Participants:
Series Code: GYC
Program Code: GYC190008S
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00:32 I would like to invite you all to stand for our theme song.
00:53 There's a lost, lonely soul 00:56 Waiting silent at war 00:59 For a rescue to come To the door 01:05 Many could go but I only know 01:11 The name Of that one lonely soul 01:15 Oh can you hear our Prince 01:19 Calling on before 01:21 "Let us go and restore 01:27 The broken hearted The wounded 01:30 The captives of war 01:34 Will you bear My shield of faith once more?" 01:39 Many more are the souls 01:43 Who are bound up in fear 01:45 As they run through The dark Far and near 01:51 Though I will fight Just one ends the night 01:57 Our Prince Who carries the light 02:01 Oh can you hear our Prince 02:05 Calling on before 02:07 "Let us go and restore 02:12 The broken hearted The wounded 02:16 The captives of war 02:20 Will you bear My shield of faith once more?" 02:26 To that lost lonely soul 02:29 I will go and will share 02:31 All their cries, All their fears 02:34 All their prayers 02:37 For it's been told 02:40 My Prince he does hold 02:43 The tears Of that one lonely soul 02:47 Oh can you hear our Prince 02:51 Calling on before 02:53 "Let us go and restore 02:58 The broken hearted The wounded 03:02 The captives of war 03:05 Will you bear 03:07 My shield of faith once more?" 03:13 You may be seated. 03:17 Good morning, GYC. 03:20 Happy Sabbath. 03:22 It's so good to see 03:23 so many of you guys here this morning. 03:26 You know, it's been a long week and an early morning, 03:30 but you know what 03:31 God has been blessing us through this conference 03:33 and He has a lot in store for us today. 03:36 It's gonna be a busy day, 03:38 but praise the Lord that we're all here 03:39 to worship together and to fellowship together. 03:44 Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Samuel. 03:47 We're going to read the scripture this morning. 03:52 We're going to 1 Samuel Chapter 17. 03:59 1 Samuel 17:48 says, 04:03 "And it came to pass, 04:04 when the Philistine arose, and came, 04:07 and drew nigh to me David, that David hastened, 04:10 and ran towards the army to meet the Philistine. 04:13 And David put his hand in his bag, 04:15 and took thence a stone, and slang it, 04:18 and smote the Philistine in his forehead 04:20 that the stone sunk into his forehead 04:23 and he fell upon his face to the earth." 04:28 All right, please bow your heads with me 04:29 as we have opening prayer this morning. 04:33 To Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for GYC. 04:37 We thank You for dedicated young people. 04:41 We thank You for the Sabbath. 04:43 And we thank You that You're here among us. 04:46 I pray that You would be with Sikhu 04:48 as she opens the Word of God 04:50 and that Your Holy Spirit would come down 04:53 and really speak to our hearts 04:55 and just teach us 04:58 what we need to hear this morning. 05:01 Thank You for hearing and answering our prayer 05:02 in Jesus' name. 05:04 Amen. 05:09 Oh, GYC, do you love Jesus? 05:12 Oh, yes, we love Jesus 05:15 Are you sure you love Jesus? 05:17 We're sure we love Jesus 05:20 Tell me why do you love Jesus? 05:23 This is why I love Jesus 05:26 Because He first loved me 05:29 That's the reason We all ought to love Him 05:35 Oh, how I love Jesus 05:40 Oh, how I love Jesus 05:46 Oh, how I love Jesus 05:52 Because He first loved me. 05:57 Amen. 05:59 Do you love Jesus this morning? 06:00 Happy Sabbath. 06:03 Good friend of mine does that every time he speaks. 06:06 Sebastian, that was a tribute to you. 06:09 And good morning, Itai. 06:11 That's my son who is in Zimbabwe. 06:14 And for those of you who weren't here 06:15 previous mornings. 06:18 This morning we're gonna do the same thing 06:20 we've done every morning 06:21 is we're gonna read scriptures, is that okay? 06:23 All right. So pull out your Bibles. 06:25 Let's turn to 1 Samuel. 06:28 We're still in 1 Samuel and Chapter 17. 06:34 1 Samuel 17. 06:36 While you're flipping there, 06:37 I've always wanted to do special music at GYC 06:39 and nobody's ever invited me. 06:41 So that was my opportunity to shine. 06:47 I should have warmed up more, huh? 06:50 1 Samuel 17. 06:53 We're gonna talk about David this morning. 06:56 Bow your heads with me as we pray. 07:00 Our Loving Father, 07:01 we are so thankful for the gift of life. 07:03 We're thankful that we've made it 07:05 into this New Year. 07:06 We're thankful that You have preserved us 07:08 and that You have a purpose in mind for us. 07:10 As we delve into scripture this morning, 07:12 we ask that the Holy Spirit would be our teacher. 07:15 We ask that as this is holy time 07:17 that we would have an experience of holiness 07:19 that we've never had before. 07:21 Lord that our walk with You would be closer and deeper 07:25 as a result of coming 07:26 into this time of worship and prayer. 07:28 We pray these things in Your name, amen. 07:31 1 Samuel Chapter 17. 07:35 You know the outline of the story, right? 07:38 It's one of our childhood favorites 07:41 'cause you got this little boy named David 07:43 and he's there and he does this mighty feat. 07:48 See, the Philistines 07:50 were not always this formidable, 07:53 they were always formidable, 07:54 but they weren't always this like 07:56 impossible situation. 