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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] of the United States of America, the United States of America, and the United States of America, and the United States of America. Welcome to Anchor Baptist Church. We're going to go ahead and get started this evening. If you will, grab a hymnal and turn to our first hymn number 424, O Come All Ye Faithful. Plenty of practice for those that were out with us on Monday. 424, O Come All Ye Faithful. We'll sing there starting on the first. O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation, O sing, all ye private hosts of heaven above. Glory to God, O glory in the highest. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Yea, warn me, greet me, warn this happy morning, Jesus to thee we call glory give. Word of the Father, now with flesh appearing, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Amen. If you'll bow your heads with me, we'll open in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this evening, for another just blessing of an opportunity to gather together, to sing praises out for you, and to hear preaching from your word. I just pray that you would open all of our ears to the message that you've laid on Pastor's Heart this evening, and that you would help us to apply the spiritual truths to our lives. Just incline your ear to us as we continue to sing out more praises surrounding your son's birth this season. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, for our next hymn, turn one page, if you would, to 425. 425, no room in the inn. 425, 425, no room in the inn. We'll sing there starting on the first. No beautiful chamber, no soft cradle bed, No lace but a manger, no air for his head, No raises of gladness, no thought of their sin, No glory but sadness, no room in the inn, No room, no room for Jesus, forgiven, welcome, free, Lest you should hear at heaven's gate, there is no room for thee. No sweet consecration, no seeking is far, No humiliation, no base in the heart, No thought of the Savior, no sorrow for sin, No prayer for his favor, no room in the inn, No room, no room for Jesus, forgiven, welcome, free, Lest you should hear at heaven's gate, there is no room for thee. No want to receive him, no welcome while here, No want to relieve him, no staff but a smear, No seeking his treasure, no weeping for sin, No doing his pleasure, no room in the inn, No room, no room for Jesus, forgiven, welcome, free, Lest you should hear at heaven's gate, there is no room for thee. I handed out those prizes to those of you that did it. On the inside is our service time listed Sunday morning at 10 30, Sunday evening at 4 30, and our Wednesday evening bible study of course at 7 o'clock tonight. All of our soul winning times are listed there and they meet here at the church building. And then we go from here out into the community. Our nursing home ministry schedule is listed there if you partake in that. It's definitely a great blessing to people that often don't get a lot of visitors, so keep up the good work with that ministry for sure. Our year to date statistics are listed there at a couple more salvations this evening as a church, so great job on that, keep up the good work. On the right side is our list of expecting ladies. Please be in prayer for Miss Whitney Reed from her pregnancy. Also upcoming events coming up real soon is the ladies' Christmas party. Then make sure you plan to stay home with the kiddos during that time. Looking forward to ladies having a good time there. December 21st the next day is going to be our Christmas soul winning push. It's going to be a Saturday soul winning rally just with some food and coffee, so really excited to go preach the gospel that day and get people saved around Christmas time. December 31st is going to be our New Year's Eve party. Lord willing I'd like to make this a yearly tradition where we have a men's preaching night and a time of fellowship, of food, of games and all that. Really looking forward to that. If you are a man that wants to preach a sermon, you've just got to wear a shirt and tie, have a King James Bible, and there is a sign up sheet in the back. Don't forget to sign up because you signing up tells me how long the sermons should go. One person signs up, they'll just preach for an hour. But the more people that sign up, obviously the less time we'll allot for that because I don't keep going here preaching until midnight. I know that's biblical, but we also want to have some fun. We also want to eat some food, so we're going to do both. If you'd like to give online, that QR code is there. And there is our prayer request list in the back. Please make sure you email me about any requests that you have. I know this time of year a lot of people are getting sick, so do just keep our church in prayer for help for everyone and just the communities that we interact with. And we're going to go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer as a church now. Lord, we thank you for this evening. We thank you for this great time of year where we get to sing such wonderful songs about our Savior's birth. We pray that you'd help us during this month to be thinking about you and to be walking in the Spirit. We also pray for the requests that our church has from Miss Remy for her visa process, that your will would be done in her life, and also just for her healing of her tumor as well, Lord, that you bless her. We pray for Brother Moses, who had to flee Germany, that you would just bless him in the United States here, that you'd give him work and just help his life to be rooted and grounded here, Lord. We also pray for the brethren that are sole winners over there in Germany that are continuously facing increased persecution, that you would just help them to be steadfast, that you'd bless them and help them to continue to preach the Gospel there, Lord. And we pray also for Brother James Perry for his back pain, that you would bless him. And Brother Hall for his mother's salvation and her healing as well from cancer. Lord, I also want to pray for my grandfather, who's been having a lot of health issues, that you'd just heal his body as well. We pray for Brother Alex in Texas, that you'd bless him in his endeavor to find work. I just pray that your will would be done in his situation, Lord. We also pray for Miss Sean Furr, that her coworker, Terry, would be healed of the cancer that she's facing, that you'd just put your hand upon her life, Lord, and bless her. And we also pray for all of our members who have family members who are not saved, pray that their hearts would be softened, and those of us that have family members that are saved but backslidden, we just pray that around this time of year they would hear the preaching of God's Word, they'd read the Bible, they'd start getting their lives back on track, and even come to church, Lord, and just pray that you'd help us to be ministers to other people during this time. We love you very much. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, that's going to be it for announcements. At this time, we'll go to our third song. Alright, for our third song this evening, if you'll grab your white handouts, and turn to Psalm 126. Psalm 126, 1-2-6, and your white handouts. When the Lord turned again, the captivity of Zion. Psalm 126. We'll sing there on the first. When the Lord turned again, the captivity of Zion. We were like them that dream. Then was our ground filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us, whereof we are glad. He that goeth forth and weepeth, fair and precious he, shall doubtless come again. Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us, whereof we are glad. As the offering plates are being passed, turn if you would to 1 Samuel chapter 17. 1 Samuel chapter 17. Good evening. Tonight we're in 1 Samuel 17 and the Bible reads, Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochocho, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochocho and Azkiah and Ephah-saddim, and Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines, and the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, and there was a valley between them, and there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span, and he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mayol, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass, and he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders, and the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron, and one bearing a shield went before him. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me, if he be able to fight with me and to kill me, then will we be your servants, but if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and serve us. And the Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day, give me a man that we may fight together. And Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, and when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons, and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle, and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. And David was the youngest, and the three eldest followed Saul, but David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem, and the Philistine drew near morning and evening and presented himself forty days. And Jesse said unto David his son, take now for thy brethren an Ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren, and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines, and David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and took and went as Jesse had commanded him, and he came to the trench as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army, and David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words. And David heard them, and all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that has come up? Surely to defy Israel he has come up. And it shall be that the man who killeth him, the king, will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto them, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither, and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart, for thou art come down, that thou mightest see the battle. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner. And the people answered him again after the former manner. And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered him, and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said, Moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head. Also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them. And David put them off him, and he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in a script, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near unto David, and the man that bare the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I am come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the hosts of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, and all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands. And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and sling it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him, but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shearaim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As I so liveth, O king, I cannot tell. And the king said, I inquire thou whose son this stripling is. And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father in Heaven, we thank you for this day in our church, and we thank you for salvation, and we just ask that you give your favor to service, and we ask that you feel fast to the Holy Spirit, and help us to get this in the Word that we can apply to our lives. Amen. All right. Well, we are in 1 Samuel chapter 17, and this story is probably one of the most well-known stories in the world. I guarantee you, everyone you work with, all your family members, they all know the story of David and Goliath. And quite honestly, preaching through such a famous story can be a little bit intimidating, because it's such an epic story. But I'm going to try to do it justice this evening. It's a long chapter, so we'll jump right into it here. 1 Samuel chapter number 17, verse 1. The Bible says, Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shoko, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shoko and Azekah in Ephes-dameen. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, and there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. Here in this chapter, we're introduced to really the villain of this chapter and of this story, and that is Goliath, who is a giant. I mean, this man is absolutely huge, and he's described as a champion. It's kind of interesting, because it's the only time that word is used in the entire Bible, and it's not really used in a positive light, but just an interesting side note there. But the Bible says that his height was six cubits and a span. Now, from the Bible itself, I cannot prove to you exactly how long a cubit was, or how long a span was. A lot of people have made estimates of these things, and so the best I could give you this evening are the best estimates that are out there. What I'm about to say is not a hundred percent proven from the Bible, but this is the best idea out there, that a cubit is about 18 inches long, and a span is about nine inches long, which is usually your pinky to your thumb is about nine inches long. That would be a span, and this would make Goliath roughly nine feet nine inches tall, which is insane to think about, and I wanted to help you kind of visualize this a little bit, because the tallest person alive today is a man named Sultan Kosen, and he's eight foot three. All right, so let's see what an eight foot three man would look like. I can't have anyone in this room stand up and demonstrate, that's for sure. So eight foot three is about right there. That is the tallest man alive today. All right, here's Pastor Thompson, six foot eight, that's pretty tall, but there's a big difference between that and eight foot three. Now I can't even show you Goliath because these ceilings are only nine feet tall, so he's a full nine inches above that. I'm sorry, these are only eight feet tall, so he's a foot and nine inches above these ceilings. That's pretty crazy to think about. So yeah, he couldn't even stand in this building today. The code is not made for Goliath in the United States of America. But just think about that as you're reading this story, that this guy was bad. This dude was huge. I mean, if he's nine foot nine, imagine how broad he was. Imagine what his arms and his legs look like. I mean, this was a scary looking dude. Hence why he's the champion of Gath, right? Now, go to Genesis chapter six, because here we are introduced in the Bible to a giant. And the Bible does teach giants existed at one point. And they used to be a lot more of them than there are today. I mean, that guy that I told you about, Sultan, I would consider that guy a giant. I mean, he's eight foot three. That's huge. But some people get a weird idea that giants in the Bible were like 500 feet tall. And they usually call them the Nephilim. But Genesis six one says this, and it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh. Yet his days shall be in 120 years. Verse four. There were giants in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old men of renown. And so the Bible says that before the sons of God went in unto the daughters of men and had children, there were already giants. And after this, there was also giants because people like to look at this story and they say, oh, the sons of God here and the children of men aren't two human beings. It's like some sort of weird, you know, demon creature and human beings making this weird hybrid known as the Nephilim. And people will teach that the Nephilim were literally these 500 plus foot tall giants. In fact, I know of someone I used to live in Boise, Idaho, and I know of someone that pointed at the foothills, the mountains on the base of, you know, the mountain range there and said that those aren't mountains. Those are fossils of the Nephilim. They weren't joking. They weren't kidding. They actually believed that the foothills were fossils of Nephilim. So look, Goliath, huge, big guy. He's a giant, but he wasn't 500 feet tall. OK, he was nine foot nine. You can go back to First Samuel 17. First Samuel, Chapter 17, as you're turning there, Hebrews 1, 5 says, For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee? So when he in Genesis 6, it was told us that the sons of God went on to the daughters of men. And people say, oh, that's that's angels. That's fallen angels. But yet in Hebrews 1, the Bible says unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son. He's saying, hey, I never told any angel at any point that they were my son. Right. Who are the sons of God? That's us that are safe. We are the sons of God. Now, verse five of First Samuel 17 says this. It's going to describe his loadout here for combat. And he had a helmet of brass upon his head and he was armed with a coat of mail. And the weight of the coat was 5000 shekels of brass. Now, again, I can't tell you exactly what a shekel was in the Bible, but from the best research I could find, this would translate to about 155 pounds. This is just the what does it say here? He was armed with a coat of mail and the weight of the coat was 5000 shekels of brass. So picture today, like a soldier would wear some sort of bulletproof armor vest. Right. This is their version of that. It's a coat of mail that's used to protect him in combat. And just the coat weighed 155 pounds, give or take. Now, I look this up. The the average combat loadout for a U.S. Marine today, all of their gear, their backpack, their bulletproof armor, their guns, their bullets, all their stuff typically weighs between 60 and 100 pounds. So Goliath, he had all sorts of other equipment, but just his chest protector, if you will, weighed 155 pounds. Now, I've got 155 pounds here on the stage this evening. I'd like to ask Brother Dan if he'll come deadlift this for us. And when you lift this, Brother Dan, hold it up for a while, because we're going to read Psalm 119 while you're holding. No, just kidding. All right. So Dan's a strong guy. OK, this guy trains jujitsu. He's a strong guy. Quite honestly, he could deadlift way more than this. This is not a big deadlift, I'm telling you right now. But imagine this being around your chest and walking around and being in combat. All right. Go ahead and lift that for us and hold it once you're up at top. All right. So Dan's a man. OK. And 155 pounds is nothing for him. But Dan, do me a favor. Can you go ahead and curl that up? Can you curl that? No, you cannot. All right. Go ahead and put that down softly. All right. You be seated. Thank you. All right. So Dan's a strong guy and he could pick up 155 pounds, no problem. But imagine walking around and wearing 155 pounds on your chest and fighting and running and being in combat. I mean, that's insane. And us, if we were to find Goliath's armor, we might be able to deadlift it, but we couldn't even curl it to put it on our bodies. OK, even strong men today couldn't have done that. So I just want you to understand what a beast this guy was, carnally speaking, what a monster this guy was, carnally speaking. And I think that God gave the story of David and Goliath for a reason, because Goliath is just like the pinnacle of human strength. David is just like the meanest, baddest enemy that you could possibly find. It says in verse six, and he had greaves of brass upon his legs and a target of brass between his shoulders and the staff of a spear. It was like a weaver's beam and his spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron and one bearing a shield went before him. So just the tip of his spear was about 15 pounds. And, you know, it'd be funny if we just had some of the 15 pound weight and just see how long they could hold that out. That's just the tip of his spear. I mean, this guy was huge. Verse eight. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel and said unto them, Why are you come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine and ye servants of Saul? Choose you a man for you and let him come down to me. And notice right away here the pride that comes from this man Goliath. And carnally speaking, you could kind of understand where he's coming from. But here's the thing. It doesn't matter how big you are, doesn't matter how bad you are, doesn't matter, you know, how in the flesh you might think that you're strong. There's never a good reason to be prideful because we all know the end of this story that Goliath loses. OK, let me read this verse for you. Proverbs 16 18 says, Pride goeth before destruction and in haughty spirit before a fall. You know, you and I ought to remember that that, hey, we're not Goliath. No one in here is nine foot nine. No one in here can walk around with one hundred and fifty five pound vest. And he didn't have a reason to be prideful. We also don't have a reason to be prideful. But notice what he's saying. He's saying, why are you come out to set your battle in array? He's saying, why are you even coming to fight us? He's just losing pride, right? He's saying, am not I a Philistine? You know, he's taking pride just in the fact that he belongs to the Philistines. And you see people like this today where they'll have an improper love for their country to where it kind of goes towards pride. And pride is always wrong. Here's the thing. You could love our country. You could be dedicated to our country. You could respect our country. But there's nothing about you that makes you better than another person simply because you were born in America. Now, here's the thing. America is objectively better than every country in the world. I believe that 100 percent. But you are not objectively better than someone else just because you were born here. Why? Because you didn't build this country. When you're born in this world, you've done nothing. And sometimes people have this prideful view like, well, I'm an American. Therefore, I'm better than everyone else. No, you're not. Now, here's the thing. America is better. Yes, it is. But you being an American? No, that's not true. And sometimes even other people think that in different countries. They even think that sometimes Americans are better than them intrinsically. But you know what? That's not true. Goliath here is not special because he's a Philistine. We're not special because we're Americans. No one's special because of their nationality. Verse number nine says, If he be able to fight with me and to kill me, then will we be your servants? But if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and serve us? He gives this challenge to Israel saying basically, hey, if you beat me, we'll serve you. And of course, Goliath has no thought in his mind that he even could possibly lose. So he's given this huge prize basically out there saying, hey, we're just going to serve you if you could beat me. And of course, we know what happens. Verse 10 in the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. And we see when Goliath gives the children of Israel this challenge, this dare. What do we see the responses of the children of Israel? Fear. Right. And I think that Goliath could represent in a Christian's life just anything that you're afraid of, anything that seems like an insurmountable task, a obstacle that you can't overcome, something that you can't defeat. You know, everyone has something like that in their life or they have at one point where they look at something in their life and they think, you know what, I just can't provide for a family on one income. This is just a Goliath in my life. I can't beat this. And you start to be afraid. You start to have fear in your heart thinking, hey, I'm not sure that I could do this. Sometimes people are this way out, soul winning. Sometimes people are just shy as a natural disposition. And they just are terrified at the thought of walking up to a stranger, knocking on their door and talking to them about heaven and hell. I mean, that can sometimes be a little hard for people who are extroverts to do so much more someone who's introverted. It's like they don't like talking to people about the weather. They don't like talking to people about football. It's like you're asking them to go talk to people about heaven and hell. Right. And they could feel fear. You know, soul winners could even sometimes shake in fear going soul winning. And it could be kind of like a Goliath to them. You know, some men you've read your Bible. You're filled with the spirit. You've got the word of God in your heart and you want to preach a sermon someday. But you're just too scared. Right. It's a Goliath for you. You're afraid of it. But here's the truth about fear is that fear is always amplified by our perspective. Fear is always amplified by our perspective because here's the thing. When you're just a man in the flesh. I mean, here's five foot nine, Pastor Oz. If I were to go fight some nine foot nine dude and that's my perspective, five foot nine. I mean, I'm going to be pretty afraid in the flesh. Right. I mean, this dude is just going to crush me. This guy is going to destroy me. And sometimes we're looking at the job we have or the amount of money we have. And we're looking at the mouths that we got to feed. We're just looking at whatever this challenge is in your life that you're seeing as insurmountable. And the reason it's so scary to you is because you're looking at it from your perspective. But think about this. What if you look at Goliath from the perspective of God? You can be afraid of Goliath when you're God. No, because nine foot nine is nothing to the Lord God Almighty. And here's the truth about fear. Fear is amplified by a bad perspective. This is how you defeat fear. Doesn't matter if it's about your finances. Doesn't matter if it's about your health or preaching the gospel or preaching a sermon is you have to reframe your mind into a spiritual viewpoint. You have to look at the problems of life. You have to look at the challenges of life and not see them as, wow, I'm small. I'm weak. I'm short. Here's this giant Goliath. You have to think, yeah, I'm I'm weak. I'm short. I'm not strong. But guess who's God? I serve the Lord God of heaven. And that changes your perspective. Now, all of a sudden, Goliath is not so tall. Goliath is not so big. Goliath is not so bad. But here the children of Israel are terrified. Go to Isaiah Chapter 41, Isaiah 41. I want to show you a verse that highlights what I'm talking about, of changing your perspective when it comes to fear. Isaiah 41, verse 10, the Bible says, Fear thou not. And notice that next word for, you know, that means because. Why aren't you going to fear? Well, let's change our perspective a little bit. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. See, when we look at things through the flesh, it kind of makes sense to be scared because we are weak because we can't be Goliath in the flesh. But hold on. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. That changes things. When God is with you, that changes things. The Bible says that I could do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. It doesn't say, hey, I could just do all things because I'm awesome, because I'm a go getter, because I'm just good at things that I try. No, no, no. You could do all things because of Jesus Christ. And here in this story, we're going to see a little boy, David, kill Goliath. And it wasn't because the little boy could beat up Goliath in a fight. OK, Goliath could have stomped David physically, but it was because God was on David's side. And when God is on someone's side, that person is unstoppable. Go, if you would, to Ecclesiastes chapter 12, Ecclesiastes chapter 12. While you're turning there, I'll read Ephesians 320 says, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that work within us. You know, the Bible says that God's able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. And those of us that are in this room that are saved, you know, we've already put our trust in God to save us from hell. We're all fully persuaded in here that our sins have been forgiven, that we will never dip one little toe into hell. We believe that we're saved, that we're delivered. But yet so many Christians today, they put their faith in God to save them. Yet they're fearful of their finances. They're fearful of their job. They're fearful of raising their kids. They're fearful of their marriage. They're afraid to follow God's commandments. But let me tell you who you should fear. Look at Ecclesiastes 12 through 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. See, when you fear Goliath, you're going to be feeling small. You're going to be feeling insecure. You're going to be feeling like you can't do something. But when you fear God, Goliath is a little bug to God. Goliath is nothing to God. Goliath could do nothing to the Lord. Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 17. 1 Samuel 17. And so when we're introduced to Goliath, we see his strength, we see his might, we see his dread, we see his pride, right? But now we're going to be introduced to David in this story. In verse 12, the Bible says, Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons. And the men went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. So David's father is old. He's got eight sons. And the eldest and the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab, the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shema. If you remember Eliab, this is the one that passed before Samuel, and Samuel immediately thought like, man, this has to be the guy. This has to be the one that God chose because he's so strong and he's so fierce looking, right? But of course, we know that David's going to be the star of the show in this story. Verse 14 says, And David was the youngest, and the three eldest followed Saul. Verse 15, But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. You know, I don't think this detail is put into this chapter just as an accident. You know, everything in the Bible is there for a reason. And God is not seeing like, hey, how long can I make 1 Samuel chapter 17, right? This is put in there for a reason. Why? Because we're about to see David do something great. We're about to see David accomplish a feat that is known by everyone in this world, basically, today in 2024. But you know what David was doing before he was doing something great? He was doing something small. He was doing something humble. He was doing something lowly right before David went to kill the biggest, baddest giant around. You know what he was doing? He was being a lowly servant of his father, keeping the sheep. Isn't that kind of a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ? How when he first came to this earth, he came as a servant. He came lowly. He didn't come trying to build a reputation for himself. But then, you know, Jesus came lowly the first time, but next time it's not going to be that way. Next time he's going to be cutting some heads. Next time he's going to be rolling and raining with a rod of iron. And also, this kind of pictures the devil and the Lord Jesus Christ. If you would go to Matthew or Luke chapter... Oh, I'm sorry. Go to Matthew chapter 4 and Luke 16. Matthew 4 and Luke 16. We'll go to both of those real soon. Matthew chapter 4 and Luke chapter 16. Luke 16 verse 10 says this. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? You know, I've heard this quote. I don't know who said it, but I like it. It says, how you do some things is how you do all things. How you do some things is how you do all things. You want to know why David ended up being such a great man of God, someone who ended up becoming the king, leading the armies of Israel in battle, someone who as a boy was able to accomplish such a great work for God, killing Goliath, because David was willing to do the humble tasks. David was willing to do the tasks that no one else wanted to do. Everyone else was watching the battle. Everyone else was following Saul. Everyone else was following Jesse. And yet David is just serving. And, you know, this is a truth that we need to internalize as Christians, that if you want to do something great someday, if you want to be someone that is elevated and exalted by God, maybe you want some sort of position in the church as a deacon or as a pastor or as an evangelist, you want a promotion at work, you have to be willing to do the small things well. You have to be willing to do the tasks that don't get a lot of glory, that don't get a lot of attention, but yet you just humbly go about your life serving God, doing the little things. You know, that's things that God likes. You know, I think about this guy, Mark Driscoll, who's now a pastor. And he said, yeah, I never grew up going to church. I've never been to church. But God talked to me and told me that I should go start a church. No, that's not how it works, actually. You know, David didn't just drop out of thin air and just become a mighty man of God. David just didn't drop out of thin air, as we'll see later in the story. And this is the first fight David's ever had. No, David was someone who was already doing right faithfully for a long time. And this is why it's so important, like when someone's going to be ordained in the ministry, that it's someone that's faithful. You know, the Bible talks about how deacons have to be proved. Right. We want to see in a man of God, we want to see in someone that's going into leadership that they're able to do the small things faithfully for a really, really long time. Because, you know, it's kind of hard for someone that is motivated by pride, someone who is motivated, that's self-willed, to just fake it for a really long time because they want that position immediately. Right. But someone who actually is just doing things for the right reason, they could be patient. They could wait. They don't have to rush things. And if it's not God's will, then they're not going for it. Matthew chapter number four, Matthew four. Now stay there in Matthew four. First, Samuel 17, 16 says, and the Philistine drew near morning and evening and presented himself 40 days, 40 days. That's why I said I kind of think of this story of Jesus and the devil in the wilderness is because, you know, Goliath is just presenting himself to Israel morning and evening for 40 days. I mean, this had to have been quite the spectacle where every day he's going out and giving this challenge for 40 days straight. Look at Matthew four, verse one. It says, then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted, notice 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward and hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. So, you know, we see this story that's very similar where the devil's coming to Jesus and the devil's trying to provoke Jesus to sin. The devil's reviling him. And here, what is Goliath doing? He's going up to the children of Israel and he's kind of provoking them. He's defying them. He's trying to challenge them. Go to First Samuel 17. Let's keep reading in the story. First Samuel 17. And Jesse said unto David his son, take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand. And look how thy brethren fare and take their pledge. Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines. You know, one thing I noticed for the first time reading this chapter is when I've read this chapter, I kind of just pictured Goliath. He gives the challenge and the people are afraid and they're kind of like in limbo for a while. And then David goes and fights Goliath. But really, this was 40 days. And the Bible says that there already was fighting with the Philistines. So there had to have already been a lot of death going on before David and Goliath fight, which to me would kind of add to the people's fear, would kind of add to the children of Israel's feeling of dread and hopelessness. When they've already been fighting for 40 days, they've probably lost a lot of people. And it also goes to show the bravery of David and the trust that he had in God when there probably already has been tons of people killed, yet he was still willing to go and fight the Philistine. Verse number 20 says, And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with the keeper, and took and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the trench as the host was going forth to fight and shouted for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. And David left his carriage, notice, in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army and came and saluted his brethren. You know, not only was David just a humble person, not only was he just willing to do things that other people probably weren't really that excited to do, he was willing to do things that he wouldn't really get glory from. Also, when he finally does go, it says that he left the sheep with the keeper. David's a responsible person. David's someone that is diligent. And I want to read for you, stay there Proverbs 12-24 says, The hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the slothful shall be under tribute. And you see, David's life is just on an ascension from this point, where God is just going to promote him, God's going to make him the king someday. And it's like, why did that happen? It's not like God, I think some people think that God is just randomly picking leaders out of a hat or something like that. But no, it's that he was the person that had the character that was worthy of leadership. He was someone that was humble, he was someone that was diligent, leaving the sheep with a keeper. You know, this is a good thing for us men to remember at work. Is that, you know, if you want to be someone that could be promoted to management someday, you got to make sure that you're being diligent with the things that you already have, right? He that is faithful, and that which is least, is faithful also in much. You know, if David's the type of guy where he's willing to be faithful with the sheep, he's willing to keep, you know, make sure there's someone to watch the sheep, keep the sheep. When he leaves, he's probably going to be someone that cares about God's people, God's sheep, when he's ruling and reigning over the king, or over the nation of Israel. Look at verse number 23. Verse 23 says, And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words, and David heard them. So he keeps giving this challenge over and over. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid. Everyone else, except for David, was running away from this Philistine. Everyone else was scared. Everyone else was looking at this through the eyes of the flesh. Look at verse 25. It says, And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that has come up? Notice their perspective, right? It's all about Goliath. Surely to defy Israel is he come up. And it shall be that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. Now, there's a lot of guys, I'm sure, even in the new IFB, that would be willing to fight someone to get this prize. I mean, this is a luring prize, right? I mean, you get great riches, you get the king's daughter, alright, that's good, and your house is free in Israel. I mean, they're in such a dire situation here, and everyone's afraid. They're just like, we'll just give you tons of money, we'll give you the king's daughter, we'll make your house free. I mean, all the prizes are coming out here. They need to do something. And look at verse number 26. It says, And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach of Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? Notice, we finally get someone in this story that has the right perspective. Everyone else is saying, oh man, the scary Philistine, oh man, Goliath's so bad. And then David looks at him and he says, who's this uncircumcised Philistine? Hey, guess what? We've got God on our side. And he was like, by the way, what did you say was going to happen to the guy that kills this Philistine? I want to hear that again to make sure I heard that right, because it sounds like he's attracted to this offer. He thinks this is a good offer. Right. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with doing something with the motivation of getting a reward. There's nothing wrong with doing something to get an award. You know, this is called ambition. And while ambition can be taken too far, absolutely, ambition can become ungodly. And some people have an idea of just like success at all costs. You know, it doesn't matter what commandments of God they violate. You know, we need more people today that are ambitious. We're living in a day where a lot of the young men of our nation have no ambition whatsoever. A lot of men are just totally content to stay living in mom's basement till they're 28, 30 years old. You know, they have no drive. They have no passion. They have no desires. It's like they don't want to go get a good job. They don't want to start getting the riches. They don't want to go get a woman. They don't want to bring their family freedom someday. They just want to do nothing. And people even have this idea sometimes spiritually where they think it's wrong to want to do the work of God with the hope or expectation of some sort of reward. But let me tell you something. God is a God of rewards. God is a God that will reward his servants. God is a God that will reward his soldiers. And it makes no sense to send out a soldier into war and not pay that person and not give that person food and not take care of that person. It's a stupid mentality that looks down on getting any type of gain whatsoever. Now, there's some people that think that that gain is godliness. Right. And they could take that ambition too far. But