On To Victory #7 (Based on David vs. Goliath)

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Text: 1 Samuel 17:55-18:2

Good morning to all people today who are placing their hope in a man who shed his blood on an old rugged cross and after three days left his burial place to never occupy one again!
Really this is what Christianity is all about; it is a religion of realized hope! In this we are somewhat different than others. Our hope is yet future (Romans 8:24) but is realized today because it is not based necessarily on a future event as much as it is based on a past one.

On this weekend, which we notice millions of people across the globe looking back at the events of Calvary, we also notice that those are the events that Christians find their faith tied to everyday of the year. When we experience our final victory in our final battle, it is going to be because the Lamb of God that was slain for the sins of the world, has conquered death, Hell & the grave and lives to die no more.

We are concluding our series on the great victory of faith that the young shepherd boy won so many years ago over the mighty giant. We have been hearing the voice of God through this battle as He tells us that as David defeated Goliath, so too can all of God's children be more than conquerors in this life.

Last week we saw the first of two consequences of David's victory or stand of faith and that was how he inspired all of the Israelite army to find faith and fight and win!
Before getting into the final consequence let's read some passages:
John 14:1-4, Matthew 28:1-10, 1 Samuel 17:55-18:2

The second consequence of David's victory is simply this:
he entered the King's house!
Now, I don't know about you but one of the things that keeps me going every day, even when I get really discouraged about the way things are going, it is this:
entering our king's house forever!
Can you imagine what it is going to be like when the roll is called up yonder and you and I will be there?

There is something peculiar about this part of the David & Goliath story and that is the apparent contradiction with chapter 16:21,22 where it appears Saul & David knew each other well before this fight.
We want to note there are a couple of explanations:
  1. The narrator jumped ahead in chapter 16 to a time after David & Goliath.
  2. David had only been there a couple of times, went back to his father's house for some time and Saul had forgotten exactly what David looked like.
Notice the conclusion to this amazing day:
David went from being a simple servant to a resident at the king's house! My friends, let's start getting excited about the end of the fight, because that is going to describe all of God's children who live by faith and don't quit the race!

What have we seen in this day?
Think about this, all of this transpired in one day's time!
  1. The terrible foe paralyzes the people of God!
    God's children could only see the struggle and forgot that God still lived in heaven and still cared for them.
  2. The failure of King Saul!
    Saul unfortunately forgot he was supposed to be the leader of God's people. He offered rewards for others to do it, he offered advice on how to do it, and he even inserted the Lord's name when someone else wanted to do it, but he forgot that as leader he was the main one who was supposed to do it! If God puts you in a leadership position anywhere, remember the failure of King Saul!
  3. The innocent suggestion of Jesse!
    Remember that David did not come to fight, but to give his brothers some food. So often, in our battles of life, they can start out unexpectedly.
  4. The faith of David!
    The uncircumcised will fall! Listen, if God is on our side, we can't lose!
  5. The choice of opponents by David!
    When his big brother and king argued with David's ability & wisdom, David remembered the real enemy: the one threatening God's people, not other children of God.
  6. The bringing to mind past victories!
    I am not a failure, I am a child of God and God has won fights in my past, He will win them in my future.
  7. The choice of weapons by David.
    David decided not to fight like the world, but like David and David used the only weapon he could have to win. We must choose the armor of God if we are going to win.
  8. The sizing up of the Giant!
    While all others saw the giant, David saw God and understood no foe can defeat God.
  9. The inspiration given to his fellow Israelites.
  10. His entrance into the King's house!
    David walked on in to the King's house, a special guest!
My friends, what we have seen in David, we can see with ourselves if we will simply have the heart of faith that goes and picks up five smooth stones and faces the opponents of God!

But, how do we know?
How do we know that we are going to win in the end?
How do we know that as we go through challenge after challenge and trial after trial that we indeed are going to win?
I mean, what do we do to feel like victors when we look over our past week with an honest set of lenses and see again a week where there has been sin?
Or, can I really be a conqueror when I've been faced with difficult decisions and I never seem to make the right ones because it always flies back in my face?
Am I going to defeat the giants of life, when even regular problems leave me feeling helpless?
In my world of troubled marriage, financial difficulty, health concerns, immorality crises, unjust judgments, use of too much sight and not enough faith, can I ever really win?
In this world that I live in, it sure feels at times like I'm a little more like Saul and a lot less like David!
The words that describe me are more likely to be fear, doubt, questions and less likely to be fearless, confidence & cocksure.
If that describes you, you may be asking, how can I be sure that I am going to win?

There is only one word and it actually is more than a word for it describes a man, who is actually more than a man for he describes a relationship with something bigger: JESUS!

