In this sermon, the preacher discusses the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey, which is described as the glory of all lands on earth. He emphasizes the importance of casting away idols and not rebelling against God. The preacher then shifts to the story of David and Goliath, highlighting its profound and challenging nature. He encourages the audience, particularly the young people, to be faithful and rely on God's gifts rather than their own talents. The sermon concludes with a reminder of God's mercy, patience, and love, which were demonstrated even in the midst of rebellion.

I confess to you, I've never speaked on this subject in my life. I've used it as an illustration. I remember my son, now son David, speaking on it once, and he brought some light to me, particularly on one point. And it's a story which very often is, has been described as the most courageous story of an individual in the Bible, simply the story of David and Goliath. We've relegated it to the classification of children, and I've often wondered why, and I've found out. Do you know why we've given it to them? Because it's too big for us to handle, that's why. It's so profound. It's so vast. It's so challenging. You know, truth, any truth, is many-sided. If you go and hear a lecture on a certain science, one professor will give you this plant on it. Or let's say you have a ring on your finger. If you turn it that way, it's like it's red. If you turn it that way, it's green. If you turn it that way, truth is many-sided. Eternal truth is many-sided. This is why, again, the Word of God is always so swift, because again, you cannot, there's no way in which we can fathom it. Now this story is, at least this man here, he rivals the courage, in my judgment anyhow, of another man who stood alone shaping a nation, namely Elijah on Mount Carmel. Or, if you like, a man that only has in his hand a piece of wood, and there's a sea in front of him, and there's a galloping host of men that are coming to wipe his people out, and he stands there with a piece of wood in his hand and tells the sea to depart, and he does. I heard a man once say, you know, there are no miracles in the Old Testament like those in the New. Well, the only thing I considered was, he'd never read the Old Testament, that's all. I don't know anything to surpass a man standing alone on a rock and saying to the sea, divide. I'd have died of shock after I'd done it. But he did it. One man with authority, and the sea divided. One man with authority, and 800 prophets would bear round about him. And here, as we used to sing when we were children way back in England, only a boy named David, only a shepherd's sling. Only a boy named David, but he could pray and sing. Only a boy named David, only a rippling brook. Only a boy named David, five little stones he took. And one little stone went in the sling, and the sling went round and round. I used to enjoy singing that. For the simple reason, again, I didn't know anything about the story. If there's anything that grips my heart as we get older and we're near the tribulation days, it's this. I marvel at two things. I marvel at God's mercy, and I marvel at God's loving kindness. I like that chorus that comes out of, what, Psalm 63, is it? Thy loving kindness is better than life. We haven't sung it for a while, we should. You know, you need a contrast to appreciate something. When I was a boy, I liked to look in a shop window in England. It was not very large. I guess it was about this width. Fairly high. It always had one thing in it, and only one. And it was always on a background of black velvet. It was a diamond, or a pearl, or something else. And against the background, that's the psychology of the thing. They put a light up here, you know, and there's this midnight blackness of the velvet, and then here is the brilliance of the diamond. Well, that's how I see the mercy and the patience and the love of God. It was not when they were in the Garden of Eden, it was when they were in a state of rebellion that God gave the promise to Adam and Eve that eventually, out of their offspring, there should come a Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt bruise his head, and he shall bruise thy heel. That was the first. The next covenant that God made, when he put a bow in the sky, was after the rebellion of God's people, all the people. They were almost decimated by their iniquity. The two things that characterize the generation that God flooded and destroyed mark our generation. The earth was filled with violence. Where isn't the violence today? You think of a young man murdering eight people just the other day. Another young man murdered four people yesterday. Three new outbreaks of war, while we're planning peace, then come a sudden destruction. And it's us concerning those antediluvians, as we call them, or people before the flood, that violence filled the earth, and the earth was corrupt before God. And yet it was right after that second rebellion that God put a bow in the sky and said that the earth could not be destroyed or flooded again. And then they went on for a while, and you remember there was another rebellion. They decided to build a tower of Babel. And it was right after that that God again made another first, when he told the people out of what line of people the Christ of God should come. And then you remember that they were favored with some very, very marvelous men. They had Moses, and they had Joshua. But you know again, when God spoke to the people, it was after years of rebellion. If you go into the prophecy of Ezekiel, in the 20th chapter it says this. Say unto them thus saith the Lord God, In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seat of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up my hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God, in the day I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land into a land that I had espied, a land flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all the lands. Do you hear that? That this land flowing with milk and honey is the glory of all the lands that there are in the earth. Then said I unto them, cast away every man the abomination of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord, but they rebelled against me. Now this wondrous revelation, the trouble revelation, is in the last four books of what we call the Pentateuch. And if you read those last four books, you'll discover that this time of blessing is promised, not in the time of Joseph, who is the child of Christ, but again when the people rebellious. Now God has given them time after time a chance again. He started something new, they broke in it, they fouled it, they rebelled against them. It's a wonder he didn't set fire to the earth and blow it up. But he's a God of patience, he's a God of long-suffering. And then after all these 500 years, can you imagine that? 500 years of lawlessness. Read somewhere about the 17th chapter of Judges, and it says every man did that which was right in his own eyes. If you pull the fences down, do you wonder if a sheep go? If you legalize abortion and make crime easy, and popularize sodomy, which happens to be called by a fancy name of homosexuality. In other words, if you break down the Ten Commandments, which are the boundaries God comes up, what do you expect? The people rebelled against God. And then finally, they looked at the other nations and they said, well, you know what's wrong with us? We need a king like other people have. You know, there's an awful word in Osiris 11, read