You Are Still Strong: The Giant Doesn't Get To Talk

Well, I had planned on saying I wasn’t going to keep you long because we have a lot planned. But then my wife said, take your time, because there’s a lot of things to set up. So we’re not sure exactly what’s going to happen here, but I’m really grateful, but I’m not planning on talking for too long. I heard there’s something about pie. So we’re gonna just get on with it. But before we do that, I’ve got one thing that I want to share with you. If you don’t know this, you’ve been like living under a large rock, but the election is in nine days. If you don’t know that, I envy you. But most people should know that. It’s Tuesday, November 5th, so that’s a week from this coming Tuesday. And what I wanted to tell you is that we’re having a special service that night at 7 p.m. And so what’s gonna happen is we’re gonna do worship. I’m gonna share a little bit and we’re gonna receive communion.

And I wanted to take just a minute and talk to the church members here. I know you’ve got a number of guests here this morning. If you’re a guest, it’s just we’d love to have you come. You’re invited to that service. Love to have you be here if you’d like to be here. But I want to talk to the members of the church. And so if this if you’re a member of this church, I want to say this that when it comes to this coming service on Tuesday, a week from this coming Tuesday, I’m not telling you to be here, but I’m almost telling you to be here. I think it’s important that you’re here. And when we’re here, I need you to know this the election the election time will have just ended. And during this 7 to 8 p.m. service, we’re not gonna be watching the election results. We’re not gonna be sneaking peeks at our phones. And you won’t need to because the service is just 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. So there’s still plenty of time for you to go home and like turn on the news and get the little dopamine hit that comes with watching the numbers click up.

But I think it’s important, and I’m asking you, honestly, asking you to be here because I think it’s important for us. What I want is for us as a church family to offer the first fruits of this next season, whatever this next season is, to him. And I want us to remind ourselves and to express to God that our discipleship to him is the most important thing. Doesn’t mean other things aren’t important. Other things are important too, but he’s the most important. And so what I want you to do is I want you to mark it down November 5th, 7 p.m., 7, 8 p.m. So you can put it in your phone, put it on your calendar, write it on your hand, tattoo it on your leg, do what you gotta do, but just be here. I will expect to see you Tuesday, November 5th at 7 p.m.

You Are Still Strong

Okay, so we are in the final week of a series that I have entitled You Are Still Strong. You are still strong. Why don’t you turn to your neighbor one final time in the series? Turn to your neighbor and say that. You are still still strong. And I feel this message in my bones, so I’m excited to just get to it. 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 26, it says this.

David asked the men standing near him, what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

David and Goliath, if you don’t know, I’m sure I’m sure you probably all know. It’s a beloved story in scripture, and if you’re unfamiliar with it, the backstory is this: that God has a people, God has always had a people. God has a people, and they’re the Israelites, and they’re at war with these people known as the Philistines. And the Philistines have this champion, his name is Goliath, and Goliath is a giant. And I don’t mean like in the NFL sense, but like a literal giant. He’s literally a huge person, part person, but he’s huge. And for 40 days, what’s happened is in 40 days, Goliath he comes out and he’s taunting God’s people, mocking God’s people, sarcastically commenting and threatening God’s people. And what he’s doing is he’s challenging someone to come and fight him.

And in this scene, there’s this young boy. His name is David, and we think he was probably like a middle, 15, middle aged teenager. We know that he was too young for the military, and he was there because he was bringing food to all his brothers who were in the military. And so he hears this giant taunting this entire army, and everyone is afraid to challenge this giant. And there’s this whole thing in scripture in this time, known as representative battles. Representative battles are where each side of a battle picks one champion and they fight one on one, and whoever is the winner of that fight wins the whole battle. I have long since joked that we should bring that back to presidents to like presidents of a country want to go to war, and we’re like, that’s cool, y’all do do you, and we just put chain mail on them, give them a give him a sword, and like go nuts. Oh, you’re the winner. But anyways, that’s what’s happening here is that each side is to pick a fighter, and the Philistines have picked Goliath, and the Israelites, no volunteers, no one’s stepping up. And Goliath’s insults are aimed not just at God’s people, but they’re aimed at God Himself. He’s just mocking. For four imagine this, for 40 days, he’s mocking. He’s yelling. He’s mocking. Mock Day just talks, talks, talks, talks.

