Participants: Atonte Myers, Ivor Myers
Series Code: BOF
Program Code: BOF000012
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00:16 Welcome to "Battles of Faith".
00:18 I'm Atonte Myers 00:19 and I'm Ivor Myers. 00:20 Today we're continuing our discussion 00:22 on the entertainment industry. 00:24 On our last program we learned how to have 00:27 a supernatural connection with God, and that's only 00:29 through constant comunion with Him. 00:32 When you do that, having constant comunion 00:34 with God, you, then begin to see what your giants are. 00:38 And so, we have entitled today's program "Giant Killers". 00:42 - That's right Atonte. 00:43 For those of you who may be familiar with your Bibles 00:45 you know that the story of David and Goliath is a perfect picture 00:52 of what a giant killer should be. 00:56 We know that there are giants out there 00:59 and when you decide to follow Christ you have giants 01:01 that you have to face. We all have giants that 01:04 we need to face and in this context we're talking about 01:08 the giants that are found in the entertainment industry, 01:11 the struggles that we come across when we decide 01:14 that we're going to follow Christ. 01:15 We want to lay out, in this program, those steps 01:19 to becoming an effective "giant killer", 01:22 how to get rid of those giants, how to overcome those giants 01:25 that are standing between you and Jesus Christ. 01:28 - I have to say that, out of all the programs 01:31 that we've done, they all were exciting to me, 01:34 but I think that, if I have to pick a favorite, this is 01:36 my favorite one, and I think it'll be yours too, 01:39 because everyone wants to know how do I slay my giant, 01:43 the thing that just seems to have total control 01:46 over me. 01:47 So, you'd going to want to get your Bibles, 01:48 take notes, because you're not going to want 01:50 to forget this information. 01:52 - Why don't we go to Daniel 01:56 and we're going to just notice something 01:59 in this particular verse. 02:01 And Atonte is going to read that for us: 02:02 [text on the screen] 02:13 - Alright. We're not going to worry about the first half 02:15 of that verse now, because this is a verse that 02:18 really has a lot of prophetic significance. 02:20 We just want to foucus in on the last half of the verse 02:24 where it says that people that do know their God 02:27 will be strong and do exploits. 02:31 - I like that. - Yes. It's speaking about 02:33 the people in the last days, who, through the power of God, 02:36 will be doing mighty exploits, mighty deeds for 02:40 and through Jesus Christ. 02:42 I know that I want to be a part of that people, 02:44 I want my wife to be a part of that people, 02:46 but I know that I want you out there to be a part 02:49 of that people who are doing mighty things for God. 02:54 Now, Atonte, one of the best stories in the Bible 02:57 that illustrates this theme of mighty exploits is found 03:03 in the story of David and Goliath. 03:06 Before we look at the actual story of David and Goliath 03:10 we want to look at some of the other things 03:11 that surrounded the life of David. 03:13 That's going to give us some insight into what 03:17 mighty exploits means, especially in these last days. 03:21 So, why don't we go to 1 Chronicles 12 03:26 and I'm going to ahead and read verses 1, 2 and 8. 03:31 The Bible says there: 03:32 [text on the screen] 03:59 And than verse 8 reads: 04:00 [text on the screen] 04:18 Now, Atonte, when I read this, it excites me 04:21 because I'd like to use my godly imagination here 04:25 and I wonder: why did these mighty men (and we're going to 04:30 read a little bit about these mighty men in a little while), 04:32 but why did these mighty men joined themselves to David 04:36 as he was hiding out in the wilderness from Saul? 04:39 Well, I can just imagine that these mighty men 04:43 who were maybe around the same age as David, 04:45 they were all young men, that when they were children, 04:49 they must have heared an incredible story 04:52 about a little boy who had taken on a giant 04:56 named Goliath. 04:58 - Right. He was like their hero. 04:59 - He was their hero. I can imagine dad coming home 05:02 one day and saying to his wife: "Honey, you'll never believe 05:04 what happened." 05:05 And one of these might men is a child of these times 05:08 and he's listening and he hears dad telling a story 05:12 about this little boy not to much older then 05:15 this child, saying: "This boy went out and took on 05:19 this giant, named Goliath and slew him." 05:22 I can imagine in the minds and in the hearts 05:24 of these little children that David had become their hero 05:29 and they were probably saying: "I would love to meet David, 05:31 I would love to be just like David." 05:36 And now you have this story where these 05:39 mighty men come out and say: "We're going to join to David 05:42 because we believe that he is the man for the time, 05:45 he is the man of the hour." 05:47 Now, let's read about these mighty men. 05:49 2 Samuel 23 and we're going to look at the discriptions 05:54 and some of the exploits of these mighty men. 05:56 We'll go ahead and read verse 8 to begin with: 06:01 [text on the screen] 06:21 - Wow! And we think we have super-heroes in the movies. 06:24 This are truly super-heroes. 06:27 - That is amazing. 800 at on time! 06:30 800! Count that! We don't have the time to do that on the show, 06:33 but 800 at one time! This is a mighty exploit! 06:38 What about verse 10? 06:40 Or rather verse 9... It says: 06:42 [text on the screen] 07:08 So, here you have this mighty man 07:09 who takes on the entire Philistine army 07:12 by himself and all day he's just out there 07:16 slaying this army, and the Bible says 07:18 the Lord had given him this great victory. 07:20 - They actually were doing great exploits than David. 07:23 - Oh, they were doing some mighty things. 07:26 Notice verse 13. It says: 07:29 [text on the screen] 07:59 - David has not yet conquered Bethlehem 08:02 and I can imagine him. The Bible says he longed. 08:05 He wasn't talking to people and saying: 08:07 "Somebody go get me a drink from the well of Bethlehem". 08:10 It's like he was talking to himself, 08:12 maybe in a room alone and what he's saying is: 08:16 "I want to capture Bethlehem, I want to get Bethlehem", 08:19 and he's saying: "Oh, if someone would get me 08:23 a drink from the well". 08:24 He's speaking simbolically. 08:25 Listen to what happens. Verse 16 says: 08:29 [text on the screen] 08:46 - It's amazing Atonte! 09:03 These three mighty men, they may have been outside 09:05 David's door, they may have overheard him talking to himself 09:08 and said: "You know what? Why don't we go down 09:10 to the well of Bethlehem, break into the Philistines 09:13 and get David a drink of water." 09:16 Can you imagine? The Philistines are all there, 09:17 you know, they're in Bethlehem, and all of a sudden 09:20 they see three Israelites comming towards them 09:22 and they're going: "These guys must be crazy! 09:23 What are they doing?" 09:24 And they suddenly approach them and they pull out swords 09:28 and they begin the fight. 09:30 And they're fighting, and they're getting the victory. 09:32 And the Philistines may be desoriented 09:34 and they're going: "What are these guys after?" 09:36 And they work their way to the well, take out a flasc 09:39 dip water in it and start fighting their way 09:41 back out and the Philistines must be going: 09:44 "What in the world is this all about?" 09:46 All for their love for David. 09:50 Now, talk about a comittment, talk about a willingness to risk 09:55 their lives. These are the exploits that they did. 09:58 And then, the Bible says: "When David found out, 10:00 he pourred it out. He said: I will not drink this water." 10:03 Did David's men love him? Yes. 10:06 Did David love his men? Yes. 10:09 And we see there this concept of love, 10:12 this experiancial love between these men 10:16 and we're going to learn a lesson about that 10:18 in a little while. Let's read on a little more 10:20 about these mighty men. In verse 18 it says: 10:23 [text on the screen] 10:35 And now notice verse 20: 10:36 [text on the screen] 10:53 And in another place it says: "on a snowy day". 10:55 I'd like to ask this question: How many of you out there 10:57 would like to fight a lion on a good day? 10:59 No, not really. 11:00 Sunshine, the clouds are out, everything is nice. 11:03 You wouldn't fight a lion on a good day... 11:04 The Bible says you know how it's like to walk in snow... 11:07 Well, this man is fighting, he kills a lion in snow. 11:11 We're talking about mighty men, 11:13 and, Atonte, it's amazing. You said it before: 11:16 these mighty men seem to have been doing more 11:18 powerful exploits than David. 11:21 Just imagine. One of these men could have said: 11:23 "You know what? I'm pretty powerful. I can take David." 11:27 But it never crossed their minds. 11:29 They loved David and David loved them 11:32 and they joined themselves onto David. 11:34 Now, here's the beautiful thing about this story. 11:38 David is a type of Christ in the Scriptures. 11:43 If you're familiar with the story of David and Goliath 11:45 you'll remember that David was feeding his sheep, 11:50 was watching over his father's sheep 11:52 when a lion and a bear rose up, attacked the sheep. 11:59 David slays the lion and the bear. 12:04 Shortly after that, David's father sends him out to go 12:09 check on his brothers who were in the midst of a battle 12:13 with a giant named Goliath. 12:16 When David gets on the scene, 12:18 are his brothers excited to see him? No. 12:22 They don't accept him well at all. 12:25 Nonetheless, David, despite their rejection, 12:29 he slays the giant by delivering a fatal wound to his head. 12:34 And the victory is won! 12:37 Because of that he is elevated. 12:39 And because of his elevation, Saul, who is king of Israel, 12:44 becomes jealous and now he's going about to kill David. 12:49 Now, David has already been anointed to be the king. 12:51 He is the rightful king, but at the present time 12:54 who is the king? Saul! 12:56 Now, how was David a type of Christ? 12:59 Christ was in heaven watching His Father's flock, 13:05 the angels. 13:07 A dragon rose up and Jesus cast the dragon out of heaven. 13:12 Shortly after that, the Father sends the Son 13:17 to where? 13:18 To the earth, that's right. To the earth to check up 13:22 on His brothers who are in the middle of a conflict 13:26 with a giant named: the Devil. 13:29 They are not happy to receive Christ, 13:31 but, nonetheless, Christ, on calvary delivers 13:36 a fatal wound to the head of the serpent. 13:39 You remember, in the previous program, that the word "calvary" 13:42 means "cranium". And so, when Jesus died, 13:45 that skull-shaped hill called Golgotha or Calvary 13:51 was broken apart. 13:52 It represented the fact that the skull of Satan, 13:56 the head of Satan had received a deadly wound, 14:00 as it was prophecised in Genesis 3:15. 14:02 And so we've got this incredible paralel. 14:05 Because of that Jesus has been exalted 14:08 as the King, the rightful king of this earth. 14:10 And guess what? He's not the king of this planet yet. 14:15 Who's still the king? 14:16 - Satan - It's Satan! 14:18 So, Jesus is in heaven, just as David was hidding 14:21 in the wilderness. He was going to be the rightful king 14:24 and these men came out of Saul's kingdom and said: 14:29 "We're going to join ourselves onto David." 14:31 The question I have is: where are the mighty men 14:34 that are supposed to be joining themselves 14:37 to the rightfull king of this earth, Jesus Christ? 14:41 - We should be those mighty men! 14:42 - We should be those mighty men! 14:45 God is calling for us to do exploits, for us to come out 14:50 from under 'king Saul' or from under the prince 14:53 of this world who is Satan, to come out 14:57 from under the principalities, from all those things 15:00 that he exercises his dominion in and say: 15:04 "We're going to go and join ourselves onto Jesus, 15:07 the same Jesus that I heard about when I was a little child. 15:10 My hero, Jesus. 15:12 I want to join Him. 15:13 When we do that, Jeseu says: 'I'm going to make you 15:15 a mighty man. You're going to go out and do mighty exploits. 15:20 You're going to go out and slay giants.' 15:24 So, let's go ahead and look at this story now, 15:26 of David and Goliath and how we can learn 15:30 to slay our giants. 