AGCC Sun. a.m. 6/7/1998

#5

TEXT: I Sam. 17:48-54

INTRO: David demonstrates the 5 qualities of an overcomer. We have looked at his: (1. Fidelity in Duty (2. Fervor in Defending (3. Faith in Declaring (4. Frankness in Discarding Man's Weapons, and now the last quality which is (5. Fearless in Delivering! This last stage is so important, it is the final act of the overcomer's faith, the actual deliverance from Satan's attempts to defeat us.

One thing we can be sure of spiritually, victory is not an accident in the Christian's life, it is the outcome of faith that overcomes all that the enemy throws at us, and it is a choice we make! There is no such thing as an accidental overcomer. Faith is not some static theological concept, it must take action, actions that are consistent with God's character and Word. When we follow His Word, we will be overcomers!

PROP. SENT: The Bible teaches us that overcomers are fearless in delivering, driven by a faith that overcomes all obstacles this world and Satan can throw at us.

I. FAITH THAT WINS OVER THE ENEMY 17:48-51b

A. Tackling Fear 17:48

1. The greatest enemy David faced at this moment wasn't Goliath, it was fear!

a. Most of our defeats spiritually are the result of fears that we yield to!

b. Fear will keep us from victory.

c. Fear is a lack of faith.

2. Had David feared like King Saul and the rest of the army of Israel there would not have been a victory!

3. David feared God more than Goliath, so this made Goliath seem a lot smaller and a lot weaker!

a. Fear distorts our picture of what is real.

b. Fear does not let us see God as we should.

4. Fear would make David feel inferior to Goliath, but faith made him superior!

ILLUS: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Eleanor Roosevelt - James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p.. 18.

5. Notice that David is RUNNING TOWARD the enemy, not away from him! Only faith can give us this kind of courage, fear moves us away from the battle and away from victory!

a. Too many Christians live their lives in fear rather than faith.

b. Fear makes us unproductive and paralyzed as Christians and keeps us from glorious victories for God.

B. Triumphant Focus! 17:49-51b

1. David drew up his faith based on a long standing record of God's glorious faithfulness throughout the past in other great heroes of faith.

a. David was simply following a long tradition of standing in faith to overcome enormous odds!

b. Hadn't other great heroes of faith done the impossible before? How did they do it? - They had faith in God to do the impossible!

c. So why change things now? So he was only a Shepherd boy with simple tools and crude weapons, but with faith in God like those of the past he could do great things too!

2. Faith in God has not changed from the beginning of time, to simply believe God and take Him at His Word is still the basis of faith and doing the impossible, some things never change!

ILLUS: "The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between rails) is four feet, eight-and-one- half inches.

"Why such an odd number? Because that's the way they built them in England, and American railroads were built by British expatriates.

"Why did the English adopt that particular gauge? Because the people who built the pre- railroad tramways used that gauge.

"They in turn were locked into that gauge because the people who built tramways used the same standards and tools they had used for building wagons, which were set on a gauge of four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.

"Why were wagons built to that scale? Because with any other size, the wheels did not match the old wheel ruts on the roads.

"So who built these old rutted roads?

"The first long-distance highways in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been in use ever since. The ruts were first made by Roman war chariots. Four feet, eight-and-one-half inches was the width a chariot needed to be to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses." -- Clark Cothern, Tecumseh, Michigan. Leadership, Vol. 19, no. 1.

3. Too often the world views those who have simple faith like our forefathers as archaic, but simple faith in God is not something that changes through time, only the methods we employ to express it.

a. We would do well to keep the focus David had - "nobody comes against God or His people and wins!"

b. If our forefathers could do great things for God, so can we, we just need to exercise faith as they did.

4. David's focus never saw Goliath as too big he couldn't win, it was always: Goliath is so big he can't miss! - This focus was possible because David saw God as bigger than Goliath.

a. Do we see our problems as being smaller than God?

b. What would happen if we kept this focus no matter what came against us?

5. David kills Goliath with a single stone...and then marches up to him and uses his own weapon to cut off his head.

a. Goliath's trust was in his own power and weapons, and these were the very things used against him!

b. We need to understand that God's power is greater than anything this world or the enemy of our soul can throw against us.

c. Goliath lost his head trusting in his sword!

II. FAITH THAT WEAKENS OBDURATE ENEMIES 17:51b-52

A. Traumatized by Faith! 17:51b

1. David's faith not only conquered Goliath, it weakened the hard hearted Philistines as a whole!

a. Notice that the rest of the arrogant army of Philista turned and ran in the presence of a man of faith!

b. They backed out of their promise - Goliath had stated that if he was killed the whole nation of the Philistines would willingly become their slaves, instead they run away!

c. They are traumatized by a man of faith - and now the fear transfers from Israel to the Philistines!

2. One man's faith can prove so many others wrong!

ILLUS: Imagine if you had been the president of a Michigan bank who advised Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the new motor company, assuring him, "The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty."

Or there was Gary Cooper's comment about Clark Gable accepting the role of Rhett Butler which he had turned down: "`Gone With the Wind' is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling flat on his face and not Gary Cooper."

Or the Boston sportswriter who summed up young Ted Williams by saying, "I don't believe this kid will ever hit half a singer midget's weight in a bathing suit." - whatever that meant, he was most certainly wrong!

3. When man finally sees that what he trusted in fails, he will panic and run in fear!

4. If you don't trust in God, some day the thing you trust in will fail you .. and then you will be left with nothing to give you confidence!

a. So why not turn to God now, He cannot fail and will not fail us!

b. Why waste valuable time trusting in man made things, or even man himself, in the end these weak things will fail and we will be left looking at God.

