Courageousness through Weakness
Pastor Paddick Van Zyl
14-07-2020
Sermon Outline
Scripture Reference:
1st Samuel 17 verses 20 to 54
Key verse : 45-47
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.” NKJV
Theme:
Not by our might or power but by the anointing and power of the Lord do we gain victory.
Introduction:
The following true event was noted by Paul Harvey of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate:
"One summer morning as Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window, and saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his Andover, Ohio, home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared with a roar underneath a road and then emptied into the main culvert. Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the foundering child. Then he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Blankenship surfaced and was able to grab the child's arm. They tumbled end over end. Within about three feet of the yawning culvert, Ray's free hand felt something--possibly a rock-- protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away. "If I can just hang on until help comes," he thought. He did better than that. By the time fire-department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock. On April 12, 1989, Ray Blankenship was awarded the Coast Guard's Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting, for this selfless person was at even greater risk to himself than most people knew. Ray Blankenship can't swim."
Would you agree that Ray was a champion, a hero?
Sermon message:
You will face a situation today, where you will need to be victorious. We all meet situations in life where we can do nothing in our own power or strength to overcome. The Israelites faced just such a situation. Goliath and the Philistines were ready to annihilate them.
Goliath = champion : someone who fights on behalf of another
Goliath was huge, larger than life, a real problem. A modern day terminator. No one was brave enough to face him let alone fight and conquer him. Positive thinking was not going to do it. What the Israelites needed was a saviour. God did not come down from heaven, He did not send them an angel to fight for them. He sends them a saviour in the form of David, a young boy with no weapons but a sling shot.
David was weak and tiny and he gained victory over Goliath for the Isrealites because of his weakness not in spite of it. Because it appeared to Goliath as such a laughable idea to send David to him, he let down his guard and became over confident. David knew full well that he was no match against this giant , in his own power, strength or ability. He knew and acknowledged that he needed God's power and ability. Goliath was over confident in his own ability but David was confident in his God, who saved him from the bear and lion (1 Samuel 17:34-36).
By trusting God in the past, he knew God would come through for him now.
Jesus is the real champion and David points to Him - David stood in the gap for Israel like Jesus took our place in death. David was in the valley of the shadow of death while Jesus went right into death for us. David saved his people at the risk of his own life while Jesus saved us at the cost of His own life.
What Goliath are you facing? Debt; cancer; divorce; no income; wayward children...? You too need a Savior.
What is your ultimate fear, nightmare? Loss of health, loss of income, loss of life? Jesus faced the ultimate fear - being alienated from God the Father. Jesus took the ultimate nightmare on the cross - being lost, having His Father's face turned away from Him. He took all of that for us. Jesus experienced fear and terror in the garden and on the cross. He is a God who understands what we go through (Hebrews 4:15). He is our advocate. Jesus became our champion, taking on the wrath of God, for us, so we can have victory, now in this life, on this side of eternity.
Closing:
In Closing, when we face a Goliath in life, when we are scared and fearful, what do we need to remember?
That Jesus our champion, already fought and won this battle on our behalf. That we need to give God the glory and praise because when we do, we get the victory. It was through David's weakness that he was courageous. He trusted in God's anointing and power and ability and not his own.
When we trust God and give Him glory and praise and worship then He gives us the victory over the situation that we face.
Amen.
End Notes:
Bible Gateway
New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Illustration: Paul Harvey, Los Angeles Times Syndicate. Sermon Illustrations http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/courage.htm
