“Fear focuses on the giant, faith focuses on God.”
Sermon Title: FACING OUR FEARS
Scripture Text: 1 SAMUEL 17
By: PTR NIC SY
Sermon Notes:
1 SAMUEL 17:45-51 ESV
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.
51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
1 SAMUEL 17:1-3 ESV
1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines.
3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
1 SAMUEL 17:11 ESV
11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
2 TIMOTHY 1:7 ESV
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
- What are you afraid of?
I. Remember who God is
1 SAMUEL 17:4-7 ESV
4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.
1 SAMUEL 17:26 ESV
26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
1 SAMUEL 17:25a ESV
25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. …
“Fear will focus on the giant, faith will focus on God.”
Biblical Passages that mention the Mark of the Beast
REVELATIONS 13:15-17
REVELATIONS 14:9
REVELATIONS 14:11
REVELATIONS 16:2
REVELATIONS 19:20
REVELTIONS 20:4
REVELATION 14:9-10 ESV
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
REVELATION 16:2 ESV
2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
“Fear will focus on the giant, faith will focus on God.”
FLIP THE SCRIPT CHALLENGE:
For every negative, fear-inducing thought (or conversation), say five declarations about who God is.
II. Remember what God has done.
1 SAMUEL 17:33-37 ESV
33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
1 SAMUEL 17:33-37 ESV
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,
35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!”
“We forget what we ought to remember and we remember what we ought to forget. We magnify the giant that is before us and we minimize the God that is within us.”
“If you remember what God has done for you yesterday, you will believe what he can do for you today and you can be confident in what he can do for you tomorrow.”
“When you see the God that others don’t see, you’ll do for God what others won’t do.
ROMANS 8:31b ESV
31 … If God is for us, who can be against us?
Remember that the Battle belongs to the Lord
1 SAMUEL 17:45-47 ESV
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
“You are not David in this story.”
1 SAMUEL 17:48-49 ESV
48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
“When the crucial moment arrives, remember these five words:
The Battle is the Lord’s.”
“There is no pit so deep God’s love is not deeper still.” –Corrie Ten Boom
“There is no fear so great that God is not greater still.”
Remember:
I. WHO GOD IS
II. WHAT GOD HAS DONE
III. THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD
1 SAMUEL 17:46 ESV
And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel