When Victory Comes

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. First Samuel 17 and 18 are two of the most exciting chapters in all of the Scriptures. As a matter of fact, chapter 17 is the account of David slaying the great giant, Goliath. You remember that story, don't you, from Sunday school and through the years as believers we have rejoiced in that great victory God gave David. It seems that there was a giant nearly ten feet tall taunting and terrorizing the people of God day after day.

And Saul, who was the king of Israel at that time, and all of the Israelites were shaking in their sandals, in their tents, for fear of this mighty warrior, the giant of Gath-Goliath. It was a winner take all proposal. He said, send the best man you've got out to fight. And if he wins, the battle is yours, the territory all of it, you win.

But if I win, we, the Philistines, shall rule. Well, no one dared to fight the great giant. He was a powerful and incredible physical specimen by his very shield weighed 150 pounds. The head of his spear was nine and a half pounds. He was mean and he was ugly.

He was bad to the bone. And nobody dared fight Goliath until one day David left his fields, sent by his father to take food to his brothers, and he was probably expecting to see a good fight. And he recognized that the Israelites were fearful and afraid, intimidated by this great giant. He said, why doesn't somebody go out and shut this giant up? No one dared. Somebody said, well, why don't you do it, big mouth?

And he said, all right, I think I will. And led by the Spirit of God, this young, incredible warrior Goliath. It really wasn't a fair fight. I mean, Goliath had all that spear and armor and bulk and David, he had a slingshot and he knew how to use that slingshot. I've been to the Israel and seen some of these shepherds today. It's not like one of these slingshots that you pull back. I mean, you sling that stone and some of these shepherds over there and gentlemen over there now in Israel can still make a stone fly like a bull.

I've seen them embed one into a tree. And so it really wasn't a fair fight. Here came this big hawk with all of his shield and sword and David just stood back sort of with his little rifle and hit him right between the eyes and it was over. But you see, he was ready. He said, I will. And even though people laughed at him and mocked him and despised him, even his own brothers said, what are you doing here?

Go back home and take care of the sheep. He was ready. For years, he had prepared for that moment a series of choices that he had made even in solitude. He knew his God and if God's name was being dishonored, he stood for the name of God and he knew God's victory would be his. And he said, you know, I fought the bear and the lion. Surely I can fight this giant.

God's delivered me from the hand of the bear and the lion. Surely he'll deliver me from the hand of this giant. Those children of Israel were saying, man, that giant's too big. He's too big to hit. David said, man, he's too big to miss.

I've done this before. You know, the scripture says, he that is faithful in that which is least shall also be faithful in that which is much. And what we are in our private battles will determine what we become in our public battles. It was D.L. Moody who said, character is formed in the dark. It's what we are in the dark and in solitude. And in silence, we are prepared for those public moments when God calls upon us and challenges us as he challenged David. And David knew the battle wasn't his. It was the Lord. He said, I come to you in the name, in the name of the Lord of hosts. It is not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.

So the 54th verse of chapter 17 tells us that David had to be David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. And he, along with the king Saul and all of Israel, rejoiced in the victory. But did you know with every victory there is danger? As a matter of fact, it is possible to be defeated by our victories. Our blessings can become a curse if we don't know how to handle the blessings. The great football coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Tom Landry, used to say, it is easier to coach a team after a loss than after a victory.

After a victory, we're rather confident, we're rather cocky, but after a loss, everyone's ready to listen and ready to improve. The question is, how are we going to handle the success? How are we going to handle the success that God has given and is giving us? God just keeps on pouring his blessings out and we refuse to limit God. From victory unto victory, his army shall he lead. Thank God for the victories.

But if we're not careful, we can become casual and begin coasting and even be defeated by our victories. And so how do we handle success? How do you handle success in your life personally? We see how David handled his success and it is a tremendous testimony and four super responses to victory in his life that ought to be our response for victory and success in each of our lives. So I want you to write down these four responses as we move through chapter 18 of 1 Samuel.

