That's what's happening on the global warfare front. As Christians who live to serve the Lord Jesus, we have our own warfare to fight. It's a much different kind of warfare, but it's just as real, taking place primarily in the spiritual realm rather than the physical. Many times it overlaps into the physical as well, and our lives become in danger at times. Paul referred to Christian life throughout his epistles as warfare. He said in 2 Corinthians 10, that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to point down to strongholds. Paul exhorted us in Ephesians 6, all of us to equip ourselves for the battle by donning the whole armory of God, the shield of faith, helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, belt of truth, Then after telling Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6 not to dare think that the gospel ministry is to be taken on as a means to earn a living or to get rich, he warned him then instead to flee these things, to, quote, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, he said, were it not that thou art also called and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. That's 1 Timothy 6.12, fight the good fight of faith. And then Paul told Timothy in the last letter that he ever wrote. First he told him in chapter 2 of 2 Timothy. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We've all called to be soldiers in the Lord's army. He said, no man that woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Before closing that epistle in chapter 4, these words. For I am now ready to be offered The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth it is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And that's me only, so but through all them who love his appearing." Paul told Timothy, I have fought a good fight. So likewise, we too are called to fight the good fight. Christian life is throughout the New Testament portrayed as warfare. And for that spiritual battle that we're all engaged in, I believe we can glean some spiritual lessons here from the warfare that David fought in the physical realm here in 1 Samuel chapter 17. Aside from the Lord Jesus, the greatest hero in the Bible was the Lord's earthly progenitor, King David. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, Israel told Samuel they wanted a king like the nations around them to fight their battles. God first raised up Saul to be a king. In so doing, the Lord gave the people what they were looking for in a king. Saul stood head and shoulders above every other man in Israel. But while he was tall in stature, Saul was short on faith and short on dedication to God. When Saul disobeyed God, Samuel told him God would take the kingdom from him and instead give it to the kind of king that he was looking for, for Israel. Now he'd give it to a man after God's own heart, he said. Meaning not to a man that was like God, but to a man who sought after God's own heart. A man whose soul would pant after God as the deer panteth after the waterbrush, as David wrote in Psalm 42. And that's the kind of man that it takes today, actually, also, to be a true warrior and hero for the Lord Jesus. The one main event that God used to introduce David to Israel and raise him up as a king is the event recorded here in this chapter in David's act of great faith in God and in the righteous jealousy for God's honor that David displayed here in the slaughter of the Philistines' champion, Goliath of Gath. We read in 1 Samuel 17. Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shoko, which belonged to Judah, and pitched between Shoko and Ezekiah in Nephi's daemon. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set to battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, and there was a valley between them. And we had a champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. That's a big man, six cubits, that's nine feet tall. And a span, that's about nine foot six inches. Look what that is. So, and he had a helmet of brass upon his head. He was armed with a coat of mail. The weight of his coat was 5,000 shekels of brass. That's one heavy coat of mail. He had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders, and the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam. And the spear had a weight of six hundred shekels of iron. The one bearing a shield went before him. And he stood and cried to the armies of Israel and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose your other man for you, let him come down to me. If he be able to fight me, with me, to kill me, then will we be your servants. If I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants to serve us. The Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistines, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Meanwhile, back to the ranch, David the youngest was out tending sheep. Read in verse 12, Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse. And he, Jesse, had eight sons. And the man, Jesse, 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 of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab, the firstborn, and next to him Aminadab, and the third, Shammah. David was the youngest, and the three eldest followed Saul. David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. And the Philistine drew near, morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. And Jesse said to David his son, Take now to thy brethren an ephah of this part of corn and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren, and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge, which means take along some money to pay any debts that they have incurred, Skipping down to verse 26. So David went to camp. He saw what was going on. We see in verse 26, And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. But the people that answered David didn't understand the question. Because David's emphasis here is on the second part of the question. For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? David's eye was not on the reward that Saul offered. It was not on the king's daughter or on riches or a tax exemption. Because David is really asking here, why should a reward have to be offered at all? Is it not enough that this uncircumcised Philistine is defying the armies of the Living God? Don't you see that this uncircumcised Philistine is defying the Living God Himself? The first lesson from this account is that we should always see an attack on God's people as an attack on God Himself. And that's what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 25, 40. And as much as you've done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you've done it unto me. So David says, is it not enough that this uncircumcised Philistine is defying the armies of the living God, defying God Himself in so doing? Verse 28. Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the men. Eliab's anger was kindled against David, And he said, why camest thou down hither? And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart. But thou art come down that thou might see the battle. He wants to come down and see somebody get killed, I guess, Eliab thought. And David said, what have I now done? In other words, what wrong have I done here, Eliab? Is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? I could give the message that title, Is There Not a Cause? We see Eliab's jealousy against David here on public display. As we just read, Eliab was the eldest of Jesse's eight sons. In the preceding chapter, Samuel had gone to Bethlehem to anoint a new king. Eliab the oldest was passed over, and Samuel anointed David instead. And so Eliab is showing his jealousy here. Samuel at the time, chapter 16, thought surely Eliab was the one. This has got to be the one. We read in chapter 16, in verse 6, when Samuel looked on Eliab, he said, Surely the LORD's anointing is before him. Then, in that chapter, we read in verse 7, But the LORD said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. Verse 7 of chapter 16. And so we see now just one chapter later why God said that. Neither Saul nor Eliab had enough faith in God to trust God for the victory over this Philistine. And by the way, it's not as though Israel had never encountered giants before. They had encountered giants before. They came out of Egypt. They came to the borders of the Promised Land. And all Israel was ready to turn back and go back into Egypt when they heard about the giants in the land that made them seem as grasshoppers. And only two men, Joshua and Caleb, who were also men after God's own heart, who had the faith to say, the battle is the Lord's and God will give us a victory, just like David did. So here we read, Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? But whom hast thou left, O few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, the naughtiness of thine heart. David said, Now what have I done? What wrong have I done here? Is there not a cause? David could have said, Our father sent me here to bring you your pledge and some food. All right, for you. But instead, in asking here, is there not a cause? In essence, he's asking Eliab, don't you see that in defying the armies of the living God, this uncircumcised idol worshiper is bringing dishonor to our God himself? Don't you see that? Isn't that a cause? Isn't there something to fight for here, Eliab? Isn't bringing honor to God alone worth fighting and dying for? That's what David is saying here. Isn't that a cause? And so Saul was told about and summoned this young man, David. who alone, among the entire army of Saul, had the faith and the courage to take on this uncircumcised Philistine. In verse 38-39, Saul told David to try on some armor, which he did. And he said, I can't fight in these things. I haven't tried them. He hadn't practiced with them. And so he took them off. Verse 40, And he, David, took his staff in his hand and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook. and put them in the shepherd's bag, which he had, even in a script. And a sling was in his hand. And he drew near the Philistine. I've heard it preached that he took five stones. It's because he knew that the giant had four brothers. One for the giant and four for his brothers. I don't think the Bible didn't teach that, but it's a good idea. Verse 41, And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David. And the man that bared the shield went before him. When the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me as staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field. Then David said 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, the God of the armies of Israel, whom no house 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 hosts of Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, to the wild beasts of the earth. But all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, And this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with the sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands." Notice here, David made sure the opposition knew this was a spiritual issue. This battle was about who the true God is. The God of the Philistines, Dagon, or Baal, or Jehovah. came to pass when the Philistine arose and came in through night to meet David that David hasted, ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Lesson in that verse, by the way, is if you know you're in God's will, then don't walk, but run to the battle. Verse 40, and David put his hand in his bag and took against the stone and slung it and smote the Philistine in his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead and he fell upon his face to the earth. By the way, the Israelites in those days practiced with those slings. Verse 50, so David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine and slew him. There was no sword in his hand, in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, stood