07:57 I think one of the saddest chapters 07:59 in the Bible is 1 Samuel Chapter 4 08:03 where you have the Israelites 08:06 come up to battle the Philistines, 08:08 they don't ask God before they go, 08:11 and then the Philistines come up there 08:12 and the Israelites get a little bit of a beating, 08:16 they lose like 4,000 of their men, 08:18 they run back and they like what happened, 08:20 they try to regroup, and they decide, 08:22 you know, we're gonna take 08:23 the Ark of the Covenant with us into battle 08:26 because they think back to the stories 08:27 from back in the day, 08:29 and when the Ark of the Covenant was there, 08:30 the Israelites were winning, so they're like, 08:32 "We're gonna get the ark, 08:33 and we're gonna be winning now." 08:35 So they go and they take the ark, 08:37 again not consulting God, 08:39 and secondly, treating the Ark of the Covenant 08:41 like it were an idol. 08:43 As if just the presence of this physical thing 08:46 would mean that God is present. 08:47 So they bring the Ark of the Covenant 08:49 and there's a huge loud shout among the Israelites 08:53 when they see the ark come in 08:54 such that the Philistines are terrified. 08:58 They're like, "Oh, no. What are we gonna do? 09:00 The Ark of the Covenant is now 09:02 in the midst of the town of Israel." 09:04 And they've heard the stories too. 09:06 That back in the day when the ark shows up, 09:08 it's game over. 09:10 But they say, "Hey, 09:12 we got to quit ourselves like men. 09:14 You're gonna go down fighting." 09:17 And in spite of their fear, 09:20 this is the Philistines in Chapter 4. 09:23 In spite of the fact that they are so scared, 09:26 they go out to fight. 09:29 And it's one of the saddest chapters for me 09:31 because these heathens 09:35 who recognize the power of the God of the Israelites, 09:39 but went out in spite of their fear 09:41 in order to protect their families, 09:44 they end up defeating the Israelites. 09:49 I believe it's 30,000 people slain. 09:54 Eli is old at that time 09:55 and his sons Hophni and Phinehas 09:58 had gone with the ark. 10:00 They died defending the Ark of the Covenant. 10:04 Better if they had lived to defend it. 10:08 So when word gets back, Eli's sitting and is waiting, 10:12 trying to hear what happened, expecting terrible news, 10:16 and the news finally gets to him, 10:17 and it's bad news. 10:20 The news is that the Israelites have been defeated. 10:22 That is sad. 10:24 The news is that your sons have been killed 10:27 and that is sad, 10:29 but you know what breaks Eli's heart? 10:34 And the Ark of the Covenant has been taken. 10:39 This old man loses his bearings, 10:41 he falls and breaks his neck. 10:47 Phinehas's wife, 10:49 Eli's daughter-in-law is pregnant at the time. 10:52 She hears the tumult what's the news, 10:55 and she finds out that Israel has been defeated. 11:00 Your husband and brother-in-law are dead. 11:04 And the Ark of the Covenant has been taken. 11:08 At the news of the ark being taken, 11:10 she goes into labor. 11:14 And she births a child and, you know, 11:15 there's a fourth piece of news for her 11:17 your father-in-law is dead 11:18 at the news of the ark being taken. 11:22 She goes into spontaneous labor. 11:25 She births a child and names him Ichabod, 11:29 for the glory is departed. 11:32 It's one of the saddest chapters 11:33 in the Bible I find. 11:36 She dies after giving birth to her child. 11:42 So when we get to Chapter 17, 11:45 this is a background of how the Philistines gained 11:48 the kind of courage that they had, 11:50 like the defiance that they had against God. 11:54 And I wonder if in our lives, 11:57 we do things that give the enemy courage 12:01 to treat us a certain way. 12:06 Not because God isn't great, 12:07 but because of the way that we've acted 12:09 the fool in the past. 12:11 Chapter 17, let's read together. 12:16 Verse 4, "There went out a champion 12:18 out of the camp of the Philistines, 12:19 named Goliath, of Gath, 12:22 whose height was six cubits and a span." 12:24 And then he tells us 12:25 that he had all of this armor on him. 12:28 In verse 8, "He stood and cried 12:31 unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, 12:33 'Why are you come up to set your battle in array? 12:35 Am not I a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? 12:39 Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 12:42 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, 12:44 then will we be your servants, but if I prevail against him, 12:47 and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, 12:49 and serve us.'" 12:51 So this was gonna be somewhat of a battle by proxy. 12:54 You pick one person and send him out here, 12:56 we'll pick we have our one person 12:58 and we got him out here and let's see who wins. 13:03 It kind of reminds me of the Book of Job 13:06 where, you know, 13:09 God is up in heaven and Lucifer goes up there 13:12 and he's like, you know, 13:14 God's like, "Where you've been?" 13:15 I'm roaming about. 13:16 Lucifer says, "I'm roaming about on my territory." 13:18 And God's like, "Well, actually, 13:20 have you seen my servant Job?" 13:23 And that means yes, 13:24 you may be claiming that as your territory, 13:26 but I have a representative down there. 