Preparing to Face the Giants

This young man, a teenager, comes in just to deliver food to his brothers who are in the army. His name is David. And he hears the voice of this Philistine. And he says, why is nobody fighting this man? Who is this person that is defying the armies of the living God?

In 1 Samuel chapter 17, we find the Philistines have gathered their forces for war against Israel. And to make matters worse, a giant named Goliath steps forward to mock them mercilessly. On today's program, Carter will discuss how we can prepare to face giants.

Let's join him now. I'm going to speak on preparing to face your giant. Preparing to face your giant or your giants, whatever the situation is in your life, because this is the generation we are now living in. You see, the purpose of your life is much more than the struggle you're facing right now.

The struggle is just something in secret. But God's going to give you power to deal with that in secret. And once he does, he's going to bring you out into the public. And you're going to become a testimony of who God is. And you watch and see the purpose that God now has and will have for your life. So Father, as we turn to your word in this season of prayer, in the season where as your people, we are all aware that we are facing giants in our society, in our homes, in our schools, wherever it is, God, in our minds, we are facing giants.

God Almighty, it is time for you to work because they have made void your law. It is time for you to take your right hand out of your bosom one more time and show your power again to this generation. It is time for your mercy, O God, even though we have failed, yet your mercy, O God, is everlasting.

You tell us in your word that you've loved us with an everlasting love and that you've engraved us on the palm of your hands. O Lord Jesus Christ, let the power and tenderness of those hands be moved in our direction one more time, unlocking prison doors, healing wounded hearts, giving sight to blinded eyes, giving strength to those that are weak and purpose to those who don't seem to know the way forward. Father, thank you, God, that you've given us these examples in Scripture to testify to us about who you are and about what you're willing to do through a surrendered heart. God help me and help those of us that are listening in Jesus' name.

Amen. 1 Samuel 17, beginning at verse 1. Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle and were gathered at Shoko, which belongs to Judah, and they encamped between Shoko and Azekah in Ephes Demim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and they encamped in the valley of Elah and drew up in battle a ray against the Philistines.

Now, let me set the scene for you. The Philistines represent the powers of this world, the powers of darkness that are always, always have been after the testimony of God. Since the fall of humankind in the Garden of Eden, there has been this work of lawlessness and darkness.

The Apostle Paul speaks about it in the New Testament. It's been at work in the world and it's always standing in opposition to Christ, to God, to his people, to the reality of God, to the ways of God, to the word of God, everything concerning God. The devil has always amassed his forces against it and tried unsuccessfully, might I add, to swallow it throughout the course of biblical history.

And so here we are one more time. This force of darkness is gathered one more time against the people of God. Now, you have to understand, under the leadership of a king called Saul, the people of God are now in a weakened condition. And the enemy feels, I've got the upper hand, just like in our generation, there's no debating the fact the church is probably in a weakened condition in our time, especially in America.

And the enemy feels like he now one more time has the upper hand and rises up every morning to challenge the testimony of God among his people. The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side with a valley between them. And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath from Gath, whose height was six cubits in a span. That's nine foot, nine inches tall in today's standard.

So your typical ceiling in a home would be almost nine foot tall. At a foot on top of that, you get an idea of how tall this man was. He had a bronze helmet on his head. He was armed with a coat of mail, which is armor or iron, may I put it that way. And the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze.

In our terms, it's 125 pounds. He had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam and his iron spearhead weighed 600 shekels.

That means 15 pounds just at the tip or the end of the spear. And he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel and said to them, why have you come up to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine 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 Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard the words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

So here it is. The world has put forth the best they have. They've come up against the testimony of God one more time. And like a bullfrog, all this world can do is kind of puff itself up and try to cause the people of God to think that somehow we're less than we are.

Try to get us to agree, as we heard so many times with the voices that try to say there's no use, there's no hope, don't fight, don't stand up, don't believe you're ever going to be free, don't ever think your life is going to amount to anything. And so the world puts this giant. Why does the world go to this extreme of producing these big displays of its power? Well, James says it in the New Testament. The Apostle James says the devils believe and tremble. The devils themselves that are behind these forces of darkness understand the power of God quite often more than the people of God do.

