Gospel Based Strength
Notes
Transcript
Announcements
Announcements
Next Steps Campaign: $13,605 pledged by Aug 31.
Approx 4k over what we were praying for and a great start toward our goal of $20,000 by May of 2022.
Online giving: indicate next steps
Offering giving: indicate next steps
Introduction
Introduction
Great singing
Dismiss Children
There are some great things happening around here at LBC and I’m so grateful to be apart of it.
Today we are going to be in 1 Samuel 17.
With fathers day approaching, I want to talk to you men for a minute. Do you remember when strength used to be a very important thing to you? As little boys we would say we could lift anything. Big Boulders and whole planets
As teenagers, especially if you were hulk hogan fans, you were all about those 24in pythons. And impressing the ladies. Maybe asking for help finding your beach ball?
At some point the necessity of physical strength may take a turn for mental strength. Learning to get through difficulties, get things done you don’t want to do, make it through difficulties while also supporting those around you.
That last part of strength isn’t just with men, ladies you carry much of this as well. Especially in single parent homes or absent parent homes.
But what does physical and mental strength have to do with each other?
They will both fail at some point without help.
Even a body builder or strong man competitor has a limit. They have a “max weight” they can lift before they will need help.
Each person here has a mental breaking point. Each person here has a point at which you realize, you can’t do it any more or you don’t want to deal with things anymore.
It’s at this point we have to make a decision, do we believe that the weight cannot be lifted? Do we believe that the problems of life can’t be handled and we have to quit?
Or do we accept that it can’t be lifted if we try to lift it alone? The problems of life can’t be faced if we face them alone.
You see, physical strength has a point at which it will fail. Mental strength has a point at which it will fail. Why?
Because both of those are drawing their power, their strength, from a finite source…you
But a Gospel centered strength comes from Jesus who said
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
The one who Paul wrote about in
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Today in Samuel we are going to look at David and Goliath and find that as a young man, David’s strength to defeat a giant didn’t from himself but for the Lord.
What are you going through and dealing with now? raising kids with a busy schedule feeling like you never have time to sleep? In the latter years of life and working longer than you thought because retirement wasn’t on your mind when you were young? Maybe your just trying to get by because life isn’t going the way you planned.
Whatever your situation, I don’t want to diminish it, but I do want you to see where help lies and make a decision today to turn to Him to get you through.
Follow along with me
31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.
32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
33 And Saul said to David, 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.
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:
35 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.
36 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.
37 David said moreover, The Lord that 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 this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.
PRAY
A little backstory for where we are in scripture today
The David we are talking about is King David of Israel, the one all the other kings are compared to. What we just read through is recounting David as a young man, a teenager, when he came to a battlefield and heard this giant of a man, 9ft 9 in tall blaspheming God and mocking the Israelites. The Words that are mentioned in v 31 are the words that David spake concerning him taking care of the giant himself.
Now where we pick up helps us with our understanding that
I. Strength of Flesh will Fail
I. Strength of Flesh will Fail
Saul hears David’s claims and immediately comments on his age and size. Comparing David to the giant.
In most circumstances, this would be a good assumption to make.
Evan and David
I believe we could almost say this would literally be a tale of David and Goliath.
If Evan were to seek to defeat David in his own strength, it’s most likely not going to happy. I mean, he could be a little scrappy like his momma but doubtful right?
Round of applause
In your flesh you only do so much. Did you know that? Do you believe that?
Sure Pastor, I can’t lift 1000 lbs without some help. I’m sure you wouldn’t argue that one with me....
But do you believe you can’t handle the stress of life, parenting, the grocery shopping, driving down the road, without some help?
But pastor some of those things are easy. I can drive.
Ok, you’re right. But are you doing them for the reasons you should be? Are you living for the reason David lived?
Are you living for the reason Paul instructed us to live?
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
David, even at a young age, did all for the glory of God.
Saul and the military men of Israel were focused on the giants physical size and concerned about his boasting over the power of the Israeli army and individual Israelites there.
Sure, Saul was taller, stronger, and more powerful than those men. Because those men were only going to fight him for the rewards Saul offered.
Many here are going through life, only for what the world offers.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Jesus was speaking here in regards to the Pharisees that only sought the accolades of men due to the righteous acts. I believe the principle is the same though, if you are only living for the rewards of this world, you are not living for the Lord or the glory of God.
What’s the difference between the two? How can you and I make sure we are living for the glory of God?
I believe we find that in verse 26
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?
he asked about the offer made, the worldly reward but notice his motivation…it wasn’t to prove his strength, it wasn’t to do things on his own, it wasn’t to be seen as mighty in the eyes of those around him,
He saw Goliath as someone who was defying the armies of the living God. He saw the situation and how it impacted God’s glory.
When you make a decision, you make it based upon just that…the impact it will have on the glory of God.
David’s flesh would fail him because he would not be able to take on this mighty man of war without defeat. Your flesh will fail you if you try to take on life and sin without Jesus.
but how do you get to the place where David was to look at the perverbial problems of life and especially sin in such a way that you see yourself able to overcome?
Understand this next truth
II. Your Strength of Faith increases with experience
II. Your Strength of Faith increases with experience
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:
35 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.
36 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.
37 David said moreover, The Lord that 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 this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.
David had followed the will of his father and his Heavenly Father in tending the sheep. That was the Lord’s will for him at that time of life. And being in the will of the Lord He still faced bears and lions.
A couple things to learn from this.
You can follow God’s calling on your life to a T, and still have bears and lions. You will still have problems. And as I said last week, that’s not always a divine intervention. That can be the result of living in a sin cursed world.
How did David overcome these problems he faced? the same way you and I do…by faith.
Jesus said if we have the faith of a grain of mustard seed we would see mountains move. How do we get that faith?
First, I believe it’s a choice. Have you ever done a trust fall?
If you do a trust fall from a chair, and people catch you, wouldn’t it be easier for you to trust those people to catch you if your fell back from the platform?
I’ll say this, it’s best to jump right in and trust God with everything however if you find your self unable to let go. Pick an area to let go and let God. See what He does with it.
Then, give Him more. Also, look at others lives and don’t say “Wow, i could never do that. I could never trust God to…insert thing here.”
Look at someones step of faith and say “I haven’t trusted God for that yet…but I will.”
Our God does not change. He is the same for you, me, the missionaries on foreign fields, the missionaries in closed countries, and His commands are the same…trust me. Follow me.
David looked at that Giant and He didn’t see a towering Philistine. Why?
Because David had already looked down the mouth of the lion and the mouth of the bear. He saw what God did with scary circumstances.
I hope David looked at Goliath and instead of seeing this towering Philistine, saw just one more problem God was going to use in David’s life to bring Himself glory through David.
How do you see your problems in life? Do you view life through the lens of God’s glory?
Of how God can take those circumstances, those people, those trials, and use them for Him?
Did David know HOW this was going to happen?
No. Saul had him put his armor on and that was too big for him.
So he went and got some stones and put in his pouch, a shepherds bag. and went towards the giant.
Talking about bringing a knife to a gun fight.
listen to this though
43 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.
44 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.
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.
46 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 carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto 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.
47 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.
That’s good.
This battle, this difficulty your facing, this problem in life, it’s the Lord’s. Just as David didn’t sit and wait for God to strike the giant down you can’t wait for something to happen. Move by faith, even if the obstacles seem difficult and impossible, move for the glory of God, and let God take care of the results.
The strength of your faith comes from experience
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
The hope that is worked out through tribulation, patience, and experience is a joyfully expectant hope. A confident hope, faith if you will.
What is that first step of faith? What is the one thing you can do to begin trusting God to handle these things?
Putting your faith in the gospel. The death burial and resurrection of Christ for your salvation.
Then what? The next step of faith is baptism. Obediently following the command of scripture and publicly identifying with Christ.
And then you begin your journey of faith. Growing in faith and increasing the strength of your faith.
Does the journey of faith have an end? yes. But that’s at the end of this life. So what do you do while your living?
III. Exercise your faith, continuously
III. Exercise your faith, continuously
What do I mean by that?
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XXI The Lion-Slayer—The Giant-Killer (No. 1,253)
I know a man who to-day says, “Yes, what we did in years gone by we did in our heroic age, but we are not so enthusiastic now.” And why not? We are so apt to magnify our former selves, and think of our early deeds as of something to be wondered at, but not to be attempted now. Fools that we are! They were little enough in all conscience, and ought to be outdone. Oh, dear brethren, this resting on our oars will not do, we are drifting down with the tide. David did not say, “I slew a lion and a bear, I have had my turn at such bouts, let somebody else go and fight that Philistine:” yet we have heard people say, “When I was a young man I taught in the Sunday-school, I used to go out preaching in the villages, and so on.” Oh, brother, and why not do it now? Methinks you ought to be doing more instead of less. As God gives you more knowledge, more experience, and more grace, surely your labours for him ought to be more abundant than they used to be; but, alas, you do not look on it as a parallel case, and so make excuses for yourself.
Don’t rest on your laurels. No matter your age, no matter how long you’ve been a Christian. David didn’t say I’ve done this and now it’s someone else’s turn. He said “here I am I Lord, send me”
in our modern context it doesn’t mean you have to do it all, we obviously need to disciple and train the next generation, it means you don’t stop. You don’t stop growing in grace. You don’t stop exercising your faith. It’s my prayer that we as individuals that make up Liberty Baptist Church will now and always be asking “What’s my next step of faith and why am I not taking it?”
Doing more for the Lord doesn’t always look like it did when you were younger, but it is glorifying to God.
Two things and I’ll close.
First, in the same message that Spurgeon made the last statement, he made this one
At this time I am always afraid of our falling into a lethargic condition. This church numbers nearly five thousand members, but if you are only five thousand cowards the battle will bring no glory to God.
Liberty Baptist doesn’t have 5k members…but the argument is the same. If I as pastor am a coward, if our deacons, our staff, our lay leaders, and all attenders are but cowards in the battle for the souls of men....we bring no glory to God.
Stay in the fight. Recall how God has delivered you in the past. Don’t give up. Do it for Him and His glory. You don’t need to know how it will work out, you just need to know that He will work it out.
Secondly, If you hear that and think…Pastor…I don’t know if I could do that. Remember, on your own you can’t. Your flesh, your mind will fail you. It’s through Christ you can do all things for the glory of God and the proclomation of the gospel.
Will you?
Will you trust in God to care for the lions and bears so one day He can use you to overcome the giant?
Time of Response
Time of Response