Finally, this boy, he shows up, teenage boy, and he says, he goes up to the like the army guys and he’s like, Y’all hearing this? None of you fancy army boys are planning on doing anything about the big guy who’s making fun of us? Making fun of God. And so David says, Well, I’ll fight him. And then there’s a little bit of deliberation with King Saul, and eventually he says, All right, you go fight him, David. It’s not like we got any better options. We don’t have any other ideas, so you go and fight him. So David goes and he gathers some stones. David’s weapon of choice is a slingshot. Not like this, but like this. And so he goes to the brook and he gathers some stones and he walks onto the battlefield and starts walking towards Goliath, towards the giant. And then we’ll go to verse 41.

Meanwhile, the Philistine with his shield bearer in front of him kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was a little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome.

The Bible wants you to know that David was handsome. It tells you any chance it gets, it’ll tell you that David is handsome. He was handsome, he knew he was handsome. The ladies loved him, and he loved the ladies. That would turn out to be a significant problem for him later in life. But at this point, he’s just a teenager, but it wants to it wants you to know it’s just so happens to be a handsome teenager.

He was handsome, and he, so this is Goliath, he despised him. Goliath said to David, Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his God.

So Goliath, talking, talking, talking. This is what he’s been doing for 40 days. Talking, talking, talking. And then verse 45. David said to the Philistine, oh wait, wait, wait, verse 44, excuse me.

Come here, he said, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals,

right? Just more talking, more talking, more talking. Finally, he stops talking for a second, and someone else finally says something. Verse 45.

David said to the Philistine, You come against me with a sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcass of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. And he will give all of you into our hands.

The Giant Doesn’t Get to Talk

My title, if you’re taking notes this morning, is this The Giant Doesn’t Get to Talk. The giant doesn’t get to talk. And look, I don’t know what your giant is. Maybe your giant today is like an impossible circumstance. Maybe it’s a maybe it’s an attack from the enemy. Maybe for you, your giant is a giant in the mind. Fear, anger, depression, despair. Like I don’t know what your giant is, but I do know this that your giant doesn’t get to talk. You get to talk. And maybe for the last 40 days, the only one that’s been talking is the giant. But starting right now, he doesn’t get to talk. And because there’s pie, we’re gonna jump right into the points. Here we go. Number one. Slow down, Jordan says, I got more stuff. Don’t worry. Okay.

This is God’s fight

Number one, if you’re taking notes, I want you to write this down. This is God’s fight. This is God’s fight. Look at what David says in verse 47.

All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, I’ve noticed this, that most of the time we don’t choose our battles. Right? Our battles choose us. Goliath chooses us. That’s just a way of life. That you walk into circumstances that you didn’t create. Situations that you didn’t plan for. Situations that you didn’t pray for. Situations that you didn’t expect coming, but here you are in a battle. So the question is not always, how did I get here? The question, the more appropriate question is this what do I do now? Because here we are. I didn’t pick this battle, but I’m in the battle. You can write this down. Even though you didn’t choose your fight, you must choose to fight. Even though you didn’t choose your fight, you must choose to fight.

And I want to tell you this today that even if you’re in a fight, you’re not alone. This is God’s fight. You’re not alone. By the way, you’re not it’s not just that God is in the battle with you, it’s that we’re in the battle with you. See, we’re fighting, we’re not fighting with you, but we’re fighting with you. I want you to know if this is your home church, you are never praying alone. You’re never praying alone. We pray for you. You’re not the only one that has faith for this. Not only is God with you, we’re with you. And we’re gonna see it through with you. And I just declare this in the name of Jesus that you’re not gonna die in this valley. You’re not gonna quit in this valley. You’re gonna live to fight another day. Even if even if you make your bed in hell, he’s with you. Even if you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you don’t have to fear. Why? Because he’s with you.

