Five for Five
By Jason Lovelace
Keys for Today:
“And he took his staff in his
hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and
put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip;
and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the
Philistine.”
– 1st Samuel 17.40
In the battle between David and
Goliath, we see the weapons both men used. Goliath was
arrayed in heavy armor (some experts think it may have all
weighed around 250lbs.) with larger than normal weaponry for
his stature. David, by contrast, was armed as a
shepherd, with a staff, a rod, a sling, and a pouch for
stones. We read in 1st Samuel 17 that David
chose five stones out of the brook in order to fight
Goliath. The question today, is, why did David choose
five stones? How does this also connect with us in our
daily lives today? How does David’s weapons –
particularly the five stones – apply to our lives as
believers in Jesus Christ? How can we overcome the
giants that we face on a daily basis?
A Giant Problem
Goliath could very well have been
the physically largest person ever to have walked the earth.
The King James Version of the Bible states that Goliath was,
in height, six cubits and a span. To understand what
this means, a cubit in ancient times is equivalent to about
22 inches in today’s American measuring system (58
centimeters in the metric system. When we multiply
this 22 inches (58cm) by 6-1/2, we get just under 12 feet
tall (11.92ft; 3.78m). Taking into account that
Goliath had been trained form his youth as a warrior, it is
a safe bet to conclude that he may have weighed anywhere
between 6OO and 9OOlbs (273 ~ 410kg). All this to say,
Goliath was one huge man! We also see that his weapons
and armor were also larger than normal. Arrayed in his
“Sunday Best”, Goliath was a sight to behold: His Iron
or bronze armor was polished, and shone in the sunlight like
gold. His sword, strapped to his belt was gigantic and
razor sharp. His spear was the size of a weaver’s
beam, and its tip glinted off of the sunlight like a star.
His shield – carried in front of him – was likely larger
all-around than a man, and probably weighed as much.
For forty days, according to the story in 1st
Samuel 17, Goliath walked out of his camp, challenging and
calling on the Army of Israel for a champion to come forth
to fight in single combat. The conditions were serious
enough. Victory for Goliath, and the Israelites were
to be the servants and slaves of the Philistines; victory
for Israel’s champion meant the Philistines would
serve
Israel, and as a n added
bonus, King Saul had offered the victor his daughter’s hand
in matrimony, and his family to be tax-free for life.
Yet all the same, the Army of Israel produced no champion.
In fact, according to Scripture, the Israelites were scared
stiff, from King Saul, all the way down to the lowliest foot
soldier.
A King the Size of a Mountain…But
with the Heart of a Chicken
King Saul – though not quite as
tall as the imposing Giant Goliath – was himself a large
man, even by modern standards. 1st Samuel
records King Saul’s stature and physical form:
“…Saul, a choice young man,
and a goodly: and there was not among the children of
Israel
a goodlier than he: from his shoulders and upward he
was higher than any of the people.”
–1st Samuel 9.2
“and they ran and fetched him
thence: and when he stood among the people, he was
higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.
And Samuel said to all the people, ‘See ye him whom the Lord
hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the
people?’ And all the people shouted, and said, ‘God
save the king.’”
– 1st Samuel 10.23 ~24
We can see from Scripture here
that King Saul was the tallest in the kingdom, head and
shoulders – literally – above the rest. It is
estimated that Israelites of King Saul’s and David’s day
were between 5’3” and 5’5” in height. Looking at Saul
towering above everyone else, it is possible that Saul was
at or around seven feet tall. In the beginning of his
reign as king, Saul did very well, and was zealous for the
Lord against the Ammonites and Philistines (ancestors of the
Jordanians and some Palestinians respectively).
However, in the last two-thirds of his time as king, Saul
did very poorly, disobeying the Lord on two occasions.
So bad was King Saul’s attitude that these tragic instances
are recorded:
“But the spirit of the Lord
departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord
troubled him.”
– 1st Samuel 16.14
“And Saul asked counsel of
God, ‘Shall I go down after the Philistines? Wilt thou
deliver them in to the hand of
Israel?’ But he
answered him not that day.”
