0:09 Let's go to the word of God, shall we? First Samuel chapter 17. You don't have to be a Christian even to know the story of David and Goliath. David and Goliath has become a metaphor for so many, even of those who are unregenerate. They know that it speaks generally of a story concerning an underdog defeating an unlikely foe.
0:45 But the purpose of this chapter has so much more to offer us than simply inspiration for facing an impossible task. There's just way too much in here. So much in here that we can't cover this entire chapter at once. Like many chapters in first Samuel, it seems like this is the trend and that's okay because we wanna glean everything that the word of God has to offer us. And so let's read the first few verses here together and then we'll pray and continue.
1:13 First Samuel chapter 17 beginning in verse one. Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle, and they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah and Ephesdammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the Valley Of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side with a valley between them. Father, your Holy Spirit will make the difference for this meeting.
1:54 We come to receive your word. We humbly admit that, any gifting, any even knowledge apart from the Holy Spirit's assistance will not have its full effect in our hearts tonight. Please, Lord, you know where every soldier is at in this place. You know the encouragement that is needed. You know the clarity, Lord.
2:14 Speak into the situations that we need. Your divine truth to shine on. And Lord, speak to us in a way that we didn't know we need to be spoken to. We just ask that you would have your way over your people, in your people, through your people. In Jesus' name, we ask these things.
2:30 Amen. Amen. I'm sure up to this point we've noticed the amount of times that the Philistines have risen against the nation of Israel. And we know that they have had at times moments of victory, but they've also experienced great blows of defeat when Israel was walking right with God. And here they are again.
2:52 They don't seem to give up. They don't seem to relent. They seem to continue to press on for the goal that they have in mind, which is the opposing goal of what God has in mind for his people. And again, we are reminded that if these enemies of God can be so persistent and can not be discouraged even after being defeated so many times, how much more the people of God? Are you tired tonight?
3:19 Are you distracted? Do you just wanna cruise along? Be inspired by the fact that there is a kingdom of darkness that is motivated to continue without end, without stopping because they are motivated by a perfect hatred for your God. And because you bear the image of God, they hate you so much. And if they can be stirred and compelled by a perfect hatred, how much more us with a perfect love?
3:48 God's love. God's truth. His hope. His mercy. His grace.
3:53 And so, I want you to be encouraged today as we explore this chapter, you and I are gonna learn a lot about spiritual warfare. We've learned so much. We we've come to many studies through the old testament. When we see literal warfare, we're we're taking principles from the new covenant about how it applies to our warfare. And though some things overlap, it seems that every time we come to a fresh story, there's fresh insight and you will receive that tonight by the grace of God.
4:19 And that's what we see here because the Philistines, we are told, now attacked the people of Israel. That is beyond coincidence. This is not random. This is strategic. What did we learn in the last chapter concerning Saul specifically?
4:36 Well, we know that Saul and Samuel separated and that speaks of the spiritual and the political divide that occur there in the nation of Israel. And not only that, we learn that Saul is beginning to lose his mind. He's beginning to behave erratically, so much so that there's concern in the kingdom. Now, it could be very well possible that news spread, not just to the nation, but even to the Philistines themselves. Could be.
5:04 This is just speculation. And if that is the case, then this makes perfect sense for them to attack at this time to take advantage of this vulnerable moment that Israel is in right now. And the enemies of our souls is no different. He is much more strategic than you and I would like to admit. He is.
5:26 He is aware. He has studied human behavior long enough to know the moments that will be more profitable to him and the moments where he should pull back and not exercise his energy or his resources. And what we see here is that there's an opportunity and Satan loves opportunities. He creates opportunities. Whether we realize it or not, he wants to take advantage of us because he operates with a different heart posture than our God.
5:57 He is the direct opposite of how God responds to us in moments of weakness. Satan lacks mercy. He's not gonna step back and let you have some time to breathe while you're enduring some some trial or some storm. He he's not gonna let you have time for yourself while you're at odds with another brother or give you some time to to recuperate because you've been dull because of your lack of spiritual discipline. He has no mercy for us.
6:28 He has nothing to offer us anything of grace. He is vicious. He is absolutely ruthless. And the amazing thing is, while we're actually distracted, while we're actually in a place that we shouldn't be, that is his chance to steer us further into destruction. Because here's the point I wanna make.
6:50 The enemy looks for opportunities and it is our responsibility to be ready at all times. But we also have another responsibility as Christians and that's this, not to give him any opportunities. Okay? And many believers do not understand that part of spiritual warfare is not just preparing for onslaughts. It's making sure you're not the cause of it.
7:16 The principle is true for individuals. The principle is true corporately. Our moments in the flesh our unintended invitations for Satan to work in and through us. Our moments in the flesh, our unintended invitations for the enemy to come in, camouflage in our circumstance, and then begin to get his claws in what we are dealing with and to take advantage for it to be more destructive than you thought it could be. And if walking in the spirit attracts God's blessings, then walking in the flesh certainly attracts satanic strategies.
