Hawaii 9 – Giants in the Land

Hey. Well, praise God. Yes. Amen. Amen. Amen. So, um I’ve only known Brother Peter fortwo weeks. He’s on the audiovisisual desk there. and I’m going to dosomething he’s really not going to be happy with me about. And he kind ofsuspects uh what I’m going to do right here. He’s shaking his head at me. Andthis is where we have to practice brotherly forgiveness one for another.Um so um I I’ve come prepared for a regular sermon. And I just feltimpressed to kind of shift. Is that all right with everybody here? All right. So, it’s going to be kind of extemporaneous, but um as as we werepraying on the beach this morning, um my mind went back to that young man Davidwhen he was anointed by the prophet Samuel and the Holy Spirit came uponhim.

And that was the start of an incredible adventure with God. And eachof our precious souls here today, they’ve been uh baptized. They’ve beenprayed over. We’ve asked for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And sothey’re in the same place as David was as a young teenage boy about to starttheir walk with God. So I want to talk about that today. Is that all right? Um and tonight I am I will do I will promise I will talk about the secondcoming. It’s it’s it’s in my it’s in my computer. It’s in my Bible here. It’sready to go. We’ll talk about that tonight. But uh this this sermon is isreally for um our our new baptismal uh brothers and sisters in Christ. Uhbecause after you’ve gone through the high of the baptism and the Sabbath likethis, we go back to our homes, we go back to our lives tomorrow and Monday.And uh don’t be surprised if Satan hits you from left field or right field.

That Satan’s going to do all he can to discourage you, um to dissuade you, todivert you, to depress you. He’s going to do all he can to take you away fromyour new found faith in Christ. And so, um, if you have, if you have your Bibleswith you, um, I’m going to invite brother Peter. Brother Peter, um, I’mreally sorry about this. Um, but, um, if we if we can shift to 1st Samuel chapter16, this is the story of the anointing of David as a teenage boy. We’re goingto see there. We’re going to pick up the story there in 1st Samuel chapter 16.And, and we’ll we’ll read uh, in verse 13. And so the storyis the prophet Samuel, he comes to the home of Jesse in Bethlehem and in in uhthe God has led him there.

God is rejecting Saul from being the king ofIsrael. God is seeking a man after his own hearts to be the new king of Israel.And um rather than asking who’s the best qualified in earthly terms, God sendsSamuel to this um this man called Jesse who has seven sons and they all come infor the feast. And uh but David is left out there with the sheep because David’snot worthy to meet the prophet. And so after they have the meal, Samuel looksat the first son and says, “This is a fine young man.” And God says, “No, thisis not the one.” And God Sam Samuel comes to the second young man. And hesays, “This is a fine young man.” And God says, “No, this is not the one.” Andthey come to the third young man and Samuel says, “This must be the one.” AndGod says, “No, God judges the heart.

Man judges on the outside, but God looks atthe heart.” You know, I’ve often wondered when when we when we appointpeople to leadership positions in the church, we look for M’s degrees anddoctoral degrees and so forth, but we rarely ask, is this a man or woman afterGod’s own heart? That really is a primary qualification. And so, um, wecome to the story and it’s going to be in 1st Samuel chapter 16 and we’re goingto read the verse in verse 13. And this is what it says. It says, “Then Samueltook the horn of oil and anointed him, that is David, in the presence of hisbrothers, and the spirits of the Lord came mightily upon David from that dayforward. Samuel then set out and went to Rama.” And the next verse is maybe thesaddest verse in all of scripture.

It says, “Now the spirit of the Lorddeparted from Saul and an evil spirit came up from the Lord.” And so in thesetwo verses you have here first of all um David is anointed by the prophet Samueland the anointing of oil um represents the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And sothe Holy Spirit falls upon this teenage boy whose job is to be a shepherd. Andthe very next verse the Holy Spirit leaves the life and presence of Saul.And so there’s a transition taking place. So um you’d think that thingswould go well for David after this don’t you think? You think that now he’s beenanointed with the Holy Spirit. He knows that one day he’s going to be the kingof Israel. Um, how would you respond if you were David in this moment?

A certainamount of, “Yeah, I’ve made it. You know, the Holy Spirit’s fallen upon meand the king over there, the Holy Spirit has left him. I’m just waiting my chanceto get my my butt on that throne and I’m I’m going to show everybody how it’sdone to be a good king of Israel.” But that’s not what happened.Because what happens is the war startsand the Philistines invade. The Philistines in the modern day Gaza Stripand they invade modernday Israel and there’s a war and David as a young boygets caught up in that war and immediately he faces a giant.What’s the giant’s name everybody? Goliath. Yes. Yeah. So um you know children know three stories in kindergarten all around theworld. Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, and Daniel in the lion’s den.

And so, uh, we’re going to talk today about this, the anointing ofthis young boy, David, and what it meant for him. So, um, David, uh, we maythink, well, you know, he was a man after own God’s own heart. He was themost famous king of Israel. He must have come from a good background. What do youthink? Yes. No. No. Well, actually, David camefrom a pretty difficult background. And um the first verse we’re going to lookat is in the Psalms. Psalm 69. And if you turn there in your Bibles to Psalm69, you’ll see there that David actually came from a difficult back difficultfamily. Psalm 69 and verse 8. You know, there’s we know who David’s father is.David’s father is called Jesse. But we don’t know what David’s mother iscalled.

In fact, we only read of David’s mother in one verse later in his lifewhen he has to hustle his father and his mother away from the Philistines tosafety in a town called Zicklag when there’s another round of warfare goingon between the Israelites and the Philistines. So, David’s mother onlyappears once in the entire Old Testament. She’s not a major figure inhis life. You get no sense that he’s close with his mother. You have no sensethat he he talks with her a lot. She just appears in one verse and in all theformative years of his life in 1 Samuel I mean she basically is non-existent inhis life and uh David the Jewish tradition says that David was thestepbrother to his older seven brothers and that’s the reason they hated himthat Jesse had his first wife through whom he had seven boys and then she diedand then Jesse married again and David was the offspring of the second marriagenow that’s Jewish tradition you can read about that in the Talmud But David wasthe stepbrother to the older seven boys.

And so when they were brought in beforeJesse and Samuel to have the feast with the with the prophet, David was left offin the hills with the sheep. He wasn’t considered worthy to meet theprophet. And so Psalm 69:8, this is a psalm of David,he says, “I’ve become a stranger to my kindred and alien to my mother’schildren.” Do you see that in your verses, yourBibles? So, this is David speaking about hislife. He is an alien to his mother’s children. He is a stranger to hiskindred. And so, it seems if you look at the story of David that David came froma difficult background. It was quite possibly a broken family. And he did notget on well with his brothers. Turn back to 1st Samuel. We’re going to be mostlyin 1 Samuel today.

