then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor come let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised may be but the Lord will work for us for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few please come with me to our reading 1 Samuel chapter 14 now in Israel things are bad how bad well the land is occupied by the philistines who dominate at will and Saul king of israel is weak and ineffective he's conducting a guerrilla war at the face of the overwhelming might of the philistines most of the men of israel are in hiding and even if they chose to stand and fight we're told chapter 13 verse 22 they haven't got any weapons so things really are bad in fact they're worse because as if this wasn't enough in the hour of crisis we read in chapter 13 Saul refuses to obey the Lord so when we come to chapter 14 things really are bad a rejected king ruling over a crumbling kingdom but against this gloomiest of backdrops we now witness the brightness of the Lord's deliverance for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few so we have three points this morning point number one let's remind ourselves what happens what does happen verse one now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor come let us go over to the Philistines garrison that is on the other side but he did not tell his father why didn't he tell his father because he knew what his father Saul would say which is no don't go anyway where is his father verse 2 and Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree so whilst Jonathan says come let's go Saul is sitting down the narrative is making a point isn't it while faith goes unbelief sits. After all, says unbelief, what can you do? Verse 2, with only 600 men. And who's with Saul? Verse 3, Ahijah, the son of Ahitu, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord's priest in Shiloh. If we turn back a few pages in 1 Samuel, we discover that Eli's family have been rejected by the Lord from the priesthood. So do you see, sitting under this pomegranate tree here is the leadership of Israel, a rejected king, a rejected priest and 600 men doing nothing. But Jonathan is secretly on the move and verses 4 and 5 he draws near to the Philistine garrison. Now do you see the picture? There's a deep valley with steep sides. On top of the cliffs on the north side is the Philistine garrison and approaching from the south side is Jonathan and his armor-bearer and between Jonathan and his armor-bearer coming from the south and the Philistines in the north between them is this deep ravine and the names of the rock faces tell us everything verse 4 the name of one was Bozes the name of the other was Senna so as Jonathan approaches from the south facing him is the rock face Bozes meaning slippery and on his side the rock face is called Senna meaning thorny so do you see if Jonathan is to attack the Philistines if he's to negotiate that ravine it's going to be the thorny way down and the slippery way up would you try it? in your state? In other words, this ravine is impassable. No one is going to attack from that side. That's why the Philistines are very relaxed. They feel their position, at least from that area, is impregnable. And it certainly looks that way. But that's not the way that faith looks at it, is it? Verse 6, Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armour, Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few." Now why is Jonathan so keen to attack? Well, whose land is this? It's the land that God has given to his people. But who's sitting in it? It's the uncircumcised Philistines. They're uncircumcised. These are people who do not have a covenant with God. They've no right to be there. this land belongs to the covenant people of God this is our land Jonathan is saying God says so yes but Jonathan there are just two of you what did Joshua say all those years ago in the conquest of the promised land one man of you shall chase a thousand for the Lord your God is he who fights for you as he has promised you Jonathan did you hear that? one shall chase a thousand those are the Lord's odds if he fights with you and for you and there are two of us so come on let's go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised it may be that the Lord will work for us for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few do you see here is a young man impressed with the reality of God who takes God at his word. Verse 7, so as Armour-Bearer said to him, do all that is in your heart go then here am I with you according to your hearts. So verse 8, the two of them step forward in faith whatever their senses tell them of the overwhelming power of the Philistines, the overwhelming odds, the impossibility of the terrain they have a sixth sense that makes them aware of the unseen it's called faith God is more real to them than all else and so they step forward in faith now then, aren't they being a bit presumptuous? No This may be an audacious move, but it's not a presumptuous one. Why? Because Jonathan leaves the door open for God to say no. He says, verse 6, maybe the Lord will work for us. Implication, maybe the Lord won't work for us. So Jonathan has no doubt about the power of the Lord, but he confesses that the Lord is free to say no. So how would Jonathan know if the Lord is saying yes or no? Well, he sets down the condition, doesn't he, in verse 8? Then Jonathan said, very well, let us cross over to these men and we will show ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, wait until we come to you and we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. But if they say thus, come up to us, then we will go up. the Lord has delivered them into our hand and this will be a sign to us well verse 11 Jonathan and