 Now today we're going to be looking at 1 Samuel 17 and it's a very famous passage that relates to David and a giant by the name of Goliath and you're going to be seeing in just a moment that Goliath is indeed a giant according to verse 4 here in chapter 17. He was six cubits and a span while a cubit is 18 inches. And so what you have here is a man who was 9 foot 9. That's how tall he is. I've used this, I've spoken of David and Goliath in a variety of ways. And many of you have heard the story of David and Goliath and you know that Goliath was a giant but you don't really have any way of knowing the height difference. Well, David was probably somewhere around my height, Goliath was 9 foot 9 and so we actually have a prop I want you to see and I have two Philistines who came to church today who said that they would help me with this and hopefully they'll come out my Philistine friends, come and help me. Now there you are. My Philistine friends, David and Lionel, there you go, 9 foot 9 and seeing that David was about my height, this is what you're looking at, 9 foot 9 and in proportion this would have been kind of what David was dealing with when he saw this man come out with a shield in his sword, in his spear, in his javelin. This is the height of the man that was going to go into battle with David. You can understand why the people of Israel were greatly afraid. And I wanted you to see this difference. This is me at all 5 foot 8 of me and my buddy Goliath. Okay, thank you guys, I like them at my feet just like that, thank you. First Samuel, chapter 17, David and Goliath, verse 1, reading to verse 3. Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle and were gathered at Soho which belongs to Judah. They encamped between Soho and Azikah in Ephes Dameem and Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and they were encamped in the valley of Elah and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side with a valley between them. Now what we're going to do is we've got 58 verses in chapter 17. I'm going to be reading all of this as is the normal way that I teach. And there'll be times that I'll just read passages and make some comments. But I'm really moving into some application that we're going to find at our conclusion here. But what we're looking at is David fighting a giant by the name of Goliath. And we have the geographic location, it's really in the southern, it's in Judah which is southern Israel, it's just outside of Bethlehem, about 15 miles or so outside of Bethlehem that all of this is taking place. And so what you have is you have a giant by the name of Goliath who is taunting the army of the nation of Israel. Now we know that in chapter 16 we were introduced to David and you saw a description of him in verse 18. In chapter 16 verse 18 he was described in this way, he is skilful and plain, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech and a handsome person and the Lord is with him. David was introduced to him because Saul, the king of Israel, had a distressing spirit that had been sent by the Lord because the spirit of the Lord had departed from him and he was terrified and they were looking for somebody who could minister through music to this man by the name of Saul. David was the one who was going to be chosen to do that and ultimately David became the one who not only sang to him but became an armor bearer to the king of Israel, the very first king by the name of Saul. Now at the same time God had chosen to reject Saul from being king and so what God did is God had a man that he had chosen, a man by the name of David and so he had sent Samuel to Bethlehem in order that Samuel might anoint David as king. We know that David's father Jesse had eight sons altogether at this time and he caused his seven sons, the older ones, to pass before Samuel but not one of those men met the criteria. The Holy Spirit kept telling him this is not the one. Ultimately he asked the question is there another son. They said yes there's one, he's keeping the sheep, well bring him out, I won't sit down until he's here. We know the story, we know what happened, he came and the Lord's anointed was standing before him, Samuel anoints him and basically end of story. Now David's father Jesse as well as his brothers more than likely misunderstood what was taking place at that time and felt that the anointing may have been an indication that Samuel was going to spend some time with him, discipling him in ministry. They did not associate him at this moment with being the king and so that's what we've been seeing up to this point and so when we enter into chapter 17 what we see here is we see that now the Philistines are continuing to plague Israel. Once again they're battling against them, they line up in order that they might engage in combat and they're in this place that's called the Valley of Elau and as this is taking place verse 4 says a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath from Gath whose height was six cubits and a span so he was nine foot nine inches tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head, he was armed with a coat of mail and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze that's a hundred and twenty five pounds. He had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels which is fifteen pounds and a shield bearer went before him so the spear that he had had a fifteen pound spearhead but the entire spear weighed something like thirty seven pounds. What you see is a magnificent fighting machine and his outfit tells us that he's wearing the very latest technological advancement when it comes to warfare. He's