Pastor Greg Laurie presents the Amazon Prime hit series The House of David, now on DVD. The House of David, which has been just a smash hit on the Amazon streaming platform, is now available in a box set format. And you can watch it when you want to. We're also including something called Beyond House of David, which is a four-part documentary series.
So order your copy right now, The House of David. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org. Jesus Christ defeated Satan and his demon forces and we share in that victory.
So, I don't fight for victory, I fight from victory. Standing against our adversary can seem daunting, but Pastor Greg Laurie points out the battle has already been won and we're on the winning team. I stand in the Lord and in the power of His might. That gives me the boldness and that gives me the strength to do what God has called me to do. This is the day.
When the lost are found, this is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace now sweet the sound. But can you hear all the ancients are singing? This is the day, the day when I begin. More people complain about headaches than any other health condition.
About 45 million people suffer from them each year. The major causes? Stress and lack of sleep, among others. There's a lot on our minds. Many people feel overwhelmed much of the time.
But today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us chart a new path. He'll talk about the giants we face, those forces that seem bigger than we are. We learn today how to stand against them in the power of God. How do you overcome a giant? We're going to look at the very familiar story of David and Goliath.
1 Samuel chapter 17, starting at verse 40. By the way, I'm reading from the New Living Translation. David picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his shepherd's bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd's staff and sling, he started across to fight Goliath. Goliath walked out toward David with a shield bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy.
He roared at David, Am I a dog that you come at me with a stick? And he cursed David by the names of his gods. Goliath yelled, come over here and I'll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals. I love the response of David. David shouted in reply, You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord God Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
Today, David says, the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head, and then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know. There is a God in Israel. And everyone will know the Lord does not need weapons to rescue his people. It's his battle, not ours. The Lord will give you to us.
I love this verse. As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Verse 49, reaching into a shepherd's bag, taking out a stone, he hurled it from his sling. It hit the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank in and Goliath stumbled and fell face downward on the ground.
Now David finishes the job, 1 Samuel 17, 50.
So David triumphed over the Philistine giant with only a stone and a sling. And since he had no sword, he ran over and pulled Goliath's sword from its sheath. And David used it to kill the giant and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they turned and ran. Is that not an awesome story?
I love it. What a victory. The will of the Philistines was broken. The Israelites were reinvigorated. David, the shepherd boy, had cut down the giant Goliath.
So, what do we learn from this about defeating our own giants? If you're taking notes, here's point number one. We all have giants. We all have giants. We all face severe hardships.
Seemingly insurmountable obstacles, temptations that come our way. 1 Corinthians 10, 13 says, remember, temptations come into your life. They are no different than what others experience, but God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, God will show you a way out, so you will not give in to it.
So while it is true that we all have giants, it is also true that every giant is defeatable. Principle number two: David knew the battle belonged to the Lord. David knew the battle belonged to the Lord. Look at verse 47. It is his battle, not ours.
The Lord will give you to us. What are you facing right now? The battle belongs to the Lord. Committed to the Lord. Don't worry about anything, Paul reminds us, but pray about everything, and the peace of God that passes all human understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
The battle belongs to the Lord. Number three. Attack your giants. Attack your giants. Earlier in the story, we read that the Israelites said, How is this man Goliath?
Come up. into our camp. That's 1 Samuel 17, 25. In other words, Goliath wasn't just down in the valley. He had climbed up.
And he was walking through the camp of Israel. Hey, hey, who wants to fight me? Come on, you're big enough to fight me. Let's go.
So he was right up in their face, up in their grill, as they say. And he wasn't going away. And that's what happens with giants. You compromise here, you compromise there, now they've invaded your life. They're in your front room.
They're in every room. And they're becoming even more powerful.
So, what do you do? You don't run from giants, you attack them. You don't negotiate with them, you don't yell at them, you kill them. You don't say, I'll get to this one day. You deal with your giant right now.
Look at verse 48. As Goliath moved closer to attack, David ran out quickly to meet him. He didn't run from Goliath. He didn't just hold his ground against Goliath, he attacked. Goliath and you must do the same.
Let's say you have a problem with Drinking. Let's say you have a problem with drugs. And this is an ongoing problem that has not gone away. You've got to deal with it. Stop rationalizing it.
Stop hiding it. Stop making excuses for it. Take it out of the dark and put it in the light of day. And deal with that. And that brings me to my next point, point number four.
Finish the giant off. Finish the giant off. So. David thought, I'm not going to give this guy a second chance. 1 Samuel 17, 51.
He ran over and pulled Goliath's sword from its sheath. And he used it to kill the giant and cut his head off.
Now, why did he cut off his head? Because Goliath was still breathing.
Now you might say, boy, it's a poor giant. No, no. No poor giant. You don't coddle giants. You kill giants.
Well, why should I kill my giant? Listen to this. If you don't kill your giant, your giant will kill you. That's your choice. You kill it or it kills you.
Kill or be killed. He cut off his head. Coming back to drugs, let's say your problem is drugs. What do you do? Get rid of your drugs.
A no-brainer. Hello? Flush them down the toilet. Booze? Pour it down the toilet, then flush.
