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- Goliath shows up in this story and challenges Israel to a fight once again. This story describes what he says, how he looks, and what the challenge is- Win and we’ll be come your servants- lose and you become ours. Goliath becomes a large taunting enemy before Israel getting in their face
- A formidable foe- a destroyer. Israel loses this one- they lose it all. They must win
- Some of you understand what it means to be in the fight of your life-
- Such it is with the Goliaths in our own lives. This is a literal historical story from the Bible.
- We don’t fight Goliaths anymore- but we do have fights we need to fight.
- Fight the good fight of faith. Fight the flesh. Fight the Devil. You gotta fight. “everyone fights- no one quits”
- As your pastor- you must know- I’m fighting for you. I’m fighting for this church
- Past few months- cult trying to infiltrate our church- moonies- rebuke them HARSHLY
- 1 tim 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses
- It not to say that its not difficult or dangerous, but its worth it. We must FIGHT
- 1 cor 9:26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
- Col 1:29 “for this I toil” Eph 6:12 “we wrestle not against flesh and blood”
- WE are all usually in some sort of fight in our lives. Some sort of sin. Something we need to start doing. Something we need to stop doing. Here’s the problem tho- Goliaths are bad.
- 1.Here’s what Goliaths do in your life- the figurative ones-
- Goliaths take your territory- v1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim.
- When a Goliath comes into your life- they take more than you thought and stay longer than you intended- You think “its not a big deal’ and next thing you know, you’ve changed
- You’re less loving. Less disciplined. Less controlled. Less spiritual. You’re different
- Matt 4: 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
- That’s what satan does! Jesus already had the land- Satan wanted to take it!
- Goliaths scheme against you 3 The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
- Psalm 26:9-10 Do not gather my soul with sinners, Nor my life with bloodthirsty men, 10 In whose hands is a sinister scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes.
The Goal of Goliath was simple- Destroy the Israelites- and they had a plan- WAR
Those things in your life are coming after you have a plan to destroy you- strategic
Goliaths look big 4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
Whenever you’re going through something- it always looks bigger than you thought it would be
A proverbial hill that seems to big to climb. Too much debt, weight, sin, addiction, pain
Goliaths protect themselves at all costs– Read v 5-7
Theres always protection for themselves built within a Goliath- self preservation
Addiction to something brings you back to IT not away from it- It WANT YOU
Goliaths Taunt you 8 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle?
Why does it seem that as soon as you start to move away from that Goliath they come at you
Goliaths steal your identity Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul?
Goliath didn’t even call them Israel- called them servants of Saul- you start to become your pain
Goliaths negotiate with you– Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 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.”
Use me for a while- do this for a while- come on- if you do this- it will be OK. Just give up this
Goliaths intimidates you 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”- They say whatever they need to say to get you to engage
Goliaths scare you- 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
Defeat wants to make you its slave- when you face these Goliaths- its understandable that you’d be scared. Its scary to face these “Giants” in your life.
2.Here’s where it gets Interesting tho-
I have heard every manner of David and Goliath sermon- But I wanted to slow down into this story and look closer- its 58 verses! We’ll get to the battle (spoiler alert- David wins)
But this fight never should have happened! If Israel had been obedient- they never would have to have fought this Goliath- IF Israel would have fully defeated the Philistines BEFORE THIS this battle would have never happened- They wouldn’t be dealing with this GOLIATH of a problem
See-Israel was promised to posess the land gen 12 to Abraham-Philistines were there then
They were told to possess the land Deuteronomy 1 and the philistines are referenced
Israel was told to possess the land, they were supposed to push out all the other inhabitants.
Joshua 11 describes how Israel pushed out all their enemies and possessed the land
But they never really went away– throughout the life of the Israelites- the Philistines just keep coming back and attack the Israelites. 7 large battles that Israel had with the Philistines
The philistines served the false god Dagon. Israel was stronger than them- but they tested Israel all the time, and sometimes God let Israel lose to the Philistines to teach them a lesson about obedience-
Here’s the lesson from the beginning of this story- You win every fight you don’t have to fight
Old movie- the Terminator- guy from the future comes back to the past to kill the source
Take care of the sin while you can. Take out the root. Destroy it at all costs. Be Obedient to GOD
Because if you don’t it will come back bigger than you expected- a GOLIATH
I remember my cousin died of cancer- Huge growth- knew something was wrong for a long time
What are you supposed to be being obedient to that you’re not being obedient to?
What roots of discontent do you have in your heart that need to be ripped out?
What life change do you need to make, sin stop, conversation had, job change, financial change, health, living situation, time fix, life fix,
Because if you DON’T get rid of it while you can- it comes back as a GOLIATH-
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
Bigger than you expected, wanting more than you want to give, bargaining, coaxing, attacking, taunting you, wanting you to become its SLAVE.
Destroy at the root as soon as you can! Why? Gal 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Once you identify that God wants you to destroy something in your life DESTROY IT
GO OT ON IT Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
Every connection, seed, nuance, iteration, thought, desire must be DESTROYED
It wont be through YOUR power- but through GOD’s Power- but you have to be in the FIGHT
2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
Live a NARROW life– BROAD is the path that lead to destruction-
Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Submit to GOD
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Don’t Align your life with the WORLD
Judges 2:2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?
DESTROY YOUR PRIDE
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
When you find a root- you have to remove it- at the core- and believe a core sin is PRIDE
Me- Pride of size of church. Influence. It gnaws at you. Preach what the people want-
If you just ease the message- READ TOZER
The problem- its not because I believe it- its because I want the adoration of men
Fan the flames of that ember and it becomes a hot flaming ball of sin- once you make a small degree of change- its no problem to make another one- and find yourself fighting Goliath
Me? I’d rather just destroy Goliaths father before He’s ever born. I’d rather Take the land, destroy the enemy, and never have to fight Goliath. I don’t even want to be in that fight
God has intended us to live a peculiar life for him that would confound the wisdom of the wise
And living that way is an all or nothing proposition- ‘
1 Peter 5:8– Be watchful 1 Cor 6:18 flee from sexual immorality Rom 8:6 Set mind on the spirit
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
Yes- God will fight my battles. YES God will deliver me. YES God is powerful
But do I have to make more work for him? DO I have to create situations for him to have to deliver me from? Or would it be better if I dealt with it before it got too out of hand?
TOZER- The Christian Message: Prophetic, Not Diplomatic
by A.W. Tozer, Renewed Day By Day, March 7
For Christ sent me to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 1 Corinthians 1:11
WE WHO WITNESS AND PROCLAIM the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world.
We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, modern education, or the world of sports.
We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum!
God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God’s just sentence against him.
What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life!
Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself.
Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing.
Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God’s stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.
Having done this, let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ!