I Know How This Story Ends

0:00:01.960 --> 0:00:04.519 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:07.000 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:10.360 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:12.400 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.200 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:20.680 First Samuel, chapter seventeen, verse fifty. Just one scripture today 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:22.880 that I want to share with you. But it's a 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:27.680 good one. It says in One Samuel, seventeen, verse fifty, 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:34.120 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:48.000 a stone, without a sword in his hand. He struck 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:55.279 down the Philistine and killed him. There's power in the 0:00:55.400 --> 0:01:03.600 mighty name of Jesus, and every war he wages he 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:10.559 will win. So David triumphed over the Philistine, and I'm 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:15.040 not backing down from any giant. With a sling and 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:20.560 a stone, without a sword in his hand. He struck 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:24.800 down the Philistine and killed him. Would you look at 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.480 your neighbor and sing my sermon title, Tell him I 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:33.600 know how this storys Come on, tell your other neighbor 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:39.559 the safet one. Tell them I know how this story. Father. 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:41.560 We thank you for your word the power of it, 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:44.240 and that he who began a good work is faithful 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:48.920 to complete it. In Jesus' name. Amen, you may take 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:54.240 your seat, God bless you. I know how this story 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.920 ends because Holly and I have a rule in our 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.640 marriage that when she's telling me a story, if it's 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.400 a negative story, then I need her to tell me 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:08.800 the ending before she gives me the details, because sometimes 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:13.080 she tells expanded stories. You like how I said that 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:16.080 that was real PC, How I said that that was 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:19.160 really cautious. How I said that she tells She tells 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.120 stories and puts in all the deleted scenes it's the 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:25.359 director's cut. But sometimes I just need to know when 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.600 she says today was a terrible day, I need to 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.480 know how this ends. You know, Oh, how how was 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:34.280 your day? Oh? And then she starts with breakfast. But 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:37.200 I need to know, like, well, how much does it 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.840 cost at the end of it, Like, you know, is 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.720 it seven thousand dollars or do we both have to 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:45.760 go to the kids' school this time or just one 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.360 of us. I need to know how this ends, or 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:53.200 I'll just get lost in the middle. It's different when 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:56.400 you know how it ends. If you tell me how 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.119 it ends, you know, don't worry, it's not that bad. 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:00.600 We got it all worked out well. Then I can 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.720 follow you on all of the twists. But I just 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.480 need to know how it ends. I need to know 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:09.280 that this is going to be all right. I need 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.400 to know that it's not fatal. I need to know 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.440 that they didn't quit. You just had a bad meeting. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.079 Because she'll be telling me something about something at the office, 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:20.360 and she'll she'll want to put it. You know, she 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:25.120 has good storytelling technique and she's a great storyteller, but 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:28.040 that works against us in marital communication because I'm not 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:31.800 looking for suspense and drama. I just need the bottom line. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:33.760 So she'd be like, oh, I had a meeting with 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.960 so and so today it went terrible, And I'm thinking, like, 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.200 are they moving back to Nebraska where their famili's from. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.560 Do we have to replace them on staff? But just 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.080 tell me how it ends, and then you could get 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.600 me all the details. Then you can tell me that 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:49.960 eggs were on sale when you went back home on 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:51.880 the way to the thing, and then the thing with 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:53.920 the thing, and then the car cut off, but then 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:55.680 it cut back on and it's not in the shop. 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.240 Just tell me how it ends, and then I can 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.560 listen to the story. I want to show you something 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.480 real quick. This is a picture from our summer vacation 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.960 a few weeks ago. Just a picture of some family 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:09.600 time that we had. Yeah, see that's how it ended. 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:14.960 I don't know, can they see that the campus is Yeah, 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:20.760 that's how it ended. That's how it ended, with Graham smilet, 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:31.279 with everybody breathing, Elijah making some questionable sign with his hand. 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:36.840 Notice there is only one or there were two when 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:41.960 we set out and embarked on this family adventure. But 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:46.839 it ends like this. Thankfully for me, as I've already mentioned, 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:50.440 I have a great wife who when she saw us 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:55.880 struggling on the kayak, because contrary to my knowledge, sand 0:04:55.920 --> 0:05:02.080 bars are temporary. They don't just stay there. The sandbar 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.520 that is there one minute might be gone in thirty minutes. 