WEBVTT - I Know How This Story Ends 0:00:01.960 --> 0:00:04.519 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:07.000 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:10.360 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:12.400 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.200 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:20.680 First Samuel, chapter seventeen, verse fifty. Just one scripture today 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:22.880 that I want to share with you. But it's a 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:27.680 good one. It says in One Samuel, seventeen, verse fifty, 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:34.120 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:48.000 a stone, without a sword in his hand. He struck 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:55.279 down the Philistine and killed him. There's power in the 0:00:55.400 --> 0:01:03.600 mighty name of Jesus, and every war he wages he 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:10.559 will win. So David triumphed over the Philistine, and I'm 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:15.040 not backing down from any giant. With a sling and 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:20.560 a stone, without a sword in his hand. He struck 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:24.800 down the Philistine and killed him. Would you look at 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.480 your neighbor and sing my sermon title, Tell him I 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:33.600 know how this storys Come on, tell your other neighbor 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:39.559 the safet one. Tell them I know how this story. Father. 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:41.560 We thank you for your word the power of it, 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:44.240 and that he who began a good work is faithful 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:48.920 to complete it. In Jesus' name. Amen, you may take 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:54.240 your seat, God bless you. I know how this story 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.920 ends because Holly and I have a rule in our 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.640 marriage that when she's telling me a story, if it's 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.400 a negative story, then I need her to tell me 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:08.800 the ending before she gives me the details, because sometimes 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:13.080 she tells expanded stories. You like how I said that 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:16.080 that was real PC, How I said that that was 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:19.160 really cautious. How I said that she tells She tells 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.120 stories and puts in all the deleted scenes it's the 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:25.359 director's cut. But sometimes I just need to know when 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.600 she says today was a terrible day, I need to 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.480 know how this ends. You know, Oh, how how was 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:34.280 your day? Oh? And then she starts with breakfast. But 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:37.200 I need to know, like, well, how much does it 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.840 cost at the end of it, Like, you know, is 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.720 it seven thousand dollars or do we both have to 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:45.760 go to the kids' school this time or just one 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.360 of us. I need to know how this ends, or 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:53.200 I'll just get lost in the middle. It's different when 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:56.400 you know how it ends. If you tell me how 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.119 it ends, you know, don't worry, it's not that bad. 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:00.600 We got it all worked out well. Then I can 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.720 follow you on all of the twists. But I just 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.480 need to know how it ends. I need to know 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:09.280 that this is going to be all right. I need 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.400 to know that it's not fatal. I need to know 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.440 that they didn't quit. You just had a bad meeting. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.079 Because she'll be telling me something about something at the office, 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:20.360 and she'll she'll want to put it. You know, she 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:25.120 has good storytelling technique and she's a great storyteller, but 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:28.040 that works against us in marital communication because I'm not 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:31.800 looking for suspense and drama. I just need the bottom line. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:33.760 So she'd be like, oh, I had a meeting with 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.960 so and so today it went terrible, And I'm thinking, like, 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.200 are they moving back to Nebraska where their famili's from. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.560 Do we have to replace them on staff? But just 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.080 tell me how it ends, and then you could get 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.600 me all the details. Then you can tell me that 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:49.960 eggs were on sale when you went back home on 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:51.880 the way to the thing, and then the thing with 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:53.920 the thing, and then the car cut off, but then 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:55.680 it cut back on and it's not in the shop. 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.240 Just tell me how it ends, and then I can 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.560 listen to the story. I want to show you something 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.480 real quick. This is a picture from our summer vacation 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.960 a few weeks ago. Just a picture of some family 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:09.600 time that we had. Yeah, see that's how it ended. 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:14.960 I don't know, can they see that the campus is Yeah, 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:20.760 that's how it ended. That's how it ended, with Graham smilet, 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:31.279 with everybody breathing, Elijah making some questionable sign with his hand. 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:36.840 Notice there is only one or there were two when 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:41.960 we set out and embarked on this family adventure. But 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:46.839 it ends like this. Thankfully for me, as I've already mentioned, 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:50.440 I have a great wife who when she saw us 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:55.880 struggling on the kayak, because contrary to my knowledge, sand 0:04:55.920 --> 0:05:02.080 bars are temporary. They don't just stay there. The sandbar 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.520 that is there one minute might be gone in thirty minutes. 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.159 There's this thing called the tides. You think I would 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:11.120 know this stuff. You would think you would drag the 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.920 kayak further than just the very edge of the sandbar 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.159 before you walked all the way out to the middle 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:19.760 of it to have a family memory. But thank God 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.599 for my wife because when she saw us struggling, when 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.640 the tide came in. How many notes? When God gives 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.479 you a great wife? When she sees you struggling, she 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.640 picks up the iPhone and records it. So check out 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:37.320 this video she took real quick from the shore. All right, 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:45.200 here's the boys paddle to this sandbar. But the tilling 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:55.760 is coming in minutes away from including no minutes, and 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.680 they're not even they don't know where they're honey, even 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:13.320 worried about it. Oh there's Graham. He's running everything. Yep, 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:36.040 that's Graham running how they're stuck. So you know, Graham 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.919 said it best. He said when we got back and 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:42.880 we were telling everybody what had happened, he said, that 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:49.719 could have ended a whole lot different, you know, because 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:54.560 you obviously have the leisure of laughter because you know 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:56.920 how it ends. I mean, well, hey, pastor, I mean 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:02.479 it's pretty funny. Actually the monoculars. You're dry now you're 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:07.039 not dead, because it's different when you know how it ends. 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.040 But if the man on the jet ski hadn't come by, 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:13.640 it could have ended. This is what Graham said. It 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:18.680 could have ended a whole lot different. Or if he 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.880 wouldn't have had southern hospitality to go get my kayak 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:24.120 and bring it back to me with his jet ski. 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:26.200 It could have ended. Look at somebody say, it could 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:31.360 have ended a whole lot different. How many know there's 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.280 some things in your life that could have ended a 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:40.280 whole lot different. That drunk driver swerved right into your lane, 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:43.200 but some kind of angel just pull that car back over. 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:47.840 It could have ended a whole lot different. Come on, 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:50.240 you know I'm right about it. If you had got 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.440 stopped by the police at the wrong time when you 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:56.960 were in college, it could have ended a whole lot different. 0:07:57.280 --> 0:07:59.480 Some of us. It's not that we never did anything wrong. 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:01.560 We just didn't get caught. If we would have been 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:03.920 at the wrong place at the wrong time, it could 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:08.840 have ended a whole lot different. Paulisher, Halo, if you want, 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.160 I'm gonna turn to the heathen section. This where the 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:13.720 heathens sit. It could have ended. Come on, stand up 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.480 and testify if it could have ended if it had 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.600 not been for the Lord on my side. You better 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:21.720 give him praise right now before he pulls up your 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:29.080 search history. It could have ended all whole You know 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:33.040 I'm right. Tell somebody you know that preacher is right. 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:39.240 So it's funny now and when I read David and 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:43.559 Goliath as my text. There's some Bible nerds sitting out there, 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:50.120 maybe watching online, going like a really, David and Goliath, 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.960 all the stories in the Bible, you want to pick 0:08:55.080 --> 0:09:03.800 this one? Oh boy, I all already know this one. 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:10.079 David kills Goliath, Goli. It goes down every time you 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:14.920 read it. I already know about the sling shot in 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:20.079 the stone. He had five smooth stones, buddy old and 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:25.400 need of wine. The giant came. He had a big, 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:30.880 heavy helmet, Jesse. He called David, said take this bread 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:35.280 down to your brothers, jack on them. And Baby got 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:39.920 down there and golith was shoven, and David heard it, 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:44.240 and Baby said, you want no smoke, and Dave they 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:48.160 grabbed the sleigh and it threw a stone at the giant, 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.199 and the giant went down. I already know how this 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:58.320 story ends. So since you already know how it ends, 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:02.920 let me suggest some to you. David never read first 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:10.920 Samuel seventeen, verse fifteen. It's different when you know how 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:16.280 it ends, so we can shout. But David was shaking, 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:26.040 shaking in his sandals, holding his slang, trembling, wondering how 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:30.800 this ends, wondering Will this jet, ski, get my kayak, 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:37.320 wondering preaching to somebody today And you have not read 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:41.960 for Samuel seventeen fifty yet about this situation in your life, 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.760 and you are still looking at a giant that is 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:51.920 bigger than you. And since we know how David's story ends, 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:55.200 I want to spend just a few moments today thinking 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:58.960 about how it could have ended, because it could have 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:07.480 ended a whole lot different. Had I had I gone 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:10.000 to that one school and married that other girl, how 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:14.280 many knows, it could have ended a whole lot worse 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:25.560 for Holly, she could have missed a whole buffet. But 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.839 now think about it. If David makes some different decisions, 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:35.920 the story ends a whole lot different. And see, God 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:40.600 is writing your story right now, for your family, right now, 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.960 for this season of your life, right now. And although 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:47.600 we know that Goliath goes down, David has to do 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:52.000 it in the face of uncertainty. And yet, no matter 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:56.000 how many sermons you hear about David defeating Goliath, you 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.000 must recognize that there were three things that David had 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.440 to face before he even ever got to Goliath. And 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.160 if any of these three things had gone differently, it 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:13.520 could have been a whole lot different. If David had 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:17.560 been a typical teenager when his father came in said, 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.840 you know, he's only seventeen when he kills Goliath. And 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:26.280 if he had had a response to Jesse's instruction when 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:30.360 Jesse said, I want you to run these snacks down 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:38.079 to your brothers. If David had rolled his eyes, you know, God, Dad, seriously, 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:45.760 I'm like a future king. Dad. Samuel has already annointed David. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:50.000 He already knows he has a great future. But now 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:53.360 if David refuses to be faithful in his present because 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:59.080 he's too focused on his future, this story ends a 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:01.280 lot different. How many you heard the story of David 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.400 and Goliath? Raise your hand? Yeah? No, Because it's even 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.880 a sports analogy. People use it in the NBA, the NFL. 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:11.840 It's an archetypal story. It's so famous, it's so wonderful, 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.280 it's so fun to preach. I bet I've preached it 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:18.000 fifty times, at least fifty times in this one church. 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.079 But watch how the story could have gone. It could 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.480 have been a whole lot different. Jesse wakes David up 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.240 one morning. He says, I got a task for you. 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.040 I want you to run this cheese and bread down 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:27.720 to your brothers on the battle lines. They're in the 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:31.719 Valley of Ela, fighting with Saul. David wakes up slowly. 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:36.640 David rolls his eyes. David jecks his phone. David post 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.120 on his Instagram story the fake account, the one that 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.320 Jesse doesn't follow, and David puts that on Instagram. God, 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:45.360 my dad makes me sick. This is ridiculous. God, I 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.000 hate my parents. I hate my life. David goes to 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:50.520 the battle line, but he gets there forty five minutes late. 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.280 He gets there after Goliath came out to shout his 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.840 usual defiance. He didn't know Goliath was on the battle line. 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:59.520 You don't know what day God wants to use you. You 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:02.440 You don't know what conversation is going to turn things around. 