Let's turn to 1 Timothy 6, 1 Timothy 6, and then we turn to 1 Chronicles. Let's stand for the reading of the word. Just two verses from 1 Timothy 6, one of the many places in the New Testament where we're being called to be soldiers for the image of fighting the good fight. Being a good soldier is clear. Here to Timothy, particularly as a pastor, but there is application to all God's people. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Now we turn to 1 Chronicles. Chapter 11, and we're going to read the first 19 verses actually, and then selection from chapter 12. Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron, saying, Indeed, we are your bone and your flesh. Also in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in, and the Lord your God said to you, you shall shepherd my people Israel and be ruler over my people Israel. Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel according to the word of the Lord by Samuel. And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus, where the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land. But the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, you shall not come in here. Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David. Now David said, whoever attacks the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. And Joab, the son of Zariah, went up first and became chief. And David dwelled in the stronghold, therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city around it from the millow to the surrounding area. Joab repaired the rest of the city. So David went on and became great and the Lord of hosts was with him. These were the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom with all Israel to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had. Jashabim, the son of a Hachmanite, chief of the captains, and he had lifted up his spear against 300, killed by him at one time. After him was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the Ahoite, who was one of the three mighty men. He was with David at Pas Demon. There the Philistines were gathered for battle, and there was a piece of ground full of barley. So the people fled from the Philistines, but they stationed themselves in the middle of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory. Now three of the 30 chief men went down to the rock to David into the cave of Adullam, and the army of the Philistines accamped in the valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David said with longing, oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, David would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. And he said, far be it from me, oh my God, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For at the risk of their lives, they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men. Now to verse 22 of chapter 12. It's the end of this section of the mighty men. For at that time they came to David day by day to help him until it was a great army like the army of God. The grass withers, the flower fades, the Word of God endures forever. Turn to 1 Chronicles chapter 11. We'll also be looking a little bit at chapter 12 and the preaching of the Word this morning. Particularly thinking about this passage, you notice we're making a break from 1 Corinthians. Particularly thinking about this passage and what we've just witnessed a moment ago. Again, have the blessing of a number of our young people interested in professing their faith, a number of them have, and in the coming weeks, Lord willing, some more. And to all of these young people, some of them I know at home this morning who have the same desire, Nathaniel Bassett and Joey Piper and Joshua Piper, and this morning before you saw Calvin and Caroline Katie and Juliana. And the question you might want to ask yourself is, what have they just done and what have they reminded us in their witness to Jesus Christ about our own following of Christ? Some of you I know have been in the military. You're not enlisted. You can talk to a recruiter, you can think about being in the military, you can think about serving your country, you can talk to other people who have been in the military and you can talk and think and talk and think, but it all doesn't mean anything till you sign on the dotted line and you make the decision to dedicate yourself to the service of your country. That dedication is Profound, it's not just to get a college degree, it's not to get job training. It's really at its heart a promise to lay down your life for your country. It's a profound promise, profound. This imagery of military service, of being a soldier is one that the Bible picks up again and again as a suitable image for what it means to be a Christian and follow Christ. There's a lot of soldiers in the Bible. Abraham was a commander of a little army of 318 men, went on a military campaign to rescue Lot. Moses was a commander of an army. Joshua was both the commander of the army of the Lord and under the commander of the army of the Lord who appeared to him his ultimate general and king in that theophany, that appearance of Jesus Christ to Joshua, the greater Joshua to the lesser. David, who we have here before us, is the great warrior king of the old covenant. But then in the New Testament, this theme carries on. It's very different. It's not physical warfare. It's weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual. But it's warfare nonetheless. Paul addressing Timothy, fight the good fight. Another place he says, be an athlete, a soldier, a farmer, a soldier, a soldier that doesn't entangle himself with the affairs of this life, but is wholly devoted to following Jesus Christ. The language of spiritual warfare and spiritual weaponry and spiritual armor is central to Christianity in Psalm 110. The great prophecy of Jesus Christ and His ascension. Those who follow Him are like volunteers in the day of His power. They have signed up to fight for a king. What does this look like for us and what might it look like in the coming days? There's a lot of indications that Well, I think not just indications in the future, but we're feeling more and seeing more after a period of particular peace and safety and prosperity, a little bit more of what spiritual warfare feels like. This