Because if you're desperate you might go back later. Is this still drinkable? Trust me, I've heard worse. If you've fallen into sexual sin, admit it's sexual sin. Stop rationalizing.
Stop excusing it. Stop calling it a mistake or a human weakness. It is a sin. After David's sin with Bathsheba, we'll get to this later. In Psalm 51, he said, Against you, Lord, and you only have I sinned.
That's what it means to confess your sin. 1 John 1, 9 says, if you will confess your sin, God is faithful and just to forgive you your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The word confess means to acknowledge it, and it means to agree with God.
So let's say you and I are standing on the beach and we see a beautiful sunset. And I say, that was an amazing sunset. And you say, I agree, Greg, it really was.
So God says, that is wonderful. I love it. And we say, I love it too, Lord. And then the Lord says, that's horrible. I hate it.
And we say, I agree, Lord. It's horrible. To confess your sin is to align your will with the will of God and see sin as God sees it. God hates sin. He loves a sinner.
But he hates sin.
So to confess our sin is to acknowledge how horrible it is. And then, of course, to repent or churn from it. We like to gloss these things over.
Well, I'm human and I make mistakes. Yeah, that's true, we all do. Call sin sin. Bring your giant out in the light of day. But before you can do this, The Lord may strip you down to nothing.
So you will see when your giant is defeated, it's not your strength. But his. I love this little part of the story, First Samuel 17, verse 38. Before David goes and faces off with Goliath, Saul says, well, you need to wear some armor, boy. I'll tell you what, you can wear my armor.
And so David put on a bronze helmet, a coat of mail. Strap the sword over it. took a step or two to see what it was like. Because he'd never worn things like this before and he says, I can't go in these. It's like a little kid playing dress-up, right?
Big breastplate boom. Helmut. Shoes, even too big, and he's got this sort. You know. No way he's going to go against Goliath with all that stuff, so he strips it all off.
He's not going to wear Saul's armor. Armor, it was going to be God or nothing. There was no plan B. If God did not come through, he was done for, but David knew God would come through. See the problem in our minds is Satan is the giant and God is small.
when the very opposite is true. Satan is powerful, but God is way more powerful. Again, he's bigger than your giant.
So There's also a picture here for us. sharing in the victory of Jesus Christ. Remember, whoever won... then the other people would share in the victory.
So because David won. Everyone was excited. The Israelis then had the courage to attack the Philistines, which they lacked before.
So they shared in the victory of David. The greater David, if you will, the son of David as he called himself. Jesus Christ Went to the cross and defeated Satan and his demon forces, and we share in that victory. Because Colossians 2.14 says, of Christ. He canceled the record.
That contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by kneeling it to Christ's cross. In this way, God disarmed evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.
So, I don't fight for victory. Listen to this. I don't fight for victory. I fight from victory. I don't have to go take the devil onto my own strength.
I will fail. you will fail. Satan's way more powerful than Greg. He's way more powerful than you. But oh, the Lord.
Oh, he's so much stronger than Satan.
So I stand on the Lord and on the power of his might. And that gives me the boldness and that gives me the strength to do what God has called me to do. They shared in the victory of David, and we share in the victory of Christ. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Emails, phone calls, and social media messages from listeners are so encouraging to us, and they let us know the effectiveness of these studies.
I love the wisdom of Greg Laurie. Most nights I listen to his podcast before going to sleep. After each episode, I feel more confident in understanding God's Word. I also love how Greg is so down to earth and I think he's so funny. I'm very thankful for his commitment to Christ in teaching people how to grow in their walk with God.
Has Pastor Greg heard from you? Why not drop him an email and let him know? Send it to Greg at harvest.org. Do it today while you're thinking about it. Again, that's Greg at harvest.org.
Well, you're joining us for a series called The House of David. And Pastor Gregg is offering practical lessons on overcoming giants in our lives from the story of David and Goliath.
So let's recap. and land this message. If you miss these points, point number one was everyone has giants. There are no exceptions. It's just a matter of what, where, or who your giant is.
Point number two, the battle belongs to the Lord. Rest in the finished work that God has done. It's His spiritual battle, and it must be fought with spiritual weapons. Number three. Attack your giant.
Force your giant, your problem, your addiction, your vice, whatever it might be, into the light of day. Call on God, pray for His power, then attack your giant. Point number four, finish your giant off, cut off its head, burn your bridges, and break with the past. Draw lines. Make yourself accountable to others.
You see, a lot of times we'll say, well, I don't want to live that way anymore, but we still hang out with the same people leading us to do the same things. You need new friends. You need godly friends. The Bible says flee youthful desires. and follow the Lord and all those that call upon him with a pure heart.
If you hang around godless people, they'll pull you down. I'm not advocating having no contact with non-believers. How else will we evangelize them? But having said that, we need godly people who will spur us on. That's why the Bible says, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but encourage one another and so much more as you see the day of the Lord approaching.
You know, when COVID hit, Uh we began to sort of up our game online. And our online audience grew considerably, and it grew to a worldwide audience.
