The schedule is for the next few weeks here in the class. I've been working through systematic theology. We've been working through the doctrine of scripture. And you said you wanted to talk about, do some things about an errancy and we're kind of past that, but this will contribute anyway. And, but I took a detour from the clarity of scripture. The idea that scripture is able to be understood. And we've taken a couple of weeks here. We'll take one or two more on how to interpret the Bible. And so this morning, how to interpret the Bible part two, December 11th next week, part three, interpreting in the light of the history of redemption. What does that mean? Come back next week, find out. And December 18th is getting very close to Christmas. And I wanted to look at some passages that look forward to Christ from the Old Testament, not just the prophecies, but the historical events as well. How do they anticipate the coming of the Messiah? December 25th, no class. January 1st, no class, New Year's Day. And then January 8th, I'll be back. And this will be chapter seven in systematic theology, the necessity of scripture. And then we'll go on the sufficiency of scripture. So that's the plan. General comment, oh, this is last week. No, quick review. If you, how many people weren't here last week and didn't get an outline, they are on the back table. If you want one, I'm just going to zoom through this in about two minutes. And this is all of last week. How to interpret the Bible. General comments, the three most important rules. Read it, read it, read it. Read it again and again. Read it in detail. Go back and look again. As opposed to just reading books about the Bible, read the Bible. It's written for you. It's written for ordinary people to be able to understand. And so I talked about that. Number two, the interpretation of scripture is not a magical or mysterious process. Scripture was written in the ordinary words of the day. Don't look for secret meetings, like counting every 17th letter backward by computer until you find eight-off Hitler or something like that. The Bible wasn't written that way. It was written to communicate ordinary people at that time. And so the meaning must be consistent with what the original author intended to communicate to the original hearers. We'll talk more about that today. So talked about that. And every interpreter has only four sources of information about the text. Number one, the meanings of individual words. Number two, the context, the place of the statement in the context. Number three, the teaching of the whole Bible. And number four, some information about historical and cultural background. And we talked about those four. And I'm going to skip over all of those. All of those. That was all from last time. And Ben Burtick, over where you've been, Ben has given me a list of reference works for you to use, but we're going to add a little bit more to it yet. And probably next week, we'll have that ready. You should be able to give reasons for your interpretation. And thereby attempt to persuade others. Not just, I feel it means this, or I feel it means that, but give reasons for it. Look at the text. What specific words in the text make you think that it means x or y or z? And then there's only one meaning for each text though there can be many applications. And the meaning can be complex. So we talked about that. The meaning of the text is, now I changed this from last week, because I was thinking about this. The meaning of the text, what is it going on? All right, something's going on. Well, anyway, the meaning of a text is at least the meaning intended by the original author. At least I said that's close to what I think. I'm going to expand on that a little bit in the relationship between the human and divine author in a few minutes today. And we talked about, if you're preparing a Bible study, you can do a shorter long study of any passage. Just don't get discouraged. Use the time you have. And pray for the Holy Spirit's help in the whole process of interpretation. That's where we ended last week. We need to pray that the Lord would enable us to understand his word rightly.
Now, point B, today, this morning. Some big picture considerations to help you interpret the Bible. I'm going to list four this morning. And number five next week is going to be what I call this history of redemption. So that's the mystery that come back for next week. But the four big questions today or big picture statements will start on this morning. Big picture number one, the Bible is a historical document. Therefore, it's important always to ask, what did the author, the human author, want the original readers to understand by this statement? That's just to help us remember that this isn't the Arizona Republic for Sunday. August 4th, or December 4th. It speaks to today, but it wasn't written today. It was written back another time, another place. And so keeping that in mind helps us avoid making mistakes. And so although the Bible, I'll read it. I have a screen back there. I can read it off, though. That's my secret. Although the Bible does speak to us today because it's a historical document, you should first think about what any text was doing in its original setting. And this will help you avoid short circuiting the application process and wrongly applying texts that don't apply to you. Now, oh, good. Example. Did you hear about the poor fellow who was looking for guidance from the Bible? He decided, well, I'm just going to open my Bible and put my finger on a text. And he came to Matthew 27.5, talking about Judas. And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed and went and hanged himself. And this poor guy, he really wasn't very encouraged about that verse. He couldn't see if he could get any meaning from it at all. So let's get out of Matthew. Let's go over to another book in the New Testament and put our finger down and what did he come to? And Jesus said to him, you go and do likewise. No, I wouldn't recommend that