– 1st Samuel 14.37
“And when Saul inquired of the
Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor
Urim. Nor by prophets. Then said Saul, ‘Seek me a
woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and
inquire of her’…Then said the woman, ‘Whom shall I bring up
unto thee?’ and he said, ‘Bring me up Samuel…And Samuel said
to Saul, ‘Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?’
And Saul answered, ‘I am sore distressed…God is departed
from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor
by dreams…Then said Samuel, ‘Wherefore then dost thou ask of
me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become
thine enemy?’”
– 1st Samuel 28.6
~7,11, 15, 16
You see? Even though Saul
was king, and was a huge man in and of himself, he had
become lily livered. Because God was not with him and
the Spirit of the Lord had departed, he was timid and
afraid. Following 1st Samuel 15 and Saul’s
final disobedience, we see that Saul was plagued by fear at
every turn. When Goliath stepped forth to challenge
the army of
Israel, it should have been
her king, the huge, tall, and powerful Saul (1st
Samuel 8.20). While Saul didn’t quite measure up to
Goliath’s stature, with God, victory should have, could
have, and would have been sure. Instead, because Saul
was hiding in his tent, plagued by fear and distress, the
entire army was also in fear of huge Goliath. As we
have already learned, the real tragedy of Saul wasn’t that
he started off so well, but that he disobeyed God, remained
in an unrepentant state, and when Goliath came challenging,
was found hiding out in fear and trembling, rendering the
entire army useless, scared, weak, and unable to take up the
challenge. The king may have been a giant in his own
right, but he had the heart of a coward.
Enter David, Exit the
Misconceptions
We see that David was left
behind, once again, when the Army of Israel left for the
front to go and face the Philistines. As his father
had left him behind when Samuel the Prophet came looking for
a king, so, too, this time was David left behind due to his
youth. Since Jesse was regarded as an older man at
this time, it is safe to say that his sons probably ranged
in age from 25 or 26 to seventeen. His three eldest
sons had followed the King into
Battle, leaving David and his five
next older brothers at home, as was the custom of the day to
take men over the age of 20 and under the age of 60 to fight
(see Numbers chapter 1). Instead, David was
employed as a supplier from home, and was sent to the
front with food and other victuals for his brothers, their
captains, and the king. As we read 1st
Samuel 17, we see that David heard Goliath’s challenge, and,
being full of the Spirit of the Lord, volunteered to fight
him. Though his eldest brother and King Saul tried to
discourage him, in the end, King Saul relented and dressed
him in his own armor and weaponry. Now, a close read
of this story shows that David turned down the use of the
King’s Armor. Why so? Many experts and
theologians speculate that David didn’t use the armor
because it was too big, the sword to unwieldy. David
has been portrayed at this time of his life and in this
battle as a very young man, maybe aged between eleven and
fifteen. However, look again: the king gave him
his own armor. Why would King Saul do such a thing if
he knew it would be too large for David to use?
Wouldn’t it be better for David to have tried on the armor
of a smaller man, such as a shield bearer or cavalryman?
Instead the King dressed him in his own armor, and this is
what we must conclude: David wasn’t a small, pasty,
pre- or mid-teen boy, but instead a nearly grown man of
possibly seventeen to nineteen years of age, with broad
shoulders and a tall stature (possibly above six feet, and
maybe even 6’4”: we see, later, King Saul’s son,
Jonathan, giving David his own weapons and armor later [see
1st Kings 18]). David was no small boy
himself. The reason he didn’t take and use King Saul’s
weapons and Armor is as follows:
“And Saul armed David with his
armour, and, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head;
also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David
girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for
he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, ‘I
cannot go with these; for I have not proved them.’ And
he put them off him.”
– 1st Samuel 17.38 ~39
You see? The reason David
didn’t take Saul’s armor and weapons is simply because he
wasn’t used to them, not because he was too small or too
little to wear the armor of the king.
Why Five Stones?
David, instead of wearing the
king’s armor, went with what he was familiar with, and that
is the dress and weapons of a shepherd: A shepherd’s
rod and staff, a sling, a pouch, and some stones. Now
the question that we read in the introduction must be asked
here again: Why did David pick up five stones out of
the brook? There was only one giant: why the
five stones? Why not just one? If Goliath was
the champion that the Bible states that he was, having been
a warrior from his youth, how likely is it that David would
get the time or the chance to sling more than one stone?
Why five stones, then, and not just one? We need to
understand that David wasn’t facing Goliath as a scared
little boy, or as a fearful young man. He may have had
some nervousness, but by his words throughout this 17th
Chapter of 1st Samuel, we can easily see that he
had God with him, and because of that, he knew he was going
to slay Goliath: one stone was more than enough, as we
see later. Why then the other four? We need to
understand that there are no accidents in he Bible:
things are written there for a reason. In this case,
too, David didn’t pick up five total stones merely for extra
ammunition, or because he was afraid of missing Goliath (he
was twelve feet tall and weighed several hundred pounds!
Even without God with him, David would have been
hard-pressed to miss). The simple reason for David
choosing five stones is because Goliath had four younger
brothers; David wanted the other four stones in case
Goliath’s brothers showed up (please read 2nd
Samuel 21.15~22 and 1st Chronicles 20.4~8).
David merely wanted to be prepared for Goliath’s brethren,
which is why he took five stones.
Bullies Always Need and Have
Flunkies and Followers…
Anyone ever had a bully?
Was there some guy or some girl that bullied you almost
incessantly when you were at some point in school? How
did this bully operate? Did s/he operate alone?
In this writer’s case, there were three times that he had
bullies: Elementary school and Junior High. In
elementary school, there was a bully named Jonathan.
Jonathan was large, came from a rather dysfunctional home,
and used his fists. One day – out of the blue –
Jonathan had a friend grab this writer by the arms form
behind, hauled off, and punched him hard in the stomach.
Jonathan remained a bully until 6th and 7th
grades. Then another bully appeared: his name
was Timmy, and he was actually smaller than this writer, but
he was the worst of troublemakers. He also ran with
friends, and one day an argument nearly ended up with blows
being traded. It would have been a mismatch because
Timmy had two others working with him. Then, in the 8th
grade, this writer and his family moved across the state to
another county and school. It was then that the worst
trial of bullies happened for this writer. There were
six girls that tormented him every day for two years, form
the beginning of the 8th grade until the
beginning of the 10th grade. These girls
would often work together, but on occasion would work
separately. Their boyfriends and other male friends
would also often cause a lot of trouble for this writer.
You see? In the same way, this is how giants work:
they rarely come alone. Goliath not only had the
entire army of the Philistines behind him, he also had four
brothers. The devil also works this way. He
never comes against a believer alone: there are always
followers of him ready to do his bidding (whether knowingly
or not), and they always come in groups.
Five Stones for Five Giants and
their Tactics
As David chose out five stones to
fight Goliath and his brothers (who showed up much, much
later), so today, we will look at five giants every believer
faces, and the five stones with which to fight them.
These “Giants and Stones” will come out of the Book of
Nehemiah.
Giant Tactic Number One:
Ridicule and Mocking – whenever someone comes to Christ or
chooses to commit him/herself to the Lord, it never fails
that the Devil always shows up, and the first weapon he
employs is ridicule. Take a look at what happened to
Nehemiah when he got the people of
Israel
to work rebuilding the walls of
Jerusalem:
“But it came to pass, that
when Sanballat hears that we builded the wall, he was wroth,
and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And
he spake before his brethren and the army of
Samaria, and said, ‘What do these
feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves?
Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day?
Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish
which are burned?’ Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him,
and he said, ‘Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he
shall even break down their stone wall.”
– Nehemiah 4.1~3
The story of Nehemiah is one of
great effort and more importantly the grace of and the
reliance on the Lord. God gave Nehemiah and the
returnees from the Babylonian Captivity a great charge:
to rebuild the walls and fortifications of Jerusalem. Anytime
we begin to do a work for the Lord and make a serious
decision for him, the enemy will come and try to monkey up
the works. Now, we need to understand something very
key to this whole thing: when we determine in our
hearts to make a decision in favor of Jesus Christ, it makes
the Devil hoppin’ mad. He won’t admit it, but the fact
of the matter is that whenever we choose Christ, the Devil
will become unhinged. It’s the same with bullies
everywhere: when a bully sees a potential threat –
such as a potentially more popular person – that bully gets
so ripped up on the inside. It happens the same with
the devil. Here we see how Sanballat and Tobiah joined
forces (see? Bullies always need more than one).
David got it in a different form:
“And Eliab, his eldest brother
heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was
kindled against David, and he said, ‘Why camest thou down
hither? And with whom hast thou left those few sheep
in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the
naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou
mightest see the battle.’…And Saul said t o David, ‘Thou art
not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him:
for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his
youth.’…And the Philistine said unto David, ‘Am I a dog,
that thou comest to me with staves?’ And the
Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the
Philistine said unto David, ‘Come to me, and I will give thy
flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the
field.’”
– 1st Samuel 17.28,
33, 43~44
Anyone here reading this have an
older brother or sister? When you set out to do some
task, did you get encouragement firm your brother or sister?
Can you relate to Dav9id and his situation? Not only
did he get trouble and ridicule form Goliath, he didn’t get
any support form the King nor from his own brother!
Friends, that’s how the Devil works! He will not only
give it to you from his end, but he will also work it so
that people who are supposed to be with you or on your side
also launch in with the ridicule! And not only was the
Giant angry with him, but so was his eldest brother.
Friends, this is the simple truth: if we choose to go
God’s way, we will get the ridicule from just about every
imaginable direction, even from those who love us the most.
Stone Number One: Prayer
for Your Ridiculers – Jesus Christ states it best:
“But I say unto you, ‘Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you,
and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your
Father which is in heaven…”
– Matthew 5.44~45
Nehemiah followed this prescription
to the letter:
“Hear, O our God; for we are
despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head,
and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: And
cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted
out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to
anger before the builders.”
– Nehemiah 4.4~5
When we face ridicule in what we
are called to do by God – whether it be to salvation, to
sanctification, or to fulfill His Call up on our lives -
the ridicule will come, and when it does, we need to get
close to God, pray, and give the trouble to him, praying for
our enemies and those who are persecuting us. If we do
so, those ridiculers will not only walk away, but they will,
in turn, possibly become friends later.
Giant Tactic Number Two:
Threats – Eventually, the ridicule will turn into something
a bit more sinister – threatening. Take a look at
Nehemiah 4 again:
“But it came to pass, that
when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the
Ammonites, and the Ashdothites, heard that the walls of
Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be
stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of
them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to
hinder it.”
– Nehemiah 4.7~8
David had the same experience:
“…the Philistine arose, and
came nigh to meet David…”
– 1st Samuel 17.48
We all know how a bully works,
right? When s/he sees one of us, the laughter, the
ridicule, and the mocking start. Inwardly they are as
angry as a stirred up nest of hornets, but outwardly, they
are ridiculing. When we ignore them, it makes the
bully and his pals especially angry, and then here come the
threats. “You better pay attention, or I’ll pound
you!” “I said, ‘Give me your milk money or else!”
We remember those – or threats similar to them – from
elementary and junior high, right? In the same way,
the Devil threatens us, too. “If you get saved, you’re
friends will leave you high and dry!” “If you let the
Holy Ghost have control, you’ll be in big trouble!”
“If you answer God’s Call, you’ll get a job you hate and a
life of dull boredom!” He oftentimes will threaten our
families with sickness, injury, or death, or even threaten
us our person similarly.
