very expressive. It's very brotherly. This is like men in the military, or like men on a team. You work on a team, and you got each other's back, and you care about each other, and you're concerned about each other, and you'd do anything for each other. It's that kind of brotherly relationship, that kind of loyalty that runs so deep between these two, and they know They know that they will never get to enjoy all of the benefits of that deep friendship again because Saul has now put a wedge between them. They're not going to see each other. And that's why David weeps the most. He knows what this is going to cost Jonathan. He knows the burden that his friend now has to bear. Even though he's going to be the one that's going to be exiled and running now for the rest of his life. or at least until Saul dies. He's an enemy of the state. But Jonathan says to David, even in the midst of all of this and even with the reality of all that's happening, he says, go in peace. Now we might think that that's kind of a strange way to sum up all of these things in verse 42. Go in peace. Really? Saul's coming to hunt me. I'm going to be living on the run. He threw a spear at you already once. You don't really have a place in your father's kingdom anymore either. This isn't going to go well for either of us. How can Jonathan say, go in peace? Is that like just don't worry about it? This will all kind of smooth out, okay? It's a bad day, but tomorrow's Tuesday and things will be better. He really means it, and the reason why he means it, and it's true, go in peace, is this, because we have sworn, both of us, in the name of the Lord, saying, the Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever. And that's where the peace is, it's in covenant. That's the anchor. That's where we can go, in the midst of a disintegrating life and world, to find the same kind of peace, the same kind of peace that comes through kingdom loyalty. This covenant has been made between you and me, and your offspring and my offspring, but it's a covenant that's been made with the Lord. He's at the center of it. He's the one who's going to secure it. He's the one who's going to be granting peace. Because the peace that Jonathan's talking about, and the peace that the Bible talks about, doesn't mean there's no conflict. This peace is not the absence of war. It's not just some sort of vain tranquility. The peace that Jonathan is proclaiming here and the peace that the Bible knows about is a centeredness or a stability even in the midst of very, very difficult situations. That's the kind of peace that Jesus has given to us. So we're not on the run as enemies of the state. Some of our brothers and sisters in the world are. We may not be facing the kinds of trials and afflictions that David and Jonathan have to deal with here. But we're still living in a world where the curse is found. We're still living lives where, though we are justified in Christ, we're still sinners. We still have conflicts. We still have trials. We still have things that we have to deal with. that bear upon us. We still have a sinful desire to pursue the kingdom of man. That affects even all of our relationships. Can you have a real friendship or a strong marriage or a good relationship with your kids if you're pursuing the kingdom of man and life is all about you and your kingdom? Can you really? Can you have unity in the church if all of us are pursuing you and your kingdom and not the kingdom of God? Can we stand up and face a world of opposition if we are living for you and your kingdom? We can't. We need this, this covenant of peace, this declaration that comes from Christ who says, go in peace, because He has made peace. Romans 5 verse 1 says, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the heart of it. That's the beginning of it. That's where our peace is. Christ made that through his cross. And then Romans 5 goes on to say in verses 3 through 5, more than that, we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So there's the centeredness, there's the stability in the difficult circumstances because we have to still deal with the sufferings of this life. We still have to deal with afflictions. We still have to deal with our enemies, the world, the devil, and our own sinful hearts. Can we do that without the peace of Jesus Christ? Can we do that by our own strength? Jesus said to his disciples in John 16, in me you have peace, in the world you will have affliction. So we can have peace, But not because things are peaceful. We can have peace because Jesus Christ is king in his kingdom and keeps his covenant promises. We have one who's greater than Jonathan. Who says to us, go in peace because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord saying the Lord shall be between me and you and between my offspring and your offspring forever. That unbroken bond of the covenant in Jesus Christ gives us peace. It speaks to our sins. It deals with our sins. Jesus paid for our sins. But it also speaks to us in our disappointments, in our dangers, in our distresses. And the peace that Jesus promises, even as David or Jonathan promises to David, is one that carries all the way through. So Jesus doesn't just say to you today, have peace today, on the Lord's Day, when things are pretty easy and quiet and calm and restful. But he says, truly, go in peace. It is go from here in peace. And it's a peace that carries all the way through. The last part of verse 42, which is the last part of this chapter, isn't just a throwaway Oh, that gives us a little bit of the lay of the land in geography. He, that is David, rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city. They part ways now. They part ways, and we don't know exactly where David goes. Not from this verse. We know where he's going to go because of chapter 21. Jonathan goes back into the city. He goes back to his father, presumably. And we'll see him later with his father. So he does come back into his father's court. So it isn't just that they've made this declaration here and said, go in peace, okay, now we're sort of okay, and now we're going to go our separate ways, but the peace doesn't carry through. The peace does carry through. That's how they can go their separate ways. That's how David can rise up and depart and Jonathan can go back into the city. Because they're renewed in this peace in Jesus Christ. They have confidence in this peace. that even though Saul is a wicked king and his kingdom is powerful, there's a greater king and a greater kingdom. And that greater king and kingdom rights the wrongs, brings justice, guides in righteousness, protects in sovereign power, and nothing happens apart from the will of our God. So I would pray that you be able