And the first thing is, we must be willing to share our successes with others. Look at the first four verses of chapter 18. And it was so when he had finished speaking to Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

Saul took him that day, would not let him go home to his father's house anymore. And then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. Saul, the king of Israel, brought the young champion David into his household where David and Jonathan became fast and lifelong friends. And when we meet Jonathan here in chapter 18, we meet one of the greatest individuals in the Bible. We learn so many lessons from the life of Jonathan, lessons on friendship and loyalty. For even though Jonathan was the apparent heir to the throne to succeed his father Saul as the king of Israel, it was David who was the appointed and the anointed king of Israel.

And Jonathan now recognizes that. And rather than being envious or jealous of the popularity and the power, the assuming power of David, he supports and shares in David's victory. None of self is seen, but he surrenders his self, he surrenders his own kingdom to rejoice in the victory of David. And so it is, God will continue to grant us victory day by day as we rejoice in the victories of others. You know, we ought to be rejoicing in the victories of other churches.

We're not in the battle alone. And if God chooses to bless another church down the street, then praise God for that. It's always amazed me that some churches think that they're in competition with other churches.

We're in competition with no one but the devil. And if a Presbyterian or a Methodist or a Baptist or an independent or a Bible church is preaching the gospel and winning people to Jesus, a Pentecostal Charismatic Church, I say, praise God, let's rejoice and share in the victories that we have together in Jesus Christ. We don't hoard the blessings of God. When you start hoarding the blessings, they start rotting away and you lose your victory. God has given us many victories and we dare not keep the blessings to ourselves. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and his message, When Victory Comes. Pastor, this month, we have a special gift for our listeners who give a gift to PowerPoint. It's your brand new book called, Reignite.

Can you tell us about this great resource? Everyone struggles in their faith from time to time. And in all my years of ministry, I've seen friend after friend and even pastor after pastor experience what many would call a dark night of the soul.

I've actually been through it myself. So what do we do when times like these hit and it feels like the flame of our faith is burning low? My brand new book Reignite is a personal work from my heart that shares exactly what that experience was like for me and how God reached down and renewed my faith in one of the most difficult times of my life, frankly. I wanna send you a copy of Reignite to thank you for your financial support this month so that we can continue to proclaim the hope of Christ through PowerPoint. So be sure and request your copy when you give your best gift today.

Call today and get Reignite as our thank you for your gift. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. Or text the word PowerPoint to 313131. That's PowerPoint to 313131. Now let's get back to today's message when victory comes.

Number two. We must be careful to give God the glory. Look at verse six. Now it happened as they were coming home when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced and said, Saul has slain his thousands and David his 10,000s.

Now this was a celebration to end all celebrations. Israel had defeated their enemy, the Philistines. The giant was dead and they were rejoicing.

The problem is their praise was misdirected praise. For it did not glorify God, it glorified man. Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands. Who really killed Goliath?

Well verse 47 of chapter 17 tells us who killed Goliath. Then all this 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. The battle is the Lord and therefore because the battle is the Lord's, the victory is the Lord's and the glory all belongs to God. Sometimes when God begins to bless our lives or if God begins to bless our businesses or if God begins to bless our church, we begin to say, look who did that.

Look who did what? But God said, I will not share my glory with another. To God and God alone belongs all the glory. And the easiest way, the best way to lose the next victory is to not give glory to God for the last victory. It happened to the children of Israel when they defeated Jericho. When they marched around those walls and shouted and God gave them the victory and he said, but now don't take any of the spoils, don't take any of the possessions of Jericho, the booty is mine.