his armor bearer come into view and surprise surprise the Philistines have a go don't they verse 11 look the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they've hidden look what's come crawling out but look what they say next verse 12 then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor bearer and said come up to us and we will show you something yes come here they're saying and we'll teach you a lesson yes if they say come up to us that's exactly what they have said it's the green light it's the Lord's yes and Jonathan knows it. Jonathan said to his armor bearer, come up after me for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel. The Philistines invitation to come up is the Lord's invitation to attack the Philistines. So verse 13, they shin up the sippery rock face and having scaled the heights they then launch themselves at the Philistines. Now it's a two-man blitzkrieg Jonathan, as it were, is the iron fist and he fells them and as the armour bearer comes up behind him he finishes them off. The ground in front of Jonathan becomes a killing zone. Verse 14, the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armour bearer made was about 20 men within about half an acre of land. Now the Philistines apparently hold all the aces. What would you expect to come from this two man suicide raid? when you see it, you're just going to say, oh well let's just send half a dozen other big big fellas over, that'll sort it out and so when out of nothing Jonathan assaults them with such ferocity and there are already 20 Philistine dead lying perhaps the best of their troops a degree of panic sets in but the panic now multiplies because it's at this moment, verse 15, that God himself intervenes How? With an earthquake. And there was trembling in the camp, verse 15, in the field and among all the people. The garrison, the raiders also trembled and the earth quaked. So it was a very great trembling. And those last words can equally be translated, and the earth quaked, resulting in a trembling sent by God. So do you see? Jonathan makes the first blow. but as the shockwaves ripple out amongst the Philistines so they're magnified by an earthquake, a terror sent by God. And the result? Panic! Confusion! Now verse 16, word gets back to Saul. Something's obviously going on. Something's obviously happening in the camp of the Philistines. Looks like it's being attacked. Can't quite see from this distance but something's going on. Attacked but by who? who attacked the Philistine garrison? Well, who's not here? Let's call the roll. Verse 17. And when they had called the roll, surprisingly, Jonathan and his armour-bearer were not there. Would you believe it? It's my own son and his armour-bearer. The secret's out. Now what will Saul do? Will he rush to Jonathan's aid? verse 18, and Saul said to Ahijah, bring the ark of God here. In other words, let's not be too hasty about this, let's inquire of the Lord. Now isn't that bizarre? Here's the man who's been sitting doing nothing this is the man who doesn't want to know what God's will is otherwise he'd be doing it now in the hour of crisis when God is saving Israel the best Saul can say is, well let's have a prayer meeting, let's not be too hasty about this it's just a superficial cloak to hide his unbelief but verse 19, at least Saul is consistent in his inconsistency because having said let's find out what the Lord thinks of this he now changes his mind He says, oh, we haven't got time for all this. Verse 19, he says, withdraw your hand to the priest. Come on! Verse 20, and Saul and all the people who were with him assembled and they went to the battle. And though the men of Israel are few, the Lord sown such panic and confusion among the Philistines that we read every man's sword was against his neighbor. The Philistines are turning on each other, they're fighting with each other. Well, everyone loves a winner. so before long others are joining in the victory bandwagon we read verse 21 Hebrews who switch sides to collaborate with the Philistines they've seen which way the wind is blowing and they now switch back and join in with Jonathan and Saul and verse 22 from out of the woodwork crawl all the men of Israel who had hidden away from the Philistines are driven back. Verse 23, so the Lord saved Israel that day. And the spark which ignites all of this? Jonathan. A young man impressed with the reality of God who takes God at his word. Point number one, what happens? Point number two, why does it happen? One word. Faith. Why does Saul sit and Jonathan go? And it's stressed, isn't it? In verses 1 and 6, Jonathan goes. Come, he says, let us go. He says it twice. Why does Saul sit and Jonathan go? Just one reason. Faith. Saul lives by sight. What do his eyes tell him? The problems are insurmountable, there's nothing to be done, so go and sit down. Jonathan too has eyes, but he doesn't live by them. He lives by faith. The God he cannot see is more real to him than the difficulties he can see. which is why he says come let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised it may be that the Lord will work for us for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few in the front of his mind is not the Philistine garrison but the Lord and everything is revolving around that that's the axis upon which his world turns the Lord not his circumstances Now, do we know faith like that? How do you describe Jonathan's faith? Ovationous? Daring? Some people are born optimists. They always look on the bright side. Is that what Jonathan is doing? He's just optimistic about the situation. What does he say? For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. There might only be two of us, but with God nothing is impossible. If God is