We welcome you to the Tabernacle Podcast brought to you by the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Hickory, North Carolina. If you'd like to learn more about Tabernacle, you can visit our website, tabernaclebaptistchurch.com. You can find other sermons like this one on Apple Podcast, YouTube, and Sermon Audio. It is our prayer that God has used this message to be an encouragement to your heart. Well, let's take our Bibles this morning and go with me, if you would, please, to the book of 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter number 17. 1 Samuel chapter number 17, and we'll begin reading in verse number 31. 1 Samuel chapter 17. and verse 31. And the last few weeks, we have been examining the principle, the truth of stewardship, our responsibility as God's servants, as God's stewards to manage His affairs. And we've been learning lessons from the most unlikely sources. For example, in John chapter number 6, we learned about the little lad And he was standing among that great crowd of people and the Lord Jesus had commanded his disciples to feed them. They had nothing to feed them with. And the little lad put his faith in the Lord, and he gave to the Lord his lunch, his loaves and fishes. And God took what the little lad gave, and he blessed it, he broke it, he multiplied it, and he fed the 5,000, and the multitude of men and women that were there, and children also, not included in that 5,000 number. The Lord met the need. And the little lad pointed that crowd to the Lord, and pointed those disciples to the Lord. And he was a steward of what he had, and we learned from him that the little lad gave what he had. And may God help us to give what he has given to us. It may not seem like much, but God can take what we give him, and he'll use it for his glory. And then we went to the book of 2 Kings, and we learned about the little maid. She was a captive. in the land of Syria. And she wound up in the home of the Syrian captain, and he had leprosy. And it was an incurable disease. And she told Naaman's wife, she said, if my Lord, her master, could get to the prophet in Samaria and get in the presence of God, he would be healed. And she had some good news. And you and I have some good news if we have received the truth of the gospel. That's what the gospel means, good news. And we're recipients of the good news. And as recipients of the good news, we're responsible to share the good news. And so we found out from the little maid that she told what she knew, and we have a responsibility to tell lost sinners and tell this world what we know and give them the message of the gospel. And then we looked at 1 Samuel chapter number 3 last week and we examined the life of a little prophet who was raised up in the house of God and ministered to Eli the priest. And he heard the voice of the Lord and he listened to God. And we find that we have a responsibility for what we hear, for what we have been exposed to. And this little prophet, he taught us to listen to what we have heard. Well, we come this morning now to 1 Samuel chapter 17. And we're gonna meet a young man who's probably at the end of his teenage years. He's becoming a young man. And this young man, his name is David, He is of the house of Jesse. He's living in the land of Israel in a very difficult time. Saul, the king, has been rejected by the Lord because of his fleshly ways, because of his selfishness and his lack of willingness to obey God. And there's a crisis in leadership, much as there was in the days of Samuel, in the early days of Samuel. And now we find that in this crisis, there is an attack. The Philistines have come against the children of Israel, and a mighty champion has come out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath. He's nearly 10 feet tall. He's a massive man. And he challenges a man from Israel to come out of the camp down into the valley and fight him. And he says, whoever wins the battle, well, that'll be the victor. And there's no use in all these people dying. Let's just have a champion come fight me. Well, the problem was nobody would go and fight this man. And all the army of Israel were up on the mountainside with their knees knocking and their boots quivering because they were afraid of the foe. Well, into the camp comes David. He's there to help his brothers there in the army, and he's there to deliver some things on behalf of his father. And David hears the thundering voice of the giant as he curses the God of Israel, and he defies the armies of the living God. And David, rather, is stirred. He becomes indignant. He says, I can't believe what I'm hearing. Why don't somebody go and fight him? This is a Philistine. This is an uncircumcised Philistine, meaning he's a pagan. He doesn't fear God. He's an enemy of God. Why is it somebody who loves God and who believes God and knows the power of God, why isn't somebody going down into the valley to fight? In fact, if nobody will, I will. Well, David's brother Eliab hears that and begins to mock him and accuse him. And David said, is there not a cause? And I'm going to ask you a question this morning. Do you believe there's a cause? You see these beautiful children and all the beautiful children in our nursery this morning and in our Sunday school, in our children's services, all of them have an enemy. But not only do they have an enemy, all of us have an enemy. The devil. The Bible said he's our adversary. And as a roaring lion, he walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. He wants to destroy the souls of men and women. And if you know the Lord Jesus, he can't have your soul, but he certainly wants to bring destruction to your life and to your testimony. He wants to do as much damage as he can to the kingdom of God. And