it sometime, I've never heard anybody preach on it. You know, God says, I gave them a king in mine anger and I took him away in my wrath. For not only did the people deteriorate, but Saul, the first king of Israel, a handsome man, the word of God says, he stood head and shoulders above everybody else. And yet he too became corrupted. I heard people sometimes say, in fact more than once, very often I get letters with this strain in it. You know, I believe God wants me to be a prophet. Now the difference between prophesying and being a prophet is very great. And one of the awesome tasks of the prophet is to stand and rejuke a people, and very few people like that. Jesus himself said, which of the prophets of your fathers not so? People will rather go to hell than be warned of danger. And so this king Saul, handsome, attractive, he did just one thing, he did not commit adultery, he didn't steal, he didn't murder, he just disobeyed God, that's all. But disobedience is rebellion. And he rebelled against God. And so the prophet Samuel has the task of going to the king. Oh, the nation went wild when they got a king. After all, he is one of the greatest men in the world, and he's a very important man, and they made special accoutrements for him. Samuel goes to this man and says this, but now thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought him a man after his own heart. And the Lord commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept the word which the Lord thy God commanded thee. A man after God's own heart. Who was the man? Well, you know who the man was? The man was David. That same statement is repeated again there in the 13th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. That this man was a man after God's own heart. Now he certainly is a very, to me, striking character. He certainly doesn't have much to encourage him. The king before him fouled everything up. Five hundred years there'd been rebellion. They'd forgotten everything about the law and the prophets, and all that had been given to them. They'd wandered again back into their iniquity. Despite the fact that God had commanded them not to have strange jobs, they had other jobs. He commanded they keep the law. They did not keep the law. And so, this wonderful man, David. Now I don't know how old he was when he was anointed to be king, but I do know this, that after Samuel had anointed Paul, and he was full of expectations. Oh, this man's Paul. Do you know why? Because the word of God says that when Paul was anointed, the Spirit of the Lord came on him and he prophesied. So he at least had one gift of the Spirit. Oh, we're going to see a nation that follows holiness and righteousness and peace. We're going to be the sweetest nation in the world. We're going to have a fragrance all of our own. We're going to have a righteousness all of our own. We have a living God. But they got into easy streets. And the man, Paul, became corrupted. And the heart of, pardon me, the heart of Samuel, I shouldn't say David, the heart of Samuel was terribly distressed. Chapter 16 of 1 Samuel says, The Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil, and I will send thee to Jesse, the Bethlehemite. For I have provided me a king among his sons. What a task. He isn't supposed to go tell the king he's been dethroned. He isn't asked to gather the elders of the nation together. He sits privately to the house of Jesse. And he says, I understand you have some very admirable sons. And he says, yes, three of them in the army of the king. You know, Ahab and Nadab and Abihu, Binadab rather, and Shammar. They're officers in the king's command. But I want to see all these men. I've come with a special task. Now again, there's so much that's encouraging in this, I think. Particularly you young fellows. You may have more talent than me. You don't look to have too much to me. But you may have a lot more talent than anybody knows about. And it's there. It's not what you bring to God that matters. It's what God will bring to you if you're faithful. You're looking for a man that's got a lot of treasures buried in his heart. And says, well, if I could get hold of that man, I'd sanctify his gifts. I don't think God sanctifies his gifts. Gifts are corrupted with the old nature. He makes new gifts. He gives you a new heart, a new song, a new voice, a new man, a new spirit, a new interest. Well, bring your sons. So, Jesse made the seven of his sons to pass before him. And oh my, when he saw them, he thought, well, these are the men. One of them is going to be called African. In the 16th chapter it says, he said, peaceably am I come to sacrifice unto the Lord. Sanctify yourselves in verse 5. Come with me to sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and he called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass when they were coming, he looked on Eliab and said, surely this is the anointed of God. He was the oldest. Maybe in other people's judgment he was the wisest and the strongest. Here he is. But the bell didn't ring inside with a stopping. He said, pass on. And the second came, and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth, and the seventh. No. Oh well, sir, I don't know why you came, but apparently we don't have anybody that would be a good man to plough your fields or whatever you want the man for. And he says, hold it a minute, do you have another son? Oh yes, but I mean he's not smart, bright. He's the youngest fellow. He does all the easy jobs. Well, I mean, he does the little jobs nobody wants around here. As a matter of fact, all he does is look after sheep. Well, I can sympathize with him, that's what I do. But, you know, the Lord has a love for shepherds. He called Moses, he was a shepherd. He called Abraham, he was a shepherd. We sing beautifully, the Lord is my shepherd. Peter says later in his epistles, you were a sheep going astray, but now you've returned to the shepherd and bishop of your souls. But where is the other boy? Well, we'd have to get him from... Well, the man of God says you'd better go, because I'm not going to lay around here, that's what the Hebrew says. I'm not going to lay around here wasting time. You go get that boy right away. The boy not on the list. Oh yes, you remember in Psalm 51, David says I was born in sin, I'm shaped in iniquity. And some people have seized a hold of that to say the reason why Jesse hid the son was he was born out of wedlock. He didn't want to bring him in. He didn't want to recognize him as a son. Well, that may be true, I don't know. But you see, there are so many things that parallel the life of David and Jesus who is called David's greatest son. In the book of the Revelation it speaks about Jesus being of the root of David. Now the amazing thing about this man David, let's stay here a minute, he parallels Jesus in so many ways. He came to his own and his own received him not. His brother said, well what have you brought lunch for us for? You didn't bring lunch for us, you came to see the battle. None other said, where is the battle? They'd been there 40 days and 40 nights. A period of testing in anybody's experience. 40 days Jesus was in the wilderness tested. 40 years Moses was on the backside of the desert. 