7:58 You have to understand this, it's as simple as even not managing our emotional state right. Here's proof, Ephesians four twenty six. You know this verse, don't you? Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger.
8:15 Why? And give no opportunity to the devil. Give no opportunity to the devil. From what? From your anger.
8:29 From a mismanagement of your feelings. From an unwillingness to realize that if I don't deal with this with the wisdom of God, then this can actually be used by the unfortunate strategies of the enemy. And it's amazing here that this is one of the examples in the scripture that something as simple as anger that is undealt with, that is not brought before God, that is not communicated to the offended party or the person that has offended you, can actually lead to demonic accomplishments. Who knew that diffusing something as simple as anger, this is just one example, is a part of spiritual warfare. Did you ever think about that?
9:18 That's what Paul is saying here that if we do not know how to curb our frustration or other emotions or habits or patterns, whatever they may be, if we do not know how to come before the Lord and deal with these things in his presence and remain in a certain state for a prolonged time, we will find ourselves at a destination that we never thought we would arrive to. And sometimes we are so blinded, especially by something like anger, we're so blind we don't even realize that in that state the enemy has put a harness on us and is taking us for a ride. And it's taking a situation much further than it needs to go. This is gonna help you extremely in life. I can guarantee you that.
9:59 Let me give you this simple question. Would you ever in your in your right mind, and come to me if you would because I would like to sit with you and examine why you would. Would you ever in your right mind, in the middle of black darkness, open your front door wide open and go to sleep calmly? I don't think there's one person in here who would do such a thing. In fact, we do the opposite.
10:23 We bar the door. We put chairs in front of our doors. We lock the door in the door between the doors. We do everything to secure ourselves, and yet, we are willing to go to bed with anger. And it's no different in the spiritual realm than to have a wide open door for the enemy to come in without resistance and to have his way in the home of your heart.
10:48 Paul says, don't wait on this because the longer you wait on this, things can get messy. Providentially, I was reading a book that I'm currently digesting of a Puritan and this phrase popped up and it it matched with this. And he said, the devil loves to fish in unsettled waters. Where he sees the spirits of men and women troubled and vexed, there the devil comes. A wise man is able to step aside from his emotions and to be able to determine decisions and discern a situation because he realizes this truth that even something that's bubbling inside him, even though it feels right, even though it's very real, even though it's it's boiling in your blood, even though it's consuming your mind, if it's not submitted to the authority of the word, if it's not guided by the spirit, then it can do more damage than good.
11:50 And that means he knows when to confront someone and he knows not to confront someone. He knows what causes to fight for and he knows what to let die. He he knows the vital importance that the longer I stay in a certain condition, especially when I'm at strife with one another, with somebody else, that will create more barriers, more wall and this is very true in marriage. This is very true in marriage. That the longer spouses are not willing to communicate an issue, it creates bigger walls, thicker walls, that when it comes to the point that you come to counseling and you want to deal with issues, it's been built up for years and you're trying to chisel through something that could have been dealt with when it was just a brick, and now it's the great wall of China in the spirit.
12:37 He's willing to understand that delayed reconciliation can be Satan's opportunity and so he makes conversation a priority, even a greater priority than sleep itself. But unfortunately, much damage has been caused in people's lives, marriages, churches, and ministries because they've had been helplessly guided by their emotions, their offense, their feelings, rather than trusting God's truth which trumps over our emotions. We know that. And so all I'm saying from this, though we can we can go along with it for a while, is the enemy looks for the right opportunity. In this case, Saul was debilitated.
13:18 There is division, there's some friction amongst the people of God and Satan's like, this is the time, let's rank up the boys. Philistines, let's go. And so not only do we have to deal with that, there's another side. I have to be careful not to create that opportunity because he's an opportunist. What happens here?
13:39 The Philistines show up in verse three, and the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side with a valley between them. Had a chance to go to Israel a couple years ago. And this was my favorite spot that we visited. For one reason, they didn't have all this tourist stuff there. And when they brought us there, we read first Samuel chapter 17, and would you know it, we were on the side that they believe Israel was on.
14:02 And mountains in Israel are just really big hills. And there we were, and I have pictures, standing there, and there's a valley, and then you look over, in Ezekiel, there's another hill, and I just visualized it. Wow. Could it be that this is where it happened? And so I still believe it did because I took five stones there, and I put them in my they weren't smooth, but I took them and I said, I'm gonna carry five stones and bring it back as a memory.
14:31 But I bring this up because when you're there, it's like a natural coliseum. And that's why you read a verse like this, you go, why is the Bible telling us this? The Philistines are on one side, Israel is on another side, and there's a valley in between them. It's like, why why are those details significant? It's because the Bible is trying to paint the picture in our minds.
14:50 The Holy Spirit wants you to visualize it and see it for yourself. But in a deeper way, we're being prepared for something. There's a monumental battle that's about to take place, so historic that we are still rehearsing the principles of that battle to this day. And here's the glorious thing, that this is speaking about God's providence to a certain degree. Why?
