Battle Ready

I have a question for you today. Are you battle ready? Have you made up in your mind that enemy will not defeat you. Have you reminded yourself the battle is not yours its the Lord. Have you decided to take on your giants? Yes I know the Giants look more battle ready that you. They look stronger than you. They look more prepared than you. Yet you have the secret weapon. You are battle ready because you have the Lord on your side. Its something about knowing If God be for you he more than the whole world against you! I leaned this is warfare we are facing is not for the faint of heart. You have to play out the victory in your mind before you show up for battle. What did the hymn writer say:

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin; Each vict’ry will help you some other to win; Fight valiantly onward, dark passions subdue; Look ever to Jesus, He will carry you through.

Refrain: Ask the Savior to help you, Comfort, strengthen, and keep you; He is willing to aid you, He will carry you through.

US Military Analysts say attacking the enemy’s mind is among the chief strategies many modern armies use in order to catch their adversaries off guard. They say psychological warfare is actually capable of defeating the enemy without even engaging them.

• Interestingly psychological warfare has existed in BIBLICAL TIMES also

• When Goliath challenged the ISRAELI ARMY for 40 days he actually attacked their MINDS

• We know this worked because the Israelites fled before him prior to David stepped forward in faith

Most of the Satanic attacks we encounter are psychological in nature -- Diagnosis of cancer is psychologically more devastating than it is physically. It’s important that we win psychological battles in life before seeking to strike back in the spiritual realm because OUR MIND IS SATAN’S PRIMARY TARGET – OUR MIND IS SATAN’S PLAYGROUND. In today’s message let’s determine how David dealt with Goliath’s psychological attacks. Let’s see what we can learn from it in our Spiritual Journey.

The stage is set for war but no one is fighting.

• The Israelites were on one slope

• The Philistines on the other

• In between was a Valley

• In the Valley was a Ravine

• In the ravine was a dry creek bed

• Soon that valley would be a battlefield

Before we go on, it will help to know the Philistines had started this war. Somehow the ragtag Army of Hebrew farmers had defeated them just a few months earlier at the battle of Michmash.

• It had been a stinging, humiliating defeat

• The Philistines meant to pay them back with interest

• Now the day has come

• Indeed the moment has arrived

• The Israelites are ready to do battle

• Each man has a club, a hoe, a spear, a bow and arrow

• Each man is ready to die for his country

• When the word is given, the battle will begin

But the word is not given because a strange thing happens. The Philistines are not coming down the slope. They aren’t coming! And at first, the men of Israel think maybe they’ve won by forfeit.

But before they can celebrate, a sight unfolds before them, the likes of which they have never seen before. Something is moving down the slope.

• Something Big

• Something Huge

• It’s like a Tree maybe or a Mountain

• Whatever it is, it is covered with glittering bronze

• It looks like a Tank only they didn’t have tanks back then

The thing got to the middle ground near the ravine and suddenly a shudder ran through the men of Israel. Somebody declares - It’s a man. The biggest man they’ve ever seen. FIRST SAMUEL describes him in detail.

• He stands six cubits and a span

• That doesn’t mean anything to us but if you convert it to our system of measurement, it means he was 9 feet 9 inches tall

We’re told other interesting things about him. His name, of course, is GOLIATH. He’s clad from head to toe in armor.

• He wore a bronze helmet and a bronze coat of armor that weighed nearly 125 pounds

• He wore bronze shin guards and had a bronze javelin slung over his back

• His spear was like a weaver’s beam, meaning it was a thick shaft of wood, like a small log

• The head of the spear had an iron point weighing 17 pounds

• Ahead of him marched a soldier carrying a shield large enough to protect his entire body

What Goliath proposes is the ancient tradition of single combat.

• A little game of one-on-one

• Winner take all

• One man from your side, one from mine

• He would represent the Philistines and someone would represent the Israelites

• They would fight to the death and the army of the winner would win the entire battle

• This plan saved time and potentially avoided useless bloodshed, but it only worked if someone accepted the challenge

Twice a day Goliath came out to taunt the Israelites and dare them to send someone to fight him. He did this for 40 days!