going to save, nothing can stop him. He can do it by many, he can do it by few, even just two. So let's go. How else would you describe his faith? Imaginative? Who would dream? of attacking the Philistines. Who would have dreamed of attacking the Philistines in that particular way? It may be that the Lord will work for us. He's using his imagination, isn't he? Christian friends, a sanctified imagination will venture far on that word, maybe. So let's go. And the other words come to mind. Well, his faith is submissive, isn't it? Jonathan doesn't say, well, God must save. His faith is not assertive, dogmatic, he doesn't sort of name and claim. No, it may be that the Lord will work for us. I don't doubt the Lord's powers, says Jonathan, but it may please our sovereign king to say no. But who knows? Until we get off our bottoms, so let's go. And his faith is self-forgetting. Jonathan, it's far too dangerous. You can't go up that slippery cliff face. You need a hard hat on, don't you? You need to do a risk assessment. Maybe put some scaffolding there first to help you on your way up. And anyway, Jonathan, what if you fail? And do you have to be so confrontational with these Philistines? they might kill you. But you see, his faith gives him a holy recklessness. Those who worry about those things, those who worry about the cost, you go and sit down. As for me, let's go. And his faith is not bothered by this world's mocking laughter. Verse 11, look the Hebrews, the word Hebrew is a term of abuse. The ones who were slaves in Egypt. Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they've hidden. Here come the losers. In fact, their disdain is Jonathan's cue for action, isn't it? And the men of the garrison caught Jonathan in his arms and said, come up to us and we will show you something. We're going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget. They're having a go, they're laughing, they're mocking, aren't they? For this is cue for action. John says to Zerubbara, come up after me. The Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel. Come on, let's go. And one more thing to say about Jonathan's faith, which is, it's a faith which is jealous for the honor and glory of God. Isn't it? Jonathan is not after personal glory. He's saying, look, these are the uncircumcised Philistines. Who are we? We are the covenant people of God. Which we serve the true God. They serve Dagon. Is Dagon greater than our God? Will the Philistines dominate at will? While the Lord's cause lies in the dust? Will men mock the true God, the God of Israel, while we go and run and hide? He sees through the flesh and blood to the underlying spiritual realities. Come up after me for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel. And walking by faith, the results are spectacular, miraculous, wonderful. The writer of the Hebrews, he speaks of Jonathan, doesn't he? He says, and what more shall I say? For the time would fail to tell of Gideon, and Baruch, and Samson, and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel, the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight, the armies of the aliens. When the unbelieving sit and do nothing, as it says in Daniel, the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits. The people who know their God. The people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits. Christian friends, faith come let us go over to the garrison these uncircumcised it may be that the Lord will work for us for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few now Christian friends if you look at the state of this country the temptation is to find a pomegranate tree and sit down things are dark aren't they? things are very dark and the shadow is growing Now, we must be careful with our parallels. 21st century Britain is not Israel. We're not a theocracy. But you'll understand when I say the Philistines dominate at will. And the kingdom of God in this country is, to all appearances, in retreat. And many of the people of God have neither the weapons nor the will to fight for its advance. So what should we do? Find a pomegranate tree? Sit down with Saul? Christian friends, do you ever think there's been an easy time to serve the Lord? People talk about some sort of mythical age, don't they? It's always not my time, it's always a previous time when somehow it was easier to serve the Lord. It's never been easy to serve the Lord. There's never been an age where we can, as it were, puff out our chests and stride down the street and say, it's easy to be a Christian today. And if these are difficult days, and particularly difficult days, well, so what? These are the days I've been given. Is my faith to be so unheroic that the slightest sign of difficulty? I'm no longer out and out for Jesus. waiting for an easier time before I can serve him. Are there strongholds of Satan? Are they many? Are we few? 1 Samuel chapter 14 tells me that those are the odds the Lord likes and he's looking for those who will venture all on his word who refuse to go and sit down with Saul but who go with Jonathan Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. Oh, Christian friends, for faith like Jonathan. Jonathan dared. Do we? Do we dare to do the unthinkable? For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. Jonathan was imaginative. He catches everyone off guard. I love what his armour bearer says, verse 7. So his armour bearer says to him, do all that is in your heart, go then, here am I with you, according to your heart. He says, I like what you tell me. Go and take on the Philistines, I am with you, that's a great idea, come on, let's go. Well, Christian friends, for a sanctified imagination, that ventures all, that's prepared to risk it, for the glory of God. It