15:13 Where's David right now? Where's David while all of this is happening? He's in some backyard dealing with some sheep, chasing one, probably killing a lion or two. And there he is in private and what is God doing? God is preparing the stage for his public ministry.
15:34 God is creating the platform, so that when David shows up right when God needs him, all eyes are gonna be on David. You're gonna have all of Israel watching. You're gonna have all of the Philistines watching. And I take great comfort to know that while David is faithfully serving God in private, God is at the right time setting up the next move for him to graduate in God's program for his life. And David has nothing to do with it.
16:06 David has nothing to do with it. Take great comfort to know that the Lord is providentially weaving piece by piece to fulfill the promise he has over your life and mine if we seek to serve him with everything within us. See, that that detail, when it stands alone, it seems insignificant. Okay. Great.
16:24 They're on one side, they're on the other, and there's a valley in between. But we know we're seeing it through the lens of heaven. One piece after the other is being set up for this grand story to be told. And here's the thing, we have to see God's work in our lives in the same way. See, you're looking at where you're at right now and you say you're saying to yourself, what does this have to do with anything?
16:43 Not realizing that it's one wheel that's connected to another wheel, that's connected to a 100 other wheels that must be connected to one another for the whole thing to operate right. When you look at the piece alone, it seems like it has no importance without you understanding that has great importance. And so do not despise the days of small beginnings. And this stage is being set and it's exciting, isn't it? Because God at the right time is going to bring this man, though he has no insight for the future.
17:16 Just like the Israelites who came out of Egypt, God already spied out the land for them and all they had to do was trust them day by day. Verse four. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head and he was armed with a coat of mail and the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
17:51 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron, and his shield bearer went before him. Here we are introduced to this infamous villain that you and I have heard of practically our whole lives. We've memorized this story. We know it inside and out. But the Holy Spirit is not wasting real estate in his word.
18:14 Every detail that we just read has importance. There's some principle. There's something there for us to learn concerning spiritual warfare. And here's the first thing that we learn, this champion, Goliath, steps on the scene and the first thing that we are told about him is where he's from. Where is he from?
18:30 Gath. Have we heard that before? Have we heard of this region before, this area before? We have. Who were the Israelites intimidated by the first generation when they came to spy into the promised land?
18:46 What was it that they were so afraid of more than anything else? Giants. The Anakim. And they were so terrified that it brought them literally to the point of deadly unbelief. It cut them off from the chance of going into the promised land.
19:02 They saw these towering figures and they thought to themselves, there is absolutely no way that we're gonna see victory over there is absolutely no chance we are like grasshoppers compared to them. But then when God dealt with them, the next generation rises up, except for two, Joshua and Caleb, they go in and I want you to just hear these words from Joshua 11 verse 21. And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim, those are the the race of the giants, from the hill country. From Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel, Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. So what the first generation couldn't do, the second generation accomplished.
19:46 They destroyed the entire race of these giants. Or did they? You read that verse alone, you think they did it. Then you go to the next verse and we're told the truth of the matter. Verse 22, Joshua 11.
20:05 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel only, in a few regions, only in Gaza and where? Oh, there it is. In Gath and in Ashdod did some remain. Well, well, well. Why wouldn't they attack these giants in these specific areas?
20:28 Well, perhaps they thought that they were they were not a threat. They were to themselves. They were quiet. Maybe they even said that we won't cause any harm, we'll be even be your servant. Whatever the reason was, the motive never justifies the fact that they disobeyed God.
20:44 God said destroy them, they didn't destroy them. They left just a few. How many? We don't know. A handful perhaps, But listen to this, it's a principle that you and I have heard over and over and over again.
20:58 That partial obedience is disobedience. And listen tonight, Goliath is the fruit of partial obedience. See, what this generation refused to deal with, the future generation would be having to face and now he's a burden. And what's so amazing is that when we lack the motivation in this area of obedience, here's something that hopefully will motivate you besides loving God, of course. If you have any motivation to obey God, when God says kill it and you don't kill it or you want to kill half of it, you want to keep some of it alive, you want to keep some of the contacts, you wanna keep some of the friends, you wanna keep some of the pornography, you wanna keep some of the money that you stole and you're thinking you can give 90% back and I can hold on to 10 because 10 is okay.
21:44 Here's a reminder, that our simple obedience to God can create blessings for generations to come or actually can create curses for generations to come. I'm telling you, your own life right now, like who am I? Well, you might be a future mom one day, a future wife, you might serve in the ministry one day in some capacity, you might be a CEO of a company. And listen, the obedience and the the the choosing of holiness in this moment, you can't determine the consequences. You can't.
22:17 And it's all over the bible. How many examples do we need? It's as though the Holy Spirit is trying to get it from every angle. Partial obedience can lead to future consequences. And it might not be in our lifetime even.
22:29 And so for the sake of a future, a future generation, a future ministry, there are things that can happen beyond our lifetime. We've seen that in this life, haven't we? A big name, a big name minister that after he passed away all the junk came out of his life, and what happened to that ministry? What happened to the ministers under that ministry? Oh, he's long gone and God knows what's true and what's untrue.