You know, can I tell you Goliath’s biggest mistake? Is this touching God’s people? The moment he messed with God’s people, he messed with God. And I don’t know if you know this, but God doesn’t lose fights, he’s never been defeated. He’s got a better record than Mike Tyson, undefeated. Right? And he’s never lost a battle, and he’s not gonna start with you. And I’m telling you, if you’re in a fight, that God is with you in the fight. Man, I was praying about you this morning, and I don’t know who that was for, but someone needs to know this. That this is God’s fight. And you might feel like you’re alone on the battlefield. But it’s not even your fight. It’s God’s fight.

Acts chapter 9, verse 4. Saul, he will later be renamed Paul. Saul, he’s a man. He vocationally he persecutes the church, he kills Christians. That’s his job. I don’t know if you get paid for something like that, but his job is to persecute Christians. And so he is on a journey, and Jesus appears to Saul on the journey. But you have to know that what Saul does and is doing is persecuting Christians. Okay? Listen to this.

He talking about Saul fell on the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

See, y’all missed it. Right? Saul is persecuting Christians, and Jesus appears, and he didn’t say, You’re messing with my people. He said, You’re messing with me. Because when you mess with the body of Christ, you mess with the head of Christ. And when you mess with the body, when you persecute the body, you persecute the head. When you mess with the which you mess with the church, you mess with the head of the church. So Jesus comes and he doesn’t say, Why are you persecuting my people? He says, Why are you persecuting me? Because when you go after my people, you’re going after me. I take it personal. Jesus says. When people come after you, God Himself takes that personally. It’s God’s fight.

And like again, you might be the one who’s by the brook trying to pull out stones, but it’s his fight. You might be the one that’s like actually on the battlefield, but it’s his fight. You might be the one reading the medical report. But it’s his fight. You might be the one trying to pay your bill. But it’s his fight. You might be the one on your knees praying for your children. But it’s his fight. It’s his fight. Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 7 says this

the Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction, but flee from you in seven.

Why? Because you’re so perfect and you’re so incredible. No, the Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated.

I want you to know also this. This is what I need to remind myself of sometimes. The battle doesn’t last forever. It doesn’t, it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Like when you’re in a battle, it feels like it’s gonna last forever. When you’re in a battle, you think it’s gonna last forever. But hear me, the battle doesn’t last forever. And a lot of people like want to ask, like, why am I here? I think a lot more people probably just want to ask, when is this gonna be over? Right? Like that’s the real question. When is this gonna be over? I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you this: it doesn’t last forever. In the name of Jesus, the battle does not last forever. Psalm chapter 30, verse 5 says this:

weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Even if it feels long, it doesn’t last forever. It does not last forever. You can write this down. Every Christ follower who doesn’t quit eventually wins. Every Christ follower who doesn’t quit eventually wins. Why? Because it’s God’s fight. It’s God’s fight. Louise, it’s God’s fight. It’s God’s fight. And I’ll tell you this don’t quit, and we’re not gonna let you quit. We’re gonna drag you over that finish line if we have to. Because you’re gonna win. Because it’s not your fight, it’s God’s fight. Number one, this is God’s fight.

You’ve got to talk back

Number two, you can write this down. You’ve got to talk back. You’ve gotta talk back. You know, I know a lot of us, I certainly was. I was raised to not talk back. Don’t you talk back? Imagine me talking back to Carol Eifert, sweetest lady on the planet. She wouldn’t slap me. All you would slap me if you heard me. Talk back to Carol. But but listen, when you’re face to face with your giant, you have got to talk back. The giant cannot be the only one saying something. Again, 1 Samuel chapter 40 17, verse 43.

He, Goliath said to David, Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Come here, he said, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.

