Be a Champion for Christ!
1 Samuel 17:15-47
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - April 29, 2007
*David went out to face the giant...
-And there are even bigger giants in our world today.
*A big part of the problem is mass media. By the time the average American child reaches 17, they will have spent more than 60,000 hours with mass media entertainment, only 11,000 hours at school, 2,000 hours with their parents and only 900 hours at church, if they attend every week! (1)
*When I was a kid, it was shows like “Gunsmoke,” “Bonanza,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” and “I love Lucy.” Today’s line-up is filled with shows like “Sex in the City,” “Will & Grace,” “I Love New York,” “The Girls Next Door,” and “The Riches.”
*Currently, Americans rent 800 million pornographic videos and DVDs per year. 87% of all 15 to 17-year-olds have had multiple exposures to hardcore pornography. (2)
*Because of media influence, family disintegration, political correctness, and the largely successful attempt to remove God from the public schools, moral values in America continue to nosedive. A 2003 survey by George Barna compared moral values by generation. What did the different generations consider to be morally acceptable? Here are some of the results comparing “Elders” (basically people over 60) with Mosaics (people in their early 20’s):
-Living together without being married is accepted by only 41% of the Elders, but by 75% of the Mosaics...
-Having an abortion? 36% of the Elders say O.K, but for the Mosaics it’s 55%
-Approval of sex outside of marriage goes from 24% to 54%...
-Approval of profanity goes from 20% to 60%...
-Approval of getting drunk goes from 15% to 50%...
-And approval of homosexuality goes from 14% to 40%. (3)
--There are giants in the land.
*Many families are falling apart at the seams, mostly because of stubborn selfishness, and an almost willful ignorance about God’s plan for a happy home.
--There are giants in the land.
*Millions of radical Islamists long to kill all who refuse to submit to their false god. They are totally dedicated to imposing their cult of hate on the whole world. They would take the greatest pleasure in killing you, gladly willing to die in the process. And they are not going away in your lifetime.
--There are giants in the land.
*All of us will face giants in life. Sometimes they will come from the outside: The loss of a loved one, the loss of a job. Someone deserts us, or we face a problem we can’t seem to solve.
*Other times the giants come from inside: Depression, discouragement, a dangerous disease, a habit you can’t seem to break, overpowering temptation.
*All of us will face giants, but with God’s help, we can defeat the giants in our lives! We can be giant-killers. We can be champions for Jesus Christ.
-How can we do it?
1. Make the most of your life right now. Fully invest your life where the Lord has put you. Seize the day!
*David was making the most of his life in vs. 15-27. First we see him taking care of his father’s sheep. And when Dad told David to check on his brothers and take some food to them, David obeyed. In fact, vs. 20 tells us that he was eager to obey his father, because he got up early to do what Dad had asked him to do.
*It’s important to notice that David was faithful to take care of the sheep. That was his assignment from his earthly dad, but it was also where the Lord prepared David to kill the giant. What if David had been a slacker when he was out in the middle of nowhere taking care of those sheep? He never would have been ready to kill the giant.
*And when David’s dad told him to take food to the army, David was faithful to obey his dad. That’s when the Lord opened the opportunity for greatness.
*Whether he was with the sheep or carrying the cheese, David was making the most of his life. And that’s what God wants you to do. So fully invest your life right where the Lord has put you. God has an assignment for you right now. Life does not start when you get out of high school or college. Now is the time to be faithful to God.
*The average lifespan in the US in 2004 was 77.8 years. That’s 2,455,181,280 seconds! What are you going to do with that precious gift of time?
*Think about it this way: What if your life was only 24 hours Long?
*Assuming that lifespan of 77.8 years...
-If you are 20, it’s 6:10 am. If you are 40, it’s 12:20 pm.
-If you are 60, it’s 6:31 pm. If you are 70, it’s 9:35 pm.
-And if you are 75, it’s 11:08.
*What are you going to do with your precious gift of time? Make the most of your life. This is especially important because none of us is guaranteed the 77.8 years. If I live as long as my daddy, it’s already 11:57. Daniel 5:23 tells us that your breath in God’s hand. Every day of life is a precious gift from God, and we must use them wisely.
*I’ve been reading about some of the students who were massacred at VA Tech two weeks ago tomorrow. At least 5 of the 32 were involved in the Baptist Collegiate Ministry there. Eighteen-year-old Rachel Hill was a freshman who graduated in 2006 from Grove Avenue Christian School, a ministry of Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond, VA. She was the only child of Alan and Tammy Hill.
*One of Rachel’s former principals said: “She was a wonderful young lady, very bright, very gifted. She was very spiritually mature. She loved the Lord and was just an asset to our school."