upon the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of the sheath thereof and slew him, cut off his head therewith. When the Philistine saw their champion was dead, they fled. And of course Israel chased after him and defeated him in mighty victory. Remembering that the Apostle Paul repeatedly compared and likened the Christian life to warfare. Beyond the points already mentioned, there are, I believe, some great spiritual lessons that we should glean from this historical account of David's great faith and application to our everyday Christian life. One of which, and the main lesson from this account, is that while most Christians don't see it and refuse to go out and fight the giant, and will probably cave in when the persecution comes, There are some things in the Christian life worth fighting for. And the main thing in the Christian life that I see to be worth fighting for, and even dying for, is the truth of God's Word. And what we consider to be the core, essential, and non-debatable doctrines of the Christian faith. While many Christians would say, well, that may be important to you, but that's not a hill I would die on. Like David said twice in the Psalms, we too are supposed to hate every false way. As declared in Jeremiah 9.3, God wants us to be valiant for the truth. And that word valiant again speaks of warfare. And when God says He expects us to be valiant for the truth, that means He wants us to fight for it. Even to be ready to die for it. As many Christian martyrs have died for the truth of God's Word. Well, there are indeed some doctrines that are debatable, that we can agree to disagree about. The first thing I'd say about any doctrines that we may consider debatable, what is not up for debate at the present time, not in this church, first of all, is which Bible is to be our sole authority for faith and practice. That's not up for debate. We don't teach in this church like most churches do, that we don't know which Bible is God's word. We don't have the original manuscripts, and so we can't tell what God's Word says. In this church, we know what God's Word says because we know that God has preserved this perfect Word expressed exclusively in the King James Bible. And that is one hill I'm willing to die on. For those who may hear this message online and don't understand that issue, we have an entire webpage devoted to the subject on our website. In addition to the King James Bible issue, or even aside from it, While some Bible doctrines are not essential to Christian fellowship and are debatable, what is not debatable is how God's inerrant word is to be approached and interpreted. That is not debatable. God's word must be taken word for word, authoritatively, and literally, unless it is clear or obvious in the context that a passage has to be taken as being figurative or symbolic. What's not up for debate is the approach that we take to the Bible and how it must be interpreted. We don't take it loosely or flippantly. It's not a plastic medium for us to twist around and distort to believe whatever we want. So that's not debatable either. Beyond that, however, there are many Bible doctrines that are non-debatable. The gospel that we preach is worth fighting and dying for. The doctrine of justification by faith alone, apart from works, apart from the law that Jay preached about first hour, is worth fighting and dying for. And many Baptist martyrs did die for that particular doctrine. Why is that worth dying for? It's because any other doctrine leads to a false gospel. A doctrine worth fighting and dying for. And that's because any other doctrine leads to a false gospel of salvation by works. You have to maintain by your own works. The gospel doctrine that repentance from sin accompanies saving faith and precedes or leads to true salvation is an undebatable doctrine for us that we will fight for. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7.10, that Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. But the sorrow of the world worketh death. The gospel doctrine that there is no true salvation without transformation and regeneration is a non-debatable doctrine. Salvation produces regeneration and transformation. The gospel is worth fighting for and the gospel is worth dying for. Many other doctrines we hold to that are non-debatable and worth fighting and dying for. There are many other doctrines. For me, that includes the doctrine of the New Testament Church. The Lord Jesus only builds one kind of church, local and visible and non-universal. Most of today's professing Christians would not, however, be willing to die for their doctrinal beliefs. In fact, I'd say most professing Christians today have no idea what they do believe or why they believe it. But that was not at all the case for many thousands of faithful Christians in time past who knew and believed what the Bible taught And they knew who they had believed, as Paul says. And they were willing to fight and die for the truth of God's word. Many thousands of Baptist martyrs through the ages were put to death defending doctrines that today's Christians do not believe are worth defending or fighting for. They were willing to die for those doctrines. Doctrines that today's so-called Baptists, pseudo-Baptists, have completely abandoned. Historic Baptist Christians felt that the sole authority of the Scriptures alone in its entirety for faith and practice was a doctrine worth fighting and dying for. That the Bible alone in its entirety is our sole authority for faith and practice, that the Pope is not infallible, and that only God's Word, the Bible, is infallible. Thousands of Baptist martyrs died for that doctrine alone. Historic Baptist Christians felt The believer's baptism by immersion was a doctrine worth fighting and dying for. That baby baptism is not baptism and that baptism does not save the soul. They also fought and died for their belief that converts