process. So asking what the original author wanted the original readers to understand, well, first of all, the point of that was ask what the original author want the original readers to understand by this statement. It helps you avoid wrongful application. But then asking what the original author wanted, the original readers to understand will also help you avoid fanciful allegories. For example, take the story of David trying on Saul's armor before he goes to fight Goliath. Then Saul clothed David with his armor. And you realize Saul stood head and shoulders above the rest of Israel. He was just physically a very big man. And so now he's got the nicest, best armor in Israel. He's the king. So David's going to go out and fight Goliath. Why not give him his armor? So he put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. And David strapped his sword over his armor and something happened. We don't know. David strapped his sword over his armor and he tried and vained to go for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go with these for I have not tested them. So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand and he approached the Philistine. So what do we think this means? David tries on Saul's armor and takes Saul's sword. He doesn't use them. He takes five smooth stones. Well, here's an idea. Somebody might say, now this is what I would call fanciful allegories. Somebody might say Saul's sword is liberal theology that's going to let you down and mislead you. And Saul's armor, that's occult practices like going to psychics and fortune tellers and they're going to weigh you down in life and you should avoid the sandies up here just having a fit. She's saying, oh no, oh no. And the five smooth stones. Well, of course, those are five elements of successful ministry, prayer, worship, Bible reading, fasting and sound doctrine. Of course, if you have a more charismatic event, you might think that the five smooth stones are the five fold manifestations of the Holy Spirit and Ephesians 5'11. If you're a Calvinist, you know that's wrong because the five stones that David picked up to defeat the Goliath with, that's obviously the five points of Calvinism, T-U-L-I-P, total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints. One, two, three, four, five matches. Now, if you're a chaplain in the army, however, the five smooth stones are the five sides of the Pentagon, keeping America safe from disaster and all those giants like Goliath that might attack us. I call those fanciful allegories. Why? Why are they fanciful allegories? Because with all of those, the original author would not have wanted his readers to understand any of these things when they read about Saul's sword, Saul's armor, or the five smooth stones. And so the point here we're trying to make is, ask first, what did the original author want the original readers to understand? And that the Pentagon is really unrelated to that, okay?
So now, what do we say? What is a correct understanding? What did the original author want the readers to think about when they read that David tried on Saul's armor and Saul's sword and that David took five smooth stones? Well, after a lot of research and meditation and reflection and reading and study, my conclusion is that this is what the author meant. He thought that Saul's sword meant Saul's sword and Saul's armor meant Saul's armor and the five smooth stones were five smooth stones. That was my conclusion. Okay, what do you say? Okay, Wayne, thanks. But I've gotta get, there's gotta be some more in the text, right? There's gotta be something that's helpful to my life. There's gotta be something that's spiritually helpful. So then I wanna say from here on, there is more in the text, of course. For one thing, right in this text in first Samuel where it's talking about David and Goliath, it tells us that David trusted in the Lord to protect him and to work through the weapons and abilities that God had given him and God gave him victory. Now, this is right in this chapter in first Samuel. David said, the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine and Saul said to David, go and the Lord be with you. So now I'm getting close to what the original author wanted the original readers to understand. The original author wanted the original readers to think about the Lord, right? And what do you think he's gonna do? What's the original author wanting the readers to think about in terms of application to their own lives? They should trust the Lord, Mark says, yeah, yeah. And so there is gonna be application to us and I'll get to that in a minute or two, but now I think we're safer in terms of interpretation because we're anchoring what we are thinking in the very words of the text. A part, now let's say one more thing here. I said, all right, what did the original author want the original readers to understand? But part of the historical context of a book is that the Bible is a divine and human book and we talked about that for a few weeks about how it claims to be not only a human book, but it also claims to be the very words of God. Again and again and again, thus says the Lord. Or it's in the word of the Lord the words that were given by God and added to this covenant document laid up in the tabernacle for the people and then it grew as others added to it. And the New Testament author's added to it. It's a divine and human book and sometimes the divine author can intend more than the human author understands. And so I wanna keep that in mind, especially as we relate the Old Testament to the New Testament. Here's an example, a historical example, John 11th, one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year said to them, you know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people not that the whole nation should perish. Well he means just put Jesus to death and get him out of the way so the Romans don't bother us. But John says he did not say this of his own accord but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for the nation only but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. And in that sense, Jesus would die not just to get the Romans off our back or keep from stirring up civil disobedience or trouble but also in a way of earning us salvation. So God intended more than Caiaphas understood at that point. Here's another example of that. First Peter 1, 10 concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied, that's Old Testament prophets. Prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time, the spirit of Christ in them. So this is saying that Holy Spirit was working in the Old Testament prophets. What person or time, the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he, the Holy Spirit, predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. So here, he's saying that these Old Testament prophets weren't even sure what they were indicating, at least not in all the details. And then it was revealed to them these prophets that they were serving not themselves but you. So Isaiah was writing not just for his own time but God showed him that he had something of the future in mind he was serving not just himself or his own generation but you, this is Peter's readers in the first century in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. And here are some examples. The Lord himself will give you a sign behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. There was, of course, in the birth of Jesus a much greater fulfillment of that than anybody knew at the time of Isaiah or unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, a prediction ultimately of the Messiah, a prediction fulfilled in Jesus and Isaiah 53, these marvelous predictions about the death of Jesus in much detail. So the Old Testament prophets, we can see that God, the divine author, intended more than the Old Testament prophets understood. I don't think that God's intended meaning is ever less than or in contradiction to the human author's intended meaning but pointy above that we just talked about shows that God's intended meaning can sometimes be more than the human author intended. Sometimes be more than the human author intended, especially seeing it the scope of the whole Bible. And I didn't know, how am I doing on time? Yeah, I think we'll take a minute on this. There's one interesting case. Last week I said, well, you know, you get this business where you, you know, the students said I really meant to write true but I wrote false and now that's an extreme example but there are cases where you meant to say one thing and then you meant another. I was preaching on Joshua one time and then preaching on the parallel with Jesus and I got the words Joshua and Jesus mixed up and I didn't know I was doing it until Margaret told me afterward. You know, that, or well, we do that sometimes. We just, where it's obvious what we said wasn't the same quite as what we meant. And Georgian came to me afterwards and said, yeah, but that doesn't happen in the Bible, does it? And I thought about that and I actually wrote my friend Verin Poethrus an email out at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia who knows a lot more about this question. He knows a lot more about most things and I do, but he knows a lot more about this question of meaning and interpretation than I do. And so he's kind of had an input into this. But I think that's right. I think that the meaning that God wants us to understand is the human author's meaning sometimes more but not less. However, I thought of an interesting example of this. It didn't, it isn't a writer of the Bible but it's a story in the Bible where, let's see, there's Abraham and then Isaac and then Jacob. So Isaac wants to bless Esau but Isaac is old and he's almost blind. And so Jacob disguises himself like Esau and he comes and gets the blessing. And so here's what happens. Jacob comes disguised as Esau to Isaac his nearly blind father and Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, see, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. May God give you, now watch this word you. May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine, let people serve you. Now he's thinking you means Esau. Let people serve you, nations bow down to you. Be Lord over your brothers and may your mother's sons bow down to you cursed to be everyone who curses you and blessed be everyone who blesses you. The speaker's intent is that you equals Esau. But the plain meaning as he's got his hand on Jacob's head thinking that it's Esau. The plain meaning is you equals Jacob. And of course a few minutes later and then Jacob walks out, he's very happy. He's got the blessing and then Esau comes in and then Isaac says, who is it? Well, Esau is your son. And then Isaac starts to tremble because he knows he's been tricked. But that, then in the overall narrative, it's an unusual case. We don't have any possibility of misunderstanding because the biblical narrative lets us see what is happening. It is what in fact was prophesied long ago that the younger, that the older would serve the younger and God's purpose was being worked out even through the deception of Jacob. Kind of a hard thing to understand but we'll pass over that. But I just was saying here's some place where the author's, the speaker's meaning was different from God's meaning. He kind of overrode it. I don't think that happens in the Bible but it was an interesting puzzle anyway. I don't think that happens in the words of the Bible where God wants us to have a meaning different from what the human author understood. Okay, that was big picture number one. It's a historical document. So think of it that way. Big picture number two is the original authors who wanted the original readers to respond in some way. Just as we want readers to respond in some way to the things we write. When I send an email ordering some books, what's the response I want from the bookseller? Send me books. Of course, if I send an email encouraging someone, I want the person to feel encouraged. If I write