13:29 And because Job is there, 13:31 Lucifer can't lay claim to the entire earth. 13:36 Because you are there, 13:39 the devil can't claim this entire earth. 13:42 Amen? 13:44 It's kind of a battle by proxy. 13:46 God is like, "You are my representative." 13:49 And when you're winning... 13:52 Well, God is always winning, 13:53 but we wanna be winning with Him. 13:55 Amen? 13:58 Verse 10, "The Philistine said, 14:01 'I defy the armies of Israel this day, 14:05 give me a man, that we may fight together.'" 14:10 Verse 11 the response of Israel. 14:13 It's kind of like 14:14 what the Philistines were like in Chapter 4. 14:17 "When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistines, 14:20 they were dismayed, and greatly afraid." 14:23 This is the backdrop. 14:26 The Philistines are there, the Israelites are fearful, 14:29 nobody's gonna go out and fight. 14:31 David get sent by his dad. 14:33 His dad says, "David, go check on your brothers." 14:35 His three older brothers had gone out 14:36 to battle with Saul. 14:37 Go check on your brothers. 14:39 This was his mission. 14:41 He came from taking care of the sheep. 14:44 Actually David in the previous chapter 14:48 had been called to Saul's palace 14:50 to play music for Saul, 14:52 but apparently after playing music for Saul 14:54 and being in the palace, 14:56 he went back to 10 sheep. 14:57 Now how many of you would go from a palace 15:00 out to the wilderness to take care of sheep, 15:03 but that's David. 15:05 And he's out there tending the sheep. 15:06 And his dad says, "Go and check on your brothers." 15:10 And he goes, and when he gets there, 15:11 he finds that there's this conundrum 15:14 that's going on where God's people are scared. 15:18 And for David, he's like, "Do you know who God is? 15:23 You're afraid of this Philistine, 15:24 God is bigger than this guy, right?" 15:29 And his brothers think that he's there just, 15:31 you know, seeking mischief. 15:32 They're like, "Why are you here, David? 15:33 You just wanna be part of the action." 15:35 And David was like, "Nah, is there not a cause. 15:37 There's a reason why I'm here." 15:40 We're getting to the part of the story 15:42 where I wanna end up. 15:44 You know, they tell Saul, 15:46 Saul tries to give him his armor. 15:48 David says, "No, thank you." 15:49 There are very many lessons in the story, 15:50 amen, we're just, we're brushing 15:52 through a bunch of them. 15:53 He says, "No, you know, 15:55 basically I got a fight in my own armor." 15:56 So he picks up five smooth stones 15:59 and he puts them in his little sling bag. 16:01 And he goes out there and he's ready to fight. 16:07 Verse 42, 16:09 "When the Philistine looked about, 16:10 and saw David, he disdained him, 16:13 for he was but a youth, and ruddy, 16:16 and of a fair countenance. 16:17 And the Philistine said to David, 16:19 "Am I a dog, 16:20 that thou comest to me with staves?" 16:23 And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 16:27 The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, 16:29 and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, 16:31 and the beasts of the field." 16:34 And Goliath has reason to say this 16:36 'cause he's huge, 16:37 and he's covered in all this armor, 16:39 and he's protected. 16:42 And he's a man of war, 16:43 and he's been fighting for many years, 16:46 but "David says to the Philistine, 16:48 'Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, 16:51 and with a shield, 16:52 but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, 16:55 the God of the armies of Israel, 16:56 whom thou hast defied.'" 16:58 He says, "I'm not coming to you in my own strength, 17:01 it's not because I'm something important 17:03 or I'm something mighty. 17:05 I'm coming to you because my God is great. 17:09 "This day the Lord will deliver thee 17:12 into mine hand, 17:13 and I, little David, I will smite thee, 17:18 and take thine head from thee, 17:21 and I will give the carcass of the host of the Philistines 17:24 this day unto the fowls of the air, 17:25 and to the wild beasts of the earth, 17:27 that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel." 17:34 Oh, Goliath has had it. 17:37 You puny little Israelite 17:44 talking to me like that. 17:49 Apparently, he is so enraged 17:52 by these confident words 17:54 from this little boy 17:57 that he pulls back his helmet. 18:01 And he goes to rush David. 18:08 "It came to pass, when the Philistine arose, " 18:10 in verse 48, 18:11 "and came, and drew nigh to meet David, " 18:14 that David ran away? 18:20 David ran away? 18:21 Okay. 18:23 "That David hastened, 18:26 ran toward the army to meet the Philistine." 18:33 I love the words that it uses here. 18:34 He didn't just run toward Goliath. 18:37 He ran toward an entire army, right? 18:41 To meet this one Philistine 18:42 who's representing all this host. 18:46 He puts his hand in his bag 18:47 and pulls out that stone and... 18:51 And in the children's story, it says, 18:53 whizz went the stone as it flung through the air. 18:59 Hits the giant in the forehead. 19:02 And the Philistines see their champion 19:05 teeter and totter. 19:07 And they're amazed, they're like, 19:09 what's going on right now? 19:12 Apparently, the force with which that stone hit 19:15 the forehead of the giant 19:18 caused traumatic brain injury. 