Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line. And David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling. and with a stone. Uh Welcome to The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Today, we're continuing our brand new study on the life of David by exploring one of David's earliest and most famous victories against the giant warrior named Goliath. This incredible underdog story still has a lot to teach us about what it really means to know and trust the one true God.
So, with part two of his message, Giant Killer. Here's Pastor John Monroe. Last time we began to consider one of the most famous stories in all of the Bible. The story of David and Goliath. This young man, David, was the only Israelite prepared to do battle with a giant, Goliath, champion of the Philistines.
Although David was a young man, he was not a novice. Most of all, he was prepared spiritually. He knew the Lord. He had seen the Lord in action when he was a shepherd. And David understood That the battle was the Lord's.
and that the Lord would give Goliath into his hand. Let's continue to think of David and learn how we can be strong in our faith as we trust in one far greater than David. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. who is described as the son of David. I wonder how many of you grew up in Sunday school.
with the Sunday school song, only a lad called David. Only a little sling. only a lad called David, only a bricklaying. Brooke. Blank faces.
Obviously, it never made its way over the Atlantic. And we have got some people. Thank you. The golden old days, there we are. And uh Even in our circles, we occasionally were allowed to use hand motions, Nathaniel.
And when it came to the sling, it went round and round and round and round and round and round and round. One little stone went through the air. And the giant fell to the ground. And there's one occasion where we could pound on the floor and make a lot of noise, because after all, Gliath did get stoned out of his mind, didn't he?
Well, the title of today's message is David the Giant Killer. Uh I've heard uh quite a number of preaching on this message. And it Almost invariably Involved in killing the giants of our life, giants like fear and greed and suffering and addictions and unforgiveness. And as I listen to it, I think it's amazing how. When we read the scriptures, how much we become the focus?
And I wonder When a writer was writing First Samuel seventeen, Was he thinking about you and me fighting the giants in our life?
Now I think that is a legitimate application. But we want to focus on what the text says, because it's much, much more. than the story of a young boy killing. A giant. And David's reliance is not on his armor, but on God.
David's eyes were not so much on Gliath, but was on his. Got Here is a man of faith. against all of the odds. Seemingly hopeless. And he demonstrates the power of God is not in mighty things.
But is in a weak confounding The mighty.
Now think of David's preparation. We thought of this a couple of weeks ago. But the shepherd boy of 1 Samuel 16 is being prepared to be the mighty king warrior of Israel. David is being prepared to be the greatest king of Israel. He's been called by God.
He's been anointed by God. And now He's going to be put To the test. One day the David gets up. It seems to be a day like every other day in his life. And his father says, Well, your brothers are fighting against the Philistines.
They're with Saul. I want you to take some provisions. I want to take these cheese for the commanders. Can you go? And so David makes that trek.
to the battlefield. Just another day. When he got up that morning, he had no idea, did he, that he was going to be facing one of the most important days of his life. But the wonderful thing is that David. was ready.
Tomorrow could be one of the most significant days of your life. It may be one of the best of your life, or it may be one of the worst. It may be that God gives you a tremendous challenge, or it may be very routine. And maybe you get some exhilarating news, or you get some terrible news. When we get up in the morning, we never know what the day is.
It's going to be Derby. But as we're learning every day, yes, every single day. I am to put off the work of works of darkness. I'm to live. According to the spirit and not according to the flesh.
Paul tells us that the man of God knows the word of God so that he is equipped for every good work. And David As he left Bethlehem, As he left his sheep with someone else, and as he made that track to the valley of Elah, he didn't know what was going to happen, but he knew his God, and he knew that God was with him. Did you notice how his brothers dismiss him? I know about sarcastic, dismissive brothers. If you're in a large family, you know what it is, particularly if you're one of the younger ones.
These brothers dismiss them, David. I mean, who did you leave these few sheep with? What do you know about battle? You're babbling away, man. Get back to your sheep.
Leave the bread, leave the cheese, and disappear. They reminded him he's a youth. They were more seasoned warriors. Yes, but none of his brothers was prepared. to fight against Gliath.
Do you want to Serve God? Of course you do. Everyone here, I'm sure, wants to be used by God. Scripture is teaching us. And we know this from other passages: that those whom God calls, God.
Tests. The other thing I thought of And isn't it true? That when you serve God humbly, There's always a critic, isn't there? Here it was his own family. You'd have thought his brothers who were there and knew he had been anointed by Samuel, whatever they thought of that, you might have thought that they would have said, Now, is this not the test?
This is God's anointed. This is the future king. And David, we're with you. We're going to be on our knees praying to Almighty God as you go for battle. But no, they criticize him, they demean him, they're sarcastic.
You know, when you serve God There is a critic.
Sometimes we deserve. to be criticized. Other times we don't. Don't be discouraged. Isn't that wonderful that David?
He didn't listen to his brothers and go back to Bethlehem and say, I got this wrong. No, he knew that God was calling him. You see, the individual who is truly called by God will stand strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. David's focus was on the glory. of God.
Notice verse twenty six, his response when he first hears about Goliath. I love this. David said to the men who stood by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach of Israel? Notice this. For who is this?
Notice how he describes him: uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God. I see David knew. David must have been taught well, whether by his father or Samuel or someone or the priest. He knew the special relationship God had with Israel through the Abrahamic covenant. What was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant?
Circumcision. This man was uncircumcised. He was God's enemy. He knew that he was uncircumcised. He knew that he wasn't part of the Abrahamic covenant.
Also, Goliath is defying, David says, the armies of the living. God. And it may have been David from Bethlehem that this was the first time in his life that he had ever heard anyone blaspheme. That you've ever had anyone Break the third commandment, taking the name of the Lord in vain. And this righteous young man who knows his God, who knows the history of Israel, describes this man as uncircumcised and defying the armies of God.
And he is prepared. to go to battle. Most young men Are concerned about themselves, their reputation, their ambitions, their friendships, their future. But David seeks The defeat of this uncircumcised Philistines, not for his own reputation. Did you see this verses forty-six and forty-seven?
Let me read them again. These are magnificent words. Verse 46, this day The Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I'll give the dead bodies of the hosts of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth. Why are you going to do that, David?
Here's the reason. That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves. Not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand. Isn't that magnificent?
He's concerned about what? He's concerned about the glory of God. He doesn't want the nation. To fall into a bad reputation as they're decimated by these Philistines. He wants the glory.
Of God, and he has such strong faith in God that he knows God is going to give him a victory. How is it that this young man? could stand against this Goliath When the king saw When all of the veteran warriors are there, When they're afraid, What was different about David?
Well, he was a man after God's own heart, wasn't he? David is a man Who knows? God. He had spent time with God. On the hills outside Betham, looking after the sheep.
A man who knew about solitude. A man who had experienced God, a man who knew the word of God, so that he knows this man is uncircumcised, and a man who trusts God. And a young man who had seen God at work in his own life. Do you know this? His words of faith, the Lord will deliver me, verse 46, from the hand of the Philistines.
This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. The New Testament speaks of a faith which overcomes the world. A faith which trusts God for the impossible. A faith which triumphs over the invincible. A faith against which no opposition can stand.
Now I ask all of you, you want to serve God, I know you do. Have you seen God at work firsthand? Many of you are like me. You have godly parents, grandparents. You come from a wonderful heritage.
And you've heard stories from your parents, from missionaries, from pastors, from people in your life group of how God has worked in their life, and you have experienced. From them, you've heard about God's Work. You've heard about God answering prayer. You've heard testimony after testimony of people who have said, I called upon the Lord, and in this impossible situation, God acted. But have you seen First hand.
God. at work. Have you? In specific situations? Have you seen God do something that you could never possibly do in your own strength?
How is it that David knew, verse 47, that the battle is the Lord's? And he will give you into our hand. How could he speak with such authority, with such clarity, with such confidence, with such faith? This wasn't arrogance. This wasn't presumption.
This was a young man. Who knew his God. A young man who had experienced this, he's going to say to Saul. A young man who had experienced the hand of God in the past. No, 1 Samuel 17 is not primarily about the courage of David.
Yes, David was a courageous man, it's true. But this passage is about the greatness of God. That God is demonstrating. that this young man who really knew and no one knew about. A shepherd in Bethlehem, the youngest and possibly even the smallest of his eight brothers.
This David, whoever he is. that God takes him. And equips him. And gives him experience of him. and raises him up.
to demonstrate That this is a man after my own heart. And here in 1 Samuel 17, there is a demonstration that David is going to be the worthy king. of Israel. Moses used his staff in the parting of the Red Sea. Seems foolish, didn't it?
waving a staff at sea. David uses a sling. And a stone. to fight life. What God had given David as a humble shepherd, he now uses for the glory of God and for the vindication of the reputation of God among the nations.
Each one of us here, if we're true followers of Christ. as a particular Background. Talents. Gifts. Personality, upbringing.
abilities were all very different. But God uses what we have. In our hands. As we surrender all to Him. A staff, a sling, a stone.
Little boy with five loaves and two fish. I mean I think it's a good idea. Why talk about that? That's just a crumb. We've got 5,000 people here.
Go away, little boy. Eat your own lunch. But in the hands of God He takes the staff, he takes the sling, he takes the stone, he takes the five loaves and fishes, and he multiplies that because in his hands, in the hands of God, the least is much. Who who who are you? What's your background?