It all belongs to me is to be dedicated to me. Well, a man had a brighter idea, a man by the name of Achan, he got up under the covert in the shadow of darkness and he went in and stole some of the booty, hid it under his own tent. He thought he had sinned secretly and hidden it. But when the Israelites went out to battle a little city called Ai, they were defeated, ignominiously destroyed because they didn't give glory to God for the last victory. When we take the spoils of battle to ourselves, we set ourselves up for defeat. We must always remember to give God the glory for it all. Can you imagine what could happen if we all worked to the glory of God and didn't care who got the credit as long as God got the glory?

David realized the victory is the Lord's. Now this doesn't mean we shouldn't encourage one another. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't honor. The scripture says, give honor to those to whom honor is due. We're to spur one another onto good works, a good pat on the back, encouragement is well placed. We ought to praise one another when we do something good for the Lord and good in life. But you know, praise is sort of like perfume.

A little of it's all right, as long as you don't swallow it. And we ought to take praise and put it in the same place that we put criticism at the feet of Jesus. It all belongs to Him. And our motive must always be the glory of God, not personal victories, not personal accolades, not the applause of men, but the glory of God. Thirdly, we must be aware of envious people. Look at verses eight and nine.

After victory, be aware of envious people. For verse eight says, then Saul was very angry and the saying displeased him. And he said, they have ascribed to David 10,000s and to me they have ascribed to thousands. Now what more can he have but the entire kingdom? So Saul eyed David from that day forward. It was the green eye of envy and jealousy. Saul was filled with pride. God's spirit had departed from his life and God resists the proud and God has set Saul aside and he was a disturbed and disillusioned and frustrated man already under the hand of discipline from the Lord.

And he somehow felt that David's victory was his loss. He sort of reminds me of the Grinch. Remember the Grinch from Dr. Seuss?

The Grinch was a fellow, anytime somebody was having a good time, he'd bite himself. And there are people like that, that when somebody else gets blessed or someone else is successful, they make themselves miserable with anger and envy and bitterness. Have you realized that when you determine to live for God, to love God with all your heart and serving with all your might, that you're gonna meet some enemies in some of the most surprising places, sometimes even within the camp of God. David was a shepherd boy who stepped into the battle in obedience to God and now he's suddenly made a mortal enemy and Saul spends the rest of his days trying to destroy David simply because David had experienced victory in the name of the Lord.

Recognize when victory comes, opposition, pride, anger, jealousy, fear will raise its ugly head. And Saul in particular realized that the character of David and the quality of David's life made his own life diminish. He appeared to be a phony and a fake that he was because David was so real and so full of the blessing of God. So beware when victories come and so often people are afraid and frightened when opposition comes because they don't realize that victory in Jesus, if we're going to maintain the victory and move forward in glory means that there will be opposition.

Finally, be humble and don't allow success to change you. Verse 14 says, and David behaved wisely in all of his ways and the Lord was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him.

But all Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them. David knew how to face the giant of success. You know how to face the giant of success? With humility and gratitude to God. Proverbs 27, 21 says, the refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold and a man is valued by what others say of him. Our reaction to victory will either reveal the dross in our lives or it will reveal the gold and the silver of our lives. Just like defeat will bring out either the worst in you or the best in you, so will victory bring out your strengths or your weaknesses. Psalm 131, David says, in fact, just turn there.

We're gonna close with this in just one moment. But in Psalm 131, it's a very short psalm, just three verses. We get an insight into the heart of David, why he was called a man after God's own heart. Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul like a winged child with his mother.

Like a winged child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and for ever. What was David saying? He said, Lord, I'm nobody in your presence.

I'm just an insignificant, insufficient shepherd boy. It was only by the grace of God, for the glory of God, that David was lifted up for great victory. But he said, Lord, I'm still David.

It's still just me, Lord. Pride and power and possessions and popularity, none of these things move David. He did not take his successes too seriously. He knew the battle is the Lord's.

You know, some people are impossible to get along with because they think they're impossible to get along without. But not one of us is indispensable to the work of Jesus Christ. We're all simply saved by the grace of God. We, of all people, have been grace, sovereignly blessed. We're at the right place at the right time and God has chosen in his love and in his extravagant grace to bless us. And that's it.