a reference for a student to serve as an associate pastor in the church, what do I want the church to do? I hear the student usually. And if I can't write an honest recommendation for that then I'll usually tell a student I'm sorry. I just don't think I'd be good if I write the recommendation but if I write it, I want a response. I'm hoping that the pastor will hire that student. And so when you write something you want a response. That's the reason we write something and has a purpose for it. And so we should ask what response did the first author want from his readers? What application did the original author want the readers to make to their lives? What application? Here are a couple of examples. First in the David and Goliath one again. David trusted in the Lord to protect him and to work through the weapons and abilities that God had given him and God gave the victory. And so again we come back to this verse. David said, the Lord who delivered me from the Paul of the lion and from the Paul of the bearable village delivered me from the hand of the listing. The original readers of first Samuel, as Mark mentioned to me a minute ago, I think the author in recording that and actually God in sovereignly ordaining the events wanted the original readers to likewise trust in the Lord to protect them and look to David as an example. And trust in the Lord to work through the weapons or abilities God had given them and give them the victory in whatever situation they were in. Now how do I plot to my life? When I tell students how to seek application from a biblical text, I say, if you want to keep on the right track and application, first ask what application were the original readers supposed to make for their lives. Then if you get close to that, it'll keep you on the right track. So I think for us in a similar way, we too should trust in the Lord to protect us and work through the tools and abilities God has given us and give us victory in the task. So he calls us too. Then our application is in line with the intended application for the first author and the first readers. But then we say there are some differences in the New Testament tasks and quote weapons that he gives us. Paul says in the New Testament, though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging a war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to disappoint strongholds. We destroy arguments in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. Second Corinthians 10, three and four. So it's much more of a spiritual than a physical conflict, at least in most cases or in many cases, that we find ourselves in as Christians today.
There probably is application for, if God calls people to work as policemen or as soldiers, there might be a more direct application too in fighting evil physically. There's another example. Here's a story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. When Jesus had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus come out. And the man who had died came out and his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and seen what he did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done and then the Pharisees start to plot against Jesus to put him dead. Why did John mention the fact that there were some people who did not believe? There were some Jews who did not believe. Why did John put verse 46 in here? Now again, I'm asking, what application did John want his readers to make to their lives? What do you think? Okay, okay, okay, it's a personal decision to believe in Christ. It's one thing and he's calling them to make a decision. What other, what else? Sandy? Is that being miracle? Okay, they just saw Lazarus race from the dead. They didn't believe. Even seeing miracles doesn't automatically produce faith in people, it's a matter of the will, okay? Think about the original readers. These both are right. Anything else about the original readers? Anything else? What else did he want them to think? You think there were Jewish people around the original readers? People who were hostile to them in the first century church, okay, non-Christians, and they were maybe even opposing them. What did they want, what did the author want them, what did John want them to think? How about, well, this even happened with Jesus? So it's just kind of the way things are. But not everybody's gonna believe. And it ties in with what Sandy says. It's not automatic. You can see great miracle and still walk away in unbelief. So it ties into the Mark said, calling people to a personal decision, saying it's not automatic. Okay, there's the application to life. Here's another one. Whoa, to use scribes and Pharisees. Hippocrates says Jesus, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside there are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee. First cleanse the inside of the cup and the plate that the outside also may be clean. Whoa, to use scribes and Pharisees. Hippocrates, for you are like white wash tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within our full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also appear outwardly, outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Now what do you think about this application? The Pharisees were the religious leaders of that day. Therefore, these woes apply to pastors and Sunday school teachers today, full of greed and self-indulgence, full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. I mean, that's me. I'm talking about Sunday school teachers, all right? Religious leaders, aren't the Pharisees the religious leaders? What's wrong? What's wrong with that application? I've heard people do that. They go from the Pharisees right to religious leaders today, elders of the church of whom I happen to be one, and I'm a little uncomfortable with that application. What is wrong with this? Very specific. The Pharisees, it was very specific. There's certain kind of religious leaders. What was true of them? Shantel, they were deceitful, okay? He might say maybe our bad, okay, what's