wearing bronze, he has a spear with an iron tip on it and he's a huge individual nine feet nine. Now when you look at nine feet nine I was interested I was thinking now if he was nine feet nine in proportion how much must he weigh because if somebody weighs nine foot nine how much proportionate would he weigh he would have weighed according to some between six and seven hundred pounds so you have a six to seven hundred pound man who's nine feet nine coming out daily and you'll see this in just a moment. The nation of Israel the armies of Israel challenging them to man-to-man combat now there are those who would say that's one of the reasons why I have a problem with the Bible nobody could grow to be nine foot nine so there's some scribal error of some sort there's something here that really is not accurate you really can't believe the Bible is accurate but they're forgetting recent history the tallest man on record that we know of is a man by the name of Robert Wadlow. Robert Wadlow was called the gentle giant and he was eight feet eleven inches tall and so there are human beings even to this day that grow to the height of over eight feet and Goliath was a human being whom at this time was huge of course he was a nine foot nine inch man now the Bible speaks concerning giants all the way back into the book of Genesis and treats them as actual entities like they're really existed in Genesis chapter six verse four it says there were giants on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them those were the mighty men who were of old men of renown and so from the beginning you had giants in in Deuteronomy in chapter three verse thirteen the fifth book of the Old Testament it says all the region of Argon with all the shun was called the land of the giants and so giants existed during the time of the writing of the Old Testament a giant existed during the time of of Samuel and that's what we're seeing here we're seeing a giant by the name of Goliath the name Goliath means splendor and when you begin to look at his name splendor plus where he came from and I want you to notice it how it stated here that he was he was a giant Goliath from Gath it gives you some insight because Goliath means splendor Gath is one of the five principal cities of the Philistines so it tells us that he represents the best of the Philistines he is the splendor of the flesh and that's the picture that you have with Goliath as he comes out and what he does is he begins to taunt and challenge the armies of Israel notice verse eight it says there he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel and said to them why have you come out to line up for battle am I not a Philistine and and you the servants of Saul choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me if he's able to fight with me and kill me then we will be your servants but if I prevail against him and kill him then you shall be our servants and serve us and 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 these words in the of the Philistine they were dismayed and greatly afraid now David was a son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah whose name was Jesse and who had eight sons and the man was old advanced in years in the days of Saul the three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle the names of his three sons who were who went to battle were Elieb the firstborn next to him Abinadab and the third Shema David was the youngest and the three oldest followed Saul but David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem and the Philistine drew near and and presented himself 40 days morning and evening so 40 days he would come and taunt them 40 days he came and challenged them am I not a Philistine you the servants of Saul choose a man for yourselves let him come down and fight if I beat him you'll be my servant our servants if if he beats me will be your servants every day for 40 solid days now remember 40 in Scripture is the number of testing and so Israel is under a test right now and here comes this giant this huge man 9 foot 9 700 pound man in full battle armor every day challenging every day taunting every day defying the armies of the living God well in verse 17 Jesse said to his son David take now for your brothers an effa of this dried grain these 10 loaves run to your brothers at the camp and carry these 10 cheeses to the captains of their thousands and see how your brothers fare and bring back news of them so he sends them on an errand he says I want you to take this grain I want you to bring these this bread I want you to bring this cheese I want you to give it so you can supply them with some food but I also want you to come back and give me information concerning their well-being and what's happening now Saul and and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines so David rose early in the morning left the sheep with a keeper took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him and he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle for Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array army against army David left his supplies in the hand of a supply keeper ran to the army and came and greeted his brothers then as he talked with them there was the champion the Philistine of Gath Goliath by name coming up from the armies of the Philistines and he spoke 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 dreadfully afraid so the men of Israel said have you seen this man who has come up surely he has come up to defy Israel and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches will give him his daughter and give his father's house exemption from taxes in Israel. David spoke to the men who stood by him saying what shall be done for the men who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living god and the people answered him in this manner saying so shall it be done for the man who kills him. Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men and Eliab's anger was aroused against David and he said why did you come down here and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness I know your pride and the insolence of your heart you've come down to see the battle. David said what have I done now is there not a cause then he turned from him to toward another and said the same thing and these people answered him as the first ones did. David is there making his delivery goes to see where his brothers are how they're doing that's what dad told him to do but as he's there here comes this nine foot nine man here comes splendor and he begins once again to go into what he's been saying for 40 days the response of the people who here is nothing but fear even the king himself is afraid is what's taking place here and as David is listening you see something about David's heart notice verse 26 what shall be done for the for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living god you see something in the heart of David you see something coming out even as he sees this this one come and challenge the the armies of Israel you see how he feels about this one he recognizes that Goliath's challenge is not just to individuals he's not asking to to fight a Jewish champion what he's actually doing is mocking the entire nation of Israel when he comes doing that because what he's bringing his shame to the entire nation that's what he's speaking of about reproach of Israel but the second thing I want you to see is that he shows a heart of a warrior and he has a righteous indignation when he speaks of Goliath who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living god now when he says that when he says who is this uncircumcised person we need to remember that circumcision in Israel was a symbol of a man's covenantal relationship with God and and a man who was circumcised was under a picture of a covenant he had a relationship with the God who delivers and when he says this one is uncircumcised what he's saying is he doesn't have a connection to God this man is uncircumcised he cannot look to God for help and a second thing he's speaking concerning the living god this one's defying the armies of the living god and second thing he's saying here is this pagan worships idols idols don't have any life they cannot give help in people's time of need so what we're dealing with right now and it's very religious what he's speaking here is a man who's speaking very faith-filled words he's saying what what you have here is an enemy that can be defeated because his help will not come from God this is an individual who is uncircumcised who worships dead idols he can have that tree and he can carve it into that idol and he can bow before it but it has eyes and cannot see it has a nose and cannot smell it his ears cannot hear it has a mouth it cannot speak hands it has it cannot deliver feet it has it cannot walk he said these things are basically without life and senseless and why would you be afraid of them and that's what david is saying here he's making it very clear that goliath has no way that he can beat him no way that this one can defeat us we are the armies of the living god now as this is taking place elliott is older brother being an older brother sees him and says i know what's on your mind i know what's in your insolent little naughty heart you came here to provoke people using this exhortation and all to get somebody to go and fight so you can watch a battle that's what you're here to do david's response what have i done is there not a cause in other words elliott having you seen and having you heard and hasn't it provoked your heart why are you not upset at what this one is saying here and that's how it's going and that's what's happening now as this takes place verse 31 when the words which david spoke were heard they reported them to saul and he said for him david said to saul that no man's heart failed because of him your servant will go and fight with this philistine saul said to david you're not able to go against this philistine to fight with him you're a youth and he's a man of war from his youth david said to saul your servant used to keep his father's sheep and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock i went out after it and struck it delivered the lamb from its mouth and when it rose against me i caught it by its beard that word beard literally is its chin i caught it by its beard and struck and killed it your servant has killed both lion and bear this uncircumcised philistine will be like one of them seeing he has defied the armies of the living god moreover david said the lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear he will deliver me from the hand of this philistine and saul said to david go and the lord be with you so saul clothed david with his armor he put a bronze helmet on his head he also clothed him with a coat of mail david fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk for he had not tested them david said to saul i cannot walk with these for i have not tested them so david took them off then he took his staff in his hand he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook put them in a shepherd's bag in a pouch which he had and his sling was in his hand and he drew near to the philistine so he goes and he speaks