Mike Bickle emphasizes the profound implications of the David and Goliath story, urging the church to recognize Goliath as a representation of the Antichrist and the spiritual battles to come. He highlights that David's victory was not merely a children's tale but a serious historical event that foreshadows the challenges the body of Christ will face in the end times. Bickle calls for believers to cultivate a deep intimacy with God, as it is through the Holy Spirit that they will find the strength to confront the giants of their generation. He warns that many in the church may falter in the face of these challenges, but a remnant will rise, empowered by their relationship with God, to overcome the Antichrist spirit. Ultimately, the message is a call to prepare spiritually for the battles ahead, just as David did before facing Goliath.

We ask you for the release of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts. We ask you to bless the hearing of your word in Jesus' name, amen. Tonight is session 10 on the life of David, our leadership lessons and the pursuit of intimacy. And tonight we're looking, we spent an extensive time giving overviews of the books and different traits in David's life and different trends throughout his life, etc. And so tonight we're looking at the well-known story, but I think it's a story that the body of Christ really doesn't know. I think it's become a favorite story in the children's ministry, but I believe the weight of this chapter needs to really impact us in a fresh way. 1 Samuel 17, it's David and Goliath, victory over the Antichrist. That's really what it's about. Goliath was a terrifying giant. I don't mean terrifying in just in his size, but the implication of who he was and what he represented in David's generation. And this giant, not only was he a giant of a man, the Philistines, had iron before Israel did, right in the generation of David. The Israelites were just beginning to get it. So the military technology, if you will, was within the hands of the Philistines. And this was a significant, a vast military advantage. Israel mostly had spears and those kinds of things at the beginning of David's life, and they didn't get iron till the back end. And in this battle, the other side, the Philistines, had iron fully developed. And the army was vast. The technology was great. And Israel, if they lose this battle, their very existence as a nation is in jeopardy. It's enormously fierce, and it's a giant in its implications. And we got to get the children's church mentality off of the story. This is a terrifying crisis in the nation of Israel. And this crisis is going to be repeated at the ultimate level again. But the giant is an eschatological giant. He's an end-time giant. It's a real man called the Antichrist. And this giant won't only come against Israel. He will come against all the nations of the earth with one desire, to completely conquer and subdue them with Satan's power. And there's only one answer. The reality that was upon King David, well, he's not King David yet. He's just a young boy. The reality that David operated in, in the Holy Spirit, is the only possible hope for the body of Christ and for the nation of Israel when this eschatological giant, when this end-time giant, is in his place in full power. And apart from the Holy Spirit, this giant will be terrifying, far more than even Goliath was in David's day. However, Goliath and the Philistine army, fully equipped with iron, several decades ahead of development of Israel, was a very, very terrifying reality. So I want to ask us to ask you, I'm doing it in my own life, to read this story in a very personal way. I want you to think about the body of Christ. I want you to think about our nation. Our nation will be hit by this giant. That's a fact. And there is no sword of man that will stop this giant. And it's not going to be stopped just because we have the name of Jesus, the name of the Lord. Because all of Israel had the name of the Lord, but David was the only one operating in the power of the Holy Spirit. They all named the name of the Lord. That's not enough. They have to operate in the life and the power of it in reality to stop this giant. And because much of the body of Christ on the front end, at least I believe in the Western world, will be ill-equipped, therefore the Bible talks about a great falling away. There really is coming a great falling away. It's in the scripture a number of times. And the falling away will be in the face of confronting this giant. This is not a small thing. This is not a cute children's story. This is a historical event that was terrifying in its day and will be far more terrifying in our day or in the days soon to come. I believe there'll be people in this room that will witness that hour of history. It says in Revelation chapter 12 verse 11, they, that means the body of Christ. And by the way, it doesn't mean the whole body of Christ. Because many, honestly, many will draw back in that day. I don't know what the percentage is. A great harvest will come in, but many that profess the name of the Lord will draw back and some will deny the Lord entirely. But there will be a people, and I believe it'll be a large group, because the harvest is coming and they will overcome Satan and his giant. They will overcome him. And the way they will overcome him is the same way that King David did. Well, I keep saying King David, he's still a boy, 17 years old. He's not king yet. They're going to operate in the power of the spirit in the present tense because of their history in God in the past tense. David had a reality far before, before he met Goliath in this battle. Something was happening in his spirit with God before he ever faced Goliath on the battlefield. And it was only happening in David. Because the rest of Israel, as we'll find out in a few minutes, they fled the presence of this adversary. They drew back and ran. But the good news is God is raising up a church like David and, Revelation 12, 11, they will overcome him. Revelation 15, verse 2, And I saw those who have the victory over the beast. And that's the Antichrist. There's an Antichrist spirit, but there's a real global leader. The Bible calls him the Antichrist. It's not just a spirit. It is a spirit. It's been operating for 2,000 years in the church, throughout church history. But it is an actual man who is the embodiment of evil. But John had a vision, and he saw those who have victory over him by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The next passage, Isaiah 55, it's a passage I've used it almost every session. But it's the idea that God has promised that he is going to show, he's going to manifest the sure mercies of David. And he says in verse 4, Isaiah 55, God gave David as a witness, as a picture of what he would do to his people. If we would respond like David, he would anoint us like David, but even in a greater sense, in a sense that would be equal and appropriate to the end of the age. God says, I've made David a witness. He's a witness of what I want, the kind of dedication. He's a witness to how far I will go in forgiving someone who's failed, and he's a witness to how much power I will put upon a man or a woman. He is a witness on, he was meant to be a picture of those three things. The kind of dedication God is after, the kind of mercy God will extend, and the kind of power and revelation God will give. He's a witness of what God will do. Jeremiah 3 15, God told the prophet Jeremiah, he's talking about the last days. Jeremiah 3 15, the end times. It's particularly, this is the generation the Lord returns. He said, I'm going to raise up shepherds after my own heart, just like David is the idea. That is a deliberate reference to David. God called him the shepherd after my own heart. Beloved, some of those shepherds are sitting in this room right now. Some of those shepherds are young and some are older, and the David shepherds of this coming hour will face a Goliath far more powerful than the Goliath David did, but there will be an anointing. But beloved, the anointing won't just suddenly be there. The anointing will be the fruit of a life lived before the battle that's seen in the natural realm. Roman numeral one, the story behind the scenes. Hey, this is an account of actual events that really took place. I mean, I know we know that, but I just want to, I just want to jolt this out of the cute children's books kind of paradigm. I'm glad they're in the books. I'm not against that. I like that, but I don't want us to relegate it to that, to cartoons and, and, and cute stories and songs. As a pastor, I've, I've seen those through the years, and I think this is an intensely serious reality as long as we remember that. It's going to be played out again on a global level. The issue for the nation of Israel was slavery and destruction, and that's going to be the issue again for the nation of Israel, and it will be the issue of many nations of the earth. This evil leader wants the servitude and the submission of the nations of the earth to his agenda. He's not coming to enrich anyone. He's coming to take, and he will enslave entire populations, and those that accept that slavery gratefully, he'll call them citizens of his empire, and those that reject it, he'll pursue them to kill them, but anybody who's a part of it, it will be bad. Even if they're in the leadership of it, it will be bad. It's an evil, evil man. So Goliath is the, is, was a real man, and he pictures a real man. However, we can apply this as a symbol of a great opposition, but I don't want to go too much on the symbol because most people preach this as a symbol, and it is true. Goliath is a symbol of a great opposition in our lives, a great opposition in our country, a great opposition. Abortion is like a Goliath. It's, a Goliath is a, is an enemy force that cannot be subdued by natural means. That's what a Goliath is, if you're going to use a symbol. It's that which cannot be overcome in a natural way. It takes supernatural power, but I don't want to, I don't want to go too much on the symbolic. It's a picture of that, although I think it's good for that. Understand, there is a real man who's coming forth on the global scene that will be the end time Goliath, and he will be far more fierce, and the weapons that we have are the same weapons that King David and King David did not have a sword as his weapon. He did not have military, economical, or political clout to stop this giant. He had nothing but the name of the Lord, which means it wasn't, didn't just mean he said the name, it meant he lived in the Holy Spirit. When it says, I come in the name of the Lord, it's not just a, it's not just a statement he used that one time. It was a reality he lived in long before the battle, proportionate to his young life. The Lord's allowing a setup to happen in the world where only through intimacy with God and through the spirit of prayer and authority and intercession will we have any ability whatsoever to stand. And it's not just, the message isn't just David the warrior who resisted, it's David the lover who in the place of love was anointed for war. It's going to be through worship and it's going to be through the authority of intercession that's going to move this Goliath. And beloved, this Goliath will be subdued and this Goliath in all of his network, his global network, we will have victory and triumph in all kinds of dimensions over him. Not just in the final estate, there will be many believers that will lose their lives. And even in the losing of their lives, they triumph over him because they did not deny him. But there will be many believers who don't lose their lives and so therefore they triumph over him at the heart level like the martyrs do. But they also will triumph over him in the circumstantial level as well. This Goliath is not God. He has the power of Satan but it's limited. But it won't be, it won't be subdued casually or through charismatic pep rallies. It will only be done through people who live in the spirit in reality like David did because we will not have a sword to subdue this enemy. The sword that we will have is what happens in our spirit in the place of worship and intercession when no one's looking. I mean it could be in a prayer meeting, some of them might look but my point is it's not just something that's at show. David was David because of what he did when nobody was looking. That was the power of David's life. It's what happened in his heart when he closed his eyes. It's not what he did on a platform or on a battlefield that was the power of David's life. That was, it was manifest that way many times. B, I've already said this but in David's generation the Philistines were the most advanced army. They had the most advanced military equipment and iron. If you have iron it says well that doesn't sound much but if all you have to fight iron is wood you're at a severe disadvantage. In other words it was a situation that only God's supernatural power, only God's supernatural power could withstand it. Number one under B, a national crisis suddenly erupted against Israel. They didn't expect it to be on their on their borders just like this. It's suddenly there's a national crisis. They could not answer it by any other ways and God is orchestrating. I want to say that again although I don't want to take off on it. It's one of my little points in life that I like to make but I don't want to take off. God is orchestrating the end time crisis and God is raising up the Antichrist. That just absolutely throws people off. They somehow think Satan snuck by God and raised up the Antichrist and just got in the Bible somehow. That's not how it works. Jesus in Revelation 6 opens the seal that looses that writer because it's that context that his church is going to lay hold of him and subdue that writer. That's for tomorrow night. I mean that's end times. That's not really what we're talking about tomorrow night but but I don't want to stay on the subject more on intimacy and David's life in