And all of it can be gone just like that if we begin taking ourselves too seriously and thinking that somehow we did it ourselves. This is God's work. I heard about a frog who wanted to get down to the south so he ran across a couple of Canadian geese and he begged to ride. He said, okay, here's what we'll do. They got a straw in one beak and a straw in the other beak. And they said, frog, you get in the middle and hang on for dear life and we'll fly you south.

You see that picture? Hear these geese? Straw in their mouth, straw in their mouth, frog hanging on. They passed over the Midwest somewhere and a farmer looked up and said, that's an incredible idea. Who thought of that? And the frog said, I did.

You're headed for a fall. When you begin to think you did something that only God could do, so you'll get that next week. The battle is the Lord. Verse 18, back in 1 Samuel 18 says, so David said to Saul, who am I and what is my life for my father's family in Israel that I should be son-in-law to the king? David, David, you see, recognized that he was the same man, the same person and the best thing that can be said about any of us over the years, you're the same man, you're the same woman that started out. Your success, your blessings, your victories haven't changed you. You're still humbly grateful and gratefully humble before the Lord.

Take care of your victories. Some people are always talking about what I deserve. I'm so grateful that I didn't get what I deserved. I received God's grace, something I didn't deserve.

God's mercy that he has freely given. This is the gospel, that we don't deserve salvation, that we don't deserve any of this, but that God granted us his love when Christ went to the cross, died, rose again, lives and now lives in us to pour out his power and blessings upon our lives. But for the grace of God, I would be lost.

But for the grace of God, we would all be targeted for the judgment. But because of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved and now called to experience victory in Jesus every day. And may our constant theme as we move from victory to victory be to God, to God be the glory.

Great things he has done. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, When Victory Comes. Whatever you're facing today, how would you like to experience God's presence, his peace and the hope of his promise in a new and refreshing way? You can and we wanna show you how by sending you Dr. Graham's brand new book, Re-Ignite.

Discover how God can renew your strength, lift your spirit and fan your faith into a fire that lights up the world. Re-Ignite is our way to thank you for your financial support to help proclaim the hope of Christ to more people through PowerPoint. This is the last week of this offer, so call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. Call 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131.

Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? First, we want to thank God for the victories he brings our way. Do you know that God loves to give us victory?

He does. So the real question is how do you handle success personally, professionally and spiritually? Well, in 1 Samuel chapter 18, God shows us four super responses to victory through the life and relationships of King David. You and I ought to adopt these responses when God brings us victory. First, when we experience victory, we need to be willing to share our successes with others. Humbly share our successes with others. We see this clearly in Jonathan's response to David's victory.

Even though Jonathan was the heir apparent to the throne, destined to succeed his father Saul as the king of Israel, it was David who became king. Rather than being envious or jealous of David's popularity, he shared in David's victory. Secondly, we must be careful to give God the glory. Sometimes when God begins to bless our life, business or church, we might mistakenly think, look what I did. But all glory belongs to God. And he said he will not share his glory with another. In fact, the easiest way to lose the next victory is to not give God the glory for the last victory.

Thirdly, we must be aware of envious people. Saul was filled with jealousy after David defeated Goliath. Somehow he felt that David's victory was his loss.

And Saul spent the rest of his days trying to destroy David. So just expect to face opposition when you experience victory in your life. The fourth response to victory that we learned from David is not to allow success to change us. If you want to face the giant of success, you must do so with humility and gratitude to God. Let's take a lesson from the life of David and be mindful of the possible pitfalls that surround our victories. And as you move from victory to victory, let your constant theme be, to God be the glory.

Great things He has done. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's powerful new book, Reignite, as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627.

That's 1-800-795-4627. Or text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Or text PowerPoint to 313131. On the next PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can renew your strength in Christ. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries. The