"Never Take A Knife To A Gun Fight!”

“NEVER TAKE A KNIFE TO A GUN FIGHT!”

1 Sam. 17

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Pharaoh fought an expensive war and his country was bankrupt. He had a very valuable diamond so he decided to pawn it to float his country for about a year.

2. So he took the Star diamond down to the largest pawn shop in the Middle East and asked the owner what he would give him for the diamond. The owner said he would give him 50,000 drachmas for it.

3. The Pharaoh said, “Do you know how much this Star jewel is really worth? And do you know who I am?”

4. And the pawn shop owner answered, “If you wish to pawn the Star, it makes no difference who you are!”

B. TEXT

16:13 Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David]… and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. 17:8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. 34 David said to [King] Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47…for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

C. THESIS

1. I was talking to my friend Mack Massey the other day and he said, “Never take a knife to a gun-fight!” I immediately grasped these words as a revelation of being unprepared for spiritual warfare.

2. It reminds me of the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indiana Jones meets an expert swordsman who does a formidable show of skill. Indiana scowls and pulls his pistol and shoots him, with little effort.

3. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I_Ds2ytz4o

This is a good example of taking a knife to a gun-fight! (Which is the title of this morning’s message.)

4. WHEN THE ISRAELITES CAME TO FIGHT THE PHILISTINES AND GOLIATH MADE HIS CHALLENGE, WHY WERE THE ISRAELITES POWERLESS TO CONTEND WITH GOLIATH? WHY DID THEY HAVE A LACK OF SPIRITUAL POWER? THEY BROUGHT A KNIFE TO A GUN FIGHT! WHAT DID DAVID HAVE THAT THE ISRAELITES DIDN’T? WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE? FIVE THINGS:

I. DAVID HAD AN ANOINTING & THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Bible says, “Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David]… and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David” (16:13). This anointing set him apart for sacred use. We all (every believer) can receive the anointing of God for works of service.

A. THE EMPOWERING PROPHESIED

1. The Lord Jesus said, "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" Acts 1:4-5.

2. It happened on the Day of Pentecost; “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” Acts 2:1-4.