Stone Number Two: We Are
Not Alone, and Be Prepared to Fight – One thing
that bullies do not like is someone who will buck up and
stand their ground. It makes them so angry to see us
walk along and ignore their ridicule, so it turns them to do
something else. So it is with the Devil:
“Submit yourselves therefore
to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
– James 4.7
If we are submitted to God, when
we resist the Devil, he will flee from us. He won’t
stay away for good, but he will leave us for a time (see
Matthew 4.1~11; Luke 4.1~13). So it is when we are
faced with threats from the enemy. If we will resist,
remembering that god is with us, then generally those
threats will disappear. Sometimes, the threats turn
into action by the enemy, and for those times we need to be
prepared, but generally, the saying is true, “his bark is
worse than his bite”. This is how Nehemiah responded
to the threats he faced:
“Nevertheless we made our
prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and
night, because of them.”
– Nehemiah 4.9
This is exactly what we need to
do: give the problem to God, realizing that he is with
us, and set a prepared watch.
Giant Tactic Number Three:
Infiltration – This is by far the most devious, and most
successful, tactic that the enemy has to use in his
repertoire. If the ridicule doesn’t stop us (and form
any it does), and the threats don’t cower us (and sometimes
it does), then the enemy will ultimately turn to
infiltration. Wars in the past have been won on the
back of infiltration as a means of destroying the enemy from
within. When the Allied Forces invaded France in 1944,
already the French Underground had been at work in
preparation for the day when liberation would come form the
Allies. This is a very successful trick the Devil
uses. Here is what Nehemiah’s situation was:
“And Judah said, ‘The strength of the
bearers of the burdens is decayed, and there is much
rubbish: so that we are not able to build the wall.’
And our adversaries said, ‘They shall not know, neither see,
till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and
cause the work to cease.’ And it came to pass, that
when the Jews which dwelt beside them came, they said unto
us ten times ‘From all places whence ye shall return unto us
they will be upon you.’”
– Nehemiah 4.10~12
What we see here is that due to
the fatigue and exhaustion of the people and the greatness
of the work, the vigilance was less than what it needed to
be. As a result, the enemies of the Jews were in ripe
position to infiltrate and destroy the work God had put
forth for Nehemiah to do. Such is the case with us
when we are tired, exhausted, and worn out from doing the
bidding that God calls us to perform. Face it, folks,
we are all people: flesh and blood with limited
strength and abilities. Just as doing heavy manual
labor – such as rebuilding a broken down city will – or
physical exercise is exhausting and long, so too is our life
and living for Jesus Christ. There will be times when
the fatigue is too much, the exhaustion is too overpowering,
and the wear and tear unbearable. It is in times such
as these that we need to be extra careful, because the enemy
is waiting, like a ninja, to do us in. The danger from
a ninja isn’t his weapons or expertise with the sword, but
his ability to disrupt, assassinate, and destroy key points
in his enemies’ territory. So, too, the devil waits an
opening, and all he needs is a small, small crack and he’s
in, causing confusion, making us angry, and encouraging us
to lash out or just give up altogether.
Stone Number Three: Lean On
Each Other and On God – Folks, this is the simplest way to
defeat infiltration. You see? The ninja is best
when he can isolate his enemy, entrap him, and cut him off
from help. In nature, we see this with wolves. A
wolf is an expert killing machine and hunter. When a
wolf sees his prey, he will do everything he can to cut it
off from the main body. Then the wolf’s fellow pack
members move in for the kill. When a wolf’s prey
sticks close to its herd or group, safety is assured.
It’s the same with us. Most Christians fail because of
something very, very simple: they stop going to
church. Did you know this? You see?
Churches fail when they are split up. Christians fail
when they stop going to Church. This is why going to
church as often as possible and fellowshipping with other
believers is so key: we strengthen each other, and
there’s strength in numbers. The Bible is rife with
examples:
“Two are better than one;
because they have a good reward for their labour. For
if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe
to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not
another to help him up. Again, if two lie together,
then they can have heat: but how can one be warm
alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall
withstand him: and a threefold cord is not quickly
broken.”
– Ecclesiastes 4.9~12
“Bear ye one another’s
burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
– Galatians 6.2
“Confess your faults one to
another, ands pray for one another, that ye may be healed.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much”
– James 5.16
“For where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them.”
– Matthew 18.20
“The rich and poor meet
together: the Lord is the maker of them all.”