5. They enemy will always be traumatized by a godly faith!

B. Transferable Fervency! 17:52

1. In the same way that fear swept through the Philistine army once the object of their faith failed them, faith swept through the Israelite army once they saw faith in action in David!

a. Now a major turn of events takes place, the Israelite army that had been paralyzed with fear for 40 days is energized by David's faith in delivering them from this horrible enemy and they find themselves jumping up with new found faith and going after the enemy to finish off the job David's faith had started!

b. There is a Pentecostal shout in the camp of Israel, "the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines..."

c. Faith by one man or woman can fuel the faith in others!

2. Where there had been no hope, faith had revived not only hope, but victory as well!

3. Whenever we are faced with a seemingly impossible situation we need to remember: God has a way of turning it around for us if we stand in faith!

ILLUS: In southern Alabama is the town of Enterprise, in Coffee County. There they have erected a monument to an insect, honoring the Mexican boll weevil. In 1895 the boll weevil began to destroy the major crop of the county, cotton. In desperation to survive the farmers had to diversify, and by 1919 the county's peanut crop was many times what cotton had been at its height. In that year of prosperity a fountain and monument were built. The inscription reads: "In profound appreciation of the boll weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity this monument was erected by the citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama." Out of a time of struggle and crisis had come new growth and success. Out of adversity had come blessing. --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 263.

4. One person's faith can energize the people of God and weaken the hardest hearted enemies of God!

III. FAITH THAT WARNS OTHER ENEMIES! 17:53-54

A. Transient Fruit 17:53

1. All the fruits of the superior Philistines got left behind when they took off and ran, and Israel came back to take possession of all the spoils of war!

a. The Philistines never dreamed all their valuable stuff was going to fall into the hands of God's people!

b. They assumed they would not only keep all their goodies, but add to it the stuff of Israel!

c. All their hard earned fruit simply passed from their hands to Israel.

2. Faith not only robbed the Philistines of victory, it robbed them of all their blessings too!

3. Faith not only conquered the enemy, but gave Israel a much needed boost spiritually, politically, and materially!

4. Those who are trusting in riches for their security are in for a big surprise one day, all the things they trust in will not help them in the end!

5. The world lives by a false sense of security that will be unmasked in the end!

ILLUS: In "Point Man" Steve Farrar tells this story: The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to shoot a great forest fire. He was told that a small plane would be waiting for him to take him over the fire. He arrived at the airstrip just an hour before sundown. Sure enough, the Cessna was waiting. He jumped in with his equipment and shouted, "Let's go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air. "Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "and make several low-level passes." "Why?" asked the nervous pilot. "Because I'm going to take pictures!" retorted the photographer. "I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures!" After a long pause, the pilot replied, "You mean you're not the instructor?"!

6. How shocked the world will be one day when they realize that their ride in life wasn't a secure as they thought, we need to trust in God!

B. Troubled Future! 17:54

1. Like life, David's victory of Goliath and Israel's victory over the Philistines didn't mean the end of all battles!

a. This was one battle down, and many more to go!

b. But faith in one battle inspires faith for future battles too!

2. As a gesture of faith on David's part, and also to serve as a warning to other unbelievers, he takes Goliath's head that was cut off and goes to Jerusalem to place it there for all to see!

a. Why? Jerusalem at this time was not yet possessed by the Israelites, they only lived in part of the city and around the outside of the city, the Jebusites still controlled the majority of the city.

b. Was David's point to put the Jebusites on notice that the same God that made them victorious over Goliath and the Philistines would make them victorious over the Jebusites also?

c. David was perhaps serving notice on other nationalities that should they defy God the same fate awaited them!

3. This was to serve as a warning to the Jebusites that God has a plan - their city would one day belong to God as the Holy City. They can put faith in David's God and live, or reject God and be defeated like the Philistines!

a. David in this way was looking toward the future in faith.

b. A victory in faith today will inspire us to dream in faith about the future and what God will do through us.

4. God has a way of sending warning signs to the world that what they trust in will fail....they can ignore those warnings signs but at their own peril.

a. Ignoring the warnings won't make God's truth go away!

b. But it will make man's fall even more tragic in the end.

c. Those warning signs are God's gift to get us moving in the right direction - toward Him, not away from Him!

ILLUS: My Ford Taurus has this little warning light that lights up whenever I get down below a quarter of a tank of gas. Sometimes that little light really bugs me. It has a habit of coming on when I'm in the middle of nowhere, just after I've passed the gas station on the interstate and the next exit's fifty miles away. So what would you think if I told you I'm going to take my car to Ford and have them remove that little light? You would say that's ridiculous. My problem is not the little red light. My problem is the empty gas tank. -- Jim Nicodem, "The Straight Scoop on Anger," Preaching Today, Tape No. 172.

5. No matter how much the world trusts in man's abilities and supplies, eventually these things are going to fail, but faith in God will prove victorious in the end!

a. God sends warning signs from time to time to show man how foolish he is to trust in himself.

b. God also sends victorious battles to people of faith to show them that ultimately we will conquer all things in Christ!

c. Which side do you want to be on? Overcomer or Overcomed?

CONCLUSION: David's faith in God overcame his fear of Goliath! As long as David saw God bigger than Goliath he was fearless against the enemy! David's faith not only made him fearless in the face of the enemy, it also made him a deliverer! David's faith delivered a whole nation out of fear and into victory. Can one person's faith do this today? YES! Why not be an overcomer like David and be fearless in delivering?!