40 years Israel wandered in the wilderness. It is a period of testing. And 40 days this man had come and challenged everybody, the elite of the kingdom, the king and his officers. They looked down their noses. Well, do you think somebody's going to flatter you if you say, or if it's noise abroad, you're the anointed of God? What happened to that very precious spotless young man by the name of Joseph? He went and told his brethren, his sons, to spill the beans and he said, I had a dream last night. You did, oh, you often have them. What happened? Well I dreamed I was a big sheep here and you were little sheep and you all better get out of here. Huh? Oh, I had a dream last night. You did, what was it? Well there were certain stars and you were all little twinkling things and I was the greatest. Get out of here. And you remember how they were moved with envy. That's what it says. For envy they sold him. It says the same thing about Jesus. For envy they sold him. All you have to do is be as holy as you can and somebody will hate you like the devil and they'll profess to be Christians too. You'll get as much persecution from the righteous as the unrighteous. Don't worry about it. Satan can slip arrows in other people's quivers and boy they can shoot them and you know they hurt just the same. In fact they hurt even more. Bring in the little sailor. Now you know it tells you about this king that he was handsome and tall and wonderful. But you know it says the same about this boy. Samuel said unto Jesse, hurry and all thy children. He said they remaineth yet the youngest and behold he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, send and fetch him for we will not sit down or we will not wait around until he come hither. That's in 1 Samuel 16 and verse 11. And then verse 12. And he sent and brought him forth. Listen to what it says. He was ruddy. He had a beautiful countenance. He was goodly to look at. And the Lord said arise anoint him for this is he. Isn't that beautiful? You talk about being handsome. There was a natural dignity about him. He was beautiful to look at. He was ruddy. He was unspoiled. I say I don't know when this man, when this man had his first communion and relationship with God. I know this. He was a ruddy youth so he was not very old. I know this. His profession was staying on the hills of Bethlehem and round about and being in stillness with God. And many time he took that harp out and lifted his eyes up and said when I consider thy heavens the work of thy fingers the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained. What is man that art mindful of him? He said and saw me. Another time he looked at the stars and he said their language is known to the very ends of the earth. You see God spoke to man in his conscience and then God spoke to man in the sky. And then God spoke to man through his prophets and then God spoke to man through his own sons. And God speaks to men today. But there's a clue maybe in Psalm 132. David says Lord remember David and all his afflictions how he prayed unto the Lord and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed. I will not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to mine eyelids until I find out a place for the Lord and habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. For Lord we heard of it in his father and we found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacle. We will worship at his footstool. Maybe that gives you a clue that when he was wandering there in the fields of the wood he saw the house of God which was in a state of disrepair. Maybe you remember the former glory of Israel. That if we do know that he comes and he is anointed. I don't know whether his brothers were watching. It doesn't give me a clue about that. Maybe they'd gone out. But it says in verse 13. Then Samuel took a horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. I like that. That's wonderful. It wasn't a ritual. It wasn't something they did because they had done it to a previous king. Here is a man that isn't a shadow of the previous king in many ways. But oh, there's a beauty on him which is more than the beauty of character. It's the very beauty of holiness. What does it say about him? He is what? Rabbi of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to. And the Lord said arise and anoint him. Let me read you another psalm that God had. Do you know what he says about him? My beloved is white and ruddy and the cutest among 10,000. His head is like fine gold. His locks are bushy and black as a raven. His eyes are the eyes of a dove by the rivers of water washed with milk and prickly chest. His cheeks are like a bed of spices as sweet as flowers. His lips are like lilies dropping sweet myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with beryls. His legs are pillars of marble. His countenance is as Lebanon. His mouth is most sweet. He is altogether lovely. You see he has the character of Jesus Christ before Jesus comes. Now David was anointed on at least 3 occasions. He was anointed here privately in this 16th chapter. And then he was anointed by the men of Judah. And then he was anointed again by the elders of Israel. 3 anointings. Didn't Jesus have 3 anointings? I think he did. I think he was anointed to come into the world, into the womb of the Virgin Mary. He was certainly anointed when the Spirit descended upon him like a dove. He was anointed after his resurrection. He was anointed with oil above all his fellows. He was anointed with the oil of gladness. Aaron the priest was anointed. Elijah the prophet was anointed. David the king of Israel was anointed. Anointed. So you have the prophet and the priest and the king anointed. It says in the 2nd chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. And about verse 29. Men and brethren let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried and in his settlement. Well you say what does that mean? Well it means what it says. It says let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David. The next verse says. Therefore being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn by an orphan to him. Now listen to what Peter says. In 1 Peter 1 verse 9 it says. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation a prophet, that's what this man was called, a prophet. Having cried and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that could come unto him. Searching what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ that was in them. The spirit of Christ was in this young man. Immediately he was anointed. That's what the word says. I've heard people say you see the Holy Spirit wasn't given until Pentecost. You'll have a lot of scriptures to cross out if you say that. It says Moses was filled with the spirit of God. This young boyish king is anointed with the spirit of the living God. Presently he's a king. Verse 14 of this 17th 16th chapter. The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. An evil spirit of the Lord troubled him. Oh you notice he wasn't kicked off his throne. He still went through the functions. He still did everything of his kingly office. He still wore the garments. He still lived in the palace. But he was a shell. There was no spirit of God on him. And here is a little boy. And you know what it says? It says after this great event. Oh the king was depressed. So he was depressed that the spirit of God had left him. Verse 17. Saul said to his servants. Provide me now a man that can play well and bring him to me. Then answered one of the servants and said. Behold I have seen a son of Jesse a Bethlehemite that is cunning in playing. Listen to his qualifications. He's cunning in playing. He's a mighty valiant man. And a man of war. And prudent in manners which means he had wisdom. And he was a comely person. And the Lord is with him. Man he's got it all in the bag. He got wisdom. God was with him. He's a comely person. He's skilled in war. He has every human attribute. Saul sent a message to Jesse and said. Hey send that young son of yours down. Well David should have written a note and said. Who are you bossing around? I'm king not you. You've lost your authority. I'm anointed. The spirit of God is on me. And the spirit of wisdom. You're a relic forget it. You just send your crown back with that man. And send your golden suit back. And I'll have it cut down to my size. You're not the king. I'm the king. But he had great prudence. He had the spirit of wisdom upon him. Verse 21 says David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly. Oh can you see the old king. Leaning back on his multi-million dollar chair. And his throne and all his churches there. And he sees a young handsome man. And the light of God in his eye. And the spirit of God is on his disposition. And he sees this young full-blooded man. And he feels. This man has something I don't have. Oh not only was this man going to receive opposition from his family. But he was going to receive opposition from King Saul before long. Because it says he began to eye him or envy him. Because of his superiority. Verse 23 it says it came to pass. And evil spirit from God was upon him. And David took him half and played. With his hands so he was refreshed. Go over to chapter 15 if your Bible is open in the 17th chapter. David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep in Bethlehem. I think that is gorgeous. An anointed man. With the witness of God in his heart. He's going to be the great leader of a nation. And he goes back and looks after sheep. Dear Lord I find people get the baptism of the spirit. And they want to be prophets if they got it Saturday. Sunday rather they're preaching somewhere on Monday. They've got wisdom. They've got this. He's going back to the menial task. I like that. For surely if the spirit of God is upon us. The spirit of Jesus is the spirit of humility. There's a beauty about him. No there's no arrogance about this man at all. He sees what this has done in the life of the other man. You see this man became obedient. Saul he just disobeyed once. And once you disobey it's easier to do it the second time isn't it. And when God said go and destroy the Amalekites he didn't. And when Samuel the prophet came up and he said. Hey I've just come to check on you. Did you do it? Yes yes. You know man of God I always obey God. I threw thousands of sheep and bullets and everything else. And suddenly a little thing at the back said bang like that. And he said well what means the bleeding of a sheep. Oh it only took the crying of a cock to disturb peace and upset him. It took the bleeding of a sheep. And the prophet says if you've done everything God said. What meaneth the bleeding of a sheep and the loin of the oxen in mine ears. Oh well he said you see the people did that. I took the best. I took the best of the cattle and the best of everything and gave it to God. No sorry there are no leftovers whether you give them the best or the worst. God said destroy the Amalekites. He did not destroy the Amalekites. Well how did King Saul die? An Amalekite destroyed him that's how he died. If you don't get rid of that thing it will strangle your life. It will reduce you to neutrality spiritually. I'm not saying you go to hell. I'll say you missed your calling in Jesus Christ. And another man will get your reward. Jake hold fast to that which thou hast. But no man take thy crown. You better watch the women too. But no man take thy crown and no woman take thy crown. That's what the book of the revelations says. You see someday we're going to be walking down the streets of heaven. You'll see a man with special markings on his crown. And he's not God intended. You should have had that. But you missed it. You settled for a second death. The cost was too much. Well it will involve this and that and the other. Sure, sure, sure, sure. God never promised you blast all the hills out of your way and fill in all the valleys. And make all the crooked places straight. And make the path as smooth as concrete. He's going to test your character. What have you got? What will you do? You think of Jesus leaving everything in the glory. Many times he left in his spirit. Those dumb disciples. As I said last week, twice they were with him in the mount of transfiguration. That would have changed the colour of my hair, I'm sure, had I been white. But they fell asleep. And the second greatest opportunity men ever had in the garden of Gethsemane. They fell asleep. And before you throw your hymn book out. Then ask me how much you've been awake this week. Anyhow and how much I've been awake. Fell asleep in Gethsemane. He fell asleep when angels were looking on. Wanting to help him. When great drops of blood as it were were oozing out of him. And he needed some human companionship in this place. No wonder God's going to wipe away tears from our eyes in that great day. For the things we've missed. As dear Tulsi used to say to me. Len I'm not troubled so much about the things I've done. It's the things I could have done that trouble me. When I slacked up. When I became easy. When I spent this money on that that I didn't need. But it satisfied me. I liked it. It did me some good. It would have built a mission station somewhere. It would have printed a thousand Bibles or some other thing. No I'm not saying I can give you the list from A to B. I'm saying this. That when the spirit tells you to do it. Do it. Ignore everybody else. This boy is young. He's immature and unsanctified. But he receives the anointing of the spirit of God. And he goes back. Isn't that funny? A king looking after his sheep. A king cleaning out stables doing meaning and fashion. It's alright. I don't have to worry. God's anointed me. He's got the timetable not me. If I have to wait a year or two years or three years. Does it matter? There's no waste in the economy of God. I can remember in a factory where I was working one day. I could take you to a crack in the board where Jesus called me to serve him. And I've never gone back. I never will. I can take you to a crack in the board of a little mission hall. Not well, half a game as big as this. Maybe twice as big. It didn't even have the name of a church. It was usually called the mission hall. The holiness mission hall. Where I knelt one night. I can take you to the spot in the woods where I used to pray. One day after I'd read the story of David Brainerd praying in the woods. And we lived on the edge of Sherwood Forest. Old Robin Hood's country. And he used to go in there at night alone and pray under the bracken. Get up Sunday morning at daylight and go pray. I didn't need to read books or some help me. I remember the day God called me. God commissioned me. Not being the most successful man in the world. I'm saying that. But I'm saying hold on to that which I have. You don't have to wait. I went back to a factory and worked. Worked for about three years. Called the young people to prayer in the church. Friday nights we prayed. Sunday morning we prayed before others. If they didn't I went out to the forest and prayed. Because David here is not so exalted. He has received the spirit of God upon him. And that he's content. So let's say here that I'm considering here the prayer of this man. Let's take this 17th chapter now. First of all they went out to the champion of the camp. Of the Philistines. A man named Goliath of Gath. Whose height was six cubits and a span. It gives you all the particulars about this story. And you know it quite well. Again he's been there for 40 days and 40 nights. Now wait a minute. Lest you think that this is a kind of you know. It's nothing like we have in warfare today. I suppose a couple of dozen people standing around with sticks and fly swatters and. You know. Little bits of clay balls. They fought each other. Nothing too serious about it. This man remember is a Philistine. He is opposed he said to the living God. And the armies of the living God. I believe the greatness. In the life of this young man. David is this. He was concerned for the living God. He isn't concerned for Israel. Pardon me. He's concerned for the God of Israel. He's not only concerned and jealous for the God of Israel. He has confidence in the God of Israel. And he's going to conquest in the name of the God of Israel. Now again this is no. This is no little back alley affair. Listen to what it says. In the 13th chapter of Samuel and verse 5. The Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel. Listen. 30,000 chariots. Those were tanks that they were pulled with horses. 30,000 chariots. 6,000 horsemen. And people like the sand which is by the seashore for multitude. That's quite an army. They're lined up on one side of the hill. And on the other side of the hill there are the children of Israel. With the choicest men. Eliab is there. The three brothers of David are there. And the hosts of Israel are on this side. And the hosts of the enemy are on the other side. And David comes up with his little sandwich for his brothers. He looks around. He asks how things are going on. And they say well it's pretty terrible being around here. The best thing you can do of course is go home. Because if you see this man you'll be scared to death. You see Jesse had let seven sons go before the prophet. And then the eighth came. Eighth in scripture is the number of new beginnings. Jesus rose from the dead on the eighth day. Which is why we keep this day. Yesterday was the seventh day. The Jews keep it. It still is the seventh day. We worship on the eighth day. The eighth is the number of new beginnings. David is going to usher in something entirely new. When he comes out he sees this great army of men. Thousands of chariots. Thousands of people. Forty days and forty nights. You know it's pretty maddening when somebody does something you've wanted to do all your life. And they do it much quicker isn't it? They pass you up and go do it. That's pretty needling. Do you remember what I read to you a bit earlier? That this man David was the armadero of Saul the king of Israel. Now David comes up and he says. What did you say is happening? Oh there's a man called Goliath. He's a freak. He's about ten feet. Some say he's eleven feet high. Now when he treads he shakes the earth. When he talks it's like a thunderstorm. You can see him. But why don't you kill him? Kill him? Now you get home and look after those sheep. His brother was angry with him. Oh my word. How evil. You see here. This isn't a little boy facing up just against a giant. This is spirit fighting against the flesh. This is a natural against a supernatural. This is a man who has confidence in every human thing. He's covered. His head is covered. His breast is covered. His legs are covered. And in front of him he has a man who's a shield bearer. Now look at the odds against David. David is by himself. He has no helmet. He has no shield. He has no sword. He has no spade. He has no armadero. It's one man against two because Goliath has a shield bearer. Goliath has a shield. The man has a shield. Goliath has a sword. And he has a spear. And he has a helmet. He has total protection. And David says, You know what I'd like to do brother? I want to go home. You know what I'd like to do? I'd just like to take that big man's head and give it to the king. And he says, Listen, if you don't get out of here I'll put my foot round you. Get home. Well I want to tell you, If you couldn't do it, I could do it. My, my. Isn't this a lesson? Because you see the king says when he gets to know, Alright son, if you want to risk it, I know you're a marvellous boy and maybe under his breath he says, You know I just heard a rumour he's already been anointed king. Now if I let him go out he's going to get destroyed. So you can go, you can go. But before you go put on my breastplate. Put on my helmet. But the little guy says, You know sir, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. I've no confidence in the flesh. That man has all the confidence. Look at the size of him. Little David says, I, I, I, I'd rather not take those things. But, I'll go kill him for you. You're going to kill him? Yes. Well if you want it that way, Off you go. Oh now he sees a clear passage. If this boy isn't going to be defended he's going to, And the big man says, You come to me as well. I'm a dog. I'll carry you in over my knee and throw you to the birds. And David says, Well two minds with a single thought. That's just what I'm going to do with you. You see this man not only had the spirit of patience, He had the spirit of prophecy. He says, You'll die and I'll tell you how. You'll die and I'll tell you this. The whole world is going to know about it. Everything he said became true because he was a true prophet. He had the spirit of faith. Again he says he was a prophet. He was a patriarch and a prophet. He was anointed three times because he was a prophet and a priest and a king. Read the first verse in the first chapter of Matthew, And it says, Jesus Christ, the generation of Jesus Christ, Of the seed of Abraham, And of the seed of David, David the royal blood, Abraham the priestly blood. He's a unique character. He's going to do what nobody else can do. The whole nation has been embarrassed and he's angry. He says, They're not just humiliating my brother and my king, But he defies the armies of the living God. Do you know why? Do you know why? Because not long before this they had a marvelous temple. And one day a man by the name of Samson, And again that mysterious priceless thing, The spirit of God was upon him. You can go to the gates of hell with that. You can go to any mission field in the world with that anointing. And Samson took the jawbone of an ass and he slew two thousand men. I've often said about the old lady that when The preacher said, you know, God doesn't do that anymore. And she said under her breath, He does at our church every Sunday. He takes the jawbone of an ass. But anyhow, there you are. He took the jawbone of an ass and he slew two thousand men. And then he goes in and he pushes the pillars of the temple. And the whole people, Roughly there were ten thousand people in the sanctuary. And in one stroke, They were destroyed. And the Philistines have been mad ever since. They're going to get their revenge on the people of Israel. And David says, Under his breath, you've got another shock coming. You're going to do nothing of the kind. Can you imagine David's brothers looking out of it? And only three of them remember. Five stayed at home. Three of his brothers were in the army of the king. And they look around their tent and see their little brother Going down into the valley of the shadow of death. Maybe he wrote this psalm after this and said, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. PSYDE II Newton bombs at him, he wouldn't hurt him. He had omnipotence between him and the brute that was going to destroy him. You come to me with a sword and with a spear. I come to thee in the name of the God of Israel. But remember he split five little stones into that