Let us pray. Lord, we pray that our faith would increase. We pray that our faith would be a growing faith. We desire that the truths to which we have just been giving expression in this great hymn would shape our thinking and our lives. We pray that you will help us to bring this great doctrine of the divine sovereignty into every area of our lives. We pray for ourselves, we pray for your people all around the world. We ask you to remember those who are anxious because of the economic climate. Remember those who are facing hardships or potential hardships and we pray that the knowledge that their times are in your hand. You are the God who brings times of difficulty and will be there for them. that may comfort them. Remember those who are anxious because of the decisions that are being taken by those who are in leadership of the nation. We pray that they may be quiet and at peace in their hearts, knowing that you have the hearts of all men in your hands, the hearts of kings and rulers and presidents and everyone who is an authority, and who direct the affairs of the nation and bring good out of evil. And though these things are not in our hands, they are in yours and we would be at peace. Remember those who are anxious because of personal issues, their health, children, parents, Life itself perhaps threatened, wondering about the future. Lord, grant to them your peace. How we bless you that our times are in the wisest and best and most loving of hands. And there we would leave them. Minister to us, we pray. We thank you for the word of God that has been read in our hearing. And we pray that your blessing would be upon it now as we come to ponder it together and bless wherever that word is preached. We ask that all around the world it would bring comfort and strength and sanctification to your people and life. To those that are dead in their transgressions and sins, we pray it for Jesus' sake. Amen. Please turn back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 23. We're taking a break this morning from our regular Sunday morning series in Luke's Gospel chapters 1 and 2. I want particularly to draw your attention to verse 16. We're going to read from verse 14 to 18. for the sake of connection. 1 Samuel 23, verse 14. David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands. While David was at Horesh in the desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul's son, Jonathan, went to David at Horesh and helped him to find strength in God. Don't be afraid, he said. My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this. The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home. but David remained at Horesh. Well it's evident from these verses that David's situation at this time was one of great peril. Day after day, verse 14, Saul searched for him and it wasn't with a view to merely capturing him, it was with a view to taking his life. Though once the object of the king's favour There was nothing that Saul wanted more now than to have David dead. Because of that, David was in hiding and under constant necessity of keeping one step ahead of this man who was after him. At the end of verse 14 we are told that God did not give David into Saul's hands. David was the man whom he had chosen and anointed to be king one day in place of Saul and he was not going to let Saul kill him. David was under divine protection and would continue to be under divine protection until the day he was installed as king. And both at the beginning of this chapter and at the end of it, as we have heard, that divine protection was given in very striking and memorable ways. Nevertheless, it was hard for David to be constantly under threat, constantly under pursuit. And when Jonathan visits him here, verses 16 to 18, he is clearly feeling weak and dispirited and afraid. This is a low point for David, emotionally and spiritually. Jonathan needs to say to him, verse 17, don't be afraid. He needs to reassure him that Saul will not lay a hand on him and he needs to reassure him that one day he will be king over Israel. David needs help, verse 16, to find strength in God. And that's what makes this incident here so beautiful and so moving. Where here is David at a low point and his friend Jonathan searches him out and spends time with him and reminds him of God's plan and makes a covenant with him before the Lord and as a result he strengthens David's hand in God. This morning we are going to be ordaining one of our men, setting him apart to the work of the eldership The work of the eldership has many aspects to it. It is upon the elders that the spiritual care of this congregation principally devolves. If we are to exercise that care, a considerable number of things, both public and private, require to be done. I want to touch on one of them. It is the one suggested by our text this morning. the members of our congregation to find strength in God. Like David, there are Christians in the Assembly who know what it is to be weak, dispirited, afraid, burdened, sorrowful. And part of our ministry, brethren, as those who have been called by God to give spiritual care, is to do what we can to strengthen these brethren in God. But I take up the subject this morning not simply for the sake of the elders here, good as it is for us to be reminded of this particular aspect of our ministry. I address it because it is a role in which we all have a part to play. We are to love one another as Christ has loved the Church. We are to bear one another's burdens. True Christianity is something that puts selfishness to death and enables us and prompts us to do good to the members of the household of faith. And certainly here is one way of ministering to those that are in need, helping them to find strength in God's Well, we're going to think about it this morning as a ministry, a loving Christ-like service and there are a number of things that I want to say about it and the first is, it is a greatly needed ministry. Evidently, that is what it was in David's