*Rachel’s high school administrator, Clay Fogler, wrote that, "Rachael was an incredible witness for Christ; the love of Christ shone through her to others. . ."
*He also wrote that, “Any parent would have counted it a privilege to have called her their daughter,” and said that Rachel was "perpetually prepared."
*One of her favorite verses was Song of Solomon 8:5, which says, "Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" Rachael saw herself as the one coming out of the wilderness and needing to lean on her Savior more and more..."
*Clay Fogler added: “The world has lost one of its brightest prospects, but the Lord is glorified through the Daughter of the King that she is, the life that she lived, and the impact Rachael had on others in the name of Jesus Christ."
*Some say the quote from Christian author C.S. Lewis that Rachel submitted for her senior yearbook was almost prophetic. It said, “God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain, but without stain." (4)
*Rachel Hill had the heart of a giant-killer. She made the most of her short life, and this is what we must do with the precious time God gives to us.
2. You can be a champion for Jesus Christ, so make the most of your life right now, and don’t be distracted by minor irritation...
*David surely could have been distracted in vs. 26-30, as he spoke to the soldiers about the giant, and said, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?’’
27. And the people answered him in this manner, saying, "So shall it be done for the man who kills him.’’
28. Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, "Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.’’
29. And David said, "What have I done now? Is there not a cause?’’
30. Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.
*Why did David’s brother gripe like that? Wasn’t David obeying his father in coming to the battle? Didn’t David bring them some much needed food to eat? Wasn’t David taking a strong stand for the Kingdom of God?
*Why did David’s brother gripe? Well, he was human, and we humans tend to gripe about things. On top of that, Eliab had to be embarrassed, because he was one of those Israeli soldiers trembling in his boots, scared to death to face Goliath. Plus Eliab was the oldest. Who did this kid think he was, wanting to face the giant in the valley?
*For all these reasons, Eliab was gripe, gripe, griping. And what good did his griping do? Not a bit of good. All it did was make Eliab look bad. Even after 3,000 years he still looks jealous and petty to us.
*Worst of all, his griping could have distracted David from the great cause of God... Vs. 29 in the NIV shows David saying, “Can’t I even speak?” But I like what the NKJV says a whole lot better: “Is there not a cause?”
*Is there not a cause for me to speak? Yes there is a cause! The cause of God’s Kingdom, His honor and His glory. Eliab could have greatly hurt the cause by his complaining.
*Now take an honest look at your life over the past four months. One third of this precious year has almost gone. Take an honest look at your life this year and answer this question: “Are you more like the griper or the giant killer?”
*We all get the gripe bug at times. I surely do, but God doesn’t want us to be gripers. God wants us to be giant killers, so stop the griping.
*Stop complaining about your family, your job and your boss. Stop complaining about your leaders. Stop complaining about your brothers and sisters who are doing the best they can to serve the cause of Christ.
*Stop the griping. It is not possible that your griping is pleasing to God. You are certainly making yourself look bad, and you may even be doing damage to the cause of Christ. God doesn’t want us to have a griping Eliab attitude. He wants us to have a giant-killing heart like David.
*Do you remember what the Lord tells us about David in Acts 13:22? God said: “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will...” Don’t you know that God is still looking for people like that today? So ask Him by His grace to take away your griping heart and give you the heart of a giant-killer. And when you get that heart, don’t let yourself be distracted by anyone or anything.
*David could have gotten his feelings hurt. He could have been distracted. He could have gotten mad and gone home, but he didn’t. David kept his focus on the Kingdom. David kept his focus on confronting the real problem. David kept his focus on victory for God’s people, and on the glory of God.
*There are all kinds of irritations in life, but we cannot let them take our focus away from God’s great mission for us.
3. You can be a champion for Jesus Christ, so don’t be distracted by minor irritations, and trust God to take care of you in every situation. (Vs. 31-37)
*David had learned to trust the Lord in every situation. Listen to him again in vs. 37: “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.”
*Christians, this is the kind of faith we should have, but our faith should be even stronger, because we live on the resurrection side of the Cross. We know that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for us. And we know that through His death and resurrection, Jesus has already conquered the greatest giants we could ever face. That’s why we can trust God to take care of us in every situation.
*One of my all-time favorite people had faith like that. Many of you knew him. His name was Charlie Greer. Charlie went to be with the Lord a couple of years ago. I got to know him best when his daughter, Denise Harris, came to serve as the Children’s Dir at EBC. Charlie came with the family, and he was a great blessing to us. Charlie was a Papaw to my Katie. My dad died 10 years before Katie was born, and Mary’s dad died when Katie was 2, but Papaw Charlie was a papaw to my baby, and I will always be thankful for that.
