Sermon Central
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David As A Warrior
Contributed by Mickey Bell on Dec 28, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: Christians are in warfare and we need to pattern our fighting after those who knew what they were doing. David was one of those men.
David as a Warrior
1st Samuel 17
When it came to being a soldier, David was a very successful warrior. He knew how to fight but most importantly how to win. By looking at the way David went into his battles, my prayer is that you too learn how to become a successful warrior, a good soldier for the cause of Christ.
Whether you know it or not, you are in a battle. That’s why Paul told a young Timothy to, “…endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
David knew what it took to be a good solider and it started with the proper TRAINING.
1. Training – You can not expect to fight the “Big Battles” of life without the proper training. And you wander why you have these so called, “stumbling blocks” in your life.
Army Basic Training – the first step a 9 week course
Week 1 – Orientation:
Understanding the battle
Week 2 – Study Navigation Course:
Knowing the ground you are about to cover
Week 3 – Obstacle Course:
Learning the obstacles you are about to face
Week 4 – Firing Range:
Learning how to use your weapons or “tools”
God knew there would be a Goliath in David’s life that is why He sent a Lion and a Bear for David to receive some much needed training.
So how do we receive our training?
A. Orientation:
Sunday School, DT, Worship Services, Bible School, Daily Quite Time, etc.. you have to understand the battle you are in
B. Following Godly examples:
Learn how other Christians get through life by listening to their testimonies…
C. Just simply Fighting:
Taking on the battles in your own life
Training is so very important!
“Train up a child in the way he should go even when he is old he will not depart from it”
2nd Timothy 2:15
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed”
If you constantly find yourself losing battles on a daily basis maybe you have not received the proper training. Get in the Word and start figuring out the bigger battle at hand.
WARNING: to all Church Teachers
You have students in your class on a regular basis. They are not coming so you can record them in attendance to help your numbers. They are in training and you need to make sure that you are using every opportunity to share with them how they can win the battle.
Get the proper training!
2. Tools – weapons to use in fighting the battle
I want you to notice two things about the “tools” that God has for you to use.
A. Use what God gives you
The world will try to tell you how to fight and with what tools to use. King Saul gave David his armor to be used against the Giant. Why?
1. It was obvious the king was going to need them
2. The king did not really have faith in David
B. Prove (test) your tools
When David put on the armor it was not a good fit. Notice what he said in v.39 “…I have not proved them”. Most people wait until they get right in the heat of the battle and then decide to try out their tools (weapons). That is not the time to be figuring out what you have and how they work. (Ex. Praying)
2nd Corinthians 10:4 tells us “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for destruction. That means to win in this battle the weapons have to come from God not man.
God says:
Gird your loins with truth
Put on the breastplate of Righteousness
Shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel
Take up your shield of Faith
Put on the helmet of Salvation
Have in hand the Sword of the Spirit (Bible)
….but it doesn’t stop there
He says with prayer and petitions pray at all times in the Spirit and with this in view be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.
God doesn’t need weapons of mass destruction:
He just needs a willing Shepard boy who knows how to fight with what he has.
3. TRENCH –
David doing what was asked of his father; he got up and went to the battlefield to check on his brothers. Notice in v.20, the Bible says that David “came to the trench”(kjv). (other versions – “circle of the camp”)
Trench – long narrow ditch, protection in warfare.
Illustration: After the Battle of the Marne in Sept. 1914, the German army was forced to retreat. They had failed in their objective to compel France into an early surrender. Rather than give up the territory which they already held, the Germans dug in to protect themselves from the guns of the advancing Allies. The trenches were protected by lines of barbed wire with No-Man’s land in between.