case and there continues to be ample scope for just such ministry. In a congregation our size, There are always Christians who are in David's situation, finding things difficult, discouraged, fearful, downcast, burdened, sorrowful. Christians whose hands need to be strengthened in God. And therefore there is always scope for this ministry. Now in heaven, there won't be. There are doubtless ways in which we will serve one another in glory, but this will not be one of them. Jonathan and David have been together in heaven for 3,000 years and never once has Jonathan had to do for David what he had to do for me here at Horace because there is no such ministry there. No burdens, no sorrows, no tears. This is a this life only ministry. But since in this life there is always ample scope for it, Let there be no one who closes his or her eyes to the need for it. And it can be very easy for us to do that, for our own lives can be so very busy, and we have our own families to think of, and we've all got our own problems to face, and there are all the multiplicity of things that have to be done in the course of a week, and it can be so easy for us to forget the needs of others. Or, if we remember them, to hope that someone else will take care of them, that the elders will take care of them. Well, the elders must, because that's part of our duty. But it's not our duty alone. the exhortations of Holy Scripture to love one another, to bear one another's burdens, to do good as we have opportunity to the members of the household of faith. These exhortations are addressed to believers as a whole. By virtue of the fact that we are all members together of the one body of Christ, we have a duty to lovingly minister to the needs of our fellow members. And therefore, brethren, we must not selfishly shut our eyes to those needs. We must keep our eyes open. This is a greatly needed ministry. There is always abundant scope for it exercise and there is no one, no member of the body who is at liberty to opt out and to say it's someone else's job, not mine. Secondly, it is a spiritual ministry. Jonathan, reading our text literally, went to David and strengthened his hand in God. Jonathan's ministry, David at this time, was a spiritual ministry. A ministry that resulted in spiritual strength being imparted to God's servant. And verse 17, gives us an insight into how he did it. Don't be afraid, he said. My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this. What's he doing? He's reminding David of God's power, God's purposes, God's promises. David is the one who is going to be king. That is what God has planned. And God will bring his plan to fulfilment. No weapon formed against him will prosper. Try as he might, Saul will not be able to put him to death. He doesn't need to be afraid. Because God will continue to protect him until his purposes come to fruition. You see how distinctively spiritual, the encouragement that he gives to David. Look at verse 18. The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Back in chapter 20 we read of an earlier covenant in which, for example, David bound himself to show unfailing kindness to Jonathan as long as Jonathan lived. And this covenant here may well have involved a renewing of those promises, or there may have been different promises, we can't be sure. What is important for us to notice is that it was a covenant made before the Lord. Whatever the terms and the promises of that covenant may have been, God was at the heart of it. So the ministry in which Jonathan engages when he finds his troubled friend is a spiritual ministry and the fruit of it is spiritual strength. He strengthened David's hand in God. The visit and the counsel and the covenant that was made between them, these were means in God's hand by which David was strengthened. faith was strengthened and his courage was renewed because he had been reminded that God had everything in his hands. And there is renewed hope that Saul will not be able to take his life but that David will ultimately come to the throne and his heart is gladdened and moved to praise and thanksgiving because of his kindness in sending Jonathan to him. Strengthened! in God. Now you think, by way of contrast, of what goes on amongst those who do not share our Christian faith. When someone is weak and dispirited and afraid and burdens their loved ones will naturally endeavour to comfort them and to strengthen them But there will be no spiritual ministry in the sense in which we understand that expression. The comforting will not come from the promises and truths of Holy Scripture, from the character and plans of God. There will be no appeal to God in prayer. And as a consequence, there will be no spiritual strength imparted or received. Their hand will not be strengthened in God. God himself will not be their comfort. But in the case of a fellow Christian, it is God whom they need and it is God whom they want. His strength mediated through His word and through the assurance of His presence and His good favour. And we are to be the means. by which that spiritual ministry takes place. We are to endeavour to strengthen one another in God. So how does it happen then? How do we fulfil this distinctively spiritual ministry to one another? Well, there are a number of things that it can involve. Reminding them. They know these things already. But remind them anyway. God's character. God's promises. God's goodness to his people. Their own rich experiences of that goodness over the years of their Christian lives. These kind of things in the course of conversation with the needy. How God can use them to encourage them and strengthen them in himself. Sharing with them. You remember what Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the trouble, with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. When the Lord comforts us in our trouble, It is never solely for our own benefit, but always so that others may benefit as well. So that they can be comforted through us