Conflict With A Giant Part 2

Rain forests looking to Jesus thunder in perfect or the Bible says all we like sheep have gone astray, and like she most of us to follow. Rather than leave in the race of life. We need leaders to follow David's example in defeating Goliath led to a big Israeli victory as courage. Read more courage from the Moody Church in Chicago this morning to with Dr. Sir, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Luther, have you ever had a Goliath moment where an obstacle seemed too big to overcome. Will Dave and asking that question. I'm trying to search my mind for those kinds of moments.

There have been moments, indeed in my life where I thought that there was a barrier that I could not cross and God somehow gave the grace and the strength so that indeed it turned out to be a victory and I think we all have those experiences.

At the same time we also had our defeats haven't. But at the end of the day. The secret to what happened to David is in those words when he says I come to you in the name of the Lord God of hosts. I've written a book entitled, growing true conflict lessons from the life of David.

I write books like this as resources for the Ministry of running to win.

I believe very deeply that we exist to help you make it all the way to the finish line.

Would you consider helping us and by the way, for a gift of any amount. This book can be yours.

Go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. I need to add a word and remind all of you that the stories that we encounter in the Bible are actually historically factual is wonderful to visit the land of Israel and to be able to actually see the stream. The Valley where this battle occurred and remind ourselves that when we hold the Bible in our hands. It is a historical book, but it is also the word of God. Let's listen in verse 45 is the key verse for Samuel chapter 17 then David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword in this year, and 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 on Ted and that is the key difference between David and everyone else was running from the giant David said you are coming to me purely in human strength, and even though I'm good at my sling. I'm not confident that I can overcome you.

In fact, David goes on to say that the issue is not really who has the best weapons in this case.

He said the real issue is which God is going to prevail on the Bible, the Lord of hosts is but one term among many Jehovah Gyro the Lord will provide Jehovah shalom God is our peace, Jehovah, Nick see, I believe it is the Lord our banner. In fact, whole studies have been done to show that whatever you need for a particular situation you have in the Lord of armies, the Lord of hosts. This represents God as a warrior. Just this morning, and my devotional reading I was reading the Psalm that says the angel of the Lord encamps around about those who fear him, and God protects them. So what David is saying is, is that because this is a battle a spiritual battle. What I will do is to trust a God who is the Lord of all about my dear friend, today I want to know that the invisible God, the invisible God was more real to David than the visible giant on the hilltop and David says I am willing to have faith and action faith and action. I know what I have done I have said Saul I'm not volunteering, but I am than a prey and I'm gonna pray that the giant died of a heart attack that that would've been my prayer.

David says I'm afraid that I'm going to go and I'm going to attack him with what I have, like the boy who brings his loaves and fishes to Jesus and to see what God can do with gifts that I have honed and developed and used in different contexts. Now I'm going to put them to use were the greatest challenge of my career and I will come in the name of God in the name of God, the Lord of armies. So what you have is you have faith with action. You also have faith with authority. We pick it up in verse 46 this day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands and I will strike you down and remove your head from you and I will get the dead bodies of the Army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth might know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give it into your hand and then comes the shock you imagine the army of Israel off in the distance.

Seeing this boy unarmed. Apart from his sling hood picked up five stones all kinds of symbolism, you know, various kinds of theories. Some people say well you know the five stones must represent something. Maybe it's half of the 10 Commandments. I don't know. I want you to know that the five stone just meant that David knew that there is no chance in the world that he was going to get any more than five shots at this guy the doesn't have them dead at five he's going to be dead.

Me.

He doesn't need any more and the armies of Israel are often the distance, and they watch the shepherd boy run not away from the giant, which they had been good at for 40 days, but rather to martyrdom and David comes and you know the rest of the story. I David takes his sling and puts a stone in it and so far as we know it's the very first stone and it hits the giant in the four head and something like that had not entered into his head before and he is dad's data about what folks I want you to get the sense of authority with which David approached the giant. First of all, he was confident God was going to give him the victory. This was not presumption, it wasn't well all take my sling and I'll try to shoot a stone in his direction and will see whether or not God will come through that kind of faith and David would've been the one whose head would've been cut off by the end of the day. No he says I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, whom you have defied. Now catch this.

The giant had no right even to be standing on that land that part of the territory had been deeded to the tribe of Judah.

God had said through Moses and then through Joshua. Every place that the sole of your foot steps I have given that to you and it belongs to you and then the tribes had the land divvied up when it belonged to them what in the world.

