INVINCIBLE CHURCH 9-22-24

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
9/22/2024
True Courage: 1 Samuel 17: 40-54
Last week, we talked about “God’s revelation.” God is a communicator, and He reveals Himself to His children in the human realm through His creation, miracles, messengers, His Word, the Holy Spirit, and through His Son, Jesus.
So, if we want to know God better, we pursue Jesus in all the ways that God reveals Himself to us. This week, we are going to look at God’s revelation to us regarding how to have "true courage" in the face of evil, paganism, hardship, depravity, danger, and physical death.
The only way we can have peace of mind in the adversities that we all will face in life, or be content in the middle of bad situations and circumstances, is to have "true courage," which everyone has struggled with at times. God knew we would struggle with fear.
That is why the Bible tells us 365 times, “Don’t be afraid,” and gives us one of the greatest examples of "true courage" in all of history: the story of David and Goliath. This story is not just meant to give us hope that God will defeat all of our giants, but it also points us to the victory that Jesus won over sin and death, which is the greatest victory there will ever be!
This is why, and how, having genuine faith and trust in Jesus gives us "true courage"—true courage in the face of things that could cause us to be afraid. "True courage" is always available to every true follower of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit when we are in Jesus. Let’s look at…
1 Samuel 17:40-54 NIV 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”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. 46 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 carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 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.”48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
This passage is all about "fear and courage" and how different levels of these two emotions or feelings impact how we live and the decisions we make. We also see how our courage and decisions can affect the people around us. So, for a little context on how the story got to this point, we’re going to look at
5 Different Distinctions of “Courage”
1] No Courage - King Saul had "no courage" because he always predetermined his chances for success based on the size and resources of his enemies. He looked at the opposition, and if they were too big, powerful, influential, or popular, he was terrified.
We see a lot of people like this today! These types of people can only be stable and content when everything is working in their favor, the way they want things to go. But true courage and contentment only happen when we’re working to accomplish God’s purposes for our life!
The only reason we are here is for God’s purposes and pleasure! God is working everything for His glory, which always turns out for the good of people who love Him. True followers of Jesus know that God has us covered on all sides! So, if a person has no courage, they’re selfish like Saul.
2] Misguided Courage - This was Israel. God chose them as the people and nation He would use to reveal Himself to the rest of the world. So, they had God as their leader and authority, but they wanted a king like the rest of the world, and they chose Saul.
So God gave them what they wanted! Be careful what you wish for—you just might get it! They started looking to Saul for guidance, inspiration, and courage to defeat their enemies, but he completely failed them, and the Israelites were frustrated and afraid.
It’s what we see so many times today when somebody puts all their faith and trust in a thing or person—whether it’s a marriage, job, friend, political leader, etc.—and that thing or person fails them. They become frustrated, angry, hurt, depressed, bitter, etc.
And they start doubting that they can ever trust anybody again because they think they’ll just get hurt again. But Jesus will never fail us! So, when we put all our faith and trust in Him, we’re not completely derailed and defeated when somebody fails us. And people will fail us! Then there’s...
3] Arrogant Courage - This is reckless and dangerous! Goliath thought his superior strength would always guarantee him victory. People like this are foolishly courageous because their courage is all based on power and position. They’re like Goliath!
They feel like their armor is thicker, and their sword is bigger. They may even have an undefeated record in life so far, and they’ve always been able to handle everything that comes at them! But their bulletproof ego is setting them up for defeat.
Because sooner or later, they’ll be hit with some betrayal, disease, divorce, financial loss, or some other kind of failure, and it destroys them. Jesus told us we’d have difficulties in this world, so it’s coming! Then there’s...
4] Heroic Courage - It’s always doing the right thing. David didn’t sit idle and worry! He took action! He used the weapons he had, which were shepherd's tools—not exactly the best weapons of war. The rocks were just five rocks that he picked up right where he was at!
And by the way, when David only picked up five rocks, it shows the courage and confidence he had because, usually, "the more ammo, the better." Anyway, all he had were just common tools, but in the hands of a warrior of God, they became deadly weapons of war to defeat evil!
David had his sling in his hand and started walking toward Goliath. The giant Philistine saw David coming, and it says Goliath "despised" David because he was young, healthy, and handsome! Goliath bellowed at David in verse 43, "Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?"