22:59 But that is a real life example of how what we do in this life can bless others beyond this life or hurt others beyond this life. Never forget that. Then we are told not just where he's from, proving what happened in the book of Joshua was fulfilled here, but we're told of his stature and his height. And scholars believe depending how much they believe, cubit is, scholars believe that he was anything between eight feet to almost ten feet. He's a giant.
23:31 He's tall. Very tall. And as I read that, I thought to myself, the book of first Samuel really likes to emphasize people's heights. We're told of this man's height and we are told of another man's height. Who's his name?
23:47 What's his name? Saul. And I think that's significant to a certain degree. Why? Because just as Saul was not considered concerning his height as a candidate to be king by God, I believe here that Goliath's height is no concern or match for God's power to overcome.
24:08 See, Saul's height emphasized his beauty. Goliath's height is emphasizing and highlighting his might. And it might impress man and it might intimidate man, but God sees it the same. What did the Israelites say concerning those giants? How did they see themselves?
24:26 What did they use as a metaphor? We are like grasshoppers. We're like little bugs compared to these giants, these towering trolls. But see, they failed to see as God sees. The same way they failed to see a king like God, they failed to see a giant like God.
24:46 Let me prove it to you. They saw giants as though they were grasshoppers. How does God see all men? Let me show you in Isaiah forty twenty two. It says clearly, and I love this verse, every time I come to the giants I can never stop myself from referring to the scripture.
25:03 In Isaiah forty twenty two, we are told how God sees all men including giants. Israel saw themselves as grasshoppers when they lined and measured themselves up to these giants, and here's how God sees sees all men. It is he who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like what? Grasshoppers. We're like grasshoppers and God sees these giants like grasshoppers.
25:30 You know what the reason for all of our fear and our misjudgment and our wrong choices, whether it's for a king, a wife, a husband, a ministry, where to move, we don't see as God sees. It's as plain as that. We measure what Instagram measures. We evaluate the way celebrities evaluate. We get afraid what the world gets afraid of.
25:57 We let the news determine our outlook on life. All the while, God is begging us to see the world, to see people, to see everything in this life through his eyes. Through his eyes. Why? To protect you from much.
26:15 To protect you from silly, destructive choices and from unnecessary fears and anxieties such as this. See, if they would have seen what God saw, they would have saw those giants like grasshoppers and not themselves like grasshoppers. And the more you renew your mind, let me reemphasize this, the more you will see beauty the way God sees beauty. The more you will see value and what God values and you'll begin to you'll begin to separate yourself from the world's thinking and you'll know more blessing, more peace, more joy. And these men, though the height is emphasized, failed to learn to see as God sees as we're about to discover.
27:01 So we read on. From verse five to verse seven, we already dealt with it. Not only are we told of where he's from, how tall he was, we're now told about his armor in great detail. And let me just cover it with this, from head to toe, he was clothed with bronze. And so this man is a walking machine and he's flexible enough to actually go hand to hand combat with somebody else.
27:30 Why are we being told this? Because we're being reminded of how impossible, how impenetrable this man is. He's almost immovable. There seems to be no way to actually bring this guy down, never mind his height. We're told that he is littered with material that makes him so much more intimidating.
27:49 So what is this supposed to do in the people's hearts? Well, not only are they frightened, they are also discouraged to even make one move. They can't even think about advancing one step forward because what they see across that valley is an impossible situation. And I can't help but think that this is how perhaps many believers, true believers, believers that actually care about the kingdom of God. Sincere Christians, I can't help but believe that perhaps there are some believers feel this way when they look out beyond the valley into the horizon and see a world that has been professionally and demonically shielded.
28:32 So that they would be almost impossible to be influenced by God. Towering ideologies, towering systems of belief, towering narratives that make the people of God think, is it even worth giving our time and energy and strategy to bringing the truth when they seem so steeped and so convinced and almost impossible to overcome. And if we're not careful, we can create this Christian faith to be something where we just gather ourselves and we make it about ourselves and it's all about us and we we fail because of whatever reason. This world is damned and doomed. Let them be and let's do our own thing.
29:18 Let's just keep to ourselves. And here's the thing, in the old testament, they were dealing with Goliaths and they were dealing with real Jerichos. We're not dealing with literal giants and we're not dealing with fortified cities that we have to bring down. But Paul used interesting language to describe our warfare and you know it very well. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of what?
29:45 Strongholds. Strongholds? That's Old Testament talk. If that verse was in the Old Testament, that would make sense. What is a stronghold?
29:53 It's a fortified city that shields an area from any onslaught or attack. And yet Paul uses that language to describe our warfare in the new covenant. And let me remind you, we don't use guns, and we don't use swords, and we don't use nuclear weapons, and we don't blow ourselves up to get our our work done for for our God. But why is he using the word stronghold? Because he's not talking about literal strongholds, he's talking about mental strongholds.
