Illus: If any of you watch professional boxing, you know that the weight of the boxers has to be within a few pounds, or they are not allowed to fight each other. They would not think of putting a "feather" weight, weighing just a little more than a hundred pounds, in the ring with a "heavy" weight who might weigh two hundred and thirty pounds.
There is an obvious reason for this. If a big fellow hit a little boxer with all his might, he would knock the little fellow through the ropes.
When David fought Goliath, there was a huge weight and height difference. It is believed that David was probably approximately five feet tall, and Goliath was probably over nine feet tall. With the height difference, you can imagine also the difference in the weight.
Illus: If Las Vegas was laying odds on that match, they would have given David one chance in a hundred million, of winning that fight.
But, there is something that the Las Vegas crowd does not know. That is, that the God who dwelt in David, was bigger than any giant in the land. In fact, He is more powerful than any force on earth. With God on David's side, the odds were 100% in David's favor.
Let’s take a look at this battle between David and Goliath. The Bible tells us that when David arrived at the battle scene, the Philistine army had defied the armies of the living God, and sent out Goliath, their champion.
Look at verse 24, "And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man,(Goliath) fled from him, and were sore afraid." Goliath probably got a thrill at seeing the men of Israel run away.
Saul saw how frightened his soldiers were, so he offered some incentive, hoping someone would go out and stand up to Goliath.
In verse 25 we read, "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."
All of the soldiers heard about the enticements, but there was no line waiting to see who would be first to take on this almost ten foot giant. Why? Because they were thinking, "What good are all the things that the king has to offer, if you aren't alive to enjoy them?"
The Bible tells us about the motive David had for facing Goliath. It was the reputation of God he was defending, not a desire for King Saul’s riches, or his daughter.
In verse 26 we read, "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."
When David was trying to find out what was being done to stop that uncircumcised Philistine, David's oldest Brother, Eliab, got angry at David and insulted him. Look at the terrible things that David was being accused of, because he felt that something should be done to stop Goliath’s big mouth.
Look at what Eliab said in verse 28, "...Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.”
He accused David of three things:
• “I know thy pride.” (Trying to be a big shot!)
• “And the naugtiness of thine heart.” (His heart was evil)
• “For thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.” (He was nosy)
It must have grieved David’s heart to be accused of these things.
In verse 29, David answered for his concern, "...IS THERE NOT A CAUSE?” Yes, any time the name of God is being disgraced, it should be a cause for concern to every child of God, and something should be done!
In this age, we need to ask ourselves, "Is there not a cause?", when...
• God is being mocked
• God’s church is being made a mockery of on television
• God's name is being blasphemed
• God's Word is being twisted, and replaced with translations that leave out complete passages of the Bible
• God's house is being neglected
Isn’t this a time when the dedicated soldiers of God should take a stand for the God they profess to love and serve? SURE IT IS!
David told Eliab, “…IS THERE NOT A CAUSE?” That is, shouldn’t somebody that sees what is going on, speak up and do something?
The Israelite soldiers ran and hid like scared rabbits. Only one young shepherd boy was concerned enough to do something about it. David is what we call an EAGLE CHRISTIAN.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THAT? Before we show you that, let me show you what kind of bird he was not!
First, Let us consider...
I. THE ORDINARY BIRDS
A. MANY CHRISTIANS ARE LIKE SPARROWS
Sparrows are often referred to as "no harm” birds. They represent the multitudes of Christians who "perch" in church pews each week. About the only thing they ever do for the Lord is “perch” on some church pew. They just go through life causing the least amount of ripples they can possibly cause.
I am a bird watcher, and I see some sparrows in this congregation.
Listen, none of us should set out to make "waves" when there is no need. But, the fact is, you and I CANNOT serve God the way we are supposed to, and not cause some TIDAL WAVES from time to time.
Illus: The apostles, and the Lord, did not suffer because they had rotten personalities. They suffered because they saw CAUSES that they had to SPEAK OUT IN BEHALF OF, regardless of the consequences.
David, was not a sparrow Christian. He heard that giant defy the armies of the living God of Israel, and he knew something had to be done, and if no one else would - HE WOULD!