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.159 There's this thing called the tides. You think I would 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:11.120 know this stuff. You would think you would drag the 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.920 kayak further than just the very edge of the sandbar 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.159 before you walked all the way out to the middle 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:19.760 of it to have a family memory. But thank God 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.599 for my wife because when she saw us struggling, when 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.640 the tide came in. How many notes? When God gives 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.479 you a great wife? When she sees you struggling, she 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.640 picks up the iPhone and records it. So check out 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:37.320 this video she took real quick from the shore. All right, 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:45.200 here's the boys paddle to this sandbar. But the tilling 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:55.760 is coming in minutes away from including no minutes, and 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.680 they're not even they don't know where they're honey, even 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:13.320 worried about it. Oh there's Graham. He's running everything. Yep, 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:36.040 that's Graham running how they're stuck. So you know, Graham 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.919 said it best. He said when we got back and 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:42.880 we were telling everybody what had happened, he said, that 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:49.719 could have ended a whole lot different, you know, because 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:54.560 you obviously have the leisure of laughter because you know 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:56.920 how it ends. I mean, well, hey, pastor, I mean 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:02.479 it's pretty funny. Actually the monoculars. You're dry now you're 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:07.039 not dead, because it's different when you know how it ends. 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.040 But if the man on the jet ski hadn't come by, 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:13.640 it could have ended. This is what Graham said. It 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:18.680 could have ended a whole lot different. Or if he 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.880 wouldn't have had southern hospitality to go get my kayak 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:24.120 and bring it back to me with his jet ski. 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:26.200 It could have ended. Look at somebody say, it could 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:31.360 have ended a whole lot different. How many know there's 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.280 some things in your life that could have ended a 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:40.280 whole lot different. That drunk driver swerved right into your lane, 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:43.200 but some kind of angel just pull that car back over. 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:47.840 It could have ended a whole lot different. Come on, 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:50.240 you know I'm right about it. If you had got 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.440 stopped by the police at the wrong time when you 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:56.960 were in college, it could have ended a whole lot different. 0:07:57.280 --> 0:07:59.480 Some of us. It's not that we never did anything wrong. 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:01.560 We just didn't get caught. If we would have been 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:03.920 at the wrong place at the wrong time, it could 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:08.840 have ended a whole lot different. Paulisher, Halo, if you want, 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.160 I'm gonna turn to the heathen section. This where the 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:13.720 heathens sit. It could have ended. Come on, stand up 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.480 and testify if it could have ended if it had 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.600 not been for the Lord on my side. You better 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:21.720 give him praise right now before he pulls up your 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:29.080 search history. It could have ended all whole You know 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:33.040 I'm right. Tell somebody you know that preacher is right. 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:39.240 So it's funny now and when I read David and 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:43.559 Goliath as my text. There's some Bible nerds sitting out there, 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:50.120 maybe watching online, going like a really, David and Goliath, 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.960 all the stories in the Bible, you want to pick 0:08:55.080 --> 0:09:03.800 this one? Oh boy, I all already know this one. 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:10.079 David kills Goliath, Goli. It goes down every time you 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:14.920 read it. I already know about the sling shot in 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:20.079 the stone. He had five smooth stones, buddy old and 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:25.400 need of wine. The giant came. He had a big, 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:30.880 heavy helmet, Jesse. He called David, said take this bread 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:35.280 down to your brothers, jack on them. And Baby got 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:39.920 down there and golith was shoven, and David heard it, 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:44.240 and Baby said, you want no smoke, and Dave they 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:48.160 grabbed the sleigh and it threw a stone at the giant, 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.199 and the giant went down. I already know how this 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:58.320 story ends. So since you already know how it ends, 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:02.920 let me suggest some to you. David never read first 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:10.920 Samuel seventeen, verse fifteen. It's different when you know how 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:16.280 it ends, so we can shout. But David was shaking, 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:26.040 shaking in his sandals, holding his slang, trembling, wondering how 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:30.800 this ends, wondering Will this jet, ski, get my kayak, 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:37.320 wondering preaching to somebody today And you have not read 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:41.960 for Samuel seventeen fifty yet about this situation in your life, 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.760 and you are still looking at a giant that is 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:51.920 bigger than you. And since we know how David's story ends, 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:55.200 I want to spend just a few moments today thinking 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:58.960 about how it could have ended, because it could have 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:07.480 ended a whole lot different. Had I had I gone 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:10.000 to that one school and married that other girl, how 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:14.280 many knows, it could have ended a whole lot worse 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:25.560 for Holly, she could have missed a whole buffet. But 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.839 now think about it. If David makes some different decisions, 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:35.920 the story ends a whole lot different. And see, God 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:40.600 is writing your story right now, for your family, right now, 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.960 for this season of your life, right now. And although 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:47.600 we know that Goliath goes down, David has to do 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:52.000 it in the face of uncertainty. And yet, no matter 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:56.000 how many sermons you hear about David defeating Goliath, you 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.000 must recognize that there were three things that David had 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.440 to face before he even ever got to Goliath. And 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.160 if any of these three things had gone differently, it 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:13.520 could have been a whole lot different. If David had 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:17.560 been a typical teenager when his father came in said, 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.840 you know, he's only seventeen when he kills Goliath. And 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:26.280 if he had had a response to Jesse's instruction when 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:30.360 Jesse said, I want you to run these snacks down 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:38.079 to your brothers. If David had rolled his eyes, you know, God, Dad, seriously, 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:45.760 I'm like a future king. Dad. Samuel has already annointed David. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:50.000 He already knows he has a great future. But now 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:53.360 if David refuses to be faithful in his present because 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:59.080 he's too focused on his future, this story ends a 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:01.280 lot different. How many you heard the story of David 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.400 and Goliath? Raise your hand? Yeah? No, Because it's even 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.880 a sports analogy. People use it in the NBA, the NFL. 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:11.840 It's an archetypal story. It's so famous, it's so wonderful, 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.280 it's so fun to preach. I bet I've preached it 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:18.000 fifty times, at least fifty times in this one church. 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.079 But watch how the story could have gone. It could 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.480 have been a whole lot different. Jesse wakes David up 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.240 one morning. He says, I got a task for you. 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.040 I want you to run this cheese and bread down 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:27.720 to your brothers on the battle lines. They're in the 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:31.719 Valley of Ela, fighting with Saul. David wakes up slowly. 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:36.640 David rolls his eyes. David jecks his phone. David post 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.120 on his Instagram story the fake account, the one that 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.320 Jesse doesn't follow, and David puts that on Instagram. God, 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:45.360 my dad makes me sick. This is ridiculous. God, I 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.000 hate my parents. I hate my life. David goes to 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:50.520 the battle line, but he gets there forty five minutes late. 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.280 He gets there after Goliath came out to shout his 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.840 usual defiance. He didn't know Goliath was on the battle line. 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:59.520 You don't know what day God wants to use you. You 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:02.440 You don't know what conversation is going to turn things around. 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:04.920 You don't know what moment is going to be holy. 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:07.000 You don't know when a bush is going to burst 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.679 into flames and spontaneously combust with the presence of God 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.040 and the direction for the next step of your life. 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:15.679 You don't know this. But if you don't show up, 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:22.480 watch this and do the ordinary with a good attitude, 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:28.880 it could have ended a whole lot different. Do you 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:32.120 really think they would have taught us this Bible story 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:36.800 in Bible School, in Sunday School. If the story went 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:41.320 like this, Jesse woke up, David, David got up, David 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.880 went down to the battle lines with the bad attitude, 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:47.200 dropped off the food, threw it at his brothers, and 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:52.360 went back home. And yet it could have ended like that. 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.800 That could have been the very end of the story. 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.240 It could have ended a whole. It could have ended 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:02.040 with David. It could have ended with David feeling slighted 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:04.240 because he was asked to do something that he deemed 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:12.440 in significant. You know who I am, Dad, Really, you're 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.880 asking me to be a delivery boy to take this 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:24.440 food down to my brothers. You're serious, right now, God Dad? Okay, 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:31.560 Oh okay, Oh go, but I'm not gonna run to 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.400 the battle lines and I'm not gonna have my eyes 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:38.840 open for up to Oh Okay, I'll go, but I 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:42.800 don't have to like it. Okay, I'll go to church, 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:44.960 but I'm not lifting my hands. That's what the weird 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.720 people do. Oh okay, i'll go, but we're leaving early. 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:50.680 That parking lot gets crazy and I want to be 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.840 at the restaurant before the Methodist church less. Oh okay, 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:00.360 could have been a hole. Come on, work with me 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.280 with a vowel sound. It could have been a whole 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:05.400 You don't even have to buy a vowl, just say it. 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:09.880 It could have been a whole lot different. I'm David. 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.800 I'm not door dash what you think. I am uber Eats, 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:15.560 I'm not dropping nothing off. My name is David. Say 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.560 my name, David King, David Crown, David Samuel. Put the 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.600 oil on my head, David. It could have been a 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.640 whole lot different if David had tripped over the ordinary. 