he's a powerful foe. He's an intimidating foe, but he is not a match for God. We're no match for him, but he's no match for God. And here we find in this young man, David, we find a young man who fought against the foe. And the question I have for you this morning is are you willing to fight against the foe? Are you willing to resist the devil? Are you willing to engage in conflict, spiritual battle, Paul said in Ephesians chapter six, against Satan and the kingdom of darkness? Are you willing to stand for the kingdom of light, the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, I want us to look here in verse 31, because as David spoke in the camp, The Bible tells us in verse 31, and when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul. So they took the report to King Saul and said, here's what we're hearing in the camp. And so Saul, the Bible said he sent for him, verse 32, and David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, thou art not able to go against the Philistine to fight with him. For thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. David, you're just a young man. This man is a mighty giant of a man. He's a warrior. Verse 34, and David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said, Moreover, the Lord hath delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear he will deliver me out of the hand of the Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. I want you to go with me just a few verses forward to verse 41. And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David, and the man that bared the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him. He had contempt for him, for he was but a youth and ruddy and of fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day under the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. And it came to pass when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took thence a stone and sling it and smote the Philistine in his forehead. that the stone sunk into his forehead and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine and slew him but there was no sword in the hand of David. I want you to notice the phrase we find in verse number 50, so David prevailed. We've been introduced here to the young man who fought against the foe, and because he was willing to fight courageously, because he was willing to trust God and go into the battle, not confident in his own power, not employing the tactics of the Philistines or the tactics that the men of Israel thought he needed to employ, not using things of the carnal fleshly world, but just trusting God in simplicity and in faith, David prevailed. And I'm asking God to help us to raise up a generation of young men and young women who will prevail. Do you know that Jesus tells us that he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it? Victory is assured to the church, but we are in a conflict. Jude said, earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. And Paul wrote to a young Timothy and he said this, fight the good fight of faith. Whether you recognize it or not this morning, we are in a battle. Your children are in a battle. And we've been in a battle for 2,000 years, since the inception of the church, and beyond that, throughout the Old Testament period, all the way back to the garden. Satan has been warring against the people of God, and he continues that conflict today, and God has called us in this generation to take our stand, to serve our king, to advance in the army of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was in a parking lot several years ago in the hospital, and I was going to visit one of our members, and I ran into a pastor that was from this area, and I had met him, and he'd been in this area and community far longer than me, and I was happy to see him, and I greeted him, and we were having some chit-chat there in the parking lot, and he just boldly said something to me I didn't expect to hear. He said, I just want you to know the devil hates Tabernacle. Now, I knew that. But that got my attention, the fact that this pastor would tell me that. He said, I want you to know that the devil hates this church. Well, I want to tell you that I took a little bit of comfort in that because I thought, well, at least we're doing something right. But I also took some caution in that. And may we be comforted in knowing that we're working for the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We're advancing his gospel. I want to tell you that the devil doesn't hate or doesn't like what's going on here. He's going to do all he can to oppose it. He doesn't like to see the building filled on Sunday. He doesn't like two services. He doesn't like a Sunday night service. He doesn't like a youth group and a children's ministry. He doesn't like a Christian school. He doesn't like a preschool. He doesn't like the Hope Allen Center. I want to tell you something, Satan hates what's going on here. And we need to understand that. But we also need to understand that we're engaged in a conflict. Now, most of us in this generation, we want convenience and we want comfort. We don't want conflict. But I'm going to tell you whether you want it or not, it's coming to you and it's coming to your house, it's coming to your heart. because Satan hates you. The question is, are you willing to fight the good fight of faith? Are you willing to fight it in your heart? Are you willing to fight for it in your home? Are you willing to fight for it in your community? Are you willing to fight for it in this church? You see, we're not enemies, we're on the same side. We're the redeemed children of God. And the devil, he will try to divide us and distract us and turn us against one another. But we need to