1 Samuel chapter 17. It's one of those chapters, to me,
there's so much here. There's 58 verses, and there's
no way you could cover it all in one lesson. So, with the Lord's
help, we'll try to look at the first half. And I'll tell the lesson taken,
let's see, verse 29, the latter part of what David said, is there
not a cause? So let's just begin in verse
1, and may God enable us to open the scripture. Always first and
foremost that we may see our Lord. These are pictures that
he has given us to display and to picture his grace and his
mercy toward his people, his elect people. that He chose before
the world was made and how He is their representative, their
Redeemer, their Deliverer. Let us go to the Lord in prayer.
Our Father, as we approach Your Word, help us to never come leaning
upon our own understanding. Lord, that we would look to You
and to Your Spirit to open up Your Word to our heart. Do for
us like you did the two on the road to Emmaus, how they said
did our hearts not burn within us as you opened unto us the
Scriptures. Open our understanding, and Lord,
we ask all this in your name. Amen. We've already saw in chapter
16 how David was anointed the king of Israel. Saul was the
one that the people chose and how he disobeyed God, how he
rebelled against God's word. He did it willfully and he did
it deliberately. And I think that Saul can be
a picture of Adam, how that Adam rebelled against God. deliberately
and willfully against the commandment of God, and he brought the whole
nation, all mankind, under God's wrath and judgment and under
God's displeasure. And how that it brings about
fear and trembling in the hearts, and fear and trembling is nothing
but an evidence of unbelief. So we see here in chapter 17,
verse 1, now the Philistines who are always pictured as God's
enemies, and they were enemies of God and God's people, they
gathered together their armies to battle, and they were gathered
together at Sukkoth, which belongeth to Judah. Now Judah at this time
is not controlled, and eventually David will take Judah. It is
this tribe that has set aside this place, and it was at this
point was I think the Jebusites were there, and it says they
pitched between Sukkoth and Achoth in Ephodam. And Saul and the
men of Israel were gathered together and pitched in the valley of
Elah, and they set the battle in a ray against the Philistines. What I can understand every time
it talks about them setting the battle in a ray, I know you've
seen on movies or something where this army will get on this side
and they start just lining up and they're getting ready. They're
putting the battle in a ray. That doesn't mean that they're
actually going into battle. It just looks like they're going to.
And that's what the world's doing today. They're just putting the
battle in a ray. It looks like they're going to
battle and it looks like they're busy and they're organizing everything,
but they're not going into battle. It just looks that way. And verse
3, and the Philistines stood, now watch this, on a mountain
on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side,
and there was a valley between those. There is a great guffix. There is this division between
these people, and I believe Israel can picture the elect of God. There is chosen people. There
is covenant people. And here they are, standing on
either side. The seat of the woman and the
seat of the serpent. And God said, I will put enmity
and I will put division. And there was always a division.
If you want to go back and read up to this point how the Philistines,
all the way through the book of Samuel, came against the children
of Israel. Came against them time after
time. You remember who captured the
ark? The Philistines. Who killed Eli's two sons? The Philistines. who captured
the Ark and took it into the house where their God of Dagon,
the Philistines, did. Now, whether he's correct or
not, I don't know, but I never thought about this. But I think
it was Matthew Henry said, as we're going to read in verse
4, talking about their champion Goliath, that he could have been
the one. We don't know. It's only speculation.
He could have been the one that killed Hophnath and Phinehas.
He could have done that. And he could have captured the
Ark. Because you remember where it said they took the Ark? To
Gath. Who lived at Gath? Goliath did. And he could be right. Because
you can just picture, if he did that, he'd say, man, look at
me. Look what I've been able to do.
Because it says in verse 4, And there went out a champion out
of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath. When the children of Israel came
in to Canaan, Remember it said that they were giants in the
lands, and how that they drove out those giants, and it says
in Joshua 11, verse 22, there was none of the Anakins, or the
giants, left in the land of the children of Israel, only in Gaza,
in Gath, and in Ashtod there remained. You know why they remained? God left them there. He left
them there, or he would have destroyed them. And God leaves
things around just to prove His people. That's what He does. Everything happens according
to the perfect, sovereign will of God. No accidents. No accidents. He said, I left those nations
to prove them, to test them. And many times we face these
obstacles. Why are they there? For His purpose,
for His glory, and for your good. But this Goliath of Gath, whose
height was six cubits and a span, depending on whose measurements
you go by, he was somewhere between nine foot, eight inches, and
over eleven feet tall. Massive. Yes, massive. Giant. And you imagine this giant
coming out and just defying the armies of God. That's who he
was. And he had a, verses, in verse
5, it talks about his armor. He had a helmet of brass upon
his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail. And the weight
of his coat was 500 shekels of brass, and he had graves of brass
upon his legs, and target of brass between his shoulders.
They said, I read several different people, nobody could give you
an exact amount, how much all this weighed, but it was somewhere
between over 100, between that and 200 pounds, which It would
take a man himself to just carry this. But all this picture is
just outward appearance. Just intimidation. Intimidation. And it says in verse 7, the staff
of his spear was like a weaver's beam. That's 26 feet long. And the head of his spear weighed
16 pounds. And he walks out. That's the
only offensive weapon he has is this spear. And he stands
there and just taunts the nation of Israel. He's their champion. We see here, he's a pitcher of
Satan, who is their champion. How did he become their champion?
Remember, Satan was the first one that sinned. He sinned. And he tempted our parents to
sin, and when they sinned, he got the power of death. That's
what he says in the book of Hebrews. And he intimidates and comes
out. He can represent Satan. He can
represent your flesh. He can represent the world. Any
obstacle that seems to stand so massive. Look at religion
today. How does it look outwardly? It
looks to the natural eye. It appeals to the flesh and to
the world and everybody around. It seems so impressive. Look
at their buildings now. Cost millions of dollars. They
even buy older basketball arenas. That's a giant in the world's
eyes. And God allows them to be there. Allows them. God even uses them. You say,
how did God do that? He creates darkness and creates
light. All things work. Does it not
say all things work together for good to them that love God?
Go back and read the book of Revelation. It talks about when
the woman was getting ready to deliver her child. It's a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ being born into the world. It says
that the enemy, the dragon, spit out this water out of his mouth.
And you know what happened? The earth swallowed up the water,
helping the woman. This world swallows up false
doctrine. This world swallows up heresy
to protect his people. But here was this massive giant
His spirit head weighed six hundred shekels of iron, and one bearing
a shield went before him. And look in verse eight. It was
his challenge. He stood and he cried to the
armies of Israel and said unto them, Why are you come out to
set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you
servants to Saul? You're Saul's servants. Now watch
this, choose you a man for you and let him come down to me.
He's laying down the gauntlet. He's saying there's no use for
both our armies to fight. You know, I went back and read
it one time, the Philistines army destroyed, killed, I think
it was 30,000 Israelites. And he stands here and he says,
There's no use for both our armies to fight. You send me a man. You send me a man to fight me. Do you see the picture? He lays
down the gauntlet. He said it'll be between me and
him. There'll be this deal, if you want to put it that way.
And he'll fight me, and I'll fight him. The problem was, there was nobody
to fight him. Nobody. You know who should have
fought him? King Saul. It says that King Saul, from
his shoulders upward, was taller than any other man. So I picture
him as a massive, physically he was a massive man. And he
wasn't fighting, he couldn't fight him. This world, they're so foolish.
Have you not seen people, they say, well, I'm going to just
tell the devil, just go on back to hell. They have no idea who
he is. When Michael contending with
the angel over the body of Moses, you know what that angel said
to him? The Lord rebuke thee. The Lord rebuke thee. He is, I'm not going to give
him any credit, but he is a mighty foe. You're no match against
him. No match. Find anybody in the
scriptures, anybody, And when our Lord said to Peter, he says,
Peter, Satan, that Goliath hath desired you, that he may sift
you like wheat, and I'm going to let him. And what did he do
when God turned him loose on Peter? You see what he did? He
said, he began to cuss and to squirm, saying, I don't even
know him. That's what he's able to do. He's able, we're going
to see even in David. Why did David do what he did?
