A NAME FOR
COURAGE AND CONFIDENCE
Have you ever been in a situation that really frightened you—a time which called for more courage than you thought you could muster? Fear causes our hearts to race, our palms to sweat, our hair to stand on end…and our feet want to run!
Few of us have
had to face a giant like Goliath but have had to look other intimidating foes
right in the eye once in a while! The
giant we face may not be massive in stature but can still pose a sizable
threat. Your greatest threat may come
in a small envelope containing a demand that you pay a bill you cannot
afford. It may be a small cancer cell
that keeps multiplying faster than it can be destroyed. Perhaps it is a person whose very
personality threatens you and whose presence causes you untold agony.
All of us
confront our inadequacies in some way or another--relationships we avoid
because we fear rejection, dreams we do not pursue because we fear failure,
giants we do not fight because we fear losing.
The body of
Christ functions in a hostile environment, in a world that is a self-avowed
enemy of God and determined to destroy all that belongs to and is dear to
Him…including you and me. We have to
choose to give in to our fears and be intimidated into bondage to the giants in
our lives, or to stand up with courage and confidence for the One who has given
us hope and a future in His name.
THESIS: If the
enemies we face do not intimidate or frighten the Lord, when we trust in Him
they will not concern us either.
If we dare to
take our stand with the Lord, heaven and earth will bear witness that God
through Christ has given us a name—the name of one who conquers and reigns
victorious in His name. The reason
nearly everyone knows the story of David and Goliath is that on that day David
gained a name for courage and confidence that will never be forgotten. Where are the Davids of our day?
I. The
Champion of the Enemy
--Although there is evil throughout our fallen world,
sometimes it gets focused and like a laser beam aims right at you…often in a
person who champions the cause of evil in a way that directly impacts you.
A. An
Adversary of Intimidating Stature
--The size and strength of Goliath impressed and intimidated
them…God does not look at the outward appearance.
1 Samuel 17:4-7
4
Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from
Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
5 And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed
with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 He also had bronze greaves on
his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders. 7 And the shaft of his spear was
like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of
iron; his shield-carrier also walked before him.
--From every human perspective, Goliath’s size and
appearance struck fear into the hearts of everyone among the Israelite army.
--As an adversary, none could be any more intimidating in
the way he threatened to crush anyone who dared come against him.
--In that way, Goliath is a perfect Old Testament symbol of
the power and strength of all that is evil and wicked in this world, a symbol
even of Satan himself.
When Christians look around them, they see giants in
the land…giants of perversion, immorality, violence, corruption in industry and
government, destructive addictions, threats of terrorism, acts of genocide…and
the list goes on.
Here at
home, the rise of tolerance as a higher value than truth threatens our freedom
to think and act responsibly on what is right.
As we have said before, the threats of a godless world-view intimidate
our culture at nearly every level: from
Washington to Wall Street, from Harvard to Hollywood, followers of Jesus Christ
face a colossal giant disseminating misinformation and persisting in the
suppression of biblical truth.
And
frankly, our adversary has intimidated us into either silent acquiescence or
pushed us into passive acceptance of the will of the “giant” yelling at us from
the valley. We appear to be outnumbered
and overwhelmed by an enemy too big to take on. It is a classic case of “David vs. Goliath” minus David!
1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at
his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him;
for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the
LORD looks at the heart.”
--God has seen our giant…and He is not impressed or
intimidated—because He does not just look at the outward appearance, but sees
beyond to the cowering, defeated, self-destructive reality of the giant causing
us so much consternation!
1 John 4:4
You are from God, little children, and have
overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
--When we are in Christ, He is also in us and far greater
than the biggest foe we will face in this fallen world!
--We are intimidated by the giants in the land only when we
lose sight of the power and majesty of the Lord our God!
B. An Agent
with Representative Powers
--The power and authority of Goliath could determine the
destiny of two nations…God’s Representative will decide the destiny of all
nations.
1 Samuel 17:8-9 8 And he stood and
shouted to the ranks of Israel, and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the
Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him
come down to me. 9 “If he is
able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I
prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve
us.”
--During this period, it was not uncommon for each side in
armed conflict to choose one man to represent his army to avoid the unnecessary
bloodshed of an all-out battle.
--Goliath was chosen for obvious reasons to represent the
Philistines but no one would step up and stand in the place of the Israelites.
--The side of the man who lost was supposed to surrender and
become servants of the winning side…so a lot was at stake besides just the one
who would lose!
--As it turned out, David was God’s choice to represent
Israel, one who welcomed the opportunity to go on behalf of his people and be
their mediator, their “go-between,” their substitute.
This kind of battle would be fought again…but for the destiny of all
nations, not just the Israelites and Philistines. Jesus took our place and defeated Satan—first in the temptation
in the wilderness and then finally and forever with His resurrection from the
grave!
Satan represented the
powers and forces of evil while Jesus represented the righteous power of
Almighty God and those who would be saved by His victory!
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God,
and one mediator also between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus,
C. An
Antagonist with Arrogant Defiance
--The taunting and mocking of Goliath humiliated and
paralyzed them…God will not put up with those who defy Him.
1 Samuel 17:11, 24
11 When Saul and all Israel heard
these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid… 24
When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly
afraid.
--Instead of being incensed at the taunting and mocking
words of Goliath, Saul and all Israel were paralyzed with a devastating fear
that left them humiliated and incapable of responding.
Invincibility encourages brazen persistence.
Psalm 12:8
The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.
--Without a
consistent or credible challenger, the enemy becomes increasingly more daring
and defiant!
--The more we allow evil to prevail and what is vile to be
honored, we cannot pretend to be surprised when the enemies of God grow more
and more brazen in their defiance of Him and all that is holy and pure.
--Christians, we should be disturbed and determined by the
God-defying giants around us to take action, to say, “No more! Who is on the Lord’s side? We will and must take our stand”
A gradual erosion of what we value has resulted in a situation of grave
significance for Christians in our nation.
We have yielded the floor to the giants for so long on so many issues
that we have almost forgotten what it is like to rise up and say “No more!”
Sexual immorality has become so commonplace that we accept it
without a word anymore as it is portrayed as the norm in our culture. Immodesty
in speech and dress has not crept in but has rushed into the daily lives of
those who have been called out of a fallen world to be holy and pure. Dishonesty
is no longer viewed as a character flaw (sin) unless you are foolish enough to
get caught. Alcohol and drug use have found their way into the mainstream even
of those who have been set apart to live lives of distinction. Abortion
now presents itself as a viable option for birth control as self-interest
prevails over the sanctity of God-given life.
But now the first signs of life
are beginning to emerge as we watch the giant treading on two sacred
grounds: family and religious
freedom. Have the giants gone too far
and awakened the sleeping Davids in the church?
September 7 will give an indication of how much ground we are willing
to concede. That is the rally at the
RBC with Focus on the Family to gather Christians from around the Triangle to
make it clear that we are once again ready to engage Goliath. We want to fill the building and then raise
our voices and take action to say that God’s ideal of family cannot be up for
debate.
The freedom to preach the truth has now come under fire as the giants
of tolerance would silence the voice of the church with laws against the “hate
crime” of calling sin by its various names according to the Scriptures. In parts of Canada, it is already the law of
the courts that publicly pronouncing that homosexuality is sin could result in
charges of hate crime. Will we allow
our voices to silenced in the church as we have allowed them to be silenced in
the public arena?
Goliath will always be there…strutting about freely…as long as what is
vile is honored among men—and as long as there is no David to take him on!
--Because of the sinful nature of a fallen world, there will
always be giants in the land who will be glad to be champions of the enemy…who
will proudly use their influence and power to “curse David by their gods” and
dare God to do anything about it!
II. The
Champion of the Lord
--But God is never without His own champions!
--They may not appear to be suited for the occasion, to be
qualified for the challenge, to have any apparent means of making a difference.
--Such was the case with David, the youngest, “least
significant son” of Jesse—but a man with a heart for God and a passion for His
glory…a man willing to live or die in his attempt to make his life matter for
eternity!
A. Zealous
for the Honor of God’s Name
--David’s life had been invested in a growing relationship
with God Himself, an investment that had led him to be passionate about
revering and honoring His name.
--Far from ever “taking the name of the Lord in vain,” David
saw such wonder in His name that he determined that he would never allow that
name to be dishonored.