30:22 You go to verse five, you go to verse six concerning second Corinthians chapter 10, he's talking about ideologies. He's talking about philosophies, false religions, false systems of belief, psychologies. He's talking about these things which what did it do? They hold people hostage. They entrap people.
30:42 They close them in. They keep them in darkness from being penetrated by light that would set them free. And yet Paul says this, he uses that imagery to describe our warfare, and he says, we have the divine power to destroy strongholds. What does that mean? That there is nobody too lost.
31:03 Nobody too confused, even if it's about their gender. Nobody too shielded like Goliath was to be impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ. To destroy strongholds, which speaks of the nature of our warfare. People think warfare is just about, well, a demon's oppressing you. That's why you feel heavy and you feel like you feel depressed or demons possessing you if you're not a Christian.
31:32 It's much more sophisticated than that. Demons birth belief systems because that's what's gonna damn a people. To have them believe something that is antichrist. So what's the nature of our warfare? Truth, exposing darkness, coming into contact with new and upcoming narratives.
31:53 That's where our warfare lies. It's in the mind. It's in the mind. And that's what we have to understand. You look at this Goliath and it's an illustration.
32:04 It's an illustration of seeing something that seems to be impossible to even move. When in fact, by the divine power, prayer, the word of God, fasting, holiness, we can see these things surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. So these things are for us. What happens at this point? Well, we go from Goliath's physical description to his discourse.
32:28 Now he's about to speak and if looking at his physical attributes speak about something about warfare, surely what he's going to say is gonna bring us more awareness. Look what he says. Verse eight, he stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine? And are you not servants of Saul?
32:54 Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. Verse nine. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. Principles for spiritual warfare.
33:12 Here's one truth. Satan, it's very simple, Satan and sin are both liars. Here's the negotiation that Goliath is trying to make with Israel. This is what it was. One on one, whoever wins takes all.
33:33 You bring a man to me. If he can kill me, then this nation will serve your nation. If we destroy him, then you must serve us. Pretty convincing, kind of intimidating, but it's a big deal. The point I wanna make is this, we know who wins in the story.
33:53 Right? But what happens after David wins? The answer is in a few verses down. Somebody said it, I believe. Scroll all the way down to verse 51.
34:09 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistine saw that their champion was dead, they fled. They fled. Did it say that they humble themselves and they surrender to them and they pledged their generation to to serve the nation of Israel? No.
34:30 They ran in the opposite direction. Proving what? That what Goliath has said initially, he never meant to keep it anyway. He knew full well that his people would not serve this people, but he was trying to persuade the people of God with false promises. And lie after lie after lie you and I are exposed to from Satan himself and from sin.
34:57 Sin and Satan are two different things but they share many things in common. One of the things that they share in common is that they are both deceitful. Sin according to Hebrews three, deceives us to the point where we harden our own hearts. Satan does the same. Satan lies to you about God.
35:18 He lies to you about the word of God. Sin does the same thing. Sin lies to you about God. Sin lies to you about the word of God. That's what's happening when temptation visits your heart.
35:32 Temptation is trying to convince you of something that is opposing to this word. And here's the thing, when Christians deal with this day after day after day, never mind just this flesh, all the things around him, the people around him, the media around him, Unfortunately, some believe at least one of those thousands of lies and when they believe that lie, whether it's this one, that one or this one, they all end up with the same result. It will always disappoint you. You've never sinned once when you've truly sinned. You've never sinned once and come out of there saying, that was worth it.
36:12 That was worth it. That was It was worth messing around with that girl for a few months. I feel great. It was worth it. It was worth it to cheat at my job and to punch in hours that I wasn't really it was really I feel wonderful.
36:26 It's wonderful to gossip for a year and a half. Never. But you were convinced into it for some reason. You thought it was gonna satisfy something about yourself. Right?
36:37 And just like these Philistines running away, you were pursuing a mirage. And you thought that this was an oasis that was gonna quench your thirst and all you have is a mouthful of sand. And you're thirstier than when you started. Satan and sin always lie to you and they lie to you in the in the way of false promise. Do this and this will come.
37:02 You'll be safer. You'll secure your future. You'll be more popular. You'll be more liked. You'll be more satisfied.
37:08 You'll be more whole. And you're disappointed. But I look at this and I realize that there's another principle here. Although what Goliath is saying was untrue, there's a principle that's underneath it that speaks of the arena of sin. Here was the agreement.
37:25 If we overcome you, we master over you. If you overcome us, you master over us. That is a principle that applies to our relationship with sin. There's no middle ground. There's no negotiation for peace with sin or the devil.
37:41 And here's the truth, either we master over sin or sin will master over us. There's nothing in between. Now here's the glorious truth. David is gonna step on the scene and through David's faith and his sacrifice and his willingness to trust in his God, he's going to defeat Goliath and these Philistines are gonna rush in to the camp of the Philistines and ransack them. And that's prophetic.
38:06 That's prophetic of the son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will step in and defeat who? The Goliath of death. And by overcoming the Goliath of death, he makes way for us to know victory and security and strength over all of our enemies including all sins that you can imagine or think of. And so, the battle has already been won as we just sang. It's just a matter of us leaving this hill, going through the valley and going into and walking into the victory that Christ purchased for us.
38:36 Which many don't understand because they don't understand what the new covenant really means. New covenant is I'm gonna go to heaven because Jesus died for me. Really? Is that it? That's what Jesus shed his blood for, just for you to get to heaven?
38:48 All beaten and bruised and succumb to temptation every single hour of the day. When he's coming for a bride that is without wrinkle, without spot, without blemish. Because he's infused in her a grace and a power to soar above sin. So you can know strength and a grace because the the greater David defeated the greatest enemy, namely death. So this rule applies, which brings us to the next point.
39:19 Our enemy hates God, therefore he hates you. You are the image of God. And since God can't be attacked by Satan, the next best thing is to take an image of God and to soil it and to burn it and to step on it, to express disgust and to disrespect and try to assault the very thing that that image represents. And that's why that's why Satan, the core of his ambition is to destroy the images of God represented in you and me. Look what he says here in verse 10.
40:02 And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we might fight together. I defy, I disrespect, I dishonor all of you Israelites. And in Goliath's mind, he thinks he's just defying the ranks of Israel. Now, a spiritual man is about to show up.
40:23 When he shows up, he gives the correct interpretation of what Goliath is actually doing. You wanna see it? Come down to verse 45. Then David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword and with a 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. So Goliath thinks he's just defying Saul and his soldiers.
40:52 David says, you're actually defying the God that they serve. I wonder, I read this today and I thought to myself, I wonder how many people who attack God's people, who attack God's church, who attack God's ministers and God's servants, I wonder how many of those people actually realizing that they are attacking God himself. I wonder. Because we think attack is taking up a sword or graffiting a building. No.
41:26 The scripture tells us that your words can be like a sword. Your tongue can be like a javelin. And I wonder how many people realize that when they maliciously slander, maliciously attack, plot, harm, those who belong to God and those who serve God, I wonder how many actually believe, I'm doing this to the Lord himself. It's irrelevant like if they're like Goliath and think that they are dealing with flesh and blood. In reality, the way God sees it is you are touching the apple of my eye.
42:02 And there's only so much poking you can do in someone's eye, including God's, before he does something with that finger. And so that should make those who are antagonists and those who are malicious within the church, that should make them tremble. Because you have people that come into church just to cause problems. That should make them tremble and realizing, look, let me just advise you on something. Okay?
42:28 Very simple. It's not profound, it's not deep, but it's very simple. It seems like you might have an itch to cause issues because you need drama in your life, you know. The reality show isn't enough for you. You need your own reality show.
42:40 So let me advise something. If you're gonna cause trouble anywhere, do it in any other place. I wouldn't recommend doing it in the house of God. Just a word of advice, because you ain't dealing with people, you're dealing with a God who sees and hears all things and who loves his bride a lot. And there's only so much talking and tarnishing that you can do to someone's wife before the husband steps in and defends her.
43:13 So if you wanna cause trouble, go somewhere else. Go go do it at your work. Go do it somewhere How about this? Go start your own church. Go start your own church and instead of preaching the gospel, gossip all you want and attract all the gossipers with you.
43:32 Do it. Don't come to a place where God is trying to be honored and trying to be served and cause trouble. Don't, because God is gonna deal with you. And it doesn't matter how big you are. You might think you're like Goliath.
43:43 You might think you're Goliath in society. You might think you're Goliath with your money, with your power, with your connections. Goliath didn't stand a chance against God. Just just a word of advice. And so we see here that you and I can expect warfare because you and I serve this God.
44:05 But here's the point where we all know this, but here's the point when I when I read this, this was an insight about warfare that encouraged me and I hope it encourages you. He defies. He defies God. He defies the people of God. But here's a question, don't look at your bibles.
44:21 How long was he doing it for? What was the duration of it? How long was Goliath doing this for? Not seven, not three. Somebody said forty days.
44:37 Here's the proof. Go down to verse 16. For forty days, the Philistine came forward and took his stand morning and evening. So do you realize twice a day for forty days, Goliath served lunch and dinner to the Israelites, intimidating them, threatening them, psychological warfare. We know that if you can instill fear in a people, you can make them debilitated, discouraged, and weak just from this aspect of of trying to hurl things at them that would demote them and demotivate them.
45:15 This is what's happening for forty days. Now here's what's interesting. There are certain patterns in the Bible, even with numbers, that teach us something. Right? So you look at the number seven and it speaks of what?
45:29 Completion. We see that in creation. We see it in different instances. When you look at the number eight, it speaks of what? New beginnings.
45:36 Right? And and so we gotta be careful because there are some people who wanna become experts in cracking codes with numbers in the Bible and they're wasting their time. Nonetheless, there is a safe pattern. There's a thread with certain numbers in the Bible that speak of a theme that it is trying to teach. And when you look at the number 40, I mean, tell me some events that are related to the number 40.
46:01 Temptation of Jesus, forty days and forty nights. Good. The Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. Absolutely. Elijah.
46:10 Yes. Moses in the wilderness. Right? Before he was called out by God to bring deliverance, forty years in the wilderness in the backside of the desert. So we we get that forty here, forty there, forty what does that number represent?
46:24 Mainly, not at all times, but mainly it speaks of testing. It speaks of trial. It speaks of times of trouble. And when you come to Goliath doing this for forty days, it is not an accident. That number symbolizes something.
46:40 It symbolizes the fact that he is doing this and God is allowing it for forty days on purpose, because we're gonna find out next week that David shows up as the delivery boy on the fortieth day. That's not an accident, that's providence. So the fact that this is forty days implies something. It's teaching us something. God allowed the psychological warfare to occur as a test.
47:05 As a test for his own people. When you test something, depending on how you're testing it, you are trying to reveal the substance of a matter. When you go do your test at school, it's it's trying to expose and real out of you what's truly inside this brain. What did you gather throughout the semester? When you test material, it does the same thing.
47:27 How pure is this gold? How pure is this silver? When God tests us through different means, he wants to see the quality of our faith and the truth of our character. And as Goliath is doing this for forty days, what is happening is God is allowing this to be a sanctifying work to expose what was really in Saul, what was really in this army that represented his people. And what do we find out?
48:01 What do we find out in these forty days? What do we get concerning Saul and his people? You realize that they were terrified. You realize that they didn't really believe God's word. Why?
48:18 Because their book told them that not many years before this, there was a generation that destroyed not just one giant, many giants. Joshua and the Israelites destroyed cities filled with giants and now there's one and you can't believe God to destroy this one? So it shows that they didn't really believe God's word. Either they were ignorant of it or they knew it and they didn't trust it. And how you know you really believe God's word is when you're tested.
48:48 I'm telling you. Oh, it's so easy to be passionate about when you figure something out in the bible and you're sharing everything's fine and dandy. But when you are ground to find powder, what do you really believe about God and his word? Not only that, we see the quality of Saul's leadership here. We're about to find out what kind of man this was.
49:09 We're already convinced that Saul was not a spiritual man and this just proved it even more. Where's the call to prayer? Where is we must come before God, we must repent, we must be broken? Even to this point, Saul has not truly repented of his past sins. So this is even exposing that in this moment of terror and he's not even coming before God and this people are in anxiety because their leader is a captive to anxiety.
49:39 So he can't deliver them from it. He can't even deliver himself. What am I trying to say today? Serve God long enough. Serve the Lord Jesus Christ long enough.
49:51 And you will know warfare. And the most painful thing about spiritual warfare, as you heard earlier, it's not some mystical thing where a demon shows up in your room and tries to scare you. He hijacks people. He uses people. People who don't know God and people who profess God but as you heard, have let the front door of their hearts open and have become puppets for his use.
50:19 And you know what? You believe God is sovereign. Right? God is even sovereign over that warfare. You're walking with God and you're walking in holiness and you're a praying man, you're a praying woman, you fear the word, you tremble at God's word, you love Him, you adore Him, you you framed your life to serve Him, you have to believe that even in the warfare where you're like, how am I in this moment right now?
50:42 Why is this going on for so long? You have to understand God is sovereign over that warfare even in the form of attacks from people. Don't forget this, you're being tested. You're being tested. You realize that?
51:01 You're so consumed with the warfare that you don't realize that God in heaven has determined the number and the duration of this warfare and he's gonna see what are you gonna do in response to this warfare? Are you gonna respond in the flesh? Oh, they're gossiping about you and they're slandering you. Are you gonna do the same back to them? Are you gonna swallow your pride and let God defend your reputation?
51:22 Or you're gonna run around and try to figure out what people are thinking so that you can solve it? Are you gonna continue to serve God when it gets difficult and trust in his word and minister onto God's people and be faithful in your marriage and be faithful to your family and your devotions, are you gonna crumble because it's really hard and warfare is coming and it doesn't seems to stop? There's lunch and dinner, there's the taunts. Every time I can't even catch a break, it's been a month, it's been two months, he's testing you. What's in you?
51:54 What's really in you? And God is so wonderful, he is so wise that he will use more than just a subjective trial, a personal thing that nobody's involved with. He'll even use people around you. Voices around you to see what's really in you. When I learned that truth, I thought to myself, wow, what a mighty God I serve.
52:26 Even this warfare, God is using to sanctify me. And how am I gonna how am I gonna come out of it? Am I gonna come out of it proving that I'm not really as spiritual as I thought I was? Am I gonna come out of it coming up with strategies like Saul did? You know the strategy that Saul is gonna come up with?
52:47 He's gonna say, whoever can overtake this giant can have my daughter and can have this That's that's carnal. That's not spiritual. So when the heat really gets hot, what do you rely on? Do you rely on human ingenuity? Do you rely on human strategy?