God. Okay, paragraph C. This is the most significant crisis, national crisis for Israel. It's a clear foreshadowing of the crisis that's coming. I've already said that. D, the application of this conflict is for us today. The application of this conflict is for us. Now, number one, I acknowledge that the struggle the church has had with the enemy through history, obviously God has wanted people to read 1 Samuel 17 throughout church history. It's not just for today but it has, number two, its ultimate fulfillment, its prophetic foreshadowing in David's time, its ultimate fulfillment is that lovesick worshipers will be anointed with power before the greatest obstacle in history. That's the point. Lovesick worshipers, men and women, who have nurtured their spirit, gazing on this one thing, the beauty of God. Psalm 27 verse 4. It's one of our foundational verses here at IHOP. King David said this one thing, I've gazed on your beauty all the days of my life. It's not enough for that verse to be a poster or a cliche. It was a living reality. It was the secret to David's power when he went to war against the enemy. God's raising up lovesick worshipers, men and women, who in their spirits, in their private lives, have that interaction and out of that interaction they go to war and subdue the greatest obstacle ever to emerge on the world scene. The powerful nations of the earth with all their military that resists this evil leader cannot subdue him. The body of Christ under their leader subdues this man. And Jesus does it in concert with his people who are living in the spirit in that time. And the people that are kind of saying, well, I'll just kind of get going when it when the time gets there. Beloved, I'm telling you many people, I don't know the percentage, but it makes it in the scripture on several occasions as a warning of the called the great falling away. And that troubles me, troubles me because the church in the west is so unconcerned about this. They're just assuming they're going to show up one day and kind of get serious the 72 hours before the intense things start and kind of make up for lost time. And there they have it, ready to go. And the story of 1 Samuel 17 is they drew back the whole nation of valiant soldiers even. All of the valiant ones in the natural drew back in fear. They were only, they were valiant and talking about purely in the natural without the the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It's not going to be enough to be a tough guy in the natural. We're going to have to have something alive and quickened and moving on our spirit. Have nothing to do with how strong our personalities are. The strongest men will cower before this presence, just like it did in Israel. E, four categories of people in this conflict. I took this, I heard Reinhard Bonnke give this in a message once and I, I just loved it. I just never forgot it. I mean, the four points I've, I'm sure I forgot a lot of the sub points, but he said in this battle for Samuel 17, he said there's four types of people and he made the point those same four people are in the battle today. Number one, there was the ex anointed professional. His name was Saul. He's a man that operated in the spirit in the past, but no longer. He was the anointed. Now he's not. And now he's a professional. And I'm using that in a derogatory way. I don't, the word professional isn't derogatory in most uses, but I'm using it as a, his, his ministry was about protecting his money, his honor, his profile. It wasn't a heartfelt position. It was something he did to enhance his own ego in circumstances. It was a professional mandate that it fell into. There was an ex anointed professional on the scene and there will be many of them. There were the unanointed professionals. They were Saul's, many of Saul's army. They never were anointed, never were. And they're professionals. They're just saluting the boss, going through the motions, growing through the structure, pleasing men the best they can without admitting it. And just growing up through the system, no growth in the spirit of prayer, the spirit of grace in their heart in a way that will withstand demons. The unanointed professionals, body of Christ is filled with them. Everybody's anointed in the sense that Jesus lives in it, lives in us and we're truly born again. But I'm talking about anointed in the sense of moving in the Holy Spirit in reality. There was the anti-anointed, the false anointed. It was true anointing, but it was the anti-anointed one. That's Goliath in this case and in what's coming. It's not just the Antichrist, but it's thousands, maybe more than thousands in his regime and his infrastructure will have a, will have a substantial power. It will be an anti-anointed. It'll be a false power, but it will be power. And then number four, the anointed non-professional. And I, again, I'm using the word professional. I, well, I'm just quoting Reinhard Bonnke, but I liked it. I'm quoting it because I like it. I like that term and he's using that term as a, he was, he wasn't in it for career moves. He wasn't positioning himself to get the good vote from the congregation. He was wildly committed to God regardless what it cost him. That's what he meant by a non-professional. God's raising up an army of anointed non-professionals. They may be professionals in their job. There's nothing wrong with that. Talking about a spirit. And what happens is that when the anti-anointed raises up, the ex-anointed professionals and the un-anointed professionals, professionals, they gather together, they cluster together, and they retreat. And they have a lot of theological reasons for retreating, but they will retreat. They'll have Bible verses to back it up. Men can always come up with a reason to retreat and to compromise with a Bible verse if they want one. But God will raise up an army, many young, many old, male and female. I believe it will be mostly young. I just want to say that. It'll be mostly young. Anointed non-professionals, they're not in it for anything to do with their position, their status, their title, their name, their pension. That's irrelevant. They are wildly committed to obeying God in the present tense with no regard for what it costs. No regard for the consequences. That's a David Hart. You can only maintain that through intimacy with God. Because at the end of the day, the only way a man or a woman maintains that is because God is their reward moving on their heart. Okay, let's go to Roman numeral two. And by the way, Reinhard Bonnke's message was a lot better than that presentation. I was exhilarated when I heard it. It was literally 15 years ago. I heard it in 1990. I was exhilarated when I heard it. I said, that's the best message in the life of David. So I have to say it every time I mention 1 Samuel 17. Roman numeral two, David's prophetic insight into the battle of Armageddon, the Armageddon campaign. I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but it's Psalm two. If you're not familiar with it, it's one of