15:32 We're going to go to 1 Samuel 17, 15:38 and we're going to go through these points 15:40 pretty rapidily. So, let's go ahead 15:42 and begin with verse 23. 15:45 1 Samuel 17:23 15:48 Atonte, would you read that for us? 15:49 It says: [text on the screen] 16:05 So, here we have David's encounter with Goliath. 16:09 Goliath has been coming forth and he's been making 16:12 these boasting claims and saying: 16:14 'I can do this, and I'm going to do that 16:15 and none of you can challenge me.' 16:16 And the Bible says these very significant words, 16:20 it says David heard them. 16:24 Now, when I was little in school, 16:25 when I was younger and I was in school, 16:27 7th - 8th grade and highschool, 16:30 when someone said something bad about you 16:32 or bad about your mother... 16:37 and you heard those words, 16:39 it was time for war! 16:45 And the Bible says that David heard these words. 16:49 There's more than just saying: 16:50 'Oh, I heard what the giant was saying...' 16:55 No! David heard these words and the challenge that he heard 16:59 coming from the giant stirred his heart. 17:01 Our number one principle, number one point is that 17:04 we must hear the challenge and the boastings of Satan. 17:09 - And he's daily doing this to us. 17:10 - That's right. Satan's telling us, 17:12 he's telling our young people: 'Look, you can't to this, 17:14 you can't be victorious, you can't overcome. 17:17 Who is your God that is going to deliver you 17:19 out of my hands?' 17:20 - 'You can't be on fire for God. It's not cool. 17:23 You won't be popular!' 17:25 - That's right! We've got to learn how to hear 17:27 the challenge and say: 'What did he say? 17:31 Did I just hear him say that the only way 17:35 that I'm going to stay in the church is if I'm entertained? 17:38 Okay...I heard those words!' 17:40 And once you hear those words, that's the first step 17:43 because it triggers a reaction like it did with David. 17:47 Notice verse 25, our second principle. 17:49 [text on the screen] 18:07 -Now, I want you to notice this point here. 18:09 David, or rather Goliath has been coming forward 18:13 and making this challenge for forty days. 18:15 And remember that number, forty days. 18:18 And for forty days the Israelits have been running back; 18:23 as soon as Goliath appears, they run. 18:25 Now, there was a valley between these two armies, 18:30 the Philistines and the Israelits. 18:32 The Israelits were on one side, the Philistines on the other, 18:35 and, on day one, Goliath comes out, 18:38 and I'm sure he's on his side of the valley. 18:43 But everyday, Goliath gets a little bit bolder. 18:46 I'm sure Goliath looked humangus from the other side. 18:48 The Israelits saw him from a distance and said: 18:50 'This guy is big!' 18:52 But, as day after day Goliath would come forward 18:56 and the Israelits would run, Goliath's confidence grew 18:59 even more and he would come closer. 19:02 And Goliath worked himself down the valley, 19:04 until, by the time David gets here, Goliath is making 19:08 his way up the other side of the valley. 19:11 That's why they say: 'Have you seen this man 19:12 that's come up?' 19:14 And I'm sure that the giant looked much bigger now 19:17 close up, than he did on the other side. 19:19 -I have to pause you right there because we do that 19:22 everyday and wonder why we don't have victory. 19:25 We hear or see our giant and then we run, 19:29 like the Isrealits, the other way, 19:31 and so, our giant gets bigger and bigger 19:33 because he's coming closer and closer. 19:36 He gets more confidence. 19:37 - We've got to realise that if we don't stop our giants now, 19:40 if we don't face them now, they will only get bigger. 19:43 We were talking about the blood 19:44 in the last program and how the blood represents 19:47 that comunion of cicle. The blood goes in a cicle 19:50 in the body. And the blood of Jesus Christ 19:52 by which we overcome, represents the comunion 19:55 between the Father and the Son. 19:57 We must have that same blood or that same spirit 20:00 of comunion fromed with us. 20:02 We know that Satan wants to stop this blood folw, 20:06 to stop this comunion between us and the Father. 20:08 One of the most dangerous things that can happen 20:11 in the human body, talking about blood flow, 20:14 is what we call a blood-clod, because it is that little thing 20:19 that gets into a vein, it blocks the artery 20:22 and if it blocks an atrery to the heart what do you have? 20:24 A heart attack! If it block to the brain, what do you have? 20:28 A stroke! And the Devil is trying to do just that. 20:32 The entertainment industry is like a blood-clod. 20:35 People say that it's just a litle thing, 20:37 but in reality it's a giant. 20:38 And through it Satan is attacking the heart, 20:41 he's attacking the mind and when the blood stops, 20:45 you have death. 20:46 So, if we don't face our giants, 20:49 including the entertainment industry, 20:50 what happens is death. 20:52 We've got to learn that if we don't face our giants 20:54 they'll only get bigger and ultimately will cause our death. 20:57 - Right. - So, let's go ahead and 20:58 look at the next principle, verse 26. 21:02 And Atonte you can go ahead and read that. 21:04 [text on the screen] 21:19 - Alright, our next principle 21:20 is learning to be jealous for God. 21:23 Learining to be jealous for His name. 21:26 When we hear someone talking about God 21:28 it should stir up something in our hearts 21:31 that would just make us say: "Hold on! That's my Father. 21:35 And we don't talk about my Father that way." 21:38 And we're not talking about people in this context. 21:41 Remember, the battle is not against flesh and blood 21:43 but against spiritual wickidness in high places. 21:46 - Because that's what Satan does. He says: 21:47 "You know, God can't keep you, He cannot help you 21:50 in this area, you're a slave to me, 21:52 you will do this today. You will take that drink today... 21:55 You will smoke that cigarette..." 21:57 - That's right. And he says God's Word is boring 21:59 and we repeat that: "God's Word is boring." 22:01 No, don't do that! Be jealous for God, 22:04 be jealous for His Word and we want to stand for God 22:08 just like David. He was jealous for his God and said: 22:11 'No, we're not going to have you talking about God like that' 22:15 And so David says: "I'm willing to challenge you 22:18 to vindicate the name of God." 22:21 And we've got to be willing to do the same thing. 22:23 Now, let's look at verse 23-27. 22:26 We're not going to read this, but basically, 22:28 what happens here is that David is brought before Saul 22:32 and Saul says: "Well, you're young, you can't go out 22:36 and fight the giant." And what David does is 22:39 he lays out before Saul all his conquests of the past. 22:44 He was watching his father's sheep and, 22:47 I believe it was in the same period of time, the same 22:50 forty days, while the Israelits were running from Israel, 22:54 David was out, watching the sheep, and that's when 22:57 he's conquered that lion and the bear. 23:01 And so David says: "This is what God's done for me 23:03 in my past." We've got to remember 23:05 how has God led us in our past. 23:07 We've got to look at that and say: 23:09 "If God has led me in the past, 23:11 than He will be able to lead me in my future as well" 23:14 - And everyone has that past where God has done 23:17 something, giving them victory over something, 23:20 and we can claim that and say: "Lord, you gave me victory 23:23 over this, this is my next giant, 23:25 this is the next thing that I need your help with." 23:27 And He will do it for you. 23:29 - That's right. If you go in a hunter's home 23:30 and you look at a hunter's wall you're going to see trophies 23:34 on that wall. And I believe that God has given us 23:37 all trophies. 23:39 David had on his wall the jaw of a lion, 23:42 the paw of a bear, and he could look at those 23:44 things and say: "This is what God's done for me in my past." 23:48 We have trophies on our wall. 23:50 You know, I used to smoke marijuana, used to drink 23:53 alcohol and a lot of other things. 