your name? Oliver, okay, they didn't have Christ in them. I think it's pretty clear in the whole narrative of Matthew that these Pharisees, that Jesus is opposing, these religious leaders had rejected Christ, and they were continually opposing him, and so be very careful about making a parallel to Christian leaders today who believe in Christ, it's not the same. Two different kinds of religious leaders. So there, again, helping us just think through, think through, and we had to ponder for a minute, and then the Verne says, wait a minute, those Pharisees didn't believe in Christ, and Al is saying that's a very specific kind of leader that we're talking about. Yes, it is, and it doesn't match. So then we don't make the application. Ooh, I'm glad. Because full of hypocrisy and all I'm cleanness and greed, and I didn't like that very much. Well, now, I should ask myself, is there any of that in my heart? I understand that we should all do that, but I don't think it's a direct application to say that religious leaders are all that way. Okay, that was big picture number two. Ask what the original author wanted the readers to do for an application to their lives. Big picture number three, the whole Bible is about God. You agree? Of course, it is. It's starting in the beginning, God, right? The whole Bible is about God. Therefore, always ask, what does this text tell us about God? Is that too small in the back? Rick and Bob Caden and Jarjan, can you read that? It's okay. What does this text tell us about God? So we go back to David and Goliath. David and Goliath's story, the point is not just that David had courage. Therefore, we should have courage. That's just human centered moralism. That's just using as a moralistic tale. There's some truth in that, but it's not getting at the heart of it at all. It's really not the point of the story. It's rather David trusted in God, and God gave him courage. And gave him victory over Goliath. It's right there in the text. It's again and again in the text. The text is God centered. The whole Bible is God centered, and if we start teaching the Bible in a way that isn't God centered, we start teaching it wrongly. Even to our children. I think we have to be very careful, not just to make these into moral stories. Oh, David was brave. You should be brave. It's no David trusted in God, and God gave him courage. And so you should trust in God too. Look at this, first Samuel 1613, go back a chapter of the Spirit of the Lord, rushed upon that David from that day forward. And then David comes and he finds Goliath is mocking and slandering God. And he said, who is this uncircumcised Philistine? But he should defy the armies of the living God. David has a zeal for God's honor. The Lord who delivered me, we talked about that from the lion and the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And David says to the Philistine, it comes out against Goliath. And he sees this giant standing there that nobody dares to fight. Said, you come to me with a sword and with spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand. And I will strike you down, cut off your head. And I'll give the dead bodies of the hosts of the Philistines, this day to the birds there, and the wild beast of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Not that all the earth may know that David is brave, or David is a good shot with a sling. No, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's. And he will give you into our hand. So that's the point. The point is the Bible's about God. And we should teach so that it's God-centered. So what's the full meaning of this text about David and Goliath? There is much when we start to unpack this text. First, God has chosen a man after his own heart to be king of Israel, and David is going to become king. And the point is God will establish the leaders he wants over his people. That's God-centered understanding. He will not fulfill his good purposes for history. And we can have sure confidence that his purposes will not fail. Number two, God-inoined and protected and empowered David to defeat the most powerful enemy of God's people, Goliath. So today, God is faithful to anoint, protect, and empower his people for whatever he tasks, he calls them to. We can trust him for that. Number three, no earthly power could stand against the Lord. Note the description of Goliath's size and his heavy armor and everything, but God protected and saved his people. And so today, no earthly power, no matter how mighty he can stand against the Lord. We should not fear the great powers of evil, but trust the even greater power of God. You see, we're having, it's God-centered. It's God-centered. That's the way the Bible is. Number four, David. David was zealous to defend God's honor. He trusted God to the point of putting his own life on the line and David rewarded David's faithfulness and obedience. Obedience, even unto death. Because David, I mean, he could have died. Everybody thought, hey, he's toast. He's a little tiny guy going out against that big giant. He's all done. He's walking into death. That's what they thought. In a way, he was putting his life on the line. God may sometimes call us to defend his honor. He may sometimes call us to trust him as we are obedient. Obedient, even unto the point of death, there's God-centered application. Number five, after the battle, God gave great honor to his anointed king and brought the people of God into a time of great harmony, peace, and blessing under the leadership of King David as we read the future chapters. So today, God will be faithful to blessed honor. Those who remain faithful to him, even unto death. Then James 1 and 12 talks about that. Okay, that was big picture number three, God-centered. Big picture number four, big picture number four, and with this we're going to have to end. The center, the center of the whole Bible is Jesus Christ. The Old Testament, it all looks forward to Jesus. It points to him and the New Testament flows from him and what he taught