Anchors of Truth

How To Meet Your Giant

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Dr. Leslie Pollard

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000079


00:11 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from Oakwood University
00:16 in Huntsville, Alabama.
00:18 How To Meet Your Giant, with Dr. Leslie Pollard.
00:22 Happy Sabbath to everyone.
00:24 Has this been a great week for some people?
00:26 Has this been a challenging week for some people?
00:29 I am so glad that we can now come into His presence
00:32 as we sing, as we worship and receive a word from the Lord.
00:35 Let's stand to our feet as we sing our song.
00:38 Come before his presence...
00:40 Come before His presence with thanksgiving.
00:46 We enter into His courts with all of our praise,
00:50 enter into His courts with praise.
00:55 And be thankful unto Him,
01:00 and be thankful unto Him,
01:04 for He is worthy, worthy of all praise.
01:12 Let's get some more people smiling as we sing.
01:16 Come before His presence with thanksgiving.
01:22 We have entered into His courts with praise.
01:26 Enter into His courts with praise,
01:31 and be thankful unto Him,
01:36 and be thankful unto Him,
01:40 for He is worthy,
01:45 worthy of all praise.
01:52 For the Lord is good and His mercy is everlasting,
02:01 and His truth endureth forever.
02:11 And be thankful unto Him,
02:14 and be thankful unto Him,
02:16 and be thankful unto Him,
02:19 for He is worthy,
02:24 worthy of all praise.
02:31 For the Lord is good
02:34 and His mercy is everlasting,
02:39 and His truth endureth forever.
02:49 And be thankful unto Him,
02:54 and be thankful unto Him,
02:58 for He is worthy,
03:02 worthy of all praise.
03:09 All praise.
03:12 For He is worthy,
03:16 worthy of all praise.
03:23 All praise.
03:26 For He is worthy,
03:31 worthy of all praise.
03:45 Come, let us worship and bow down.
03:48 Let us kneel before our Lord and our Maker.
03:51 For He is our God and we are His people.
03:56 Oakwood, it's time to worship.
04:12 We have a great hope that burns within our heart.
05:38 Let us pray.
05:39 Our Father and our God,
05:42 Lord, once again we have come into Your courts with singing.
05:46 We have come into Your gates with praise.
05:48 We have come to magnify Your holy name.
05:52 For You are worthy of our highest praise.
05:55 Lord, come and tabernacle with us.
05:59 Allow us, Lord, to worship You in the beauty of holiness.
06:03 Allow us to recognize that You are a great God,
06:07 and we are thankful that the battle is the Lord's.
06:11 We are thankful we can battle in the armor that
06:15 You have prepared for us.
06:17 We are thankful that You will be our God
06:20 even when we are in a fiery furnace,
06:23 that You are a God who will forgive us of all our iniquities
06:27 and allow us to go on and walk in the light of Your holy Word.
06:31 Bless us now as we worship You.
06:33 We pray that Your blessing will attend us
06:36 both now and forever more.
06:38 For we ask in Jesus' name and for His sake, amen.
06:44 You may be seated.
06:45 As you are seating, your smiles are on, and we are here
06:48 to welcome you to the Oakwood University Church.
06:51 Come on, somebody say amen.
06:52 It is good to be here.
06:54 And before we get started, are there any first time visitors?
06:57 We want to acknowledge all of our first time visitors.
06:59 We're going to ask that you stand and our greeters will
07:02 make sure that you get a special gift.
07:03 We want to share with each and every one of you.
07:06 And I'm going to ask while those are standing,
07:09 want to make sure our visitors get greeted.
07:11 Those of you who are members or have been here a time or two,
07:13 I'm going to ask that you reach over and shake somebody's hand
07:16 and let them know it is good to be in the house of God.
07:19 I'm going to ask that you stay seated and reach over and
07:22 shake somebody's hand and let them know
07:24 it is good to be in the house of God.
07:27 While you are acknowledging people, I just want to
07:29 let you know, some of you may have looked, and outside
07:32 there are some trucks outside.
07:34 And those are our friends from 3ABN.
07:36 They have been with us since Wednesday,
07:38 the taping here of the Anchors Of Faith series.
07:42 Before Elder Murray comes up and gives us his special greetings,
07:46 I want to highlight that if you have had a wonderful blessing...
07:49 Has anybody been blessed this week?
07:51 Being here, praise God.
07:52 Well, the blessings are going to continue.
07:54 On November 2nd and 3rd... November what?
07:58 November 2nd and 3rd, we are going to have
08:00 the very first Breath Of Life reunion.
08:03 On Friday evening, our very own Elder C.D. Brooks
08:06 will be giving our message at the time Friday evening.
08:09 C.D. Brooks will give our message at the time.
08:11 And on Sabbath, our very own Dr. Carlton Byrd will be sharing
08:15 the message in song with us.
08:18 I'm going to invite Elder Murray to come on up and share with us
08:20 his greetings from 3ABN.
08:23 I also would like to invite you to look at the bulletin
08:27 for the rest of the announcements for today.
08:28 Elder Murray, thank you so much.
08:32 It is difficult to put into words how happy and blessed
08:36 we at 3ABN are to be with you these past several days.
08:41 We hope that we have been just a little bit of a blessing
08:45 to you that you have been to us and to our worldwide audience.
08:48 We truly love Oakwood University.
08:52 Some 22 plus months ago, we made a financial gift
08:56 to this school's communications department.
09:00 And we did so in testament of our abiding love and respect
09:04 for what you do here, and the long and continuing
09:07 partnership that has existed between our two institutions.
09:12 We appreciate Oakwood.
09:15 And we love the time that we spend with you.
09:18 And so on behalf of our founder, Danny Shelton,
09:21 who was scheduled to be here this day.
09:25 But when I spoke with him yesterday,
09:27 he had very little voice.
09:29 And whatever bug is going around has caught him.
09:33 And so he thought it wise to stay home.
09:35 There are other pressing engagements that he had
09:38 and could not be here.
09:39 But he wanted me to say to you that his heart is here
09:43 and he will be here soon.
09:45 And that he loves this institution also.
09:48 Our president, Jim Gilley, who was here a couple of nights ago,
09:51 our vice president, Molly Steenson,
09:54 and the entire staff and our production crew,
09:56 we have been so very, very blessed by your warmth,
09:59 your hospitality, and the good will that you have shown us,
10:03 and the good food that we expect you will show us
10:06 after this program shall have concluded.
10:10 God is so very, very good.
10:12 And we just celebrate these times together.
10:17 I've got just a few minutes and I've got to say a lot of things.
10:20 Dr. Leslie Pollard, Pastor Byrd, Pastor's Miller and Williams,
10:26 Darlene Simmons, Miriam Battles, and a young lady that I've
10:29 talked to many, many times...
10:31 I don't even know her last name.
10:33 Her first name is Stephanie. She works in your office.
10:36 And I want to see her before I go, because we've
10:39 dealt with each other so very, very much over the
10:41 past several weeks in putting this all together.
10:44 And I see Mandy Martin sitting here who brings that bus
10:47 up to 3ABN every year for Camp Meeting.
10:49 And all of those of you who come to our Camp Meeting,
10:52 we are not that far away.
10:53 Just about five hours.
10:55 And if you've got a burden, four hours you can get
10:59 to 3ABN from here.
11:00 We're just three hours on the other side of Nashville.
11:02 And I'm told that there are people who have done it
11:06 in about three and a half hours.
11:08 I don't know how they do that.
11:10 And I would never do that.
11:12 But it has been done.
11:15 I want to just say to you something very, very quick.
11:17 I've wrestled with something.
11:18 Since my days here at Oakwood College,
11:20 I've wrested with this idea.
11:21 We have been told from the pen of inspiration that
11:23 in the last days, there are men and women who are going to
11:28 respond to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain
11:31 and come into the church in droves prepared
11:35 to serve the Lord.
11:36 Sadly, some of them, we're told, will replace some of us
11:40 who have been here a long time whose names have
11:42 been on the books but have not had Christ in our hearts.
11:45 I've always wondered, how is that going to happen.
11:47 But I think the Lord has given us a clue.
11:50 There are, we are discovering at 3ABN, large numbers of people
11:55 that we call, closet Seventh-day Adventists.
11:59 These are people who have never been in a
12:03 Seventh-day Adventist Church, but who are thoroughly
12:06 conversant with Adventist doctrines, who are in all
12:10 respects Seventh-day Adventists, though they may even attend
12:14 other churches.
12:16 They are thoroughly familiar with what we believe,
12:18 they adhere to all or most of our doctrines.
12:21 They may or may not support 3ABN financially,
12:25 but they see 3ABN as their pastor and their mentor.
12:31 We have met them all over the world.
12:33 There is out there a reservoir of individuals by the millions
12:39 who are Adventists in heart, but who have never attended
12:42 a Seventh-day Adventist Church.
12:44 We find them all over.
12:45 Last year I was doing a meeting in London.
12:47 We decided to take a train trip over to France.
12:50 Just, you take a train through a tunnel.
12:52 We got off the train, 20 seconds into France,
12:55 we're in the line to get a bus ticket to take
12:58 a day tour around Paris, a fellow jumps the turnstile,
13:01 runs around the front, and says,
13:05 "3ABN, 3ABN."
13:08 So we said, "Well, what church do you go to?"
13:10 He said, "Oh, I'm Catholic.
13:11 But we watch 3ABN every day."
13:18 I was leaving Oakwood College two years ago, after an
13:20 evangelic council, driving back.
13:21 I stopped in a restroom on the highway.
13:24 And there was a fellow standing by the door.
13:26 I smiled at him, he smiled at me.
13:27 I was going to the men's room.
13:29 He comes into the men's room.
13:35 And I'm standing there doing what one does in the men's room,
13:37 and I notice he's standing by the door.
13:40 You know, you see him out of the corner of your eye.
13:43 So I finish, go to wash my hands, and I see him again.
13:46 He kind of gives me a little smile.
13:47 Then I'm getting a little worried.
13:52 And I turn to go and he says, "3ABN, you're 3ABN guy."
13:59 I said, "Praise the Lord, yes I am."
14:03 I said, "Are you a Seventh-day Adventist?"
14:05 He said, "No, I'm Southern Baptist.
14:07 But I watch 3ABN all the time."
14:10 Several Christmas' ago, I went down the street
14:12 to visit a neighbor of mine.
14:14 She's 84 years of age.
14:16 And we don't see her much cause she doesn't come out.
14:18 I knocked on her door, she flings the door open,
14:20 she says, "C.A. Murray.
14:22 I know all about you. I watch 3ABN."
14:26 And so, we know from anecdotal evidence that
14:29 there are large numbers of people out there
14:31 who we call, closet Seventh-day Adventists.
14:34 God, for reasons of His own, is holding them out.
14:38 Some of them are trickling in.
14:40 And I believe when the Holy Spirit comes down in power,
14:44 these people will come in droves.
14:45 They will be prepared to serve the Lord.
14:48 They will be conversant with Adventist doctrines.
14:50 And they will know what it is to be a Seventh-day Adventist
14:53 in head and in heart.
14:55 So I want you to pray for these closet Adventists.
14:57 They are all over the world.
14:59 We could give you story upon story, upon story, upon story
15:01 of men and women who are preparing to meet Jesus,
15:05 though they have yet to ever set foot
15:06 in a Seventh-day Adventist Church.
15:09 So you've got Hope Channel, Loma Linda, Amazing Discoveries,
15:11 Amazing Facts.
15:13 We have 3ABN English, 3ABN Latino, 3ABN International,
15:16 3ABN SonBeam, 3ABN Russia, 3ABN Proclaim.
15:20 And our newest baby, if I can use that term, is
15:22 3ABN Dare To Dream.
15:24 That is our urban network, which is designed
15:27 to meet the needs of the inner city.
15:31 It's designed to address some of those problems that
15:34 happen in the inner city; finance, parenthood, money,
15:39 how to be a true father.
15:40 There is much more of a social aspect because
15:43 those are the kinds of things that are needed in the city.
15:46 You will see out in the lobby or you may have gotten it already,
15:48 a flier which I have here, which is our Dare To Dream flier.
15:52 I want you to support 3ABN Dare To Dream
15:54 because it is making a great impact in the
15:57 urban centers of America.
15:58 We have now a video that talks about Dare To Dream.
16:02 I want to go right to that and then I'll sit down and
16:04 sort of be quiet and come back in just a little bit for prayer.
16:07 But thank you so very, very much for your love,
16:10 for your hospitality, for your warmth, and for your love.
16:12 This is a subject that I could talk about all day
16:15 because I believe God is using 3ABN in a very, very marked
16:18 and special way to help finish the work and usher in the
16:22 second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
16:24 And just now, that Dare To Dream video.
16:28 Right after graduate school, I started working as a
16:31 social worker and I was working in Brooklyn in New York.
16:37 And I saw the plight of those in the inner cities.
16:41 And now since then, it's even gotten worse.
16:44 That was way back in the '70s.
17:34 Sixty percent of African American males that are
17:37 high school dropouts will be in prison by age 30.
17:40 One out of three African American males is either
17:43 in prison or supervised by the judicial system.
17:46 And when it comes to our health and chronic disease;
17:49 diabetes, hypertension, cancer, we are the forerunners
17:53 in many of these areas.
17:59 Over 70% of the births in the African American community
18:03 are out of wedlock.
18:05 The child that was born in slavery time had more of a
18:10 chance to be raised by two parent households
18:13 than a child born today in the African American community.
18:16 That is so frightening, that is so disturbing.
18:20 How did we get here?
18:22 And how do we get out of here?
18:24 What do we do to help those in the inner city
18:27 to throw off their current circumstances
18:31 and to dare to dream of something better?
18:34 Like so many young people in the inner city,
18:37 maybe one of them, they don't have both parents.
18:39 They're not raised with both of their parents.
18:41 And in many cases, it's just the mother often raising
18:44 her child or children.
18:45 In my case, in my sister's case, at 3 months old,
18:48 I was left at a baby sitter.
18:49 My sister was 3 years old.
18:51 And my mom and dad walked away and never came back.
18:53 There are a lot of people in the inner city that are aimless;
18:56 a lot of young people.
18:57 And so what we do is we turn to the thing that we feel
19:00 is going to bring satisfaction.
19:02 And in so many cases, that's where the use of drugs
19:04 becomes an onset, or promiscuity,
19:08 or children being born out of wedlock.
19:09 The more immediate role models are the guys on the corner
19:13 with the big cars and the flashy rings who are
19:16 saying by their lifestyle, "I've got what you want."
19:19 That's the problem.
19:20 The kind of role models that are there that are most immediate,
19:24 that are most accessible, are not the kind of role models
19:26 that parents want their children having.
19:28 Yet they're there.
19:29 Beneath the glitz, there's pain, there is horror, there is drugs,
19:34 there is prison, there is death.
19:36 There's all these kind of things.
19:37 Sadly, it looks good.
19:39 But as the Bible says, "The end thereof are the ways of death."
19:53 We want to maintain the vision of 3ABN, which is
19:56 to give the undiluted three angels message to the world.
20:01 And we know that the people in the inner cities
20:04 are languishing and suffering.
20:06 And we have a message for them.
20:09 We have hope for them.
20:11 And it's Jesus. It's basically Jesus.
20:14 God is love, and that's what we want to teach.
20:17 That God is love.
20:18 And how does that play out in everyday life.
20:21 We want to be able to, again, give practical applications
20:26 to the gospel.
20:27 And that's what Dare To Dream is going to do.
20:29 Hi, my name is Casio Jones, and you're watching Action 4 Life.
20:33 We want to reclaim the media for Christ.
20:35 One of the things that we realize is that television
20:38 plays a very important part in shaping values.
20:43 And so Satan is using television to shape the values of
20:48 those in our inner cities and suburbia, just everywhere.
20:51 If we can go into the homes and share Christ and share tools
20:56 for living, we can really make a difference
20:59 and give hope to the people in the inner cities.
21:02 Veggies best kept secret?
21:04 You telling me that the veggie kingdom or the
21:06 plant kingdom has a secret?
21:17 Sonia Carson had a problem.
21:19 Her sons, Benjamin and Curtis, weren't doing well in school.
21:22 So she decided to take matters into her own hands.
21:25 Limit their television watching and make them read
21:28 two books a week.
21:29 Ben went from being called a dummy to being the
21:31 smartest in his class.
21:33 Ben Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 18, 1951.
21:38 When he was 8 years old, his parents divorced.
21:41 The media is a powerful tool.
21:43 It can be used for good, it can be used for bad.
21:47 Even in so called religious programs, it can be
21:50 used for good and used for bad.
21:52 And that's the reason I got to thinking years ago
21:55 to build a television station to give an undiluted
21:58 three angels messages.
21:59 One that would counteract the counterfeit.
22:21 All week long, we've been talking about using metaphors
22:24 and similes of battlefields and soldiers and being armed.
22:28 So this morning, could we stand as we take our hymnals and
22:30 sing number 614, Sound The Battle Cry.
22:35 Sound the Battle Cry.
22:51 And let's sing with everything you have.
26:11 Amen.
26:13 I look in the Word at Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 14,
26:19 it says, "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest
26:24 who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,
26:27 let us hold fast our confession.
26:31 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize
26:34 with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are,
26:39 yet without sin."
26:42 Verse 16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne
26:47 of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace
26:52 to help in time of need."
26:54 I don't know about you, but I need God today.
26:57 And I praise God that we don't have to come here
26:59 and leave the same, but we can come knowing that God hears.
27:03 But not only hears, but answers prayer.
27:07 Today on the altar, we have the family,
27:09 the Danilla Stewart family, that's coming and they're
27:11 saying, "Lord, we need you."
27:12 She's bringing her family.
27:14 She had a birthday, I think turned 95 this week.
27:16 Come on, somebody say amen.
27:21 But you may have something going on.
27:23 And you may not necessarily be able to come up today,
27:25 but we believe that there is healing, that there is power
27:31 when we pray.
27:33 As Elder Murray comes up and leads us in our prayer,
27:35 we're going to sing; Don't Be Discouraged,
27:39 Joy Comes in the Morning.
27:45 Know that God is nigh.
27:48 Come on, stand still and look up,
27:54 God is going to show up.
27:56 Don't be...
27:58 Don't be discouraged,
28:04 joy comes in the morning,
28:07 joy comes in the morning.
28:13 Know that God is nigh,
28:16 know that God is nigh.
28:22 Stand still and look up,
28:25 stand still and look up,
28:31 God is going to show up,
28:35 God is going to show up.
28:41 He is standing by,
28:44 He is standing by.
28:50 There's healing for your sorrow,
28:53 there's healing for your sorrow,
28:59 healing for your pain,
29:02 healing for your pain,
29:10 healing for your spirit,
29:12 healing for your spirit,
29:17 there's shelter,
29:20 there's shelter from the rain.
29:26 Lord send the healing,
29:30 Lord send the healing,
29:37 for this we do know,
29:39 for this we know,
29:44 there is a balm in Gilead,
29:54 to heal the soul, to heal the soul.
29:59 Healing for your soul.
30:03 Healing for your soul.
30:10 Healing for your soul.
30:12 Healing for your soul.
30:18 Last time. There's healing for your soul.
30:22 Healing for your soul.
30:31 Along with the Stewart family, we remember
30:33 Brother Albert Johnson who is back in the hospital.
30:37 We lift him up in prayer also, along with the speaker for
30:41 this hour, the president of our university,
30:44 Dr. Leslie Pollard.
30:47 Father God, we stand on our feet
30:53 and bow our head and lift up our hearts to You,
30:58 the Creator of the universe.
31:01 We thank Thee for the occasion that called us out of darkness
31:05 into this marvelous light.
31:08 We thank You, Lord, for the occasion that calls us
31:11 to the house of prayer and praise this morning.
31:14 And we thank You for the occasion that is soon to come
31:19 when we will see You face to blessed face.
31:23 Father, we love You.
31:25 We praise You and we thank You for a list of gifts
31:29 too numerous to list or mention.
31:32 But at the top of that list, we thank You for Jesus;
31:37 the Author and Finisher of our faith.
31:41 We thank You for young and old and for lives dedicated
31:45 to the cause of Christ.
31:46 And we thank You that soon and very soon,
31:50 Jesus will come and put an end to the darkness
31:55 and sin of this old world.
31:58 Help us, Lord God, to do all we can to hasten the coming
32:03 of Christ into this dark world.
32:05 Help us to leave no stone unturned in the salvation
32:09 of the souls of men and women.
32:10 For Christianity has never been, is not now,
32:14 and will never be a spectator sport.
32:18 We need to get involved and live for Jesus,
32:21 and love for Jesus, and speak for Jesus,
32:24 and serve Jesus.
32:27 Bless us this day, Father, as we sit in heavenly places.
32:31 Open up our hearts, open up our minds,
32:34 open up our spirits to receive the Word.
32:37 And then help us, Lord, not to be just hearers of that Word,
32:42 but doers thereof.
32:44 For it is in the doing that we are made like Christ Jesus.
32:47 Oh God, bless us this day so that we may have a blessing.
32:53 And in turn, be a blessing to everyone we meet,
32:57 everyone we touch, everyone we talk to.
33:02 Fill us with Your Spirit.
33:03 And may we leave this place healthy, happy,
33:08 holy, and rejoicing in our salvation.
33:13 We love You, Lord.
33:14 We praise You, Lord.
33:16 And we thank You. In Jesus' name, amen.
33:22 And amen.
33:27 I will be with you... Sing.
33:30 I will be with you,
33:36 I will be with you,
33:40 I will be with you,
33:46 I will be with you,
33:50 I will be with you,
33:58 if you will only trust Me.
34:09 Trust Me, trust Me.
34:15 Next verse says, I'll fight your battles.
34:20 I'll fight your battles.
34:25 Anybody got anything we need God to fight today?
34:28 I'll fight your battles,
34:30 I'll fight your battles,
34:40 I'll fight your battles,
34:48 if you will only trust Me.
34:59 Trust Me, trust Me.
35:08 Amen, let's prepare ourselves for our tithe and our offering.
35:19 World War II had ravaged the cities of Europe.
35:24 Perhaps the saddest sight were the orphans who
35:26 roamed the streets.
35:28 One chilly morning, an American soldier noticed
35:31 a little boy with his nosed pressed against
35:34 the glass window of a bakery.
35:36 Inside, the baker was preparing fresh dough
35:40 for the next batch of doughnuts.
35:42 The little boy salivated, watching the whole process
35:45 with keen interest.
35:47 As the sweet smells came from the bakery,
35:50 the boy let out a hungry groan.
35:53 The soldier's heart was struck with compassion.
35:56 "Would you like some of those?" he asked the boy.
35:59 "Yes sir, I would," replied the startled boy.
36:03 Then the soldier went into the bakery and returned with
36:07 a warm bag of doughnuts.
36:09 Taking the bag in his hand, the boy looked up at the soldier
36:13 in awe and amazement and softly asked,
36:16 "Mister, are you God?"
36:19 We are never more like God than when we give.
36:22 God so loved the world that He gave.
36:26 When we give, we reflect His image.
36:30 As the Deacons come for the tithes and offerings today,
36:33 ask yourself this question,
36:35 "How is my giving reflecting the image of God?"
36:40 Would the Deacons please stand?
36:43 Can we bow our heads for prayer please.
36:46 Dear heavenly Father, thank You for this day.
36:48 Take this tithe and offering and do something amazing with it
36:52 like You always do.
36:53 In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
37:16 John saw the number,
37:24 the number coming up on high.
37:32 Hallelujah.
37:33 John saw the number,
37:35 he saw the holy number.
37:37 John saw the number,
37:40 he saw the number.
37:41 John saw the number that no man could number,
37:46 hallelujah, hallelujah, coming up on high.
37:50 John saw the number,
37:53 he saw the holy number.
37:55 John saw the number,
37:57 he saw the holy number.
37:59 John saw the hundred and forty-four thousand,
38:03 hallelujah, hallelujah, coming up on high.
38:07 John saw the number that no man could number.
38:12 John saw the number.
38:16 John saw the number that no man could number,
38:20 hallelujah, coming up on high.
38:24 Just tell John don't call the roll until I get there.
38:29 Tell John not to call the roll until I get there.
38:33 Tell John don't call the roll until I get there.
38:39 Hallelujah, hallelujah. Coming up on high.
38:42 John saw the number,
38:44 he saw the holy number.
38:46 John saw the number,
38:48 he saw the number.
38:50 Tell John don't call the roll until I get there.
38:59 Coming up, coming up, coming up,
39:02 coming up,
39:09 coming on
39:17 high.
39:39 "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire:
39:46 and them who had gotten the victory over the beast,
39:50 and over his image, and over his mark,
39:53 and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass,
39:58 having the harps of God.
40:00 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God,
40:04 and the song of the Lamb, saying..."
40:17 Great and marvelous are Thy works,
40:29 great and marvelous are Thy works,
40:38 Lord God Almighty,
40:42 Lord God Almighty,
40:47 Lord God Almighty.
41:06 Just and true are all Thy ways,
41:21 just and true are all Thy ways,
41:34 Thou King of saints.
41:48 Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord,
41:58 and glorify Thy name.
42:06 For Thou art holy,
42:12 we atone Thee.
42:19 Shall I fear Thee, O Lord,
42:28 and glorify Thy name.
42:36 For Thou, for Thou,
42:42 for Thou art holy.
42:50 For we atone Thee.
42:56 Holy, holy.
43:09 For all nations shall come and worship before You.
43:14 For the judgments are made for us.
43:18 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for judgments are made for us.
43:21 For all nations shall come and worship before You.
43:26 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for judgments are made for us.
43:29 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for judgments are made for us.
43:33 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for judgments are made for us.
43:38 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.
43:43 Oh be glad.
43:50 Blessing, honor, glory, power,
44:00 now and ever shall be.
44:10 Blessing, honor, glory, power,
44:19 now and ever shall be.
44:42 Amen.
44:50 Amen.
44:57 Amen.
45:02 O hallelujah.
45:08 I'm saved.
45:18 Amen.
45:32 Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen.
45:36 Amen.
45:46 Amen.
46:17 Can you say amen again?
46:20 Such a beautiful selection and original composition
46:23 by Dr. Wayne Buckner.
46:25 Born out of the Seventh-day Adventist perspective.
46:32 Born out of the Seventh-day Adventist perspective over the
46:35 end time events depicted in Revelation chapter 15,
46:39 where those who get the victory over the mark of the beast
46:41 and the number of his name will stand on the sea of glass.
46:44 Good morning everyone.
46:46 We wish to welcome you to Oakwood University.
46:49 Not only those who are worshiping here in the
46:51 commodious Oakwood University Sanctuary,
46:53 but also those who are worshiping with us
46:56 around the world.
46:57 Welcome to the Oakwood experience.
47:01 You see, when you attend Oakwood University,
47:03 it's more than simply attending a university.
47:07 It is actually participating in an experience.
47:11 An experience that is transformational.
47:14 An experience that is inspirational.
47:17 An experience that is often conversational.
47:20 We want you to know that Oakwood University
47:22 is a wonderful institution.
47:24 And those of our friends who have never been here
47:27 in person, please know that Oakwood welcomes you
47:30 with open arms into our worship services today.
47:34 I was reading just earlier during this week about
47:36 Ellen G. White and some of her very insistent,
47:41 insistent commitments that the church grow and expand
47:45 its ministry outreach and its witness to all peoples.
47:49 March 21, 1891, she preached a daring sermon
47:53 at the General Conference.
47:55 What a title; Our Duty to the Colored People.
48:00 Mrs. Ellen White was very much focused on expanding
48:03 this mission and taking it to every nation, kindred,
48:06 tongue and people.
48:07 She wanted to push it out to every frontier.
48:09 And that's what she worked to do.
48:12 And in doing so, that sermon, that simple sermon,
48:16 triggered an avalanche of missionary activity
48:19 around the world.
48:21 A few years later, she sent some workers down to
48:24 this part of the country.
48:25 And they came upon an old slave plantation;
48:28 360 acres with 65 oak trees.
48:33 And when they wrote her, they said, "Is this the place?"
48:36 And she said, "That's the place."
48:38 "That's the place."
48:39 Who would have thought, who would have thought
48:41 that back in that time when you could still feel the yells,
48:45 the screams, the pleadings, the agonies of an enslaved
48:49 people, many of whom who lost their lives here,
48:52 many of whom who had to look up to the heavens and
48:54 say, "How long?"
48:56 Who would have thought that God had another plan?
48:59 That His plan was to plant on the blood soaked sod of a former
49:03 slave plantation, to plant on that slave plantation
49:07 a center for transformational education.
49:11 And for 116 years, that's what we have been doing
49:15 here at Oakwood University.
49:17 Transformational education for more than a century,
49:21 delivered in the finest Seventh-day Adventist tradition.
49:25 I say Seventh-day Adventist because the purpose of
49:28 education in Seventh-day Adventist theology
49:31 is restoration.
49:33 When my wife and I were just married, we were
49:36 early young newlyweds.
49:37 My mother, who was a great collector of many, many things,
49:40 was driving by one day and she saw something
49:44 sitting by the side of the road.
49:46 Now I was a young pastor 21 years old; my wife, 21.
49:49 We didn't have any big source of wealth.
49:53 And we needed a sofa and a love seat.
49:56 Well you know what my mother did, right?
49:58 She saw the sofa and the love seat and she said,
50:00 "That's the sofa."
50:01 She brings the thing to us and she says, "Well Les, Prudence,
50:05 I've got something for you."
50:06 She ships it to us. I can't believe it.
50:09 And the thing is rusty and it looks bad.
50:12 And I say, "Mama," I say, "why you send us this
50:14 ugly old couch and sofa?"