So I know that I'm speaking to people all around our planet and we're so glad that you're a part of our church service right now. But let me just say to you that we're coming in person and now you're staying home, but you're within proximity of our church. People, it's time to come back to church in person. In person. And to others out there who.
Watching this online, I'm glad we can be here for you. We want to minister to you as much as possible, but you need to find a local church in your area. We need to be together in person. This is what the Bible teaches. We spur one another on.
We encourage each other. And things happen when we're gathered together in person that just don't happen. elsewhere. This is a very important thing to remember. The battle belongs to the Lord.
Call out to the Lord. He can defeat you. You're giant. Let me come back to a point I raised earlier. The greater David.
The Lord Jesus Christ. went on the cross and died for our sin. This is where we find the power to live the Christian life. Listen.
Some people say, you know, it's hard to be a Christian. I would disagree. It's not hard to be a Christian. It's impossible. It is impossible.
to be a Christian in this world today. Dot dot dot Apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. I need God's help. Jesus said, apart from me, you can do nothing. But the flip side of that coin, the words of Paul, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Yes, but I'm tempted above my capacity to resist. Actually, you aren't. Because we already look at 1 Corinthians 10:13 that says, God won't allow you to be tempted above your capacity to resist, but will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.
So there's always a way out, God will give you the power. The question is: do you want to utilize that power? Do you want to be free of that addiction? As Jesus said to that one man who was disabled. Do you want to be made whole?
What kind of question is that to ask? Of course he does know. Not every person who's addicted to drugs wants to be free. Not every alcoholic wants to stop drinking. Not every person living on the streets wants to get off the streets.
There are people that have made a decision to live that way, and that is the way they want to live. They're never going to change if they don't want to change.
So the question is, do you want to be made whole? Do you want to change? Do you like this lifestyle you're in, or do you want to get out of it? If so, Jesus extends his hand. And he'll pull you up just like he pulled that one man up.
But listen, I can never overcome Satan or sin in my own strength.
Well, I'll just get some holy water. There is no such thing as holy water. Hate to break it to you.
Well, I'll just wear a crucifix. I won't keep the devil away. Are you kidding? I'll wear garlic around my neck. That'll keep Satan away.
That'll keep your friends away. It won't keep Satan away. Especially if you take a bite out of the garlic. No, the only power greater than Satan is the power of Christ. The only thing that will keep Satan from controlling you is the power of Jesus indwelling you.
That's why you need Jesus in your life. And I close by asking this question: Is Jesus living in your life right now? And has He forgiven you of all of your sin? Maybe you've just been sort of a religious type person trying to live this life in your own strength and that is why you're defeated day after day, month after month, year after year. See, you need a relationship with God.
That's what it's all about. In Jesus Christ, who died on that cross and rose again from the dead.
Now stands at the door of each of our lives, and he knocks. And he says, If we'll hear his voice and open the door, he will come in. Have you ever asked Jesus Christ to come into your life? If not, you can You can do it right here, right now. and then everything will change for you.
If you want Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sin, respond to this invitation that we'll close with. As we all bow our heads for our closing prayer, Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit will work in this group of people and all those who are watching. And if there's anyone here. Who does not know you, who does not have a relationship with you, let this be the moment they believe. Let this be the moment they come to you, Jesus.
We commit them to you while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying. Maybe there's somebody here that would say, I need Jesus. I need my sin forgiven. I've tried to change my life and pull myself up on my own bootstraps. And I keep failing.
I need help. I need God. Pray for me. If that's your desire, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. If you want him to forgive you of your sin.
If you want to fill that big hole in your heart. that you've tried to fill with so many things this culture offers. If you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die, wherever you are, pray this with me. Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner.
But I know that you're the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin. and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now. And I choose to follow you.
From this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer. In answering this prayer, In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Yeah.
Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer. And if you prayed those words today, and you've meant them sincerely, if you've asked the Lord to forgive your sins, We want to be the first to welcome you into the family of God. Pastor Gray quoted 1 John 1.9 a little earlier, If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Well, we want to help you get started living this life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Gregg's New Believer's Bible. It's designed to answer the questions new believers have. and get them started in their walk with the Lord. We'll send it without charge when you contact us and ask for the New Believer's Bible.
Here's our round-the-clock phone number, 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. or just go online to harvest.org and click Know God. And then let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry. and for supporting it through your generous donation.
It's an investment in kingdom business. Isn't that right, Pastor Gregg? Yeah, it's really true, Dave. And I believe it's so important because, you know, the gospel saves lives, it saves eternal lives. Because when a person believes in Jesus, according to Scripture, they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God.
And then of course that changes the course of their future. That impacts their children and their children's children. The gospel changes everything. and thousands and thousands of people respond every single year. Thanks to the Lord.
Also, thanks to you for your investment in this ministry, enabling us to reach people. wherever they are.
So if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment. And a new beginning in Harvest Ministries. Yeah, that's right. And we really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today.
It can make a real difference, not just for today or this week, but for eternity.
So get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. or go online to harvest.org.
Well, next time, Pastor Gray continues his look at the great heroes of the Bible. It's a fascinating message called The Teenager Who Changed the World. Think you know who it is? Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Craig Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins.
