1 Samuel 13:2-14 “Portraits of Faithfulness: Jonathan”

0:57Now, for most of my life, the only thing I'd ever heard about with the Surgeon General was those warning labels that they print on cigarettes, right? One of them says, Surgeon General's warning: Smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and may complicate pregnancy. Now, I'm actually thankful to the Surgeon General for these things because when I was a child, my brother and I harassed my parents to stop smoking because we could read. And so, you know, my dad is alive to. This day, and I'm grateful to the Surgeon General. Now, that's probably the only thing I really heard about the Surgeon General for like the vast majority of my life.

1:39But in 2023, the Surgeon General issued a report titled Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. In this report, it says, quote, lacking social connection is as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. And, quote, only 39% of adults in the United States said that they felt very connected to others. The American Friendship Project in 2024 reported that nearly half of adults and more than half of college students believe that it's difficult to make friends, and more than half of all people surveyed, 58% of adults and 65% of college students, say it was easier to make friends at, quote, another time of life, end quote. These aren't particularly cheery statistics.

2:28As a college professor, it turns out I spend a lot of time in rooms with lots of college students. At the beginning of each semester, I offer to my students the opportunity to meet up for lunch. I suppose that's a bit cosmically weird. When I was in college, I don't think I had lunch with any of my professors ever. But, you know, some bold students occasionally take me up on this offer, with some amount of regularity, actually. And sometimes we have conversations that center around internships and classes and things of that sort. And those conversations are. Good, but I also, you know, the reason I became a professor is to impact students with the gospel. And so I seek to have conversations with students about things that matter. And so one conversation starter that I find helpful is to ask students what they think is the good life, or like, what are you really hoping for in your life? I am convinced, and C.S. Lewis was convinced, that the good life comes from the quality of your relationships with God and with others. I have greatly admired the example of Jonathan and his friendship with David, and I was eager to be able to preach a sermon on this topic. Now, I am not actually a literature person. I'm an engineer, so I had to look up this term. But in movies, sometimes they start the movie at the end, and then they roll back to the beginning of the story. That's called a flash forward. So I'm going to give you a little flash forward on the life of Jonathan.

4:06And so this approach, incidentally, in case you were wondering, ChatGPT tells me that this is used to grab the audience's attention and create intrigue, encouraging them to stick around to see how the characters reach this pivotal moment. That's a direct quote. So I'm going to give you a flash forward, and we'll see what David said in the beginning of 2 Samuel about his friends. Jonathan. This is from 2 Samuel chapter 1. Jonathan lies slain on your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant you have been to me. Your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.

4:47Now, in our society, and particularly in my generation, we have an atrophied, shrunken view of male friendship and have idolized sexual fulfillment. You know, as I often say, the motto of America is life, liberty, and the pursuit of sexual gratification. So, some people will read into this text a sexual relationship between David and Jonathan. I don't see that in the text, and I think that's because we have lost sight, many of us, of biblical friendship. I aspire to be the kind of friend that Jonathan is, and I see him as a model of faithfulness in five different ways. So, Jonathan models faith, humility, friendship love, encouragement, and honoring parents. I'm going to go through each of those five things. We're going to start with Jonathan modeling faith.

5:44So, in the text that was read before the sermon, we see that Jonathan is a commander in the army of Israel, and he has defeated an outpost of the Philistines. The Philistines aren't particularly happy about that, and so they amass an army to crush Israel. Now, Saul was the king of Israel. Saul was not a particularly good king because Saul did not have faith. Right, so what is the key thing that God really wants from us?

6:31The key thing that God really wants from us is to believe him, to believe he is a good father, to believe that he is looking out for us. We see this beginning in the Garden of Eden. So, beginning in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve are there. And Satan comes and basically says, God is holding out on you. God is holding out on you. You can be like God if you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

7:00Did they believe what God said? No. They believed a lie. And to this day, we all share in that same sin. We believe that God is holding out on us, or that God doesn't really love us, or that we need to do things ourselves. Saul falls into this very thing. I get it. It's a hard time. You've got people hiding in cisterns because they're. Scared of the invading army. Now, he's supposed to wait seven days for Samuel to come. The seven days are up.

7:42So, obviously, the right thing for him to do is to offer the offering to the Lord because he needs to seek the Lord's favor before going into battle. But then it's like hand with, you know, hand caught in the cookie jar. Samuel shows up just as he finishes and tells Saul, for this reason, the kingdom is taken away from you and your family, and will be given to someone better, who will be a man after God's own heart, who will be David. Now, Saul's son is Jonathan.

8:26Now, I was chatting with my own son before the service. We were talking about who Jonathan was, Jonathan being a prince in Israel. Jonathan is in line to be king. And we will see here in this first little section that Jonathan is a man of faith. If we go on to just flip the page to 1 Samuel 14, I'll start here in verse 6. Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for not Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. This is a man who believes in God and believes God can bring deliverance.

9:11And his armor-bearer said, Do all that's in your heart, do as you wish. Behold, I am with you, heart and soul. Then Jonathan said, Behold, we'll cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say, wait until we come up to you, then we will stand in our place, and we will not go up. But if they say, come up to us, then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us. So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have been hidden.

9:47And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. Which basically means we're going to beat you up. And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel. Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer bearer killed them after him.

10:11And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about 20 men, within, as it were, half a furrow's length and an acre of land. And there was panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earthquaked, and it became a very great panic. So Jonathan, man of faith, goes with his armor-bearer, climbs up, attacks, kills 20 Philistines. This, in some sense, is a man who deserves to be king, right? He's the son of the king, and he's a man who exhibits faith. And what does Hebrews 11, 6 tells us? And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists, and he rewards those who seek him. Again, I cannot emphasize enough, if you like, probably, you know, I have five points, but if you only want to remember one of them, then what I would encourage you to remember is that God desires faith. God desires faith. What is the gospel? The gospel is that God sent his son Jesus, and if we believe in him, if we have faith in him, that's not just intellectual assent, but if we really put our trust in Jesus, then we will be restored to right relationship with God and spend eternity with him. And if you have not done that, I would encourage you to do so today. Come see one of us after the service and talk about it.

11:50That faith is not just a one-time buying of fire insurance. That faith should impact our lives daily. Just as it did here for Jonathan. You know, recently I gave a teaching on prayer, and I asked the people, I won't do this now, don't worry. I asked the people, where have you seen God answer your prayers? And so people answered, well, you know, I got a job, I got an internship, I passed an exam. And what made me a little sad about this was every one of the things that they cited as God answering their prayers were things they could just as easily have explained as I worked hard.

12:34And so these people weren't really seeing God accomplishing great things today. Do you actually believe that God still is at work today? Do you have faith that He cares about you and your concerns? Do you think that God can still heal? Do you think that God can still do miracles? You know, I had a friend who went to Cleveland, which is always a bad idea, no matter what Drew Carey thinks. And so, in penalty for his sin, his car was stolen.

13:10And so he says, like, y'all need to pray for my car. And I'm like, your car is gone, dudes. Time to go to the car bar and get a new one or a used one for a better value. So, what ends up happening, though? People with greater faith. Faith than me, pray, and he gets his car back. How many people get their car back after it's been stolen? Like nobody. Or, you know, I have seen people who receive prayer and are healed. God is still doing great things today, and we should, as Jonathan, believe that God is at work in the world. Are you praying for opportunities to talk about Jesus with your colleagues? Do you believe that God will actually bring hardened people to repentance? Do you pray for your neighbors? Do you pray for your family members? Have you given up hope on a particular persistent sin in your own life? You're like, ah, pornography is too hard. I can't get rid of that. Alcohol is too hard. I can't get rid of that. Do you have faith like Jonathan that God is still at work today?

14:30So, my second point is on humility. Recall Jonathan. Jonathan is a person of faith. He is right with God, unlike his father Saul. He has the birthright. He is the firstborn son of the king. Now, I know that it's been a couple hundred years since we had a king here in the United States, but let me explain to you how it works. You have a king. The king has a son. That person's king. Person has a son. That person's king. That's how it works. Jonathan, however, has humility. He knows that God has a different plan. He knows that God has a different plan. Saul has been told this thing. David shows up on the scene, and in 1 Samuel 17, David becomes a hero. I won't read you this story because it's fairly familiar. David becomes a hero by killing the giant Goliath, who is taunting the Israelite army. I mean, I find it vaguely interesting that Jonathan is there, and Jonathan doesn't go kill Goliath.

15:43Jonathan sees a person with greater faith, one whom God has chosen, and instead of being jealous, he becomes that person's best friend. I'll read to you from the beginning of 1 Samuel chapter 18. As soon as David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. Now that sounds actually. A little bit weird. So let me just pause there. What was Jonathan wearing? Jonathan was wearing the clothes of a prince. Jonathan was wearing the clothes of a prince. And who should have the clothes of the prince? Who should have the armor of the prince? The one God has chosen to be the prince.

16:55Jonathan doesn't hold on to that thing for himself, but he gives it freely to his friend David. Saul was rejected as king because of his unfaithfulness. Jonathan, as my son rightly said, it's not fair. It's not fair that Jonathan gets judged for his father's sin. But Jonathan doesn't see it that way. Jonathan sees God at work and lines up behind it. So, what do you do when people's accomplishments exceed your own? What about if somebody else at the office gets a promotion that you wanted, or an award, or a better grade on an exam? Or what about those annoying people that have it all together? I used to teach at the United States Air Force Academy, and so There's this it I don't know how to make this sound humble. Sorry But I was known for being smart You know I have this cute piece of marble in my office here at Texas AM that they gave me when I left the Air Force Academy and one of the things it says on it is the man who knows how to divide by zero Right, so there's another guy in my department and it turns out that he was really smart too and you know what he was in the Air Force which meant he was athletic and could pass the physical fitness test I could not pass the physical fitness test and you know he he wore a uniform so he got more respect than I did because I was a civilian and there you know wasn't as cool. So it was often and worse yet worse yet he was a Christian and taught Bible studies like I did I don't know it was like me plus plus if you're like a programmer like C So what do you what do you do with a person like that right? Do you bitterly resent that they have more than you?

19:30Or are you their friend? That's a real challenge. I'll just let you know: we were friends. It was a challenge for me. I'm not going to lie, because it's easy to want to be the best and to be awesome and to be admired. But Jonathan models this humility, and I would encourage you, when you're dealing with the people who are getting the things you want or look better than you somehow, to be their friend and be humble and to look and be grateful for what God is doing in their lives.

20:08So, the third thing that Jonathan models is the love of a friend. The love of a friend. In 1 Samuel 20, David seeks Jonathan's help because Saul's intent to kill David becomes evident. So, David, you know, they sing of David: Saul has killed his thousands, and David is tens of thousands. Saul wasn't paying attention during that previous point in the sermon, so he had a solution to this problem, which was we should kill David to preserve the kingdom.

20:43So he says to Jonathan that he's going to kill him, and Jonathan's not happy about that because David hasn't done anything wrong. In this particular section here, though, Saul. Saul has hidden his intent to kill David. David knows about it. Jonathan is skeptical, but agrees to test Saul's disposition during the new moon feast. They devise a little plan where David's going to be away. And when Saul asks about it, Jonathan's going to learn his intent. And then Jonathan will signal David about his intentions with the boy in the arrows. It's a great story if you want to read that: the boy in the arrows. Actually, I'll read it a little bit for you.

21:31So, 2 Samuel 1, we talked about, whoops, turns out you have to flip the page. All right, so 2 Samuel, or 1 Samuel 1, chapter 20, beginning verse 30. Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do you not know that you've chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die. Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, Why should he be put to death? What has he done? But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death, and Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate me. Food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David because his father had disgraced him.

22:38Jonathan is a good friend to David here. We've talked about his humility. It would be very easy for him to let Saul kill David and be next in line to be king. He, in some sense, gives us an image of the love of Christ, in that he is willing to lay down his life for his friend. John 15, Jesus tells us, verse 12 and 13, This is my command that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

23:21Even though Jonathan faces potential death from his father, he is a loyal friend. Proverbs 27, 10 tells us, to not forsake your friend and your father's friend, and don't go near your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away. Proverbs 17, verse 17 says, A friend loves at all time, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. And in Ecclesiastes 4, 9 and 10, it says, Two are better than one. Because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

24:13I think probably many of us, and many of the people that you encounter, given what the Surgeon General said, long for this kind of friend, someone who's going to be with us in times of trouble, someone who would lay down their life for us. What I would encourage you, though, is instead of looking to find this kind of friend, look to be this kind of friend. Look to be this kind of friend. And so, one of the things that I discovered when I was in grad school was I would talk to lots of people, and there seemed to be many people who were lonely. And the thing that seemed to be really the prevailing theme is that they were busy looking for someone to be that friend for them, to fill the need, instead of them seeking to be that kind of friend for others.