50:16 She said, "Boy, you can't look at it for what it is.
50:19 You've got to look at it for what it can be."
50:24 We sent that thing to a furniture restorer.
50:28 And that furniture restorer, when they finished stripping
50:31 that old wood and restaining it, and pulling out broken springs
50:36 and putting in new ones, and putting new support boards
50:39 underneath those springs, and then putting a new cover,
50:42 when we got that thing, it was beautiful when it came back.
50:45 Let me tell you something.
50:47 Seventh-day Adventist education works in the same tradition.
50:50 We are in the restoration business.
50:54 That's what our Sabbath School lesson said yesterday.
50:56 It said that the purpose of education is to restore
51:00 in us the image of God.
51:01 And that's the business that we are in.
51:04 The life restoration business.
51:07 And for 116 years, Oakwood University
51:10 has been doing just that.
51:12 So 3ABN family, welcome to this place, this center,
51:16 for restoration and for transformation.
51:18 We welcome you.
51:20 Now today, we are here to preach the Word.
51:22 This theme, The Battle Is The Lord's,
51:24 has been a wonderful experience for our community.
51:28 Every one of our speakers, all of the music that
51:30 has been coordinated by Dr. Jason Ferdinand
51:33 and the music department of Oakwood University,
51:35 has simply been wonderful.
51:36 And we hope that you have seen the richness of the tapestry
51:40 that we call Oakwood University.
51:42 We hope you've seen that.
51:44 You get to see us do everything.
51:46 We do anthems, we do hymns, we gospel.
51:49 We do it all.
51:51 You've had a chance to experience that.
51:53 And our insistence is not that you simply do one genre,
51:56 but whatever genre of music you do,
51:58 you do it at the highest level.
52:00 And that's what we try to do here at Oakwood University.
52:04 You have witnessed us now in preaching and worship.
52:06 And it has been a wonderfully liberating experience.
52:09 Has it not?
52:10 It certainly has, it certainly has.
52:12 And let me just for a moment interpret a few of the cues.
52:16 Because I mentioned to Pastor Murray that I would
52:18 do just a little bit of this.
52:19 First of all, worship in our community is never
52:22 simply a monologue.
52:23 It's always a dialogue.
52:26 What that means is, that there is a conversation that goes on
52:30 between the worship leaders and the worshipers themselves.
52:33 But we even go beyond that.
52:35 Sometimes we say it's a trialogue because
52:36 there's God in the triangle, God at the top.
52:39 And then of course, the worshiper on one
52:42 point of the triangle.
52:44 On that third point of the triangle, that's the
52:47 worship facilitator.
52:49 And those three are in constant communion with each other.
52:52 And that area in the middle that is so electric?
52:56 That's what we call, having church.
53:00 When you see us stand during a worship service,
53:04 we are not being disrespectful.
53:05 Worship in our tradition is participatory.
53:08 And the reason we, some of us,
53:10 some of us stand is because...
53:12 You know something?
53:13 When we hear the preacher preaching about the
53:15 three Hebrew boys, what we are saying is,
53:18 we totally identify with that story.
53:20 And if we could, we would step into that story.
53:25 These are the things, the uniqueness of our community,
53:28 that God has given to us, and they bless us.
53:31 And they bless the world and we carry the everlasting
53:34 gospel around the world.
53:36 Now I've just got a few minutes here to preach the Word today.
53:39 And I've been assigned a topic; How To Meet Your Giant.
53:44 The battle is the Lord's.
53:46 Listen to the words of Scripture now.
53:48 And I'm reading today from the King James Version
53:51 of the Bible.
53:52 But would you pray with me first, please, as we open
53:54 our Word today?
53:56 Dear God, bless us as we listen to Your Word.
53:59 In Jesus' name, amen.
54:02 Many life lessons will be imbedded in this chapter.
54:05 And we hope to excavate them and make them useful and
54:08 meaningful for all of us.
54:09 Here we go.
54:11 1 Samuel chapter 17, verses 41 through 48.
54:16 "And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David;
54:21 and the man that bare the shield went before him.
54:29 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David,
54:31 he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy,
54:34 and of a fair countenance.
54:36 And the Philistine said unto David, 'Am I a dog, that thou
54:41 comest to me with staves?'"
54:43 That is, with sticks.
54:44 "And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
54:46 And the Philistine said to David, 'Come to me,
54:49 and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and
54:52 to the beasts of the field.'
54:55 Then said David to the Philistine, 'Thou comest
54:57 to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield:
55:01 but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts,
55:05 the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
55:11 This day...'"
55:12 What day, everyone?
55:14 "This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand;
55:17 and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee;
55:20 and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines
55:24 this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts
55:28 of the earth; that all the earth may know that
55:31 there is a God in Israel.
55:36 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with
55:41 sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and He will
55:47 give you into our hands."
55:49 And verse 48, "And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose,
55:53 and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened,
55:58 and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine."
56:05 Two words since September 11, 2001 have emblazoned
56:11 themselves on American consciousness.
56:15 Two simple words that before September 11, 2001,
56:21 before September 11, we had heard them but they had
56:26 never quite landed within our collective American spirit.
56:33 Although we knew that they were there.
56:34 These two words have forever now shaped the way
56:38 America thinks about itself in relationship to the
56:42 rest of the world.
56:45 These two words have created whole new industries.
56:47 They've created a whole new line of federal employment.
56:51 These two words have shaped the way political
56:54 campaigns are conducted.
56:56 We are preparing now for a debate on foreign policy.
56:59 And these two words will certainly be uttered
57:02 by every candidate.
57:03 Yes, they will be worn across candidate's chests as easily
57:08 as they wear their American flag as a lapel pin.
57:11 These two words make all the difference in understanding
57:15 how America thinks about itself as it goes forward
57:19 into the modern world.
57:21 Two words; national security.
57:29 It has become an issue since September 11, 2001.
57:34 I shall never forget, after those diabolical attacks.
57:38 I shall never forget looking at TIME magazine, a December issue,
57:42 where a little Arab boy about 6 years old was shown,
57:46 was shown with his face covered holding an AK47
57:51 on the cover of TIME magazine.
57:54 And I'll never forget, in white letters the caption that
57:57 asked the haunting question, "Why do they hate us so?"
58:07 National security.
58:09 It is an issue today, but it was also an issue then.
58:14 For 3000 years ago, we are now entering into a story in which
58:19 national security issues are being brought to bear
58:23 in this story.
58:25 Now I know that in the story that I've read this morning,
58:27 many of us think about this story as a heart warming
58:30 bedtime tale.
58:32 But that is not the appropriate reading of the text today.
58:35 If you would really plunge into this story,
58:38 you would have to recognize that as you enter 1 Samuel 17,
58:43 that there are three life altering, nation threatening
58:49 issues that are brought to bear in this story.
58:53 The first is the issue of national security.
58:59 What do we mean by that?
59:00 When you open 1 Samuel chapter 17, you cannot
59:04 help but notice that in the very first verses of the text
59:09 the Philistines gathered together at Shochoh,
59:12 which is in Judah.
59:14 Now we are not geographically sensitive.
59:19 But the first readers of this text would have asked
59:21 themselves a question, "What are the Philistines,
59:25 who are a coastal people, what are they doing in Judah?"
59:30 For as a coastal people, they should have been out
59:33 along the coast.
59:35 But what the Bible is trying to tell us is that the
59:38 national security of Israel has already been threatened,
59:42 because the Philistine insurgency has already begun.
59:46 They have left their homeland estates, and now the Philistines
59:51 are dominating Israel's open home court.