Isn't that something? And they know the only way they can defeat the testimony of God is to convince the people of God that we are less than God says we are. That somehow the Christ that resides inside of us is powerless or insignificant or fed up with us.

Or we are so captivated that even if Christ is in us that we're never going to amount to anything or ever accomplish anything for the kingdom of God. And so this giant rises up every day and says, you will serve us. You will serve us. You can't fight against us. Look how big we are. Look how heavy our spear is. Look how heavy our armor is. Look at the size of our forces. You can't fight against us, so just give up and serve us. Now the army of Saul, the Scripture tells us, was afraid.

You can just picture it. All these soldiers with all of their armor and all their training and their swords and their helmets and their shields and their spears or whatever they had and all of the battle strategy that they had maybe embraced over the years suddenly are finding themselves in a very, very fearful position. Now the reason they were filled with fear is because they were under the ministry of a worldly man. Now this man called Saul in verse 24 of 1 Samuel 17, it says, And all the men of Israel, when they saw the men, they fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. So the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who's come up? Surely he's come up to defy Israel.

Now here it is. And it shall be that the man who kills him, the king, will enrich him with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father's house exemption from taxes in Israel. So all the ministry of Saul could offer the people of God is wealth, power, and status. In other words, their value system was exactly the same as the Philistines who were all about wealth, power, status, how big we are, how much power we have, how much resources we have behind us. And it's dangerous to be under the ministry of anybody that that's all they're offering the people of God.

You're going to increase in riches, you're not going to be the tail, you're going to be the head, and you're going to have power over other people. It's a tragedy because when the season came where they had to rise up to fight, they found they had no courage. We're living in the same kind of a day that they were living in back then, where voices are now being raised every morning.

The Scripture says, Goliath presented himself every morning for 40 days. And voices are being raised every day. And what are these voices saying? You will serve us. You can't fight against us. We now have the upper hand. We are bigger, we are more, we are mightier.

Look at the size of the gathering we have with us. Look at the heaviness of our, the weightiness of our weaponry. Look at the defensive armor we have. You can't fight against us. We are stronger than you are. And you see the army of God on the other side of the valley, and all they're being offered is wealth, power, and status.

It's amazing. In other words, I'll increase you with great riches if you'll fight. You'll have the king's daughter, which means you have access to power.

And your father's house will be exempt from taxes in Israel, which means you'll be given a special status among people. That is all the ministry of the flesh can offer the people of God. You see, the reason God's people couldn't fight is because they're fighting on the same ground as their enemies, and they're fighting largely for the same reasons.

Isn't it amazing? When we forget who we are, when we forget the reason we live, the reason we have our purpose on this earth, what God had to do is he had to bring in a relatively inexperienced young man in fighting this kind of a battle on this scale. Now, he had had some victories himself in secret against a lion and a bear, the Scripture tells us. But suddenly, this young man comes in, and something rises in his heart. You see, he's not really been part of this whole Saul ministry at this time. He's not been under the influence of this gospel, may I put it that way, that has really just focused on the things of this world and the things of this life, as if this is what God's purpose for his people is on the earth.

And this young man, a teenager, comes in just to deliver food to his brothers who are in the army. His name is David. And he hears the voice of this Philistine. And he says, why is nobody fighting this man? And who is this uncircumcised Philistine? In other words, who is this person who's not set apart for the purposes of God, who's outside the kingdom of God, who's defying the armies of God?

Who is this person that is defying the armies of the living God? All of the reasons now come why these other soldiers have no courage. And they accuse him of pride.

They do all kinds of things. They accuse him of littleness. These are the voices we heard about. You're too small. You're too proud.

You're out of your league. This battle is too big for you. You can't fight this. Go back to your few sheep in the wilderness. Stop boasting about yourself. You don't have the courage to fight this situation. But David kept speaking these words. There's something rising in the heart of men and women of God.