with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God. This was what was so helpful to me. This assurance of His love, His presence, this particular text of scripture, this sermon, this book. This so helped me. Here, you read it. Or hear this. Maybe God will bless you through it as well. Sharing with them. Reading to them. From the Word of God. One of those great Psalms, perhaps. Or an incident such as we have just been reading in 1st Samuel 23. or that golden passage in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus addresses himself to our fears as to what we are going to eat or drink or wear. Such a tremendously relevant passage at a time like this when there is such uncertainty and so many fearful hearts because of the economy. Do not worry. What are we doing when we take these passages of scripture and read them. We're strengthening their hand in God's, and that, by the blessing of God, is exactly the result. Or to take one last example, praying with them. There's a little misprint, boys and girls, if you're using the sermon notes, it should say with them, not to them, because we don't pray to people, but we do pray with them. taking their concerns, their fears, their burdens to the throne of grace in their presence and appealing to God to minister to them to be their strength and comfort. You know how it goes in all these different ways. we can perform this spiritual ministry. And that list is by no means exhaustive. Calling them, writing to them, visiting them, sitting down with them after a service, preaching, teaching. These are all ways in which the people of God can minister to each other in these spiritual ways. In ways that impart spiritual strength. Thirdly, It is a self-denying ministry. There is every reason to believe that Jonathan was taking his life in his hands to go and minister to David at this time. His father Saul deeply resented his friendship with David. In fact, on one occasion he was so maddened by it that he hurled a spear at Jonathan in order to kill him. You can read about that in chapter 20. And we may be very sure that this visit today was a closely guarded secret, but if Saul were to find out, it would cost Jonathan his life. Now I don't suppose that it's very often the case that ministering to our needy brethren makes that kind of demand upon us, risking our very lives. Certainly in other countries, where Christians are experiencing severe persecution, where they're being imprisoned and martyred for their faith. There, the kind of risks that Jonathan had to run may often have to be run still if we are really to care for the needy. For ourselves, it will be rare for ministry to the saints to make that kind of demand and most of us In all likelihood, we'll go through the whole of our Christian lives without ever having to have such a risk factor involved as we minister to our brethren. Nevertheless, ministering in a way that strengthens their hand in God can be, and often is, demanding. It requires self-denial. a measure of self-sacrifice if it's to be exercised, and exercised well. It requires us to move out of our comfort zones. Doesn't it make demands upon our time and our energy? If you're going to go and visit somebody who's in need, or take time to write a letter to them, or call them on the telephone, it requires time. It's going to take you away from your Family sometimes on these cold winter evenings when you would rather just stay in. Or it comes to the end of a service and there are close friends that you would very much like to spend the whole of your remaining time with. Ah, but there's a brother who's troubled. Sister in Christ who's troubled and you know that they need you to go and spend time with them. And so you take yourself away from your friends and you go and spend time with this Christian brother. You see the parallels. Just as there was self-denial on Jonathan's part to minister to his friend David, so in a measure at least, on our own part. And that is why, brethren, our conduct in this matter is so revealing. It shows us where we are. How loving are we? How selfless are we? How caring? We begin to see the answers when we come face to face with the demands of showing care. When there is a brother or sister whose hand needs to be strengthened in God and we have the opportunity to do something to reach out to them. How we respond to that. How willing or otherwise we are to put ourselves out and do what we can to minister to the needs of our brethren. That says a great deal about our love and about how selfless and Christ-like we really are. It says a great deal about where we really are in our personal walk with God. It says a great deal about how fit we really are to serve as elders of this church. But there's another aspect in which I want to touch just briefly and that is the very humbling fact that frequently ministering to the needy costs little. A little time. A little effort. A little sacrifice. A brief phone call. A card that takes just a few moments to write. A few moments conversation after a service. So much. can often be done at very small cost. And we know that. And yet how easy it is to let such opportunities slip. Don't you have your regrets in that area? I certainly do. So many things that could have been done for others to strengthen their hand in God. Things that would have cost me little. And they never got done. self-denial on a big scale or on a small. We need to practice it if we are to engage in this greatly needed, this spiritual ministry. And to encourage you, I want you to notice in the fourth place that this is a rewarding ministry and it is so at at least two levels. There is often the reward of receiving good. Haven't you experienced that? You've gone to try and help some troubled, anxious brother or sister and you hope that you have done some good. What is certain is that you yourself have received good. They have ministered to you. Perhaps without being remotely aware of it, or God in some other way has blessed you for your kindness