53:05 Or do you call upon divine power? Do you see? See, I'm I'm not saying this I'm not saying this to to make anybody feel bad. This doesn't make sense if you have not endured warfare. It will when you serve God long enough and you're facing it.
53:19 So never forget this word. When it comes, and then I'm not talking about sparks, I'm talking about forty days. I'm talking about when is this gonna end. That kind of stuff. You're being tested.
53:36 And unfortunately, we read of the response in verse 11 to just the first day of this trial. When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. And throughout that time, Saul's gonna come up with strange strategies that people are just gonna grow in their fear and it's gonna take a farmer boy to step on the scene and he's gonna look at this Goliath and he's gonna see a grasshopper. Because somebody's been spending time with God and somebody actually believes God's word. And guess what?
54:17 Wasn't the king, it was some unknown shepherd. But you know, I read this and I thought to myself and we're closing here. The people are afraid, sure, but Saul could have done something as a leader, but he didn't. Why was Saul afraid? We can give different reasons.
54:31 He was he was in sin, he was unrepentant, he didn't know God, he wasn't really spiritual. Sure. But this is not the first time that that Saul has stood before a foreign foe. Go back to chapter 11. This is when we are first introduced to Saul after he's anointed to be king and look here after the Ammonites come and news gets to Saul.
54:51 Look at the response in verse six, and the spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words and his anger was greatly kindled. Then he goes, and though they are the underdog in that story remember, they are the underdog. How are they the under underdog? They didn't have the right amount of people. They didn't have the standing army.
55:11 This this king thing just started and they still overcame the Ammonites for one simple reason, the spirit of God was on him. What happened in the last chapter? Look at verse 14 of chapter 16. Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. Then chapter 17 comes.
55:38 That's why he was afraid because he wasn't walking right with God. And God removed his presence from him. He removed his empowerment from him. He he removed his known blessing to him. And because of that, this fear was more real than anything else.
55:58 This crippling concern overcame him instead. I wanna tell you something. There's so much that we are opened up to when we are not walking right with God. When we choose to hold on to our sin, when we choose not to cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit, we will feel things that God did not intend us to feel. We will be burdened by things that we are not supposed to be burdened by.
56:26 We will be challenged by things that we are supposed to be confident in. I wanna let you know something. I'm saying this in closing. There's so much that you and I inherit when we are walking right with the Lord. And I wanna tell you one of those things.
56:39 It's a godly confidence. There is a god not a proud arrogant thing, I'm talking about a godly confidence. Listen, it's so real, it's so tangible, and that's the difference between you can take two Christians and they can be dealing with the same situation, and you have two different commentaries on it. And oftentimes, it's because one knows the Holy Spirit, while the other perhaps hasn't been filled for a very long time. Or perhaps they're not walking right with God.
57:12 So I wanna let you know there is a godly confidence that comes with holiness. One of my favorite proverbs is this, God is a shield to those who walk in integrity. God is a shield to those who walk in integrity. And that man David is about to show up on the scene next week, and you're gonna see that. You're gonna see it so clearly, and we're gonna see Jesus very clearly in that passage as well.
57:38 But let's bow our hearts before the Lord as we close. Thank you, Lord, that you are the great general. You love to equip your your saints to be successful in the spirit. Lord, perhaps there are some in here who are enduring real warfare, not enduring things that are stimulated by their own sin, but enduring real satanic attack. And they are exhausted and they are tired and they have no answers.
58:29 Lord, we learn today that you are testing the quality of our trust in you. Lord, we know that there are also those who perhaps have believed a lie because of a false promise, a false promise of the flesh, a false promise from the enemy. Lord, we pray that our time in the word would not be negotiable, for it is our great protection. It provides truth. It provides clarity in a world filled with lies.
59:08 Help us love your truth and to be convinced of your truth for it will guide us in a world filled with false promises. Thank you for Jesus Christ, the greater son of David, the one who overcame the Goliath of death so that we would know victory over our foes. There is not one sin that can stand against a child of God if he is clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We pray, Lord, that if there's anybody struggling in sin, that they would receive this truth as they have received the truth of the gospel by faith. That they can overcome any sin if they believe on you.
59:50 If they are as hungry as they were when they wanted to be saved from hell, from the wrath of God. If they are just as hungry to be saved from a pattern of sin, you will bring deliverance. You will set us free. We bring that sin before you tonight. We say we are tired of it.
1:00:09 We're sick of it. It has lied to us. It has made me disappointed. It has ruined my years. It has ruined my relationships.
1:00:17 It has ruined my sleep. It has ruined my health, my money, my relationship with God. Lord, destroy it. Destroy it by the power of the Holy Spirit. And Lord, as David was the only hope for Goliath, so Christ is our only hope to overcome sin.
1:00:38 Help us believe that tonight. Lord, we wanna worship you and thank you for your goodness. You are weaving your promises into our lives day by day. We bless your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray.
1:00:53 Amen. Can we stand and worship the Lord together?