19:22 And he starts to lose consciousness. 19:25 He gets dizzy. 19:27 He's about and down he falls to the ground. 19:31 You can imagine the shock and amazement 19:35 in both the camp of the Israelites 19:37 and the Philistines. 19:40 The giant fell. 19:46 David. 19:51 I'm not a gun person. 19:53 I, as in, I don't own a firearm 19:58 and I don't like firearms because they scare me. 20:02 I'm not making 20:03 a political statement right now. 20:05 Okay, I know this is, 20:06 like guns in America is like politics. 20:07 No, I'm just, I wanna say something about guns 20:10 and I wanted to give my personal disclaimer, 20:13 but I have friends who are gun people. 20:16 Can we be friends with people we disagree with? 20:19 Yeah, okay. Yeah. 20:21 I have friends who are gun people, 20:22 some very close to me are gun people, 20:26 and they love their guns. 20:28 And in conversation, you know, I'll ask like, 20:31 so tell me about guns and they tell me about guns 20:33 and I don't understand the half of it, 20:34 but something I caught 20:36 was that when you're training 20:39 to discharge a firearm, 20:43 they teach you that, 20:45 if you're in a situation 20:47 where you're trying to defend yourself, 20:49 you aim for the center of visible mass, okay? 20:55 So that means in a human being 20:59 where is the larger center of visible mass. 21:03 Right? 21:04 This is your torso chest area, this part. 21:08 So, you know, sometimes people are like, 21:10 "Oh, why didn't he just shoot the person in the knee?" 21:12 Well, because it's harder to shoot 21:14 someone in the knee 21:15 than it is to shoot someone in the torso, okay? 21:18 And if you're trying to defend yourself 21:20 and what you're using as a firearm, 21:22 you're not gonna aim for the knee 21:24 which guess if you're like super, super-duper trained 21:27 you can aim for the knee and like bloop, 21:28 and then they like they're hobbling, 21:30 but later they can still hobble to you, 21:31 and then you got to shoot the other knee, and ended up. 21:33 I don't know, but anyways, you got to aim for 21:37 apparently, you got to aim for this part. 21:40 David takes his sling 21:45 and he does not aim 21:47 for the largest center of visible mass. 21:52 He goes for the head. 21:57 Not just the face, but the forehead. 22:03 Okay, so I'm sure most of us are not gun people, 22:07 but let's try to imagine 22:08 how hard that probably is, right? 22:12 Because you could not just miss the body, 22:14 you could miss all together 22:16 and it goes up over the head, right? 22:19 But he aims for and it's the ideal spot. 22:22 He hits him smack in the forehead, 22:24 and it does the deed. 22:26 Giant falls down. 22:27 He gets Goliath sword and cuts off his head 22:29 like he promised he would, 22:31 but the fact that David managed to hit 22:35 the giant in the forehead. 22:40 That points to some level of skill. 22:43 Yes. 22:45 I mean, this points to like some level of crazy skill 22:49 because he didn't just hit his object, 22:52 he did it running. 22:55 So he's running towards the giant. 22:57 He grabs his sling. 22:59 I'm like, "Dude, how you aim even like..." 23:01 And he's like, 23:03 so probably the velocity of him running helps, 23:05 you know, propel that device into the forehead of the giant 23:09 until it says it's sunk into his forehead. 23:15 I imagine David everyday he's out there, 23:18 tending sheep with his slingshot, 23:27 aiming, 23:31 aiming, 23:33 aiming 23:36 day after day 23:37 out there in the wilderness with his sheep. 23:42 Nobody sees him aiming. 23:44 Nobody sees him slinging 23:47 day after day out there with his sheep. 23:50 Nobody cares what he's doing. 23:53 Nobody knows what he's doing. 23:56 Day in and day... 23:57 Do you get the monotony of it? 23:59 Day out all by himself 24:03 with the sheep aiming. 24:10 No, they say it takes about 10,000 hours 24:12 to become an expert at something. 24:15 And they translate this 10,000 hours 24:17 into about 10 years to become an expert. 24:21 They did the study on, 24:23 I guess painters and musicians 24:25 and they look at their works 24:27 and how many years it takes for them 24:28 to produce a masterpiece. 24:30 And it takes roughly about 10 years 24:32 of writing song after song, 24:34 after song, after song 24:36 until finally they produce their masterpiece 24:38 about 10 years. 24:39 Can you imagine 10 years of your life? 24:41 You know, and this is what it takes. 24:44 Musicians practicing on the piano 24:47 and you practice, and you practice, 24:49 and you practice, and it's so parents, 24:51 you know, those of you who are musicians, 24:52 you should thank your parents 24:54 'cause it took 10 years of listening to you... 24:58 Some parents said amen. 25:01 Discorded notes, 10 years. 25:04 I think piano is better, but the violin it's like... 25:08 Ten years before you can play something decent 25:11 and amen to those churches 25:13 that invite you to do special music, 25:14 amen to little kids, 25:16 encourage them along the way as horrible as it sounds. 25:18 You know, God appreciates your sacrificial gift, okay? 25:25 David day in and day out 25:27 and this is not just 10 years of just doing it. 25:30 They say it has to be, 25:31 you have to focus on what you're doing. 25:34 Evaluate, critically think 25:37 through what you're doing and improve 25:39 like, okay, that time when I throw it, 25:41 you know, the angle was a bit off, 25:42 oh, you know, factor in wind velocity, 25:45 you know, the wind and factor in 25:48 year after year, day after day 25:51 until David was a master at a skill 25:54 that he wasn't practicing to slay a giant. 25:59 There's a saying, if you're going to do anything, 26:03 if anything is worth doing, it is worth doing. 26:07 Well, this is from, 26:09 you know, a father 26:10 who was writing to his illegitimate son. 26:14 And in this letter, he says, he quotes two things. 26:19 One is dance. 26:20 If you're gonna dance, dance well. 26:24 If it's worth dancing, 26:27 so let's not talk about 26:28 whether it's worth dancing or not 26:29 because this can become a whole big discussion in here. 26:32 So maybe we don't dance. 26:34 So if it's not worth doing, don't do it. 26:36 If you're not gonna dance, don't dance badly. 26:42 The second thing he says, 26:43 if you're gonna dress and he explains and he says, 26:46 "Son, everybody has to dress. 26:50 Everyone has to put on clothes. 26:52 If you're going to dress 26:53 if it's worth it to put on clothes, 26:57 then you need to dress well." 27:00 Does this make sense? 27:03 If it's not worth it to dress, then just don't. 27:08 The alternative is scary, right? 27:10 Okay. 27:12 So basically, 27:14 if it's worth doing, do it well. 27:17 This means you develop an attitude of excellence 27:20 in everything that you do. 27:23 If I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it well. 27:24 If I'm gonna wash dishes, 27:26 I'm gonna learn how to wash dishes well. 27:29 My husband knows this is a peeve of mine 27:30 so I guess I mentioned it because it peeves me. 27:33 You know, like, 27:37 I'm not trying to discourage you 27:39 from washing dishes in my house, 27:40 but, you know, sometimes, 27:42 you know, someone well meaning guests, 27:43 you know, you've eaten, and then they come in, 27:45 I'll do the dishes and they do the dishes 27:47 and I go to the dish rack and I take them all back 27:50 and I put them back in the sink 27:51 and I wash them again 27:52 because, you know, there's like little, 27:54 like when you're eating and there's like a crusty thing 27:55 from the previous meal 27:57 they're like dried on after the dishes were washed. 28:02 They're like really peeves me. 28:03 And I'm like, "Dude, like if I wanted to eat food 28:05 with soap in it." 28:06 Like, you know, if you gonna wash dishes, 28:10 wash the dishes well. 28:12 PS my husband is awesome at washing dishes. 28:16 Okay. 28:17 That's the words of affirmation person, 28:19 I affirm you. 28:20 Okay. 28:22 If it's worth doing, do it well. 28:24 You're gonna sweep the floor, sweep it well. 28:31 If you're gonna do it, 28:32 if you're gonna read, read well. 28:35 You know, we have this lazy culture now 28:38 where we don't learn 28:39 how to read scripture anymore. 28:41 Read. 28:44 You know, and forgive me for blasting. 28:46 I know there are people who are uncomfortable reading. 28:48 But if you're gonna do it, practice. 28:54 You go home and you read out loud to yourself 28:56 and those words that are difficult, 28:58 you sound them out, right? 29:01 So that if I'm ever called to read scripture, 29:04 I can do it well. 29:06 Lord, help me improve my intonation. 29:09 Help me improve my... 29:13 What you call this? 29:16 Yeah. 29:17 With the wah, I say projection. 29:21 Yeah. 29:22 Help me learn to project my voice. 29:26 If you're gonna do it, do it. 29:28 Well, let me read you something about Samuel. 29:32 This is Ellen White speaking about Samuel, 29:35 when he was serving in the temple 29:36 he says success in this life. 29:38 This is from Patriarchs and Prophets, page 574. 29:42 "For success in this life, 29:43 success in gaining the future life 29:45 depends upon a faithful, 29:48 conscientious attention to the little things." 29:54 Success in life 29:58 depends upon faithful conscientious attention 30:02 to the little things. 30:04 "Perfection," 30:05 she now gives the example of God, 30:07 "Perfection is seen in the least, 30:09 no less than in the greatest, of the works of God." 30:14 When God formed the mountains, 30:18 when He formed the worlds and the universes, 30:21 He paid attention to detail 30:22 and when He formed the minute cell, 30:27 when He formed 30:30 the very down to the element of creation, 30:34 when He formed the little things 30:36 he paid attention to detail, ask a biologist. 30:40 They'll tell you the detail that is in a cell. 30:42 I mean, it's a universe on its own. 30:46 Everything from the least to the greatest thing 30:49 God paid attention to detail, this was David. 30:53 That was David. 30:55 That is part of how David's slew the giant. 30:59 Was that David did faithfully the littlest thing. 31:04 Let's read a little bit more. 31:12 After Saul, let's, we're backtracking. 31:15 Verse 33, "Saul said to David, 31:17 'You're not able to go out against this Philistine 31:19 to fight with him, 31:20 for thou art but a youth, 31:22 and he a man of war from his youth.'" 31:24 David said unto Saul, which by the way, 31:26 you know, it always, 31:28 it always gets me people are like, 31:29 when they're looking for an employee, 31:31 they're like, they're looking for someone 31:32 with experience. 31:34 And then it's like, 31:35 "Where am I supposed to gain experience 31:36 if everyone wants someone with experience?" 31:38 I mean, like, okay, anyways 31:40 'cause David was a youth and he's like, 31:42 you can't fight 'cause you're youth, 31:44 but he's been fighting since he was a youth. 31:45 Okay, okay, okay. 31:47 All right, "David said to Saul, 31:50 'Let me tell you a little bit about my resume Saul, 31:53 me David thy servant kept his father's sheep, 31:58 and they came a lion, and they came a bear, 32:01 and took a lamb out of the flock.'" 32:04 And what I do? 32:06 I didn't run home to tell daddy. 32:08 I didn't go look for Eliab, or Abinadab, or Shammah, 32:12 my older brothers. 32:14 "I went out after him, and smote him, 32:18 and delivered it out of his mouth, 32:20 and when he arose against me, 32:23 I caught him by the beard, 32:27 and smote him, and slew him." 32:34 David is out there with the sheep 32:37 all by himself. 32:40 And when his sheep are threatened, 32:43 he defends them with his own life. 32:48 I wonder if we have that kind of diligence 32:52 and faithfulness in whatever we do. 32:55 I'm a student waiting till last minute 32:59 to study for my exams, 33:02 and then pray in Jesus works a miracle. 33:05 Lord, we pray after the exam, 33:08 Lord, please make Maryland 33:14 the capital of the United States. 33:16 I mean, it's close to DC 33:20 'cause we got it wrong in the test 33:21 'cause we didn't study beforehand. 33:26 Awesome, I finally got it, okay? 33:31 Are we faithful 33:32 in whatever it is that we're doing? 33:36 He defended the sheep with his own life 33:39 and someone feel like, 33:41 "Man, are the sheep worth losing my life over? 33:47 Is it worth like, you know, 33:48 sacrificing Facebook time to study? 33:54 Is it worth, you know, killing my YouTube account 33:58 in order to do well in my school work? 34:04 Is it worth dropping sugar out of my diet 34:06 so I can have clarity of thought? 34:09 Look, struggle is real on small things. 34:12 I know this from experience 'cause preparing to come to... 34:17 I have one weakness. 34:19 I have a sweet tooth, 34:20 but as a coping strategy 34:22 I decided that I'm only ever gonna eat 34:25 chocolate not carob, 34:28 chocolate and I know I shouldn't, 34:31 but if I do eat something sweet it has to be chocolate, 34:34 you know that kind of limits, 34:35 you know, so if you're gonna offer me 34:37 a lemon meringue or whatever, 34:38 whatever I'm like, No, I don't eat that, right?" 34:40 'Cause is it choc... 34:41 Oh, here's an awesome carob cookie 34:43 which I heard the carob cookies yesterday 34:45 was awesome, 34:46 but I'm like is it chocolate, 34:48 it look like chocolate, but is it chocolate? 34:51 I don't eat that, right? 34:52 So this is my, I've tried to limit myself, 34:56 but then I also know 34:57 that sugar depresses your immune system. 35:00 You know that? 35:01 Yeah, taking in sugar depresses your immune system 35:05 which means your body 35:06 is less able to fight off sickness. 35:10 Sugar makes you dull. 35:14 So if you're trying to take an exam, 35:16 cut out sugar, 35:19 maybe just cut it out if you're studying 35:21 which means cut it out of your life maybe, 35:23 man this is hard to say. 35:26 And in preparing to cut, my husband loves me. 35:29 So he gets me little niceties once in a while 35:32 and he knows my commitment to chocolate. 35:37 So in the sweetness of his heart, 35:39 he got me some chocolate. 35:42 And I was so mad at him because I'm like, 35:44 I'm trying to speak this week. 35:47 I cannot have chocolate, 35:50 but it's hard 35:52 because it's sitting on the counter 35:55 and it's calling your name. 35:59 Someone understand me. 36:00 Sikhu... 36:03 And I'm like, "Here, am I. 36:05 No, no, no, no, it's not the Lord." 36:07 Oh, my God. It's really hard. 36:13 Real talk, this is Christianity. 36:17 Christianity saying no to that soft. 36:22 You know, like kind of crumbly chocolate chip cookie 36:26 that's sitting on your counter 36:29 because God, I wanna be faithful to You. 36:32 You've called me to speak and I can't get sick. 36:35 I can't have my mind dull. 36:37 I need to be focused. 36:39 How many of you saying no to the cookie? 36:41 You guys, I had to pray about that thing. 36:45 And I was mad at my husband. 36:47 I still I am for getting it. 36:49 Like why would you tempt your wife? 36:50 All right. 36:52 I know he did out of love. 36:53 Yep. Okay. 36:55 Faithfulness in the small things. 36:58 Nobody thought my struggle with that cookie, 37:01 like so I come up here, right? 37:03 And I'm supposed to speak. 37:04 You don't see what happens back in my hotel room, 37:07 when I'm looking at the counter. 37:09 That's the thing that nobody sees, 37:12 but when I come up here, 37:14 I better have my mind clear for the Holy Spirit to speak. 37:17 Are you getting what I'm saying? 37:19 The stuff that we're doing in private, alone, 37:23 when nobody sees, 37:25 and I'm not talking about the huge stuff we do, 37:27 I'm talking about the little things 37:28 that we do. 37:30 In private, alone, when nobody sees. 37:34 We have no time to study the Bible, 37:39 no time to study Spirit of Prophecy 37:43 because we're on this all day. 37:48 Not studying the Bible. 37:49 I read my quote from the Spirit of Prophecy 37:51 from my phone. 