to saul because saul has heard that david is saying what david is saying and as saul is looking at him and he sees this young man he's saying listen you know i basically he's saying i appreciate your heart i appreciate the zeal that you have but you need to understand you're young and he's been a warrior since he was young this is a man who has battle hardened and battle tried and david to be honest with you you don't have a chance there's no way that you can defeat this one there's no way that you can take a lyeth out well david says now let me tell you something i'm a shepherd i take care of sheep if a lion or a bear comes and tries to take a lamb out of the out of the flock i have risen up against him i have taken him by the chin i've taken my staff and i've killed them this uncircumcised philistine is not going to give me any more problems than a bear or a lion does now i have to be honest with you a bear or a lion that's enough problems for me let alone a nine foot nine inch man who's battle hardened and tested but that's what he's saying so as he's saying that to him sol knows that he's not going to be able to prevail in his opinion so he says well well let me at least give you some armor so he gives him basically a bronze helmet he gives to him some mail he actually equips him in such a way that that if david's there on the battlefield and people look they might even think for a moment at a distance that that's the king going out to war because he's wearing some of the garments that that sol himself would be wearing so in in a way it would be sol actually setting it up that he might get a little glory from this but besides that as he hands him these things and says you go on out and you do this battle i want to give you my armor and all david when he puts on the mail and he tries to strap on that sword doesn't feel comfortable it's heavy and it's awkward and it doesn't suit his style and so he says no i haven't tested these i want to go with what works for me so he goes to the brook and he takes from the brook these five smooth stones puts him in his shepherd's pouch he has his sling with him and off he goes to confront the giant now as this is taking place verse 41 the felicity came and began drawing near to david and the man who bore the shield went before him and when felicity looked about and saw david he disdained him there's only a youth ruddy and good-looking so the philistine said to david am i a dog that you come to me with sticks and the philistine cursed david by his gods the philistine said to david come to me and i'll give your flesh to the birds of the air the beasts of the field well david said to the philistine you come to me with a sword with a spear and with a javelin but i come to you in the name of the lord of hosts the god of the armies of israel whom you have defied this day the lord will deliver you into my hand and i will strike you and take your head from you and this day i will give the carcasses of the camp of the philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a god in israel then all this assembly shall know that the lord does not say with sword and spear for the battle is the lords and he will give you into our hands and so it was when the philistine rose and came and drew near to meet david that david hurried and ran toward the army to meet the philistine david put his hand in his bag took out a stone he slung it and struck the philistine in his forehead so that the stone sank into his forehead and he fell on his face to the earth david prevailed over the philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the philistine and killed him but there was no sword in the hand of david therefore david ran and stood over the philistine took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it when the philistines saw that their champion was dead they fled now the men of israel and juda arose and shouted and pursued philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of ekron and the wounded at the philistines fell along the road to sharaim even as far as gath and ekron then the children of israel returned from chasing the philistines and they plundered their tents and david took the head of the philistine and brought it to jerusalem but he put his armor in his tent when saul saw david going out against the philistine he said to abner the commander of the army abner whose son is this youth abner said as your soul lives oh king i don't know so the king said inquire whose son this young man is then 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 saul said to him who son are you young man david answered i'm the son of your servant jessie the Bethlehemite saul is going to give him his daughter and he wants to make sure his lineage is fine i want to get very practical with you as i look at this because as we see this there are some very practical things that we can learn from this story i want you to notice something here something as we begin this is where i want to make application i want you to see something i want you to look at verse 47 with me because this is going to be a key for us to understand david's victory is going to demonstrate to all that there is a god in israel david knew that the philistines were at war with god when they challenged israel and he knew that the battle was the lords he knew that the battle was the lords he said all the assembly shall know that the lord does not say with sword and spear for the battle is the lords and he will give you into our hands and that's why he could run towards him and that's why he would engage him because he knew that the battle belongs to god he knew that