It’s funny, growing up, I think I assumed. I assumed that in Scripture, Goliath won battles. Wouldn’t you think that? How is that not in there somewhere? You would think Goliath won battle. But you know it’s interesting. In scripture, the only thing Goliath does is talk and die. That’s it. He talks for 40 days and then falls over. That’s his whole job, right? He’s just like a big talker. Is he a great fighter too, Pastor David? Well, I we’ll have to take their word for it. And in the same way, did you know the devil is a big talker? And you might be like 40 days. Some of y’all, the devil’s been talking to you for 65 years. And he’s trying to get you to give up before you ever fight back. Just talks and talks and talks and talks and talks. But notice this before David ever fights back, he talks back. Before he fights back, he talks back. Verse 45.

David said to the Philistine, you come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

So remember, again, this is God’s fight, right? Everywhere in David’s talking, this is God’s fight. This is God’s fight. He’s not saying, I’m gonna kill you. He says, the Lord will deliver you into my hands. So he’s never confused on who brings the victory. Even when he’s throwing a stone, he’s not confused who’s doing the fighting. Always. It’s God’s fight. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands. Who will deliver? The Lord. The Lord will, and I’ll strike you down. I love that. The Lord will deliver and I will strike. I love that. The Lord will deliver and I will strike. I will strike and the Lord will deliver. I’ll throw the rock and God will make it go extra fast. I’ll do what I can do, and God is gonna add supernatural force to my imperfect effort. The Lord will deliver and I will strike.

I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the wild birds and the wild animals.

Like this is graphic. This is rated R, y’all. Like it’s like a Quentin Tarantino movie. Jordan, I don’t know, you think we could use this kind of language in a church softball? It’s biblical language, so like to the other team. This day we will feed your carcass to the birds. Yeah. I’ve long since suggested that we should name the church softball team the Philistines. No one’s in with that. So anyway. Okay, so this is David talking.

The army and fill feed the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.

So David guy knows how to talk back. And I don’t know if you picked up on any of the details of the talking, but Goliath says, I’m gonna feed you to the birds and the wild animals. And then David comes back and says, actually, I’m gonna feed you to the birds and the wild animals. That’s the conversation. I don’t know if you can picture how ridiculous this is. There’s this huge giant, and there’s this tiny teenager, and the giant says, I’m gonna feed you to the birds and the wild animals. And David basically says, Oh, yeah, well, I’m rubber, and you’re glue. So, like, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks on to you. Goliath’s like talking, and he’s like, I know you are. What am I? But seriously, David’s like, keep talking, Goliath, because you’re just prophesying your own defeat.

Because notice this that Goliath’s threats were exactly what happened to him. See, every time the enemy says something about you, he’s actually saying it about himself. That’s so good. Oh, you’re you’re not loved. It’s like, yes, you are. He’s not loved. Come on. Oh, you oh, you messed up too bad. It’s like, man, I’m covered by the blood of Jesus. He messed up too bad. Oh, you’re oh, you’re condemned. It’s like when there’s no condemnation in Christ. He’s condemned. It’s like you’re gonna burn, you’re gonna burn for that. It’s like, no, I’m not. You’re gonna burn. Every time, every time the enemy comes to accuse you of something, he’s just saying his future. He’s just telling you his future.

God, God is omniscient, which means he knows everything. He knows the beginning from the end. And so God, he knows the future. He knows your future. The devil doesn’t. The devil doesn’t know the future. The devil predicts the future and hopes you’ll believe him. He don’t know. He can’t say what’s gonna happen to you. He doesn’t know. But when God speaks about your future, see, he already sees it. And so, and so you can trust him. God never guesses. He never gets God never guesses. And so and so if he says something to you, it’s because it’s already settled in heaven. Does that mean does that mean it always happens no matter what? No. No, but it we can say that it’s already settled in heaven. He made you co-creators of our shared future together. Right? And so he’s already prophesied that you will win, but he still expects you to go on the battlefield and throw the rock. And it’s not because you’re the best slingshot user in the entire world. Like, it’s about doing what you can do and trusting God with what only he can do.