59:58 Here is the second issue in this text.
01:00:03 The second issue turns around the issue of national identity.
01:00:08 Israel is a young monarchy.
01:00:12 You remember, Israel wanted to be like the other nations.
01:00:14 Did it not?
01:00:16 Israel said to God one day, God who designed, pastor, that
01:00:20 Israel would be a theocracy, they said, "Oh no.
01:00:23 We want to me a monarchy. Give us a king."
01:00:29 And these groups, this group of people,
01:00:33 who decided that God's ways were not superior to other ways,
01:00:38 they decided that they wanted to be just like the other nations.
01:00:42 So God gave them a king so that they could be
01:00:45 just like the other nations.
01:00:47 But when they ran into problems, their default position would be
01:00:51 back to wanting God to come and to deliver them.
01:00:56 And so in this story there is an element of identity confusion.
01:01:04 Here's the third issue.
01:01:06 The first issue; national security.
01:01:08 The second issue; national identity.
01:01:10 The third issue; national leadership.
01:01:15 Because the story has an inherent conflict in it.
01:01:19 The question, "Who is the king?"
01:01:25 Now you say, "Why?"
01:01:27 Why?
01:01:28 Why would they even have a question about that?
01:01:30 Well, you will remember the Amalekite mission
01:01:34 that was entrusted to Saul in chapter 15.
01:01:39 He was to go into the Amalekite territory and to execute
01:01:43 a purgative judgment against the Amalekites.
01:01:48 I say purgative.
01:01:50 Here's why. I'm teaching now.
01:01:52 There are four kinds of judgments in the Bible.
01:01:54 The first is an investigative judgment.
01:01:58 Investigative meaning that God comes down
01:02:01 in the Garden of Eden.
01:02:02 He ropes off the Garden of Eden with yellow tape,
01:02:05 and He does an investigation before He pronounces sentence
01:02:09 upon Adam and Eve.
01:02:12 Investigation.
01:02:15 The second is a vindicative judgment.
01:02:20 In Daniel chapter 7 when the little horn says,
01:02:23 "We are the people of God," and persecutes the saints
01:02:26 for the people of God, Daniel chapter 7 verse 21
01:02:29 says judgment was found to be in favor of the saints.
01:02:34 God's people were vindicated.
01:02:37 The third kind of judgment in the Bible;
01:02:40 retributive judgment.
01:02:43 Remember the book of Revelation, God comes down and He says,
01:02:46 "I will repay Babylon for the way she has treated Our people."
01:02:51 Retribution. Retributive judgment.
01:02:54 The fourth kind of judgment in the Bible
01:02:56 is annihilative judgment.
01:02:59 That one day, that is the final judgment where God ends it all.
01:03:06 And so the question now, a purgative judgment was to
01:03:11 take place among the Amalekites.
01:03:13 Saul failed to execute the mission.
01:03:20 One day at that scene, Samuel, the old weathered prophet.
01:03:28 You remember Samuel.
01:03:30 When he started off and we first met him,
01:03:32 he was not yet even in his mother's womb.
01:03:37 There was Sister Hannah praying, babbling like many mothers have
01:03:41 done, interceding and pleading and begging God,
01:03:45 asking God to remove what she thought was her
01:03:48 curse of childlessness.
01:03:51 God gives her a little boy.
01:03:53 And this little boy is a wonderful,
01:03:55 he's a little prodigy prophet.
01:03:57 You know, he's dressed in little temple garb
01:03:59 and little temple uniforms.
01:04:01 And I imagine that as he did his little ministry,
01:04:04 people would look around and they would say,
01:04:06 "Oh my goodness, there's little Samuel.
01:04:08 Isn't he adorable."
01:04:11 They would pull out their iPhones and pop pictures of him.
01:04:13 Because people just had to say...
01:04:15 They'd post it on YouTube and Facebook and Instagram.
01:04:22 And they would do all of this because
01:04:25 this was cute little Samuel.
01:04:26 Guess what?
01:04:28 Cute little prodigy prophets grow up now to be
01:04:32 fearless men of God.
01:04:34 And so now, the little prodigy has become a weathered old man.
01:04:38 And as he walks up to the battle scene, the forlorned
01:04:42 dispirited king runs up to him, grabs him, and says,
01:04:46 "I have performed the commandment of the Lord."
01:04:52 And Samuel says, "If you have, why do I hear the
01:04:58 bleating of sheep?"
01:05:02 Now Samuel turns to leave him.
01:05:06 And Saul lunges at him with such desperate force
01:05:10 that he rips his mantle.
01:05:13 And in that tearing of his garment, the old man of God
01:05:19 sees a prophetic symbol.
01:05:20 He says to Saul, "As you have ripped my garment,
01:05:25 so God has ripped the kingdom from you,
01:05:30 and given it to someone who is worthy."
01:05:37 Step into chapter 16.
01:05:41 Now you see that same old man standing in Jesse's living room.
01:05:45 And he says, "How many son's do you have?
01:05:48 Bring them before me."
01:05:50 Here comes the sons; Eliab, Shammah, Abinadab.
01:05:55 Here come the sons.
01:05:56 And now he looks at them.
01:05:58 And the first one he sees is Eliab, and he says,
01:06:01 "This must be the one, because he walks like a king,
01:06:04 he talks like a king, he looks like a king.
01:06:06 He has kingly bearing, he's ramrod straight.
01:06:11 And he has a stern mien."
01:06:19 "That must be the one."
01:06:21 And even the prophet is not above correction.
01:06:25 God says, "Do not look on his appearance.
01:06:28 For I do not see as man sees."
01:06:31 Man looks on the outward appearance,
01:06:34 but God looks on the heart.
01:06:37 Let me tell you something.
01:06:39 We live in a society today that is all caught up in container
01:06:43 and very little concern is expressed about content.
01:06:50 And so, there he sees him.
01:06:53 And now he says, "You must have one more son."
01:06:55 Everybody remains standing, remains standing,
01:06:59 until we get him.
01:07:00 He goes and in walks little David.
01:07:03 He smells like sheep.
01:07:09 God says, "That's him."
01:07:11 He takes out the horn of oil and and pours it on David's head,
01:07:15 in chapter 16.
01:07:17 Now you are left with a question.
01:07:21 Who is the real king?
01:07:24 Is it the sitting king or is it the anointed king?
01:07:30 Now God decides he going to answer the question.
01:07:34 Because the answer to the question is born of crisis.
01:07:38 God often sends crisis into His community in order to
01:07:42 expose the community's underbelly.
01:07:46 And in that exposure, God is asking for us now
01:07:50 to take care of those things that need to be taken care of.
01:07:53 Israel's decisive moment appears like a nightmare on Elm street.
01:08:01 He's 12 feet tall.
01:08:05 Anatomists estimate he must have weighted somewhere
01:08:08 around, somewhere around, between 900 to 1200 pounds.
01:08:15 He's dressed in a brass coat of mail
01:08:19 that covers his entire body.
01:08:21 There's a huge brass helmet on his head.
01:08:24 He has chin covers of brass and he has thigh covers of brass.
01:08:28 Before him walks a shield bearer who carries
01:08:32 a rectangular body shield.
01:08:34 The thing is too big even for the shield bearer to be evident.
01:08:43 He's like a nightmare on Elm street.
01:08:46 And when he introduces himself, every pore
01:08:50 oozes carnal self-confidence.
01:08:54 "Am I not..."
01:08:56 Now your Bible's say, "a Philistine."
01:08:59 "Am I not a Philistine."
01:09:01 That's in verse 8.