great sickness that has swept the world and caused the unbelieving world to descend into a panic is showing us something about the nature of our present age. It's also, in some way, that we don't fully understand part of the great spiritual warfare of the ages. Satan wants to use it one way. Christ surely is going to overrule and use it ultimately for His kingdom and glory. Our godless age, more and more interested in suppressing Christianity and the truth of the Word. The idea of being a soldier might very soon be more understandable than it's ever been for Christians. How might we learn what that kind of life looks like? Well, here in 1 Chronicles 11 and 12, we have a good picture. The captain here is David. It's hard really for you to overestimate the significance of David in the Old Testament. There's four stages in his life. As you read through 1 and 2 Samuel, he was prepared first in a time as a shepherd Abraham had flocks and herds and Moses was a shepherd and David was a shepherd. And God taught him there in the fields as he followed the sheep and protected them from the lion and the bear. What communion with God was and what it meant to depend on the Lord in life and in death. He was anointed at the end of this period of his life, marking a transition, interestingly, much like Christ from a private life. to a public life and a public ministry as the king. The anointing representing the filling of the Holy Spirit and him being set apart as God's king for God's purposes. He spent many days after that as a fugitive. As a king humiliated. In principle, with the promise of kingship, but being persecuted even by Saul and his own people. After that, He was duly crowned king according to the promises of God. And there was a period of the establishment of his kingdom and the spreading of the borders of Israel, the conquering of the enemies of Israel still within the bounds, and then tribute flowing in from the nations to this mighty warrior king, David. The nation knew Saul had killed his thousands. David is 10,000. He's a warrior king. Sadly, at the end of his life, there's a period of decline. He commits a great sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah and his life, as it were, unravels. And from even though we see his sin throughout his life, especially at the end in the unraveling, we are left hungering for a better king. And we know who that is. Now, the significance of David for the Old Testament is so important, but also for the new. There are just a few words that link the old and the new. The first words of the Gospel of Matthew say this, and this is important, the genealogy of Jesus Christ, what's His first identifier in the New Testament? The Son of David. The fulfillment of all that God had promised in the types and shadows of the Old Covenant will be yes and amen in Jesus Christ. So when we look at David, Our hearts and minds, there's lines that run right to Jesus. Now, what's happening here in David's life in these chapters? Well, it's a particular phenomenon. David had a charismatic ability to draw people to himself. These chapters here, chapter 11 starts, they're not in chronological order. They start with the conquest of Jerusalem. Later on, it talks about in chapter 12, David being a fugitive from Saul. There's a thematic connection here in these two chapters, which is David and his mighty men. That there's a phenomenon that repeated itself again and again and again in the life of David. that not only was God with him and anointing him, but one of the ways God was with him is that he built an army around him, an army of soldiers, and that God, through this instrumentality, gave to David what he promised him. Now, this is important for our understanding of the Christian life. Let's look at these mighty men for a moment and see what they were like. A couple characteristics of them. Actually, we're gonna look at their characteristics, and then we're gonna look at the spiritual reality of their and then we're gonna look at lessons for the church. So those of you who are taking notes, the characteristics, the spiritual power, and then lessons for the church. What were these men like? First of all, they were men who volunteered to follow David. They were volunteers. They saw David and they were interested in following him. We'll see why in a moment. But they were also men who were warriors, second characteristic. They were highly skilled in the art of war. If you read through these chapters in the details we didn't read, let me give you an example in chapter 12 and verse 2. These men come to David at Ziklag, he's still a fugitive from Saul. Mighty men, helpers in war, armed with bows using both the right hand and the left, and hurling stones, shooting arrows with the bow. They were skilled warriors. Highly trained military men. This idea of right hand and left hand, it's the idea of strong, powerful warriors, devoted especially to training and skill. They were not only skilled with the sword and the spear and the bow, they were skilled commanders. Chapter 12 and verse 21 tells us that they were skilled in the art of war and that they were able to command others, some groups of 100, some groups of 1,000, that they had the basic skills and they had the ability to think strategically and organize. Highly trained, skilled fighters. Great men. The least was over a hundred, the greatest was over a thousand. 