from Catholicism had to be biblically baptized because Catholic christening is not baptism. That's one example of a Baptist martyr tortured and then killed by the Catholic Church, a former Catholic nun named Elizabeth was arrested for possessing the Latin New Testament. Following her denial of the false accusation that she was the wife of the reformer Menno Simmons, which the Mennonites are named, she was taken by two friars in 1549 and escorted before the local Catholic Bishops Council for trial. Some of the questions and answers have been preserved for us in Baptist history. The council said, what did the Lord say when he gave the supper to his disciples? Now that question was directed to the Anabaptists' rejection of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. What did the Lord say when he gave the supper to his disciples? Elizabeth. What did he give them, flesh or bread? The council, he gave them bread. Did not the Lord then continue sitting there? Who could then eat the Lord's flesh? So obviously you can't eat the Lord's flesh at the Last Supper. Counsel, what do you hold concerning infant baptism, that you should have yourself baptized again? Do you believe you should be baptized again, a person who's had an infant baptism? Elizabeth. No, gentlemen, I have not been baptized again. I was baptized once on my confession of faith, for it was written that baptism belongs to believers. In other words, my Catholic baptism was not baptism. Council. Are our children then lost because they've been baptized? Elizabeth. No, gentlemen. Far be it from me that I should condemn the children. Council. Do you not expect salvation from baptism? Elizabeth. No, gentlemen. All the waters in the sea cannot save me, but salvation is in Christ. Council. Have the priests power to forgive sins? Elizabeth know my Lord's how should I believe this? I saw that Christ is the only priest through whom sins are forgiven and she quoted Hebrew 721 Which says for those priests were made without an oath? But this with an oath by him that said unto him the Lord swear will not repent Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek she quoted that that verse she was then tortured with thumb screws applied to her thumbs and and forefingers until blood squirted out. She cried out to God to ease the pain, which history says he did. Then they put the thumbscrews in her ankles, but she did not inform any other believers, which is what they wanted her to do. And because she would not recant or inform any other believers, on March 27, 1549, she was put in a sack, thrown in the river, and drowned. Want to be baptized? We'll baptize you. Endured that suffering because the truth of God's Word is worth fighting and dying for yes Historic Baptist Christians also held the doctrine of religious liberty also known as the separation of church and state And that was an undebatable doctrine worth fighting and dying for that religious beliefs and practice cannot be enforced at the edge of a sword or a barrel of a gun and This was another doctrine for which many true Christians, Baptists that is, were persecuted, tortured, murdered, and martyred down through the ages. It's another doctrine that today's pseudo-Baptists in America have completely abandoned. They still adhere to believers' baptism for the most part, but they have completely abandoned the sole authority of the scriptures and the separation of church and state. David would say, is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? Separation of church and state is worth fighting for. The state is to have no jurisdiction over the church whatsoever. Lord Jesus is to be the soul head of His church. And the only law for His church, the only law for His church is His word, the Bible. Is there not a cause? Is there not something worth dying for and fighting for? We fight for these doctrines in our church. And we lose people because of it. But we've got to keep fighting. This is why we lose people, because people leave the church because they don't want to fight for the truth. They don't care. They're more concerned about personal relationships, personal feelings, and stuff that doesn't matter. It's not a cause. The exclusive lordship of Christ over His church is worth fighting for. Jesus said in Matthew 28 that all authority in heaven and on earth is given unto Him. But civil authorities refuse to recognize this fact. They always have. Jesus' authority has been challenged by the civil authorities ever since the Jews asked Jesus, by what authority doest thou these things? Who gave you this authority? God and human flesh are saying this too. Rome itself never did allow the Lord Jesus unrestricted authority over his local churches. Not under the emperors, and certainly not under the popes either. Neither, by the way, did Protestant tyrants like John Calvin, who did believe the church was to rule over civil government and tried to implement that there. And he enforced his version of Christianity on the local populace by the edge of the sword. The exclusive lordship of Christ over his church is worth fighting for. For those that don't get it yet on this subject, we also have a web page about this topic. but an incorporated tax-exempt church is not a true New Testament church. It cannot be a true New Testament church. The reason for that is very simple. The Lord Jesus is to be the sole head of His church. The only law for His church is to be His Word. But in contrast, by law, the undeniable head of every tax-exempt corporation is the state, And the exclusive law for that corporation is its corporate constitution and bylaws and also the Internal Revenue Code, not the Bible. There may be a body of believers in the Lord Jesus that he cares about in that assembly. They may call themselves a church, but a tax-exempt corporation cannot be a true New Testament church because it has a different head and a diametrically opposed organizational structure