01:09:03 But in the Hebrew, "Am I not the Philistine."
01:09:09 He's the first leader to appear in the story.
01:09:13 He's got a track record of success.
01:09:16 He's high tech.
01:09:17 He's the ancient equivalent of a Robo Cop.
01:09:21 He's an amazing figure.
01:09:23 Look at him.
01:09:25 He's got all of this armament, all of this latest technology.
01:09:28 And then the Bible writer leaves us a simple detail.
01:09:33 That detail that exposes that this is no
01:09:37 backwoods country local yokel.
01:09:42 In fact, this man is a state of the art, man mountain,
01:09:48 of fighting technology.
01:09:50 For your Bible says that the thing that's strapped
01:09:53 between his shoulders that looks like a flagpole
01:09:58 is a spear that has on its head a 15 pound iron tip.
01:10:07 Why iron?
01:10:10 Because Israel was still in the bronze age.
01:10:18 But the Philistines had already entered into the iron age.
01:10:25 So look at the issues in the story.
01:10:27 We've got high tech versus low tech.
01:10:33 And it's all heading toward a showdown.
01:10:37 Every day for 40 days, this man mountain of fighting technology
01:10:43 strides out onto the field of battle.
01:10:46 Every single day, every day, for 40 days.
01:10:51 And every day for 40 days, the people of God,
01:10:53 they march out onto battle, onto the field.
01:10:56 In precise military formation, they take up their
01:11:00 lifeless formations.
01:11:01 And then as soon as Goliath begins to march out,
01:11:05 they begin to hear the bellowing of Goliath.
01:11:09 And this very bellow sends shutters of naked fear
01:11:14 up and down their spines.
01:11:16 And they begin to flee.
01:11:20 Every day for 40 days.
01:11:23 Every day for 40 days.
01:11:27 Every day for 40 days.
01:11:31 Now I don't know if you realize it, but there is something
01:11:34 about God's love for certain numbers.
01:11:39 I mean, it's clear God loves the number seven.
01:11:41 Does He not?
01:11:42 It's clear.
01:11:44 He loves the number seven.
01:11:45 The Sabbath, marching around Jericho seven times,
01:11:48 the seven trumpets of Revelation,
01:11:50 the seven churches of Revelation,
01:11:52 the seven last plagues of Revelation.
01:11:53 God loves the number seven.
01:11:55 Here's another number that God loves; forty.
01:11:59 Forty days, Jesus is in the wilderness.
01:12:01 Nineveh is preached to forty days.
01:12:05 Moses leads the children of Israel around the
01:12:07 wilderness for forty years.
01:12:09 There's something about forty.
01:12:11 Because on the other side of forty, there is
01:12:13 always a breakthrough.
01:12:17 Here it comes now, here it comes now, here it comes.
01:12:20 Day 41 has dawned.
01:12:23 God's people now march out onto the field of battle.
01:12:28 They take up their military formation.
01:12:32 Goliath swaggers onto the field of battle,
01:12:35 full of self-confidence.
01:12:37 And he puts forward his proposition,
01:12:39 "Israel, send me a man."
01:12:49 And for the past 40 days, the people of God
01:12:52 have scattered when they have heard the roaring of Goliath.
01:12:57 Ah, but day 41 has dawned.
01:13:00 And now, here comes the cry, "Send me a man."
01:13:05 And as Israel takes up its position, out from behind
01:13:10 the Israelite lines, out squirts little David.
01:13:17 Goliath looks at him, he looks at the people of God,
01:13:22 he looks at the Philistines, and he says,
01:13:25 "Am I," the text, "a dog that you send a boy
01:13:32 to do a man's job?"
01:13:36 Now right here...
01:13:38 right here...
01:13:39 right here I want to stop and say that if you keep on living,
01:13:47 one day you are going to face a watershed moment in your life
01:13:54 when you've got to make a decision, "Will I trust God
01:13:59 or will I leave God?"
01:14:04 Now, here is the issue.
01:14:12 Goliath represents any set of circumstances
01:14:19 in which we are out manned, out gunned, out resourced,
01:14:28 out leveraged.
01:14:30 Goliath represents that set of circumstances, that life moment,
01:14:35 when we will have to make a decision.
01:14:37 For some, that Goliath is in the form of a physician's diagnoses.
01:14:43 "I'm not sure that we can cure what you have."
01:14:47 For others, it might be the exodus of a spouse who says,
01:14:51 "I don't want to be in this marriage anymore."
01:14:54 For another, it might be finding that the HIV text is positive.
01:15:01 But in every circumstance, you are going to have a moment
01:15:05 when you have got to make a decision,
01:15:08 "What now am I going to do with my faith in God?"
01:15:14 David makes a decision.
01:15:17 He says, "I'll fight the giant."
01:15:20 And when you listen to what happens in David's life,
01:15:23 from that point forward you find that in his narrative...
01:15:28 Because this is one of the few stories in the Bible
01:15:31 where the combatants talk more than they actually fight.
01:15:37 Yes it is.
01:15:40 It's like a Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston fight back in the 60's.
01:15:45 Some of you remember the history of boxing.
01:15:48 The second fight, it was a lot of talk.
01:15:50 Because Ali had become champion and everybody was waiting for
01:15:53 Liston to come back and take his revenge.
01:15:55 Well guess what happens?
01:15:56 In 1965, a long time ago, 1965, they now get into the ring
01:16:02 and Ali begins circling and dancing.
01:16:04 Now there had been a lot of talk up to the fight.
01:16:07 Ah, but he had noticed something about Liston.
01:16:09 Liston would jab and drop it.
01:16:12 Now, in boxing...
01:16:13 I'm not a boxing fan.
01:16:15 I don't know much about boxing.
01:16:16 I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
01:16:18 But this is what they say, this is what they say.
01:16:19 They say that in boxing when you jab, you should pull it back
01:16:23 to cover your jaw.
01:16:24 He noticed something in studying the fight films.
01:16:27 Every time Liston would jab, if he missed he'd drop his jab
01:16:30 and pull it back.
01:16:32 Now they get to about a minute left in the
01:16:34 first round of the fight.
01:16:36 Liston jabs, Muhammad Ali steps left and comes over the jab.
01:16:40 And the fight is over in the first round.
01:16:44 Lots of talk, but a quick fight.
01:16:48 In David and Goliath's story, there's lots of talk,
01:16:51 but a quick fight.
01:16:53 But what makes the fight quick are the keys
01:16:56 that the young man reveals.
01:16:58 He tells you how to meet your giant.
01:17:04 Here's the first key.
01:17:07 The king decides, upon hearing that this insolent young man
01:17:11 wants to now fight the giant, the king decides that he
01:17:14 wants to help him.
01:17:15 So he summons him.
01:17:17 He comes into the kings chamber and the king says to him,
01:17:20 "David, you are not able to fight this giant.
01:17:24 Because he has been a fighting man from his young."
01:17:29 Now, aren't you glad that David didn't accept the king's help?
01:17:34 You know, some of us are too eager to let everybody help us.
01:17:37 But can I just share something with you?
01:17:39 All help is not created equally.
01:17:44 David rejects his help.
01:17:45 And now David begins telling him a story.
01:17:47 He says, "Look king, you know, one night I was out and I was
01:17:51 laying down and I was keeping my father's sheep."
01:17:52 He said, "And what I heard was a lion roaring in the darkness.
01:17:56 I looked through the murky darkness,
01:17:58 I grabbed the lion by its beard, and I killed it.
01:18:01 And on another night, there was a bear who had grabbed
01:18:03 one of my father's sheep.
01:18:05 And I beat the bear."
