Slaying the Giants in Your Life

You are facing a giant in your life when something looms so large that you live under the umbrella of intimidation.

Dr. Tony Evans says those problems sometimes seem more overwhelming than they actually are. The further you are from God, the bigger your Goliath looks. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is the alternative with Dr. Tony Evans. Author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative. Giants are just as big a problem now as they were in the time of David and Goliath.

They just take a different form these days. In this final installment from Tony Evans Top 40, Dr. Evans tells us how to defeat the modern day giants that confront us. Let's join him as he explains. David and Goliath has created an imagery today where people will talk about facing their Goliath, facing their giant size situation. We're told in 1 Samuel chapter 17, when the Philistines are gathering, verse 4, Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines name Goliath. That name sounds like a giant, doesn't it? Goliath. Watch this, from Gath. You put that together, Goliath from Gath. He sound like a freak. Well, we're introduced to Goliath from Gath, whose height, according to verse 4, was six cubits and a span.

That's nine feet six inches tall. He would be an NBA coach's dream. The man's a freak. He has a nickname. He's called the champion. He comes out with a bronze helmet on his head. Verse 5 says he's got clothes with scaled armor, weighing 5,000 shekels of bronze. The man's armor, on top of that, he's nine foot six inches tall, on top of that he's wearing armor weighing 175 pounds. We're told that he has a javelin slung between his shoulders.

The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam. The head of the spear weighed 600 shekels of iron, and his shield carrier also walked before him. He's a giant who makes his appearance before Israel. Verse 24 says, when all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid. You know when you are in a giant-sized problem, not merely by the mass of its size, but by its effect on you. It says when they heard the giant talk, they were greatly afraid. When they saw the giant walk, they were greatly afraid. And here it is, the giant was on the offense, they were on the defense.

As he got closer, they ran further. You're facing a giant in your life when you are running, and it is chasing you. You are facing a giant in your life when something looms so large that you live under the umbrella of intimidation.

It won't go away. Verse 16, the Philistine came forward morning and evening for 40 days and took his stand. Why was Saul scared of Goliath? Saul is scared of Goliath because we're told in the Bible that Saul has drifted from God. The further you are from God, the bigger your Goliath looks. But then there is this young boy named David. David, watch this now, is not impressed with Goliath. Now, watch it, Goliath is impressive.

Anytime somebody walk in front of you nine foot six, it's going to get your attention. But David is not impressed. How do I know David is not impressed? Well, let me show you, verse 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 of Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God? Verse 36, Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them since he has taunted the armies of the living God. Verse 37, And David said, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.

And Saul said to David, Go, and may the Lord be with you. David is not impressed. Why is not David impressed when David's young? He's shorter. He has to this day no military background or experience.

All he's doing is bringing some lunch to his brothers on the front line. And young David wants to know, Who is this Philistine? Well, everybody else was looking at the size, the reputation, the history, and the background of Goliath. He looked at his problem through spiritual eyes.

He did not look at height and weight and 40 speed. David said, I got to look at this spiritually. In fact, look at verse 45. Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword. You come to me with a spear.

You come to me with 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 taunted. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your hand from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts on the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all the assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spirit, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into my hands. That's why I got the name for my book, The Battle of the Lords, right there, that verse. Guess what he did? He delivered the battle to somebody else.

You see, he didn't say this is me and you. So this raises the final question. You got the anatomy. It's something that looms so large it intimidates you.

You've got the attitude. You must look at it through a spiritual perspective, not merely a physical or psychological or emotional one. Then the final question is, well then how do you approach a Goliath? What do you do?

How do you go after it? Because it is bigger than you. It's nine foot six. It is more skilled than you. It's a champion.

It's been doing this for a while, and you don't have a background in military service. Remember in verse 37, the end of verse 37, Saul said, Go and may the Lord be with you. I'm praying. I'm praying. I'm going to be praying for you. Lord be with you. Because I ain't going to let him be with me. I ain't going out there, but he can be with you.

Lord be with you. Verse 38, Then God clothed David with his garment and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed them with armor. David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. He had never used this before. So David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not used them, tested them.

And David took them off. Saul said, look, here's some armor to fight with. You might as well use it. I ain't using it.

Because I ain't going out there. It says when David put it on, he couldn't wear it. It was too big, because remember, Saul's a big man. It was too cumbersome. He wasn't used to it. He was being asked to do something he wasn't used to doing.

Watch this now. You can't beat your Goliath using somebody else's armor. If God gave them that method for them to address their problem, that does not mean it's your method to address your problem. You got to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. God has stated, fixed principles, but he does not have fixed methods. All through the Bible, he uses different strokes for different folks.

So you got Christians now running around everybody else, asking to borrow their armor for your giant. You got to use something that you know what to do with. He said, how do you know if you're supposed to use it?

Simple. It says he couldn't walk with it. It wasn't comfortable. Let's put it another way.

He couldn't flow. You always know if you're moving with God because you flow. It's natural to you. It's not cumbersome to you. It's not awkward. It says it was awkward. It didn't feel right. If the Holy Spirit is moving you in a certain direction, it's going to feel right. It's going to feel natural.

It's going to feel like it's you. Don't let other folks force their armor on you. Don't let them force their way of doing it. That's a method. Keep their approach, their orientation. Keep the principle. This dude got to die. That's the principle.

No matter who you are in Israel, that was the principle. This dude is messing with us. He has to go. But the method of Saul isn't the method of David because he hasn't tested it. He's never tried it out.

He's never utilized it. Tony Evans will center on a strategy that works for David and for us when he comes back in a moment with more about slaying the giants in your life. It's the final installment from an historic collection we put together called Tony Evans Top 40, 40 of his most powerful sermons over the last 40 years. Since this is the final message we'll be presenting on air from this set, it's also the last day to take advantage of getting volumes 3 and 4 volume collection as our thank you gift when you make a donation toward Tony's ministry. Contact us today with a contribution and we'll get this great collection of audio messages on CD or digital download into your hands right away. Our resource center is open 24-7. Just give us a call at 1-800-800-3222.

That's 1-800-800-3222. Or connect online at tonyevans.org where you can browse through our huge collection of resources and sign up for Tony's free weekly email devotional. I'll repeat our contact information after part two of today's lesson and this. Coming this November, Journey with Jesus, a film from Dr. Tony Evans that will awaken your faith. Follow Dr. Evans as he walks where Jesus walked, opening your eyes to the stories of faith and hope that changed the world. This feature-length film was shot on location in the heart of the Holy Land and takes you on a journey that reveals the miracle of Jesus Christ. Refresh your soul and find hope. Visit tonyevans.org to learn more and find where Journey with Jesus will be showing near you.

Now watch this now. Verse 40. He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd's bag, which he had, even in his pouch, and his slingshot within his hand, and he approached the Philistine. Oh, no, he didn't. He used the tool that God had provided him that he knew how to use. So he's got his slingshot. Please notice this.

It's a little aside here. He approached the Philistine. Saul and the army earlier are running from the Philistine, right? So when they saw the man coming, they fled.

They playing defense. See, you know that the giant is winning in your life when it's coming forward and you going backward. Because of David's confidence in the spiritual nature of the thing, it says, he comes to the Philistine. He takes on offense now. I'm coming at you. How dare you taunt the armies of the living God.

Who do you think you are? Now the Philistine is a little upset. He disdained him because he, verse 42, he was a youth.

He was ready, you know, kind of, you know, didn't have a lot going for him. In fact, the Philistine gets down, I take off verse 3, 43. Am I a dog? That you come to me with sticks? Slingshot. I look like Fido to you, brother. You come to me with some sticks?

You come to me with a slingshot? And he cursed David by his gods. You blankety, blankety, blankety, blankety, blankety, blankety, blankety so-and-so because it was a spiritual issue.

So he cursed David by his gods. And we already read what David said. Then, you know, you can hear the music now, you know. Dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun. Because verse 48 says, then it happened. Dun-dun, dun-dun. You know, then it happened. When the Philistine rose up and came to draw near to meet David. Watch this now. David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

Let's get it on. He runs quickly to the battle line to face the Philistines. And David put his hand into his bag, took from it a stone, slung it, struck the Philistine on his forehead.

And the stone sank into his forehead so that he fell on his face to the ground. And the guy, it was a short guy and it was a security guy. But it was this real short security guy ran into one time. And I said, you're kind of short for a security guy, aren't you?

He said, well, yeah, people would say I'm short. I said, well, suppose whoever you're protecting, whatever you're protecting, somebody big comes in. He said, that's an irrelevant issue. I said, oh. I better watch what I say. He said, I said, that's not a relevant issue. I said, why is that not a relevant issue?

Simple. I'm closer to his kneecap. He said, ain't nobody doing nothing if I get their kneecap. But going down. It ain't about size. It's about knowing what to hit.

That's what he was saying. David slung the slingshot, slung the stone, hit him in his forehead. Goliath goes down. And David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and the stone, and he struck the Philistine that killed him. And Samuel wants you to know, and there was no sword in David's hand. He didn't have all the big stuff that the Philistines had. Then David, verse 51, ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they said, it's bad when somebody chops your head off with your own sword.

Man used his own stuff against him. The giant is no longer in control. The giant is no longer calling the shots. The giant is no longer running the show. It's time for many of us here today to stop letting the giant rule our life. That person, that problem, that situation that looms large over you only can loom large over you morning and evening, day after day after day, because you don't see the spiritual nature of the problem.

Because once you get behind the nine foot six and see the spiritual nature of the problem, it changes the size of the enemy. One last verse and we'll close. Verse 54.

I love verse 54. Then David took the Philistine's head, which is now chopped off, and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent. Okay, watch this now. David didn't kill Goliath. The Philistines are running for their lives. David walks into Jerusalem and gives the priest the head of Goliath. So we got giant head on display in Jerusalem. He takes the weapons that belong to the enemy and brings it into his tent.

Now why? Why would you take Goliath's head to the priest in Jerusalem and take the sword and put it in your tent? Well, the head of Goliath in Jerusalem was like you and I having a trophy case. It is to remind you when another fool from Gath shows up.

Your head can be next to his head if you don't come right. It was to be a visible reminder that what happened to him can happen to you if you mess with God and me. He takes the sword and puts it in his house.

Why? So every time he gets up in the morning and looks over there at that sword, he is reminded that when he was just a teenage boy, God slew Goliath. Because David is going to face a whole lot of new enemies in the future, and you got to be able to look back over your life and see what God did yesterday so when you face a new problem today, you know that he is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think according to the power that works in you. Remember when he kills yesterday's Goliath, so when tomorrow's Goliath comes, you can call him what you call yesterday's Goliath an uncircumcised dog.

Because you saw the spiritual nature of a thing. Dr. Tony Evans, talking about what's really going on when the challenges we face have us outsized in a message he calls slaying the giants in your life. As I mentioned earlier, this is the final installment in Tony Evans' Top 40, a special hand-picked collection of his best and most powerful messages of all time. Remember Volumes 3 and 4 of this four-volume collection on CD or digital download can be yours right away with our thanks for your donation to The Urban Alternative. We depend completely on the prayers and gifts of friends like you to keep Tony's teaching available for listeners around the world. Just visit tonyevans.org to make the arrangements or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 where someone on our resource team is always available to assist you.

Again, that's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org. Well, to wrap up our time today, Dr. Evans shares a quick reflection on the last four decades of ministry. There are so many ways that God has demonstrated His faithfulness to me and to this ministry over these 40 years. You know, there were times when we just weren't sure we were going to make it. We got down to our last paycheck.

After that, there was no money to pay anyone. And I remember us having a special prayer time and asking God to intervene. And then, out of nowhere, a donor's heart was touched and they wrote us a note and said, God placed it on my heart to send you this gift and it was able to sustain us until we were able to rebuild. So, I am not a doubter about the greatness of God nor His faithfulness and I'm certainly grateful for all the friends He's given us who have been faithful, too. And I'm very grateful that for 40 years we've seen His kind hand of favor on this ministry. Well, tomorrow we begin a brand new series of messages about living with loss. To get us started, Jonathan Evans will remind us that even though a lot has changed recently in the way we live our day-to-day lives, the most important things of all haven't changed. Be sure to join us for this powerful and encouraging message. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.