Now, we know David did it because he did it because of his nature
and because of sin. But who tempted him? Satan. Can I remind you again? You are no match for him. Remember that. He that thinks
he stands, take heed, lest he fall. Deliver us in our prayer,
the prayer for us. Deliver us, deliver us from evil. Lead me not into temptation. Why? You're no match. You're
no match for your flesh. Is anybody in here would be willing
to stand up and say, I'm a match for my flesh? No, you're not.
Are you a match for this world? Say, well, I'm able to resist
the world and the temptation. No, you're not. Send me a man. Send me a man. to stand against
me. That's what he says. And he stood and cried. Choose
you a man. But what I want you to see, Israel
never chose the man. God chose the man. I want you
to see this picture. They never chose him. They never
picked him out. We're going to say he's over in the sheepfold.
He's over there. Nobody knows where he's at. But
God knows where he's at. Verse 9 says, if he be able to
fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants. And
if I prevail against him and kill you, then will you be our
servants and serve us. This is life or death. But he thought, and I teach you
to see him in his arrogancy. Just somebody just talking to
you. Send me somebody. And you're
standing over there and ain't nobody can go against him. They
knew it. And they were afraid. And he said in verse 10, I defy
the armies of Israel this day. Do you hear that? He said, I
defy the armies of Israel. In essence, he's just saying,
I defy your God. You know what this world in religion
says today? I defy your God. You know what this is right here?
This is the spirit of Antichrist. We this morning, we're not battling
against flesh and blood. Our battle's not against this
church over here, or this one, two or three over here in Cottageville,
or the ones down in Ripley or Charleston. Our battle's not
against those people. Our battle is against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. Their doctrine is damnable doctrine,
and it comes from Antichrist religion. And you know what? They say, we defy your God. Remember
they came to David and they said, David, where's your God? And
he said, our God's in the heavens. He does whatsoever he pleases.
But their God can't do anything but what they let him do. And
that's an antichrist. And they defy God. They say,
where's he at? He's no God. If he's a God, send
me a man. Where's his representative at?
Send a man to stand against me. Choose you a man that we may fight together."
Verse 11, they were terrified. And when Saul and all Israel
heard those words of the Philistines, they were dismayed and greatly
afraid. You would have been afraid also.
There's times we still get afraid. David said, what time I am afraid,
I'll trust the Lord. But we deal with fear. Fear is
real. Paul writing to young Timothy,
that preacher, you know what he said? God has not given us
the spirit of fear, but power and love and a sound mind. You
get afraid, you're afraid to do anything. You want to get
in a hole somewhere. You want to go hide. And that's
what the enemy wanted him to do. He won't, you know how he
works? With intimidation. Isn't it? Intimidation. Verse 12, and here he's defying
the armies of Israel. And in verse 12, and now David,
now David, was the son of the Ephravite, the Bethlehem Judah,
whose name was Jesse, and he was the eighth son. And the man
went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. And the
three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed after Saul to the
battle." And as I read that, I thought, well, why didn't David
follow Saul to the battle? Remember, we read how that he
came to Saul's palace, and how he played on the harp, and the
evil spirit would depart from Saul. Well, now Saul's refreshed. He don't need David anymore.
You know where David goes back? He goes back to his father's
house. He's not in Saul's army. He's not following Saul. He's
not here. God's got him somewhere else.
And it seemed like, where was our Lord for thirty years? In
obscurity. We read one time where he went
to the temple when he was 12 years old. Where was he at the
other time? God had him hid. God had him hid. Just like David,
God had him hid until he brings him out. He's God's champion. He's God's chosen. He's God's
anointed. He's the one God set apart. And he's the youngest of eight
sons. You remember how they didn't
even consider him when Samuel came to anoint the king. They
passed over everybody else. They didn't even call David.