12 and verse 14. Second thing is that they were courageous. They were, look at verse 10 of chapter 11. They strengthened themselves with David in his kingdom with all Israel to make him king according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Courageous volunteers who engaged in great exploits like The war, the skirmish at Bethlehem, we're gonna get into in a moment, but facing 300, one man facing 300 men, unafraid of the enemy, faces like lions, they could run like gazelles, they could command, organize, they were remarkably successful. If you read these sections, they could fight against giants, they could destroy lions single-handedly. You have to understand what's being described to you is people who are not afraid to die, who are skilled in warfare, who rush in, as it were, to use that phrase, where angels fear to tread, though I'm quite sure that angels aren't afraid either in God's army. They have remarkable successes, courageous and successful in battle. Fourth characteristic, they were motivated by love and devotion to their king. One incident, perhaps more than any other, is verses 15 through 19, or yeah, 15 through 19. The situation is this, is that Bethlehem is occupied by Philistines. David is in the stronghold nearby. Three of the 30 chief men, verse 15, went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam. The army of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. David was in the stronghold. The garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. So David, hidden away, not far away, has the knowledge of this reality, that Bethlehem is currently occupied by Philistines. Now, you might think, what's the big deal about that? Well, you know it is a big deal, because they're enemies, but there's clues in the text that this is particularly a problem. Look at verse 17. What does David say about it? He said, with longing, Or that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate. A heart cry comes from David because of what has happened. What is the nature of that heart cry? Bethlehem is his inheritance. It's the city of his father Jesse. It's going to be the city of David where Jesus would be born. It's central to God's redemptive purposes. It represents David's inheritance. It's his home. And he surely wasn't thirsty. He had other ways to get water. When he longs for a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, he's longing for a taste of his inheritance, for victory, refreshment, for the enemies of God to be pushed back. What happens next? Verse 18, don't read this too quickly. So the three broke through to the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. David just says, oh, that I had water from Bethlehem's well. Three men, without hesitation, against a garrison of the Philistines, badly outnumbered, fight their way through the enemy. What for? You gotta imagine what they're doing. Swords, shields, and they get a bucket of water. And then they fight their way back out. One of them carrying the bucket, surely, two of them fighting, to make it back to David. What'd they do it for? It wasn't even a military victory. They just wanted him to taste the water from the well. To taste his inheritance. And that was enough for them to lay down their lives. They didn't need any more. To satisfy the king. These are men who love David. You go to chapter 12, Amos and the Spirit. We are yours, O David, verse 18. We are on your side, O son of Jesse. Peace, peace to you. Peace to your helpers, for your God helps you. They were committed to this reality. David was God's man. David has loved us. We love him. We lay our lives down in his service. And if he just wants to taste the water from the well, here I am, Lord. Here I am, my King. Here we go. Now, it's no wonder with men like this that the kingdom advanced. Look at verse 9. David went on and became great, and the Lord of hosts was with him. Verse 10 again. These were the heads of the mighty men who David had who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom with all Israel to make him king. There's an inseparable reality between king and soldiers, the advance of the kingdom. This is why he took Jerusalem. This is why he conquered the rest of Canaan. This is why he expanded the borders. This is why he subdued his enemies. This was the means that God was using to lift him up. This is why he exacted tribute. This is why the name of David was feared. God gave him an army. But let's dig a little deeper. Why are these men the way they are? You know, My wife knows this about me, that if I was to watch a war movie, years ago we were watching, we started watching a very hard movie, a Second World War movie with some difficult and heavy themes. I can't ever watch these things just eating popcorn as if it's entertaining. Whenever you're thinking about war, people are dying. There's unspeakable horrors happening. There's a clash of good and evil. There's nothing easy or light about it. It's not different in these chapters. There's a great war here. And it's a war between good and evil. And it becomes evident when you start to read what the chronicler is saying. Now, who's the chronicler? In a sense, we're getting an inspired commentary on David's life. There's more of a historical emphasis in 1 and 2 Samuel. The chronicler peels, as it were, something back and shows us spiritual realities. What are some of the marks of these men? It's not just outward valor. Look at Verse 2 of chapter 11. Why did they follow the king? Because the Lord God had spoken. Because God said, this is my man. And these men believed God's word. What Samuel had said concerning David. They were acting, verse 3, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel. Verse 10, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. These weren't just soldiers, these were believers in what God had said about David. That's why they were following Him. This was God's anointed, God's man, God's king. Second spiritual element. In verse 11 about Jashabim, the son of a Hagmanite, lifted his spear against 300, killed by him at one time. How do you do that? 300 to one. 300 to one. Does it remind you of anyone else in the Old Testament? Maybe Samson? It's an indicator in these numbers that there's something greater going on than just natural strength. that there's something supernatural in this army, that there's divine help. Why did he win? Keep reading. There's another man, Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. He was with David at Pazdamon. Now there were Philistines gathered for battle. There was a piece of ground full of barley. So the people fled from the Philistines. So Israel's running back. It's kind of like David at Goliath, facing Goliath. The army's terrified. These men, verse 14, stationed themselves in the middle of that field. In other words, they planted their flag, they defended it, killed the Philistines. Now read the next phrase. So the Lord brought them a great victory. Another window. These men are enabled by divine power. Third spiritual element is more Helps us understand the nature of that power. Go back to 12 in verse 18 or forward. Explicitly, the text