the most significant end-time psalms. Clearly David's most significant end-time psalm in terms of David's. But it's one of the most significant prophetic psalms out of the 150. It is specifically talking about the Armageddon campaign at the end of the age. It applies, it applied to David before Goliath. Now we don't know if David's had this revelation before Goliath or if he had it right after Goliath, but regardless what he did with Goliath, he walked out the confidence that he had in these truths. I don't know if he had this psalm yet, but whatever he, I don't know if he had it, but these things were living in his spirit with the way he handled his heart in this conflict. I think it's possible that he had it even as a young man. In Acts chapter four, Peter quotes it related to the early church. The spirit of Psalm two was happening in the early church when the Sanhedrin was persecuting the apostles. It was the nation's raging against the Christ, but it was not by any means a complete fulfillment. Psalm two is quoted in the book of Revelation five times. Psalm two is mostly, but not only, about a conflict yet to come. And it's the spirit of it's been happening since King David. A. We're going to look at it brief and trust that you'll look at it on your own, but you really want to be, you want to know Psalms two. You really, really do want to know Psalm two. A. The nations of the earth gather together to challenge God and to declare war on Him. This is exactly what happens in the Armageddon campaign. They declare, the nations of the world gather together to declare war on God. Not on Israel, Israel's secondary, on God. That's what it says. Why do the nations rage? They're raging in anger. They're raging and they're planning utter vanity. They think it's going to win because they're going to have the biggest army, the most powerful military, and the biggest economy ever in history. But God says it is nothing but a vain plot against me. It will not work. Verse two, all the Kings of the earth. Well, I added the word all I shouldn't many of the Kings of the earth, because the scripture makes it clear. Some of the Kings are resisting this, the King, but most of the Kings of the earth, they will set themselves together. They will be in unity against Jesus, against the father, against Jesus, against the church, against Israel. They will be in a determined unity to destroy the church. Verse three, when it says, here's what their banner will be. This will be their vision statement. Let us take God's bonds. That's His word. They don't take the word as that which liberates the heart. Their paradigm of the word is, it's a bondage. They say the Bible has these bondage, archaic lulls about sexuality. Away with them! Let's cast their bonds from us and let's be free. So there, verse three is talking about the word of God. They want to get rid of the word of God entirely. Be. Now the next three verses, so the verse three verses of the Kings of the earth, the second three verses, God answers them and He mocks them. He who sits in the heavens, that's the father. He laughs at them. This is mocking. He's mocking them. He says, you think because you have a billion member army and a million trillion dollar budget that you can move me? I'm God. He mocks them because they have this false confidence in verse five. He will speak in His wrath and His anger at them. He'll be speaking through the church. When He speaks, His oracle, His vehicles will be the church. Verse six, and here's what God has to say to this coalition of nations. I've already put my king in place. His name is Jesus. Verse a c, the next three verses. Now Jesus comes on the scene and here's what's important about this passage. This is why I'm highlighting it because what Jesus says here is what King David operates in before Goliath because Jesus is talking to the Antichrist in essence. He's talking to more than that, but that is where this thing is going. I mean not, he's not talking to that. That's not my point. It's, he's describing his attack and assault against the great world empire at the end and David's doing it in a local way, in a lesser way in his own generation with Goliath. Here's what Jesus says. So David is going to do what Jesus did. The same strategy that Jesus is going to use in Psalm 2. David's writing it. David's the author of Psalm 2. He absolutely, he walked this out with Goliath. That's why I think it's possible he wrote this before Goliath or he wrote it right after and he said, wow this is, I just did this in a, in a micro version of it. And why do we care about this? Not just as a historical lesson because you and I will enter into this very same reality when we resist the great giant. Jesus makes the most startling statement because his kingship in verse 6 is being challenged and he stands up. I'm the king that my father has chosen. He goes, here's what I'm going to do. I will simply decree, declare the God's decrees. It's called intercession. He goes, I will declare, I will say what God says. That will be my strategy. So David is receiving a revelation of the Messiah as the king. Now David isn't, you know, when David's facing Goliath, he's not king yet. But he's receiving the revelation of the Messiah who is to be king, who would rule as king through intercession. And this greatly, this Psalm 2 really affected David's lifestyle. David said, if the Messianic king rules the nations through intercession, how much more should I withstand my enemies through intercession? I believe it's the greatest weapon that is the most neglected in the church and it is the only weapon that will prevail against the Goliath that is yet to be raised up. We have to do it, the Jesus model of subduing Goliath, the David model of subduing Goliath. Here's what Jesus said. He goes, I will declare the decree. He goes, my father said to me, I am your son, you are my son. So he's going to stand up and declare his sonship before the enemy. I am God's son. That's part of his war against the enemy, the declaration of who he is to God. That's what he's going to say. I am his son. I am the son. I am. We can say this. We are sons of God. We are the bride of Christ. We declare the decree as to who we are. That's how it starts. I don't want to go through each phrase of this because I just want to make one point. And he says, verse eight, he goes, I will declare my father said, ask of him and I would possess the nations by asking him. Jesus only possesses the nations of the earth through intercession. Jesus won the victory at the cross, but even he will continue in intercession to subdue every nation of the earth. This is a startling revelation for young David that the nations of the earth would only be subdued through Jesus interceding. Beloved, the most important ministry in the church today is intercession. I want to say that unashamedly. It's not the only ministry, but it's, it is the clearest, most important ministry. It is the most neglected and it is the ministry that Jesus described that the father told him was