Even if you're small, you're insignificant. Maybe you're not of any major ministry. Maybe you've got battles going on in your own life. But there's something rising in you that says it's not right that this is happening in our generation. It's not right that evil's getting the upper hand. It's not right that good is being called evil and evil is being called good and immorality is on prey and that our children are falling prey and victims to ungodliness and immorality even in our schools. It's not right that these things should be happening. It's not right that our homes and families should be under siege as if somehow a husband, a wife, and children is somehow a deficient thing in society.

It's not right. And I'm tired of these voices and I'm tired of their taunts and I'm tired of their threats. Yes, I might not be the biggest person in the kingdom of God, but by the living Christ within me, I will stand. By the living Christ within me, I will allow God to use my life to make a difference. I will allow my voice to count for things that are eternal and the strength, whatever it is that I have, I will allow it to be used for God's kingdom and for his glory because I'm not going to allow these armies to taunt the armies of the living God and the integrity of our God any longer.

I'm going to stand up and I'm going to fight back. And David kept repeating these words until finally they came into the ears of King Saul. And David stood before Saul and Saul said to David, you can't fight this giant, you're just a boy.

And he's been trained as a soldier from his youth and he said, look at your size in comparison to his size and your skill level in comparison to his. But David said to Saul, no. He said, you see, King, I had some secret battles that I fought in the wilderness. When nobody saw me but God, I was given the charge of some sheep and one day a lion came in and tried to take one out of the flock and the Spirit of God came upon me and I rose up and with the strength of God in me, I grabbed that lion by the mane and I took its life. And the same thing happened with the bear. And he said to Saul, your servant has killed both the lion and the bear and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

So here's the difference. David comes into the camp and instead of his own, he's concerned about the wealth of God's people. He's concerned about the people hiding in caves and rocks all around, fearful of the Philistines. He's concerned about them rediscovering the incredible resources of God that are available to those who are engaged in his purposes on the earth. David, yes, is preaching wealth but it's a different wealth. It's not for himself, it's for God's people. It's living for the benefit of others. It's allowing his life to be used for the sake of others coming out of this place of weakness and spiritual poverty and into the strength that God has and the honor that God will be given through his people. He's concerned about the status of God's army, God's army of people, the voice of God, the army of God, the church of God in our generation has been rendered in a sense powerless against these voices that are becoming dominant in society of our time and in his time. And then lastly, David is concerned about the power of God being made known, the glory of God, the reputation of God.

And I don't know about you but I share those concerns. I live to see you raised up in the power of God. I live to see the church of Jesus Christ becoming a force to be reckoned with in our society again where the presence of God is in the house and no fanciness is needed anymore. The presence of God is enough.

People come in, they begin to pray, God begins to answer prayer and lives are literally transformed in a moment of time. I'm concerned that we need to see the power of God again in our generation. I'm concerned about the reputation of God himself. I'm concerned about his reputation. I'm concerned about his name. I'm concerned about his glory. I'm concerned about his work on the earth. It concerns me when darkness begins to believe that its voice is louder than the voice that created the universe. I'm concerned for the honor of God.

And I don't know about you but I'm offering my life as a living sacrifice for his purposes which my Bible tells me are just my reasonable service. I want to do what David did. I want to go down into that valley with the weaponry that God gives to me. Now Saul tried to put his armor on David and Saul had an armor and I suppose for a season it seemed to be doing the job. But another moment had arose where the armor of Saul was now deficient.

It was not going to meet the need of the day. Saul's armor speaks of strategy. It speaks of things that we've done maybe for the last two decades even in America that have caused it to look like the church is growing. And in some degree maybe it even did. Saul's armor had victories. It had nicks in it. There was something, there was an evil that rose up and Saul's armor was insufficient to meet the need.

Saul tried to put it on David. It's like you and I saying well we've got to come up with some fancier worship or we've got to come up with some other new technique or strategy. No, we need the power of God again in God's house. We need the presence of God again. We need prayer again in the house of God. We need miracles again in the house of God. We need testimonies of God's deliverance in the house of God. We need young men and women who are willing to go to the ends of the earth for the cause of Christ again in the house of God.