Was this pagan billing on soil that belong to Jehovah. But the problem was. The bluff was working bluff was working so David comes and of course he kills the giant. He takes his head and cuts it off and undoubtedly later on they weighed all of his armor.

That's why it's mentioned in the Bible as to how much it weighs and then I like this part of the story will notice that God directed the stone and the dog to had the giant be in the right position so that the trajectory would work exactly as David had hoped, and even though he was good at the sling. No doubt this was very much God directed, and finally when it's all over. This is what we read in verse 52 and the men of Israel and Judah rose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance to the Valley and to the gates of Akron and the slain Philistines lay along the way to the sham arraignment, even to gap and Akron.

David stands over Goliath. He cuts off his head. Everybody can see that it's game over the big man has been taken care of and now everybody says all that's going for them.

I want to kill me giant to can't you just see it and lo and behold they do kill Philistines. The Scripture says that the landscape was littered with them. Can we pause for a moment and help you to understand the power power of one courageous act. The power of one courageous person David by winning one victory. Change the whole mood of the Philistine army into fear and change the mood of the Israeli army into one of triumph and victory and courage and faith. One person can make that big a difference. That's what leadership really is and I look at this and I also see in it a picture of Jesus, who once he triumphed over Satan, and one that great battle for us and and took care of the devil now is the judgment of this world now shall the prince of this world be cast out, that you and I can now courageously pursue the enemy knowing that we are victorious because the citadel of strength has been broken, having stripped him of his weapons.

Colossians chapter 2 verse 14. How do we summarize a God sized imagination.

How do we come to terms with a giant that is so much bigger than we are, but not of course bigger than God, let me suggest first of all, as we think about the lessons that come to us that no giant, no giant is bigger than God. No giant is bigger than God and and write this down. Notice that our giants are as big as we believe them to be as long as Israel believe that there was no way that they could fight against the giant and when they could not fight against him. And when as long as you think that your problem is beyond God's ability to heal and to take care of and to and to help as long as you think that you do not receive the healing and the help that you need. You see a Satan is not nearly as strong as people give them credit for not nearly as strong but he is as strong as people are willing to give him credit for.

You see what I mean to say is that if we think of him as being invincible. Someone who cannot be one against because he is so powerful in the behavioral rights are so deep if we think of him in that way, way, then indeed he is all that we think him to be my dear friend, your giant is not bigger than God bigger than God. The layoff you experienced this week.

The disappointment, the heart ache. Even the sin that you committed is not your than God because he can forget no giant is bigger than God. Secondly, this is why we need to interpret this story very carefully is that God is not obligated to kill all of our giants is not obligated to kill all of our giants.

That's important because you know what, this is the easiest battle.

The David ever had from here on going to get very, very difficult. This was a piece of cake has was really a piece of cake.

I mean sure it took a lot of courage.

Let's face it, once the stone was the let go of the sling and landed in the temple of the giant thumbing that was the end of the game. It was quick, it was easy you know that later on. God is going to give another giant to David a giant who's going to pursue him for tan long interminable years, namely Saul and David is going to praying is going to yield he's going to submit and he's going to ask and.

And God is just going to allow the struggle to go on and on and on.

And that's why the next sermon I preached in this series is so incredibly important. It could be entitled how to respond to people who throw spears at you because Saul is going to be throwing spears at David and David gives us tremendous insight on what to do when somebody who hates you and is jealous of you and wants to kill you, begins to throw spears at you and you don't.

David is going to have to live in caves and in Dan's and he won't have a home for tan long years is going to be pursued and there is nothing that he could do to take care of it because he kept committing it to God and God would not take care of that problem for a long time. God is not obligated to take care of all of our giants tell you what he is obligated to do. He is obligated to walk with us through the experiences the events the circumstances that he does not change that he is obligated to do with his people and that he does with his people that are some giants that God wants to take care of. When we pray for purity. When we pray for the restoration of a marriage. When we pray that an adolescent who is rebellious might come back to faith those of the kinds of miracles that God wants us to believe him for and those of the kinds of giants. We have to keep in hanging in and beseeching the Lord, that we might be able to see victory over them, but there are some circumstances that will just drag on and on and on and on.

God is not obligated, you know that this is the only time in David's whole life. As I mentioned that he won a victory so quickly and so easily from here on out it's tough news all the way and that's why want to conclude today by saying that we must identify our giants correctly because sometimes the giants that are in our hearts are far greater than the giants that even might come across our path. The Dragon within must be slain.