Little pouch that he had. Oh, sure, the king said to him, Well, you've a lot of confidence. I never met a man like this. What makes you think you can do it? And he says, well, I'll tell you, your majesty. I've never mentioned this before, But one night I was looking after my sheep And on a shepherd and there came a lion And I punched him on the nose. And another night there came a bear And I got my slingshot and I just put him out of existence. Now I flew a lion, I flew a bear And I say, tell her before I go home if you'd like me to do it. It's as easy as that. Why, he's an awful lot of confidence. But notice with you that he that is faithful in that which is least He was faithful when there was nobody there to applaud him. He was faithful when nobody was watching to say, What a great fellow he is, what a great fellow he is. Notice man has a strong spirit of humility right through him. Who wants the applause? I don't want the applause of men. They may not get it, but I don't want it. What's the applause of men? Men, heed thee, love thee, praise thee not For whom I just said the master praises one another. He stirs in his inmost being Because God is being mocked by these heathen people. And he says, I'll go down. And he took five stones. I sometimes thought he wished that Goliath's four brothers would tell me To kill the whole lot because it's five stones you see And only one showed up. But he had five precious stones And he just went down there and he was totally unafraid of that man. He'd been faithful in that which is least. Those boys didn't die that I mentioned to the children today. They didn't become martyrs because their legs were chopped off And they pushed in a grave. They'd already died somewhere years before that. They'd made up their minds. A man isn't a martyr. You don't make him a martyr because you burn him at the stake. You reveal he is a martyr. You're just showing you're taking the covers off And there inside that man has already died. Jesus didn't die on the cross in one century. He died in Gethsemane. If he hadn't have died there He would never have died on the cross. So this man, he goes with his thing and goes with his sword And goes with his stave. And little David says, you know what? The Lord's going to deliver you into my hands. You see he takes notes, I read anywhere. All that he talks about is the Lord. The Lord is my strength. The Lord will deliver thee into my hands. I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts. Some of us would have done in the name of the Baptist Church, wouldn't we? The name of the Baptist is the name of somebody. He doesn't say I come to thee in the name of Abraham. He doesn't say I come in the name of Moses. He doesn't say I come in the name of those illustrious men who were the judges in Israel. He says I come to thee in the name of the Lord God of hosts. Oh, if we rediscover the name. You remember even those heathen asked these men, Peter and John, you didn't do this of yourself. In whose name have you done it? There's authority somewhere. But all the church has to do really is rediscover the name. The authority that's in that name. I come to thee in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Whom thou hast defied. And this day he will deliver thee into my hands. Today he's making his prophecies. And sure enough while everybody looks on, all David does is cast his stone. Some people have said you know that the visor that this man wore, he lifted it up to look around. I don't think he's going to look around. He could already see through it. I believe there was so much power in that stone, it went right through that metal that he had there and went right into the vital place. Killed him on the spot. The aim was what God wanted. The power was the power of God given to him. And so he adds another trophy. Well that's all right. But you see what happened. The whole nation went crazy about him. They started writing songs about him. They started dancing in the streets and throwing up their hats and waving their banners. And they had a special St. David's Day. And the king got more mad and more mad and more mad. And they just said Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands. And the heart of the king was envious against this man. But he still had an act of mercy. You remember when he was pursued like a partridge over the mountains and he hid in a cave. And early one morning when he saw the signal outside to say the king is in residency and he went and put a lump off his shirt. And then he called over and said, Eliab, Eliab, what were you doing? You see this or that. That's a world color. Nobody asked color but the king. What are you doing with it? Well while you were sleeping on duty I could have cut your head off and cut the king's head off. But he acted in mercy. Even when he's pursued and he said, you know I wish, I wish, I wish. I just want one thing. Just a cool drink from the well of Bethlehem. There's only one place that has water like that in the whole world. And some of those mighty men slipped off and they brought it. And nearly got killed doing it. And when he got it he poured it out. He said, that's the price of blood I shouldn't drink it. You see he's got mercy and compassion all through his nature. He wants nothing for himself. He doesn't even want the loyalty of men. He gathered all the derelicts and all who were in debt and all who were distressed and all who were despondent. Would you like to work with a bunch like that? Everybody morally raped. And David takes them there into that old place and it became like the very garden of Eden for them. Oh yes I could go on. I mustn't here let me turn from it a minute. But again I say this. Wonderful man did so many things. He's so many exploits to his name. But there was one thing he wanted to do and and God wouldn't let him do it. Do you remember what it was? The one thing he wanted to do above all other things. More than killing your life. He wanted to build the temple of God. And God said no. You're a man of war. Your hands are covered with blood. You can't build a sanctuary to me. But Lord you let me build it. I'll build you the most extravagant wonderful building. You know what? I believe he would have built a greater temple than Solomon built. I believe he would have been more exquisite and more gorgeous. But the temple that was built by Solomon was dazzling in all its splendor. And God says you can't do it. You see we say that prayer will do anything. No it won't. If he got all Israel to fast and pray. God would never have given him the privilege. He'd already soiled certain areas of his life. And God said you can't do it. You can't do it. Why? If he'd built the temple. What would have happened? They threw the temple down. They rebuilt it again. They threw it down. Where is the temple today? But here is a man who is a champion of God. He destroys God's enemies. He does so many amazing things. Wouldn't it have been nice if he could have built a temple and the swallows could have found a house in the far of Venice. And people could have prayed. He did a thousand times better than that. What could he do better than give us the temple? I'll tell you what he did. He gave us a book of psalms. And all over the world today. Particularly in Scotland where they don't even sing hymns. Never mind gospel songs. Today they've sung their favorite national anthem. The Lord my shepherd I'll not want. He maketh me down to lie. In pastures green he leadeth me. The quiet waters by. Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me. And in God's house forever more. My dwelling place shall be. And then it says oh God my God. Early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee. My flesh longeth for thee. In a dry and thirsty land where no water is. To see thy power and thy glory as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name. And my soul shall be satisfied with marrow and fatness. And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. When I remember thee upon my bed. And meditate upon thee in the night watches. And then he gives you that marvelous 22nd, 23rd and 24th psalms. The 22nd is the psalm of the cross. The 23rd is the psalm of the cook. That the shepherd uses to lift the fallen sheep. The 24th is the psalm of the crown. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? He that hath clean hands. And then you remember he gets one vision one day. And he says lift up your heads O ye gates. I'm convinced in my own spirit. There were times when God rolled the plan of the ages back. When this man who had the anointing. This man who was going to go through bloodshed and trial and difficulty and adversity. When God gave him the revelation. He says lift up your heads O ye gates. And be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors. And the king of glory shall come in. You see that's the historic setting of this psalm. David had to fight against Goliath. David had to fight against the envy of the king. David had to fight against opposition in his family. David had to fight all the strange kings that came up against him. Now tell me this as I put it out of that framework. Historic framework into a personal framework. What's your hang up? What's your Goliath? Can you slay him? Or does he keep you timid and afraid for 40 days and 40 nights? Are you still in bondage to him? I like that hymn break down the dread of life. It says then shall all bondage cease. When? When I shuffle off this mortal coil. I say God no. God no. Am I going to live in bondage to fear or fault or laziness or indifference or canality or pride or temper. What's to Goliath? Is he going to hold you in bondage? Are you going to say I'm going to get rid of this Goliath. I've got secret lust in my life. I've pride in my life. I'm thoughtful. I'm lazy. I don't believe you ought to be corralled into the house of God. I've said anybody else once a week just to get a passion for the lust or visual. See God in his beauty. It could be our daily delight. The psalmist said it was his daily delight. And so you can set this story historically in its framework. You can see this boy in his patience willing to be a servant though he is anointed to be king. You can see him taking all the slander and taking all the guff from his brother. And wasting the time of God's patience. He's going to bring him out on the funny side of the road. He's going to subdue the enemies of God. What about you and I? How long are you going to put up with that Goliath? Are you going to stand in God's name and say you come to me with intimidation. You come to me with threats. You come to me with this. But I come to me in the name of the God of Israel. You're going out of my life. Because Goliath will only stay there as long as you allow him to stay there. Once you take the authority of God and rebuke that thing. You'll last five deadly weeks. You know some people talk as though they're waiting for some excitement to come from heaven. God shake us all up one afternoon. Well that would be fine. But I'll tell you what. You'll stir up the gifts of God that's in you. Why do you get depressed? Because you sit and meditate and ponder and think. And you get worried over a certain situation. It gets you down. Well why don't we do the other thing and lift ourselves up? Jeremiah asked a question. Why art thou cast down O my soul? Dear Lord we have a thousand things that this man David never had. With all his range of psalms. With the full revelation of the cross. We have a vision of an exalted Lord. Now I say the final thing is this. That we're to see this story historically. We're to see it personally. And we're to see it prophetically. Who is Goliath a type of? He's a type of a devil that goes about like a roaring lion. And the law and the prophets only have limited power. And one day great David's greatest son comes along. And all the hosts of heaven are looking on. And all the hosts of earth are looking on. And all the hosts of demons are looking on if you like. And this man is terrifying humanity. And he says because of what Adam did. Because listen God Almighty is not going to punish you for Adam's sin. He's a just God. He's going to punish you for your own if you're still trafficking it. I don't believe God will blame you a thing for Adam's sin. Because he's provided blood whereby we might be cleansed. The Holy Spirit whereby we may live in victory. As long as we live in subjection to God's will and purpose. Think of Jesus here then. Jesus sees all those filistines in their chariots. He sees the world and the flesh and the devil. He sees systems. I'm quite sure of this. Disagree if you like. I'm sure of this. The devil is having a millennium in the day in which we live. Because the church is unable to stop Goliath that's why. Do you notice David didn't go and mess around. David said this to me the first time I heard him preach on this. David said do you notice that when David went up to Goliath. He never bothered with the shield bearer did he. He ignored him. He trifled with demons. They're serious. They're nothing like the devil. We get tied up with little things in our own lives. In some ways they're inconsequential. The devil goes about his time is short. You see that shield bearer that went before Goliath felt he was really somebody. I'll tell you what the old devil's got an awful lot of shield bearers just now hasn't he. In the Mormons, in the Jehovah's Witnesses, in Munihism. Why you've got, you've got men that openly stand boastfully. They've showed them on TV now. Oh yes I've been a practicing homosexual for years. Oh yes my wife is a very nice man. They don't blush. Dear God they've lost their sense. We're back in Romans number one again. And the church is on the side of them watching the parade go down. And Jesus died to conquer everything that the devil put in this world. He's not the second Adam. He is the last Adam. If you have a second Adam you can have a third. He's not the second Adam. He's the last Adam. And I don't blame the church. I don't blame. I'm as guilty as you are for looking on and say well there's supernatural power. I don't care if you sleep with sons and raise one or two dead people. That's all right. But I want to tell you something. This world's going to hell pretty quick. I heard yesterday there were 10 million people with the baptism of the spirit in America today. Then I asked you reverently my God. How did it only took 120 to turn the nation upside down? What are 10 million doing? Last week Bill Moyer said there were 50 million born again people in the nation. Not on your life. These are all Israelites watching Goliath. But there's only one man anointed. I've told you more than once and I mean it again. That the anointing of the spirit is the hardest thing to get. And it's harder to keep. Because there are so many subtleties and so many snares. And we look back and we did one thing. We had one great meeting or one great healing or something else. And we get so inflated about the whole thing. Go back and look after the sheep for a while. Sober down. Jesus I'm convinced was anointed with the spirit to enter the womb of his mother. But he spent 