understand, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. We wrestle against Satan and his demonic host. And we need to learn to fight the good fight of faith. I'm talking about the men who lead their families. I'm talking about the ladies in this church. I'm talking about our senior adults all the way down to our preschool department. We need to understand we're engaged in the fight. And here's a young man when nobody else was willing to fight. who said, I'll fight against the foe. And may God help this church in this hour with so much at stake to be willing to fight against the foe. Now, as we examine how David prevailed, I want you to see three things that we learn in this passage. Number one, David was battle-tested. He was battle-tested. Before this battle, he'd been in many other battles. You see, he didn't come into this battle just kind of green behind the ears, although he was a young man. He was battle-tested. Notice in verse number 31, as we look at our text again, the Bible said, when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul, so Saul sins for David. Now notice David's bold words in verse 32. Let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go and fight. I'll go and fight. Here's this young man, this overlooked young man, overlooked by his own family, overlooked by his nation. Here he is saying, I'll go. Some young, skinny, inexperienced looking fella. He says, I'm gonna go. And Saul said in verse 33, thou art not able. That's what we would have said, right? Thou art not able to go against this Philistine. He's about 10 feet tall, David. He's a massive man. He's a man of war, verse 34. And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock, and I went out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Here's what David said, he said, look, King, don't worry, I've got some experience. I killed a lion and a bear. Now, you know, I know a lot of you guys are really, I mean, you put your chest out, right? I killed a deer. From a tree stand. I caught a largemouth. David killed a lion. Can you imagine? I mean, I can't even conceive of how that happened. He didn't have a 30-06 either. He slew him with a knife. He caught him with a beard. He took the lamb out of his mouth. He was battle-tested. And I'm gonna say this to you, we need to fight some battles, and you are in some battles right now, and I'm gonna tell you what God is doing through those battles, he's preparing you. Because there are greater battles ahead. Greater battles ahead in your life, greater battles ahead in the ministry of this church, greater battles ahead in your family. And there are some testings, and by the way, our children will be tested. Now, here's what I found out about most parents, we don't want our children to have any difficulties or hardships. We do them a disservice when we try to protect them from all of that. By the way, try as hard as you will, you won't be able to protect them from all of that. The best thing you can do is equip them, train them, and prepare them to deal with it. Because they're going to be dealing with it the rest of their lives. I spoke to an administrator in a Christian college not too long ago, and this is what he said to me. He said, you know, when we bring in new students, now we have to meet with the parents. He says, because we have to teach parents how to train their kids to meet deadlines, to get their work done and their assignments turned in. And I thought, well, that sounds familiar. No concept, no concept. And why do they have no concept? Because they're not being taught, they're not being held responsible. Well, David was battle-tested. not just against Goliath, but he was battle-tested as a son in the family of his father, Jesse. Verse number 14, the Bible said, and David was the youngest here in this 17th chapter. He was the youngest, he was the smallest. Jesse had eight sons, David was the youngest. His sons, they all overlooked David. When Samuel came and said, Jesse, call all your sons, we're gonna have a sacrifice, they didn't even bother to call David. But that was the one that God chose because God said, I'm not looking on the outward appearance, I'm looking on the heart. And what we're interested in is what is God doing in the hearts of individuals? He learned as a son to submit. He learned as a son to be dutiful and to be diligent. Look at verse 17, And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of parched corn and ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren, and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of the thousand. And look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. He gave him an assignment. Look at verse 20. And David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep of the keeper and took and went as Jesse had commanded him. He respected his father. He obeyed his father. Children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. What is the commandment? The Lord says, honor thy father and thy mother. And I want to tell you, they're never going to do it naturally, but you as a parent have to hold them responsible to do it. Don't allow them to disobey. and continue in that path without repercussions. To go without discipline, to be less than diligent, to finish their responsibilities and their duties, train them up in the way they should go. As a son, he learned to be dutiful and diligent. As a shepherd, he was battle-tested. We've already read the story. He protected the sheep. He learned to lead the sheep. By the way, you'll never learn to lead if you don't learn to follow. If you can't follow Jesus, you'll lead no one. And you have a responsibility, gentlemen, to be the shepherd of your household. You have a responsibility, madam, to be the shepherd of your children. You have a responsibility as a Christian in your place of business to help shepherd the souls of your co-workers, to be an influence and a guide to those who need help and who need encouragement. God has called all of us to shepherd somebody. He was battle-tested as a son and as a shepherd and then as a servant. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 16 and verse 21 that David came to Saul and stood before him. David submitted himself to his king. And I want to ask you, have you submitted yourself to the king of kings and to the Lord of lords? Are you serving self or are you willing to serve him? And then David was battle-tested as a soldier. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 16, before we read of the events in chapter 17, There was a testimony of a man who was commending David to Saul in 1 Samuel 16 in verse 18, and he said this, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite that is cunning and playing, and a mighty, valiant man, a man of war. Who are we talking about? We're talking about this young man. What did we know about him? We knew that he was courageous, we knew that he was strong, and we knew that he was willing to fight. Are you willing to engage in the battle in this day of dropout dads and missing moms? I don't mean you've abandoned the house. I mean abandoning their responsibilities to teach their children the truth of God's word and to hold them accountable. David was battle-tested. Number two, David boldly trusted. He boldly trusted. In verses 4 through 8, we have a description of Goliath. I hope you'll read about it. He was nearly 10 feet tall. He was a massive man. His weaponry and his armor were so impressive. And the Bible tells us in verse 11 that when Saul and all Israel heard the words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. They were scared to death. And in comes to the camp this young man, inexperienced. Well, we think he is, but he really isn't. Why? Because he's been battle-tested. It's good for our children. It's good for us to be battle-tested. The hardships and the difficulties that we're enduring right now that we complain about, God is using to strengthen us. So here he comes, battle-tested, and he says, I'll fight. Now what was the difference? How did he so boldly trust in God when others would not? Well, it's because he had a proven perspective. He had a proven perspective. He saw something that they didn't see. When they looked at Goliath, what did they see? A guy nearly 10 feet tall. But David saw from the perspective of faith. He saw from God's vantage point. By the way, how big was Goliath in the eyes of God? How big is the devil? How big is his demonic host in the eyes of God? You see, he saw through the eyes of faith. Notice in 1 Samuel 17 and verse 26, David spoke to the men that stood by him saying, what should be done to the man that killeth this Philistine? They said, he's a champion, he's a giant. What did David say? He's a Philistine, he's an enemy of God, he's an adversary, he's a pagan. He said, and taketh away the reproach from Israel. For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? In perspective of the power and strength of God and in the work of God and in comparison to the armies of God empowered by the Lord, he's nothing. He had a proven perspective, but he had a proven power. Notice in verse 37. He says, the Lord has delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, and he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. He had something that the other men could have had but did not take advantage of. He had the presence and the power of God, a proven power. Now, what did they try to do? They said, well, look, David, if you're gonna go to battle, put on Saul's armor. By the way, Saul's armor, listen now, listen carefully, please. Saul's armor was modeled after Goliath's. In fact, the whole nation of Israel thought they needed to model their kingdom after the world's kingdom. Saul thought he had to go to battle with what Goliath thought he had to go to battle with. You know, we gotta be careful. We have to resist the temptation to wear the armor of the flesh. The Bible talks about the fact that we need to put off the old man, and we need to put on the new man. And so when they tried to arm David in Saul's armor, he wore it, but it was too heavy, and it was cumbersome, and he wasn't used to it. And they said, here, take Saul's sword. You're gonna need that. But he's not wielding a sword. He's not used to that. He's a shepherd boy. And what is he used to? A sling, and a staff, and a script, a shepherd's bag, and five smooth stones? That's all he needed, because he had Jesus. And I want to tell you something. We don't need all the trappings of this world. We don't need all the strategies of this world. What we need to get back to are the simple truths of the Bible, the word of God, the stuff that got us here in the beginning is the stuff that's going to take us through. The Lord Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And he's given us all the weaponry we need. And we must resist the temptation To think we have to fashion this place in the armor of Goliath and take on the weaponry of Goliath when we have the weapon of God, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, the weapon of prayer, the weapon of faith. This is what God has given us, and we must teach our children that they can use these weapons. They are proven. It's a proven power. He had a proven perspective and a proven power. He couldn't go with those weapons of Saul. He said, I've not proved them. We need something we've proven. And we have it. And they had a proven purpose. Look in verse 46, he goes to Goliath in the armor of faith. And Goliath sees him coming and says, what in the world do you think I am? You're sending a little boy out here to fight me? With a staff and with a sling and some stones? You think I'm a dog? He says, I'm gonna kill you, David. I'm gonna feed you to the birds. They're gonna dine on you tonight. Look at verse 46, this day, this is the response of David, this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts that all, here's the purpose, the proven purpose, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. The Philistines should have known that, but they were really stubborn people. And man in his rebellion against God is really stubborn. And he said, I'm going to defeat this giant in the power of God that all the earth may know that there's a God in Israel. And then I can't help but think he looked up toward the army of Saul and saw all those men up on the hill. And he said this, and all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. You know what that young man did? He showed the people of God that they had forgotten about the presence of God, the promises of God, and the power of God. And you know, oftentimes, we forget that. We get some news we don't like, we forget. We go through some circumstances that are unsettling and difficult, some hardships, and we get all fearful. We've forgotten that God is powerful, that God is present. He's the living God. and that God has promised we will prevail in his name. You see, David prevailed, why? Number one, because he was battle-tested. Number two, through those tests, he learned to trust, and he boldly trusted. When others would not, he went into battle believing God. We conclude with this thought, number three, David bravely triumphed. David won the battle. Look at verse 48. He came to pass when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David that David hasted. He didn't run from him, he ran toward him. He ran toward the army to meet the Philistine and David put his hand in his bag and took this stone and slain it. That's what he'd done defending those sheep and smote the Philistine in his forehead. that the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and with the stone and smote the Philistine and slew him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood upon the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of the sheath thereof and slew him and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistine saw their champion was dead, they fled." It's over. Can I tell you what Jesus is gonna do in one fell swoop? All the armies of this world are gonna gather against Jesus and against God's people and he's just gonna speak a word and their champion is going to be gone. Just the word of his power and I wanna tell you we have the sword of the spirit, we have the word of his power and if we will wield that sword If we'll go in faith and believe and trust God, we'll see God do great things. You know what we need? We need sons who will love the Lord and their families. I was talking to a girl recently and she's not married and I told her, I said, don't marry anybody that doesn't love the Lord and won't love you. You know the Bible says this, girls, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. So why would you ever date a boy who didn't love the Lord? Because if he doesn't love the Lord, he's not gonna love you the way Christ loved the church. If he doesn't love the church, he's not gonna love you right either. Why would you waste your time with a boy like that? You know, God always gives his best to those who leave the choice to him. By the way, gentlemen, what kind of husband do you wanna be? We need sons who will love the Lord and love their families. We need shepherds who will tend to the flock that God has assigned them to. Dutiful and diligent. We need soldiers who will bravely fight the good fight of faith. And we need servants who will submit to their master and yield their lives to him. The Marines are looking for a few good men. The Lord Jesus is just looking for some children who will humble themselves. He said, well, I'm 50, I'm not a child. I'm 70, I'm not a child. Jesus said, who shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. Why don't you humble yourself and come before him and say, Lord, I want to be a good steward and I want to fight the good fight. I know I've been through some things. There's some things that have been tested in my life or I'm going through some testings now and those testings have taught me that I can trust you. So help me to go in faith and triumph in Jesus. May God help us as a church to bring up boys and girls who will be battle tested, who will learn to boldly trust God. and triumph in his glorious name. You might be here this morning, you're not in the battle. In fact, you may not even know Jesus as Savior. I want you to know he loves you, he went to battle for you, he took on all the forces of hell and all the forces of sin, and he overcame them triumphantly after giving his life, he rose from the grave so that you can live eternally if you put your faith and trust in him. Would you come to Jesus and receive eternal life today? Maybe you're a Christian and you like comfort and convenience. The thought of getting in the battle and contending for the faith and dealing with the daily hardships, you don't like that part. Well, I'm sorry, but that comes with it. And we need to raise up champions who will know how to be battle-tested and boldly trust God. Thank you for listening. We pray that God has used his word to speak to you today. If you'd like to learn more about Tabernacle, you can visit us online at tabernaclebaptistchurch.com. There, you'll find additional information about our church, opportunities to partner with us financially, as well as other resources that we hope can be a help to you. May God bless you. And thank you once again for listening.