necessary. If he was going to possess the nations of the earth, D Jesus. Now, I mean, David now warns all the nations of the earth, all the Kings of the earth. He says, you better get with it and listen to what I just told you. That's an essence. What he tells him. He goes, you better dive into God with all of your heart. Roman numeral three, a, I want to emphasize two different messages in first Samuel 17. And most of you are aware of this. You can have these notes if you want. They're on the internet and they're yours to have, and you can change them, edit them, put anybody's name on them you want. You don't have to reference anybody here or anything. I love to say it, our copyrights are right to copy. So you could have any of the notes there. But, uh, uh, what I, uh, I do here is I give you more notes than we'll cover for the idea that some of you will take them and study them and go through them. And first Samuel 17, there's two basic, well, there's many messages, but there's two that I'm emphasizing in this, in this message. Number one message is first, what God will do through his people when the greatest conflict in history occurs. Again, I want us to see the David and Goliath story far more intense than a cartoon kind of character, caricature. It is the most intense hour and the people of God prevail, but they prevail through a very specific prescribed way. They don't just prevail because they are the people of God. They prevail because they live in the spirit as the people of God ought. And that's my second message. Number one, that we win in the greatest conflict of Goliath coming before, but we win number two by cultivating the life. I'm just summarizing it. The life of intimacy that David had in secret. That is the way we win. And what we're doing in 2005 is dynamically related to withstanding the spirit of the antichrist even today. But I don't want to lull people to sleep because they say, well, we were withstanding the spirit of the antichrist today. We're doing okay. Beloved, the spirit of the antichrist is going to be so much more stronger in manifestation than we're encountering right now. So don't look at today and say, well, hey, it seems to be working. I have a, a zealous, zealous, not the right word. I have a, uh, what's the word? A urgent. That's what the word I mean, an urgency about my life being ready to withstand the spirit of the antichrist today for sure. But in a way that's going to be unprecedented in the way that David suddenly was standing before the greatest threat Israel had ever known since it's been in the land. I mean, it had a more severe threat under Pharaoh, but since it's been in the land and established itself as a nation in the land, this is its greatest threat right here. And there was only one way out operating in the Holy spirit before the battle ever started. So that's the two messages. A battle's coming. It's going to be unprecedented in its severity. We win. It's message one battle. Number two, people who live in the spirit, when battle number two is that living in the spirit, like David's life, the message of his life, the whole life of David, first and second Samuel is the only way to victory through Christ Jesus. It's not enough to have a confession of a name without a heart reality that matches the confession. And the reason you have to say that, because in the Western world, we've had this horrible thing has entered the, entered the ranks of the body of Christ. The idea that a confession is mostly about what somebody says with their mouth. When a confession from the biblical point of view is always that is implied as deeply joined to the reality of the heart. It's not like we're speeding and then the policeman pulls us over and we say we were not speeding. Okay, that settles it. Well, have a nice day, sir. I'm not saying I tried that. See, but the confession of our mouth, which is such a critical thing of, uh, of the scripture is only is only a reality when it matches the reality of the heart. This idea of a confession divorced from the heart reality is not a biblical confession. It's not about uttering phrases. It's about a heart joined and the phrases matches the heart. And then speaking that K D well, no, let's do C. I was going to skip C because of time, but I'll go ahead and do it. We will face the international corporate battle with darkness in much the same way that we face our private battles with compromise and passivity. In other words, what you and I are doing in 2005, six, seven, eight, nine, and 10, whatever. I don't, you know, I don't, I'm not prophesying. Those are the years. That's not my point. What we're doing in these days, good. And what we're doing in these days, bad compromise, passivity, whatever we're doing will be intensified. When the battle increases, the people that are praying will pray more. The people that have a little bit of authority on prayer will have more authority. The people that are prophesying will prophesy more in that day. The people that are obeying will obey to the uttermost in that day, people that are living in a deliberate compromise and passivity. They will find it more difficult to engage with God when the trouble comes and picks up whatever we're doing today. It will be easier to do it tomorrow for sinning. Sin will be easier tomorrow. If we're pressing into God, pressing into God, it'll be easier tomorrow. It is critical that we, we begin to go deep now. This, this story, this testimony of scripture of this man that God raised up as a witness, David, in his life. I look at this, the witness of his life, and I, I just imagine the Lord saying, Mike, you will face a giant. Get deep now. Get deep now. I witness to you through David. You will face giants. I witness to you. I will give you an anointing and I will give you mercy. If you will press in like I did David, do it now. It's not like I heard that in some specific way, but that's the testimony of the scriptures to my heart. And I'm sure it is to your heart as well. Many of you D today, the church is not entrenched in fear. The church in the West, because these are days of ease right now. I mean, there are days hard in people's individuals' lives. You know, the money's not working right. The anointing's not flowing right. People are mad. You know, they're hard days in that limited sense, because most people I talk to, oh, it's going hard, but they, they mostly mean money. Their, their body didn't feel good and people are mad at them and things like that. But in the real sense, these are days of ease. I'm thinking of, it's not Nazi Germany. We're not in death camps and there's not bread lines outside and they're not killing people who hide Jews or who profess Jesus though. That's what I mean by these are days of ease and the battle right now in the church, isn't the issue of fear. People aren't like gripped with fear in the sense of the end time fears. I mean, people have fears in their life. The main battle today is passivity and comfort overcoming that, but beloved that it's going to change. The battle tomorrow is not going to be about, do we have the power to turn off the TV set and to put away the donuts? That's not going to be the number one battle before the church tomorrow. That's a very, that's maybe, there might be a decade or two left of that. I don't know. I mean, I don't know the real time, maybe a few decades, maybe not, but I know this, we need to become men and women like David now, 10 years. I mean, most of us in this room know this 10 years goes by so fast. I was talking to one of the guys this morning about 19 or 20. I said, I said, I was talking about when I was 19 or 20, I said, I never dreamed I would be 30, never, let alone 50. I mean, unthinkable. Well, I'm 50 now, almost getting close, confessing it. Okay. E the battle that's coming is spiritual in nature. Therefore only spiritual weapons can stop it. You know, we've been warring a lot against abortion lately. We can't overthrow abortion through natural weapons, through political process and natural weapons. That won't be, I mean, the Lord might use it a little bit, but at the end of the day, that won't do it because the enemy is a spiritual, it's a demon. You can't, you can't move a demon through guns and money. You can't move a demon through legislation. You move a demon to intercession where angels move demons. And then there might be those, some of those other things might be involved in the process. And I'm not saying that those things aren't involved in the process, some of those, but they're very secondary. The demon has to be moved out of its position of power. It's a spiritual battle. The issue with Israel, it's not an issue of, of, of, of nationalities and political rights to land a nation. There's demons involved. They, they will only get through this thing through intercession. If it's the premier weapon, not the only weapon, but the premier weapon. So I have the well-known verse and David, see David was the picture of this right here before Goliath. And we got to remember this David defeated Goliath, not with swords, but with the decree of the Lord and the decree of the Lord. He, he, he, he spoke the Lord's word to him. The real victory with David was one before he, before he showed up that day, we're going to secure the victory in the prayer room before we ever announce it in proclamation. We'll get a victory in the spirit before we ever proclaim it in the natural, in a way that's triumphant. Let's go to Roman numeral four, Roman numeral four, the conflict with Goliath. A, the, the Philistines are invading Judah. So I'll just kind of go through this in an abbreviated way. The Philistines are gathered their armies together to battle and they gathered together at Sukkot and Saul and the armies of Israel were gathered together and they gathered at the valley of Elah. This is just 14 miles outside of Jerusalem. It's in the area of Jerusalem, which I find significant because the great eschatological giant will again be surrounding the city of Jerusalem. The nations will be surrounding Jerusalem in that hour, Zechariah 14. They drew up in battle array against the Philistines. There's going to be a drawing up in battle array, not just, I mean, this is again, this is just figurative. There's going to be a literal Goliath with an international reign of terror. It's focused on Israel, but it's on the whole body of Christ. And even on that, which is not the body of Christ, the antichrist isn't just after Israel, the body of Christ, he wants humans to subdue. Adolf Hitler wanted to subdue his own people. I mean, he killed his own people. He's not just after his enemies. Evil men want to subdue their own men in tyranny. This is bad news for the whole planet. Even the cooperative people will have a very tough go in this time. Verse three, the Philistines, the Philistines stood on one side of the mountain and Israel stood on the other. There was a great Valley, Joel chapter three. I love this verse in Joel chapter three, verse 14 says multitudes, multitudes of the Valley of decision. There's a great Valley of decision coming to the planet. And that Valley of decision actually is just outside Jerusalem, just like the Valley of Elah. There's going to be a Valley of decision, but in all the nations of the world where everybody must choose. And it's not just a matter of choosing Jesus or the devil. That's not exactly it. I mean, that's what it is in reality. But in our culture, you have to say more than that because to choose Jesus to people means they go to church on Sunday morning. I chose Jesus. Okay, I got that one done. No, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about choosing life in the spirit, which is the confession of choosing Jesus. I mean, it is choosing Jesus, but it's not the American version. Most of the church, in my opinion, in America has not chosen Jesus in the biblical sense in a way that is, that needs to be done. I'll just say it that way. Be the description of Goliath, the great champion, the evil champion. He comes out verse four, a champion from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath from Gath. His height, he was about 10 feet, just a few inches short of 10 feet, nine foot nine, nearly 10 feet tall. The fact that he was 10 feet isn't the biggest problem. It's the fact that he was surrounded with bronze and metal, a coat of mail. He was surrounded with metal products that a wooden spear couldn't penetrate. You couldn't kill the guy. He had a coat of mail that was, it says 5,000 shekels, 120 pounds. His vest was 120 pounds. Metal, iron. Let's go to sea. Goliath defies Israel, creating fear and despair all through the nation. And I'm not, I'm not trying to be negative, but kind of, there's a lot of what I call charismatic pep rallies. People living in sin, living carnal, living in passivity, living spiritually shallow, and they get together and sing praise songs and proclaim how they're going to defeat the enemy. And it's just so much hype and unreality. The fear that is going to hit the planet is so substantial that pep rallies will not repel it. It will truly be people whose hearts are alive in revelation with the Word. The thing that will make us fearless is the Word is alive in our spirit because our spirit agrees with the Word and the Holy Spirit. We're living on the inside in agreement with the Holy Spirit and the Word. And beloved, God will have a fearless band. But it won't be the pep rally band. And I'd see a lot of folks saying, praise God, victory of the enemy. And I think there is not a chance in the world that the spirit of where the church is in America today, they are going to be shouting and glory to God and all the way through this trouble. They're going to be, they're going to, it's what happened in Israel. The mighty man drew back and ran the other way when the crisis broke in. And David said it right, this one thing, I gaze on your beauty. When the heart of God is alive in the exchange in love at the heart level, our spirits are bold and fiery. God will have a dynamic victorious people. He will for sure, but