A Vision or a Cause
Pastor Donny Granberry
Good Morning, if you are our guest, welcome to Central and thank you for worshipping with us today.
To our church family, welcome to the Lord’s house as we gather together today and give praise and adoration to the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s.
Let’s take our bibles and make our profession together.
This morning, I want to take my initial scripture reading from a text in the bible that most of you have heard many times before.
This morning I want to take a look at the difference between a vision and a cause.
1 Samuel 17:20-26, 29
20 And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. 22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. 23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.
24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.
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?
29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
Reproach – a cause or occasion of blame, discredit, or disgrace.
When David was sent from the house of his father, Jesse, he was not sent to go out and fight against Goliath, he was sent to take some corn, bread and cheese to his brothers and their captains and to see how the battle was going.
There is no way a father would send his teenage son to fight in a campaign such as this, much less to fight the champion of the Philistine army one on one.
In the chapter previous to this, (1 Samuel 16) we read where David was chosen by God and anointed by Samuel to become the king over Israel.
Can you imagine David, leaving his fathers house and returning to his duties as a shepherd after the prophet of God anointed him to be king over Israel.
I am sure that he was seeking God, and a vision was being birthed in his spirit of how to lead Israel.
Could I submit to you this morning that Goliath was not a part of his vision?
When he gets to the front line of the battle, something begins to stir within him as Goliath comes out and defies the armies of God.
Something stirs in his spirit that says; say what you want about me, but when you defy God, that’s it.
David asks the army, not if there is a battle plan, neither if there is a vision, he states, “Is there not a cause!”
You see, you and I were born, not with just a vision, but we were born for a cause.
Our connection to the world is that same cause, and that cause is a Kingdom cause for the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.
There is a difference between a vision and a cause.
• A vision is often personal, but a cause is greater than any one person and bigger than any one church.
• People generally will not die for a vision, yet they die for a cause everyday around the world.
• A vision is something you possess, but a cause possesses you.
• A vision leaves you with options, but a cause leaves you with no choice, in season and out of season.
• You can ignore a vision but you can’t ignore a cause.
• Generally, you can change a vision but the cause never changes.
• A vision is linked to a lifetime, but a cause is eternal.
• A vision will generate excitement, but a cause generates power.
• If you will live for the cause of Christ, He will breathe power into your vision.
• Your vision is only as powerful as the cause it is attached to.
Church, it is important that we have a vision; the word of God tells us that without a vision the people perish.
Yet we need more than just a vision, we must remember we have a cause.
ILLUSTRATION
On April 21, 1845 a Texas Army, who had been running from the Mexican Army since the defeat of the Alamo, came upon the Mexican Army led by Santa Anna just a few miles from here at Lynch’s Ferry, now called Lynchburg Ferry.
General Sam Houston ordered that Vince’s Bridge be blown up leaving no way of escape for the Mexican Army, or the Texas Army.
It was Victory or Death.
They had a cause.
As they went into battle they cried out, “Remember the Alamo” as they sought to defeat the foes of the Alamo.
In that battle, 630 Mexican soldiers were killed and 730 taken prisoner. Only 9 Texans were killed.
Why were the results so lopsided? Was it training or experience?
No, they had a cause.
A. Salvation – The Cause of Christ
Can I submit to you that when Jesus left the splendors of Heaven and came to earth, it was not for a vision, but a cause?
The thief had come to kill, steal and destroy, but He was coming to give life.
John 18:37 KJV
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.
Galatians 4:4-7 KJV
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
A servant has no rights, but he has made us to be sons, and heir of God through His redemptive work on the cross.
ILLUSTRATION
This past Thursday evening we had the memorial service for Rev. Crawford C. Swaim here at Central.
Bro. Swaim was a soul winner for the Lord.
All of his life was spent not just preaching the word, but he would share Jesus with anyone he came in contact with.
He felt that everyone deserved the chance to hear about Christ, and that he was obligated as a Christian to tell others about him.
This past weekend, just before he left this world and went to heaven he looked outside the window from his bed in the ICU room, into the hallway and saw people out in the hallway.
He asked his granddaughter Julie, do those people know Jesus, then someone needs to tell them about Jesus.
Bro. Swaim had a cause.
2. The Holy Spirit - Gives Us A Cause
At the turn of the century there was a great revival that began at an old livery barn and mercantile store located at 314 Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California.
From this revival, Pentecost was re-birthed in America.
On April 13, 1914, a group of 300 reformed Baptist, Methodist, Holiness, and many others came together in Hot Springs, Arkansas, not because of a vision, but for a cause.
They began a movement that was birthed to protect the integrity of Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and started a fellowship of believers that they named the General Council of the Assemblies of God.
Since that day in April, 1914, to today the Assemblies of God have grown from 300 to over 56 million.
No other group or fellowship has grown in such mass numbers in such a short time.
Could I submit to you this morning that the success of the Assemblies of God has not come from a vision, but people working together for a cause?
Central, can I challenge you this morning:
• As long as there is a soul in this world who does not know Jesus as their personal Savior, we have a cause.
• As long as there are people who are suffering with sickness and disease, we have a cause.
• As long as there are homes and families being destroyed by the works of the enemy, we have a cause.
• As long as there are children being neglected, abused, abandoned and aborted, we have a cause.
• AS long as there are people around this world who have not heard of the name of Jesus, we have a cause.
• As long as there is life, breath, and strength within us, we have a cause.
• Until the trumpet sounds, and the dead in Christ rise first, and then we which are alive and remain are caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, we have a cause.