may be that the Lord will work for us. How far are you willing to venture on that word, maybe? And Jotham was submissive, wasn't he? And we must be. Yes, the Lord may say no. But they don't sit there waiting, don't they, because he'll probably say no. They go. And it's only when they go that they discover actually the Lord has opened the door for them. They don't find out before and until they go. Only then, when they've actually got there, shown themselves, does John then say, ah, come up after me for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel. So Christian friends, we will be submissive, we must be submissive. But let not the fear of failure, let not the fear of No, let not the fear of, well, maybe it's unlikely that God would be with us in such a situation to do such a thing. Let not that stop us from going forward in faith. And Christian friends, like Jonathan, there'll be danger. If you go in faith, you will get hurt. But all for a holy recklessness that doesn't mind the thorny way down. on the slippery way up and hand-to-hand combat that sees the opportunities of the day not just the difficulties and the dangers. Christian friends, are we going to mind their mockery? Are we? When they say, oh, come up to us and we'll show, we'll teach you a lesson, we'll show you something. Think of Richard Dawkins' scorn See, written in the God Delusion, the whole point of religious faith, he says, its strength and chief glory is that it does not depend upon rational justification. Richard Dawkins having a little chuckle. We don't mind their laughter, do we? We don't mind their derision, their scorn. We'll simply take it as our cue for action. Now's the time when we stand up and go forward for the Lord. And Jonathan was jealous for the honour of the Lord. Does the honour of the Lord keep you awake at night? Does it keep you awake? We must do something. We must stir ourselves. God's glory is at stake. I can't rest. Paul goes to Athens, doesn't he? He sees the place is given over to a forest of idols and he's oppressed by it. His spirit is restless. I can't leave it like this. I must go to where the people are and I must debate with them and I must tell them about the true and the living God. I can't leave it like this. Does it keep you awake at night? God's honour. God's glory. Does that constrain you to risk everything for the kingdom of God? So, Christian friends, let's not sit with disobedient souls. come let's go with Jonathan. Our warfare is not against flesh and blood but as we wield the sword of the Spirit it may please God to take those first few blows and so magnify them that strongholds of Satan are thrown into panic and confusion and sinners are saved and the kingdom of darkness is thrown into retreat. And the churches of Jesus Christ are revived to the glory of God. So the Lord saved Israel that day. So to point number three. What happens? Why does it happen? Who makes it happen? Verse six. the job is said to the young man who bore his armor one young man speaks to another young man and under God two young men make it happen so under 35s younger people you were wondering what I was going to say well I'm saying it now did you know about 40 of our church members are 30 or under. And I baptise nearly 30 of you. It thrills my soul to see you. Sometimes pastors tell me that they've met some of you at conferences and spoken to you. And I'm so happy to say, yes! That's our young people! They're from Amien Park Chapel, they're ours! You love to feel proud? I am proud sometimes and thrilled about it. there are times when I've fretted over some of you and some of you I still fret over that you would go on in the Christian life but like Paul I can say I thank God for every remembrance of you and I do that sounds like the sort of thing you say just before you put the boot in, doesn't it? but it's not because I want to exhort you this morning to be like Jonathan Do you see, Jordan was a young man, and like a young person, what did he have? He had energy, strength, daring, earnestness, zeal, and under God he had a holy recklessness. There was nothing that he wasn't prepared to do, whatever the risk, for the kingdom of God. An older man wouldn't have done it. An older man couldn't have done it, he'd never even Get up that rock face, would he? This great act of faith, this wonderful holy recklessness, was accomplished by a young person. Now, young people, it's great to be young. You feel at times you can take on the world. And that's a gift from God to youth. But see how Jonathan uses it. Now, never again will you know such energy, and yes, time, and daring, and a willingness to rise to a challenge. It's a gift that God gives to youth. He takes it away as you get older. You will have it. You don't know you have got it until you start to lose it. But energy, time, daring, a willingness to rise to a challenge, they're gifts from God to youth. and what challenges the kingdom of God sets before you so what are you doing with your youth? you haven't got it forever now you can sit down with Saul or you can go with Jonathan so are you sitting down? are you sitting comfortably? the young people of this world are infected with a disease with a malaise It's called, What's in it for me? The young people of this world say, youth is my time. This is for me. To indulge myself. These are my years. To be spent on me. To enjoy myself. It's a responsibility free zone. I'm free, I'm young. That's what the people of the world say. Don't go and sit down with them. don't say well I'll serve God when I'm older Jesus Christ was a young man and for Jesus there was no older was there and for the Christian young person there can be no older only now only today when I graduated I almost stumbled into a PhD not because I was interested because I wanted to stay a student. I didn't want to grow up. I liked that world where nothing was expected of me. I didn't have to be anywhere at any particular time, I suppose the lectures and so on, but it was a great world to be in. Nothing's expected, no responsibility, I'm free, no one's checking up on me. I liked that world. So I've come to the end of it, three more years doing a PhD. So then my mother said to me, what, not three years? There's nothing wrong with PhDs incidentally, but for me it would have been three years of killing time, three years of avoiding my responsibility, three years somehow later to go and make up. So don't sit down musing over what you might one day do for Jesus. Is that what Jonathan does? Is it? Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be the Lord will work for us. He's talking about today. He's talking about now. What I'm doing for the Lord today. You'll never have these years again. The decisions you make for Christ now will change the rest of your life. If you're not out and out for Jesus now, why do you expect to be serving Him in ten years time? So live for Jesus now. Give all to Jesus now. Give your reckless years to being reckless for Jesus Christ. Let the kingdom of God shape everything. From the friends that you choose, the ambitions that you nurse, to the way you spend your Saturday night. Don't kill time. Don't say, this is my time. This is a gift pressed into your hands by the Lord. Youth. He says, use it for me. Come, let us go. Now in churches everywhere, and there are loads of conferences and books being written and there was a little mini conference this week and there was a big discussion about it people are asking where are the leaders where are the disciple makers of tomorrow everyone's asking it because there are churches with no young people where are the leaders going to come from where are these examples of disciple makers well young people if it's not from you it's no one when I came to Emile Park Chapel I was 31 years old Mandy was 26 and 15 years have gone like that your turn to lead to be examples to be disciple makers will come much sooner than you think so are you ready now Are you serving the Lord in this local church today? Who knows what God might do through you if your life is surrendered to him? Maybe someone's thinking, well I'm not a Jonathan. How do you know? I was at a conference earlier this week in South Wales, there were about 30 of us there. and one of the youngest was a pastor of a church in the valleys. He was just 27 years old. He said he left school with no qualifications at all and got a single GCSE. He got nothing. No qualifications. No prospects. Until what? Until God put him in his school. And there he is now, pastoring a flock, preaching the gospel, seeing people saved. You may feel I've got nothing. Wait till God puts you in his school. If you've got a heart for God, if you've got a heart and a love for people, who knows what God will do with you and where you'll end up. Anyway, even if you're not a Jonathan, didn't Jonathan need an armour bearer? He's more than just a caddy, isn't he? Wandering behind him with sort of a few swords and shields. But what he says, verse 7, he says, do all that is in your heart, go then, here am I with you, according to your heart. Ah, he says, I'm with you. Your heart and my heart, they beat together, they beat as one. I can't do what you can do, Jonathan, but I'll be right behind you every step of the way. Who knows, you may well be a Jonathan, great in faith and daring and obedient, but if you're not a Jonathan, God can make you an armor bearer and you can take your place alongside those who are taking the attack to the enemy now young people especially I want to say to the young men the young men young men did you know that people talk about you I'm on the phone emails, conversations, people come and talk to me about the young men at Amien Park Chapel. Pastors elsewhere have met you. Talk to me about the young men. About how many young men we have. About what you could do with those young men. So it's time we did something with you, isn't it? Soon we'll be announcing a meeting to which all interested young men are invited. Suspects are you all there? I will set before you a program of opportunities. Opportunities to learn, to serve, to grow, to lead. Are you the potter? You're the clay. to be ready to be shaped and molded by God into Jonathans and armor-bearers who knows what God might do with you so please don't sit down. George Whitfield, how old are you? 22? Preach the gospel in the open air? Sit down. Martin Luther, do you really think you can stand up to the most powerful institution in the world, the Holy Catholic Church, and you're not yet 30? Sit down! William Carey, you say to me, expect great things from God, attempt great things for God. What are your age? You need to listen to that rebuke that older brother gave you. Do you remember what he said to you? He said, young man, sit down, sit down. You're an enthusiast. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he'll do it without your aid or mine. And Mr. Ann Myram Judson, how old are you? You're just 23. And you're going to sail across the other side of the world to a region that no one knows anything about and you're going to go and preach the gospel to those people, are you? And you're going to take your wife with you? think of the danger sit down settle down Jim Elliot with your gifts you can do anything but don't throw it all away on the Orca Indians young people please don't sit down come let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised it may be that the Lord will work for us for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few