I'd like to turn back in your Bible to that passage we read together, 1 Samuel chapter 17. I want to draw your attention to the words of verse 51. 1 Samuel 17 and verse 51. 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 Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled." Most commonly when we come to 1 Samuel chapter 17, we look at it from his victory and his courage and his dedication in this particular battle. I want to look at it a little differently this morning. I want to look at it from Goliath's point of view. Consider here an illustration. of the end of a defiant sinner. that Thou wilt write these things upon our hearts. We thank Thee for Thy presence with us already. We thank Thee, Lord, for the singing of Thy praise. We thank Thee for the gathering of the tithes and the offerings. And now, O God, as we turn to Thy Word, we pray for help. I pray Thou wilt put Thy Word into my mouth and fill me with Thy Spirit. And Lord, speak to every unsaved soul in this meeting. We ask our God that thou wilt write this chapter upon every heart, and that thou wilt speak to sinners today, that they might flee from the wrath which is to come. Be gracious to us, Lord, fill me with thy Spirit, put thy word into my mouth, I pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen. 1 Samuel chapter 17 contains one of the most important and one of the most dramatic victories ever achieved in the history of war. As far as human reasoning was concerned, the odds were overwhelmingly stacked against Saul and against his army. Saul's army was massively outnumbered by the armies of the Philistines. His men were filled with fear. There was no real battle plan in place and Saul, as the king, had failed to give any kind of military leadership. There was a very deepening sense of despair and a very great lack of morale among his men. And to make matters even worse, the Philistine army had a champion, a giant who was threatening to kill their very best soldier and then take the entire army as slaves. The battle seen in 1 Samuel chapter 17 had the potential to become one of the greatest disasters to date. in the reign of King Saul. There was fear and there was failure written on every soldier's face. But that whole situation changed when David, the youngest son of Jesse, came into the camp to visit his brethren. Although David was just a young lad, somewhere between his early teens and early twenties, he showed a maturity far beyond his years. I say that for when David heard the roaring challenge of the giant, he was immediately stirred in his heart and he began to inquire as to what was happening within the camp of Israel. He asked about the battle. He asked about the presence, the power and the proposal of the Philistine. He inquired about the plans for the fight and when David heard that the king was making provision for anyone who would take up the challenge, David immediately resolved to go and fight the man himself. It didn't seem to matter to David that Goliath was a seasoned soldier and that he himself had no experience of this kind of warfare. David remembered that God had fought for him before. And although others, Saul himself included, expressed deep reserve about David going to fight Goliath, David confidently affirmed that he would go and fight the man. And so he went out, armed with nothing more than his staff, five stones, and his shepherd's sling. When Goliath saw him, he laughed. He thought that he would deal with David in the twinkling of an eye. He firmly believed that he would throw his body to the birds. He thought he would destroy them in a moment of time. But David went in the name of the Lord, and what became one of the strangest and one of the speediest battles of all time, David put a stone in his sling, launched it at the giant, and then watched as that mighty man was struck in the forehead and was brought down to earth as a dead man. David ran forward. and took Goliath's own sword and then beheaded him. And within seconds the battle was over. It's no exaggeration to speak of it as one of the most important, one of the most dramatic victories in the history of war. Now that chapter, 1 Samuel chapter 17, and this miraculous battle between David and Goliath presents vital lessons for the Christian and for the church of Jesus Christ. For example, I want to just mention these very briefly. For example, this battle reminds the Christian that he must fight the good fight of faith and endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The child of God is a soldier. We have enlisted in the army of the captain of our salvation and therefore there is a responsibility upon us to fight the good fight of faith. to take on the whole armor of God and to stand against the wiles of the devil. The chapter also underscores the necessity of the church to earnestly contend for the faith and to realize again and again that there is a cause. That's what David said to his brother in verse 29. What have I now done? Is there not a cause? Is there not a reason for fighting? Is there not a purpose here? Is there not something we have got to do for the glory of God's name? Is there not a cause? Yes, there is a cause. Child of God, there is still a cause worth fighting for. There is still a gospel worth defending. There's a faith that's worth contending for, for the glory of Jesus' name. And I learned too that this passage emphasizes the need to rely upon God for spiritual victory. For just as it was with David, without God we can do nothing. David was no match for Goliath in and of himself. But he didn't go in his own name. He went in the name of the Lord. And David depended upon God. And so we