then you have this weird like Gen Z mentality where they're just doing nothing with their lives. And people today are like this spiritually, too. They're just content to do nothing. They're content to have no rewards in heaven. They're content not to try hard. They're content to look at the Goliaths of their life and do nothing about it. Let them defy. Let them defy God. Who cares? You know, a lot of pastors are like this today. They don't really care that there's a bunch of Goliaths going around defying God, blaspheming God. That there's a bunch of false prophets out there teaching false, damnable heresy. That there's a bunch of faggots going up and down the streets of our country during the month of June, waving their pride flags. I mean, those are some Goliaths out there that we need some men with some drive saying, hey, I want to fight this battle. I want to fight these guys. And you know what? A reward is not wrong in that battle. Go to Hebrews 11. Let me show you that. Hebrews chapter 11. I like that David is ambitious here. And of course, this is tempered by his character. The fact that he is humble. The fact that he is diligent. You know, when you have those things coupled with ambition, that is a great combination right there. Hebrews 11, 6 says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. God is a God that rewards us. And you know what? I don't know about you. I thank God for that. You know, the Bible talks about, you know, what can I render unto the Lord for all his benefits that he's done for me, that he's given me? The Bible talks about Jesus or how God daily loads us with benefits. And we can just spend all night just taking turns talking about all the great things that God has done for us. Whoso findeth a wife obtaineth favor of the Lord, the Bible says. That's a reward. Hey, the fruit of the womb is his reward, the Bible says. I mean, there's all these rewards that God gives us. It makes no sense to look down on someone for saying, hey, I too want a wife from God. Hey, I too want children from God. Hey, I too want God to bless my life in some sort of way. No, we should all want that. We should all be willing to fight for that. Look at verse 24 of Hebrews 11. Verse 24 says, by faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. What's that saying? Moses was thinking about, he had respect unto, he put it into the equation when he was making his decisions, that there was going to be a great recompense of reward for him. And let me tell you, someone that's rich in heaven today is Moses. I mean, he's got to be one of the richest men in heaven. He was a great man of faith. A huge portion is dedicated to him in the Hall of Faith. And let me tell you something, people that hate on individuals for having ambition, for wanting to accomplish something, for wanting to set a goal and reach it, for wanting to have better finances, or spiritually, for wanting to build a great church that's godly, that's preaching hard, that's doing great things for God, to want to reach thousands of souls for Christ, to want to preach the best sermons you possibly can. People will look at that kind of person and say, wow, that person's prideful, that person's in the flesh, that person's just only concerned about getting the rewards. Let me tell you what that type of person is. Lazy. Lazy. And today we have a lot of people that because they're stupid, quite frankly, because they're lazy, because they have no ambition, because they can't fathom themselves actually setting a goal and reaching it. They can't, you know, imagine themselves actually dreaming big and doing something great. When they see someone else do it, they despise that person because they themselves are lazy and have no vision. But I'm telling you, David was not a person that was just walking through life. He didn't care about anything. He was apathetic. No, he said, hold on, whoa, there's a reward here. There's a chance that I'm going to get the riches and the girl and the freedom. Hey, bring it on, Goliath. Let's fight. That's the attitude that he had. Go to Matthew 6, Matthew chapter 6. These people are lazy, that hate on people that have a dream, that hate on people that have a vision. Matthew chapter 6, verse 19 says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. See, our ambition shouldn't be geared towards the carnal things of this world. Our ambition shouldn't be you just dedicating your whole life to just becoming rich for the sake of being rich. That's not God's will for your life. Look what it says, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do break through nor steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Oh, you're not supposed to do things for rewards. Jesus literally told me to lay up treasure in heaven. Sounds like God wants me to care about rewards. Sounds like God wants me to look at my life and have a vision and have an end goal saying, hey, I want to get to heaven and not have a dry bank account when I get there. I want to get to heaven and I want to have great riches laid up, not on this earth. I don't care about my house. I don't care about my car. I don't care about my clothes. But what I do care about is the kingdom of God. I do care about my bank account in heaven. And he says to literally, hey, go ahead and lay up those treasures. Go ahead and heap those rewards unto yourselves. And so guess what? That's why we do things like, I don't know, praying to God, going to church, preaching the gospel, fasting. See, people that fast and then they tell you about it, they brag about it. They lost their what? Reward. So doesn't it make it seem like one of the reasons you would fast is so you could get a reward? There's nothing wrong with getting a reward. He's literally telling you to lay up treasure for yourself in heaven. I want rewards from God. Go to First Timothy, chapter five. I want as many blessings from God as God is willing to give me. Why would I not? While you're turning there, Malachi 3 10 says, bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. And prove me now herewith, sayeth the Lord of hosts, I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. You know, you know why I tithe to church and why I always have since I've gotten saved? It's not because I just really love supporting a family of six off of 90 percent of my income. It's not that I just think that that's so easy or that that's just no problem for me. It's because I want the blessing of God. It's because I believe that living off the 90 percent with God's hand on your life is way easier, way easier than living off the 100 percent with God's curse on my life, with God's chastisement coming down upon me. Because let me tell you something, God has a way of making your money disappear like that. God can take away everything you have in one day. And we live in Oklahoma City, folks. There's these things called tornadoes. I don't care how much money you got saved up. I don't care how good of a house you have. God could blow that thing down in one instant if he wanted to at any time. You know what? I'd rather just say, God, I trust you with my finances. God, it's going to have to be in your court to provide and take care of all these kids and take care of my wife. And I'm not really that stressed about it, you know, because I'm only thinking about today. I'm thinking about the kingdom of God. You know, that's what we should be thinking about. And there's nothing wrong with tithing for a reward. Okay? You're thinking about it. You're giving your money away and it seems counterintuitive. It's like, well, I'm getting rid of my finances. I'm getting rid of 10% of my income. But the Bible literally says that he'll pour you out a blessing. So I'm expecting a reward from God when I tithe. Go to First Timothy 5 and 17 says, Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn and the laborer is worthy of his reward. Notice that last phrase. The laborer is worthy of his reward. You know, when you go to work, are you going there just out of the goodness of your heart? You just want to volunteer your time to your company. You don't need a paycheck, right? I mean, you just go there, you clock in, you just love your boss so much. Hey, boss, don't worry about paying me. I'm just doing this because I really love your company so much. Or do you do it for a reward? You do it because you want to pay your bills. You do it because you expect some sort of recompense for that. The Bible literally says the laborer is worthy of his reward. And you know what? What David is about to do. He's worthy of his reward. Why? Because he's actually willing to have the ambition to go fight Goliath. Go back to First Samuel 17. To me, that was one of the more encouraging things about this chapter is thinking about, hey, you know what? Hey, you know what? God's still looking for men that have godly ambition. God's still looking for men that have a vision in their lives. Verse 28, in Eliab, here comes the haters. In Eliab, his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David. And he said, Why camest thou down hither? And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride in the naughtiness of thine heart, for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. You see the criticism from the do-nothings. Hey, it's been 40 days, Eliab. You had your chance. How come you haven't gone and fought Goliath yet? Yeah, because you're scared. Because you don't want to take on the challenge. And here comes your little brother, and you want to despise him. You want to think that he's prideful. You want to criticize him because he actually wants to do something great for God. This is what the lowlifes, this is what the do-nothings do. They look at a church like ours, and they say, Oh, look at these few sheep. Oh, look at this strip mall. Oh, they actually think that they could reach this city by knocking on their doors and asking them straight up if they're going to heaven. Yes, we can. You better believe that we can. It doesn't matter how many people we have. It doesn't matter that, Oh, it's this few sheep. Oh, it's a strip mall. Hey, guess what? Is God on our side or not? That's what matters. I don't care about the Goliath. I don't care how many people are in the city. I don't care how many haters there are. I don't care how many people online hate me or hate you or think that you're stupid for going to this church or anything like that. All I care about is what God thinks. I don't care what the Philistines think. Look at verse 29. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? And here's the thing. Those of us that do have ambition and we are motivated by a reward. Here's the truth, though, is that we're not motivated purely by a reward because we also say, Hey, is there not a cause? Yeah, we want the reward. Yeah, we want God to bless our lives. But also, hey, is there not a cause today why we go out soul winning? Is there not a cause today why we go out and reach the world of the gospel? Is it because we're going to be blessed necessarily by doing that? Like, is our lives so much better that we go out in the wind and in the cold and just go to the most ghetto areas and go into people's apartments where they're choking you to death with their cigarette smoke and their kids are throwing food all over the walls? And there's a mattress on the middle of the floor as soon as you walk in. Right, Brother Cameron? Are we doing that because that is just the most fun thing in the world? Or or are those people going to die and go to hell if they don't believe in Jesus Christ? Hey, there's a cause today for what we're doing. And guess what? It's not just for reward. There's also a cause that we believe in. You know, is there not a cause today for us to show up to God's house that Jesus Christ died for, that Jesus Christ spilled his precious blood for? Is there not a cause to come here today and be assembled together with God's believers and to realize, hey, iron sharpened with iron. And so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. There's a cause today for coming to church. You know, when you skip church, people miss you. You know, people come to this church because you're their friend. And more important than that, Jesus wants you to be in this church. And it's Christmas time. You know, we're thinking about the Lord even more. This is the best time of year. You know, this is a great time of year to be in church. Is there not a cause for that? Look, is there not a cause that we pray unto the Lord? Is it just a vain exercise for us, like the Catholics just chanting, repeating over and over? Or is there not a cause when we want to pray to the Lord that we actually believe that God can move in the situation we're praying about, that we believe that God could actually tip the scales in whatever we need him to tip the scales for? It's not just a vain exercise. Hey, there's is there not a cause today that we pray? Is there not a cause today that we follow the Bible's commandments about child rearing when the world thinks that you're crazy for spanking your children? Hey, is there not a cause? Look at your hellions. There's a cause, right? There's a cause. There's a cause to serve God today. And you know what? We should never allow people that criticize us, people that want to talk down to us or make fun of the size of our church or anything like that. We should never allow people like that to move us. We should never allow people like that to draw us away from our own steadfastness and realize, well, you know, maybe if we were doing something right, our church would be bigger. Hey, Lord willing, it will be bigger someday, but it doesn't matter what size it is. It matters. Is the truth being preached here? It matters. Is God's people here matters? Is this church doing the work of God? Well, you know what? Then be steadfast. Verse number 30. And he turned from him toward another and spake after the same manner, and the people answered him again after the former manner. And when the words were heard, which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul, and he sent for him. Verse 32. And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go and fight this Philistine. See, everyone else was scared. Everyone else said it couldn't be done. Everyone else said, Hey, David, go back to those few sheep that you had in the wilderness. But David said, Hey, I will go fight this person. I know it's been 40 days. I know none of you grown men have the stones to do what needs to be done here. Am I a stripling here? Am I a young boy? Hey, I'll go take care of this giant. Go to Isaiah Chapter six, Isaiah Chapter six. People like David are so rare. Everyone thinks they're David, right? Everyone wants to be like David, and rightly so. But let me tell you, people like David are rare because the whole nation of Israel, they're afraid. They've got the wrong perspective. They're unwilling to fight. But just this one man was willing to fight. Isaiah six eight says, Also, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then said, I hear my send me. You see, God was looking to use someone God wanted to send someone. And here's the good news. If you're a person that actually does have ambition, that actually does want to do a great work for God in your life. God is so ready to use you. It's not even funny because God is constantly looking around through this earth. And you know what he's seeing? He's seeing Christians be afraid. He's seeing Christians be lazy. He's seeing Christians go criticize Christians that actually want to do something great for God. I mean, that's the majority today. The majority of saved Christians do take the grace and run. The majority of saved Christians are not going to be in church. And if they ever come to church, they're probably not going to stay in church their whole life. And if they do come to church, you know, it's probably Sunday morning only. You know, there's very few people that are three to thrive. Read the Bible every day. Pray to God every day. Diligently keep God's commandments. Go soul winning every week. Those are the few in this world. And, you know, God is looking for people where someone will say, hey, hey, I might be a child. I might be small. I might have no strength. I might be nothing in comparison to this Goliath right here. But here's what I am. I'm willing. I'm willing to go, God. I'm willing to do what you called me to do. And let me tell you, that person is going to be used greatly by God. That person is going to be doing great works. Verse 33 says, And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. See, not only times will people just accuse you of pride or just try to put you down, try to, you know, quench your fire that you have for God. Other times people will just tell you, no, you can't do this. But here's the thing. We cannot allow people, even well-meaning people, to ever derail us from what God has told us to do. You know, when we read something in the Bible, when we see a commandment from God, sometimes people are going to look at that. And because they have the flesh, they're looking at things through the carnal lens. They're going to look at your decision and say, you can't do that. I mean, people today, they think you're crazy if you don't go to college. And I'm not saying that going to college is always wrong or anything like that. There's a time and place for it. But, like, if you just decide not to do that, many people, they'll think you're nuts. A lot of people today, if you say, hey, my wife is going to stay home and produce zero income for our family, and we're just going to keep pumping out kids as often as we can, and I'm just going to bear it all on my shoulders, they're going to say, you can't do that. And you know what? Oftentimes, from a fleshly perspective, it's kind of true if we didn't have God's hand on us. But if you do, again, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. No, Saul is wrong here. And of course, it's Saul, the one that was disobedient to God. It's Saul, the one that's backslidden. It's Saul, the one who's praying to God, and God's not hearing him. It's him that always wants to look at a David and tell him he can't do something. You know, it's always the washed out pastor who's gotten backslidden from God that wants to call out the young Davids and try to discourage them from doing something for God. And say, oh, no, you can't do that. You're too young. You know, this guy's a man of war from his youth, and you're just a youth. I mean, isn't that an interesting thing that he brings up? Because isn't that an accusation that we hear sometimes? You're too young. You're too young to be a soul winner. You're too young to be a preacher. You're too young to be a pastor. Hold on a second. I thought that the Bible says, let no man despise your youth. Why does the Bible say that? Because people are going to despise your youth. People are going to see, you know, people are going to see a teenager knock on their door and say, hello, sir, we're from Anchor Baptist Church. We're just inviting people to church. And you ask them that question. If you were to die today, are you 100 percent sure you'd be going to heaven? And they're thinking, what is this child to talk to me about spiritual things? Yeah, but if that child is saved and that child knows the Roman Romans Road, that child could save your soul from hell. That child could slay a Goliath out there, spiritually speaking. And guess what? It doesn't matter what your age is. It matters who you're trusting. It matters who your God is. And while everyone else is afraid, the old men, the seasoned warriors, they're all afraid to preach hard. They're afraid to go slay the Goliaths. Here comes David. He says, who's this uncircumcised Philistine? That little child is the one that beats him. The little child is the one that kills Goliath. Verse 34. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep. He's saying, hey, it's not like I haven't been working hard here. It's not like I have no experience. You know, I've been faithfully keeping his father's sheep. And notice there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him and smote him, delivered it out of his mouth. When he rose against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. You know, I just picture David saying this so nonchalantly because I picture that he's speaking to a king. He's probably speaking very properly, very respectfully. And he's just like, Saul's like, no, you can't do it. And David's like, well, sir, I've kept my father's sheep. And there was a lion and a bear that came after me after the flock one time. And, you know, it came up to me and I grabbed it by the beard and I slew it. Yeah. It's like, you know, it's like that's pretty amazing what he did. But I just picture him saying it so nonchalantly. But it's like, hello, a bear and a lion is not nothing. I mean, these are ferocious beasts. And he is a child. He's a stripling. He's a young boy. Yet he already has experience in battle. He already has experience. You know, I've never seen a lion in the wild. I've seen bears several times. And I think I've told you the story before that the first time I ever went hunting in my life, me and my dad are outside of the truck and he's drinking his coffee. We're loading up our rifles. And I'm not even kidding. We take one step into the wilderness and all of a sudden we get charged by a black bear. And it was a bluff charge. If you don't know what a bluff charge is, it's when an animal basically is going straight at you. But they divert at the last moment. They weren't really trying to do anything to you. It was basically them just saying, like, this is my territory. Get out of here. OK. And let me tell you something. I was a boy. I was a lad. And it happened so fast. I had no clue what even happened until I see the thing running away. But my dad, he's a man, you know, at the time, I remember he had his cup of coffee and he was like this after it happened, you know, because it's like we just got charged by a bear. And David's this little boy. He's like, yeah, you know, a lion came up to me, a bear, and I just grabbed that lion by the beard and I just slew it. I mean, that's that's amazing. This dude, you know, he wasn't just like, oh, yeah, I'm a farmer, but, you know, I'm just going to put in the minimal effort. He's like, no, something's coming after my flock. I don't care if it's a bear. I don't care if it's a lion. I'm going to kill those suckers. I'm going to do everything I can to destroy. Hey, that's a good pastor, right? I mean, what is a pastor? It's a keeper of sheep. That's what David was. He was someone that was keeping the sheep. He said, hey, the lion comes, the bear comes. I don't care how big they are. I'm going to kill those suckers. And is any coincidence that later on when Goliath comes, who's ready to slay him? David is the one that already has killed the lion, already has killed the bear. And this is the truth that you have to understand from this passage is that the battles that you face today, the battles that God has given you in the past were given to you to prepare you for the battles of the future. See, God knew who would be the man that actually has the stones to go fight Goliath. He knew who was the man that was actually going to be faithful, who was actually going to trust in the Lord, who was actually going to go fight that guy. And so God said, here's a test for you. Here's a lion. Here's a test for you. Here's a bear. You know, when we bear the challenges, no pun intended, in our lives, that God gives us well, when we do fight off God's enemies, when we do fulfill God's will at something that was a smaller task, now God feels comfortable to give you a bigger job. You got to realize that every challenge that you have in life, every trial that God gives you, is an opportunity for you to glorify God, for you to be faithful, because you know what? You're going to see what happens soon, the effect that this had. Look at verse 37. David said, moreover, the Lord that delivered me. Notice his trust was not in himself, not in his flesh. It was in God. The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear. He will deliver me out of the hand of the Philistine. And God said unto David, Go and the Lord be with thee. Verse 38, and Saul armed David with his armor, and he put in helmet of brass upon his head. Also, he armed him with a coat of mail. So, you know, Saul's thinking logically here that, all right, well, you're a boy and you're going to go fight the biggest, baddest dude. I'm just going to give you all the armor, all the weapons of war you could possibly had. Verse 39, and David girded his sword upon his armor, and he is saved to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them. David put them off him. You know, a lesson we can learn from this is that we need to stick with what works. And sometimes even well-meaning people are going to try to get us off the path of what we know works. You know, I don't think Saul meant ill by this gesture. I mean, he's thinking you're going to go fight Goliath. Here's all the armor. Here's the best sword. You know, I think Saul meant well in this situation, but David hadn't proved those things. And you know, there's movements without Christianity, even among safe people today that think, well, you know, maybe soul winning isn't the best way to reach people. Maybe we need to make our church a little more seeker sensitive. But hey, guess what? We haven't proved that. We know what works. We know that going to someone and confronting them about salvation works. We know that the Bible way to heaven works. Hey, lifestyle evangelism doesn't work. You're not just living a good life and just light is radiating off of you. People are like, what's different about you? How do I get to heaven? No, that doesn't work. That's a bad method of spiritual warfare. You know what works? Confrontational soul winning. You know what works? Hard preaching. We don't need a new style of preaching. We don't need a new method to try to get people convicted under the preaching of God's word. Hey, hard preaching does the trick. It did the trick for me. It helped me going to church. Hey, we know that works. We know that the King James Bible works. We know that we don't need to go to the new versions that add and delete from God's word. Hey, this has been proved. This is the sword that's been proved. Also, just, you know, a carnal tip for men is I hope that if you are a man that does carry a weapon every day of your life. Hope you prove that thing because it's not very wise to just carry something that you haven't proved. It's not very wise to just carry something that you're protecting your life with. It's like, oh, I've never shot this thing. But you carried every single day of your life. That's a bad idea. OK, you're going to war. You want to go to war with something that you've proved, something that you could do with your eyes closed, something that you know how to fight with. That works physically, by the way, and more importantly, spiritually. Verse 40. And he took his staff in his hand and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook and put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in a scrip. And his sling was in his hand and he drew near to the Philistine. And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David and the men that bear the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth and ruddy and of a fair countenance. You know, young, ruddy, light complexion and of a fair countenance. It sounds like the opposite of what Goliath probably looked like. Goliath probably had the scars. Goliath probably had the big muscles. Goliath probably looked mean and nasty. And he's challenging the children of Israel for 40 days straight to fight him. And what do they present to him? A little boy. A little boy. Hey, let no man despise thy youth. Verse 43. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog? Yes, you are. That thou comest to me with staves and the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Again, I just have to mention this when I see the word curse in the Bible, because people often teach that cursing is saying four letter words. No, you know, Goliath is not saying, bleep you, David, you bleeping little child. No, he's cursing him by his gods, right? He's saying, may the God of Ashtoreth curse you or do whatever. That's what he's doing here. Don't think that this is a cuss out session, as we would think. Verse 44. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield. But I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. You see, the right choice was made to give David a chance to fight this battle because he was the only one that was looking at things through the spiritual lens. And, you know, it's often very few people in this world that look at things through the spiritual lens. Most people are walking in the flesh. Most people are looking at their problems as Goliath. And he's saying, hey, you're coming to me with a sword and with a spear and with your 155 pound armor plate. But guess what? That means nothing because I'm coming to you in the name of God. I'm coming to you in the name of the God of the armies of Israel. Verse 46. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and I will smite thee. Imagine being nine foot nine and being told this by a little kid. This is David. I mean, just imagine. I wonder if he still had a high voice, too. I just would love to see this. I'm going to smite thee, he says, and take thy head from thee and will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth. You have to imagine that the bystanders probably roared with laughter when little David said this. I'm sure all the Philistines were laughing and cursing the children of Israel as this little boy starts talking smack like he's from the West Coast or something. Shout out First Works saying, hey, I'm going to cut off your head. I mean, that's that's some smack talk right there. And from a child. Notice why that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. Notice the motivation to fight Goliath. Why is it that you should fight Goliath in your life? Why is it that our church should fight Goliath? Why should we be willing to take the hard stands and to do the tasks that other people don't want to do and to preach the things that other people are too afraid to preach? How about this for a reason that all the world may know? You know, that should be the end goal of everything that we do at Anchor Baptist Church. Everything should be motivated by that vision that all the world may know. Why do we go out soul winning? That all the world may know. Why do we live stream our sermons? That all the world may know. Why, Lord willing, someday will we go to other countries to preach the gospel so that all the world may know? That's our goal. And notice, though he was motivated by reward, he also said, is there not a cause? What was that cause that all the world may know? Verse 48. See, there was no doubt in David's mind. When he made the decision to fight Goliath, all doubt was passed from his mind. He wasn't thinking, man, I really hope that I could beat Goliath. Hey, he knows that in his flesh he can't beat Goliath. But he knows that God is on his side. He knows that he's standing for what's right. And so not only does he just go fight Goliath, but he hastens and runs to go fight Goliath. I mean, what a brave child. You know, you children should not underwrite yourselves and underestimate yourselves and the things that you can do for God if you actually decide to fully put your trust in the Lord. Not just trust for salvation, though, of course, you need to put your trust in salvation for Jesus for salvation. But you know what? You know, the world has yet seen what a man or a child can do when he fully trusts in the Lord. Because here's a little kid going to fight Goliath and he runs to him. It's an amazing story. Verse 49. I mean, that's brutal right there. That stone just went deep into the forehead of Goliath. He falls to the earth, verse 50. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine and slew him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Just imagine being a bystander of this story. David is telling Goliath, hey, I'm going to take your head from you. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to win. And everyone laughs and everyone laughs. And all of a sudden this little kid just starts sprinting. I imagine the laughter is probably still going on. And then David pulls out a little stone out of his sling and everyone's probably laughing. Oh, how cute. Look at this little boy that thinks he's going to kill Goliath. And all of a sudden that stone gets embedded into Goliath's skull. He falls down like a rock. And the Philistines look at their champion, the nine foot nine beast of a man. And they see a little boy walk up to the dead body of this champion and take out this man's sword. I imagine it's probably hard for him to even pick it up if his armor weighs 155 pounds. He takes that sword. He put that blade to his neck and cuts off his head. That was the feats of a child that trusted in God. It's pretty amazing, isn't it? People say the Bible's boring. I don't know what you're talking about. I mean, this is action right here. This is a great story. It's not just a story. It's true. And notice it says, and when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. They probably went from laughing to running away like scared little girls. Verse 52. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines until thou come to the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shearaim, even unto Gath and unto Ekron. You see, the result of David being the one person who was going to look at things spiritually, the one person that was going to face Goliath, the one person that was going to go fight and kill him, it had an effect on the entire congregation. What happened is now all the men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines. You know, this is another reason why you and I in our lives should take on the Goliaths in our lives, why we as a church should take on the Goliaths of our day. Because when people that are on the sidelines, when people who aren't already sold out for God, who don't know are they fully in, are they out, they're kind of in limbo, when they see a man take a stand, when they see the world come after him, when they see that person fight God's fights, but that person trusts in the Lord and sees God deliver him, you know what that does? It causes other people to want to join. It causes other people to want to get on board and that zeal is contagious. I mean, for 40 days, everyone in Israel was too afraid. They're making excuses. They're saying it can't be done. And one little boy actually goes and serves God, actually does what God wanted him to do. And now the whole nation was turned around because of that one boy. You know, you can't underestimate the importance of leadership. And I'm not talking about a certain position. I'm talking about you and your family. I'm talking about you as a leader, being an ambassador for Christ. When you stand for God, when you stand on the rock, when you do the commandments of the Lord, and people say, you can't be successful, God can't bless your life, you can't do that. And then all of a sudden they see, oh wow, God delivered that person? You know what, that has an impact on people. That has an impact on people's hearts. Verse 53, And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, Is thy soul liveth, O king? I cannot tell. And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is. And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. What a picture. Verse 58, And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. Go to Hebrews chapter four. We're just going to look at a few more verses. We'll be done this evening. You know, why? Why is it that we love this story so much? Because I don't know about you. This is one of the coolest stories in the Bible. It's super famous for a reason. Why is it that we all love this story? You know, I don't think it's just because of the underdog theme, because usually even in the sports world, you'll hear broadcasters talk about two guys are going to fight. It's kind of a David and Goliath situation. Two baseball teams, they're kind of outmatched. It's a David and Goliath situation. You want to know why I think that this chapter appeals to us so much? Is that we all can see ourselves as David in this story. Why? Because all of us have Goliaths in our life. And maybe those of you that are really young and you haven't really experienced life yet, you're a kid. Let me tell you, there's some Goliaths coming in your life. There's some trouble. There's some enemies. There's some fights coming your way. And you may not realize it now, but there's coming a day where you're going to need to know God in a real way. And you're going to be able to rely on God in a real way. You're going to have to trust Him when it seems like everything's on the line. Those days will come for you if you serve God. And they may not have happened to you yet, but those of us that are older, we know that it's happened. And we know that it's happening again and again and again. And that's why I think that we see this story and we're so drawn to it, is because all of us in here, you know, we want to be that exceptional person. We want to be that person with ambition. We want to be that person that says, here am I. But when that happens, you know what that means? It means you've got to fight Goliath. And the question is, are you going to go through the fights of your life, through the battles of your life, the challenges of your life? Are you going to be looking at everything through the carnal mind and the doubtful mind? I can't do this because I'm not strong enough. I'm not rich enough. I'm not good enough. I'm not tall enough. Whatever it is. Or are you going to look at things and say, hey, I'm coming to this world. I'm coming to my problems in the name of the Lord God of Israel. And when you do that, that's actually how you defeat Goliath in your life. Hebrews chapter four. I'll read for you. First Chronicles twenty nine eleven. The Bible says, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in heaven. And in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord. And thou art exalted as head above all. Why was it that God was able to allow this little boy to defeat Goliath? Because guess what? Everything's God's. God is the one that is above all. And with God on David's side, hey, he could defeat Goliath. Look at Hebrews four twelve. Last place that will turn. And I want to read this verse because though we don't fight a physical fight today, we don't fight Goliath's. We do fight a spiritual battle. You know, what way are you going to approach this battle of life? You can approach it with the carnal mind or you can approach it like this. Verse twelve. For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Here is the practical truth that we walk away today in twenty twenty four from the story of David and Goliath, is that we know you will have Goliath's. You will have battles. You want to know how you face those battles? Face those battles with this right here. This is your sword. But do you want to look at the battles of life, looking at it through a carnal lens, or do you want to believe this book? Do you not want to just believe this book? Do you want to do this book? Do you want to preach others this book? Do you want to not trust in your own heart, but trust in the Lord, not in your own understanding? Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you so much for the word of God. And thank you for this great example of a young boy who, though he's younger than most of us in here, we look to the story of a young boy with such awe and admiration that a young man was able to put his trust in you, not just for salvation, but to get him through a seemingly impossible battle. I just pray that whatever the battles people are going through in this room, whether it's their finances, their health, their marriage, whatever it is, God, I just pray that you'd help them to look at things through a spiritual lens, to not look at their problems as big as they are in the flesh, but that they would look to you, the one whose word can solve our problems, Lord. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, at this time, we'll go to our last song for the evening, number 427, We Three Kings. 427, 427, We Three Kings of Orient Are. 427 there on the first. We three kings of Orient are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar, Field and fountain, moor and mountain, Following yonder star. Star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright, Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light, O'er the king on Bethlehem's plain, O thy reign to crown him again, King forever seen, Sing never over a song to reign. O star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright, Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light, Frankincense to offer at light, Incense on the deity night, Rare and praising, home and raising, Worship him God on high. O star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright, Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light, Her is mine, it's bitter perfume, Breathes a life of gathering gloom, Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, Sealed in the stone-cold tomb. O star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright, Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light, Glorious now, behold him arise, King and God and sacrifice, Alleluia, alleluia, Feels through the earth and skies. O star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright, Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light,