*Charlie was a treasure to us. I don’t think he consciously tried to encourage me. He just did. He loved the Lord, He loved the Bible and he loved to come to church. He also loved to pray. Charlie was a great prayer warrior. We had a Prayer Room at EBC, and Charlie came like clockwork.
*Another thing that blessed me about Charlie was that he kept such a great attitude in the face of terrible health problems. He had a brain tumor, but he kept going. He had several surgeries that eventually took his leg, and Charlie had to limp along. But he kept going along with a smile. He was trusting the Lord in every situation.
*The world doesn’t know it, but Charlie was a champion for Jesus Christ.
4. And you can be too! So trust God to take care of you in every situation, and dream of better ways to fulfill God’s will. David found a better way in vs. 38-40. Listen to these verses again:
38. So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail.
39. And David fastened his sword to his armor, and he tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.’’ So David took them off.
40. Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.
*David found a better way. It would have been disastrous if he had tried to fight Goliath with the king’s armor. God had a different way for David to win the battle.
*The important things will never change. The Word of God will stand forever! But God wants you to dream of better ways to fulfill his will for our world.
*Young people, this does not mean being disobedient or rebellious or disrespectful to your elders. David was courteous to the king. And remember that the only reason he was at the battle scene was because he was obeying his father. God commands you to honor your parents and respect your elders, but He also wants you to dream of better ways to accomplish His will. So be open to God-given innovation. Be an innovator. You don’t have to do everything the old way.
*God is creative and innovative. If He didn’t favor innovation, we would have walked to church this morning, and be stirring up a storm with those fans we used to get at the funeral home.
*One of the new ways people have been sharing Jesus is with the EvangeCube, those little cubes that tell the story of the Gospel with pictures. Rodney Buchanan gave this testimony to his church about EvangeCubes:
“When I went to Honduras, through your generosity, I was able to take over 100 Evangecubes to the churches there. I remember going to one little church and showing the people how to use them. After they learned how to unfold the cube and share the message with other people, one man stood up and said to the other people in the church:
-‘We can do this! Most of us can’t read, so if there were words we couldn’t use this, but there are no printed words so all of us can do this.
-We are going to go out into our community, and rob the devil’s kingdom of souls he has been holding in captivity and bring them to Jesus!’”
*Then Rodney said: “Now here was a man who was uneducated and could not even read. He had been an alcoholic and there were deep [scars] in his head where he had been in a machete fight. . .” (5)
*But that man got it. He found a new way to spread the old story, and sometimes that’s what we need to do.
5. You can be a champion for Jesus Christ. Keep dreaming of better ways to fulfill God’s will, and take a bold stand for the cause of Christ. We need the same boldness David had against Goliath.
*In vs. 43-44, the giant said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?’’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!’’
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.’’
*Let’s be bold like David. Don’t let the devil tell you that you can’t do it. You can be a champion for Jesus Christ!
*I think of the Christians who are suffering for Jesus around the world today. According to Release International, 250 million Christians will face persecution this year. (6)
*Several years ago our International Mission Board reported the story of a former Muslim from South Asia who has suffered for the Lord. They changed his name to Lamak for security reasons. He was born into a wealthy and powerful Muslim family, but Lamak turned his life over to Jesus, while he was working in Singapore.
*When he went home 4 years later, Lamak took the risk of sharing Jesus with his family. His father-in-law was so enraged he had Lamak strapped to a chair, and used live electric wires to force him to renounce Jesus. But this young man refused to deny Christ.
*Today he has scars on his arms from the torture, but he uses these scars to share his testimony with other people. They ask Lamak about his scars, and he tells them about Jesus!
*Lamak has also worked with our short-term missions workers. At the time of the story, he had helped plant 32 churches and had baptized 500 Muslim believers. (7)
*Lamak is a giant-killer. He is taking a bold stand for Jesus Christ. And that’s what we should do, starting right here at home, especially when we think about the other scars, the scars we will see one day in Heaven, the scars that Jesus carries because He died for us.
Conclu:
*Christian, be a giant-killer. Be a champion for Jesus Christ. Just like David, you can do it, because of what God has done for you.
1. Church Leaders Intelligence Report - 03.07.2007
2. In Other Words April 2007_1 (IN OTHER WORDS... began in 1991 and is produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry, Senior Pastor of the Westgate Memorial Baptist Church in Beaumont, Texas. 6130 Barrington ~ Beaumont, Texas 77706 (800) 553-4697 www.iows.net)
3. The Barna Update - Nov. 3, 2003
4. Adapted from Baptist Press article by Erin Roach, posted online April 18, 2007
5. Adapted from SermonCentral sermon: “The Purpose of It All” by Rodney Buchanan - Acts 13:44-48 - Sept. 5, 2004
6. Church Leaders Intelligence Report - 02.07.2007
7. IMB Lottie Moon illustrations - 2004