to his people, to your fellow members. Their gratitude perhaps for your kindness has stirred them up to pray for you. And in answer to their prayer, God has done something special, something that richly blesses you. But as a rewarding ministry, I am thinking above all of the good that is done Verse 16, Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. He finds David dispirited and he finds David afraid, but that's not how he leaves him. When Jonathan returns home, David has been strengthened, strengthened in God. Wasn't that a rewarding ministry? The good that was done. And that is surely the greatest of encouragements to us. To put selfishness to death. To deny ourselves and to lovingly reach out to the fearful and the discouraged and the downcast and the burdened and the sorrowful amongst us. What good that may do. That visit you made, brother. It was so appreciated. You maybe didn't say very much. Maybe it wasn't a lot to say. But just the fact that you went out of love and concern. Just to express your concern and love. The prayer that you offered. The portion of scripture that you read. What an uplift it was. How it encouraged that brother that sister in the Lord. And isn't it true that sometimes the good that we do is out of all proportion to the effort involved? It's a rewarding ministry. Hard, yes. Often humbling. We find ourselves unable to know what's rightly to say. Sometimes disappointing because all our efforts to help people sometimes can be in vain. But rewarding! So often when we reach out to the needy, spiritual good is done. And so, as Paul puts it in Galatians 6, let us not become weary. But as we have opportunity, let us do good. Especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Why? because our efforts will not be in vain. There will be Davids to whom you can be Jonathans and whose hands will be strengthened in God because you have reached out to them. One last thing. This is God's own ministry. One of my favourite passages of scripture is 2 Corinthians 7 5 and 6, Paul speaking so honestly. When we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest. But we were harassed at every turn. Conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. It's a lovely picture. this great apostle to whom we all rightly look up and he's feeling miserable, downcast. Conflicts on the outside, fears within, but there's a God who cares for him and who comforts the downcast and does it by bringing Titus to him. And for Paul, just seeing his friend's face again, Knowing that he was alive and well, he'd been on a journey. And the pleasure of his company and Christian fellowship, it was such an uplift to the Apostle. And he traces it all to God. And that's what's happening here in 1 Samuel 23. We are to see the hand of God in this. God comforting one of his downcast people and doing so by the coming of Jonathan. The strengthening ministry is ultimately his. It's an expression of his love and care for his weak and dispirited servant. And Jonathan is but the instrument when it pleases him to use. And it's here that we see something of the privilege of this ministry. Behind our loving efforts lie the heart and the actions. of a loving God, a fellow Christian to whom you reach out. That fellow Christian is loved with everlasting love by a Father in heaven who knows his situation, knows her sorrow, her anxieties, her depression, her weariness, her needs, and has ordained that you should be the instrument in his hand by which he ministers to his loved one and gives them strength. It is above all his ministry. It's an expression of his loving heart. And we are simply the privileged instruments by which his ministering is done. And that is why when we are on the receiving end of this ministry, and our hearts are right, They are not only more closely knit to the brother or sister who has reached out to us, but to the God and Saviour, whom we know stands behind all that they've endeavoured to do. And we see their ministry as a revelation of His heart. And it moves us not only to love our fellow Christian, but to love God. And we say to ourselves, or better, we say to Him, Lord, how kind you have been, how good you have been in ministering to me through him. I wonder, as I come to a close, does anyone here this morning who has been pitying Christians, perhaps even despising them, Put that question to your heart. Have you been thinking to yourself, a pretty poor lot, these Christians, with their beliefs and practices that are so uncongenial to you. Do you know the reality is, it is you who is to be fitted. I ask you, who conceivably can be more privileged than the people whom the God of heaven is looking out for as his own. And when they are downcast and when they are weak, taking someone else and moving them to go and minister to them. The people of God are a people who for all their trials, and they have many, are to be ended. And they are a people who for all their fault, and we have many, you should be attained to join. You should want to be one of us. Why not take up the matter with the God who so cares for his people, he is very ready to be consulted on the matter of you becoming one of us, one of his beloved people. Now you will certainly have to humble yourself before him. You can't strut up to God and start making demands. You come to him as a sinner. You come to him penitent. but all the bad things that you have thought and felt and said about Him and about His people, all the negative emotions that there have been, you need to humble yourself. But if, realizing what a blessed thing it is to be one of the people of God, you sincerely want to be part of this body, so cared for by the God of heaven, you come humbly and penitently and you will be received. Because God is in the business of adding to his people, of building the church. And he welcomes every boy, every girl, every teenager, every adult that comes with a lowly, penitent heart seeking forgiveness deciding to be part of the body of Christ. Let us pray.