it's not an automatic thing. He's not going to wave his hand over the church and everybody just pops out victorious. It's going to be one by one. They're going to respond to him at the heart level over time. Some folks are just kind of, they just have this, the Holy spirit's going to come and breathe and everything, all the, just the years of just disregard for the Lord, they're going to be swept away. And then all of a sudden, everyone's going to be strong and full of revelation and everyone's going to be sparkling and it's going to be great. And it's going to, wow, we got through that and when that's something that would that cool. And I think that the real life unfolding of the end times is going to have a very disillusioning feel to it, to, to a religion, the Christian religion. I'm going to talk about true vibrant Christianity. I've talked about what I believe is mostly happened in our nation is Christian religion. It's not even, it's not alive in the spirit. This, this a giant verse eight, he comes out against the armies of Israel, just like he will the nations of the earth. He'll say, why have you even lined up to resist me? He'll mock them. Why are you even attempting to resist me and stand? And that spirit will be around again. Again, this isn't a, just a, a kind of a neat children's story. This is a real live and act. I mean, a reality of history that's going to be acted out. Again, this cry will go through the land revelation chapter 13. I have it in here somewhere. Verse four. It says that the nations of the earth will say about the antichrist who is able to stand against him. That will be the confession of the earth, not the whole earth, but the, the, the, the primary confession is who can stand he's too powerful. Who can resist him? Why even do it? Why even resist? And that's exactly what's being said right here. He says, why are you even bothering to tell me? No, you know, you have to say yes. Eventually he told him, choose a man. If you're able to kill me, then we'll serve you. If I kill him, you will serve us. And of course, what they meant by serve is murder. All the men raped the women and enslaved the children. That's what they did in the ancient world and in the modern world as well. When he said you'll serve us, this was a, this was carnage. This was terrifying. Verse 10, the giant said, I defy Israel. I defy the people of God. I am absolutely fearless of the people of God and their claims. Verse 11, when Saul and all of Israel, I'm talking about the whole army heard this, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Romans number five, David accepts the challenge. There will be a company of believers. I believe it'd be a large company. It may not be the majority on the front end, but the beloved, this company of David's going to bring in people. The harvest is coming in by this David company. That's not a, some theological term, but this David company of millions will bring in a billion through power evangelism. And the great news is the really good news is the billion they bring in, not an actual number, but it's a vast number. They will bring them in in the same spirit. They will preach a gospel and they will get converts of the same spirit that these people live in. Radical, abandoned, fearless before God. David, Jesse, I mean, David's father sends David to the Valley of Elah, just outside of Jerusalem. Let's read this a little bit. David, the son of Jesse, had eight sons. They have the three oldest sons there. Verse 14, David's the youngest. Verse 16, I mean, David went up there and to bring some supplies. Verse 16, the giant presents himself 40 days and 40 nights. In verse 16, he stands and he mocks them for 40 days. It's unrelenting. This thing won't go away. Verse 19, Saul and all the army of Israel, they were in the Valley of Elah. They were fighting this Philistine or really they're listening to them. They're not actually engaged yet, but they're getting ready to. They're like, oh my goodness, we don't know what to do here. Verse 21, for all of Israel and the Philistines have drawn up in battle array, army against army. Verse 23, and as he talked with them, as David's talking, there was a champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath. He came up. David happened, it's the most interesting thing because David's just bringing some cheese and bread to his dad. It just so happens when he brings it, the challenge comes. This is a suddenly of God. I mean, it's a, it's a surprise that just David could no more have orchestrated that. He's just running a routine errand and the suddenly of God happens. God has a suddenly of God, the giant comes and suddenly of God, the Davids are in their place. This was not planned by man. Jesse didn't know it was going to happen. Saul didn't know it. David surely didn't know it. It was orchestrated by heaven. God is going to cause the Davids to be in the right place at the right time. B, Israel is overwhelmed with fear. It says in verse 24 that all the men of Israel fled. They were dreadfully afraid. The soldiers were dreadfully afraid. This is again, this is intense. The men of Israel said, have you seen this man? Have you seen him? Do you know how powerful this army is with iron and technology and advanced weapons? Do you understand how serious this is? That's what they're saying to each other. Surely he will defy us. He will wipe us out. He will mock us and kill us. Surely we are finished. Oh, there's my verse. Revelation 13, four. They worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast. And they said, who is like him? That's what the nations will say. Who is like the beast? Luke 21, Jesus said in that hour, men's hearts will faint for fear, except they are alive in the Holy spirit of the word. Mighty men like Saul and the army will faint for fear. But men and women, boys and girls, that their spirit is got the word in it and they're in community with the Holy spirit, they will not be afraid. Like David. David was no more afraid. David stood there thinking, I'm not even relating to what you guys are talking about. My spirit is alive right now. It's a 17, 18 year old young boy. Doesn't matter how old they are. Holy spirit is not, doesn't need the body to be old. The Holy spirit is eternal. He's the one giving the courage. Someone says, boy, can you believe that guy? He's only 10. The wisdom I go with the Holy spirit gave it to him. The Holy spirit is older than 10. It's not a problem. That's because it came from God. God can give a sentence to a 10 year old, like a nine year old. It's all the same sentence comes from heaven. See David is rebuked by his older brother. I'm going to skip that part, except for to say that even anointed David, he has all this. He has the domestic hassling of jealousy in the ranks. We think, man, you'd think so-and-so you're going to get anointed this guy or that woman breaks into the power of God. There will always be a close relationships that resist always. Even in David, that's part of the model. I'm skipping that. And David cries