30 years in preparation. The spirit of God came on the Apostle Paul. He spent three and a half years back in the wilderness. God was on Elijah. Look what he did. But God had him away. And he went and stayed two or three years on the backside of the desert. But Jesus came forth in the power of the spirit. Leading captivity captive. And giving gifts unto men. It isn't in our hymn book that I've asked him to have us sing it today. But there's a lovely old hymn that says this. Hail to the Lord's anointed. Great David's greatest son. Hail in the time appointed. His reign on earth began. He comes to break oppression. To set the captive free. To take away transgression and rule inequity. What do you think the boys in Washington think about a little meeting like this. Where there isn't 50 of us this afternoon. Hardly 30. Maybe not 20 adults. Do you think it worries the devil in hell that we're here. You think anybody's going to write a page of history today. And put all our names here. I'll tell you one who is. That's God himself. But you see people look down their noses. And say David why don't you go home. And he stretches it that few feet. You know what his brother didn't know yet that he'd been anointed. He was away and he hid it. He took all that came on him. They could snub him and rebuke him and laugh at him and sneer at him. But in his heart of hearts he knew he had the anointing of God. That was his presence. We're heading up quickly to these world systems. Again we need to live in revelation these days. Revelation 17 and 18. These great world systems are going to crumble soon before the Son of God. Political systems. Religious systems. It doesn't make any difference whether they're free nations as we call ourselves. Or the nations behind the Iron Curtain. Doesn't matter what label of religion they have. Buddha, Confucius or some of the modern junk that we have today. They're all going to fall before him. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and the Prince of Peace. I had a tape sent by a friend who'd been in the company of Bishop Kivangiri. Maybe you saw him on Billy Graham's broadcast. Or you saw his photograph in Time magazine. Billy Graham's TV show. Kivangiri is one of about eight remaining, or maybe there are more, eight remaining bishops in Uganda. He's a close personal friend of the martyred bishop. He was going back into town when the Christians stopped him and said, Look yesterday they killed the bishop and you're next on the list. And we beg of you, we beg of you. God needs you. Teeth turned round and he fled over the mountains. Went to England, went to America. Now lives over in California somewhere. But he said, after a mean brutalized that body, shot the man up and did all the other things. They returned the body to the Christians. And they went to the cathedral in the center of the city. I say it must be some cathedral. They packed 5,400 people. Maybe they were all standing, I don't know. They had the bullet ridden, brutalized body of the man. They wouldn't, I understand, wouldn't let them open it. But there they had the body of the martyred bishop. The man who had been the bishop before him was asked to give the funeral service. And we would say, you know, there wasn't a dry eye amongst the people. You know what, there wasn't a weeping eye amongst the people. They took it as tribute and gratitude that God had allowed their precious bishop to be martyred. And after they sung some hymns of praise, the dear old bishop who had retired to let this other man come in, who had been martyred. His injury said he stood there and raised his hand and just said this. He is not here. He is risen. And the congregation of 5,000 people went wild and began to praise and magnify and rejoice in God. He isn't here, he's risen. And he says, no, the people don't have their heads down in Uganda. They have a population of 11 million people and they have 8 million professing Christians. Is that why you, the madman I call him. That's why he's mad. They have 8 million professing Christians. And Popov says about the suffering church, the underground church. He says, I'll tell you one thing about it. It's distinguished by one thing, it's pure. It has no hypocrites. It has no half-hearted people. They've already counted the cast. They know that any door that day, that door can be burst open and people can come in and take you and destroy you. Well, thank God we have a triumphant saviour. There's nothing else it can do for us. Pretty humiliating, isn't it, when you sit down and think that. God has nothing else it can do for us. Does Jesus have to die again? Does he have to rise from the dead? Does he have to ascend to heaven? There is one thing indeed that God can do. The final thing, pour out his spirit. But you see, until we're diligent and we want that more than we want to learn. And I tell you, until you stir up, you can ask God for miracles and all that. But miracles can satisfy us. I'm not concerned about miracles. I want the supreme miracles. I want to be part of it before I die. I'm getting old. I want to be in that place where I know upon me and my people the spirit of God is there. The anointing of the spirit of God. And the lives can come as they like. It won't make any difference. Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield bearer. I come to thee in the name of the Lord God and host. And he'll give me a head this day. And as you know that's exactly what happened. He had no confidence in the flesh. His confidence was in the living God. The God that had given him strength to fight a lion and fight a bear. The God that had blessed him when he was in the secret place. And he says, it says that he that seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. There are some battles to be fought. There are some Goliaths in our way. But we have a great precious promise there. That Paul gave us in Romans when he said, Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And Paul faces up to all that hideous world in which he lives. A religious world. A wicked world. An intellectual world of the Greeks. Religious world of the Jews. Military world of the Romans. And you can argue with him about it. I won't. But he says, look. In the situation where I live I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The possibilities of grace are more than we can ask or think. But the word of God says, faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. So, David didn't put on the armor. Paul says we ought to put on the whole armor of God. Stand against the wiles of the devil. That must be more than concrete. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that it moves us. It stirs us. It reduces us. And it also lifts us up. We ask our God that we will take this truth and lodge it in our hearts as we want us to know it and understand it. Pray particularly for these young men here. That they might indeed become great, good soldiers of Jesus Christ. They might go out to pull down the stronghold. They might keep in their minds continually that greater is he that is in them than he is in the world. We've so many Goliaths today, but few Davids. We've so many Ahabs, but where are the Elijahs? There are so many things that face us that we need to face up and honestly ask of ourselves and of the church. Wherein we lack? That we may rediscover the secret to the lost. That we may seek again those old paths. That we may do the will of God. Bless us and we pray. Keep us in your will and help us to want to stay in the center of your will. And we give you praise in Jesus' name.