Barbara Stevenson
Remarks for the Pastor’s Anniversary
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Random House Dictionary defines the word Warrior in two ways; the first definition refers to "a person engaged or experienced in warfare." The second is a figurative use of the word warrior and refers to it as "a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics." But today, I am going to take on a literary license and expand the definition to mean a person who shows or has shown great courage, strength and faith in God to face-down and conquer an enemy.
My talk today draws on the scriptures 1Sam.17:49
The 17th chapter of l Samuel, tell us of the classic match up between the Israelites and the Philistines. These two peoples were long-standing enemies who showed up often on the field of combat. For them, the contest was always about one thing: which people would serve the other.
According to Jewish history, the tradition was that battles such as that which was fought between the Israelites and the Philistines, were often decided by having each side choose their bravest and strongest warrior. The two men would then meet between the opposing forces and fight to the death. When the contest was ended, the side that lost would become the servants to the victor.
First Samuel 17:8-9 depicts the accounting of what seemed to be in keeping with the tradition of warfare, but there was one big difference -- the Philistine champion was no ordinary soldier! In fact, the Bible tells us that he was quite and impressive piece of humanity!
This warrior’s stats, according to 1 Samuel 17:4-7 was that he was about 9', 9" tall, v. 4. He wore armor that weighed approximately 175 lbs., v. 5. He carried a spear that was like a long, heavy weaver's beam that weighed 17 lbs, with a spearhead that weighed in at 15 lbs., v. 7. This was no ordinary soldier! Verses 5-6 tell us that this man was covered from head to toe in armor that was made of solid brass. Imagine this 10 foot dude stepping down the mountain across the Valley just as the sun began to climb high against the Palestinian sky. And as the sun hit that brass, he must have looked like some kind of solid gold monster.
Every day for 40 days Goliath appeared before the armies of Israel and mocked them, cursed their God and challenged them to send someone out to fight him, verses 10, 16. He did this every morning and every evening for forty days!
A young man named David, who had already been hand picked by the Lord to be the next king of Israel (1 Sam. 16) was sent by his father Jesse to carry supplies to David's brothers, who were fighting in Saul's army, v. 12-18. When David arrives at the place of battle, he is speaking with his brothers when, all of a sudden, Goliath makes one of his twice daily appearances and repeats his challenge and his taunts. This time, things were going to be just a little bit different!
Like always, the soldiers still panicked and reacted in terror, v. 24; but this time, Goliath and his threats were heard by a young man who believed God!
David took certain steps in setting this situation right that are a clear portrait of the walk of faith that should be exhibited in every pastor’s life. In this lesson from the "Faith Files", David shows us what faith does when faith is faced with giants, battles and obstacles.
David heard the challenge and the blasphemies of Goliath, and when he heard that Saul was going to richly bless the man who defeated this giant, David made up his mind that he was going to be that man.
For Israel, Goliath represented a stumbling block, he was standing in the way of God's business and he had to go! David's faith would not allow him to stand idly by while Goliath defied the God of Heaven!
There is a lesson in this, when the Lord commissions a leader, He places His Spirit within his heart. When one of life's giants appears in a leaders view, there rises up within the leader’s heart a desire to see that Giant fall! There may be those that say the giant is too strong, or that you are unable to overcome it, but while the world and the faithless cry, "God can't!", there is One in your heart Who rises up and declares with all the force He possesses, "God can, God can!"
Pastor Collins, I know you know faith is not content to let the devil, the world, or the obstacles that hinder the work of the Lord, win the battles of life! Faith demands victory over these things.
Therefore we can say Faith reacts:
· Faith reacts by standing when a pagan king says "Bow!", Daniel 3.
· Faith reacts by praying when a pagan king says, "Don't", Daniel 6.
· Faith reacts by preparing for a flood when it has never rained, Genesis 6.
· Faith reacts by letting down ones nets believing solely on the word of Jesus, even when you have fished all night and caught nothing, Luke 5:4-8.
What I am saying is that faith looks at an obstacle and sees an opportunity to be victorious.
As we look deeper into this account, David made up his mind that Goliath had to die, v. 32. When David made this statement, he is immediately met with opposition. First, his brother, tells him that he is just there to show off, to see and be seen, v. 28. Then, when King Saul hears of David's plan, he tells David, that it can't be done because the King surmised that David was just a kid and Goliath was a real man and a warrior, v. 33. However, David did not allow the naysayers to dissuade him from what his heart told him must be done.
Faith had reacted within David and he resolved to do something about the giant!
As a Pastor’s faith reacts and resolves to simply believe God by faith, there will always be that crowd who will boldly say that you can't do it! They'll talk about you behind your back, and sometimes to your face, and say things like, "Who does he think he is?”, or "You know you can't do that!” They might also say things like -- “ You don’t have the money, or the education, or the training."; or "He’s too young, to think he can just follow God like that."
Pastor, don't let that crowd get to you! They tried with David. They even tried with Jesus Christ, John 7:3-6. David prevailed by faith! Jesus prevailed by faith! And you can prevail by faith! When true faith makes up its mind, it cannot be stopped short of victory, 1 John 5:4. You'll always have the can't and the canters, but true faith will win the victory.
When David heard Saul’s objections about his going to do battle with the giant, David began to remember some things the Lord had done for him in his past. I imagine that as David stood and accessed his mind’s file cabinet of the times; he opened the drawer and thumbed through the files until he comes to the letter "G". He opened that file, looking for some information on defeating giants. But, he found the file empty. I would image that if David had been in the computer age, he might have even searched the entire internet to make sure he had all the information needed to face his battle. But putting all that research aside, David remembered a day when a wild lion came out of the forest and attacked his sheep.
David scrolled back through the files until his eyes landed on "L". He opened this file and read: "A lion took a lamb out of the flock: And I went after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. And, the LORD delivered me out of the paw of the lion!" Then, David saw written, "Note to self: Remember, when facing lions, trust God. He always gives the victory! a smile crossed his lips as he remembered a time when a bear came out of the forest and attacked the flock. So, David went to the front of the files to a file marked with the letter "B". He read, "A bear took a lamb out of the flock: And I went after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. And, the LORD delivered me out of the paw of the bear", "Note to self: Remember, when facing bears, trust God. He always gives the victory!
David shared all this information with Saul and said, "Oh by the way, I had better write a little note to remind me of something." he again scrolled back pulled out a folder marked with the letter "G" and wrote, "A giant came down a mountainside one day and attacked the flock of God. I went after him and smote him and delivered the people of God out of his hand. When he arose against me, I buried a stone in his head and then I cut off his head with his own sword. And the Lord delivered me out of the hand of the Philistine. " "Note to self: Remember, when facing giants, trust God. He always gives the victory!
David was determined to defeat Goliath because he was a shepherd of a flock, he was responsible for protecting sheep. When David saw the people being attacked by Goliath, he reacted with the heart of a shepherd.
To you Pastor, let me say that God is still the same God Who stepped out from behind the curtain of nowhere onto the stage of nothing and spoke everything into existence! He is still the same God Who hung the stars in their sockets and placed the planets in their orbits. He still owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He is still the same God Who saved you by grace when you exercised that little mustard seed sized grain of faith. He is still the One Who met that need for you. He is still the One Who has never failed you to this point.
So, today, I say to you, that with God, you are the great warrior, courageous and grounded in the faith and strength of the Almighty. Go forth and conquer .