You see Jesus died on the cross to take care of our sins that keep us from being with God! Romans 6:23
Consider this for a moment, we don't know exactly all that happened when Jesus Christ went into the grave, but his flesh remained lifeless in a cold tomb! What does that tell us?
"Do you know what it is like to be swallowed up in the darkness of despair? Or to be slowly suffocating in a dead-end job? Or, perhaps, trapped in a lifeless marriage? God in human flesh allowed himself to be trapped in the suffocating darkness of a cold, musty tomb, as if to say: 'Wherever you are, I'll be with you. I've been there before.'"1

The first thing we get from this is that Jesus understands our battles! Isn't it good to know, that as we face these foes that frighten us, he knows what we are facing? Hebrews 2:14,15

Another thing I have learned about this is that Jesus doesn't scold us for simply having questions, fears or doubts but tries to remind us that he's there to take them away!
John 14:19- I will come to you. Isn't it interesting that Jesus still had his scars when he rose from the dead?
I know he used them to show his disciples who he was, but isn't it also a reminder to us that Jesus knows the battles we face and he knows how to help us?

There is another thing that happened that day though!
Jesus died on the cross, he was buried in the tomb, but as the scriptures teach, he left the tomb sometime early on Sunday morning! In his death he took away our sin problem, in his resurrection he took away our death problem! Romans 3:23,24.

As you read the gospel accounts, it has finally struck me what the resurrection of Jesus Christ should mean to each one of us:
the same thing it meant to the early disciples!
Consider that the disciples saw with their own eyes what sin, evil, death & Hell could do on Friday evening!
With that, another soul became a victim to the inevitable. What news however on Sunday morning!

Listen to what Philip Yancey wrote about what happened when the two disciples on the road to Emmaus went back to tell the rest about Jesus, "When the two rush back to Jerusalem, they find the Eleven meeting behind locked doors. They spill out their incredible story, which corroborates what Peter has already learned: Jesus is out there somewhere, alive."2

What does the resurrection of Jesus Christ mean?
It means that for all of us who are tired, weary, hurt, scarred, in despair, fighting battles that are too hard for mere men to fight there is a silver lining in the clouds. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, there is a sun to come out tomorrow and there is life after the tomb!

Paul said in Colossians 1:5 that our hope is laid up in heaven, and that's exactly where Jesus told his followers he was going before he came back for them!

Turn in your Bibles again to the passage in Matthew 28
Listen to this reading

"Why did the angel move the stone? For whom did he roll away the rock?
For Jesus? That's what I always thought. I just assumed that the angel moved the stone so Jesus could come out. But think about it.
Did the stone have to be removed in order for Jesus to exit? Did God have to have help? Was the death conqueror so weak that he couldn't push away a rock?….
I don't think so. The text gives the impression that Jesus was already out when the stone was moved! Nowhere do the Gospels say that the angel moved the stone for Jesus. For whom, then, was the stone moved?
Listen to what the angel says: "Come and see the place where his body was" (vs.6)
The stone was moved--not for Jesus--but for the women; not so Jesus could come out, but so the women could see in!
Mary looks at Mary and Mary is grinning the same grin she had when the bread and fish kept coming out of the basket. The old passion flares. Suddenly it's all right to dream again.
"Go quickly and tell his followers, 'Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there." (vs.7)
Mary and Mary don't have to be told twice. They turn and start running to Jerusalem. The darkness is gone. The sun is up. The Son is out. But the Son isn't finished.
One surprise still awaits them.
"Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings.' The women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Don't be afraid. God and tell my followers to go on to Galilee, and they will se me there'" (vs.9-10).
The God of surprises strikes again. It's as if he said, "I can't wait any longer. They came this far to see me; I'm going to drop in on them."
God does that for the faithful. Just when the womb gets too old for babies, Sarai gets pregnant. Just when the failure is too great for grace, David is pardoned. And just when the road is too dark for Mary and Mary, the angel glows and the Saviour shows and the two women will never be the same.
The lesson? Three words. Don't give up….God still sends angels. And God still moves stones."3

So my friends as we face our battles, we know we are going to win because if our faith got five smooth stones and a heart that says to Jesus, 'I may not trust in myself, but I trust in you' he's going to prove to us that he has made us more than conquerors.

How are we going to be a victor in Jesus?
How are we going to know the 'power of his resurrection' (Phil.3:10)?
To have a resurrection, there has to be a burial.
The good news is though, when we die to Christ, we are not sent to a tomb but a womb and born again.
How do we die to Christ, so that we might live with him forever?
Romans 6:1-7

My friends, isn't it wonderful that like Peter & John we can feel the excitement of being able to dream again because in Jesus victory over death, Hell & the grave is assured. Let's stand and sing…


1. F. Lagard Smith, Meeting God in Holy Places (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1997) p.25
2. Philip Yancey, The Jesus I never Knew (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) p.215
3. Max Lucado, He Still Moves Stones (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, 1993) p.52,53


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