– Proverbs 22.2
“Can two walk together except
they be agreed?”
– Amos 3.3
“Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together…”
– 2nd Thessalonians
2.1
“I was glad when they said
unto me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’”
– Psalm 122.1
“‘Let us go speedily to pray
before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will
go also.’”
– Zechariah 8.21
These verses above, and many more
like them in the Bible, make it clear that we need to depend
on each other as believers and follows of Jesus Christ.
Alone, we are easy prey for our enemy, the Devil.
Nehemiah, again in Chapter four, places great emphasis on
the need for each other:
“Therefore set I in the lower places behind the
wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after
their families with their swords, their spears, and their
bows. And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the
nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be
not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and
terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and
your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it
came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto
us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we
returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.
And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of
my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them
held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the
habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of
Judah. They which builded on the wall, and they that
bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with
one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other
hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had
his sword girded by his side, and so builded.
And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said
unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of
the people, The work is great and large, and we
are separated upon the wall, one far from another.
In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet,
resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.
So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears
from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every
one with his servant lodge within
Jerusalem, that in the night they may
be a guard to us, and labour on the day. So neither I,
nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard
which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving
that every one put them off for washing.”
– Nehemiah 4.13~23
In the verses above, Nehemiah puts great effort in
getting the people of
Jerusalem
to rely on one another, and listen for the call of danger or
trouble. So should we in this day and age, for without
others there to help us, we will surely fall.
Giant Tactic Number Four: Compromise – When
the enemy sees that his tricks aren’t working, that the
ridicule, threats, and infiltration have all failed, he will
try another way, and another one that is highly effective:
Compromise. We see what happened with Nehemiah when
his enemies wanted him to compromise:
“Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah,
and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard
that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach
left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the
doors upon the gates;) That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto
me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the
villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me
mischief.”
– Nehemiah 6.1~2
Here, Sanballat wanted Nehemiah to come and meet
with him and his cronies in order to get Nehemiah to
compromise. Remember that when the enemy fails in his
attempts to intimidate you away from following the Lord, he
will try to get you to compromise, and this is probably the
most effective tool the Devil has. So many churches
today have lost their effectiveness simply because they gave
in here and there, and it wasn’t in the big areas, but in
the little places and little ways. Some of the
congregation don’t believe this about the Bible, so what do
we do? Instead of convincing them of the truth, the
church decides to cut out the controversial part. Soon
other parts are cut out, ignored, or overlooked. The
result is that the church is no longer really the church,
and what do we have? No lifestyles, no lives changed,
abortion, homosexuality, theft, and single parenthood rising
like skyrockets in the church. Compromise is the most
effective weapon of the devil in the church at large, and
it’s also a dangerous tool for individual Christians as
well.
Stone Number Four: Keep Working –
Perhaps the best thing we can do to avoid the trouble of
compromise is to ignore the calls to meet with the enemy,
and continue on with the work at hand, This is exactly
what Nehemiah did:
“And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am
doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should
the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?”
– Nehemiah 4.3
When faced with compromise, we need to keep right
on doing what we are called to do, and not give in.
New Christian, just keep on growing in the grace that God
has given you with Bible study, prayer, and church
attendance. Newly called into ministry in one form or
another, just keep on preparing, planning, and staying close
to the Lord, and he will guide you. Newly sanctified
and filled with the Spirit, let the Holy Ghost guide you and
lead you on into Christian life. Don’t stop for a
moment when the tempter comes and desires a compromise with
you, because, friend, there is no compromise with the enemy!
Giant Tactic Number Five: Persistence,
Persistence, and More Persistence – The enemy will never
quit. This is a fact of life and living for Christ.
So long as we draw breath and live in this flesh, the enemy
will continue to attack and attack and attack some more.
This tactic is played out by Nehemiah’s own hand:
“Yet they sent unto me four times after this
sort; and I answered them after the same manner. Then
sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth
time with an open letter in his hand; Wherein was written,
‘It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that
thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou
buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according
to these words. And thou hast also appointed
prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem,
saying, “There is a king in
Judah”: and now shall it be
reported to the king according to these words. Come now
therefore, and let us take counsel together.’ Then I
sent unto them, saying, ‘There are no such things done as
thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.’