Maybe as I mentioned earlier in my report, there are those who need to deal with their whole issue of sexuality into them. It is, it is an incredible. It is an incredible giant it is. It is just to pay what I want you to know that if you have a God sized imagination and how is not acquired. You take the Psalms.

It's a good place to begin. You get on your knees you live before the Lord. One half hour a day reading his word, crying out to him that you might see God that you might see God because if you do that you will discover that God will reveal himself to you and once you see him finally see the giant for what it is the size of your gall will determine the size of your giant all of the Israelites said, Lord, there's a giant out there. He's too big to hit David took a look and said glanced in God's direction.

He said God no, I think the guys too big to mess it's all a matter of perspective. It's all a matter of perspective. That's why you heard me pray in the pastoral prayer. And I will continue to pray that not every Sunday that we might see God because there is no pit that is so deep but that God is deeper still. There is no mountain that is so high that God is higher still, there is no river that is so swift, but that God is greater and swifter than the river and oneness. We see God fear that we have in our hearts towards all those giants dissipates. The bottom line bottom line at the end of the day is to see him to see him gone. Size imagination.

Some of you the giant within this your sin that you have never even confessed before God. Perhaps some of you never received Christ as Savior you've never never believed in him and you see this great barrier.

I remember a man telling me I will accept Christ as Savior. When my mother dies because she is of another faith and I can't hurt her.

I want you to know today that that is a giant God can take care of your responsibility to God is greater than to your family and relatives or to anyone else. Blessed are those who behold God who behold God for them. The giants hold no fear. Let us pray our father today. We do marvel at the story and thank you for it.

Thank you for its drama even its humor, but for its great lesson because there giants in the land. People have come with giants in their homes and in their businesses and at work. Issues of sin. Issues of broken relationships, issues of disappointment and heartache and we pray today father that we might not spend our time analyzing the height of the giant the weight of his armor keep re-weighing the weight of his spear. We pray father that we might know that that's not the issue that is not the issue. The issue is whether we have seen you and whether we approach that problem in the name of the Lord God of armies and if we take all of our giants and lay them before you father we pray, come to controller minds through your word. Help us to expand our knowledge of your through your book Lord. Look at life differently because we belong to you father. There are some who are here today who are filled with fear because they see the giant so clearly would you fill their hearts with your promises and remember that those who fear the Lord, need fear nothing else come to this congregation that you might reveal yourself to us. We pray in Jesus name.

This is pastor Luther, may I have a word with you as I was listening to the last part of this message. I couldn't help but realize that for many people the situations in life are very very difficult.

The giants seem formidable. I understand that because I've been there but I also was reminded of the words of toes or who said that our greatest need is always to seek God and that's why the ministry of running to win exists, it exists to help people to see God through Jesus Christ our Lord, would you consider helping us and we would like to give you a resource that we believe will be a great blessing to you. It's a book I've written and title growing through conflict lessons from the life of David. We believe that this book is going to be realistic, it will grow your faith. It will also show God's grace in the midst of David's failures as I mentioned, for a gift of any amount. It can be yours. Here's what you do go to RTW offer.com I'm going to be giving you that info again in case you haven't had an opportunity to get a pencil or a pan or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. I personally am so blessed to know that we have so many different people throughout the country and throughout the world who listen to this ministry and so many who stand with us, with their prayers and their gifts, so let me emphasize again this resource growing through conflict can be yours for a gift of any amount. Go to RTW offer.com.

Of course, RTW offers all one word RTW offer.com or you can actually pick up the phone right now and call 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 now for another chance for you to ask pastor looks her question about the Bible or the Christian life. Prayer is the means we've been given to place our requests before the throne of grace, one running to one listener has this question about prayer. When you pray, how do you discern if it's your will or God's will, your acting upon will the answer is, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we can't distinguish between what we really want and what God wants and in moments like that. We do like Jesus when he says not my will but thine be done. It is not an indication of lack of faith when we tag on to the end of the prayer, thy will be done. I've heard it said that we should never pray that way because that indicates a lack of faith know there are times when we simply commit something to God and we committed to them.

So sincerely and genuinely we say we are willing to abide by your will and not ours. And when we pray that way. We're not sure whether were going to get our will, what we desire.

But I do believe that we are sure that we will get God's will and what he desires. So don't stop praying.

Just because sometimes we can't tell the difference between what we want and what God wants some good words from Dr. Erwin looks her thank you Dr. lutes are if you'd like to hear your question answered. Go to our website@rtwoffer.com and click on ask pastor Luther or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 next time David begins a long period of interpersonal conflict running from the man God had deposed this king, this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church