must go forth depending upon our King. The whole battle scene reminds us that if God is for us, it matters not who is against us. Regardless of who comes against the Church of Christ, regardless of who rises up against the gospel of the Lord Jesus. We can and we must trust in God and do the right. And this awesome battle, this mighty victory of 1 Samuel 17 also has foreshadowings of Christ's forthcoming victory over Antichrist and all of his forces. For just as David gained a victory, and secured the salvation of his people, so Christ, David's greater Son, will come at the end of this age. And he will come with power and he will overcome the man of sin. And when you look at 1 Samuel 17, this battle in the Valley of Elah has vital lessons for the Christian, for the church. Lessons that we must take very careful heed to. But as I've mentioned, I don't want to approach the chapter in that light. I want to look at it from a totally different angle and consider this event very simply under the title, The End of a Defiant Sinner. For I fear, I fear that there are seminar meetings week by week, month by month, year by year. And if the truth was told today, you are still holding out against God. In fact, if you're honest, you're not just holding out against God, you're actually fighting against God. And you're mocking Him. And you think in your mind, and your heart, and the devil encourages this kind of thinking. You're thinking that you can overcome Him. And that at the end of the day, in the end of your life, you will win the day. My friend, listen, you play a very dangerous game, and one which you can never win. For as Job 9 in verse 4 asks the question, who hath hardened himself against God and prospered? And of course the answer is no one. Goliath didn't. And no sinner will, not now nor in the future. That's why I come to this passage with that particular thought, the end of a defiant sinner. And there are three things that I want to draw your attention to very carefully this morning. Notice, first of all, the description of Goliath. The very mention of the name Goliath immediately conjures up in the mind a man of immense stature and immense strength. He was a man of massive dimensions, a man with a fierce reputation, a man who had a history of being an impressive soldier. Everything about Goliath's physical appearance set him out as a man not to be reckoned with. But it's not so much Goliath's physical features that I want to concentrate on as it is his real character. Who was Goliath? Where was he from? What kind of person was he? And when you uncover the answers to those questions, you get a very accurate picture of what he was really like. And listen, none of it is very good. This giant of Gath was a godless and a graceless man. His name means splendor, but there was nothing splendid about him. There was nothing good in Goliath. Everything about this giant points to a man of sin. A man whose heart and life and language and ambitions and desires and preferences were anything but godly. He was a sinful man. And in that sense, he stands as a type of all men. I read in Romans 3 in verse 23, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And man by nature has an evil heart. He has no desire after righteousness. He is a stranger to grace. He does not know God. But more than that, he doesn't want to know God. He has no desire after God. Theologians speak of it as total depravity. It doesn't mean that every sinner commits every sin. Or that all sinners commit the same sin to the same extent. It just simply means that our whole natures have been corrupted by sin. And it just simply means that there's no good thing within us. And there is within the heart of man the potential for every evil thing. And just as Goliath's heart was deceitful and desperately wicked, so it is with every sinner. And let's note the particulars here. Notice with me that Goliath was from a race of men renowned for war. This man had a fierce reputation as a man of blood. When David stood before Saul and offered to go and fight Goliath, Saul cautioned him in verse 33 by saying, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. Goliath had a history of conflict. His life was marked. with battles and with war and with enmity. And that spirit of war stretched back for generations. You'll notice from the chapter that Goliath was from Gath. He was descended from a people who are often described in the Bible as the Anakins. The Anakins came from the land of Moab. But by far the most outstanding thing about them was their ability to fight and to rebel and to stir up hatred. In Deuteronomy chapter 2 and verse 21 the Anakims are described as a great people, literally a powerful people. And in Numbers chapter 13 verse 32 and 33 whenever the spies went into the land of Canaan and they brought back the report that the land was full of giants, They were speaking there of the anarchy. And in that passage they described them as those who eat up the inhabitants of the land. And those spies were speaking of the giants. The giants who were the forefathers of this man Goliath. And the testimony was they eat up the inhabitants of the land. And those words refer to their violent tendencies. The giants were cruel men. Men of war, men of blood, men filled with hatred, men who despised God. No time for God. No time for God's people. What was true of them was just as true of Goliath. He was a man of war. He was from a race of men who were renowned for war. Notice also that Goliath lived with no fear of God. This man was thoroughly godless in his heart. You can read the whole chapter, 1 Samuel chapter 17, and you'll not detect one particle of spiritual thinking in the language of Goliath, this giant of Gath. There's not a hint of reverence, not a hint of respect for God. He only uses God's name when he's speaking of defying God. He's a man of the flesh, a man who cared only for himself. A man who lived as a man of the world and not a man of God. In fact, he spoke and he shouted and he threw down the gauntlet to Israel as if God did not exist. This man lived his life without a fear of the Lord. You'll notice also that Goliath was determined in his evil ways. This was not his first battle. If you turn back to verse 1 of the chapter, You have details there of where this battle actually took place. And notice it speaks in the last word of the verse that the Philistines were gathered in Ephes Damum. That phrase Ephes Damum has to do with blood. It's the place of bloods. The battle was on the ground of the blood. tempted to pause there and just make the comment, that's where the battle for true religion still is fought. It's on the ground of the blood, on the ground of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, on the ground of Calvary. That's where the battle for the gospel is. But here is a place where blood had been shed before. It has been described as the field of blood. And this very area where the Philistines were encamped against the armies of Saul, it had run red with the blood of wounded and dying soldiers. But Goliath's back again, and he's back to fight again, back to fight another day. He's determined in his wickedness. There's no turning this man back. is a sinner bold and determined and settled in his sin and determined to carry on with his rebellion. Are those not marks that you detect in many sinners to this day? You look with me at Romans chapter 3. If you want a commentary on Goliath's life, you have it here. Romans chapter 3 in verse 10. And then look at verse 14. It speaks there in verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. But look at verse 14. Here is God's photograph of the sinner. Here is God peeling back the layers of the sinner's heart and exposing the sinner as he really is. And God says in verse 14, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Was that not true of Goliath? Their feet are swift to shed blood. Was that not true of Goliath? Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known? There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things whoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law. And right down this chapter you have statement after statement after statement that describes Goliath. But not only do they describe Goliath, they describe the real nature of sinners. My friend, this is how God sees men. This is how men are before God. It's a scriptural portrait of the ungodly. You know man, and it's true of all men, man likes to think of himself as being moderately good. He likes to think of himself as being reasonably holy, not perfect, but reasonably holy. He likes to think of himself as being generally acceptable to God, especially when he measures himself alongside some other person. And he holds himself up and he says, well, I haven't done this and I haven't gone to that extreme and I haven't lived in that particular way. And they begin to imagine, well, I'm moderately good. I'm reasonably holy. I'm generally acceptable to God. I've something of merit in my life. I don't deserve the wrath and the punishment and the judgment that God's Word declares will be poured out upon sinners. And somehow or other, I'm not as bad as other people. My friend, listen. Romans chapter 3 does away with that kind of thinking. There is none good before God. There is none righteous, there is none that seeketh after Him. There are none holy among men. We are sinful by nature. We are, as Isaiah describes, full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. And as it was with Goliath, so it is with all of us. We are at war with God. Rebels at heart. completely sinful and by nature far from God. The description of Goliath. Notice the defiance of Goliath. 1 Samuel 17 is a chapter in which this wicked man is found defying a holy God. There are at least five references in this chapter to Goliath's defiance of the armies of Israel. You have mentioned made of it there in verse 10. And verse 25, verse 26, verse 36, and verse 45, where it speaks there of him defying the armies of the living God. Now it's important to understand that when Goliath stood against Israel, when this man challenged the armies of Saul, When he confronted them, he was in essence resisting and rebelling against God. Look at verse 45. 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, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. Now it comes to the very heart of the matter. Goliath wasn't merely treating Israel with contempt. He was defying the very God of Israel. It was as if this giant of a man was standing in the valley of Elah shaking his fist in the face of God. It's as if he's standing there daring God to fight him. Challenging God to a contest. Fighting everything about God. And Goliath is defiant in his approach to the Almighty. I want you to notice he was proud in his defiance. Look at verse 41. Whenever David came out, it says, 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, for he was but a youth and rubby, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog that thou comest in you with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his guts. He mocked David as David came forward. Am I a dog that you're just a youth. And he cursed him by his gods. He looked at David as if David was nothing. And at the same time, Goliath believed himself to be