For they all made us afraid, saying, ‘Their hands shall be
weakened form the work, that it not be done.’ Now,
therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.”
– Nehemiah 6.4~9
So long as the devil is free to do his deeds, so
long as man continues to be rebellious and unrepentant in
this world, so we will always have trouble.
Stone Number Five: Persistence, Persistence,
and More Persistence…in the Lord! Just as the devil
never quits, so we need to keep at it, and keep our eyes on
Jesus! Whatever it is that we are about doing, whether
it be preparation for fulfilling the call of God in some
sort of ministry, learning what it means to be a Christian,
or learning to live indwelt by the Holy Ghost, we need to
stay strong and keep on doing what we’ve been called to do.
If we will stay the course with Christ, trusting in him for
our life and growth, then no matter how persistent the devil
will be, the Lord will be infinitely more present and he
will help us be more persistent in our walk with him.
The Bottom Line – Use Your Tools!
Friends, when David went out to fight Goliath, he
didn’t use the King’s armor because he wasn’t used to Saul’s
kind of weaponry or protection. David was a shepherd
and used a set of shepherd’s tools (not to mention
experience) to go out and meet Goliath in the Spirit and
strength of the Lord. Nehemiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem didn’t use special weapons or new ideas to fight
the enemies in
Samaria, Syria, and Ammon: they used
the tools and weapons they knew and trusted in God. We
need to do the same thing. When in doubt and under
assail from the Devil, turn to the Lord and pray. When
needing comfort and peace, look up a passage in the Bible.
When facing trouble and difficulties, talk to your brethren
at church, and make an appointment to see the Pastor.
As David defeated Goliath (and later his four younger
brothers) and as Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem completed the construction of the
City Wall, so, too, we can live a victorious Christian life
if we will but trust in the Lord, and use the tools and
weapons he has given us.
Conclusion – what Giants Are You Facing?
What Giants are you coming up against? What
difficulties do you have? How is the enemy stacking
his forces against you? Do things look overwhelming?
Does the enemy fill the countryside while your resources
look like two little flocks of baby lambs (see 1st
Kings 20.27)? Then fear not…and in fact, rejoice, for
victory is at hand! If you will keep your trust in
God, your faith in Jesus Christ, and your reliance on and in
the Holy Ghost, you need never fear the enemy and his
tricks, even if you suffer as horribly as Job.
What giants are staring you down? Are you trying to
face them alone? Friend, if you go out and try to take
out giants in your own strength, defeat will surely be the
result. But if you will keep your trust and faith in
Jesus Christ, you can never lose.
Invitation
Have you taken on a giant, only to lose? Have
you lived in a way that is against the will of the Lord?
Have you sinned? Friend, sin is the surest way to face
defeat and death both in this life and in eternity to come.
You can be victorious, but only if you ask Jesus Christ into
your life. If you walk away form Christ, then
sin is crouching at your door, and disaster is waiting
(Genesis 4.7). Christ is waiting at your door to save
you, and to release you from the snare of sin (Revelation
3.20; John 8.32, 34, 36).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we praise you and thank you for
this day. We love you Lord. Father, in this
hour, there are those who are facing giants of unimaginable
size, strength, and power. They are facing enemies who
seek their destruction. They are looking at
hopelessness and powerlessness in the face of their
difficulties. We pray, O Lord, that you would remind
them that though they think that they have no strength, you
are waiting to pour out blessings and help and that you are
never more than a cry away. Help us to remember, O
Father, the tricks of the enemy, how he works, and what his
ways are, and help us, dear Jesus, to stand and resist him
in thy power and thy strength, and use the tools and weapons
you have given us. We bless thee and thank thee,
Father, and we pray all these things in the name of Jesus
Christ, our Risen Lord, Amen.
Verse to Remember
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand.”
– Ephesians 6.13