Who who who are you? You say, well, I'm very insignificant. David was very insignificant. God loves to take insignificant people. In fact, he specializes in that.
Because he calls, Paul says, not the mighty, not the great. He calls the weak, he calls the despised, he calls people who are non-entities that people don't use, fills them with his spirit, as he does David, and says, Now, David, I want you to go and kill that Goliath. And David says, Yes, I go, because I go in the name of the Lord. of hosts. Use By faith, all You have?
When I was a little boy growing up, I thought every missionary was a preacher. And now I realize that God uses People In IT and linguistics. In medicine? and education And all of these things and says no. I want you to use that for your glory, whether it's overseas or whether it's right here in Charlotte.
For his purposes.
Now, David is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. I said a couple of weeks ago that when Matthew begins his gospel, he says in Matthew 1, verse 1: the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. David, the son of Abraham. First mention is the son of David. Throughout the Gospels we hear Jesus being called by even beggars and others, you're the son of David, as indeed he was.
He's David's greater son. Mm-hmm. And David is the outstanding type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Both David and our Lord were born in Bethlehem. David is anointed by the prophet Samuel, our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the truly anointed one, is anointed by the Holy Spirit.
Remember at the end of Matthew 3, in that amazing scene on the River Jordan. As John baptizes Jesus. And the clouds open. And the father says, As the Spirit descends on his Son, this is my Son. My well-beloved, in whom I am well pleased.
David was a man after God's own heart, but David, as we know, was far from perfect. But here is the perfect son. Here is David's greater son. After their anointing, they both face a tremendous trial. David faces Goliath, this huge man, seemingly impossible to defeat, and under the power of God with that little stone.
David Kills. Gliese. Goliath threatened the people of Israel for forty days. Our Lord Jesus was tempted for 40 days in the wilderness by Satan. David defeats the arrogant Goliath.
Our Lord Jesus Christ defeated a greater foe than Goliath. A more formidable foe, the devil himself. The seed of the woman crushed the head of the serpent. Paul says in Colossians 2:15, at the cross our Savior disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. Why did David cut off the man's head?
To show off? Fit of bravado? No, to demonstrate. That the man was dead, and to demonstrate that no one is going to defy the armies of the living God. and to show to everyone that the victory was the Lord's.
And then the mighty Redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ. As He dies for our sins, as He's buried, as He triumphs Paul says he put the forced to open Shame. John says, 1 John 3, verse 8: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. And just as no one other than David was found, Able to defeat Goliath, so no one other than our Lord Jesus Christ was found to defeat Satan. Remember that wonderful cry by the angel in Revelation 7, Revelation 5: Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break it?
It's sealed. That cry that goes throughout the universe. Who is able to open the scroll? The answer? Then one of the elders said to me, John, weep no more.
Behold, the line of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and the seven seals. And you know the story, I think, from Revelation. As King David ruled over Judah, so the line of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, our Savior himself, will rule and reign not just over Israel, but will reign as King of kings and Lord of Lords. He will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Seemed utterly foolish, didn't it?
That the young man with a stone and a sling could go into battle against. Goliath and defeat him. It seemed foolish to the world, doesn't it? It still seems foolish. That through the message of the cross, the scandal of the cross, that through that seemingly foolish and defeated act, that the wisdom of God and the power of God is demonstrated.
And as Israel rejoiced, as we read at the defeat of Goliath, we the people of God rejoice at the triumph of our great Savior, the Messiah, the root and offspring of David, who not only conquered Satan and sin and death, but rose from the dead and is eternally alive. Make sure. You know Christ as your Savior. And if you're a follower of Christ, learn from David. Trust God for the impossible.
What impossible situation do you have in your life? I don't know what it is, but we all face them, don't we? Don't take the weapons of the world. Don't depend on yourself, but humbly come. To God.
No giant is too big, no giant is too strong. The righteous, says Proverbs 28, verse 1, are bold as a lion. And don't fear the devil. Resist him, and he will flee from you. Stand firm, stand strong.
If God is for us, who can be against us? And never forget that he who is in us is greater than he who is in us. The world. You're listening to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe and the conclusion of a message titled Giant Killer. John has a few closing remarks coming up in a bit, so stay with us.
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Now, here's Pastor Jean Monroe with closing remarks.
Well, what's your verdict? Look back on your life. and prayerfully consider how God is preparing you to serve Him. All of us have to understand that in the spiritual battle, It's not about our strength. but about trusting the all-powerful God.
Oh well. Do you know God? Have you ever tested him by trusting in him? Prior to David facing Goliath, he had seen the Lord deliver him from wild animals. Where have you seen the Lord at work?
Next time, we continue our study of David and see a very special friendship. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