god was the one who was going to take care of this now proverbs 21 31 says a horse is prepared for the day of battle but deliverance is of the lord this is something that david understood david knew that david knew that god was on his side david knew that goliath was representing evil he was representing those who had no relationship with god he was an uncircumcised pagan and david represented god god who had a covenant relationship with the nation of israel and david was not afraid because he trusted in the lord now david had on him five smooth stones there are those who would say that this really demonstrated a lack of faith on the part of david because they say and i've read commentators who have said well david had five smooth stones in the event that he missed with the first he might hit him with the second and he had up to five opportunities that's not what took place that's not why he had five smooth stones we know why he has five smooth stones because second samuel chapter 21 verse 22 lets us know in second samuel 21 22 it says these four were born to the giant in gath and fell by the hand of david and by the hand of his servants gath the giant of gath goliath had four sons and what david was doing when he picked up five stones is he's saying this i'm going to take out goliath and his four boys too i'm going to take the whole family out i'm not just taking out one i'm taking them all out this shows the heart of a warrior but it also gives us some insight in spiritual warfare which we're all in we have goliaths we have opposition we have opponents there are things that come against us that are insurmountable there's no way we're we're being told there's no way that you can actually win this battle you might as well give up that goliath taunts you every day 40 days in a row goliath would come out 40 days in a row he'd say send me someone to fight me just one of you and if you can defeat me we will be your servants 40 days in a row and 40 days in a row the the children of israel hid from him including the king you have that kind of thing going on in your life all the time there are goliath insurmountable obstacles there are things in front of you that are impossible for you in your own strength to overcome and it tells you that constantly you cannot beat me you have this habit of the flesh you have this desire of the flesh you have these things going on you've got a shaky marriage right now you're going to lose your house you're going to lose your job you've lost this and you've lost that your children are not going to make it you've got that going constantly and it's a goliath it's an obstacle that you don't believe you can you can defeat you need to see the principles here that I that I see in scripture that I think can help us the things that we have because in the Lord we can defeat in the Lord we can win you see Saul wanted to be looked at as being a great king so he gives to David his armor but David's saying I'm not going to bring glory to you when I can bring glory to God and I'm going to go about this battle in the way that God has taught me so goliath when he's facing David represents more than just an actual living enemy which he does but also can represent the goliaths in our life and it can represent a world system that is at war against God and all that God is and this world system rejects God this world system rejects all who love God all who serve God and this world system that we have a war against desires to destroy all that belongs to God and that's what we live under that's the combat that we find ourselves in daily David would represent a believer one who's aware of the battle one who's aware of the fact that God is the Lord of the battle a believer who's prepared to fight and not give up David would understand what John wrote in 1st John chapter 2 when John said do not love the world or the things of the world if anyone loves the world and then the love of the father's not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world the world is passing away the lust thereof but he who does the will of God abides forever David would understand that David would understand that there's a battle that's going on right now and he would understand that we need to stand in the Lord in order to have victory we need to understand that we're in a spiritual war and we need to take some lessons learned from David in order that we might have victory one i want you to notice in verse 23 because in verse 23 it makes it makes the point that Goliath once again came out and he spoke according to the same words he'd been doing this for 40 days but this time David heard those words the first thing i need to understand is i've got an enemy who's after me i need to believe that i need to know that i have to realize that that there is an enemy that is after me and this enemy wants to constantly browbeat me and wants to defeat me and wants me actually to believe that i'm defeated before we even engage in battle because if he can make you believe that the enemy can make you believe that you can have no chance that he's already defeated you without you even lifting up a sword against him we need to know that there is an enemy we also need to know his tactics and we need to know his weapons we need to know that he uses intimidation we need to know that he can cause us to be terribly afraid even as the scripture says we need to know that he works against us to try and tell us there's no chance and no hope that there's nothing that can be done he's going to defeat you you're going to lose you might as well give up i was talking to somebody in between services today who