out at the very, very end. I'm going back to see here at the first Samuel 20, 17, 26 to 30, the passage there, the very end verse 29, David says, his brother says, Eliab says, David, you're filled with pride. Verse 28. And then verse he goes, I know you're filled with pride. Verse 29, David says, I, this is a key phrase. He goes, what have I done? Is there not a cause? He goes, the whole nation is running away in fear. We're about to lose the entire inheritance of the nation. He goes, somebody has to live different and do something. Is there not a cause to take a stand right now? It's one of the famous statements of the life of David. Is there not a cause? You'll hear that phrase used over the years. Beloved, is there not a cause? Isn't there a reason, an adequate reason to live radical lives and to do extreme things? Because extreme times are around the corner. Is there not a cause to do this? Yes. There'll always be plenty of people that will say, oh, you're just getting too excited about nothing. And why I tell you, let this thing burn in your spirit. Is there not a cause? D, David asked Saul's permission. He goes, can I go fight him? Now, when the words which David spoke were heard, verse 31, David said, hey, I can take this guy. They reported them to Saul and Saul sent for him. Now here we got the whole army of experienced soldiers and they want an 18, 17, 18 year old non-soldier to take this thing on. And David said to Saul, he says, don't let your heart fail. Not because of him. Beloved, there is a spirit of faith that will go with the people that are, that are going after this thing. He says, don't fail because of him. He says, you're a servant. I'll go fight him. David offered to do what nobody else would do. Beloved, these are times that we need to do what no one else is doing. Well, I'm waiting to see what everyone else does. And if they do it, I'll do it. This is an hour to break out of the pack. Is there not a cause and to do what the majority are not doing and to not take our cues from them, but take our cues from the word of God. David said, I'll do it. The whole army says, I won't. They fled in verse 24. He goes, I will do this thing. And there's no reason for you to be afraid because of that giant. God has promised us from heaven. This nation is ours. He's promised us an inheritance. It can't, it can't fail. Verse 33. And Saul said to David, you're not able. First Eliab, his brother says, you're proud. You can't do it. Now Saul says, you're not able. Then in a few minutes in verse 43, Goliath is going to say, Hey, you can't beat me. Every person that talks to David tells him, no. Saul says, no. The older brother says no. And even the giant says, I don't want to fight you. You're a little wimp. Get out of here. God said, yes. He says, you're a youth. You don't have a credentials. You don't have a resume. You don't have a profile portfolio. You have nothing. No leave beloved. All you need at the end of the day is authority to move angels and demons. You have that. I don't care what poster you have on your wall or PhD plaque. If you can't move angels and demons, you will be of no significant value in that battle that's coming. Does it matter how many degrees or your pension or how many things you've accomplished? The only thing that will matter is when we speak, do angels and demons move in the spirit? If they do, we are a formidable force against darkness. Does it matter? I don't, it won't matter what your profile is. Talk to young people all the time. So, well, they say, does your Bible school have an accreditation? Is it accredited? I go, well, actually in a minute we're going to be, but I go, who cares? So, well, what do you mean? You're going to credit. I go where you're going. If you can't, when you preach, people don't cry and demons don't come out. You're not going to have a job anyway with where things are going. I said, it doesn't really matter. The crowd you care about does not care about what's hanging on the wall. They care about this. Things happen in the spirit. When you talk, I go, so who I said, yeah, we're going to be accredited, but who cares really? I mean, honestly, he says, he's a youth. He can't make any difference. Well, he's a youth. That's anointed. He can't. David said to Saul, your servant, he goes, let me tell you, he goes, I'll just sum this up. Most of you know the passage. Anyway, he goes, he goes, when I was back at home, he goes, this lion came out. Same thing happened with a bear. This lion grabbed with the sheep. I grabbed the lion by his beard and I killed him and he came after me and I just killed him. He said, a lion? He goes, yes. He goes, well, you're a little guy. He goes, it wasn't me. It was the power of God. He goes, it wasn't a one-time deal. It happened again. I've done it a number of times. He's saying what I've done in my private life that no human eye saw, me and the Holy Spirit connected. I'm telling you, I can do on this platform what I've done in secret a number of times. What a lot of folks want to do, they want to skip the secret life in God and go right to the platform. And Saul looked at him. Now remember Saul knew David. Saul knew him because in chapter 16, Saul, David is singing for Saul. He doesn't really know him, know that much about him, but Saul, this demon hits him. And then David was singing and the spirit comes on him. He goes, Saul, you know, like when I sing that feeling you get and you feel good. He goes, yeah, that's the power on me when I killed the lion and the bear. He goes, David, you know what? I think you're telling the truth here because when you sing, I cry. I feel something powerful. I don't know what it is. David said, it's the power of God, Saul. And I said, and he said, it's, I'm just making this up, but I think he probably said it. He said, it's on me right now. That thing you feel when I sing, that thing that happened when I did the lion and the bear, it wasn't a one-time deal. It happened several different times. I've got a history in this. It's on me now. I'm not afraid of this man. Saul, let me go. The power of God is present to do exploits. And he went out and he said in verse 36, he said, this uncircumcised Philistine will be like the lion and the bear. He will be history in a short amount of time. It wasn't bravado. It wasn't, he didn't memorize a faith booklet and then say it. This was coming out of his spirit, his life. Nothing wrong with memorizing a faith book, but that's not my point. I think that's good to do that, but that's not enough is what I'm saying. I think that's a good beginning, but that's not substantial in the battle. I've memorized lots of things and I like it. I encourage people to do it, but I do understand that isn't the substance of what I'm after. It's only a kind of a prop to help get me there. Well, I think, you know, the rest of the story. It's too late. I spent too much time on my introduction, so I'm going to, I'm going to cut it off with this. David kills Goliath. Amen. Let's stand. I spent too much time giving my intro.