37:53 So you can study the Bible 37:54 or the Spirit of Prophecy from your phone, 37:56 but I'm talking about you're on Facebook, 37:58 watching videos on YouTube, and YouTube is awful, right? 38:00 'Cause they have those suggestions 38:02 on the side. 38:03 So you just watch something that was interesting, 38:04 and then you're like, 38:06 "Oh, let me watch something else." 38:07 And it could be 38:09 like an educational thing, right? 38:10 Like you watched a TED Talk that was like about sleep 38:13 and how important sleep is 38:14 and you're watching it at like 2 am in the morning. 38:18 And they suggested another video 38:20 and you watch another one, and another one. 38:23 You know, they say the average amount of time 38:25 that Americans spend on their devices is four hours. 38:32 How many hours are we awake? 38:34 Like, if you sleep, 38:36 like eight hours-ish, that leaves... 38:40 What? 38:42 Sixteen hours of awake time 38:44 and 4 hours of 16 38:46 is one quarter, 38:51 25% of your life that you are awake, 38:56 you were on this. 38:59 Now do you feel like you wasted your life, 39:02 but I got no time to study the Bible. 39:05 I can't memorize scripture 'cause I'm busy. 39:08 But somehow I found time 39:10 to spend four hours on my phone. 39:13 And that's average. 39:15 It's not talking about those of us in here 39:18 that are addicted to our devices. 39:23 This is Christianity. 39:27 I've got no time to hone the skills 39:29 that are gonna make me effective for Jesus 39:32 that are gonna help me to slay giants, 39:34 but I've got time to be on this all day, all night. 39:40 I'm not against phones, amen? 39:42 I'm not against phones. 39:45 I have one and I use it. 39:48 It's a blessing, 39:53 but if I'm not intentionally developing skills, 39:57 focusing my attention on those things 39:59 that gonna help me 40:01 to be a better honed warrior for Jesus. 40:08 So David, he's out there. 40:14 Lion and a bear come 40:16 and he risked his life to save his sheep. 40:20 I want you to notice something here. 40:23 Verse 28. 40:26 In Chapter 17 still, 40:28 "And Eliab his eldest brother when he heard 40:31 when he spake unto the men, 40:33 Eliab's anger was kindled against David" 40:36 'cause David was asking what's going on? 40:38 This giant is defying the armies of Israel, 40:41 of the armies of the Lord God Almighty 40:43 what's, nobody's going out to fight him and Eliab, 40:46 his oldest brother was like, 40:48 "David, why camest thou down hither? 40:53 And with whom has thou left 40:54 those few sheep in the wilderness?" 40:58 When I read this, I was like, "This is crazy." 41:00 Not only did David risk his life 41:04 for some dumb sheep and dumb, 41:05 I mean, they don't talk, right? 41:07 Dumb sheep, 41:08 he risked his life for a few dumb sheep. 41:14 David, you left those few sheep in the wilderness. 41:19 Here Eliab is trying to diminish 41:21 what David does, 41:22 but this actually magnifies what David does 41:26 because David's faithfulness, 41:28 we were talking about faithfulness 41:29 in small things. 41:31 He is faithful in really small things. 41:35 Little, a little flock of sheep. 41:41 The reason why David is able to slay a giant 41:47 is because of who David was. 41:53 It was a character that he developed alone 41:55 in the wilderness with the sheep. 41:58 That's who slew the giant. 42:01 Now I'm asking, who are you? 42:04 I'm talking about behind closed doors 42:07 when nobody sees. 42:10 I'm not talking about the face that you present 42:11 when you go up front, 42:13 or when you show up at church. 42:16 I'm asking who are you 42:18 when nobody sees what you're doing, 42:19 when you're on your computer screen? 42:26 Pornography, when nobody sees. 42:32 And I go out there and act like a gentleman 42:33 opening doors for ladies. 42:35 Meanwhile, 42:37 in the silent recesses of my room 42:39 of my private time, who am I? 42:43 Look, women struggle with pornography too. 42:49 I'm acting like I'm holy, 42:54 working up in here talking about men be trifling, 42:58 but in my private time 43:00 who am I when nobody sees? 43:07 What am I doing with my time? 43:10 How am I spending my time? 43:11 What skills am I honing? 43:13 And is God gonna be able to use them 43:15 in His work? 43:17 Because if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well. 43:22 And let's admit some of the things that we do 43:25 are not worth doing. 43:28 Amen? 43:30 Some of the things that we do 43:32 may not be evil in and of themselves, 43:37 but should we be investing 43:40 the amount of time and effort into those things? 43:45 Learning how to swipe 43:48 as fast as possible on my phone, 43:50 you're swipe masters. 43:54 I can send a text message. 43:55 Oh, sorry. We don't even swipe nowadays. 43:57 We talk to our phone, right? 43:59 Like, I know how to talk to my phone 44:00 so she understands my messages and sends them for me. 44:04 Phone tell GYC that I'm having a blessed time. 44:09 Are you? 44:11 We know how to do that and do it very well. 44:17 Are we being intentional 44:21 in honing the skills that God will be able to use? 44:25 So David, we're coming to the close now. 44:30 When David is before Goliath, 44:33 Goliath, it says came at him. 44:37 And instead of running away 44:39 because of the life that David has lived 44:41 because David has seen God work in him in the past 44:46 because David has seen God use him to slay a lion 44:50 grabbing by the beard, 44:54 like, "Oh, you're gonna come at me, 44:56 you're gonna try to get my few sheep." 