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.280 So here's what I'm learning is that opportunity presents itself 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:32.880 as ordinary. There is not going to be You know, 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:36.600 I want to kill my goliath. I want a breakthrough 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:38.520 in my life. I want to whatever. You know. We 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:40.640 use goliath to mean anything, by the way, in church, 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.240 if you're new here, Goliath could mean anything. It could 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.320 mean we want a good parking space. It could mean 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:47.160 we want a healing in our body. It could mean 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.680 we want to stop beating so many chips. Goliath can 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:53.520 mean almost anything. In this particular instance, it means anything 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:59.240 that opposes the purpose of God. He was standing against 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:01.680 the people of God God, opposing the purpose of God, 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.639 defying the armies of the Living God. That's what Goliath was. 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:09.359 And they usually won't be physical. But before David ever 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:14.960 got to the real battle, he had to face the ordinary. 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:20.680 There's not going to be one conversation with your kids 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:24.640 that is going to change their life. It is going 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:28.080 to be picking them up and dropping them off and 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:30.199 trying to get them to say more than three words 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.840 to you at a time. That is going to change 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:36.000 their life. Is three words on top of three words 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.560 on top of three words on top of three words 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:40.800 on top of three words. You are not going to 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.760 take your son on one trip to Ireland and reenact 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.800 Braveheart or Scotland or wherever that overrated movie happened, and 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:50.879 he's going to come back shouting freedom and he's a 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.639 warrior now. For Jesus Christ, it's not going to be 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.159 one trip when he turned sixteen. It's going to be 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.359 many trips. It's going to be many back in forth 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.000 and back and forth. And David went back and forth 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.240 and back and forth and back and forth. See, we 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.840 know how the story ends. David didn't. He didn't even 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.000 know there was a giant in the Valley of the Law, 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:14.359 not when he sets out that day, and if he 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:17.879 refuses to do the ordinary, it could have been a 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:23.640 whole lot different. What a boring story this would have been. 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.240 David's dad said, go, David went, did it with a 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:29.639 bad attitude, came home, slept for eight hours. Could have 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.880 been a whole lot different if David had been typical. 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.760 So then he gets there right, he does the ordinary. 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:41.199 In fact, the Bible says this amazing. He ran to 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:43.720 the battle lines, he left his things with the keeper 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:47.080 of supplies. He's very responsible. He runs to the battle lines. 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:51.160 So he's there in position with the attitude to see 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:56.360 the opportunity. And when he hears Goliath shouting. See if 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:00.800 Dad goes down like most of us go around and 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:04.840 just gets through his day, he's not gonna be in 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:10.200 the frame of mind to seize the opportunity. And even 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:14.119 when he gets there and gives the brothers the food 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:17.800 that he brought for them, one of his brothers has 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:20.800 such a bad attitude with him that the second thing 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:23.160 that David had to deal with before he even got 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:27.200 to the real opponent, was of fence. Now, I want 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:29.760 to show you this. It's very powerful, how some of 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.400 us are fighting the wrong battle we are fighting a 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:39.119 preliminary battle and missing the real one because when David 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.320 gets there, he's like, what's up, guys? You know David 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:45.560 is that dude. He's like, hey, guys, what did I miss? 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:49.399 And They're like, it's nothing new, man. This dude is 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:53.320 nine foot two. He keeps coming out every day and 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.640 keeps saying the same thing. He keeps telling us, send 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:59.119 your best man, I'll kill him and you will be 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.040 our slaves. But we can't do anything with him because 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:04.320 I mean, look at him, Look how big he is. 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:06.719 And David's like, look how big he is. One country 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.280 preacher said this. He said, the rest of the army 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:12.840 saw Goliath and said he's too big to kill. David 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:15.639 looked at Goliath and said he's too big to miss. 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:21.320 I wonder what's your perspective today. I'm preaching for fifteen people. 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:24.359 God said, this challenge in front of you is an 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:36.359 indication of the power within you. Yeah. Yeah. David's like, 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.240 so what do I get if I kill him? It's like, well, 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:42.359 Saul said, like at first he was like, does anybody 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.000 want to fight him? But it's been forty days now, 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:48.480 and so Saul keeps opping the ante like the airlines 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.239 do when they got to overbook flight. You know, we 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.359 need two volunteers, from the kindness of your heart, to 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:56.880 give up your seat. We need two volunteers. We'll give 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:59.520 you two hundred dollars. We're gonna need you two volunteers. 