and what he did. Therefore, we should always ask in interpreting the Bible, what does this text tell us about the greatness of Christ? And I'm going to spend next week on this and the next week on this as well. Actually, this step should come before the application. I did in step three, the God-centered part, to show that the true application to our lives comes through Christ. Luke 24, 27, after his resurrection, it says, Jesus beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures, in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself and so it pointed to him. No, let's think about David and Goliath again. Does David and Goliath tell us anything about Jesus Christ? Well, who is David? David is the Lord's anointed, the servant of the Lord. He's going to be the king. Is there any way in which God was preparing his people for the Messiah by teaching them what the Messiah would be like through the lives of various historical figures? Yes, I think so. And so in light of New Testament teaching, we take the David and Goliath story and we can realize that this text tells us much about things yet to come. Number one, when I look at David and Goliath, it tells me in the light of New Testament fulfillment that God is going to choose someone yet greater than David, someone who is truly a man after God's own heart to be king of Israel forever. And I think the people on Palm Sunday realize that when they were out in the street welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem putting Palm branches to meet Him saying, Hosanna, blessed is you comes into the Lord, even the king of Israel. Now again, they may not have understood fully all that that meant, but there was a truth in it that even they didn't fully realize. The truth is that God will establish not David, but Jesus Christ as leader over all his people. He will not fail to fulfill his good purposes for history. We can have short confidence that God's purposes will not fail this purpose of choosing a yet greater king. Number two, God is going to anoint and protect and empower a coming Messiah who will defeat the most powerful enemy of God's people, Satan himself. And these points, one, two, three, four, five parallel, exactly the one, two, three, four, five in the previous section of the outline. So now I took the principle, the God-centered principle and I'm saying, hey, there's a greater fulfillment in Jesus in these principles. There's going to be a coming Messiah. And like the liar, Satan will hold God's people captive and will mock and slander God himself, but Jesus is coming, the Messiah. He will come and will defeat Satan and triumph over him and this coming Messiah will truly set God's people free and Satan will be defeated. Jesus said, by the Spirit of God, I cast out demons. The kingdom of God has come upon you. Genesis 3, 15 says that there was a seed of the woman, the descend of the woman who was going to come. He's going to bruise the head of the serpent. And Roman 1620 Paul says, God himself will soon crush Satan under your feet, the fulfillment in Christ of that promise. Number three, another application. No earthly power will be able to stand against the coming Messiah, just as no earthly power like the liar could stand against David. This Messiah will come in the strength and power of the Lord and defeat all his enemies and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords so we should not fear. Our Lord and King is not David, but Jesus Christ. No earthly power will stand against him. No power of evil will defeat him. When we see Goliath tumbling and falling, we should realize that Jesus is coming. He came once. He's going to come back in a greater fulfillment than the powers of evil and the powers of the enemy are going to fall. There's a Messiah coming who will like David, be zealous to defend God's honor. He will trust in God even to the point of putting his own life on the line like David did and this time he will die. But after he's obedient unto death, God will highly exalt him and Philippians two tells about that. He became obedient unto the point of death, even death on a cross. When I see David walking forth, laying down his life to the challenge Goliath, I think I should see there's a greater Messiah, a greater anointed one coming, a greater anointed one and that is Jesus himself who will put his own life on the line and win great victory. Then five, after the coming Messiah defeats all his enemies, God will empower him to bring his people to a time of great harmony, peace and blessing under the leadership of their eternal king. So just as David came into his kingdom and I see the piece of Israel spreading and the reign of David spreading throughout the book of 1 Samuel, I'm thinking you know what? There's a greater anointed one coming and that is Jesus Christ. He came once and he's coming again and in fact, the kingdom of this Lord, Revelation 1115, has become the kingdom of this world, has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever one greater than King David. Though Jesus in his first coming fulfilled many of these things, there's kind of a dual fulfillment here. So he will bring a yet greater fulfillment at his second coming. So I think of Jesus, I think of David defeating Goliath. I think also there's a greater fulfillment in Jesus who is going to come and mortally bruise the head of the serpent forever. He's going to come and truly set God's people free forever. He is going to come and reign over a kingdom that has no end greater than David's kingdom. He is going to come and God's people will sing his praises forever more. That's a God-centered and Christ-centered understanding of the story of David and Goliath. Quick question or two on that and then this is the morning we have to get out early. I know that was fast because I was trying to watch the clock here.
We'll pick up on more next week. Are you all right with this? My stretching the text. I think it's the greater purpose that God had in it in the story of David and Goliath. Let's sing.