01:18:06 And in the Hebrew, "I knocked it down.
01:18:10 And I delivered the lamb.
01:18:11 And, oh king, if God could deliver me from the lion
01:18:16 and the bear, surely He can deliver me from this
01:18:19 uncircumcised Philistine."
01:18:24 Watch this now. Watch this.
01:18:26 That's the first key.
01:18:28 That's the first key on how to meet your giant.
01:18:32 You can't listen to what the naysayers say.
01:18:36 But when you get to that moment when you have to make
01:18:39 a cosmic choice, the first move David shows us is
01:18:43 that you've got to download your spiritual resumé.
01:18:50 You see, your spiritual resumé gives you a portable past.
01:18:56 Whenever you meet those circumstances like David,
01:18:59 you've got to look back at what God has done for you.
01:19:02 Some of us don't know how to meet our giants
01:19:05 because our past is not portable.
01:19:13 We get in the moment and panic.
01:19:16 Ah, but Ellen G. White says, "We have nothing to fear
01:19:19 for the future except we forget how God has led us in the past."
01:19:28 David says, "A lion and a bear;
01:19:32 if He delivered me from the paw of those,
01:19:35 He'll deliver me from the paw of the Philistine."
01:19:42 Second key.
01:19:46 Well Saul says, "Let me help you some more."
01:19:49 Saul summons his attendant.
01:19:51 And the attendant brings out now the most beautiful armor
01:19:54 you've ever seen.
01:19:56 It is custom fitted for Saul.
01:20:00 It's huge.
01:20:02 I can see David dangling around, dangling around,
01:20:06 in Saul's oversized armor.
01:20:09 And notice what your Bible says.
01:20:11 Your Bible says in verse 39 that David took them off
01:20:18 and tells Saul, "I cannot use these,
01:20:21 for I have not tried them."
01:20:24 That's the second key on how to meet your giant.
01:20:27 The second key, second key.
01:20:29 The first; download your spiritual resumé.
01:20:32 The second key is to upload your God given identity.
01:20:40 Because David is a shepherd.
01:20:46 He's not a military man.
01:20:49 Ellen White says that if he had accepted Saul's armor,
01:20:52 people would have said, "The only reason he won that battle
01:20:55 was because of the technology he was using."
01:21:00 Oh, watch this now. Watch this now.
01:21:02 I believe in technology.
01:21:04 Technology is a wonderful tool.
01:21:08 But it's a horrible master.
01:21:16 David now decides, "I'm going to go low tech
01:21:19 so that God will get all the glory."
01:21:22 He says, "King, I don't need that."
01:21:24 He says, "But you know something?
01:21:25 I've got five little friends
01:21:29 down at the Brook Cherith.
01:21:30 And I picked up my five little friends."
01:21:32 He says, "And now, king, I'm going to go low tech."
01:21:36 Day 41 has dawned.
01:21:39 The morning sun begins to rise above the eastern sky.
01:21:45 We watch as shafts of yellow sunlight begin to pierce
01:21:50 through the heavy morning mist.
01:21:53 Morning clouds pass over and shadow bridgeless rivers
01:21:59 as now the mighty man walks out onto the field of battle
01:22:03 once again.
01:22:05 Look at him.
01:22:06 He's a scintillating gladiator.
01:22:10 And he walks out onto the field of battle.
01:22:12 He issues his single combat proposition, "Send me a man."
01:22:18 David steps from behind Israelite lines.
01:22:21 Now David, now David, now David...
01:22:25 Now David has to use all of the practice
01:22:29 that he has ever mustered.
01:22:31 Because as he begins to speak to the giant,
01:22:34 the giant begins to curse him by every god the giant knows.
01:22:42 "David, come to me, you little blankety blank.
01:22:49 I'm all blanked up, blank out of..."
01:22:55 Watch this now, watch this now.
01:22:57 David says, "You come to me and I come."
01:23:02 Notice now, this battle is not between two men.
01:23:05 When Goliath invokes his gods, we are now into a
01:23:09 cosmic conflict.
01:23:11 It's not just a fight between two isolated human beings.
01:23:15 But it's a God fight now.
01:23:17 The God of the Hebrews versus the god of the Philistines.
01:23:21 And the God of the Hebrews, He's no domesticated
01:23:24 territorial deity.
01:23:27 But He is King of the cosmos.
01:23:30 And He doesn't need high tech.
01:23:32 He just needs dedicated servants who will go out
01:23:36 and do His will.
01:23:38 Now Goliath is infuriated.
01:23:41 He begins to bear down and to run at little David.
01:23:44 But your Bible says in verse 48 that David begins to run
01:23:48 to meet the giant.
01:23:51 He says to him, "You come against me with a
01:23:53 sword and a spear.
01:23:55 But I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts."
01:23:59 There's the third key.
01:24:01 The first key; download your spiritual resumé.
01:24:04 Upload your God given identity.
01:24:06 And the third key David shows us; you've got to plug in
01:24:10 to the power of the Name.
01:24:13 Because that Name is above every other name.
01:24:15 Somebody said that at the name of Jesus, every knee
01:24:18 is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess.
01:24:21 Somebody said there's no other Name given among men
01:24:24 whereby we must be saved.
01:24:27 Now, it's giant meeting time.
01:24:30 He begins bearing down on little David.
01:24:32 And guess what David does?
01:24:34 David begins to whip that sling in the air.
01:24:38 And you hear the helicopter whirl
01:24:41 of that sling as he releases it.
01:24:43 And that stone swishes through the air.
01:24:47 It bites into the forehead of Goliath.
01:24:50 And like a huge Oak tree, his whole body begins to quiver
01:24:55 and tremble as he now falls face down on the ground.
01:25:03 Is this the man that made the nations tremble?
01:25:08 Slain by a little shepherd boy.
01:25:14 Don't be afraid to face your giant.
01:25:17 Download your spiritual resumé.
01:25:19 Upload your God given identity.
01:25:22 Plug into the power of the Name.
01:25:24 Notice what David begins to do.
01:25:27 David now, as Goliath has fallen, that whole body
01:25:33 lies on the ground and it's pulsating as if it has been
01:25:37 invaded by a hive of alien impulses.
01:25:44 But watch this now.
01:25:46 Little shepherd's feet mount that heaving torso.
01:25:51 Little shepherd's hands unsheathe Goliath's sword.
01:25:56 And with a pop...
01:25:59 I'm trying to keep this sermon rated PG.
01:26:05 With a pop, he decapitates the giant.
01:26:17 Can I talk about another boy from Bethlehem?
01:26:22 Who, like David, was despised by His family.
01:26:26 Who, like David, was persecuted by a wicked king.
01:26:30 Can I talk about another little boy from Bethlehem?
01:26:33 Who, 2000 years later, would stand out on the plain in the
01:26:38 wilderness and face a mighty giant.
01:26:41 There's another little boy from Bethlehem whom we love.
01:26:45 And today, millions of people worship Him around the world.
01:26:49 Because He stood when no one else could stand.
01:26:53 Everyone here and everyone in our listening audience,
01:26:56 you will face mighty giants.
01:26:58 But please note that if God be for you,
01:27:02 who can be against you?
01:27:04 May you be blessed as you go forward into your future,
01:27:07 and as you face the challenges, some seen and others unseen,
01:27:12 and you plot a course and you keep your faith
01:27:15 riveted in the God who has loved you, who has delivered you
01:27:20 in your past, who sustains you in the present,
01:27:22 and who will bless you in the future.
01:27:25 In Jesus' name, let us all together say amen.


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Revised 2014-12-17