approached me and he had walked up to say you know happy father's day and it was very sweet of him and very kind and yet he began to share with me he said may i share with you how i came about coming to to church here and i said sure of course i'd like to hear that he said years ago he said i was into drugs and things he said and i i was getting ready for work he said and i had a joint and i was getting ready to light it up i was going to smoke my pot before i went to to work he said so i was hunting on the radio dial looking for k rock and as i was looking for for that station he goes i i dialed up 107.9 k wave and so he said there i am with my joint and a voice comes over the radio and i began to listen and he said this guy was saying listen i used to do drugs and i used to drink and and my life was given over to that and i didn't believe i could be any different i didn't believe that my life could ever be changed i didn't believe that anything could be any different than what it was but somebody came and preached to me the gospel of jesus christ and shared the word of god with me and when they shared the promises of god i began to listen and ultimately i committed my heart to jesus christ and when i gave my heart to jesus christ my life was changed no more alcohol no more drugs i was set free by the promises of god through jesus christ and and i would not be pastoring this church today if the gospel of jesus christ was not true he said i heard that said and i started thinking with him myself this guy here knows drugs this guy here knows alcohol and now he's pastoring a church maybe i need to get away from these drugs he said the light i he said my the lat the match was was was lighted he says i blew out the match he said and i took the joint and i didn't smoke it he said i i decided well i'm going to get away from drugs it's not good for me he said and i drove to work he said and i was real active and i was working harder than normal and he said my boss says to me what did you take today you're obviously on some drug and he said i didn't take anything he said i didn't take anything he says i'm clean i haven't done anything he says well you've obviously taken something something's something happened to you and he says no nothing he goes now when i heard that voice coming over the radio i i had said gosh i wish i knew where where he was at i'd like to go to his church he says i i met a guy he said when i met this guy the guy invited me knowing i had a drug problem invited me to some ministry called lion tamers he said so i went to this lion tamers meeting and they talked to me about freedom in christ but they also encouraged me to go to church he said so the next sunday he says i walk in and i sit down in church and then i hear the voice of the guy who was on the radio speaking it was you pastor david it was this church he said i committed my heart to jesus christ and he says then god can transform lives that's the point i'm trying to make the goliath is whispering in your ear saying you can't change that's a lie from the devil god can transform your life he can give you power to live for jesus christ he can give you a new purpose and meaning and you can overcome him because of the power that god gives you through the gospel of jesus and the holy spirit he can change your life and when goliath says that's not true that's a lie it's a lie jesus christ can transform your life you need to know his tactics he uses fear and he uses intimidation and he will say you can never change you'll never be any different you're you know you can't you can't teach an old dog new tricks all i need to do is remind him i'm not a dog and i can learn and god can transform me and even if i were a dog the bible says i'll be a new creation in christ jesus okay i was a dog but now i'm fully in christ so it doesn't really matter to me at all i can change god can give you power to do so we need to know those things also we need to know the past victories and god's faithfulness you need to look back at what god has done in the past when david was speaking in verse 36 he made it very clear i have killed a lion i have killed a bear and i can kill this uncircumcised philistine too god has been with me through the small things he'll be with me in the larger things because with god there's really nothing small and nothing really large it's all the same to him we need to understand that god can bring us through and he all you need to do is remember what god has done in the past and what god can do now we need to use the gifts and tools that god has given to us david was handed some armor that didn't fit so he took that which does a sling and he took his stones those five smooth stones use the tools that god gave to you when this church first began i was a young man i was 31 years old and when this church first began i had people showing up and they were saying you know i came out of calvary chapel riverside and i started thinking well we have people who have sat under greg lory's ministry maybe they're expecting me to be like greg lory others were coming out of costa mesa maybe they're expecting me to be like pastor chuck lord who am i supposed to be like they started coming from calvary chapel west covena i said oh god please am i supposed to be like rawl oh god forgive me lord who are you supposed to be like greg lory rawl reese chuck smith you're supposed to be like who you are paul said by the grace of god i am what i am you have to be yourself and use the gifts and talents god gave to you don't try to be somebody else the armor doesn't fit god has armor that fits just you it is custom made for