everything. When you read the chapter, you can't help but come to the conclusion that Goliath thought himself to be invincible. That's why he made the deal. Send a man that we may fight. If he prevails, we will be your slaves. If I prevail, you will be our slaves. Goliath never once confidence to thought that some Israelite could defeat him. He thought himself to be invincible. He felt no one had the right or the power to challenge or to conquer him. He believed in his heart he would never be overcome. That's why he stands and laughs at David. That's why he says, I'll throw your carcass to the birds. He was a blasphemer who boasted of his own power. I find a similar thing, of course, in the life of Pharaoh. In Exodus chapter 5 and verse 2, when Moses demanded that Israel be released from the bondage of Egypt, what does Pharaoh say? Who is the Lord that I should obey him? Don't you know Moses? I am Pharaoh. Who is the Lord that I should hearken to His voice? Who is the God of heaven that I should listen to Him? That's exactly how it was with Goliath. He had the exact same spirit. And that same spirit of proud defiance against God is evident and very much alive among sinners to this day. How many ask the question, who is God? Why should I obey Him? What claim has God to me? I can live without Him. That's the cry of the sinner. I don't need God. And in their defiance of God, they show a heart that's full of pride. They believe, and maybe someone here thinks like this, you think you can live without Him. Not only His pride, but notice His persistence. This was an ongoing thing with Goliath. If you look very carefully at verse 16 of this chapter, it says, The Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. Morning and evening. The word morning there is not the usual term in the Bible. That's translated in our English version as morning. This is a different word in the original. It's a word that means to arise at an early hour, to come before dawn breaks, to come before the day begins. It's a time or a phrase that speaks of something that is extremely early. And there's Goliath in the morning, before the day's work begins, before the morning breaks, before the sun is in the heavens. Before there's light in the camp. And what is Goliath doing? He's standing before the camp and he's defying God. And he's back again in the evening time. It's a constant thing with this man. He's defying God on a daily basis. For 40 days he shows no change of heart. For 40 days he just goes on the same defiant, sinful, godless, graceless way. morning by morning, evening by evening. He's there as a constant sinner before God, defying the God of heaven. Is it not true that sinners live like that? Day after day without the Lord. Rising up on a Monday morning, going to work without a thought of God. coming home, spending the day at work without a thought of God, coming home in the evening time, going to bed without a thought of God, rising the next day and going doing the same thing without a thought of God, Monday through to Friday, Saturday the same, the Sabbath day the same, week after week, month after month, year after year, persisting in this awful defiance of God, going on, going on, daring God to fight with them. My friend, what a dreadful state to be in. Notice how persuasive he was in his defiance. What I mean by that was simply that Goliath encouraged others to defy Israel's God also. Here's a man, and he really is a spokesman for the rest of the army. He leads the rest of the Philistines in all of this campaign against the Lord. They take their lead from him. They look upon him as their champion. He speaks for them. He has persuaded the rest of the camp, I am your champion. Follow me and all will be well. And he influenced the rest of the Philistines to defy God. He persuaded them that he was right. And that following him they would be victorious. They could do as they wanted against the Lord. How common a thing that is in the spiritual realm. It's very often the case, you know, that a father or a husband or an older brother who defies God will most likely lead others in his family to do the same. Like father, like son, you've heard that phrase. There are some fathers here and you're defying God. And you're leading your children to do the same. There are some mothers here and you do not have God as your Saviour or Christ as your Lord and you're leading your children to do the same. Parent, think about it. What kind of message are you giving your children as you reject Jesus Christ? What kind of message are you sending out to your family? to your friends, to the circle that you can influence. What kind of seed are you sowing in the minds of your little ones? And then ask yourself the question, where is it all going to lead to? If I live without the Lord and my children follow in my footsteps, where will it end for them? Goliath defied the Lord. Countless thousands are defying God today, rebelling against Him, rejecting Him, refusing Christ, not trusting in Him, not repenting of sin, even though that's what God demands of you. Repentance is not some kind of option that you can take or leave. Repentance is what God demands. He commands all men everywhere to repent. That's what God commands you to do. But how many today are going on without Him, without Jesus Christ. Just as Goliath stood there in that valley and he defied the Lord. I fear there are some here, and that's what you've been doing for a long time. You're engaged in a spiritual defiance of Jesus Christ. We will not have this man to lean over us, that's your thought. I don't want Christ. I don't want him. Notice lastly the defeat of Goliath. It was