than the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ and has a different law for its church. And I've been trying for the last 28 years, plus, to wake up Christians to this basic, simple truth. I show them the proof, I show them the law, I explain it to them, but it just doesn't seem to matter to them. Is there not a cause? I ask myself, when this truth is so clear and so obvious and so plain, why can't God's people see it? For some, especially for younger folks, they figure, well, the majority must be right. Since there are so few of us preaching that the Lord Jesus will not share his bride with the state, then we must be wrong. Question for you to think that. In this story, how many of God's people did the right thing? The entire army of Israel was afraid to fight the giant. Only David would fight. That leads to the other reason that God's people today refuse to acknowledge the truth about incorporation and tax exemptions, because of fear. They're shaking in their sandals to fight the giant. In particular, the plain reason that most Christians refuse to recognize that it is idolatry to subject the Lord's Church to incorporation and tax exemptions for one big reason, and that reason is fear of the IRS. That's it. Fear of the Internal Revenue Service. Satan's champion today, the giant he has used most effectively to cause God's people to cower in fear and to enslave them, is the IRS. Not just the IRS, by the way, but the entire federal government in Washington, D.C. that's totally controlled by global banking powers. The Goliath that defies God's people today is the federal so-called Justice Department in Washington, D.C. that declares an open court and IBT case in the Neapolitan Baptist Temple. Fair and open court. An uncontrolled church is untenable in today's society. What they said in Dr. Dixon's church's case. An uncontrolled church is untenable in today's society. Well, so much for the First Amendment. Throw it out the window. The biggest problem the church in America has today is the preachers that cower in fear of even speaking against the church's biggest enemy. Point one for today. It's the account of David's battle. There are some things in life worth fighting for and dying for. Yes, they're not a cause. Point two, as we see with David in this story, sometimes a man of God has to be willing to stand alone against the enemy. And sometimes a Christian man must stand even when God's people refuse to stand with him. Several great men of God in scripture had to learn this lesson. Noah was the only righteous man in his generation. Moses stood alone when all Israel rebelled, including Aaron, his own brother, who built the golden calf. Joshua and Caleb stood alone against all Israel. Most, if not all, of God's prophets, from Moses to John the Baptist, had to stand alone. The apostle Paul had to stand alone. He said in 2 Timothy 4, 16-17, when his last epistle to Timothy there, after the section I read earlier, saying goodbye to Timothy, he said, At my first answer before Caesar, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me as helpers. I prayed God that I may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. There was his first trial. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me into his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Samson stood alone against the Philistines when he was betrayed in their hands, even by his own countrymen. They betrayed Samson. Their deliverer, their judge, betrayed him to the Philistines. And I, too, have learned this lesson in my own life. And fighting the IRS, myself, my personal life, some of the most hateful opposition I encountered, especially early on, came not from the IRS, but from fellow Christians. So if you want to take a stand for God in some area, you may have to learn this lesson as well. God may call you to fight a battle that your brethren will not support you in. God may lead you to take a stand that may place you in opposition to even some of God's people, those who claim to be. you may find other Christians calling you wicked and evil for doing God's will, just like Eliab did to David. Just as every man in Saul's army had a choice to make at some point in life, every Christian faces a Goliath or some form of it in his own life. And sometimes God calls us to stand alone, just as David did against an enemy before whom other Christians just cower in fear. Third point, point number three, the battle is the Lord's. The battle's the Lord's. I mean, we don't fight this in our own strength. The victory is not in the outcome of the battle also. The victory that we have is just having the faith to go into the battle when the Lord calls us to fight. Having the faith to go in. The victory is not how you come out. It's having the faith to go in. For this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1 John 5, verse 4. Faith is the victory, truly. Faith to go into the battle regardless of the outcome is to complete and total victory. David's moment of victory came when he exclaimed, is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? That's when his moment of victory came, right then and there. If our cause is just, we have no choice but to fight. The battle is the Lord's and the outcome is in God's hands. I'm going to leave it at that. I'm going to close the message. Let's go ahead and sing faith is the victory in a moment. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord God, I thank You for Your Word. I thank You for the fact that we can trust Your Word to be infallible, inerrant, and perfect in the way You preserved it for us in the King James Bible. We thank You, Lord, that we can stand on it and that we can stake our lives on Your Word. We thank You that You've called us to do exactly that. Help us to fight this battle, Lord. And I pray You'd help us all to equip ourselves with the armor of God, that we can stand against the enemy. In Jesus' name we do pray, Amen.