you it's the gifts that he has given to you fight in that weaponry because you make a big mistake when you try and battle using somebody else's armor just be yourself understand that god can use you he has gifted you you also need to have a heart to fight you have to have this willingness in you there's got to be something inside you inside of david he said and i love this man i love him because of his attitude who is this uncircumcised philistine can you see the anger in him can you see that righteous indignation in him how dare you challenge god how dare you challenge the armies of the living god who are you there's got to be something inside of you that rises up that says listen i'm not going to roll over and allow you to do this you are not getting you cannot have my children you cannot have my wife you cannot have my family you cannot have them you have to have that inside of you or you will lose when you go out to battle you go with the battle mentality i will win or i will die trying but there's no giving up in me you have to have that you have to have that in spiritual warfare i never enter into a battle thinking i'm going to lose i enter into that battle saying i will do everything i can in jesus christ to win we will win and i read the last page of this book and it tells me i'm victorious in him i have nothing to worry about even if i die in battle i go to be with him so you have to have that mentality and i think the church lacks that today it lacks that today we're so busy trying to be liked by the world we're so busy trying to be fitting in with the world let's face it we're supposed to be different we serve a living god not a dead idol and you will be different and people will mock you and people will have a problem with you love him in the name of Jesus but love him more than you love your own reputation and watch what god will do god will work through you listen if i didn't believe that i would still be teaching bible studies with nine people in them because that's what i did for years and i was happy doing it but i believe that god has more and god wants to do more and that's why i preach the way that i do you need to have a will to fight and you need to fight with certain victory in romans 8 31 it says what what then shall we say to these things if god is for us who can be against us in romans 8 37 in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us more than conquerors if god is for me who can be against me i can do all things through christ who strengthens me you have to have that mentality when you enter in and that's the mentality david had who is this uncircumcised philistine you come to me and i'm going to cut your head off and i will feed your body to the vultures and the world will know that there is a god in israel and he ran to him and as he did so he pulled out that stone and he started swinging that that sling and he let that missile go and it sunk three inches into the forehead of goliath knocked him flat back he took the sword cut his head off held the head up and said now who's gonna follow me who's gonna follow me what a man what a man and you know what all of a sudden israel got brave israel got brave because one man trusted in god and israel got brave and that's what happens when you get brave in the lord you'll be surprised that the people who will line up behind you saying where you going i'm gonna go to i want to go into battle with you because god is on your side and i want to do it god wants you'll see that it's absolutely true get on the lord side and watch what happens father we ask that you would work in us we ask that you would work in us that we might serve you our living god we have goliath lord that we have to face spiritual giants that whisper in our ear that we cannot win but we are more than conquerors we can do all things through you who strengthen us we are on your side but what is more important is you are on ours for the battle is yours so lord i ask that you would work in us today you would have your way through us and that you would use us for your glory even as our eyes are closed on our heads about perhaps there are some in this room today who need to get right with the lord i want to pray for you if god is speaking to your heart right now i want to pray for you right now would you raise your hand and let me pray for you lord in jesus name you see these hands you know exactly why they're being raised to you i ask that you would reach down now touch these lives and work in them if there are sin issues things that they need to deal with father i pray that you would just right now as they relinquish them as they yield them to you you would wash them and cleanse them lord as they turned from them that you would now fill them with your spirit and that they would now know your victory from this day forward move in them empower them glorify yourself lord we receive from you and thank you bless you you can put your hands down jesus i ask that you keep moving in all of us that we would live lives of warriors that are victorious in christ we ask this now in your name amen let's all stand we'll close with a word of prayer and a song and once again happy father's day to you daddies god bless you today may have a great great day in the lord hope to see some of you tomorrow at 1835 or on wednesday or whatever may god be with you and strengthen you our father we ask that you work in us and use us for your glory we're about to leave this place into a mission field that is filled with obstacles but in you we will triumph in you we will have victory we give you praise and we give you glory in jesus name amen god bless you