23:55 But those are now trophies on my wall. 23:58 So, when I have to look forward to a battle 23:59 God says "I want you also to look back 24:02 at the victories that I have already given you." 24:04 And so, we need to remember what God has done for us 24:07 in the past. 24:08 - So, David had the courage, as he knew God had delivered 24:11 him before. - That's right. It was not 24:12 in his own strenght, but it was in God's strenght 24:15 that he was delivered. And so he says: "This same God 24:18 is going to deliver me in this conflict, 24:20 so let's go ahead and look at the verse 39 and 40 24:25 for our next principle. 24:26 [text on the screen] 24:42 - Alright. So, let's look at verse 40 as well 24:44 before I comment. It says: 24:46 [text on the screen] 25:01 The principle here is this: 25:03 we have got to be properly armed. 25:08 The book of Peter says that we should be armed 25:11 with the mind of Christ. 25:14 We've got to have the thinking, the thoughts 25:17 and the feelings of Christ running through our veins. 25:20 That's what it means to be armed with His mind. 25:23 And so, when we learn what that means, 25:25 when we arm ourselves and say: 'Lord, I'm going to think 25:27 like You, and I want to feel like You felt", 25:29 then we can go forth in this battle 25:32 knowing that God is going to give us a victory 25:34 because we are going in the mind of Jesus Christ. 25:38 David had no fear. He went in the mind of Jesus Christ. 25:41 - And Jesus had already won the battle. 25:44 David knew that. And we can know that. 25:48 - He has given us the victory already, and now, 25:53 we must exercise the confidence to say: 25:56 'You know what? I can go home and face that cd 25:58 that looks like a giant, and I can break it. 26:02 I can go home and face any giant with the confidence 26:06 that I can slay that giant through the power 26:08 of Jesus Christ. 26:10 Now, let's go ahead and look at verse 43-47. 26:12 We're not going to read all this, 26:14 but basically, what happens here is a confrontation 26:16 comes between David and Goliath, and Goliath begins 26:19 to just yell at David, and 26:21 'who do you think I am? Am I a dog?' 26:22 And David responds by saying: 26:25 'Look, you can yell at me all you want 26:28 and try to terorize me, but I'm telling you 26:30 that the Lord is going to deliver you in my hands, 26:33 the same Lord who you have defied this day.' 26:36 David moves forward in confidence. 26:38 In fact, in verse 48, the Bible says: 26:41 "And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose 26:42 and came and drew nigh to meet David, 26:44 that David hasted and ran toward the army 26:49 to meet the Philistine." 26:50 We need to learn to run towards our giant. 26:53 Not run away from them, not side-step, 26:55 but run directly toward our giant. 26:58 -With no fear. - With no fear at all. 27:00 And notice what happens. The Bible says 27:02 that David took out that sling 27:03 and slew the Philistine; that stone went right 27:07 into his head, he dropped, but David didn't see the giant 27:11 drop and go: 'I'd better start running." 27:12 No. He still moves forward because he says: 27:14 'I'm going to finish this giant off.' 27:17 And look at what it says in verse 51: 27:18 "Therefore David ran and stood upon the Philistine 27:20 and took his sword and drew it out of a sheath thereof, 27:23 and slew him..." 27:24 We need to learn how to kill our giants. 27:27 Not to wound them, so that they come back 27:29 to haunt us, but to kill them fully and finally. 27:33 - Satan is banking that we'll be afraid, 27:36 that we will have fear, 27:38 and God does not give us the spirit of fear. 27:40 - That's right. It is God's desire that we would get 27:44 that strenght, get that courage that David had 27:46 and become mighty men and do mighty exploits 27:50 for Him; go out there and win souls to conquer 27:53 those bad habbits that have been ruleing 27:55 over us, to conquer those giants 27:57 the devil says you can't win these. 27:58 And there will be writings in the books 28:00 of heavens about tha mighty conquest 28:02 that God's people do here, on earth. 28:05 - It is our prayer that you will make the decision 28:07 to beat your giant with the strenght of God. 28:09 We're out of time. 28:10 God bless. |
Revised 2014-12-17