He was out there with the sheep. And this is him. This is him. In the world's eyes, he's nothing.
It says in the three oldest sons of Jesse, and it always mentions
their names, and I know that there's something here, but I
just don't know what it is. Leave that up to you to develop
it. It says, And the name of the three sons that went to the
battle was Elab, the firstborn. Next was Abinadad, and the third,
Shammah. And David was the youngest. And
the three eldest followed Saul. They followed Saul. They were in his army. But they
were just like everybody else. They were afraid. They were probably
big men, but were afraid. when Goliath came out. Verse 15, But David went and
returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. Every time you read, he's doing
what? He's taking care of sheep. You know why? He's the good shepherd. He's the good shepherd. He's
the great shepherd. He's the chief shepherd. God
taught him out there. Now picture this. After I was
sheep, you're all alone. There's nobody but you and the
sheep. And nobody else wants to do that job. It's a lonely
job. It's a hard job. All your life
is wrapped up in what? Not what you want, but it's in
taking care of those sheep. And that's what he did. We're
going to see And he refers back to this, maybe next week. He's
saying one day, and the only reason he even mentioned it was
because when he stood before Saul, he said one day there was
a lion and a bear, came and took one of those lambs, and he said,
I went and took that lamb out of their mouth and I killed them.
God enabled him to kill them. Why would he do that? Why? We
would say, well, it's just one lamb. Why would he risk his life
for a lamb? He loved the sheep. And to me, this is my own opinion.
I believe out there on the backside of nowhere, watching no sheep,
is where God taught him who God was. And God showed him who he
was and who David was. This is God's king. He's already
anointed king, but he's out here tending sheep. Our Lord was already king, but
he's obscure for 30 years. He's still king. He's still king. He's still king. And David returned. You know why? He's the servant. He took upon himself the form
of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. So this is where David's at. He's king. It's like the
life is coming out every day. And look at verse 16. And Goliath the Philistine drew
near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. He came out in the morning, and
he came out in the evening, and he presented himself for forty
days. Where's your man at? Have you
found anybody yet? Have you found any? Is there
not anybody that's brave enough to come face me? Now come on
now! And there wasn't. But all those
thousands of years to our Lord came, nobody. Pick the best out. Pick out Abraham. Pick out Isaac. Pick out Jacob. Anybody. Pick out Samuel. Anybody. Nobody. There's not a man that's able
to stand against this right here. Yet. Do you see the picture? But I
want you to see. Can you imagine how they feel
after 40 days? Has God forgot about us? Has
God just left us alone? Where's God at? Has He just deserted
us? We don't know. Why did He not
after 10 days just say, well, I've had enough. I'm going over
and kill the whole bunch. Why didn't He do that? God wouldn't
let Him. I want you to listen to what
I'm going to say, and I want you to hear what I'm saying. He's Satan,
but he's God's devil. He's like a bulldog on a chain.
He can only go as far as God lets him. And Goliath can stand
and run his mouth for 40 days, but he can only do what God lets
him do. And when it seems like it's the
darkest, And I guarantee you, it was dark. They were saying,
what are we going to do? Scared to death. I wish he'd
shut his big mouth. Verse 17, And Jesse said to David
his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephod of this parched corn
and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of the brethren. is going to send a gift, a gift
of grace and mercy to his brethren. Do you see the picture? He's
obedient to the Father, whatever the Father bids him to do. And
he said, And carry these ten cheeses unto the casting of their
thousands, and look how thy brethren fare, and take them pledge. As I thought about this, I wondered,
well, why didn't he send one of the other sons? He never was
interested in David before. Why does he send David? I know
why. God's arranging it. Just as a
man doesn't understand. And some say he didn't even have
an ass to carry all this on. He laid it upon David. And David
runs and comes to his brethren. He came into his own, and his
own received him not. Look how he came. He came born
in a stable. In obscurity. Nobody knew about
him. Till he came and was baptized
by John the Baptist. And his ministry only lasted
three years. But he was God's King. And Satan
cried for thousands of years, send me a man. And here's the man. Here's the man. He took upon
himself human flesh as the man. God said, send me a man. God's
going to send him a man. Do you see the picture? This reminds me of what Joseph's
daddy did. Do you remember Joseph had the
coat of many colors? He was the chosen of the father.
In Genesis 37, 13, Israel said to Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the
flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto
them.' And he said unto him, Joseph did, here am I. And he
said unto Joseph, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well
with thy brethren, and well with the flocks, and bring me word
again. So he sent him out of the vale
of Hebron, and he came to his brothers in Shechem." You know
what he done? He came to check on his brethren. That's just people. That's his
brothers. He's coming to check on them.
The Father's sending him. On purpose. Verse 19. I want you to picture
this. I always, when I read, I try
to put myself in their place. As they're standing there and
Goliath's come out for 40 days and they're scared. What's going
to happen? What's going to happen to us?
What's going to happen to mankind? And Saul and David, verse 19,
and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting
with the Philistines. Verse 20, and David rose up early
in the morning, early in the morning, while he knew the task
that lay ahead of him. I can see him, he probably couldn't
sleep. And he left his sheep with a keeper. He's always looking
out for those sheep. He didn't just say, well, I'm
going to do this for the father, and I can just leave them alone.
No, he made sure somebody's going to take care of them. And he
took and went as Jesse had commanded him, and he came to the trench
as the host was going forth to fight and shouted for the battle."
I can just picture that. He arrives just at the point
they're getting ready to go to battle. And I know you've seen
them. They're lined up on either side, and they start waving their
shields and their spears, and they, yeah, we're going into
battle. That's when David comes. How
are they going to fight Goliath? They're trying, I see this as
a picture of trying to work something up. Don't you? Don't people try to work something
up? Well, maybe I can just work up the enemy. Boy, I'll be strong. No, you won't be. Verse 21, and Israel and the
Philistines had put the battle in a race. Here they did it again.
Army against army. And David left his carriage in
the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army,
and came and saluted his brethren. I picture him come crawling up
on the trenches, and there's his brothers, and said, boys,
how y'all doing? The Father sent me down here to check on you.
And as he talked with his brethren, now watch this, behold, there
came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, by name, out of the
armies of the Philistines. And he spake according to the
same words, but it was different this time. David heard him. David heard him. Everybody else
had heard him for forty days. Everybody else was scared to
death. And rightfully so. And just, it just happened. It just, just happened that David
just happened to come up here at just the right time. And this
Goliath comes out and David sees him. David sees him and he heard
him. In verse 24, all the men of Israel,
when they saw the man, fled from him, and were so afraid. Like
I said, they can maybe put the battle in a ray. They maybe say,
well, we're going into battle. But as soon as Goliath walks
out, what happens? They do like they've always done.
Tremble. Afraid. And that's how we are. Left to ourselves. We're nothing. He that thinks he stands, take
heed lest he fall. Remember last week? The king. He said, what are we
going to do? We're no match for this. He said,
the battle's not yours, the battle's the Lord's. And they didn't choose
him, the man. They had no idea what David was
going to do. But God knew. And I think David
knew. He's anointed. He's king. God had instructed him and taught
him. He's our Lord. And David heard
him, verse 24, and all the men of Israel. When they saw the
man fled from him and were so afraid, now watch this. And the
men of Israel said, have you seen this man? I can see them
look at David and say, did you see that man? Did you see him? I've not seen anything like it.
That has come up. Surely he's come up to defy.
Has he come up? They knew why he was coming up.