And so, what do you do? Well, I’ll just say this. Well, you’ve got to believe what God says, and you’ve got to reject the lies of the enemy. And in order to do that, you are gonna need to talk back. You gotta say something. You know, say something say something to the devil. I’m not sure he can hear you. Yeah, I agree. Who cares? Say it. You gotta talk back, you gotta talk to your situation, talk to your fear. Like I’m I’m glad there’s not microphones in my car, because man, I’m talking to all kinds of stuff in there. Right? But I’m talking, I’m talking to them, but I’m also talking to myself. That’s right. Right, and you might be thinking, well, well, Pastor David, I want to talk back, but I don’t know what to say. I am so glad you brought that up. I don’t know the right thing to say. Like how you fight lies with what? The truth. How do you know the truth? Oh, well, that’s cool. You read the promises of God, right? You meditate on the promises of God. You internalize the promises of God to where it’s not just it’s not just words on shockingly thin paper. It’s like something that’s real to you. Right? It’s real, it speaks to you.

And I don’t know, I don’t know what has been spoken over you. I don’t know what your mom and your dad spoke over you. I don’t know what your ex spoke over you. I don’t know what your kids spoke over you. A stepparent, I don’t know what they spoke over you. I don’t, I don’t know what your grandma and grandpa spoke over you. I don’t know what a teacher spoke over you. I don’t know what an ex-pastor spoke over you. But I’m telling you, in the name of Jesus, you do not have to be defined by the words of people who never knew you anyway. But you’re gonna have to fight that. You’re not just gonna sit there and think about it and keep repeating their words over and over and over and over. You’re gonna have to talk back. Don’t let the past dictate the future. And it’s like, you know what? I don’t even know what you said about yourself. I don’t know the lies that you told you about you. But that was the old you. You’re not gonna be bound by that, and it’s time to talk back in the name of Jesus.

I’m gonna say this. You are going to start speaking the word of God. I’ve never done that in my well, today’s your day. You can go, you need some help, come up to me. Come to Pastor March, Cindy, George. Anybody come, we’ll give you words. We’ll give you places to look, but you’re gonna see this, and I just declare this over somebody. You’re gonna start speaking life into your situation. I’ve never done that. Great. Start now. Start speaking the words of God into your life. The enemy cannot be the only one saying something. You’ve got to talk back. Number one, this is God’s fight. Number two, you’ve got to talk back.

If he did it once, he’ll do it again

Number three is this. If he did it once, he’ll do it again. So remember in scripture here that before David fought Goliath, he had to convince Saul. We didn’t talk about that part, but the way that it worked is he went to King Saul and said, I’ll fight him. And Saul basically said, like, get out of here, you little twerp. Right? No, you’re tiny and you don’t know how to fight and you’re ruddy, whatever that like there’s all these things about David. He just seems like the least likely person on the entire in the entire scene that he would be the one. But then, but then David does something that smart people do. Let’s look at it, verse 36.

David says, This, your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine. Saul said to David, Go and the Lord be with you.

So David is saying this if he did it once, he’ll do it again. And I am I’m I’m praying that I can communicate this to someone who hasn’t gotten this yet. But he’s remembering God’s faithfulness, and in doing so, he’s finding faith for his present battle. And I don’t know if you know this, but like if you’re fighting a lion, you’re the underdog. If you’re fighting a bear, you’re the underdog. Maybe you just watch Lion King and like Winnie the Pooh. Like you think, you think like, oh, a lion’s just a big cat. Until it like has your head in its mouth, and it’s like, I think I might be the underdog here. And you know what, bears? You know what I learned about bears? Bears are fast. I watch this show alone. The show’s called alone. I don’t watch it alone. But I watch this show, comma alone. It’s called Alone. And I learned that man, bears are fast. You can’t outrun a bear. And you can’t, and you can’t climb up a tree to get away from bears, just climb up there and get you. Right? So if you’re fighting a lion and you’re fighting a bear, you’re for sure an underdog. So being an underdog wasn’t new to David. He was used to being the underdog.