44:59 No, sir. 45:01 And David has seen God work in his life in private. 45:06 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 45:08 We want to slay giants in public, 45:13 but God wants to work in your private life first. 45:18 David has seen God do 45:20 amazing things for him in private. 45:22 So when that giant comes at him, 45:24 he's not afraid. 45:27 He's got no fear 45:29 because he says, "You know what? 45:31 God has helped me overcome appetite." 45:35 When I wanted to eat that thing, 45:37 and I prayed, 45:38 God gave me the strength not to eat it. 45:40 I know God can help me slay a giant. 45:45 God has helped me 45:46 to overcome this area in my life. 45:49 Laziness, 45:53 I hate waking up in the morning. 45:56 The alarm goes off 45:58 and rollover and snooze, snooze, 46:00 I'm like, snoozing for... 46:01 You know, Proverbs talks about it. 46:03 Person who's like, you know, like a door and its hinges, 46:06 snooze, snooze, snooze. 46:09 God helped me to overcome laziness, 46:12 and get up in the morning. 46:16 God will help me overcome this giant. 46:21 God wants to work in your private life. 46:25 What's going on in your life in secret? 46:29 What is it that's happening in your life 46:30 that you can't overcome? 46:32 What's the struggle that's going on 46:34 that you can't find the victory? 46:36 And for all you're trying, you can't find the victory, 46:39 and God wants to give you that victory, 46:41 that private victory first. 46:46 Do you believe He can do it? 46:52 God can save by many or by few the few that God saves by, 46:57 are the few who trust Him completely. 47:02 And the few who trust Him completely. 47:05 Trust Him not just when people are looking, 47:08 but in private by myself 47:13 in my room, in my bed, 47:16 for some of you, 47:18 your private spot is the bathroom. 47:21 When I'm sitting there in the bathroom 47:22 in my quiet time, 47:25 God wants to give you the victory 47:27 in your private life. 47:30 This is my appeal this morning. 47:34 Do you need a victory? 47:38 Do you need a victory in your private life? 47:44 You need the Lord to help you overcome slothfulness. 47:51 You need the Lord to help you overcome addiction. 47:57 You need Him to help you overcome 47:58 socially acceptable addiction, 48:00 like addiction to sugar, socially acceptable, 48:03 but you need deals to help you overcome that. 48:08 Here I'm talking about tangible things. 48:11 Yes, we all struggle with pride 48:12 and I'm not diminishing pride. 48:17 Pride is the greatest sin, right? 48:23 Because pride keeps us from coming to Jesus, 48:28 so I'm not diminishing the importance 48:30 of that personal issue, 48:32 but I am speaking specifically about tangible things 48:37 in your life, 48:39 that you know, you need to gain a victory. 48:41 Are you understanding what my appeal is about? 48:46 Tangible things in your life that you know 48:47 you need a victory in. 48:49 And Jesus wants to give you that victory. 48:53 This is my lion Jesus 48:55 and I need You to help me overcome my lion. 48:58 This is the bear 48:59 that's coming to attack my few sheep. 49:04 I need You to overcome the indifference in my life 49:06 because I don't care 49:07 'cause they're just a few sheep. 49:10 I don't care about my local church 49:12 'cause it's so tiny. 49:13 Send me to GYC, put me on a stage at GYC, 49:18 then I'll tell you about evangelism, 49:21 but put me in a little church 49:23 and I cannot sacrifice my time 49:24 to go to prayer meeting on Wednesday. 49:29 I can't even call in, 49:30 they have a call in number 49:32 I can't call him to pray with the saints 49:34 because I have to sleep in, 49:35 I can't call in at 6:30 in the morning. 49:38 God give me victory in my private life 49:42 in those small things. 49:47 Bow heads, close our eyes. 49:51 Loving Father. 49:54 You know that I'm not speaking this 49:56 because I do not struggle 49:57 because I do not have things in my life 49:59 that I need to overcome. 50:00 You know, I'm speaking this because this is my experience. 50:04 I need You to give me the victory in my struggles. 50:10 Lord, we want to see giants come down through Your power. 50:15 We know that You are able, but God are we willing? 50:22 Lord, we wanna present to You the struggles that we have, 50:26 those personal struggles 50:28 that we can't tell anybody about 50:31 maybe because they wouldn't understand 50:34 even they would think 50:36 it's a small thing and diminish it. 50:40 And like, "Oh, 50:41 is that what you're struggling with?" 50:44 But, Lord, we know 50:45 that we need to overcome in this area 50:47 because you can give us the victory, 50:52 but help us to develop the characters 50:54 that will be fit to slay giants, 50:58 to be giant slayers in our private life. 51:03 While our eyes are still closed and our heads bowed, 51:06 if there's anyone who needs to stand up 51:08 because you especially need to ask 51:10 Jesus to help you, 51:11 this thing you've been struggling with, 51:14 struggling with, 51:15 struggling with and you need a victory. 51:19 Stand up. |
Revised 2020-08-28