And it shall be that the man who kills him, Saul had said,
if there is any man who can kill this man, here is what he will
get. Whoso killeth this man, the king
will enrich him with great riches, and he will give him the king's
daughter, and he will make his father's house free in Israel. Do you see the picture? Oh, he'll
enrich him. He'll give him the king's daughter.
The king's daughter in his house will be free in Israel, and nobody
would go. Nobody would go. Verse 26, And
David spake to the men that stood by, saying, What shall be done
to the man that killeth his Philistines? They just told him. He's not
asking for his information. He's asking for their information.
I think he wants to teach them that somebody is interested in
what's going on. Somebody's interested in this
man coming out. What shall be done to the man
that kills these Philistines and take away the reproach from
Israel? Watch this. For who is this uncircumcised
Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?
Who is this uncircumcised? David said, who does he think
he is? David is jealous for God's honor
and God's glory. And David knew that, how does
God deal with his people? In a covenant relationship. Circumcision
is a symbol of this covenant. Israel was circumcised, why? Not just for the cleansing of
the flesh, it was a symbol of their communion and contract
and covenant with God. David is relying upon the God
of the covenant. God had promised not to forsake
His people, and David knew what was at stake. David says, does
this giant not know who he's speaking against? David knew
that they could take shelter under God's covenant relationships. Shall we despond or listen? Or
shall we despair when we know that our God in Christ is absolutely
under covenant obligation to be our God and to acknowledge
us as his people? Jeremiah 20, 32, 38, and they
shall be my people. And I will be their God. Why,
like I said, why didn't God allow Goliath to come over and destroy
him? They're his covenant people.
You say, well, look how Israel sinned. Yeah, look how we sinned. Why doesn't God let Satan to
just destroy you? I'll tell you why. God is in
covenant relationship. What covenant? It's called the
everlasting covenant. Before any other covenant was
made, before the Adamic covenant, the Noahic covenant, the covenant
with Moses or David or any other covenant, there was an everlasting
covenant made between God the Father and God the Son. God the
Father said, I'm going to give you these people. And the Son
of God said, I will take upon myself the responsibility to
redeem those people and be their surety. That's the covenant.
And those people, the elect of God that were given to Christ
before the foundation of the world. He prayed in John 17,
I don't pray for the world, but I pray for them that you've given
me. Who is that? That's His people. In Israel,
God's elect are His people. And who fights third battle?
He does. How did he fight third battle?
He became a man. And he said this uncircumcised, he
defies the armies of God. And I'm going to do something
about it. And didn't our Lord come to this earth to do something
about it? And how did he do it? We know he's God. He's 100% God. But he did it with flesh and
blood as a man, as a representative. Goliath said, send him down to
me. Let him come down to me. And
that's what he did. He that was rich became poor.
Let me, that we might be rich. Verse 27. The people answered
him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man
that killeth him." I want you to picture this. David's standing
here talking to these men, and they see something different
about David. Something's different about him. He seems to have this courage
about him. He doesn't seem to be afraid
at all. Let me tell you this. If God
gives you faith to believe God, you don't have any right to be
afraid. Isn't that right? If you're afraid, this is good
news. Good news. But David's oldest brother hears
David. And he doesn't like what he hears.
He doesn't like it that somebody has come down for God's honor
and glory. It bothers him. Why? Because
he's not willing to. It pricks his conscience, as
said in verse 28, and Elab, his eldest brother, heard when he
was speaking to the men, and Elab's anger was kindled against
David, made him mad. He came into his own, and his
own received him not. He came back to Nazareth one
day. He'd been out doing miracles,
and when he came back, they had him to stand up and read the
Scriptures. And when he stood up, he spoke to them about election,
and it made them so mad, they wanted to kill him. That were people that were raised
with him. These are David's brothers that were raised in David's house,
and he's angry with his younger brother. Because his younger
brother is concerned for God's glory. You know why he was mad? Unbelief. It made him look bad. Why didn't I go down there and
fight the battle? Why wouldn't I risk my life for
the king's daughter? He was kindled against David.