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:02.640 We'll give you five hundred dollars. We need two volunteers. 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.560 We'll give you a thousand dollars voucher for travel. The 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:09.200 more desperate they get, the more the reward becomes. Now 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:12.199 you can only use thee thousand dollars every seventeen Thanksgiving 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:15.760 on this voucher, and blackout dates apply. But now Saul 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.320 has gotten so desperate he got to the point where 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:21.440 he says, look, I'll give you my daughter in marriage, 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:24.639 the hot one, and you don't have to pay taxes. 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:31.480 So David's like, for real, Now somebody verified this. Now 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:33.720 here's the difference. Here's the difference. It could have been 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:38.000 a whole lot different. But David hadn't been out there 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:41.480 forty days, and he hadn't gotten used to the dysfunction, 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:44.560 and he hadn't got used to standing there defeated in 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:47.680 a dead block, And so he comes up and to them, 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:51.480 Goliath just sounds normal, But to David it sounds different. 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:54.159 Wait a minute, he's not supposed to talk like that. 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:56.800 You know, you can get comfortable in your dysfunction when 0:21:56.800 --> 0:22:02.840 you've been in it long enough, when all your sick 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:06.600 friends are lying around in five covered colonnades, it can 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:11.200 be easy for you to start making excuses. And David 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:14.880 was like, hold on, So he said, what about God? 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:18.680 And I get what if A kill him? I love 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:22.520 this though, because this is what always happens when God 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:25.479 is trying to do something in your life. The enemy 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:30.080 will always present another enemy that is not the real enemy, 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:33.480 to keep you distracted from fighting the one that you're 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:38.320 called to defeat. In David's case, it was his brother, 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:42.960 his big brother. His name kind of sounds like Goliath, 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:48.679 but it's not Eliab. He was tall. For a minute, 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:50.960 Samuel thought he was supposed to be the king, Becausaul 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:55.359 was tall. And he saw in Samuel saw in Eliab 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:59.080 what he had seen in Saul, which is height, not heart. 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:02.159 And God said, don't look at his height, look at 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:07.359 his heart. Stop judging your situation externally. It's what's inside 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:12.000 the counts. It's what's inside the counse. And a live 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:16.399 starts judging David's motives. He's like, look at this. In 0:23:16.480 --> 0:23:22.280 verse twenty eight, he goes, why have you come down here? 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:28.080 And with whom did you leave those few sheep? Now, 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:30.800 all of these things David had taken care of. He's 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:35.800 a very responsible young man. But really, what's happening here 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:38.960 is I believe the enemy is trying to trigger David 0:23:39.320 --> 0:23:42.560 to get him to fight the wrong person. Because watch, 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:48.200 if he stands here and argues with his brother, he 0:23:48.240 --> 0:23:54.080 will never even see his enemy. This might be the 0:23:54.119 --> 0:23:57.679 whole sermon for somebody. Now just look straight ahead. If 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:03.280 you're married, sometimes you're fighting against what you're supposed to 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:10.360 be fighting for, and you have to call a time out. 0:24:10.440 --> 0:24:13.760 Sometimes you have to sometimes be like, wait a minute, 0:24:14.119 --> 0:24:17.880 you're not my enemy. Wait a minute, you're you're You're 0:24:17.920 --> 0:24:21.800 not who I'm supposed to be fighting. And if David 0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:26.840 gets caught up fighting Eliab, he never sees Goliath. If 0:24:26.840 --> 0:24:32.000 he gets distracted, some of us are defeated simply because 0:24:32.040 --> 0:24:35.359 we're distracted. Now you know how the story ends, but 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:37.640 think about how it could have ended. David for the 0:24:37.680 --> 0:24:41.359 next two hours defends himself to Elia. I was the 0:24:41.400 --> 0:24:44.600 other day checking on some Instagram post seeing if they 0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:47.679 were touching people's lives. You know, I would like to 0:24:47.720 --> 0:24:49.760 say that I always do it with a pure heart, 0:24:50.040 --> 0:24:52.720 but sometimes I'll scroll to look for people who say 0:24:52.760 --> 0:24:55.920 mean things to me, and that's a dysfunction. And I'm 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:58.840 not saved all the way yet. I am saved. I 0:24:59.000 --> 0:25:01.880 was saying, I'll be being saved. This is the part 0:25:01.920 --> 0:25:05.280 that's in progress, because sometimes I'd just like to imagine 0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:07.680 the response I could sing. You know what the sphear 0:25:07.680 --> 0:25:09.680 of the Lord told me the other day. First of all, 0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:12.640 is one out of three hundred people who say something negative. 0:25:12.720 --> 0:25:15.720 That's number one. Number two. If you would invest a 0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:19.000 fraction of the energy into blessing people that you put 0:25:19.000 --> 0:25:23.000 into defending yourself, you would be Mother Teresa, you would 0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:26.119 be Saint Paul. You could change the world if you 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:30.600 would stop trying to defend yourself. And I'm coming right 0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:34.080 for you, because some of us trip over an offense, 0:25:34.359 --> 0:25:37.800 and so we never defeat the real opponent, because we 0:25:37.920 --> 0:25:41.920 stand and argue with Eliab and we never even get 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:52.359 to Goliah. You that's so powerful. Could it could have 0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:56.719 had a whole different ending. It could have been a 0:25:56.800 --> 0:26:01.400 whole lot different and I've that Jackie wouldn't have taught 0:26:01.400 --> 0:26:04.800 me that Bible story in Sunday School if David had 0:26:04.840 --> 0:26:08.080 stood there and argued with Eliab. Now here's the thing 0:26:08.200 --> 0:26:13.560 that's practical about this. Some of you are fighting Eliab today, 0:26:14.960 --> 0:26:18.879 and because you're fighting Elia, Goliath continues to go unchallenged 0:26:18.920 --> 0:26:23.640 in your life. You know you're fighting Eliab if you're 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:30.919 still blaming people. David did this move that I want 0:26:30.960 --> 0:26:33.440 to learn how to do when I realize I'm fighting 0:26:33.440 --> 0:26:37.120 the wrong enemy, when I realize I'm fighting something outside 0:26:37.119 --> 0:26:39.680 when I really need to be dealing with something inside. 