1st Samuel chapter 17 the story of David and Goliath and 1stSamuel chapter 17 and verse 28 when for the battle ahead his oldest brother seeshim and his oldest brother is not happy that David is there why have you comedown with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness I know yourpresumption in the evil of your heart for you have come down just to see thebattle well what a welcome from your brother yes it was hotter there than itis even here in Hawaii and he goes all this distance. He g hebrings food for his family and you see on the screen there that there was evilin the heart of David before he even opened his mouth. Would you say this wasa constructive family relationship or a difficult family background?

What dowhat do you think? It’s a difficult family background.Okay. So, the first thing we know about David is before he before he’s anointed,he comes from a difficult family where his brothers just assume the worst abouthim. And some of us live in families and someof us are in marriages um where people just assume the worst about us. Andbefore we even get up in the morning, they assume the worst about us. Andpeople impugn your motives all the time. They say, “Well, I hear what you say,but I know what you’re thinking.”And so David knows what it was to come from a difficult family background. Thenext thing we find out about David, he had a difficult family background. Hewas also um he had a difficult job.

He was a shepherd boy. Now at my family, weused to have two farms in Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and we used to keepsheep and I’d spend my summers chasing those sheep on the mountains cuz you gotto bring them in for sheep shearing and you’ve got to bring them in to bedipped. And I can tell you when you’re chasing sheep on the mountains, likeit’s a difficult job. You have to be like a mountain goatchasing those wretched animals up and down those mountains of Wikllo south ofDublin. And um when you get the sheep and you get into the sheep dip, it’swith a certain amount of joy that you feed them through the chute. It’s a bitlike baptizing them really. And you have a long pole and as they go through thechute, you put your pole on the back of the neck and you hold it down and thehead goes under the water and that’s to take care of all the lice and the bugsthat get up their nose and in their ears cuz that’s what really drives themcrazy.

And so being a shepherd even today is not an easy job. But back thenif you were a shepherd, what did it mean? It meant that you didn’t reallyspend time at home. You spent time with the flock night and day. If the flockwas on the mountains by night, you slept with the flock by night. When the flockwas sitting under the midday sun in the heat, you stayed out there in the heatwith the flock. You didn’t have a 9 or5 job. You had a 24/7 job. And you, yourbody started to stink. The sheep identify with you. You identify with thesheep. The sheep, the nature of the flock starts to reflect the character ofthe shepherd. If the shepherd cares for the sheep, the sheep are well lookedafter. Their bodies are healthy.

If the shepherd just think, “Ah, they’re allgoing to go to the butchers anyway,” then the sheep are dying even whilethey’re still alive. And David was a shepherd boy. And if youturn to 1st Samuel chapter 17 and verse 34, David describes to the king um whenhe’s brought before King Saul, he describes what it’s like to be ashepherd boy. And we read there in 1st Samuel chapter 17, it says, “But Davidsaid to Saul,” are you following me in your Bibles there? Yes. And um you see it up on the screen there. 1st Samuel chapter 17 and verse34. It says, “David said to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for hisfather’s flock. Whenever a lion or a bear would come and carry a sheep fromthe flock, I would go after it and strike it down and rescue the sheep fromits mouth.

And if it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it,and kill it. Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. andthis uncircumcised Philistine that is Goliath shall be like one of them sincehe has defied the armies of the living God. So David was a shepherd boy. When alion took his lamb, what did he do? Walk home or fight for Islam? He fought forIslam. If you I said this in one of the evenings, if you had a hundred sheep andone of them was taken by a lion, what would you do?Hustle 99 to safety. Live to fight another day. those 99 nextspring will be 150 anyway. What’s one one loss a year? If you have a hundredsheep, it’s really not a big deal. But David wasn’t going to lose that lamb tothat lion.

And David went after that lamb and that lamb is covered in boreand blood. It’s covered in spittle and it’s probably limp with shock of what’sgoing on. It’s barely alive. It probably can’t even bleet anymore. And the lionis kind of snarling and and the lion is kind of like excited about, you know,this is like chicken nuggets for a lamb, right? and he’s delighted that he’s gothimself from some fresh, young, tender lamb meat. And David goes after thatlamb, that lion, and he fights the lion to get his lamb back.It’s an amazing story. Yes. And Jesus is the son of David and hefights for his lambs and he fought for everybody that stood here this morning.And he came looking after he came looking for them.

He came into thisworld that each one of them might receive the gift of eternal life. Andthe son of David still seeks his lost lambs today. He seeks maybe yourchildren have wandered away from the Lord. He seeks those lost lambs. Heseeks those who are who are still making decision about whether to go through thewaters of baptism and commit their lives to Christ. He is seeking every lost lambthat is out there. And when we can’t fight those lions andthose bears ourselves because Satan is like that roaring lion today, we can askJesus to fight that battle for us. So, David had a difficult family and hehad a difficult job. Would you agree? Now, the next thing he had was he had adifficult boss. If you turn back to 1st Samuel chapter 16, wesee there that um that David was actually asked to play the harp for forSaul when an evil spirit came upon him.

And so in in verse the last verse of 1stSamuel 16:23, it says, “Whenever the evil spirit from s God came upon Saul,David took the liar or the harp and played it with his hand, and Saul wouldbe relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.” Now,let me ask you, those of you know the story, was Saul always such a nice bossas this? No. Uh there were times when Saul was so lost in depression becausehe knew that the Holy Spirit had left him, he would pick up his javelin and hewould hurl it at David to pin him to the wall and kill him. There was no OSHAback there. There was no HR department to file a complaint with. David came into work renewing that this king was quite possible and had actually done itand would maybe do it today, but he quite quite able to pick up a javelinand stab him and stick him to the wall.

It was a difficult job.You know, you talk about stressful jobs. That’s kind of a stressful job to have.Like I when I’m not fighting lions for my father’s flock, I’m dodging spearsfrom my regular employer. And this poor shepherd boy, I mean, he he had a toughlife. His brothers don’t like him. His mother’s non-existent in his life.He has a difficult boss, a difficult job, and a difficult family. And despiteall of this, despite all of this, as a teenage boy, he wrote the 23rd Psalm.The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And that phrase, the Lord is myshepherd, is actually it’s not a description of God, Elroy in Hebrew.It’s it’s one of the names of God in the Old Testament. And God did not revealhimself to anybody else in the Bible using that name other than that teenageshepherd boy.