He said, Why camest thou down hither? Now watch this. And with
whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?" You're not being responsible
for your task. You just left them sheep alone.
You left them for nobody to take care of. You know what he's trying
to do? He's trying to set David forth in a bad light. Have you
ever heard that before? Why did you come down here? Why
did David come? He came to check on his brethren.
He came to bring gifts from the Father. He said, I know thy pride and
the naughtiness of thy heart. For thou art come down that thou
mightest see the battle. You just come down and want to
see what's going on. He's misunderstood. And I tell
you, many times as preachers of the gospel preach and proclaim
the honor and glory of God, we're misunderstood, and you'll be
misunderstood. Why did you come down? Why did
you come down? You're just filled with pride.
You just want the recognition. David was interested, and he
was concerned for God's glory. He says in verse 29, and David
said, What have I now done? Have you ever seen, just in families,
let's just put this down, you know, in human terms where we
can kindly understand. You've got siblings in a home.
The older one usually picks on the younger one. Isn't that usually
how it goes? Usually. Some shake their head, but usually
that's how it goes. He says, what have I now done?
What have I now done? They probably could care less
about David. You know, when they send Samuel
to anoint the king, they don't even call him. He's not important. And now here comes David, this
youngest son, and he comes and he says, what's this thing down
there doing? He's defying God and there's
nobody, there's nobody that will go face him. And I tell you, when our Lord
came, you know why it made the religious crowd so mad? He intimidated
them. That's right. He deliberately
went through the cornfield on the Sabbath day. He deliberately
healed on the Sabbath day. Why? He shook up their little
apple cart. That's right. And when anybody,
anybody, When God enables them and God gives them faith to believe
God and stand up for God's honor and glory, everybody turns against
them. Isn't that right? But David said, his enemy is
not his brother. That's not his enemy. His enemy
is the one down in that valley. And David said, is there not
a cause? And my question to you this morning
is, is there not a cause? What is the cause? They are trying to defy the armies
of the living God. Our God sits on the throne. I tell you, this girl right here,
I love her with all my heart. And I tell you, you could talk
about me all you want to, you could lie about me all you want
to, but don't you dare say anything about her. You see the picture? You can talk about me all you
want to. But I tell you this, they better not talk about you.
And they better not talk about my Lord. Would that not make
you a little bit upset? You know, you know, the first
thing our Lord did when he came after he rode into Jerusalem,
as he rode in on that donkey, the first thing he did, he went
to the temple of God and he made a scourge and he drove out the
money changers. He said, you've made my father's
house a den of thieves. I don't think he is lifing about
it. And I tell you, listen, I'm trying
to be as honest as I can be. When I hear all this that goes
on in this world, and they do it in the name of God, and all
they're doing is blaspheming our God, that makes me upset. And if you love Him, it'll make
you upset. And they try to intimidate us.
They say, you're nothing. That's right, we ain't nothing.
But our God's great. And you're defying our God. And he believed God. As a man, as a man, the Lord Jesus Christ
was taken into the wilderness for 40 days, was tempted of the
devil. He said, why don't you just cast
yourself off this pinnacle of the temple? He said, his angels,
he'd give his angels charge concerning you and they'll catch you lest
you fall. He says, you see all the kingdoms
of this world? He says, I'll give them to you
if you'll just bow down and worship me. He said, thou shalt serve
the Lord thy God in him only shalt thou serve. He did it as
our representative, as a man. Goliath said, send me a man.
And you know what God did? God sent him his man. Do you see the picture? Boy,
that blesses my heart. He's my representative. He fights
my battles. And Lord, next week, we're going
to see he did. You know what he did to that
giant? He not only smote him with a rock, he took his head
plumb off. Took his own sword. And God takes the devil's own
sword. which is fear of death, and he used death and cut his
head off. He said if they knew what they
were doing, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.
But in doing that, they cut their own head off. And our Lord wins the victory. My advice to you is just look
to Him, and is there not a cause? Amen.