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:04.920 You don't know what moment is going to be holy. 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:07.000 You don't know when a bush is going to burst 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.679 into flames and spontaneously combust with the presence of God 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.040 and the direction for the next step of your life. 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:15.679 You don't know this. But if you don't show up, 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:22.480 watch this and do the ordinary with a good attitude, 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:28.880 it could have ended a whole lot different. Do you 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:32.120 really think they would have taught us this Bible story 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:36.800 in Bible School, in Sunday School. If the story went 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:41.320 like this, Jesse woke up, David, David got up, David 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.880 went down to the battle lines with the bad attitude, 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:47.200 dropped off the food, threw it at his brothers, and 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:52.360 went back home. And yet it could have ended like that. 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.800 That could have been the very end of the story. 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.240 It could have ended a whole. It could have ended 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:02.040 with David. It could have ended with David feeling slighted 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:04.240 because he was asked to do something that he deemed 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:12.440 in significant. You know who I am, Dad, Really, you're 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.880 asking me to be a delivery boy to take this 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:24.440 food down to my brothers. You're serious, right now, God Dad? Okay, 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:31.560 Oh okay, Oh go, but I'm not gonna run to 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.400 the battle lines and I'm not gonna have my eyes 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:38.840 open for up to Oh Okay, I'll go, but I 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:42.800 don't have to like it. Okay, I'll go to church, 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:44.960 but I'm not lifting my hands. That's what the weird 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.720 people do. Oh okay, i'll go, but we're leaving early. 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:50.680 That parking lot gets crazy and I want to be 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.840 at the restaurant before the Methodist church less. Oh okay, 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:00.360 could have been a hole. Come on, work with me 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.280 with a vowel sound. It could have been a whole 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:05.400 You don't even have to buy a vowl, just say it. 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:09.880 It could have been a whole lot different. I'm David. 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.800 I'm not door dash what you think. I am uber Eats, 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:15.560 I'm not dropping nothing off. My name is David. Say 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.560 my name, David King, David Crown, David Samuel. Put the 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.600 oil on my head, David. It could have been a 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.640 whole lot different if David had tripped over the ordinary. 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.280 So here's what I'm learning is that opportunity presents itself 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:32.880 as ordinary. There is not going to be You know, 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:36.600 I want to kill my goliath. I want a breakthrough 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:38.520 in my life. I want to whatever. You know. We 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:40.640 use goliath to mean anything, by the way, in church, 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.240 if you're new here, Goliath could mean anything. It could 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.320 mean we want a good parking space. It could mean 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:47.160 we want a healing in our body. It could mean 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.680 we want to stop beating so many chips. Goliath can 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:53.520 mean almost anything. In this particular instance, it means anything 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:59.240 that opposes the purpose of God. He was standing against 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:01.680 the people of God God, opposing the purpose of God, 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.639 defying the armies of the Living God. That's what Goliath was. 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:09.359 And they usually won't be physical. But before David ever 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:14.960 got to the real battle, he had to face the ordinary. 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:20.680 There's not going to be one conversation with your kids 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:24.640 that is going to change their life. It is going 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:28.080 to be picking them up and dropping them off and 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:30.199 trying to get them to say more than three words 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.840 to you at a time. That is going to change 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:36.000 their life. Is three words on top of three words 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.560 on top of three words on top of three words 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:40.800 on top of three words. You are not going to 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.760 take your son on one trip to Ireland and reenact 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.800 Braveheart or Scotland or wherever that overrated movie happened, and 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:50.879 he's going to come back shouting freedom and he's a 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.639 warrior now. For Jesus Christ, it's not going to be 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.159 one trip when he turned sixteen. It's going to be 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.359 many trips. It's going to be many back in forth 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.000 and back and forth. And David went back and forth 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.240 and back and forth and back and forth. See, we 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.840 know how the story ends. David didn't. He didn't even 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.000 know there was a giant in the Valley of the Law, 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:14.359 not when he sets out that day, and if he 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:17.879 refuses to do the ordinary, it could have been a 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:23.640 whole lot different. What a boring story this would have been. 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.240 David's dad said, go, David went, did it with a 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:29.639 bad attitude, came home, slept for eight hours. Could have 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.880 been a whole lot different if David had been typical. 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.760 So then he gets there right, he does the ordinary. 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:41.199 In fact, the Bible says this amazing. He ran to 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:43.720 the battle lines, he left his things with the keeper 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:47.080 of supplies. He's very responsible. He runs to the battle lines. 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:51.160 So he's there in position with the attitude to see 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:56.360 the opportunity. And when he hears Goliath shouting. See if 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:00.800 Dad goes down like most of us go around and 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:04.840 just gets through his day, he's not gonna be in 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:10.200 the frame of mind to seize the opportunity. And even 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:14.119 when he gets there and gives the brothers the food 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:17.800 that he brought for them, one of his brothers has 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:20.800 such a bad attitude with him that the second thing 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:23.160 that David had to deal with before he even got 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:27.200 to the real opponent, was of fence. Now, I want 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:29.760 to show you this. It's very powerful, how some of 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.400 us are fighting the wrong battle we are fighting a 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:39.119 preliminary battle and missing the real one because when David 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.320 gets there, he's like, what's up, guys? You know David 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:45.560 is that dude. He's like, hey, guys, what did I miss? 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:49.399 And They're like, it's nothing new, man. This dude is 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:53.320 nine foot two. He keeps coming out every day and 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.640 keeps saying the same thing. He keeps telling us, send 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:59.119 your best man, I'll kill him and you will be 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.040 our slaves. But we can't do anything with him because 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:04.320 I mean, look at him, Look how big he is. 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:06.719 And David's like, look how big he is. One country 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.280 preacher said this. He said, the rest of the army 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:12.840 saw Goliath and said he's too big to kill. David 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:15.639 looked at Goliath and said he's too big to miss. 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:21.320 I wonder what's your perspective today. I'm preaching for fifteen people. 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:24.359 God said, this challenge in front of you is an 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:36.359 indication of the power within you. Yeah. Yeah. David's like, 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.240 so what do I get if I kill him? It's like, well, 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:42.359 Saul said, like at first he was like, does anybody 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.000 want to fight him? But it's been forty days now, 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:48.480 and so Saul keeps opping the ante like the airlines 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.239 do when they got to overbook flight. You know, we 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.359 need two volunteers, from the kindness of your heart, to 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:56.880 give up your seat. We need two volunteers. We'll give 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:59.520 you two hundred dollars. We're gonna need you two volunteers. 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:02.640 We'll give you five hundred dollars. We need two volunteers. 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.560 We'll give you a thousand dollars voucher for travel. The 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:09.200 more desperate they get, the more the reward becomes. Now 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:12.199 you can only use thee thousand dollars every seventeen Thanksgiving 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:15.760 on this voucher, and blackout dates apply. But now Saul 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.320 has gotten so desperate he got to the point where 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:21.440 he says, look, I'll give you my daughter in marriage, 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:24.639 the hot one, and you don't have to pay taxes. 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:31.480 So David's like, for real, Now somebody verified this. Now 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:33.720 here's the difference. Here's the difference. It could have been 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:38.000 a whole lot different. But David hadn't been out there 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:41.480 forty days, and he hadn't gotten used to the dysfunction, 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:44.560 and he hadn't got used to standing there defeated in 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:47.680 a dead block, And so he comes up and to them, 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:51.480 Goliath just sounds normal, But to David it sounds different. 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:54.159 Wait a minute, he's not supposed to talk like that. 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:56.800 You know, you can get comfortable in your dysfunction when 0:21:56.800 --> 0:22:02.840 you've been in it long enough, when all your sick 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:06.600 friends are lying around in five covered colonnades, it can 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:11.200 be easy for you to start making excuses. And David 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:14.880 was like, hold on, So he said, what about God? 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:18.680 And I get what if A kill him? I love 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:22.520 this though, because this is what always happens when God 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:25.479 is trying to do something in your life. The enemy 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:30.080 will always present another enemy that is not the real enemy, 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:33.480 to keep you distracted from fighting the one that you're 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:38.320 called to defeat. In David's case, it was his brother, 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:42.960 his big brother. His name kind of sounds like Goliath, 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:48.679 but it's not Eliab. He was tall. For a minute, 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:50.960 Samuel thought he was supposed to be the king, Becausaul 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:55.359 was tall. And he saw in Samuel saw in Eliab 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:59.080 what he had seen in Saul, which is height, not heart. 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:02.159 And God said, don't look at his height, look at 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:07.359 his heart. Stop judging your situation externally. It's what's inside 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:12.000 the counts. It's what's inside the counse. And a live 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:16.399 starts judging David's motives. He's like, look at this. In 0:23:16.480 --> 0:23:22.280 verse twenty eight, he goes, why have you come down here? 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:28.080 And with whom did you leave those few sheep? Now, 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:30.800 all of these things David had taken care of. He's 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:35.800 a very responsible young man. But really, what's happening here 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:38.960 is I believe the enemy is trying to trigger David 0:23:39.320 --> 0:23:42.560 to get him to fight the wrong person. Because watch, 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:48.200 if he stands here and argues with his brother, he 0:23:48.240 --> 0:23:54.080 will never even see his enemy. This might be the 0:23:54.119 --> 0:23:57.679 whole sermon for somebody. Now just look straight ahead. If 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:03.280 you're married, sometimes you're fighting against what you're supposed to 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:10.360 be fighting for, and you have to call a time out. 0:24:10.440 --> 0:24:13.760 Sometimes you have to sometimes be like, wait a minute, 0:24:14.119 --> 0:24:17.880 you're not my enemy. Wait a minute, you're you're You're 0:24:17.920 --> 0:24:21.800 not who I'm supposed to be fighting. And if David 0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:26.840 gets caught up fighting Eliab, he never sees Goliath. If 0:24:26.840 --> 0:24:32.000 he gets distracted, some of us are defeated simply because 0:24:32.040 --> 0:24:35.359 we're distracted. Now you know how the story ends, but 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:37.640 think about how it could have ended. David for the 0:24:37.680 --> 0:24:41.359 next two hours defends himself to Elia. I was the 0:24:41.400 --> 0:24:44.600 other day checking on some Instagram post seeing if they 0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:47.679 were touching people's lives. You know, I would like to 0:24:47.720 --> 0:24:49.760 say that I always do it with a pure heart, 0:24:50.040 --> 0:24:52.720 but sometimes I'll scroll to look for people who say 0:24:52.760 --> 0:24:55.920 mean things to me, and that's a dysfunction. And I'm 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:58.840 not saved all the way yet. I am saved. I 0:24:59.000 --> 0:25:01.880 was saying, I'll be being saved. This is the part 0:25:01.920 --> 0:25:05.280 that's in progress, because sometimes I'd just like to imagine 0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:07.680 the response I could sing. You know what the sphear 0:25:07.680 --> 0:25:09.680 of the Lord told me the other day. First of all, 0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:12.640 is one out of three hundred people who say something negative. 0:25:12.720 --> 0:25:15.720 That's number one. Number two. If you would invest a 0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:19.000 fraction of the energy into blessing people that you put 0:25:19.000 --> 0:25:23.000 into defending yourself, you would be Mother Teresa, you would 0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:26.119 be Saint Paul. You could change the world if you 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:30.600 would stop trying to defend yourself. And I'm coming right 0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:34.080 for you, because some of us trip over an offense, 0:25:34.359 --> 0:25:37.800 and so we never defeat the real opponent, because we 0:25:37.920 --> 0:25:41.920 stand and argue with Eliab and we never even get 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:52.359 to Goliah. You that's so powerful. Could it could have 0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:56.719 had a whole different ending. It could have been a 0:25:56.800 --> 0:26:01.400 whole lot different and I've that Jackie wouldn't have taught 0:26:01.400 --> 0:26:04.800 me that Bible story in Sunday School if David had 0:26:04.840 --> 0:26:08.080 stood there and argued with Eliab. Now here's the thing 0:26:08.200 --> 0:26:13.560 that's practical about this. Some of you are fighting Eliab today, 0:26:14.960 --> 0:26:18.879 and because you're fighting Elia, Goliath continues to go unchallenged 0:26:18.920 --> 0:26:23.640 in your life. You know you're fighting Eliab if you're 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:30.919 still blaming people. David did this move that I want 0:26:30.960 --> 0:26:33.440 to learn how to do when I realize I'm fighting 0:26:33.440 --> 0:26:37.120 the wrong enemy, when I realize I'm fighting something outside 0:26:37.119 --> 0:26:39.680