Which means in the middle of a difficult job, a difficult family,a dangerous boss, that teenage boy was open to God and was open to Godrevealing himself to him. You know, um when the Adventist churchstarted, it was led mostly by young adults. Look in our history. God didincredible things through teenagers and young adults. God called Samuel to theprophetic ministry when he was three or four years old. God calls David to bethe king of Israel when he’s not much more than a teenager. Um, as you lookthrough the scriptures, God call God called Mary to be the mother of Christwhen she was a teenage girl. And and you see all the way through scripture,sometimes God gives the most important roles in salvation history, not topeople that look like this, but to people with brownhair and golden hair and red hair, but the hair is not yet gray.

God has a rolefor young people in his work. God has a role for young people in his church. AndI want to encourage this Kihei church. You’ve got some wonderful younger peoplehere. Somebody said to me this morning, “Our church grew by 25% this week.” AndI said, “Yeah, and your average age probably dropped by 30% as well.”So make use of it. Make use of those brown hairs and those red hairs andthose golden hairs. Make use of that for God’s glory. Put them to work. Let themuse their gifts for God’s glory. So before David, just after the anointingof David and the Holy Spirit falls upon him, David has a difficult background, adangerous job, a really difficult boss, but in his difficult job, he’s faithfulwith his father’s flock.

He’s not running away from the job. with hisdifficult family, he doesn’t answer with angry words. Um, but he responds withpeaceful words. And with his difficult boss or his dangerous boss, Saul, Daviddoesn’t say, “Hey, you throw a spirit at me, I’m going to throw it right back.”David kept coming back and playing his harp to bring peace to that troubledking. He knew the spirit of God was upon him. He knew the spirit of God had leftfrom Saul. And David was, he could have said, “I’m the new king. You need tomove move to one side, Saul. Let me sit on the throne.” But no, David wastrusting that God would work things out in his time and in his way. And ratherthan saying to Paul, Saul, get out of here, he trusted his future to God.

Andhe was an agent of healing to that troubled man while he sat on the throne.He’s an example for all of us today. And just after David is is is anointed,you might say, just after he’s baptized, like our people today, the next majorthing that happens to him is in 1st Samuel 17. And you might want to turnthere in your Bibles. This is the story of David and Goliath. And so, uh, wejust after we’ve been baptized here, uh, yesterday and today, and we’ve beenwelcomed into church membership, there’s a really good chance that everybodythat’s been baptized is going to walk back home into their job, into theirhome, into their relationships, and you’re going to face modern-dayGoliaths. There’s giants stalking our land.

There’s giants stalking our homes.There’s giants that we don’t want in our bodies. Maybe a bad health diagnosis.Maybe there’s a giant in our marriage. Maybe there’s a giant with our finances.Maybe we’re losing sleep at night over a wayward child or what’s going to happenat work. Everybody that goes through the waters of baptism, we know that themoment those the days and weeks afterwards, Satan is going to attack. Heis going to send those giants into your life like Goliath when David wasanointed with the Holy Spirit. And the good news is we don’t have to face thoseGoliaths on our own. There will always be Goliaths, but therewill also also be God. And so let’s pick it up in 1st Samuel 17.And for those of you putting it on the screen, we’re going to look at verse 4.4 through verse 7.

And this is the description of Goliath. And um Goliathwas one of the giants of Gath. Goliath um he had four brothers as far as we canfigure out from the scriptures. His wife David picked up five stones by the brookbecause he was going to take out Goliath and his four brothers. He was going towipe out the entire family. He wasn’t just going to get rid of Goliath in thisbattle. And so we read the story when Goliath comes out in 1st Samuel 17:4says they came out from the camp of the Philistines, a champion named Goliath ofGath whose height was 6 cubits and a span. So a cubit is about 18 in. So he’sabout 10 ft tall. It says verse 5, he had a helmet of bronze on his head. Hewas armed with a coat of male.

The weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels ofbronze. He had greavves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of of bronze slungbetween his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam and hisspear’s head weighed 600 shekels of iron and his shieldbearer went before him. Soback in the day, and this happened um all the way through ancient history,when two armies came face to face, many people really didn’t want to fightbecause fighting in those days was like butchery. You charge at each other withaxes and and knives and hammers and you’re swinging and stabbing and justtrying to stay alive while you’re killing as many people standing in frontof you. It was a terrible terrible thing. So what the armies would do inancient times was they each side would nominate a champion like Goliath and hewould fight for that army and the opposing army would nominate a championand he would fight for that army and if this champion won then this army wouldsurrender to them and have an honorable defeat like an honorable discharge fromthe battle and if this champion won then this army would surrender and everybodycould go home and they’d settle on terms for the peace terms.

All right. So, thiswas like a decent a dignified way of settling a dispute between nations.Nowadays, we have the soccer world cup when we want to settle disputes amongnations. And so, um, Goliath comes out and he’s he’s enormous guy. He’s 10ttall and he’s covered from head to toe in armor. And what metal is that armormade of? Brass. So, this story is happening aboutuh 1,00 to,00 BC. This is the end of the brass age or the bronze age. And soGoliath is covered from head to toe as a brass helmet. Um a coat of armor madeout of bronze. He’s got greaves which are metal coverings on his legs. And infront of him he has a shieldbearer. But the tip of his spear, what metal isthat made of? Iron. Because we’re now switching from the bronze age to theiron age.

And iron is a harder metal than bronze. which means that that irontip would go through any armor that any Israelite had because it was made ofiron. This is the guy armed, you might say, with the latest in militarytechnology because iron will always go through bronze armor. And so theoffensive weapon is the latest in metal technology as the bronze age shifts tothe Iron Age. And Goliath, he stands there and he defies the armies ofIsrael. Now, let me ask you the question. Who was the logical person tofight Goliath from the side of the Israelites? Saul. Why is that? Becausewe know from when Saul was crowned king, he stood head and shoulders aboveeverybody else. He was the tallest man on the Israelite side.

We also know thatonly two men in the army in those days because the Philistines controlled themetal trade. Only two men in the army of Saul actually had swords and coats ofmail and that was Saul and his son Jonathan. So, uh, the tallest man in thearmy of Israel with a coat of bronze and a sword of his own who should have beenfighting Goliath was King Saul. But there was no way he was going tofight King Saul. He wasn’t going to defend his flock. So, he sits in histent behind the Israelite lions. And the word comes to Saul. There’s a youngshepherd boy called David, and he says he’ll fight Goliath on behalf of Israel.So Saul says, “Yeah, bring him to me. Yeah, I want to meet this guy.” So Davidis brought before King Saul and David explains that he’s been fighting lionsand bears since he was a teenager.