Psa. 86:11-12 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I
will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my
heart; I will glorify your name
forever.
Psa. 138:2 I will bow down toward your holy
temple and will praise your name for
your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
--God knew what was in David’s heart and had seen His zeal
for the glory of His name even in his youth.
1. It Hurt
David to Hear God’s Name Slandered
--David had come to the scene of the battle straight from
the hills of Bethlehem, his own personal place of sanctuary where all creation
declared the glory and his hours were invested in meditating on the wonder of
God’s majestic splendor.
--Now he arrives at a scene which is frankly inconceivable
to him, one in which his God and the people of God are doing nothing while a
defiant and arrogant pagan dares to mock the Lord and taunt His people.
Let’s put this in a modern context for moment. What would it be like for someone to return
to visit our culture today after a hundred years—a follower of Christ from 1904
showing up today. They walk into a grocery
store with all their variety and volume of foods but are struck first of all by
the magazine covers at the checkout counter.
They listen to the conversations of those around them using profanity
without shame, fearlessly taking the Lord’s name in vain. They are then introduced to television and
movies and are shocked beyond words at the casual portrayals of sexuality,
violence and again, language.
Have we
become more sophisticated and mature, more liberated and less “up tight” about
such things? That is the way we are
supposed to think about it according to those who have followed the giants and
taken over the valley.
But in fact, we have witnessed in just a few short
generations a massive decline in our standards of holiness and a radical
degeneration of our awareness of what dishonors the Lord.
Just as it
hurts me when someone I love suffers from the insensitivity and cruel words and
actions of others, could it be that someone from another era—or someone today
with a genuine interest in the honor of God’s name would be appalled at the
disregard demonstrated throughout our culture for the holiness and honor of the
name above every name!
--So as David arrives on this scene of disgrace and
dishonor, the sensitivity of his heart for God is wounded by such arrogance and
defiance.
--His passion for God’s name made him especially sensitive
to anything which treated that name with disrespect and an irreverent regard
for all that is holy!
--For David, God’s name represented holiness… glory…unceasing love…power…majesty and more!
2. It
Angered David to See God’s People Mocked
--Knowing what he knew about the wondrous character and
power of God, David’s response to Goliath’s taunting and Israel’s cowering were
predictable.
1 Sam. 17:26 Then David spoke to the men who were
standing by him, saying, “What will be
done for the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from
Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the
armies of the living God?”
--David was filled with righteous indignation at the
audacity of anyone—giant or not—who would bring such shame on the name of God
and His people.
--Where are the Davids of our day who will not put up with
the steady stream of dishonor spewed out on the name of our God?
--Could it be that we have lost our zeal for the holiness of
His name? Have we grown insensitive to
the offensiveness of sin—in the world around us, and yes, even in our own
lives?
--God is looking for men and women with a heart for the Lord
and passion for His glory! Can He find
them among us today?
When we woke up this morning—and
yesterday morning, the morning before that—there was a battle going on to see
who will gain dominion in your life…in the direction of this nation…in the
breadth of the earth and the expanse of heaven above.
Ephesians 6:11-13 Put on the full armor of God, that you may
be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places. 13
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the
evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
There are giants in the valley yelling up defiantly at the
people of God, daring us to trust our God or give it all up and surrender
completely to those who want to wipe out truth and destroy what is left of
righteousness.
Giants of sin
control much of the landscape, they control the valley, they intimidate by the
size and strength of their presence, and limit our access to the land God has
given to us as our inheritance (“the lines have fallen to me in pleasant
places” but I am afraid to go there!).
In our individual lives, we have settled for a relationship with God that has no passion, no conviction, no distinctiveness, no power. We have yielded our place of because we have lost our confidence…we have forsaken our posts because we have forgotten His power!
Are there some
Davids here today who want to make a difference and are willing to face the
giants in the strong and powerful name of the Most Glorious God? Then we must seek Him with our whole heart
and serve with our very lives…with the courage and confidence available to all
who will trust in His name!
Who are our
Goliaths? Will you be courageous and
confident like David? “The battle is the Lord’s!” (17:47)
(Next week…ready for the battle!)
Providence Baptist Church
© David Horner 2004
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