The Giant Will Fall - Part II
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“Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.” — I Samuel 17:45
Paul uses the terms in Him, in whom, and in Christ a hundred and seventy times in his fourteen epistles, and they always point to what Christ did at Calvary’s cross. Whenever you place your faith there and leave it there, the Holy Spirit will go to work for you to give you victory in your heart and in your life. And it’s the only way that victory can be obtained; it cannot be obtained any other way.
When Cain was born, Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Gen. 4:1). Evidently, she didn’t realize that it was impossible for fallen man to bring forth the promised redeemer, or that God could not use anything that man makes. He can’t do it. He can only use what He fathers, what He develops. That’s why you can come up with any scheme that you want, and the church has a bagful of them—do this, do that, do the other. The big thing now is fasting, if you’ll fast twenty-one days, and fasting is scriptural, it will bless you and help you, but it won’t give you victory over sin. It’s like trying to use a hammer for a handsaw; it won’t work.
The Lion And The Bear
“And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren” (I Sam. 17:17).
Why wasn’t David also in the army? He wasn’t old enough. In those days, the fighting men of Israel were between the ages of twenty and fifty years old. David was probably about sixteen or seventeen. It’s amazing how God can use what no one else pays any attention to. Most saw David as just a shepherd boy. But David had more going for him than his own family realized. It seems as though even Jesse didn’t know that in David’s room was a throw rug made from the hide of a bear. Glory to God! Or that David had another big rug on his wall made from the hide of a lion. Hallelujah!
Before coming to face the giant, the Scripture says that David, while tending his father’s sheep, killed a lion and a bear that had come to take a lamb from the flock. There is a great spiritual lesson here. Before the outward foe can be defeated, and I speak of the Philistine, the inward foe—the lion and the bear—must be defeated. If we are still struggling with the inward, we will never defeat the outward. We must never forget this. The inward foe could probably be summed up in one word: self. We like to think of it as other things, but if we trace it to the source, it will conclude, I think, in self. The question may well be asked, how can the lion and the bear be figured as self? If self is in its rightful place, that is, in Christ, then the lion and the bear will not be difficult at all. It is what we do with self that decides the issue.
Spiritually speaking, have you killed a bear? Have you killed a lion? To get ready for the giants, you’ve first got to kill the bear and kill the lion. If you’re thinking, “I don’t know if I’m ready for that, Brother Swaggart.” Well, you better get ready for it.
So David goes to the front, to his brothers, but they don’t have time for him.
“What are you doing here?” they ask him. “Why are you here?” Listen, many times, the greatest hindrance to your living for God will be your own friends and relatives. They’ll give you fits.
The brothers asked David, “What are you doing here, anyway?”
He said, “Well, I’ve come to bring you some food. Our father sent it to you.”
“No,” they said. “You came here to see what we’re doing and how this giant is mocking us. That’s why you’re here.”
David said, “Well, I didn’t come for that reason, but I am here, and I think I can do something about it.” Glory to God. David said, “I think I can do something about it.”
We don’t have to take it. You can do something about it. I said you can do something about it. I’m encouraging you—you have the privilege of changing things. Just the other day a lady said to us, “I pray that you all get it right, because if the United States of America hurts, then we in (whatever country she lived in)—we hurt too. It may make some folk angry for me to say this, but I’m going to say it anyway: the whole world, in a sense, looks to the United States. I’ve traveled all over the world, so I know what I’m talking about—they look to America, and I’ll tell you why: because of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is in the hearts and the lives of the people all over this nation.
Wrong Armor
One of David’s brothers said, “Well, just what are you going to do?”
David said, “I’m going to go out there and talk to that giant. He’s been coming out every day now for weeks asking if anybody will come up and fight him, and whoever wins will be the victor for the whole nation.”
“You’re going to do what?” they said.
“Well, he’s asking for somebody to come fight him,” David said, “and I’m as good as any.”
His brothers said, “Well, first we might better take you to Saul.”
Saul was head and shoulders taller than any other man in Israel, but he didn’t go out there and fight Goliath. Even so, Saul told David, “Use my armor.”
David gets a little of that armor on and says, “I can’t use this stuff.” David was not going to fight this giant in the normal manner. The problem we have presently with the modern church, is that it is loaded down with Saul’s armor—the ways of the world. In fact, most if not all modern church growth programs are borrowed from the world, which means that the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with them.
Five Stones
David said, “I’m going out there just like this, with my sling,” and he picked up five smooth stones. Why five? Regarding the number, we really have no answer to that, because the Scripture is silent. However, believing everything that David did at this juncture was appointed by the Holy Spirit, it’s quite possible that the Lord wanted him to choose five stones because the number five is the number of grace. In fact, Jesus has five names: “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, and The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).
Physical Vs. Spiritual
Goliath stood possibly over nine feet tall, which automatically guaranteed him victory in the physical sense. In the spiritual sense, you are facing powers of darkness, demon powers designed to destroy you, which, in the natural, you cannot hope to defeat. And yet, the modern church seems to little understand this. That’s the reason the world of psychology is a joke. It has no answer for the child of God, or anyone else for that matter. Money cannot solve your problem. Science cannot solve your problem. Education cannot solve your problem.
You love God, but there’s a giant in your life that’s hurting you and causing you problems. You’ve tried this and that, and you still haven’t gained victory over it. I want that to sink in: it’s a giant. You cannot defeat it on your own. The giant in your life will go down in only one way, and that’s by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Faith Vs. Unbelief
David stood in front of the entire army of Israel. I don’t know how many thousands there were, but probably tens of thousands. On the other side of the valley were tens of thousands of Philistines with their spears and their swords at the ready, and Goliath bellowing out, “Send me out a man to fight.” And, David said, “I’m the man.”
The Scripture says, “His sling was in his hand.” The sling represented David’s faith. “And he drew near to the Philistine,” faith always draws near to its problem. Unbelief runs away, as Israel had been doing, but faith draws near as David did.
And David took out that one stone—one smooth stone; it doesn’t take the Lord much. Some of you have spent all kinds of money on all kinds of things, and it hasn’t helped. It only took the Lord one stone—that’s all it took. David put it in that sling and began to whirl it. But you’ve got to remember, that was a Holy Ghost stone. Praise the Lord!
And that stone hit Goliath right in the middle of his head—a symbol of what Jesus would do to the devil at Calvary’s cross. When Adam and Eve fell, God said, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Jesus bruised the head of Satan.
Victory
“So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David” (I Sam. 17:50).
David drew Goliath’s own sword and cut the head off of that giant and stood on top of him. You don’t need a giant standing on you, you need to stand on top of the giant.
Let me ask you a question: Are you standing on Goliath, or is he standing on you? It is the plan of God for every believer to overcome every Goliath, and to stand fully victorious on that prostrate enemy. That’s where you are intended to be and that’s where you can be, but only by the power of the cross.
If there’s a giant in your life, pray this prayer with me and believe it with all of your heart that victory is going to be yours. That giant will fall, and today is the day. Whatever your bondage might be, the Lord will set you free.
Dear God in heaven, I come to You in the name of Jesus. I’m sorry for my sins, my many failures. Please forgive me and cleanse me with Your precious blood from all unrighteousness. With my mouth, I confess victory in Jesus. Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. In my heart, I believe, that God raised Jesus from the dead, and He is alive, and He is victorious over the world, the flesh, and the devil. And because He lives, I shall live also. And at this moment, the giant has fallen, and I am free. I am free, in the name of Jesus, I am free!
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