It’s quite a story for a teenager actually. And then David says 1st Samuel 17:32,David said, “The Lord or Jehovah who saved me from the poor of the lion andfrom the poor of the bear will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” SoSaul said to David, “Go and may the Lord be with you.” So verse 38 says, “Saulclothed David with his armor. He put a bronze helmet on his head and clothedhim with a coat of male.” That’s quite a It’s quite a thing. Ifyou if you ever go to London or to any of the British castles, they always haveum I used to visit them a lot. Um when we first got married, my wife and I wentto Windsor Castle and Kennallorth Castle. These are famous castles. Theywere built over a thousand years ago and they’re standing strong today.

There wasa tourist uh um Heathrow airport is just to the east of of um can of um WindsorCastle which was built in about 1066 by William the Conqueror and some touristwas overheard saying it’s a great castle but why do they build it straight ontothe flight path? Well anyway anyway um when you go to a castle therethere’s there’s two two ideal destinations. Um uh my wife alwayswanted to go to the living quarters cuz that’s where you have all the livingutensils, the dressers, and all that kind of stuff. And that’s kind of okay,I guess. What I wanted to do every time I want to go down into the basement cuzyou go down multiple levels and you come to the torture chamber. And the torturechamber is what you really want to look at, particularly if you’re thinking ofhaving children.

Don’t quote me on that. And in the torture chamber, you have thearmory. And in the armory, you see these coats of armor from these horses, fromthese knights. And those coats of armor could weigh 200 lb. And they were steelplates. And they would have to lift some of those horses. The the horses theybred were like those um what are those beer beer horses that pull the Clydesales. The the the knights that when the knights rode those horses, theydidn’t ride Arabian horses. They rode like Clydesales because there was somuch weight of armor on the on the soldiers. And they had to be lifted witha crane onto that onto that horse. And when they fell over in battle, theycouldn’t move because of the weight.

They lie there on their back waiting tobe finished off. And so then King Saul, he gives his armor to David and Davidputs his on and he says, “Man, this stuff is heavy.” And David says, verse39, it says, “David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor and he tried invain to walk, for he was not used to them.” Then David said to Saul, “Icannot walk with these, for I’m not used to them.”You cannot fight in another man’s armor. And everybody that’s been baptizedtoday, we’ve prayed for the Holy Spirit to fall upon you. And God is going togive you gifts. He’s not going to give you the same armor he’s going to giveeverybody else. He’s going to give you unique gifts that are uniquely neededfor this congregation and whichever congregation you go to for the rest ofyour life.

Amen. And God is not asking you to fight in another man’s armor. He’s not asking youto sing like I don’t know who’s a famous Adventist singer Jennifer Lton orsomeone like that. God is maybe not asking you to preach like Mark Finley.God may not asking you to have a leadership role like XYZ individuals.But God has given you unique gifts and talents. And you cannot fight in anotherman’s armor. So don’t try. Ask God what gifts have you given me? What talentshave you given me? Then I’m going to intentionally develop those talents. I’mgoing to nurture those gifts. I’m going to learn how to better use them forGod’s honor and glory. And as I go through life, so my ability to use thosegifts for God’s glory, it just gets greater and greater and greater.And so David cannot fight in another man’s armor.

Rather, David says to Saulin verse 40, it says, “David took his staff in his hand and chose five smoothstones from the wadi the river and put them in his shepherd’s bag in the pouch.His sling was in his hand and he drew near to the Philistine. So, David goesdown to the Wadi or the riverbed and he picks up five smooth stones and he’sgoing to fight he’s going to fight this Goliath using those five um smoothstones. And uh you may think, well, that’s justa sling. Have you ever has anybody ever seen a slingshot in action? Yeah. Likeyou can kill a man at 100 yards with a slingshot. And you go to the Middle Eastor you go to parts of Africa and those boys spend the shepherd boys spend allday practicing with those slings.

like they’ll take out a rabbit at 100 yards.That’s not a problem for these guys. And they can fire 10 15 shots a minute. Thisis like the AR-15 of the ancient world. This was a useful piece of kit. And sothis wasn’t just like something that we do today. Um these guys were expert. Andso if David was a shepherd boy and he sees his sheep wandering down into aravine, he can sling a shot at it and it and it strikes a rock in front of thesheep and the sheep is startled and it turns around and comes back to theflock. If a wolf comes for his his sheep, he can take out the wolf with aslingshot from 50 or 100 yards long before it gets to his sheep. And so whenDavid picks up his slingshot and he’s got those five stones, he’s using theabilities and the gifts that God has already given him.

And when we face theGoliaths in our life, don’t say, “Lord, I wish I could I wish I had the gift oflike intercessory prayer like that person. Lord, I wish I had the gift ofencouragement like that person. Lord, I wish I had the gift of of of hospitalitylike that other person has.” No. Ask yourselves from this day forward, whatgifts has God given me? Ask those around you, what gifts do you see in me? Andhow do you see that God has gifted me? And intentionally nurture and practicewith those gifts because you never know when you’re going to face a Goliath inyour life. And you want to be ready for when that moment of truth comes. Youdon’t want to be found wanting. You want to be found short. David is ready forthe battle because he’s been faithful with his earthly father’s flock,fighting off the lamb, the the lions and the bears and the wolves.

Now he candefend his heavenly father’s flock because he’s been faithful as a shepherdboy. He’s faithful in a menial job as a shepherd and now he steps on to thegreatest age of all. And all the armies of Israel are watching him. You know, itdidn’t occur to me I’d use this use this phrase here,but there is um there’s a quote here. IfI can make may find it here. I’ve never done this before. pull up something likethis in the middle of a sermon, but here it is. It’sfrom um when I first read this, I thought it was the book Christ SubjectLessons. Turns out it was Winston Churchill. You will understand why I thought it wasChrist Subject Lessons. When I read it, this is what he said. He said to eachthere comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tappedon the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing unique tothem and fitted to their talents.

What a tragedy if that moment finds themunprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.I read that quote and I thought that’s Christ subject lessons. No, that wasWinston Churchill. What a tragedy if that moment comes andfinds you unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been in yourfinest hour. And because David was faithful in that menial job of being ashepherd and and defending his father’s sheep, a job that nobody else wanted todo, when God gave him the opportunity to step out onto the stage in front of allthe men of Israel, they’re going to see this teenage shepherd boy there. Andeverybody sees the raw courage in that boy stepping out to fight that giant.David is really grateful that he’s been faithful learning how to use the sling.He’s been faithful developing the talents for his menial job, menial job.And now when he’s asked to do something great for God, that menial skill is nowsomething that’s going to win the battle for God.

