FAITH THAT STANDS
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Bible Reading Week 25 (4th Sunday)
This Week’s Theme: A Faith That Meets Adversity Head-On
Word for the Week is Refuge: It is a place of safety, protection, and shelter, especially in times of danger, distress, or trouble. Spiritually, it speaks of trusting in God as our protector and deliverer.
Memory verse: Proverbs 14:26 (NKJV) In the fear of the LORD [there is] strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge.
Sermon Focus: Faith moves with confidence in God
Sermon Passage: 1 Samuel 17:3-8, 32-37, 45-47
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, 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 and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
Introduction:
Transition: Saints are expected to have a faith that stands firm when confronted with overwhelming obstacles.
I. Acknowledge the Challenge That Confronts Us
I. Acknowledge the Challenge That Confronts Us
Explain it: In the passage we are thrusts right into the middle of two nations a the verge of facing off against one another.
In one corner, we have the nation of Israel, the LORD God’s people.
AND IN THE OTHER CORNER, WE SEE THE NATION OF PHILISTIA,
THE PHILISTINES, WITH THEIR CHAMPION, GOLIATH
INTIMIDATING THE ISRAELITES
LOOK AT VERSE 4
4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
HE INTIMIDATED THEM WITH
HIS TOWERING APPEARANCE
HIS HEIGHT AND SIZE
Approx. 9 feet 9 inches tall
HE WAS A GIANT
HE WAS ACTUALLY HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE THE MEN IN ISRAEL
BECAUSE OF THIS, HE SEEMED INVINCIBLE
HE INTIMIDATED THEM WITH
THE WEIGHT OF HIS ARMOR AND HIS RADIANCE
LOOK AT 1 Samuel 17:5-6
5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
6 And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders.
HIS Helmet AND ARMOR WEIGHED (125–150 lbs), leg guards
HE WAS COVERED IN A BRONZE BODY ARMOR WITH REFLECTED THE SUN
WHICH COULD HAVE BLINDED OPPOSITION
BECAUSE OF THIS, HE SEEMED INVULNERABLE
HE INTIMIDATED THEM WITH
HIS MASSIVE WEAPONS
LOOK AT 1 Samuel 17:7
7 Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him.
• Spear shaft like a weaver’s beam; spearhead ~15 lbs
• Bronze javelin slung over his back
• His weapons were larger than most men’s bodies,
Intimidation Effect: Instilled fear of instant death or destruction.
THE SIZE OF HIS WEAPONS
INSTILLED FEAR IN THEIR HEARTS
HE INTIMIDATED THEM WITH
HIS BOLD BLASPHEMOUS TAUNTS
LOOK AT 1 Samuel 17:8-10
8 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”
10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”
HE MOCKED ISRAEL
HE DEFIED THEIR GOD
LIKE THE CONSTANT DRIPPING OF WATER CAN DAMAGE A STONE STATUE
GOLIATH’S TAUNTS FOR 40 DAYS
BROKE THE SPIRITS OF THE ISRAELITE ARMY MORE AND MORE
AS THE DAYS WENT BY
HE WORE THEM DOWN EMOTIONALLY
THEY WERE PARALYZED BY FEAR
YES, THEY WERE SMALL
YES, THEY WERE WEAKER
YES, THEY WERE INCAPABLE
TRUE, TRUE, AND TRUE
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
FAITH DOES NOT IGNORE TRUTH
IT ACKNOWLEDGES THE CHALLENGES THAT CONFRONTS
SOME WOULD SAY DO SAY THAT YOU GOT CANCER
DON’T SAY THAT YOU HAVE DIABETES
DON’T SAY THAT YOU NEED SURGERY
AS IF YOU CAN WISH AWAY THE TRUTH
BELIEVERS ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRUTH
WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE STRUGGLE
THE PAIN
THE DIFFICULTY
THE HARDSHIP
THE PROBLEM
THE CHALLENGES WE FACE
WE DON’T IGNORE WE FACE THEM
Acknowledge the Challenge That Confronts YOU
II. AFFIRM THE CONFIDENCE THAT SUSTAINS US
II. AFFIRM THE CONFIDENCE THAT SUSTAINS US
32 Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
DAVID TOLD SAUL NOT TO LOOSE HEART
DID YOU HEAR David’s testimony and HIS TRUST IN GOD
IN VS.
33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
SAUL SOUGHT TO DISCOURAGED
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.
DAVID TESTIFIED HOW THE LORD HELPED HIM IN THE PAST
DAVID RECOGNIZED THE HAND OF GOD IN HIS LIFE
WHEN A LARGE SIZE OF THE BEAR
THEIR ROBUST BODY
THEIR LARGE PAWS WITH SHARP CLAWS
DID NOT STOP HE FROM GOING AFTER IT
WHEN A POWERFUL PREDATORY LION CAME TO TAKE HIS SHEEP
HE CAUGHT IT BY THE BEARD AND STRUCK IT AND KILLED IT
36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.”
37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
David declares: “The LORD who delivered me… will deliver me.”
6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.
IT WAS
NOT MY GRIT BUT GOD’S GRACE
NOT MY DRIVE BUT GOD’S DELIVERANCE
NOT MY HUSTLE BUT GOD’S HELP
IT WAS
NOT MY MIGHT BUT GOD’S MERCY
NOT MY FIGHT BUT GOD’S FAVOR
NOT MY EFFORT BUT GOD’S ENABLEMENT
I CAN’T BUT GOD CAN
LISTEN TO THE PSALMIST SPOKE ABOUT THEIR VICTORY THROUGH GOD. Psalm 44:3
3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them.
JESUS SAID IN John 15:5 WITHOUT ME, YOU CAN DO NOTHING
PAUL DECLARED
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
God’s power is best displayed when we admit our own inability.
What I am is not because of me, but because of Him.
WHAT I AM, GOD MADE ME
WHAT I HAVE, GOD GAVE ME
WHERE I RESIDE, GOD BROUGHT ME
WHAT I KNOW, GOD TAUGHT ME
DO WE HAVE SOME PEOPLE IN THE BUILDING TODAY THAT ARE USED TO BE?
I USED TO BE DOWN, BUT GOD PICKED ME UP.
I USED TO BE OUT, BUT GOD BROUGHT ME IN.
I USED TO BE LOST BUT NOW I’M FOUND.
I USED TO BE BUSTED AND DISGUSTED, BUT NOW I HAVE JOY AND PEACE.
ARE THERE ANY USE TO BE’S IN THE HOUSE?
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WE AFFIRM THE CONFIDENCE THAT SUSTAINS US
WE AFFIRM WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US IN OUR LIVES.
HE DONE IT BEFORE AND HE CAN DO IT AGAIN
YOUR FAITH SHOULD REMEMBER PAST VICTORIES
YOUR FAITH SHOULD BELIEVE THAT GOD IS ABLE TO DO IT AGAIN
Application:
WHAT PREVIOUS VICTORIES HAVE NOT BEEN HEARD?
WHAT TESTIMONIES HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD BY YOU?
TESTIMONIES SAY GOD DID IT!
GOD KEPT ME
GOD HELPED ME
GOD LED ME
GOD FEED ME
GOD STRENGTHENED ME
GOD TAUGHT ME
GOD HELD ME
GOD LIFTED ME
GOD COMFORTED ME
GOD PROTECTED ME
GOD DELIVERED ME
IT WAS NOT MY SWORD, BOW OR SPEAR
GOD DID IT
IT WAS NOT MY WITS, BRAINS, OR KNOWLEDGE
GOD DID IT
WILL YOU TESTIFY TODAY THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPEN TO ME THAT WAS GOOD
GOD DID IT!
God’s past faithfulness is proof of His future reliability.
The saints can look back with confidence in order to move forward with faith.
Testimonies build trust. What God has done fuels faith in what He will do.
III. Assert the Conviction That Secures Us
III. Assert the Conviction That Secures Us
HEAR David’s declaration and spiritual focus
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, 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.
“You come with sword… I come in the name of the LORD”
Faith looks beyond weapons to the Warrior God.
DAVID ALSO STATED THE PURPOSE OF THE BATTLE IN VERSE 46.
46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
THE LORD WILL
AND I WILL
AND I WILL
WHY? HE SAID, “That all the earth may know there is a God in Israel.”
GOD ACTS SO THAT OTHERS WILL KNOW
2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other;
20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’
Faith sees God’s glory as the ultimate goal.
LISTEN TO DAVID’S WORDS IN VERSE 47.
47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
HE IDENTIFIED THE SOURCE OF EVERY CHRISTIANS’ VICTORY.
HE SAID “The battle IS NOT YOURS IT is the Lord’s”
IT IS NOT YOUR FIGHT
IT IS GOD’S FIGHT
Faith doesn’t rest in strength, but in the Sovereign Savior.
Application: True faith boasts not in self, but in the God who saves.
Conclusion: YOUR Faith SHOULD STAND in the face of fear, because it stood in the strength of God.
DAVID DIDN’T
OVERCOME BY EFFORT BUT BY ENDURING FAITH
IT WASN’T
FORCE THAT PREVAILED, BUT FAITH THE ENDURED
IT WAS NOT
THE POWER OF MAN, BUT THE POWER OF GOD
When we face challenges—giants of doubt, fear, or opposition—may we stand with a faith that remembers:
• God’s past deliverance
• God’s present presence
• God’s promised victory