0:26:39.840 --> 0:26:42.119 When I realize I'm trying to control how other people 0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:44.560 are versus trying to have self control the fruit of 0:26:44.600 --> 0:26:47.920 the spirit for myself. This is a word today. This 0:26:48.000 --> 0:26:51.520 is a word today. It said that David did something 0:26:51.680 --> 0:26:55.199 very strategic, and this is like the turning point of 0:26:55.240 --> 0:26:58.160 the story. It said in verse thirty that when Eliab 0:26:58.240 --> 0:27:00.840 was going back and forth in David hit him real 0:27:00.920 --> 0:27:03.080 quick with an insult, just to let him know I'm 0:27:03.080 --> 0:27:05.119 not a punk. And then after he said what he 0:27:05.160 --> 0:27:09.240 had to say, watch what he did. David turned and 0:27:09.320 --> 0:27:15.000 ask somebody else and watch this when he turns away 0:27:15.000 --> 0:27:26.879 from Eliab, it positions him to face Goliath. So whoever 0:27:27.000 --> 0:27:31.160 is for, you'll never even get to Goliath. You will 0:27:31.200 --> 0:27:33.960 never even get to the insecurity that is causing the 0:27:34.040 --> 0:27:37.000 issue if you keep blaming the people who are bringing 0:27:37.040 --> 0:27:41.879 it out for you to look at. Eliab wasn't the giant. 0:27:42.040 --> 0:27:44.879 Eliab wasn't the enemy. Eliab was his brother that he 0:27:44.920 --> 0:27:49.119 was supposed to fight for. So now we've watched David 0:27:49.680 --> 0:27:53.920 two different alternate endings. If he argues with Eliab, then 0:27:53.920 --> 0:27:57.480 he misses Goliath. If he doesn't obey his father in 0:27:57.560 --> 0:28:00.680 a simple thing, then he misses Goliath. It could have 0:28:01.640 --> 0:28:05.119 Graham was so prophetic, he said it could have ended 0:28:06.040 --> 0:28:11.160 oh lot different. I was so mad at my mom 0:28:11.320 --> 0:28:14.720 for forgiving my dad. I didn't think he deserved it. 0:28:16.359 --> 0:28:18.360 What would that funeral have been like if she had 0:28:18.359 --> 0:28:22.679 listened to me rather than listening to God, if we 0:28:22.680 --> 0:28:25.080 weren't even on speaking terms when he died, it could 0:28:25.080 --> 0:28:30.840 have ended up. And I only bring it up because 0:28:32.040 --> 0:28:36.199 every story in this room is still being written, and 0:28:36.240 --> 0:28:39.160 sometimes you think you know how it ends. But what 0:28:39.200 --> 0:28:43.760 if it's not over yet? What if it's not over yet? 0:28:47.320 --> 0:28:49.360 I'm gonna preach it through that little facade that you 0:28:49.480 --> 0:28:53.280 have right now. What if it's not over yet? What 0:28:53.920 --> 0:28:56.400 if you've wasted a lot of time? But what if 0:28:56.440 --> 0:28:59.520 God really is able to redeem the years that the 0:28:59.600 --> 0:29:02.520 Lucus have eaten. What if it's not over yet. I'm 0:29:02.560 --> 0:29:05.560 just closing a question. What if it's not over yet? 0:29:06.440 --> 0:29:09.440 What if your best days are not behind you? What 0:29:09.520 --> 0:29:12.880 if the devil is a liar? What if everything that 0:29:12.920 --> 0:29:16.600 you have been through can serve a greater purpose. What 0:29:16.720 --> 0:29:21.040 if a generational curse was being broken through your battle? 0:29:21.480 --> 0:29:24.120 What if God brought you to the Valley of Elah 0:29:24.360 --> 0:29:27.120 because he's the god of a turnaround, the God of 0:29:27.160 --> 0:29:30.240 a second chance, the God of a new beginning, and 0:29:30.480 --> 0:29:40.960 the God of a new Indeed, Mary and Martha said, 0:29:41.000 --> 0:29:44.640 I know how this story is. But one thing they 0:29:44.680 --> 0:29:49.880 didn't know is that Jesus doesn't provide resurrection. He is resurrection. 0:29:50.400 --> 0:29:53.560 So if he's on the scene, WA's this. When David 0:29:53.720 --> 0:29:56.840 showed up, he said, I come against you in the 0:29:56.960 --> 0:30:05.880 name of the Lord. Now one more thing I gotta 0:30:05.880 --> 0:30:11.000 show you, y'all. Calm down. It's a Bible study, not 0:30:11.080 --> 0:30:14.600 a football game. It's not a basketball game. There's nothing 0:30:14.600 --> 0:30:17.360 to be excited about it. Here, it's not like the 0:30:17.400 --> 0:30:20.120 blood of Jesus is enough for you. It's not like 0:30:20.200 --> 0:30:23.480 depression is defeated. It's not like the devil has to 0:30:23.520 --> 0:30:26.760 back up when you call on the name of your God. 0:30:27.040 --> 0:30:30.320 It's not like worship can push back darkness. It's not 0:30:30.560 --> 0:30:44.520 like praise can break says, now, sit down, because now 0:30:44.520 --> 0:30:49.400 he has to go through Saul, the one that should 0:30:49.400 --> 0:30:52.360 have been celebrating him, the one that should have been 0:30:52.360 --> 0:30:57.640 supporting him. David kills Goliath. Stop being so boring. When 0:30:57.680 --> 0:31:02.400 you read the Bible. The Bibles boring, you're bored. Read 0:31:02.520 --> 0:31:07.720 it better. This thing could have had so many endings. 0:31:08.600 --> 0:31:11.400 It could have ended when David had a bad attitude 0:31:11.520 --> 0:31:14.520 towards the ordinary. It could have ended when David was 0:31:14.560 --> 0:31:16.920 fighting against who he was supposed to be fighting for. 0:31:17.120 --> 0:31:19.560 He could have got offended. It could have ended with ordinary. 0:31:19.720 --> 0:31:21.600 It could have ended with the fence. And it could 0:31:21.600 --> 0:31:27.440 have ended with only do you know only the spirit 0:31:27.440 --> 0:31:32.760 of lack and limitation? Do you know only what Saul 0:31:32.800 --> 0:31:36.280 said to David. David was like showing Saul his resume. 0:31:37.120 --> 0:31:41.000 He's like, I'm pretty good at beating stuff that's bigger 0:31:41.000 --> 0:31:45.320 than me. I beat a lion. One time, I beat 0:31:45.320 --> 0:31:54.320 a beer, put me in coach, and Saul said, you're 0:31:54.320 --> 0:31:59.719 only a boy. I wonder what you're only in your 0:31:59.720 --> 0:32:04.200 own Remember Saul wasn't the enemy. Saul was supposed to 0:32:04.200 --> 0:32:07.120 be a friend. You ever had something inside of you 0:32:07.200 --> 0:32:12.760 turn on you, You're only I had it. This week, 0:32:13.000 --> 0:32:16.600 I was thinking that I'm just a preacher because I 0:32:16.640 --> 0:32:21.000 was thinking how really influencing culture is done through rappers 0:32:21.040 --> 0:32:23.960 and fashion and others, and I was thinking about changing 0:32:24.000 --> 0:32:27.000 a generation, and I felt discouraged about it, like I'm 0:32:27.040 --> 0:32:30.560 only a preacher. But there's this one verse that always 0:32:30.560 --> 0:32:33.120 comes up when I think that way. And God told 0:32:33.160 --> 0:32:35.360 Jeremiah one time he said, do not say I am only. 0:32:37.480 --> 0:32:40.600 While thinking about that, I know this isn't exactly what 0:32:40.640 --> 0:32:43.280 the text means, but I was thinking, how God's name 0:32:43.360 --> 0:32:45.280 is I am. So when you say I am only, 0:32:46.760 --> 0:32:50.640 and you're supposed to take God's name, you mess up 0:32:50.680 --> 0:32:53.920 the name that he gave you by diminishing it in 0:32:53.960 --> 0:32:55.840 your own sight. I am only. Do not say I 0:32:55.880 --> 0:33:00.600 am only. Do not say I am only. I'm only 0:33:00.640 --> 0:33:04.200 a boy. But David said, no, no, no, I've never 0:33:04.240 --> 0:33:10.040 faced this giant before. Get ready to shout, but I 0:33:10.120 --> 0:33:16.080 brought the same god to this valley that I brought 0:33:16.080 --> 0:33:20.160 to the last valley. Because the only reason I'm preaching 0:33:20.200 --> 0:33:23.280 it is because you're standing in front of something right now. 0:33:23.480 --> 0:33:26.920 You've never seen this before, But David said, here's the 0:33:27.000 --> 0:33:31.720 common pattern I've noticed. Okay, I dropped the lion, I 0:33:31.800 --> 0:33:36.720 dropped the bear. It only stands to reason that if 0:33:36.760 --> 0:33:40.920 the lion didn't stand a chance, if the bear didn't 0:33:40.960 --> 0:33:46.560 stand a chance because they opposed my father's business, if 0:33:46.600 --> 0:33:51.960 this giant opposes the purpose of God, I predict and 0:33:52.280 --> 0:33:57.200 upset victory over everything in your life that is thicker 0:33:57.240 --> 0:34:01.960 than you, that opposes the purpose of within you. Come on, 0:34:02.320 --> 0:34:10.879 He's the god of a turnaround. So I know. Somebody said, 0:34:10.960 --> 0:34:15.600 I know how this story ends because I know who 0:34:15.640 --> 0:34:24.000 wrote it. I know who wrote it. He is the 0:34:24.040 --> 0:34:30.799 author and the prefector of my fame. She looked at 0:34:30.840 --> 0:34:33.239 me last week and on our date night, and this 0:34:33.320 --> 0:34:35.960 movie was gonna have a nice ending. But then she 0:34:36.080 --> 0:34:41.240 remembered that the writer of this particular movie is noted 0:34:41.360 --> 0:34:45.239 for everybody dying in the end. And she looked at me. Now, 0:34:45.280 --> 0:34:46.800 I want you to get this when I say it Okay, 0:34:47.360 --> 0:34:51.439 she said it can't be over. I just remembered who 0:34:51.440 --> 0:35:00.239 wrote it. Come on, you know it's a word for you. No, 0:35:00.320 --> 0:35:03.560 there's some things because we tell our selves these stories. 