25:23And so, Jonathan really models being this kind of friend. And what is one of the key things? That this kind of friend should do is encourage. And Jonathan is a model of encouragement and encouraging his friend in the Lord. In 1 Samuel 23, we've jumped forward a bit. Saul has been basically chasing David around the countryside for quite some time, trying to kill him. Beginning verse 15, there, David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul, my father, also knows this. And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horish, and Jonathan went home. So even in the midst of Saul seeking to chase David around to take his life and kill it, Jonathan takes time to go remind his friend David about the promises of God. That even in this hard time, Jonathan knows and is confident that God will fulfill his promises.

26:53So we, as friends, should, when we see our friends going through hard times, Encourage them and remind them that God always fulfills his promises. I have several more exhortations here on encouragement from 1 Thessalonians 5, starting in verse 9. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

27:36God has not destined the people of faith for his wrath. He has destined us for salvation. He has destined us to spend eternity with him. We should encourage each other with these words. In Hebrews 3, beginning verse 12, take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Sin is very tricky.

28:14Sin presents to you things that look good. What was the fruit in the garden? It was pleasing to the eye. The sins that you may be struggling with, whether it be Holding on to anger, sexual sin, holding too tightly to money and not being charitable. These things look pleasing. They look pleasing, but they're ultimately like being in the middle of the ocean, being thirsty, and drinking the ocean water. They do not satisfy. They may seem good for a moment.

28:57But what scientists tell me, I'm not a doctor, I don't play one on TV, though I do have doctor in front of my name, but it's not that kind. But what scientists tell me is when you pee, there's like a certain salination of pee that has to come out of you. And so in order to maintain that level of salination, you actually have to take more water out of your body to pee out the ocean water. So another key point, if you're ever stuck in an ocean, don't drink the water. You learned that today.

29:28All right, so sin is going to present to you something that looks good. Encourage each other. Remind each other. Sin never delivers on its promises. God always delivers on his promises. Sin never delivers on its promises. Hebrews 10, 24, 25. And let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as You see the day drawing near.

30:03How do you talk to the people around you? How do you talk to your friends, your colleagues, the folks at your life group? Are you spurring people on to love and good works? Are you encouraging them to walk further and deeper with Jesus? Or are you chatting about the football? I hear there's some football going on. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with watching football, incidentally, as long as that's not the focus of your life. It's not the first thing that you talk to people about. You should have your words seasoned with the gospel at all times. You should be pointing people to become more and more like Jesus day by day.

30:50So you might want to make a priority of spending time encouraging people in their walk and being encouraged by them in your walk. So I have friends that I meet with every week, some people physically, some people virtually, to talk and to pray. Over Christmas, I spent part of my time texting some of the students that I work with, encouraging them to remember to continue to spend time with Jesus. I find that usually when a college student goes home for Christmas, their routine goes.

31:25And so rather than, as you might expect, having all this extra time and spending time, All that extra time spending time in prayer and Bible study, they end up spending like zero time in prayer and Bible study because they've lost all their structure. So make a priority. Put set times in your schedule to encourage people. Maybe you just have little set times in your schedule to text people, to encourage them with verses you've been reading. Maybe you have dedicated times of prayer and sharing. But make a priority in your life to encourage people and point people to being more like Jesus.

32:02And then the last thing that I'm going to point out that Jonathan models is honoring his parents. Jonathan had a loser dad. Like, I don't know if you've caught that so far, but Jonathan had a loser dad who was a bad example and not a person of faith. Now, if I had that situation and my best bud was going to be king, I think I might have skedaddled. Right? Like, I'm out of here, pops. I'm going to go hang with my pal and see ya.

32:41But Jonathan doesn't do that. Jonathan is faithful to his father, honoring him even to the point of death. And in chapter 31, the Philistines were fighting against Israel. And the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malcheshua, the sons of Saul. The command from Scripture in Deuteronomy 5 is Jean Ram 5:16, honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

33:31So, God wants us to honor our parents and promises to reward us if we honor our parents. This might be hard if your parents don't seem worthy of honor, but even if you have parents who don't seem worthy of honor, you can obey God by showing honor to them. Even if they're making ungodly choices, if they're going through a divorce, whatever, you should make a point to show honor to your parents, spend time with them, pray for them.

34:12So, I hope that as we have walked through the life of Jonathan, that it has been an encouragement to you. Jonathan is my favorite Old Testament character, and I think he is a tremendous example for us all. Let's pray. God, we thank you for today. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the example of Jonathan. Lord, I pray that you would use what we've talked about today to change us, to make us more like Jesus, that we would be this kind of friend and encourage others and be humble, honor our parents, show faith. God, I thank you for all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

34:59Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.