Then in verse 44, the giant Philistine tried to intimidate David by yelling, "Come here, you little punk. I'm going to tear you to shreds and feed you to the vultures and jackals!" But David showed no fear! He said in verse 45, "You come against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God Almighty, whom you’ve blasphemed and disrespected!"
Then in verse 46, "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 carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!" This shows us that David wasn’t afraid!
Because David was operating in the power of the Holy Spirit! 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." Notice...
David is addressing two groups of people here! One is the world, and he’s gonna show them that God exists! The other group is God’s people, and he’s gonna show them that God always keeps His promises! "For the battle is the Lord's," and God's gonna deliver Goliath into David’s hands!
Notice that David is asking a different question than everybody else! Saul was asking, "How big is our enemy, and do we have anybody big enough to beat him?" David’s only question was, "What does God want in this situation?" So, true courage starts by changing the question!
"True courage" starts when we stop asking what we want and what we are capable of in light of what we want, and we simply start asking, "What does God want, period?" Because if God calls us to do something, He will make sure we have everything we need to get it done!
In verse 48, when Goliath started coming toward David, David did not draw a line in the sand and say, "If you cross this line, then I’ll be forced to defend myself!" Goliath already crossed the line when he blasphemed and disrespected God! David took off toward Goliath to get in range to take the evil giant down!
Then, in God’s perfect timing, David loaded his sling, and he let that little agate fly free, guided by God’s hand. It hit Goliath with precision, right in the middle of his giant forehead, and it sank in deep! It killed him so quickly that he fell face down in the sand!
But God's assignment for David wasn’t finished! David stood over the Philistine, took Goliath’s sword, and cut off the giant’s head! So, when the rest of the Philistine army saw that their champion was dead, they cowered and ran!
God’s revealing a whole lot of things through this one-on-one battle! We see that God went ahead of David, God followed behind David, and God “stood” with David on all sides! So, David’s true courage through God inspired the Israelite army to also have courage! It’s just another one of the great "Only God" stories!
Most all professing Christians think the main principle of this story is to trust God, and He will remove all the giant obstacles in our life! Or, that God’s assigned us to step up and conquer the giant issues we have with our: Addictions, Relationships, Families, Jobs, or Finances.
A lot of preachers and teachers have taught it this way—that these types of things are the primary principles of the story. And there’s certainly some application for that. But those types of things aren’t the main point. The main point of this "Only God" story is:
First and foremost, David is symbolic of Jesus! The Bible is not a book about David or us! The Bible is a book about Jesus. Jesus is the main point of the entire Bible! Every one of the stories in the Bible is about Jesus, both Old and New Testament!
It’s not that when we’re having “hard times” that seem like a “Goliath problem” that we ought to see ourselves as symbolic of David and think we’re going to take down our “giants” with the courage of David! We do face our giants head-on as David did, but the power comes from the Holy Spirit!
Just like David’s power to defeat the giant came through the Holy Spirit! So, Jesus is the true David in the story. The entire Bible is about Jesus! David was the small, unassuming shepherd boy who fought the pagan giant, but his power came from the Holy Spirit!
Satan is the giant who wields the sword of our sin and the spear of death, which is separation from God! But just like David fought the giant as the representative for the Israelite army, Jesus fought and won as our representative against the giant of sin and death named Satan! And like King Saul, whom the Israelites trusted to lead them and inspire them to courage in battle, many people today pathetically stand in the background, doing nothing to help the cause of Christ! They follow idols instead, who are completely unable to save them from our real enemy—Satan!
Jesus lived life the way we’re supposed to live it! He faced every temptation that Satan threw at Him and overcame them all! Then, He died the death we’ve been condemned to die! So, the reality is, Jesus fought as our representative, and He died as our representative!
Jesus went to war as our representative, and He crushed the head of Satan all by Himself! So, when we submit to Him as our Lord Jesus, He’s our representative in every way—our identity is in Him! And because of His victory, we’re free from the Goliath threats of sin and death!
So, the story of David and Goliath doesn’t just primarily represent problems that we face in our day-to-day life like Career difficulties, Relationship problems, Chronic pain, Diseases or national problems like: Depravity, Political paganism, Communism. Whether it’s Russia or China… or…All the people on the other side of the political aisle! Goliath is a picture of Satan, the evil snake who defies God, threatens God’s people, and attempts to disrupt God’s purposes! Satan is the accuser who holds the sword of sin and the curse of death!
Which means that day and night, he’s reminding us of our: Shortcomings, Limitations, Failures, Shame, and Sin. We can’t defeat him in our own strength because a lot of the stuff he brings up about us is true! But Jesus beat the curse of sin and death at the cross!
When He did, He took the sword of our sin and the spear of death out of Satan’s hand. Jesus not only disarmed the enemy—He decapitated the enemy’s power! Paul describes it this way in...
Hebrews 2:14-15 NIV 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
So … now we don’t have to live in captivity to sin, or be terrified by the enemy’s greatest threat against us, which is death! Our Hero and King defeated the snake! Jesus took the sting out of the power of death!
1 Corinthians 15:55 NIV - 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
ILLUSTRATION: My Uncle Will Carol once had a hornet buzzing around inside his truck. Without hesitation, he grabbed it between his fingers, pulled out the stinger, and let it go out the window. From that moment, I was never afraid of insects with stingers again!
Another time, years later, just after I turned 16, I was driving the ’65 Ford Falcon, heading to baseball practice. I parked at the house to grab my gear, windows down, the car hot from the sun. A wasp flew up from the dash, and I kept my eye on it. When it landed, I smacked it—but in the process, I also smacked a street sign with the car!
When Jesus died on the cross, He took the stinger out of death. Yes, we’ll experience physical death, but the sting of spiritual death in hell has been removed by Jesus. Now, we spend eternity with Him, where there are no stingers, pain, suffering, or enemies of any kind!
5) True Courage-True courage is the absence of indecision, even in the face of death. It’s not limited to areas of specialized training, but manifests in all circumstances. True courage is when a person genuinely never has fear—ever! David had no official military training when he faced Goliath, but he had true courage—the ability to instinctively take courageous action with complete disregard for self. Fear wasn’t even an option for David, just like it isn't for those with true courage!
Jesus defeated the real enemy—and all the things attached to him. When Goliath, the accuser, the taunter, tells us after a personal failure, that God can never forgive us, Jesus stands as our representative and says, “That’s not true! I’ve separated your sin as far as the east is from the west. Though your sins were red like scarlet, I made them white as snow. And now, My mercies are new for you every morning.”
When the enemy tries to claim that your life is over, that it’s going nowhere, you can boldly declare back, “You’ll never be able to undo the good work that God’s done in my life!” We don’t care how loud, threatening, or intimidating the enemy seems, or how big his sword and spear are!
So, when we know what will glorify God and we change the question from, “What do I want?” and start asking, “What does God want?” then we truly discern what God wants in a situation. Then we can pray that outcome into existence.
When the enemy arrogantly proclaims that certain people belong to him, we can charge at him in the name of Jesus, load up our slingshot, and let the truth of God’s Word fly! We declare: “No! God purchased every person, family, community, state, and nation who chooses salvation with the blood of Jesus!”
For those who choose to follow His Son Jesus, God assigns and honors them to serve as ambassadors, warriors, servants, and saints for Jesus. We will reign with Him forever because He has said in...
Matthew 16:18 ESV - 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
That verse often gets misinterpreted, especially regarding the gates of hell. What Jesus is truly saying is that when the enemy uses the gates of hell to try and keep us from carrying out God’s plan, they cannot stop us when we access the power of the Holy Spirit!
Jesus said, “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” He is proclaiming that nobody can stand in His way! We are going to get God’s work done, and the enemy cannot stop us.
They may stand there with swords and spears, but we are armed with the Word of God, which is unstoppable. The victory Jesus achieved does not mean we’ll never face obstacles. Instead, it means that when Satan is at work in a situation, we can stand against him with boldness and courage, declaring, “The battle belongs to God!”And, just as the Holy Spirit fought alongside David, He will fight with us too.
Someone may be the toughest, smartest, or wealthiest person alive, but the only one who can provide the strength, endurance, and true courage to face life’s toughest battles is Jesus!
So, followers of Jesus can have the true courage of David because we have the faith and trust that Jesus will be victorious in every battle. That is why we keep our eyes on Him! When we submit to Him as Lord and Savior, we are in Him, and He stands beside us, fighting for us, ensuring that we will always have victory in Him.
The bottom line: True courage comes only through genuine faith and trust in Jesus. When we keep our eyes on His finished victory over sin and death, it gives us the heroic courage and bold confidence we need to face all of our giants!