But David does something that smart people do, and it’s this that he finds courage to fight his present battle by remembering his past victories. Some of y’all don’t do this. You come up to us, and this is what we do. We remind you of your past victories. But this is what David is doing. He fills himself with faith by reminding himself of God’s faithfulness in the past. That’s how he’s finding faith. And so I want to say this that I agree that the giant is bigger than you. Like I’m not telling you that the giant is bigger than you. Like, or that you’re bigger than the giant. I agree. The giant for sure is bigger than you. You’re not bigger than Goliath. It’s just that he’s not bigger than God. And this is his fight, not your fight.

And you might be thinking, like, oh, Peterson, I don’t have any past victories. Like, that’s almost definitely not true. But let’s pretend. Okay, let’s. You’re the most pathetic human being on the planet. And there’s never, you’ve never had a single victory in your entire life. Okay, fine. If you can’t recall your past victories, then remember God’s past victories. Remember when Jesus died on the cross, he said this. It’s finished. Not it’s almost finished, not it’s 90% done, and you do the last 10%. He says, it’s finished. And so, like, even if you’re in the pits right now, you’re fighting a battle, you don’t know how to get out of it. Like, I just want you to know this is that your victory has been bought and paid for. And so you can rest in that. Man, I have done nothing but the wrong thing up to this point. But you know what? My victory has been bought and paid for.

You can always, like years ago, there was this cool pastor here, named John Ross. Not a lead pastor, he was like a probably an associate pastor, cute little old guy. I loved loved John, deep, gruff little voice. And he used to do a lot of the weddings and the funerals and hospital visits, that kind of stuff. Pastoral care, I guess. But when we would go, someone would go up and ask John, like, hey man, how you doing? He would say this, well, I read the end of the book and we win. That’s what I was used to saying. And I is like the young me was like, John, you are such a dork. You’re such a dork. Just say fine. You know what I mean? It’s like I didn’t really want, you know. But he’d say, like, man, we I read the end of the book and we win. But now that I’m a little bit older, I kind of like that. I kind of like it. It’s like I read the end of the book. We win. The fight’s fixed. I don’t know exactly how I’m gonna win, but I know I’m gonna win. You zoom out far enough, we always win.

I mean, I don’t know. I’m I can’t wait for two weeks to pass so that we can talk about something different. But I just want you to know this that God is not up there wringing his hands, freaked out about the way the world’s going. You might be, he’s not. He’s not. Oh, never faced an election before. Like, you think the eternal omniscient, omnipotent God is up there panicking right now? Like, no, because he knows we win. The fight is fixed, right? Like, Pastor David, we might not win the election. Well, then zoom out farther, man. We are predestined to win. If you have put your faith in Christ, we are predestined to win. Well, what if democracy as we know it is over? Well, I’ll speak for myself then. Well, then I still win. Right? What if inflation goes up to a billion and interest rate turns into like 4,000% and eggs cost $800 a dozen? Well, then I still win. What if the stock market goes to zero? Well, then I still win. No matter what, right? What if Christianity becomes illegal and we have to go underground and we’re persecuted, you know, for following Christ? Well, then I still win. I’m just not, I’m just not panicked. Because this is not my fight, it’s God’s fight. And if you trust Jesus rather than trusting in the world, you win no matter what.

Some of y’all might not be ready to hear this, but even if you die, you still win. Paul talks about that exact thing. 1 Corinthians 15, 55. Paul says this,

where, O death is your victory. Where, O death is your sting. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God.

Listen to this.

He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Is it us that have the victory? No. He gives you the victory. He just gives it to you. Here’s the victory. He hands it to you. He hands the victory to you.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you.