• Try to grasp how Debilitating and Humiliating this was for Israel

• 80 times this giant had come out and taunted them

Get the slides for this sermonThe Giant Has Fallen1 Samuel 17:1-3Download Free TodayUnlock preaching slides with PRO

• And no one was willing to fight this battle where the odds were so overwhelmingly against them

And so the challenge went unmet. Goliath went back to his camp. But it’s not over, not by a long shot. Goliath came out 40 days straight, twice a day, morning and evening, to challenge the men of Israel.

• Each day it was the same

• No one would answer the challenge

• God’s people were losing the battle before it started

• They were losing the psychological battle in their minds

I am sure we can all relate at some level this morning. Every one of us faces some daunting giants.

• It may be a debilitating disease

• Or the looming reality of death

• It could be rebellious children

Download this sermon with PRO

• A crushing financial load

• A business situation that keeps you awake at night

• An addiction that seems to have you in its grip

• Or hostility from an antagonist

• Be assured this morning we can gain victory over the giants in our own lives

The crisis you face is most likely a spiritual battle also. The first spiritual question in our life that needs to be addressed is -- Am I on God’s side of the fight? It is a question of whether or not you have embraced the one God has provided to make you right with Him.

• That provision is Jesus

• He came so you might experience forgiveness and a vital and daily relationship with Him

• He is the King we are to trust and serve

• We must make sure we are on the correct side of the battle

Once you have dealt with that first issue we must recognize that when we face the giants in our lives it’s not really about - THE DIFFICULT PERSON - THE HATED JOB - THE DECAYING BODY - or anything else. It is really a question of whether or not we believe He is sufficient for your need. You should confront some key questions --

• Will you Fear - or Trust?

• Will you Believe God’s Promise - or Doubt that Promise?

• Will you Trust God’s sufficiency - or will you wallow in your own weakness?

• Will you Proceed in His strength - or rely on your own?

Satan uses our physical senses (EYES and EARS) to escort fear into our minds. We must remember II TIMOTHY 1:7 “FOR GOD HATH NOT GIVEN US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR; BUT OF POWER, AND OF LOVE, AND OF A SOUND MIND.” Satan picks up SOMETHING SMALL AND MAKES IT APPEAR MUCH BIGGER.

• He takes a little problem and magnifies it to cause you to leave the Church

• He takes a little problem and magnifies it and sends you to Divorce Court

• He takes a little problem and magnifies it and makes you quit your Job

• He takes a little problem and magnifies it and makes family member fall out with one another

At such times we need to interpret the situation in terms of God’s Word because His Word helps us to discover the true face of the problem.

We all have Giants

I already describe the awesomeness of Goliath. His height, His armor, his weaponry, his taunting.

Our Giants such as they are can be mind blowing. Our giants can be intimidating, Our Giants can cause us to fear and retreat. I remember last year it was about this time I got the news you have prostate cancer. That was mine Giant! It was a crazy time. We were dealing with a pandemic trying to stay safe. Trying to church. My sister had been diagnose with cancer. I am trying to be strong for my family. The original course of treatment was surgery. It was scheduled for that February. I didn’t know what I was going to do. SO i did what i knew to do pray. I had to deal with this GIANT.

So each of us have enormous situations presenting themselves in our lives.

Secondly

You have to courageously deal with your GIANT

26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? (1 Sa 17:26).

When David heard the taunts of Goliath he courageously . All the men of Israel fled but David inquired. In spite of his brothers criticism. David is seeking to help but his brothers anger is kindled against him. I found out everyone will not be excited you are dealing with your Giant. Some will speak doubt, Some motives are bad even with people close to you. They don’t want to see you victorious.

David was deeply disturbed that a Philistine, who was uncircumcised and therefore outside of a covenant relationship with the Lord, would so boldly heap shame on (NIV, “defy”; v. 26) “the armies of the living God.” Goliath’s words were not just an insult directed against the Israelite army; they were also an assault on “the living God. Davis was determined Look verse 32 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth (1 Sa 17:32–35).

Chose your weaponry wisely

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. (1 Sa 17:38–40).

Goliath did not respect David. He even taunted David, but David had a secret weapon. The Lord. You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. (1 Sa 17:45–46).