If David had been a sparrow Christian, he would not have made a chirp. But you will never find an EAGLE CHRISTIAN hiding in the bushes. David was an EAGLE CHRISTIAN!
B. MANY CHRISTIANS ARE LIKE HUMMINGBIRDS
These little birds never fly high, and these little birds are different from other birds:
(1) They can fly FORWARD, AND they can fly BACKWARD
(2) They also can HOVER IN ONE SPOT in mid air
As you watch them, you never know what to expect of them. You do not know if they are going to GO FORWARD, BACKWARD, OR JUST STAND STILL.
Listen, I am a bird watcher, and I see some hummingbirds in this flock. Some Christians are like those little birds, in that you never know what they stand for. They might be FOR SOMETHING, OR AGAINST IT, but you never know for sure what direction they will fly in.
Illus: You never hear them take a stand AGAINST ABORTION, HOMOSEXUALITY, PRE-MARITAL SEX, HOLLYWOOD, or BIBLE TRANSLATIONS no matter how bad they might be.
You just do not know where they are coming from, or where they are going when it comes to the issues of sin that confront us today.
Some need to quit being a HUMMINGBIRD CHRISTIAN, and LEARN TO TAKE A STAND! No one wondered about where David stood! He was definitely NOT a HUMMINGBIRD CHRISTIAN. He was not afraid to open his mouth and take a stand for God.
David made it clear that for him:
• There was no sitting still
• There was no backing up
David was an "EAGLE" Christian.
He knew someone had to go FORWARD, and do something about that big RUDE DUDE who was blaspheming the God he loved.
What are you doing about those today who blaspheme the name of the God you love?
C. MANY CHRISTIANS ARE LIKE MOCKINGBIRDS
When Goliath defied the God of Israel, probably one of those soldiers headed for cover, and all the rest that saw him head for cover, MOCKED (copied) him, and did the same.
I am a bird watcher, and I see some mockingbirds in this flock.
One of the tragedies among Christians today, is that the church is MOCKING (copying) WHATEVER THE LOST WORLD IS DOING.
Let me show you at least TWO evidences of this.
(1) WE SEE IT IN OUR SINGING
You can go into some of these hip-swinging churches, and see that they are just like the local night clubs. Many of these churches are imitating the lost world.
David was NOT a MOCKINGBIRD Christian. He did not copy those around him. He did not run and hide. He made a stand for something that had to be done.
Pastors and Christians all over America need to take a prayerful look at their music programs, and see which is being exalted; Jesus or the flesh!
There is a reason today that people are leaving churches talking about the SINGER, not what they are singing about. Yes, we have many today that are imitating the lost world in their singing.
(2) WE SEE IT IN OUR DRESS CODE
Those of you who were teenagers in the 50’s, can remember when there was a day when you could identify Christians by the way they dressed. Why? They had enough respect for God's house to wear their very best when they went to church.
Today people do not respect themselves, much less God's house.
Illus: Some of you are too young to remember this, but not to many decades ago, people had what they called CHURCH CLOTHES. When they spoke of their church clothes, they were speaking of the best clothes they had.
David was no mockingbird Christian. He was an EAGLE Christian. He did not care if the rest of the soldiers were acting like cowards. He felt something had to be done. He would "soar" alone if that was the way it had to be!
D. MANY CHRISTIANS ARE LIKE WOODPECKERS
This crowd KNOCKS everything they can find to knock in the church. They can find more bad things to talk about than you and I could imagine.
David could have gone all over the place putting down those cowards who ran, and refused to fight. But he realized that unless he was willing to do something himself, he was no better than they were.
David was an EAGLE Christian. He was too busy doing something to stop Goliath, to have time to talk bad about others.
E. SOME ARE PIGEON CHRISTIANS
Did you know that pigeons are different from a lot of other birds? Other birds will go out and scrape and dig for food. Pigeons want somebody else to do all that, and they will flock in by the hundreds wanting someone to feed them.
The only spiritual food that some Christians get, is when they come to church and God’s man has to spoon feed them, because they are to lazy to sit down during the week and feed themselves.
To hear them talk, they are so busy that they do not have time to study the Word of God.
Illus: Have you noticed that if you ask anyone if they have been busy, they have a standard answer. They say, “Yea man! I have been busy all day long.” You probably could take everything they did that day, and do it in a hour.
I am waiting to hear someone be asked that question, and hear a person that has the integrity to say, “No man! I really have not done that much today!”
But these pigeon Christians are so lazy that they have to be spoon fed the Word of God, and if someone did not do that, they would starve spiritually.
We could go on and on, comparing Christians to birds. These are only EXAMPLES of a few of THE ORDINARY BIRDS we see each day. But, before we close, let us look at...
II. THE EXTRAORDINARY BIRD
The extraordinary bird is the eagle.
• The eagle is the king of the birds
• What the lion is to the animal world, the eagle is to the bird kingdom
• No other bird compares with the eagle in superiority or power
This is why we say that David was an EAGLE CHRISTIAN.
Let’s look at some of the characteristics of an eagle, to see what an EAGLE Christian is.
A. THE "EAGLE" CHRISTIAN IS KNOWN FOR HIS SWIFTNESS
In Deut. 28:49, we read of the speed with which Israel's enemies would come from afar and attack them. "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, AS SWIFT AS THE EAGLE FLIETH..."
We have Christians who have been saying, "I am going to do something for the Lord." They have been saying this for years. Well, it is time to do it! If you don't, it will soon be too late.
Illus: Someone said,
• Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge.
• If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour.
• What will you do with this priceless treasure? Remember, you must use it, as it is given only once. Once wasted you cannot get it back.
—unknown
Some folks refer to “Spare Time”. Listen, there is not a person here who has any spare time. Not a person in this congregation can afford to waste one day of his life. What you are going to do, you need to do SWIFTLY because your life, and opportunities to do those things for Christ, are SWIFTLY PASSING AWAY.
The eagle Christian is aware of that!
B. THE "EAGLE" CHRISTIAN IS KNOWN FOR HIS DESIRE TO SIT "IN HIGH PLACES"
The eagle builds his nest in the clefts of the rock.
In Job 39:27-28, we read, "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place."
While the SPARROWS, HUMMINGBIRDS, MOCKING BIRDS, AND WOODPECKERS are content with the TREE BRANCHES, the EAGLE seeks a place as close to heaven as it can get!
EAGLE CHRISTIANS enjoy things in the Christian life that the rest of the Christians are missing.
Isaiah 40:31 states it so clearly, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
C. THE EAGLE CHRISTIAN IS KNOWN FOR HIS RISING ABOVE THE STORMS OF LIFE
We look at people who have MONEY, FAME AND MATERIAL GAIN, and we often wish that we could be like them.
WHY DO WE WISH WE COULD BE LIKE THEM? Because they look like they do not have a trial in this world.
But let me clue you in on something; every one of them has as many trials as we do, if not more. EVERYONE!
Some of the people we admire and envy so much have their own problems.
• They are always visiting the psychiatrist because they do not know how to deal with their problems
• Every day, they are turning to drugs and alcohol just to make it through another day
If they would only surrender their lives fully to God, they could rise above the storms, and find the peace of God that passeth all understanding.
For example, David came to his home to find:
• It was burned to ashes
• His family and the families of his friends, were made captives
• His own men were blaming him for the catastrophe, and were threatening to stone him to death
Look what David did. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 30:6, "David encouraged himself in the Lord."
Look at what this Eagle Christian does with his problems. He simply soars up out of their reach.
As we get nearer to God, Satan and our enemies cannot reach us.
Psalm 91:1, we read, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide unto the shadow of the Almighty."
Conclusion:
There aren't as many eagles in the world today as there were in ancient times. Sad to say, there are not as many EAGLE Christians as there once was.
One of the great needs in our churches today is for more EAGLE CHRISTIANS. We have too many...
• SPARROW CHRISTIANS
• HUMMINGBIRD CHRISTIANS
• MOCKINGBIRD CHRISTIANS
• WOODPECKER CHRISTIANS, and yes, even some BUZZARDS
We need to see more EAGLE CHRISTIANS, like David, who can see the mess this country is in, and say, "Something needs to be done about this, and if no one else will, Lord, I will do it!" And then step out and do it!
I. THE ORDINARY BIRDS
II. THE EXTRAORDINARY BIRDS