Let nothing move you. Paul says, don’t let anything move you because you win. It’s already over. You win. Right? Even if you die, you win. So man, you get the bills, you know, in and they’re piling up, and it’s like, thank you, God. I still am gonna win. I’m still gonna win. Because I’m not gonna give up. I’m gonna speak life into my situation. I’m not gonna quit. I’m gonna remember that this is God’s fight. And I’m not gonna quit, so I’m gonna win.

Romans chapter 8, verse 32, Paul says this

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also so also along with him?

He’s talking about along with giving us Jesus, right? So how will he not also, along with giving us Jesus, graciously give us all things? So Paul is saying that God gave you his son, and you don’t think he’s gonna help you with this giant? He gave you his son, and you don’t think he’s gonna help you with your food? Come on. Like he gave you his son, and you think he’s not gonna help you with your anxiety. Come on. He gave you his son. You think he’s not gonna help you restore your family? Come on. God’s not worried about your Goliath. You might be worried about your Goliath, but He’s not.

And I just want to confess this over you. You are still strong. You are. I know you. I know some of y’all are like, man, yeah, I used to be strong. Pastor David, you’re so strong. Pastor Marshall, he’s so strong. Look, you’re strong. You can be strong. In spite of all the things that life has done to you, you’re still strong. The fact that for some of you, the fact that you’re sitting in this room right now, Preston, is a miracle. You still have a fight. It’s okay that there’s still a fight because you still have fight in you. In spite of what the enemy has said to you and about you, you’re still strong. In spite of things that people have said about you and to you, you’re still strong. In spite of the storms that you’ve weathered, you’re still strong.

Closing

Here’s my closing statement. The giant doesn’t get to talk. Number one, this is God’s fight. The Christian never fights giants alone. The battles that come to you are God’s to win, and he’s never lost a fight. Number two, you’ve got to talk back. Stand firm and speak truth to fear and doubt. Don’t let the enemy be the only one who says something. Number three, if he did it once, he’ll do it again. Remembering God’s past faithfulness fuels us to trust him in every present challenge. Don’t let the enemy convince you that you’re a grasshopper, you’re a giant killer.

I want you to like like this kind of sermon, this is like this kind of this faith kind of sermon. Like this is not, this is not like where I naturally live. I’m a teacher. But I’ve just felt like over this last month, man, I’m just wanting to shake somebody and say, like, you can still live a life of victory, man. Like things aren’t perfect in the world. Things aren’t perfect for you. Like you can still live, you can still fight a confident fight, knowing that the Lord has the victory.

So, Father, we say thank you. I pray for my brothers and sisters here. So many people in so many different seasons of life. And you know, I don’t know all their battles, but I know everybody is on the battlefield in one way or another. And so, Heavenly Father, I would ask that you would fill your people with courage and with strength. That you would remotivate us to enter into the life that you have for us. We won’t settle for something less than that. The abundant life, a life of joy, a life of peace, a life of power, a life of of a life where we’re not just listening to someone else tell us who we are. But that but that you would speak and you would fill our hearts with the words for us to speak. And we say, Thank you, Lord. The battle is yours. The fight is yours. And you’ll bring us the victory. And for that we say thank you and we love you. And it’s in your sons that we pray. Everybody said. Come on, everybody said. Amen. Gosh.

Well, it’s going to be an incredible more. We’ve got more stuff planned. This was just like the first part of the day. We’ve got more stuff. And so why don’t you help me welcome my incredible wife as she comes and tells us some of the details? God bless you guys.

You know, as David was talking, I just want to encourage you. If you’re one of those people sitting in here and you couldn’t remember the good things God has done in your life, and he said, I promise he has. When you get home today, write it down. Write down those good things that he’s done, because when you’re in the fight, it can be hard to remember. And if you have a place to go look, it’ll build your faith in that moment. So I just want to encourage you, don’t leave. Like we’re gonna hang out, we’re gonna have fun, we’re gonna do all kinds of things, but don’t forget what was taught this morning, and don’t forget to write down and think about those things. Take the time so that when the fight comes, you have something positive to remind you what God has done in your life.