0:35:04.200 --> 0:35:08.080 But if God wrote it, it's not over till we win. 0:35:08.719 --> 0:35:12.080 It's not over until the light over comes the darkness. 0:35:12.760 --> 0:35:17.080 Come on, my Robie, come on, caston, Come on, Balentine, 0:35:17.320 --> 0:35:29.600 it's not over. Could have been a whole different story, 0:35:31.840 --> 0:35:36.680 and I want to suggest that maybe it still can be, 0:35:36.600 --> 0:35:38.399 because I know in church we talk a lot about 0:35:38.480 --> 0:35:46.160 new beginnings. What about new endings? What about putting two 0:35:46.239 --> 0:35:48.840 more periods behind that one that you thought ended the 0:35:48.880 --> 0:35:52.480 sentence and making it an ellipses? What about new endings? 0:35:53.760 --> 0:35:57.560 What about to be continued? What about the third day? 0:35:58.719 --> 0:36:04.480 What about Sunday morning? What about Jesus? I know how 0:36:04.520 --> 0:36:06.480 the story ends, so when I see him on the cross, 0:36:06.480 --> 0:36:09.080 I'm not worried. The disciples didn't know that. This is 0:36:09.120 --> 0:36:12.319 the challenge to know how the story ends, even when 0:36:12.360 --> 0:36:16.319 you don't know how it's gonna get. There might not 0:36:16.360 --> 0:36:19.920 be a straight line, it might not be perfect, it 0:36:20.000 --> 0:36:22.400 might not look like somebody else's situation. You get in 0:36:22.440 --> 0:36:24.799 the worst trouble of your life, trying to wear Saul's armor, 0:36:27.320 --> 0:36:30.120 trying to fight like everybody else fights. Yours might be messier. 0:36:31.080 --> 0:36:32.960 Can I say something for somebody that God put on 0:36:32.960 --> 0:36:40.240 my heart? Yours might look laughable. I'm only high school educated. 0:36:40.239 --> 0:36:42.600 Good God's gonna get that much more glory because you 0:36:42.640 --> 0:36:46.560 didn't have a college degree. Now when people look at you, 0:36:46.600 --> 0:36:49.280 they're gonna have to know. It had to be God. 0:36:49.560 --> 0:36:53.000 I know your GPA. It had to be God, God's 0:36:53.080 --> 0:36:57.440 purpose advances. I know your GPA. You weren't smart enough, 0:36:57.680 --> 0:37:00.919 good enough, pretty enough. You didn't pray enough, you didn't 0:37:00.960 --> 0:37:03.680 do the right things. It could have been a whole 0:37:03.840 --> 0:37:08.000 different story. But the grace of God stepped in. Just 0:37:08.120 --> 0:37:21.200 did the nick of top. Spoiler alert, Goliath goes down. 0:37:25.840 --> 0:37:33.319 Plot twist. Goliath goes down and guess what, that's not 0:37:33.400 --> 0:37:38.840 how the story ends. I'm sorry. I know it looks 0:37:38.840 --> 0:37:43.480 great on the flannel graph. David's awfully cute with a slingshot, 0:37:44.160 --> 0:37:47.000 especially especially when it's one that you pull back, you know, 0:37:47.239 --> 0:37:50.080 like it's a spitball, like it's God's like it's a 0:37:50.160 --> 0:37:54.080 spirit spiritual spitball. Boom, you know, I know it's the 0:37:54.160 --> 0:37:57.000 it's the cartoon version. Here's the grown up version. You're ready. 0:37:58.200 --> 0:38:02.120 David never read for Samuel seventeen fifty Most of us 0:38:02.239 --> 0:38:07.840 never read for Samuel seventeen fifty one. All apologies to 0:38:07.960 --> 0:38:11.160 all the children's Bible teachers, But you don't really know 0:38:11.200 --> 0:38:14.480 how the story ended because David, when he hit Goliath 0:38:14.480 --> 0:38:20.480 with the rock is stunned him. But then David had 0:38:20.800 --> 0:38:24.000 something else that he had to do, in the spirit 0:38:24.040 --> 0:38:35.040 of Mortal Kombat, look at your neighbor and say, finish him. 0:38:35.080 --> 0:38:38.680 The Bible says that after he knocked him down, because 0:38:38.719 --> 0:38:40.960 some of us are content just to stun our enemy. 0:38:41.239 --> 0:38:43.800 Do you know what I'm saying, Just to come into church, 0:38:44.120 --> 0:38:46.800 feel good for a few hours, get a little word, 0:38:46.960 --> 0:38:49.440 go home, forget about it. Go right back into the 0:38:49.520 --> 0:38:52.640 same stuff, go right back into the same cycle, go 0:38:52.760 --> 0:38:55.359 right back into the same dead block, Go right back 0:38:55.360 --> 0:38:58.400 into the same pretending, go right back into the same image. 0:38:58.440 --> 0:39:01.520 But David said something, he says, he said something. He said. 0:39:02.040 --> 0:39:08.600 I didn't just come down here to bring cheese and bread. See. 0:39:08.640 --> 0:39:13.000 I always thought that David was the delivery boy. But 0:39:13.120 --> 0:39:18.160 it turns out that the way the story ends, David 0:39:19.000 --> 0:39:26.600 wasn't the delivery boy. Goliath was, so now I'm gonna 0:39:26.600 --> 0:39:30.160 preach us home. You're ready. What did Goliath have that 0:39:30.280 --> 0:39:33.080 David needed? That David didn't know that he would need. 0:39:33.800 --> 0:39:36.960 It's right in verse fifty. It's right in verse fifty 0:39:37.200 --> 0:39:40.320 is said he came to the battle without a sword 0:39:40.400 --> 0:39:44.520 in his hand. Spoiler alert, he left with one who 0:39:44.640 --> 0:39:48.719 was carrying it his enemy. I declare, Come on, y'all, 0:39:48.760 --> 0:39:52.440 I'm trying to be good, but I declare, I know 0:39:52.640 --> 0:39:59.640 how this story is. Goliath has got your sword, Goliath 0:40:00.080 --> 0:40:04.200 got your grace, and if you want to see the victory, 0:40:04.400 --> 0:40:07.560 you're going to have to defeat what's standing in front 0:40:07.560 --> 0:40:09.680 of you. But you don't have to do it on 0:40:09.760 --> 0:40:18.520 your own. Come on, let's start something out all over 0:40:18.560 --> 0:40:23.360 the whole church, University, city blakening. I'm on every single warrior, 0:40:23.680 --> 0:40:28.680 every single worshiper, to declare, I know how this story is. 0:40:29.880 --> 0:40:33.240 Tell the person next to you, I know how your 0:40:33.280 --> 0:40:40.160 story is. Tell them your story ends with glory. God's 0:40:40.200 --> 0:40:53.080 gonna get the glory out of every situation in your life. 0:40:55.080 --> 0:41:00.799 I know how it is. Some jets is gonna bring 0:41:00.840 --> 0:41:02.680 me the kayak. I don't know who God's got in 0:41:02.680 --> 0:41:10.840 the water, but even now somehow the sister said to Jesus, 0:41:11.760 --> 0:41:18.440 God will give you what you want. So David stands 0:41:18.480 --> 0:41:23.080 over the giant. I always read it as being the 0:41:23.120 --> 0:41:26.239 final sequence in the battle, that after he knocked him down, 0:41:27.640 --> 0:41:31.359 he looked at the verse. He took the sword from 0:41:31.360 --> 0:41:35.480 the scabbard. Anybody ever said scabbard in the last ten years, 0:41:37.840 --> 0:41:42.480 he took the sword. Little things like that keep me preaching, 0:41:42.520 --> 0:41:48.520 you know. And after he killed him, he's already dead. 0:41:49.480 --> 0:41:52.960 He cut off his head. Why'd he do it for 0:41:53.040 --> 0:42:00.600 a trophy? Because this wouldn't be his last giant Now, 0:42:01.120 --> 0:42:04.720 I always thought that the story was over when David 0:42:04.760 --> 0:42:08.480 cut off his head. How much more savage can you be? 0:42:09.880 --> 0:42:14.239 The head is off the giants now, But that's not 0:42:14.280 --> 0:42:17.040 how the story ends. See, we only think we know 0:42:17.120 --> 0:42:19.680 how it ends. You tell your story. You're like and 0:42:19.719 --> 0:42:21.920 then I got a divorce. That's not the end of 0:42:21.960 --> 0:42:25.560 your story. That's not the last time you can love 0:42:25.640 --> 0:42:30.120 or be loved. That's not the end of your story. 