Solomon who said in Proverbs 14 and 12, There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. You know, there's no better summary of Goliath than that. He believed that he was untouchable. I'm convinced of that. This man believed he was invincible. He was sure he could win. He was convinced that he would triumph over every eventuality. It didn't matter to Goliath, you know, which soldier came out from the camp of Israel. He was sure he could win. In verse 17, he laughs. He laughs. He laughs at the idea that he would ever be defeated. And yet before the day was over, this mighty giant of a man lay dead. His way was the way of death. He was defeated by the shepherd king. Goliath had mocked David. He had viewed this young man as nothing. He had despised him. He had rejected him. He had esteemed him not. In Goliath's eyes, David was nothing. But the same David whom Goliath had defied was the one who defeated him. And my friend, listen to me. The Shepherd King, Jesus Christ Himself, The one anointed by God, just as David was anointed the king. Jesus Christ the shepherd king. God's man will triumph over you. The one you reject will deal with you in wrath. Look at Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is a psalm of awesome lessons for the unconverted. It's an awesome sound for the nations of this world that despise Christ. It speaks there, why do the heathen rage, the people imagine a vain thing, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, against the anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. There is defiance. They are despising the anointed of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, they want nothing to do with Him. And the heathen are raging. And they're imagining a vain thing against Christ. But look at verse 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. The very one they despise will deal with them in wrath. My friend, listen to me. The Jesus Christ whom you despise today will deal with you in wrath. He will deal with you at the judgment. And you'll stand before the shepherd king, the one who is the judge of all the earth, and you'll not laugh at him then. And you'll stand in all your sin, and you'll hear Christ say, Depart from me, ye worker of iniquity, I never knew. Notice also that Goliath was defeated suddenly and in the midst of his sin. Verse 48 gives us the detail. It came to pass when the Philistine arose and came in Drunei 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 fence of stone. And you know the story how David prevailed over the Philistine. Goliath was coming towards David. He was still pursuing this defiant attitude of heart. He was still determined to cast David to the side. And as he's in the midst of his sin, David strikes him. And he's cut down. He cuts him down in his prime. And I read in the book of Proverbs, he that hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed. And that without remedy. Listen, God has spoken to you. God has spoken to you in the Gospel. God has spoken to you about your sin. He's spoken to you about your soul. He's spoken to you about the need of salvation. And yet you run on in your sin. And you run on in your defiance. And you run on hard in your heart against God. Listen, the Lord could suddenly come and cut you off without remedy, without hope, without another opportunity. And Goliath is cut down suddenly in the midst of his sin. Notice, he was defeated and triumphed over openly and forever. Look at verse 51. It says, Therefore David ran. David had no sword in his hand. And there's the giant stretched out upon the ground. And David runs and he stands upon the Philistine. That's an epic picture. There's young David. He's just a youth. The Goliath of Gath, this mighty giant, is there on the ground. And David goes and he stands upon him. And he beheads him. I want you to think of these words in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 13. Listen to this very carefully. It speaks in verse 12 of Christ. This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. There's Christ in his victory. But listen to this, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. Goliath became a footstool for Judas. He stood upon them. And Christ will make his enemies his footstool. And he will triumph over them openly and forever. Goliath commenced that day in buoyant form in his bold defiance in his continual hatred against God. And before the day was over, he was the footstool of God's man. And David had the victory. My friend, what happened to Goliath is the end of every defiance in earth. And today, maybe that describes you. You've listened to the Gospel. You know the Gospel. Yet you have said in your heart, I will not be saved. When the day of your calamity cometh, as it will most certainly come, you'll discover that your way was the way of death. And I plead with you, in Christ's name, That you would forsake that path of defiance, that path of rebellion against the Lord, that you would this very day repent of sin. And instead of rebelling against the Lord, be reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to Him. There is mercy with the Lord. He says, come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as white as snow. Oh, that you would come and trust in Jesus Christ. Let's bow in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for Thy Word. We pray today that Thou wilt bless it to every heart. Some, Lord, in this meeting are not saved. They're like Goliath. They're on Goliath's side today. Our Father, will Thou not speak to them, show them the awful state that they're in, show them the awful calamity that lies before them, show them, O God, the...