We need people who are more concerned about others than they are about themselves. More concerned that others who live in poverty find the treasure of Christ than they find in their own treasure. More concerned about the honor of God than their own honor. David was willing to be a fool for the sake of God's honor by going down with weaponry that looked like total foolishness. The things of the Spirit, the Bible says, are foolishness to the natural man. God led this young man away from Saul's armor down into a brook. And in that brook there were five smooth stones that had been fastened by the water of God over centuries, no doubt had been fastened.

The water running over, preparing them for this moment. The five stones always have spoken to me about the fivefold ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ. The apostle, the prophet, the pastor, the evangelist, the teacher. Those that are raised up for the edifying of the body to strengthen the Church of Jesus Christ.

We don't need any more than God has provided for his church to become the voice and the power and the effective testimony that we need to be again in our generation. And with nothing more than a heart that trusted in God, with five smooth stones in his pouch and a sling in his hand, this young shepherd boy went down into the valley. You see, it's in our weakness that God's strength is made perfect. It's in our nothing that his glory comes to the surface again.

It's in our trust in him that the battle begins to be won. And the devils know this and tremble. That's why you and I have got to get out from under the voices. The voices like come to Maria that try to tell you it's no use. You see, all the devil has against you is an argument.

And if he convinces you into buying into that argument, he can render you powerless. You'd be on your side of the valley with all your spiritual knowledge just trembling in fear under the dominion of his voice. David runs into the valley with the weaponry that God has provided to him. And I love, I love, I love the fact that as he goes down in faith to face this giant, the Spirit of God comes upon him. Hallelujah.

This is how we're going to win in this generation. This is how we're going to see darkness have to give way to light. Not by any works that we can come up with in our own strength, but by the Spirit of God moving through us one more time. By men and women, young and old, moving in unison with the Holy Spirit of Almighty God for the right reason.

Remember, I said it. For the wealth of others, for the status of God's church, and for the power and glory of God to be made known in our generation again. And as David comes down into the valley, the Philistine mocks him as he's been mocking the people of God the whole time. What am I? A dog that you come to chase me with a stick? Come to me, he says, and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air, the beasts of the field. You can't fight against me, in other words. And what an insult it is that you'd even think that in such weakness you could defeat me. But then the Spirit of God comes upon David, and David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin. In other words, you come to me with all the weaponry that this world in its rebellion against God can produce. But I come to you in the name of the Lord God of hosts, the Lord God of the armies of heaven, in other words. The Lord God of all power, the Lord God of all dominion, the Lord God before whom every knee is going to bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day, now he's speaking prophetically now, this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand.

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 there's a God in Israel. In other words, he's saying, I'm not just going to defeat you this day. Now it's the Spirit of God now speaking through this young boy.

I'm not just going to defeat you. I'm going to defeat the whole army of the Philistines and you're going to become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. For this simple reason that all the world will know, all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel. It's time again for this world to know that there is a God who sits upon the throne, all power, all dominion, all authority. Every name that has ever been named is going to bow before him and confess him as Lord.

He was before all things, all things were created by him and he will be here when everything of this world is dissolved and remade again by the hand of Almighty God. All the assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. God does not fight this battle the way you do, those of the world and every demonic power, but he will give you into our hands. And so the encouragement I want to give to you is if you will let the Holy Spirit come upon you, this day you can rise up and your giants will be given into your hand. Those voices that greet you every morning for 40 days, the pornography that says the images we have planted in your mind, you will serve us for the rest of your days. The drugs, the meth, the vaping that says we have you, you are addicted to us, you will never escape us. The depressive thoughts that come into your mind every morning and says, to you, you will never escape the boundaries that we are placing around you, you will serve us.

I'm telling you, if you will let the Spirit of God come upon you, they will serve you. The message today has been brought to you by Carter Conlon from Time Square Church. For more information, log on to tsc.nyc. That's tsc.nyc. Plan to be with us next week for A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon.