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Sermon text.
Audio soon to be uploaded.
My last sermon preached in Oak Hill College
chapel. A plea to preachers to
preach the gospel.
1 Samuel 17 – PREACHING
Preaching. What in God’s name is it? Turn to 1 Samuel 17. More and more I’m thinking about
preaching in terms of the David and Goliath story.
So here we are (verses
1-3) the uncircumcised Philistines facing off against the ranks of
Israel.
V4: there came out from
the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose
height was six cubits and a span.
Over nine feet
tall. James Robson (who is 6 foot
8) would come up to his chest.
Even his coat of armour (v5) was 55kg or 8½ stone. And he’s from Gath which tells you 1)
he’s probably Nephilim. (Look up
Gath and Anakites – you do the math). If he’s nephilim he is literally
super-human. Literally a super-hero
– or super-villain more like. In
the person of Goliath heaven and earth is united against the ranks of
Israel. But secondly, Gath means
‘wine-press’. And here we see
Goliath crushing the LORD’s vineyard.
Israel is the vine and Goliath is the vine crusher. Watch him crush them, vv10-11:
10
And the Philistine said, "I defy (reproach) the ranks of Israel this
day. Give me a man, that we may fight together." 11 When
Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were
dismayed and greatly afraid.
The word ‘dismayed’ means literally
‘shattered’ and it’s worth a word search when you get a minute. Throughout Deuteronomy and Joshua the
Israelites are told not to be ‘dismayed’ or ‘shattered’ when they come up
against their opponents in the land.
In 1 Sam 2:10 we are told why they are not to be dismayed:
those who oppose the LORD
will be shattered (‘dismayed’). He will thunder against them from heaven;
the LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to
his king and exalt the horn of his anointed."
So the Israelites are not to be dismayed. Instead the LORD would dismay their
enemies. How? Through the anointed King.
1 Samuel 2 was written before Saul or David
and refered to the Anointed One whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times (Micah 5:2).
But here in 1 Samuel 17 we have a miniature representation of what
Christ Himself will do to the enemies of God’s people. David, this miniature picture of
Christ, will wage his miniature battle against this miniature enemy. And all the while we are being taught
about the eternal Christ, about how He will shatter His enemies.
But here in 1 Samuel 17, it is the Israelites
who are shattered and dismayed.
Their king has not arrived and they realize that they haven’t a
sniff of a chance against the giant.
But v12, here comes our hero, fresh from his
father’s house, the house of bread – Bethlehem – to bring bread to his
brothers. But David’s provision
and sustenance would mean nothing without his victory. Let’s see that, skip on down to v32
and here it’s interesting:- Israel doesn’t choose David as their
champion. He basically chooses
himself – for them. And as
it turns out, he’s actually a good choice because he may have boy-band
good looks but he can also kill lions and bears with his bear hands
(v34-37). And so Saul says,
alright – you go. And before anyone else has realised or put up an
argument, David surges forwards and now Israel’s whole destiny is in the
hands of a shepherd-boy who goes out in total weakness but, in the name
of the LORD. Verse 45:
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 reproached.
[Duh duh duh duh] it’s
very dramatic and there’s some more excellent super-hero speech but we
haven’t the time. David runs
towards Goliath, [duh duh duh duh duh] slings the stone and then there’s
a brilliant Hebrew narrative slow motion – v49. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face
to the ground. [cheer] In triumph David kills him and cuts
off the head of the house of the wicked and, v52, the Israelites shout
for joy and over the top they go, shattering the adversaries of the LORD
and plundering their camp.
What’s that got to do
with preaching?
A preacher is like a
war correspondent on the front lines of this battle. You survey the scene – and it’s bad.
An evil, super-human opponent.
Fear and despondency in the ranks and you just can’t win. But then! You announce, from among you – the anointed king, your champion. He is small and looks so weak but boy
oh boy is he handsome. What
courage He has as He fights for us.
What confidence He has in the Name of the LORD. And look people, look – even through
His weakness He defeats the enemy – killing him with his own
weapon. And as the herald of
victory you declare: We’ve won!
Our champion has triumphed!
Shout aloud! Praise your Champion! Rejoice in song!
And advance into your week knowing that the enemy is decapitated –
you have the victory in your Messiah.
Charge into your week in the name of the anointed king…. And then
come back next week when you’ll all be dismayed and terrified all over
again.
And each and every
week you herald the bad news that is very bad and the good news that is
beyond triumphant. And bit by bit
the troops begin to really love their King and they begin to walk in the
kind of freedom and victory that He’s already won for them. That’s good preaching.
Bad preaching is not
like that. A bad preacher is like
a battle-weary soldier briefing the troops and saying ‘It’s tough out
there people but, hey, if battle-weary soldiering has taught me anything
it’s that we’ve got to be tougher. That David – he’s an example to us all
– a model soldier. Let me give
you some advice that I learned direct from David: You see slingshots are
all about getting a firm base with the legs and then, it’s all in the
wrist. Three points for you to
take with you – after all this is a military briefing – you’re here for practical
tips. Point 1: remember whose
army you are. Don’t let the side
down. Point 2: Remember the
techniques I’ve taught you, and Point 3: if you’re struggling for
motivation – do it for David! God
bless, and ‘be careful out there.’
Do it for David. David did it for you! And He did it for you when you were
shattered and terrified. Our
congregations need gospel preaching.
Our congregations need to hear the victory of Christ proclaimed
week after week after week. We
don’t need more combat skills – we need more Christ. If you take your eyes off the champion
your eyes either go on Goliath or on your combat skills – either
way you’ll end up dismayed, shattered, terrified.
I hear so many sermons
that simply crush the vine. They
do Goliath’s job for him.
When you preach,
preach about our Champion. Tell
them about His fight, His sacrifice, His victory,
make them shout, make them sing, make them see brave, beautiful, loving,
strong Jesus once again.
And the weaker the
troops, the more dismayed, the more disobedient, the more they look like
deserting and making shipwreck – herald the good news. Christ has triumphed for the weakest
and the worst of them. Preach the
Gospel friends. Let’s pray
Father, thank You for
King Jesus, our Anointed Champion. Fix our eyes and hearts on Him and His
victory this day. And fix our
preaching on Christ and Him Crucified.
May we live up to the name Evangelical. May we preach the Evangel, the Good News, week after week
after week. And will you breathe
life into our churches and into our nation again through the proclamation
of our victorious Christ. In His
Name we pray, Amen.
Well our Older Brother
has stuck up for us in the only fight that really matters. And the Giant is dead, the dragon is
slain, we’ve raised our voices to our Champion, it only remains for us to
go over the top and charge out into our day. So, Go in War to love and serve the LORD. In the name of Christ. Amen
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