You don’t know when your giftsare going to win the battle for God. You don’t know when those menial gifts,those menial skills, those menial abilities, none of which are menial,they are God-given. You do not know when God is going to tap you on the shoulder,figuratively speaking, to quote Christ, sorry, Winston Churchill, and you’regoing to be prepared for what will be your finest hour. You don’t know whenyou’re going to step out onto the stage. You don’t know. I preached a sermon in2022 called the appeal to nobility, and I stepped out onto the stage in thatmoment in my life. And after that, I went down, I got home, and I went downwith Omicron. You remember Omicron? they’re the v the the co variant and mywife says you know she says after preaching a sermon like that she saysyou better not die of co well some of you will understandthe context of what I’m sharing here but you never know when God in hismysterious providence says he taps you on the shoulder and says it’s time foryou to step out onto the stage and David could step out onto the stagenot just with one stone but with five stones cuz he was going to take out allthe Goliath family he could step out onto that stage because he was faithfulin using the gifts that God gave him when it was hidden, when it was notpopular, when it was menial, when nobody gave a second thought about it.

So usedevelop the gifts that God has given you today. Be intentional about developingthose gifts and you never know when God is going to ask you to shine on thebiggest stage possible. So D the Philistine comes up to David. We read itin 1st Samuel 17:41. The Philistine came on. It says, “ThePhilistine came on and drew near to David with his shieldbearer in front ofhim. When the Philistine, verse 42, lookedand saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome inappearance.” The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog that you come to mewith sticks, and the Philistine cursed David by his gods?” So, the Philistinecomes to David and he’s he’s got his armor bearer in front of him.

He’scovered from head to toe in chain armor. He’s got his helmet on. The onlyvulnerable spot on on Goliath and Goliath’s entire body is his face.That’s the only vulnerable spot. Everything else is covered with armor.And he mocks David. And he says, you know, I am I a dog that you come to mewith sticks. Like you’re just a shepherd boy. What do you think you can do toagainst this Goliath, this giant called Goliath? And sometimes we we we sit herein church and we know there’s a Goliath in our homes and we’re saying, “Well, Ican’t fight that Goliath. It’s ruining my home. is ruining my marriage. It’sruining my prospects. It’s ruining my job. There’s always going to beGoliaths, particularly just after you’ve given your life to Christ.

ThoseGoliaths are going to attack.And so David says in verse 45 to the Philistine, famous words, “You come tome with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the nameof the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will struck you downand cut off your head. Somebody should say amen to that. Amen. Yes. Yeah. Let’sget some testosterone here today. All right. And I will give the dead bodiesof the Philistine this army this very day to the birds of the air and to thewild animals of the earth so that all the earth may know that there is a Godin Israel. Not that David fought the battle. David is fighting for the gloryof God against this Philistine.

and that all this assembly may know that the Lorddoes not save by sword and spear for the battle is the Lord’s and he will giveyou into our hand. It’s a profound statement of faith fromthat shepherd boy. And so you come to me with a sword and a spear and a shavelina javelin. You have three ways to kill me right now, Goliath. And I have noarmor and I have no shield bearer and I have no um helmet and I have no greavesof of bronze on my legs. I’m just standing before you in front with noarmor on my body. You have three ways you could kill me instantly. And he’salso um a sword, spear, and a jave. Those three ways to kill David. AndDavid is is certain that he’s going to win the battle.And this guy’s got some.

Yes.Like maybe if he was wise day, we’d say, “Let’s just talk about this Goliath, youknow, maybe we can figure something out. I got 100 sheep back home. Maybe we cando a deal, you know. You come to me with a sword and a spearand a javelin. Yes, the giants in our lives can attack us any which way theywant. And they can hurt us any which way they want. And those swords and spearsand javelins can tear our lives, can tear our marriages, our homes, our jobs,our businesses apart. But says David, I come to you in thename of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you havedefied. And because I’m fighting you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, I’m goingto win this battle. Now that name Lord of Hosts in Hebrew isYahweh Sabahoth or Jehovah Sabah.

Um God has many names in the Old Testament.Each of those names is a window into the character of God. Um but David choosesto fight God in the name of Jehovah Yahweh Saboth, the Lord of Hosts. So weask ourselves, why did David fight in the name of the Lord of hosts? What wasso special about God as the Lord of hosts that gave him the confidence andthe courage and that he was going to fight this battle and he was going towalk off that battlefield alive? David knew that at the end of the day Goliathwas going to be dead. He was going to lose his head literally and David wasgoing to walk off that battlefield. But David only had courage to face theGoliaths of his life because he fought in the name of the Lord of Hosts.So what does David know about the Lord of Hosts that makes him so confident?Well, turn in your Bibles to Psalm 46.

Psalm 46.Very famous Psalm right in the middle of your Bibles.Psalm 46. It says there in verse one, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present helpin trouble, like fighting Goliath. Therefore, we will not fear. Though theearth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.Sounds like Hawaii. Yes. God is our refuge and strength, a verypresent help in times of trouble. Verse seven, who is this God who is verypresent help in times of trouble? Says, the Lord of hosts, Yahweh Sabah off iswith us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Verse 10 says this, and this is speakingin the midst of times of trouble, when your world is literally falling apartand when there’s wars breaking out all around you and there’s violence aroundyou.

Verse 10 says, “Be still and know that I am God. I am exalted among thenations. I am exalted in the earth.” Who is with us? Does the Bible say? The Lordof hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. So the first thing thatDavid knew when he said, “I you come to me with a swords and a spear and ajavelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts,” was that the Lordof Hosts is a an everpresent help in times of trouble. when your world isfalling apart, when the when the when the the um the volcanoes are going off,when the ground is shaking under your feet, when the the the waves are washingover the coast, when there’s war all around you, when your world is fallingapart, we can be still and know that God is still in control because he is goingto be an everpresent help for his children, the Lord of hosts.

when theygo through the moments when their lives are falling apart, when the Goliaths aredestroying everything that is precious to us, we can be still and know that Godis still on his throne and he’s still in control.So, the first reason why David could fight Goliath was because in moments ofcrisis, the Lord of Hosts is our refuge and our strength. The second reason whyDavid could fight Goliath is found in Psalm 24.This also refers to the Lord of Hosts. This is a psalm about entering thetemple. It’s a psalm of David. And we’re going to pick it up. Psalm 24, the last three verses, uh, four verses,7-10. And this is what it says. Psalm 24 7-10.It says, “Lift up your heads, oh ye gates, and be lifted up, O ancientdoors, that the king of glory may come in.” Now, this is a messianic psalm.It’s talking about Jesus ultimately pointing to his triumphal entry intoJerusalem.

It says, “Who is this king of glory?” says, “The Lord or JehovahYahweh, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, ohye gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may comein.” Who is this King of glory? The answer is this, the Lord of hosts. He isthe King of Glory. And so, David could fight Goliath in the name of the Lord ofHosts because the Lord of Hosts is strong and he’s mighty in battle.He’s an everpresent help for his people in times of trouble. He is strong andhe’s mighty in battle. And in this passage here um that the Lord of hostsis entering Jerusalem in a triumph which means the Lord of hosts does not losehis battles. He returns to his city.

He returns to his people in victory. And soDavid says, “Well, you know, you come to me with a sword and a spear and ajavelin. You think you’re going to feed my body to the birds of the air, butlisten to me, Goliath. I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the theGod of Israel this day, whom you have defied to this day. And you’re not goingto take my head off. I’m going to take your head off and I’m going to feed yourbody to the birds of the air. Then all of Israel and you Philistines will knowthat there is a God in Israel and the battle belongs to him. And I can standhere with confidence because the Lord of hosts is an everpresent help in times oftrouble when your world is falling apart.

And the Lord of hosts is strongand mighty in battle. And he’s a conquering king and he doesn’t lose thebattles that he fights in. So I can fight you Goliath today.I’m not afraid of you. And the other quote, the other verse we’re going tolook at is 1st Samuel 14. Turn there in your Bibles. It’s like aquarter of the way through the Bible.Sorry. 2 Samuel 14.You know, I’m kind of tired today. Is any of you tired right now?It’s 2 Samuel 7. Um 2 Samuel 7 right there. I found it. if I’ve got the righttext now. 2 Samuel 7. I was driving here with my wife today. He said, “You know,I’m so tired.” I said, “Um, I don’t think I can read the number plates onthe cars in front.” So, I was driving, getting closer and closer till I couldread the number plates of the cars in front.

Eventually, my wife says, “Youbetter back off here.” Right. So, so you know, cuz preaching kind of takes it outof you. We had some late nights here. And so, I was driving this morning liketrying to see like where’s that car in front? Oh, it’s moving. Good. So, aslong as it’s moving, you got it. So um uh 2 Samuel chapter 7and this is a story of where um God sends the prophet Nathan to speak withwith David in um in Jerusalem. And God makes a covenantwith David. And this is what God says to Nathan theprophet in 2 Samuel 7:8. It says, “Now therefore, thus you shall say to myservant David, thus saith who the Lord of hosts, Jehovah Sabbath,Yahweh Saboth, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to beprince over my people Israel.”So God had made a promise to David that he was going to one day be the kingof Israel.

Verse 12. When your days are fulfilled and you liedown with your ancestors, I’ll raise up your offspring after you who shall comeforth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build ahouse for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.As God is saying to David, the the Lord of Hosts has made a deal with David, acovenant. He’s made a covenant with David and says, “I’m going to establishyou on the throne of Israel and you’re going to live a long life and one dayone of your descendants is going to reign in the everlasting kingdom.”That’s Jesus as the son of David. Verse 16 says, “Your house and your kingdomshall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be establishedforever.” This tells us that the the the Lord ofhosts, one of his characteristics of the characteristics of God that it revealsto us, the Lord of Hosts is a covenant-making and a covenant keepingGod.

And so when David stood there facingGoliath and Goliath says, “Come here, boy. I’m going to take your head offright now.” David says, “Well, yeah, you come with asword and a spear and a javelin, but I’m fighting in the name of the Lord ofHosts, and he is an everpresent help in times of trouble. Don’t you know? And bythe way, he is strong and mighty in battle. And he’s victorious in battle.And he goes back to his people when he’s fought those battles and he’svictorious. And the third reason I’m going to fight you, Goliath, is becauseGod made a deal with me when I was anointed. I It was promised that I wouldone day be the king of Israel. It was promised that I would have descendants,and I’m not yet married.

I have no children of my own. And out of thosedescendants would come would come one who would rise and would reign and rulein an everlasting kingdom. That’s what’s God’s promise is to me to Goliath. Andnone of that’s happened yet. So whatever happens today, I’m walking off thisbattlefield alive. Why? Because God made that promise to me. The Lord of Hosts isa covenant-making and he’s a covenant keeping God. And I’m going to trust himthat whatever happens today, because his promises I would be the king of Israelhave not yet come true. Because his promises I would have children have notyet come true. Because his promises I would have a descendant who one daywould would rule the nations and would have an everlasting kingdom.

Thatpromise has not yet come true. But I trust him. when he made a promise to me,he’s going to come through on that promise. So, I don’t care what you do tome here, Goliath. I’m walking off this field with my head on my shoulders, onmy own two feet. I can fight you, Goliath, because God isa covenant-making God. He is a covenant-keeping God. He’s made acovenant with me, and I know that that covenant has yet to come true, thepromises. So, I’m not afraid of anything that happens this day.So that teenage boy can stand and fight Goliath not in his own strength but inthe strength of the name of the Lord of hosts Jehovah God.There is a line in um a very famous reformation him a mighty fortress is ourGod.

I used to sing it as a kid and I keptthinking they’ve misprinted it. They’ve misprinted it. There’s a line that saysLord Sabbath or his name. You know that line and I used to think to myself noit’s Lord Sabbath. It’s Sabbath. They’ve missed they they they’ve printed Binstead they’ve printed A instead of uh B. It should be Lord Sabbath his name.But that no Martin Luther who wrote that song was correct. Lord Sabbath off hisname in the context of the reformation the battle and the fight for truth inthe early 1500s against the darkness and the oppression of the papacy. MartinLuther also was singing praises to Lord Sabah Jehovah Sabah just as David wassinging praises to Jehovah Sabah here. And when you are in a covenant with God,you can claim the promises of that covenant for your own life.

And youenter when you can enter today into a covenant with the Lord of hosts andclaim some promises of scripture for yourself. You can act on those promises.You can base your life on those promises. And you can walk withconfidence every day knowing that you’re in a covenant with the covenant-making,covenant-keeping God, and he’s not going to let his side of the bargain down onyou. You know, many years ago, if you turn in your Bibles to Joshua chapter 1,that’s before 2 Samuel. Joshua chapter 1,famous passage. Joshua is about to lead the children of Israelout of they’ve come out of slavery in Egypt. They’ve wandered in thewilderness for 40 years. Joshua is about to lead them into the promised landacross the river Jordan.

And before he goes across the land with God’s people,God appears to Joshua and he gives him make basically makes a covenant withhim. It’s a conditional promise. So follow me in your Bibles. Joshua chapter1 and verse two. It says, “My servant Moses is what? Dead. Now proceed across the Jordan, you and all this people into the land thatI’m giving to them to the Israelites. Every place that the soul of your footwill tread upon, I’ve given to you as I promised to Moses. From the wildernessand the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river of Euphrates, all theland of the Hittites to the great sea in the west shall be your territory. That’sbasically most of the Middle East. Goes on to say verse 5, no one will beable to stand against you all the days of your life.

As I was with Moses, so Iwill be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you. Be strong andcourageous, for you shall put this people in possession of the land that Iswore to their ancestors to give them. only be strong and very courageous,being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Mosescommanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so youmay be successful wherever you go. This book of law shall not depart out of yourmouth. You shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to actin accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your wayprosperous. Then you shall be successful. I hereby command you, bestrong and courage.

You should not be frightened or dismayed. For the Lordyour God is with you where? wherever you go. What a promise. Yes. Amen. Did God honor that promise to Joshua? Absolutely. Later in Joshua 24, we won’tlook at the verse now. He says, “You yourselves know that all God’s promiseshave come true.” And I when I was uh 20, how old was I?21 maybe. 20 I think I was 21. I was living in thesouth coast of England. I just graduated with a business degree and I’d workedfor the British healthcare and mental health for a year and um I wasn’t apatient you understand but I was working and um yes yeah yeah so uh anyway um I was about the British government said weneed you to go and work in a third world country for 6 months figure it out foryourself so I connected with a friend to work for ADA in the country of Azaba inthe caucuses just east of Turkey north of Iran and I connected with him andsaid hey can I come hadn’t spent 6 months with you.

He said, “Absolutely.”So, I was 21 years old. I was about to head off to um Aabahan. Most people sayAzabaware, but I understood this is Aabahan. And I uh the day I was flyingout, I knew that there was conflict with Armenia. There was a frozen conflictover a region called Nagono Carabach. And um there was going to be a likeJoshua, I was entering a strange land where people speak a strange tongue.They have a strange culture. And there was going to be fighting. And I was 21.And I was each year I read through my Bible and that morning I came to Joshua1. And those first nine verses were verypowerful for me. Like Joshua, I was about to enter aforeign land. I was going to see probably some fighting and hostility.

Iwas going to see IDPs, internally displaced peoples and refugees. I wasgoing to work in camps. I was going to see what happens to war to pe civilianpopulations in war in reality. And as I read through this passage, I realizedthat God was offering me the same covenant that he made with Joshua.If you will meditate on my law day and night, and you do not depart from it tothe right or to the left, I’ll be with you wherever you go, and you’ll besuccessful wherever you go. I hereby command you, said God to me as I readthrough this passage. Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened ordismayed about going to Heithro and getting on that plane to a difficultpart of the world. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.And just as God made a covenant with David when he was anointed and filledwith the Holy Spirit and that covenant was one day you’ll be the shepherd notof your father’s flock but of your heavenly father’s flock.

That is thepeople of Israel. So when I read this passage here, I realized that God wasmaking a covenant with me. And I’ve been careful to follow thatcovenant every day. And every day as I go through life, I think about thispassage here that God has incredible promises for me. My part is to becareful to act in accordance to all that is written in the word of God.And then God says, “You’ll be successful wherever you go. And I’ll be with youwherever you go. And I will fight your battles for you wherever you go.I want to encourage you today, you know, when we end whenwe go through baptism, we go through the Lord’s supper, we enter the new covenantwith Christ. We spoke about that on Thursday night.

I want to encourage youtoday to ask God to make a covenant with you, a personal covenant.Maybe choose one of your favorite passages of scripture like this Joshuachapter 1. Everybody has their own favorite passage. And say to the Lord,”Look, Father, this is my covenant with you. This is my part of the deal. thisis what I’m going to do and this is what you’re going to do for me. And startliving your life based on that covenant and the promises that God has made foryou. And that covenant, you think about it every day. What are myresponsibilities to God? This doesn’t mean you’re not saved by grace. This isjust your own personal covenant with the Lord. And when you enter into thatcovenant with God, as does David, then when those Goliaths come into your life,you’re not afraid because you’re in a covenant walk with God.

You’re livingyour life according to the promises of God. The promises of God are not justwritten thousands of years ago. They’re written for you today.And when we if we don’t base our life on those promises, then we don’t see themcoming true. But if we step out in faith based on those promises, like thepriests who stepped into the water of the river Jordan, it’s only then thatthe water piles up and they’d see the miracle in their lives. When we step outin faith and we base and we base our the the path that our feet tread on thepromises of God, we see God doing incredible things in our lives. And Ican testify today as did Joshua in Joshua 24. I can say Joshua says, “Youknow all of you that all that all the promises that God made has come through.Not one of all the promises has failed.” And I can say to say that not one of anyof the promises of God has failed in my life.

And I faced plenty of giants and Istill face giants. You know, life’s not easy for any of us. We all face giants.But I I trust that God is going to take care of these giants for me. That’s hispromise to me. Three weeks ago, four weeks ago, I was in Swedenwhere it’s much colder than here. And um it was it’smidsummer in Sweden. The temperature reached like almost 70° one day, whichis um it’s cold. All right. Um when you see the sunin Sweden, you take a picture of it cuz it’s uh there’s not much sun up there.And um four weeks ago, there was a firestorm going on theinternet. Some of you aware of that firestorm. And people were saying, “I’man agent of Satan. That I’m Satan incarnate was the latest one.

I’m I’m aviper, a Jesuit, a counselor on the body of Christ.” This is all kind of thefriendly comments that come your way on Facebook and YouTube. Well, anyway, Iwas reading through those. I thought, Lord, what am I going to do about this?And you turn in your Bibles to Psalm 124.And that morning, I was reading through the Bible. Four weeks ago, I came tothis passage here. I’m just illustrating to you what it means to walk with God in a covenantrelationship. And Psalm 124.It’s a short psalm. It says this. If it had not been theLord who was on our side, let Israel now say, “If it had not been the Lord whowas on our side when our enemies attacked us, then they would haveswallowed us up alive when their anger was kindled against us.

Then the floodwould have swept us away. The torrent would have gone over us. Then over uswould have gone the raging waters. I thought, “Yep, that’s what’s happeningto me right now.” And it goes on to say, “Blessed be the Lord who has not givenus as prey to their teeth. We’ve escaped like a bird from the snare of thefowlers. The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of theLord who made the heavens and the earth.”And so when you enter into a covenant walk with the Lord and you run the waterof the word of God through your brain on a daily basis, the bride of Christ is isprepared through the washing of the water of the word in Ephesians chapter5. When you run the water of God through your brain every day and you’re in thatcovenant walk with God and yes, giants are coming for you and they’re sayingsome pretty terrible things about you for the whole world to see.Then I I come to this passage on that very day about four Mondays ago inSweden.

I just said, “Thank you, Lord, that the battle belongs to you.That if I be faithful to you, then you’re going to watch over me and I’mnot going to lose any sleep about this. I’m not going to fight these battles.I’m not going to go on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and start typingaway.” Don’t do anything like that because the battle belongs to God and hewill fight your battles for you. When you’re in a covenant walk with Godand you have a personal covenant with God, these promises start coming true.You do your bit of the covenant and you see God doing for you immeasurably morethan you can begin to imagine. And so David, he fights that Goliath,the giants of his time. The battle goes forward.

Goliath pushes back his helmet.He charges at David and David picks up the stone and puts it in his sling andhe swings it and goes straight into this the giant’s forehead and the giantcollapses. And David just wants to make sure the giant is not stunned. So hegoes up to the Goliath Goliath, the story goes, and he pulls out his bigsword and he lifts it high in the air and he he takes off Goliath’s head andwe all say, “Praise the Lord.” Praise the Lord. Yes. Yeah. We never had a family, a TV growing up in our home. When my fatherwas preaching from the front, I would read these stories. All right. This wasmy R-rated stories as a little boy. Okay. I love these stories. Uh becausesometimes I’d think about my brother or my sisters.

I put them into the pictureor somebody else. And this is how you gain kind of mental satisfaction. ButGoliath is, I’m being honest with you. Goliath, his head comes off in thebattle. And that which Goliath said he’d do to David, David does to Goliath bythe grace of God. And God fights the battle for Gol for David.So for all of those who’ve just been baptized,for everybody who’s just been baptized,for our precious sister Judy who’s just given the profession of faith,for everybody who today has entered into the body of Christ, you are going toface Goliaths. But you don’t have to face them on yourown. The Lord of Hosts is mighty in battle.He is strong and mighty in battle. uh the Lord of hosts who we you’ve enteredinto a covenant with God.

He is your everpresent help in times of trouble. Heis strong and mighty in battle and he is umhe has made a covenant with you and he knows the plans and the purposes he hasfor you. Plans to give you a future. A future with hope. A future that isblessed. A future that one day means walking those streets of gold in the newJerusalem. So don’t be afraid of the Goliaths that come your way, but ask Godto fight the battles for you because the battle belongs to the Lord. The finalverse we look at here is from the prophet Jeremiah chapter 1, right in themiddle of your Bibles. Jeremiah was a teenager,a young man, when God called him to prophetic ministry.And Jeremiah didn’t want to be a prophet.He was a he was a son of a priest which meant that one day he was going to be apriest.

That meant that if you were a priest you had a job for life. It was aposition of prestige, a position of respect. People would sort of want totalk with him, maybe invite them to their homes for a meal. He’s he had asafe job in the religious hierarchy of his day if he just stayed with it. AndGod says, “No, I don’t want you to be a priest with all the job security thatbrings and living off the tithes. I’m going to ask you to be a prophet.” Lord,please somebody else like like you’re asking me to give up a job as a priestwhich is a job for life and and a comfortable, you know, pension for lifeand all the rest of it. And now you want me to be a priest like a prophet? Likenobody likes prophets, Lord?

Like like like John the Baptist, you know, theyeat they eat locusts and wild honey. Like are you sure about this? Andnobody’s going to like me. In Jeremiah 11, he says that all my kindred want tokill me. I mean, nobody wants to be a prophet. And God says to this young boy,Jeremiah, before you were born, I knew you. I set you apart in your mother’swomb. I consecrated you to be for a purpose to be and my voice to thenations. And Jeremiah is a teenage boy think Lord like why me?And he says to God he doesn’t want to be it. Verse 6 Jeremiah1. Then I said oh Lord God truly I do not know how to speak for I’m only aboy. Says Lord like find somebody else. I’m a young boy. Nobody’s going tolisten to me.

God says do not say I’m only a boy. Verse seven. For you shallgo to all whom I send. You shall speak wherever whatever I command you. Do notbe afraid of them, says God, for I am with you to deliver you, sayeth theLord. Then the last verse of that chapter, God says to that young man who’s justbeen called into service, God says to him, “They will fight against you.”Verse 19, “But they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, sayaiththe Lord, to deliver you.” Amen.Everybody who’s just been baptized, this is a message just for you.They will fight against you. You will face Goliaths in the immediatefuture. Satan’s going to push back one way orthe other. He may attack you this way. He may attack you that way.

He mayattack you that way. He may take the ground from under your feet. But Satan’sgoing to come for you to discourage and destroy your faith.and what God said to Joshua, what God said to David, what God says to thisyoung teenage boy called Jeremiah who’s been called into a new chapter of life,a new chapter of ministry for God, as is each of our new members of this church.God’s word for you is this. The Goliaths will fight against you, but they shallnot prevail against you. For I am with you, sayaith the Lord, to deliver you.God doesn’t take us from the fight. He says, I’ll be with you in the fight. Andif I’m with you in the fight, you’re never going to lose that battle. So, as we leave this place today and we we conclude tonight,there are going to be Goliaths.

There are going to be battles, but don’tfight them on your own. Give the battle into the hands of the Lord and see whatGod can do for you. The battle belongs to God. He’s going togive the victory. And whatever people threaten you with, you put it in thehands of God and say, “Lord, you are the Lord of hosts. You are my everpresenthelp in times of trouble. You are strong and mighty in battle. You are acovenant-making and a covenant keeping God. And your promises to me have notyet come true. So whatever else happens when this Goliath comes after me in2026, I’m giving the battle to you. I’m trusting you’ll give the victory. Don’t be afraid of the Goliaths. Don’t be afraid of the giants. He that waswith us is far greater than all those who are against us.If God before you, who can be against you?

David won his battle and by God’sgrace we will fight we will win our battles as well. God doesn’t take usfrom the battle. He says I will be with you in the fight and I will give youvictory in the fight. Yes, there are Goliaths but there is God and he isgreater than those Goliaths. So do not be afraid. Do not yield your faith. Donot give up your faith. Do not say this is too much to bear because if Godbefore you, who can be against you? Amen. Amen.