here says that the Spirit of God was on these men. The Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the captains, and he said by the Spirit, we are yours, O David. We are on your side, O son of Jesse. These were men filled with and empowered by the Spirit of God. They believed the word of God. They were empowered by the grace of God. They were filled with the Spirit of God. They were more than conquerors through Him who loved them. There are spiritual realities behind David's victories. Look at 11 verse 9. So David went on and became great. The Lord of hosts was with him. Look at 12 and verse 22. And here's where the chronicler, as it were, breaks it wide open. From that time, for at that time, they came to David, here's the summary, the mighty men, day by day to help him until it was a great army like the army of God. The physical warfare is intimately connected to spiritual realities. in small form, David, Canaan, Philistines, and some surrounding nations. What did we say at the beginning? Matthew 1.1, the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David. There is profound light concerning the nature of spiritual warfare in the New Covenant right here. This is the little picture. Who is our King? Spent time growing in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man. He was anointed at His baptism. His ministry broke out onto the open stage, but He was humiliated, despised, and rejected of men. God surrounded him with apostles and then disciples who were drawn to him, to love him. And he said, if you would follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow. And he equipped and trained them in order that his kingdom would be advanced. And what is that kingdom? It's not a little patch of real estate in Palestine. He ascended. He was enthroned. All authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth. He will build His church, the gates of hell will not prevail against it. He is the King of glory. He's Jesus Christ. And we are all in His service. And you young people here this morning, the youth that were standing up here, you promised to be a soldier in His army. To live by His word, filled with His spirit, and to lay down your life in loving service to Christ. The lessons here are directly applicable to your service to Jesus Christ. What are some lessons for that service? The first thing that you might skip over from this text is pretty plain and clear. Some of you this morning need to readjust what you think it means to follow Jesus Christ. Many believe that the church exists as a therapeutic retreat center where your problems will be solved and you come here to feel better or in the hopes that they would just go away. It's a problem. You'll never be happy. It's an army. It's the army of God. There's a lot of people who ask what could possibly be going wrong in following Jesus Christ when there's this suffering, this hardship, this danger, right in front of me. When I feel this sensation more often than not that I'm dying, or on the edge of dying. And if you were one of David's mighty men fighting your way to the well at Bethlehem, you would have felt that, wouldn't you? We're almost dead. Somewhere along the way, one of them might have thought, this might have been a bad idea. A little fear. Perhaps they didn't because of the help of the Spirit, but we could understand if they did. If you're a Christian, you enlisted to be a soldier of the cross. It's not physical, spiritual warfare. Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're spiritual, mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. We're to wear armor in this war, Ephesians chapter six, the whole armor of God. Satan is leading an army against us that wants to destroy us. And you are on the battlefield of the ages. And it is not unusual for you to feel the heat of that battle. It's real. Paul says to Timothy, fight the good fight. John in the book of Revelation reveals that under the present reign of Christ, we're in a big war. You volunteered for the army of God. Your people will be volunteers in the day of your power. That was the prophecy of Jesus Christ in Psalm 110. Peter, brothers, do not think it strange that some fiery trial has come upon you. Acts 5, through many tribulations, we will enter the kingdom of God. The first thing you may have to do is adjust your expectations of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. If you live with a profound sense of spiritual warfare, it doesn't mean you're losing. It means that this is the reality to which you've been called to. Maybe someone here is listening and for the first time you're understanding something of what Christ asked for when he said, follow me. You thought He existed to solve your problems, and there's a sense in which following Him might intensify your difficulties, but not without His grace and help to get through it. Second lesson, if this is the Christian life, then live like a soldier. Prepare yourself for it. Note the skills of David's men. Military trained right hand left hand The boldness of lions the strength that they could run like gazelles their faces like flint against the enemy It wasn't their own power. It was the power of God at work in them You understand that the New Testament equivalent? After Christ rose again from the dead Satan now comes as a roaring lion seeking humiliated power with a desperation of that perhaps in our days we're feeling a new sense of. The spiritual warfare we live in is every bit as dangerous as the Old Testament and the Old Covenant. It's intense and it requires us to put on the armor of God and the weapons of divine power that Christ has both purchased for us and gives freely to us. You have to understand that Being a Christian is active engagement in that war, and with spiritual armor, read Ephesians chapter six, I wanna focus on two things in particular, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and prayer. You need both. These are the two primary offensive weapons in the advance of the kingdom. In our day, Christ is making his victories by spirit filled men and women and boys and girls equipped with his word, especially in the public ministry, the word in preaching and prayer, but also by the whole body of Christ. And you need to take up those