0:42:30.920 --> 0:42:32.680 You know, they were doing pretty good and then they 0:42:32.719 --> 0:42:36.000 did this. That's not the end of the story. That's 0:42:36.120 --> 0:42:46.840 just character development. It can't be over because I know 0:42:46.880 --> 0:42:49.680 who wrote it. I said it can't be over because 0:42:49.719 --> 0:42:55.200 I know who wrote it. It's not the end of 0:42:55.239 --> 0:43:00.719 my story. I know how this story is. I know 0:43:00.760 --> 0:43:03.600 how I'm leaving this battlefield. I'm not leaving him the hand. 0:43:04.360 --> 0:43:06.920 I'm leaving with the sword. I'm leaving with a lesson. 0:43:07.080 --> 0:43:10.160 I'm leaving with a testimony. I'm leaving with a brighter 0:43:10.239 --> 0:43:12.760 day on my mind. I'm leaving with a new praise 0:43:12.800 --> 0:43:15.839 in my spirit. I'm leaving with a prophecy. I'm leaving 0:43:15.880 --> 0:43:19.640 with a word from God. You know what's so crazy 0:43:21.160 --> 0:43:23.000 is that the whole point of the story has nothing 0:43:23.040 --> 0:43:26.239 to do with David to begin with. It says that 0:43:26.320 --> 0:43:30.160 after Goliath died that all of the Philistines. Do you 0:43:30.160 --> 0:43:32.279 see it, When they saw that their hero was dead, 0:43:32.520 --> 0:43:36.920 they turned and ran. Your story is not even about you. 0:43:39.600 --> 0:43:41.560 What you're going through right now might not even be 0:43:41.640 --> 0:43:43.640 about you. You know how many people I've seen come 0:43:43.640 --> 0:43:47.560 out of grief and release their greatest gift from their 0:43:47.600 --> 0:43:53.000 greatest grief. Goliath has got your sword. Goliath has got 0:43:53.040 --> 0:43:56.319 your sword. You're gonna be sitting across from somebody who 0:43:56.480 --> 0:43:58.920 needs it in five years and telling them I've been 0:43:59.000 --> 0:44:01.600 right there in the battle. But here's what I found out. 0:44:01.880 --> 0:44:04.360 The sword that came to kill you is gonna be 0:44:04.400 --> 0:44:10.880 the one that God uses to deliver you. And he 0:44:11.120 --> 0:44:16.359 killed Goliath with his own sword. Your giant has got 0:44:16.400 --> 0:44:22.040 your sword. But that's not how the story ends, cuts 0:44:22.040 --> 0:44:27.320 off his head, sends the sword to the temple at Knob, 0:44:27.960 --> 0:44:32.640 which was where a Hemelet was the superintendent. A little 0:44:32.640 --> 0:44:37.880 while later, David goes back to Saul's palace. Saul starts 0:44:37.880 --> 0:44:43.120 going absolutely crazy, trying to kill David. David has to 0:44:43.239 --> 0:44:48.160 run from Saul. Remember now, Goliath was not the last 0:44:48.200 --> 0:44:53.160 giant that David fake with face. You don't want to 0:44:53.200 --> 0:44:56.640 stay stuck in just one victory of your life. The 0:44:56.680 --> 0:45:00.680 Bible says, he leads us from glory to glory, from 0:45:00.760 --> 0:45:04.239 strength to strength. Stand up. I'm trying to close. I'm 0:45:04.280 --> 0:45:07.720 trying so hard. Don't leave, but stand up and clap 0:45:07.760 --> 0:45:10.520 your hands. If you know this is not my last one. 0:45:10.640 --> 0:45:13.720 This is not my last victory. I come against midlife 0:45:13.760 --> 0:45:16.080 crisis in the name of the Lord. There's more for 0:45:16.160 --> 0:45:18.560 you to do. You have a legacy to pass on. 0:45:18.920 --> 0:45:21.440 You're gonna make a bigger difference in your future days. 0:45:23.320 --> 0:45:30.640 Your latter days shall be greater. Zan no, this story 0:45:34.040 --> 0:45:40.680 your sun, so okay, hang on a second. So David 0:45:40.719 --> 0:45:43.640 runs down to the temple right he's running from Saw. 0:45:43.920 --> 0:45:47.080 He's already killed Goliath, and he has to leave so 0:45:47.200 --> 0:45:50.120 quickly that he doesn't have a sword. He runs to 0:45:50.160 --> 0:45:53.880 the temple attendant. He says, hey, man, I need a weapon. 0:45:54.080 --> 0:45:56.120 How many of you need a weapon to fight something 0:45:56.120 --> 0:45:58.480 in your life today? You need a strategy, you need 0:45:58.520 --> 0:46:00.759 an insight. Come on, you need a breakthrough. You need 0:46:00.800 --> 0:46:05.919 to turn on all right, David said to Ahimelek, don't 0:46:05.920 --> 0:46:08.520 you have a spear or a sword here? I haven't 0:46:08.520 --> 0:46:12.120 brought my sword or any other weapon because the king's 0:46:12.160 --> 0:46:19.680 business was urgent. Priest said, man, I'm sorry, David, I 0:46:19.680 --> 0:46:24.400 mean I got one sword. It's the sort of Goliath, 0:46:25.480 --> 0:46:29.759 the Philistine, at least it used to be until you 0:46:29.880 --> 0:46:34.640 killed him. But now the very weapon that you took 0:46:34.680 --> 0:46:40.480 from your enemy, the very strength you gained from the 0:46:40.520 --> 0:46:45.279 thing you survived, the sword of Goliath, the word that 0:46:45.320 --> 0:46:47.600 God spoke over your life. How many No, his word 0:46:47.680 --> 0:46:50.600 is a sword is sharper than any double edged sword 0:46:50.840 --> 0:46:55.560 he Brews four to twelve. The sword of Goliath, who 0:46:55.680 --> 0:46:58.600 you killed in the valley of Elaw is here, is 0:46:58.719 --> 0:47:02.719 wrapped in a claw behind the ephi. If you want it, 0:47:03.200 --> 0:47:06.640 take it. There is no sword here but that one, 0:47:06.840 --> 0:47:10.000 And David said, there is none like it. Give it 0:47:10.040 --> 0:47:15.040 to me. He started with a sling, he ended with 0:47:15.120 --> 0:47:20.160 the sword. And the difference was the enemy that he 0:47:20.360 --> 0:47:30.920 was willing to confront. And I know how this Oh. Now, 0:47:30.960 --> 0:47:33.439 I don't know exactly how long this story's going to take, 0:47:34.560 --> 0:47:37.080 and I don't know all the details of it, but 0:47:37.360 --> 0:47:44.000 I know how this story is. We got the drop 0:47:44.040 --> 0:47:47.080 on David. We read verse fifty. We got the drop 0:47:47.120 --> 0:47:49.960 on David. We've been to the empty tomb. We got 0:47:49.960 --> 0:47:53.320 the drop on David. We know how this story is. 0:47:54.680 --> 0:47:58.799 I know that the sufferings of this present time are 0:47:58.920 --> 0:48:01.879 not worthy. Do you hear me preaching to you right 0:48:01.880 --> 0:48:03.920 there in your living room? Do you hear me preaching 0:48:03.960 --> 0:48:06.000 to you right there in your kitchen? Do you hear 0:48:06.040 --> 0:48:08.520 me preaching to you? You're in a hospital room with 0:48:08.560 --> 0:48:11.480 a loved one right now, with the God of all healing, 0:48:11.760 --> 0:48:15.160 Jehovah Rafika is in the hospital room with you. I 0:48:15.320 --> 0:48:21.960 know how this story I love. I know no weapon 0:48:22.840 --> 0:48:27.920 that is formed against me south rossword. Now, the Bible 0:48:27.960 --> 0:48:31.200 doesn't say that the weapon won't be formed. It just 0:48:31.239 --> 0:48:35.640 says that it won't work. So watch this. The weapon 0:48:35.840 --> 0:48:39.840 was formed by my enemy. Isaiah fifty four seventeen is 0:48:39.840 --> 0:48:43.399 on the screen right now. The weapon was formed by 0:48:43.440 --> 0:48:46.040 the hand of my enemy. What you're going through it 0:48:46.120 --> 0:48:48.440 might not have been from the hand of God. But 0:48:48.520 --> 0:48:52.920 you gotta read verse sixteen to understand verse seventeen. Because 0:48:53.000 --> 0:48:57.480 verse sixteen, God says, behold, I have created the blacksmith 0:48:57.760 --> 0:49:01.719 who made the weapon. So God's the enemy might have 0:49:01.840 --> 0:49:05.439 formed the weapon, but I formed the enemy. And there 0:49:05.520 --> 0:49:10.200 is nothing then that enemy can bring against you. Come on, 0:49:10.280 --> 0:49:21.680 there is nothing because I get your hands. Get your 0:49:21.760 --> 0:49:31.520 hands gets afray? Yes, come on, Elia, you come against 0:49:31.560 --> 0:49:36.040 me with addcent, You come against me with anxiety? What 0:49:36.960 --> 0:49:45.200 gets you? In the name of thank you for joining 0:49:45.320 --> 0:49:48.080 us special thanks to those of you who give generously 0:49:48.160 --> 0:49:51.000 to this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry 0:49:51.120 --> 0:49:53.840 is possible. You can click the link in the description 0:49:54.120 --> 0:49:57.760 to give now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash 0:49:57.840 --> 0:50:01.120 podcast for more information and if if you enjoyed the podcast, 0:50:01.400 --> 0:50:04.120 you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:50:04.400 --> 0:50:06.680 You can click the share button. Take a screenshot and 0:50:06.719 --> 0:50:08.839 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:50:08.880 --> 0:50:16.480 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.