weapons of warfare and use them. I want to say a word to these young people, you young people here, I'm trying to find you in the crowd so I can see your eyes. I like to do this. Remember that you pledged to follow Jesus Christ, and that involves active, conscious, spiritual warfare. It means reading your Bible. It means praying. It means a new determination to listen to preaching. It means to follow Jesus Christ as your captain, to be a good soldier, to be brave for him, and to know that anything that he asks you to do, he gives you everything you need to do it. You've enlisted in an army, the best army in the world with the best captain, the best king, the best savior, but it's war and you need to be active in it. If you want to stand in the evil day, the apostle Paul says, you're going to put on the whole armor of God and you're going to use the spiritual weaponry he gives you. So read your Bibles, pray, commit yourself to Christ. Another lesson, love him, love Christ. Now, so far this sermon has been exemplary. In other words, I'm pointing to these men as examples, but I want you to see something in David that should help you understand the love of Christ for you. When those mighty men went to the well of Bethlehem because they loved David, what did David do? Why did they love him? As a matter of fact, in 1 Samuel chapter 22, there's a little interesting description of the kind of people that David gathered to himself. They were not the rich and famous. Everyone who was distressed, everyone who was in debt, everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. They were sinful, broken, discontented, outcasts and rejects of the world. Jesus drew them in. He then equipped them. David drew them in, rather. He then equipped them, helped them, loved them. As a matter of fact, it seems that they loved him because he first loved them. It's evident in what he does at the Bethlehem well incident. They bring the water back, and what does he do with the water? He dumps it on the ground. Pours it on the ground. Now, if you're not reading the text carefully, if you just saw what happened from afar, you would think, what in the world? Those three men risk life and limb to go in there for no military objective. Just because they love David, they bring it back. He pours it on the ground. Why? He recognized their love for him. And he was determined to take that love as an offering to God. He poured it out as a drink offering on the ground. He said, far be it from me that I should drink this. And He offered it to God. He recognized something in them, that there was something bigger, that they had loved Him because they loved God. Now in this is something of how the king loves us. You know, if you give your life to him, what's he going to do with it? Paul said in Philippians chapter two, I'm being poured out as a drink offering for the sacrifice of your faith. At the end of his life, he uses that image for the second time. Second Timothy. How did Paul think of his life? that he, in the hand of Jesus Christ, listen carefully, his time, his talents, his days, his very mortal existence, was being used as an instrument in the hand of his Captain, Savior, and King, Jesus Christ, poured out for the good of the Church, in order that the Father would be glorified. And so it's not surprising that sometimes in his life he felt like he was dying for the Church, because he was. Because God was taking his very existence, the Savior, and pouring it out. You know, what does Jesus say in Hebrews chapter 2? Here I am and the children you have given me. What is he gonna do at the end of the age? He's going to, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, he's going to put an end to all rule and authority and power, and he's gonna deliver the kingdom, all the spoils of war, all of his inheritance, everything that the Father has given him. Here I am in the great army that has served you, O Father, in my name. And he is gonna present us to God. And he's doing it now. You know, when these young people, when you profess your faith, remember the verse I read? If you profess me before men, I will profess you before my Father in heaven. There's a correspondence. When you serve me and respond to my love first for you, for taking you as malcontents and sinners in this world by the blood of my cross to lift you up to myself, remember that I in turn delight to take you and bring you to my Father. Here I am with my inheritance. Here I am pouring out the drink offerings of your people. Here I am because he first loved us. So what will you do this morning? Fourth lesson, give him your life. And I don't mean that abstractly. Recommit this morning. You saw these young people recommit themselves to Christ. You saw them profess their faith this morning. Say, Lord, from now on, whatever you call me into, sadness, grief, sorrow, deprivation, joy, happiness, blessing, goodness. Take my life and let it be. Pour me out as you will as a drink offering to the Father. Help me to let go of the things of this world. If you think Jesus died to give you a comfortable middle class life, you're wrong. called you to service. He'll help you on the way. He'll use you for his glory. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all. May God give us the grace to live as soldiers of the King. Let's pray. Lord our God, we are those who so often are so intensely occupied with our own comforts, needs, wants, and desires that we can forget that you first have redeemed us to yourself and in that redemption that you have called us to a new living hope and a new kind of life in which you use our suffering and sacrifice for your glory, in which you remember us in mercy, in which you are pleased to take our paltry and meager lives and use them in the building of your kingdom to your glory, that just as David through his mighty men made great victories, so we pray that you'd be pleased to use us. We pray that you would give us the love that you gave first to these men for David, Lord, give it to us for Christ. And out of that love for the one who first loved us, make us useful in your kingdom. Bless us with love for your word, the power of your spirit, and in every good way we would follow after you. Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.