Give Me A Man - Pastor Stacey Shiflett

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Give Me A Man

1 Samuel 17:10

Intro: In our text, Goliath is issuing a challenge. The problem was, nobody would challenge him back!

In verse 8 he said, “…choose you a man…”

In verse 10, he said, “…give me a man…”

Goliath didn’t say, “…choose you a soldier; a warrior;”

Goliath didn’t say, “…give me a champion like me…”

He said GIVE ME A MAN.

The only man there was not a soldier; was not a warrior; a champion of the army.

And the only man there was a boy. Saul called him a “youth” in verse 33. SEE vs. 42.

I want to remind the church tonight – we are in desperate need of people to answer the challenge!

I’m afraid that we take the Ephesians 6 verse “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood…” to mean we do not need to do anything because it involves people.

There are multiple verses that teach us what we can do to challenge the challengers.

The Philistines are mentioned often, even as far back as Genesis.

They were a thorn in the side to the people of God.

·       In Genesis 26:14, they saw God blessing His people, and they envied them.

·       In the next verse, verse 15, they stopped up the wells with dirt.

·       In Exodus 13:17, God directed Moses to lead Israel around the Philistines to keep from being discouraged and turning back to Egypt.

• Exodus 13:17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:

From then on, it was only war and conflict with the Philistines.

The Philistines are a consistent type of both the world and the flesh, usually the world.

You can make an application either way, depending on the text.

In this text, Goliath is a picture of a larger than life, specific representation of the Philistines.

By the way, we are surrounded by Philistines.

A few notable facts about Goliath.

A. His Early Beginning – vs. 33

He started fighting early.

Saul called him a “man of war” from his youth.

He was fighting with the men when he was just a boy.

Make no mistake – the Philistines are teaching their children to fight.

They are indoctrinating their children. – starting in daycare and kindergarten

They are informing their children. – non-stop children’s programming

ILLUSTRATION:  A book recently discovered in the public library kindergarten section – Bye Bye Binary.

B. His Energetic Boldness – vs. 8

·       1 Samuel 17:8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them…

In a day when God’s people are constantly having to be “revived”, the Philistines are not!

They are energetic. They are engaged. They are involved. They are on the offense.

They are bold. They are confident. They are aggressive and confrontational.

Goliath was energetic and he was bold. That was obvious by:

                        1. His Preparation – vs. 5-7

                        2. His Passion – vs. 8 “…he stood and cried unto the armies…”

SEE verse 11: “When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine…,”

I have stood in the Valley of Elah.

To be loud enough to be heard all the way across that valley is impressive.

QUESTION: How far does your voice carry?

Goliath said, “Am not I a Philistine…??

He didn’t whisper it! He didn’t keep it confined to a group text with his buddies.

Everybody there knew whose side he was on.

How many people know who you are and whose side you’re on?

C. His Endless Badgering – vs. 16

·       1 Samuel 17:16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

We need to understand something; they will never stop coming for us.

They will continue to push until we push back.

Inaction is not an option.

Satan will not stop. He will not let up. He will not relax.

He will not concede. He will not pull back.

The Philistines are going to be screaming and yelling and defying the church nonstop!

They will never be content with any ground we concede. They will always want more.

“Give me a man, that we may fight together.”

This has been a cry for thousands of years.

The heathen has been begging for a man.

The people of God have been begging for a man.

God has been searching for a man.

·       Ezekiel 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

“Give Me a Man..."

I. To Define our Occupation – vs. 8 “…why are ye come out to set your battle in array?”

This is a tremendous question.

Why are we here? What are we doing here?

Goliath wanted to know why the people of God were preparing to go to battle. – see verse 2

·       2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.

They set the battle in array, but nobody lifted a finger to fight.

If we are supposed to be soldiers, then why aren’t we fighting?

If we are supposed to be an army, why aren’t we engaging the enemy?

If we are supposed to be invincible, why are we losing so much ground?

There’s more to setting the battle in array than putting up the tents.

There’s more to setting the battle in array than putting on the uniforms.

There’s more to setting the battle in array than picking out weapons.

Somebody’s got to actually fight!

How many of the champions of the world are looking at the church and asking what Goliath asked?

·       8 “…why are ye come out to set your battle in array?”

Why are you here? What are you doing to stop us? Why does nobody care enough to push back??

"Give Me a Man..."

II. To Defy our Opposition – vs. 10

·       10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day;

DEFY: to reproach, taunt, blaspheme, defy, jeopardise, rail, upbraid

There is a question that you may be asking.

Is it OK for a Christian to defy the Philistines?

I believe it is very important that we understand one simple truth:

A person defying you personally, and defying everything you stand for is two different things.

The teachings of Jesus Christ were crystal clear about personal offences and personal attacks.

Jesus said highly controversial things such as:

Matthew 5

·       11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

·       12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Matthew 5

·       38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

·       39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

·       1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.

Romans 12

·       19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

·       20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

·       21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Mark 11

·       25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

·       26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

We could go on and on.

The Bible is clear about personal offences, personal attacks, personal persecutions.

But we know that these verses do not apply to attacks against Christianity, against the Bible, and the church.

There are just as many Bible verses that teach this truth as teach the turning of the cheek.

For example:

·       Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

·       1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

·       2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

·       Philippians 1:7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

·       Philippians 1:17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

To take the verses that Jesus taught about personal attacks, and make it apply to everything is wrong.

Should we turn the other cheek if someone is assaulting our children? Our wife?

Should we stay silent when people attack God’s definition of marriage?

Should we remain silent when unborn babies are being murdered by the millions?

Should we mind our own business when our freedoms and liberties as Americans are being stripped away?

·       Are we supposed to be pacifists?

·       If so, then we are opposed to Christians being in the military.

·       If so, then we are opposed to Christians being in law enforcement.

·       If so, then we are opposed to Christians being in public office.

Either we are supposed to defy the opposition, or we aren’t, but you can’t have it both ways.

You cannot celebrate July 4th while turning a blind eye to the opposition in your lifetime.

You cannot celebrate our Veterans if you’re not willing to fight for anything.

The list of godly people in the Bible that defied the opposition is too long to list.

Enoch and Noah confronted the ungodly generation of their day.

Lot didn’t, and look what happened to him and his family.

Moses confronted and defied Pharaoh and the entire nation of Egypt.

Elijah even mocked the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel.

·       1 Kings 18:27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

Why was it OK for Elijah to mock these prophets of Baal?

They were turning the hearts of the people away from the one true God.

They were mouthpieces for false gods and wicked king and queen.

It must not have been a sin, because he rebuilt the altar right after that and prayed down fire.

Elijah and Elisha and Samuel did their fair share of defying evil in their ministry.

Nathan confronted and called out David over his sin.

Daniel defied the kings decree not to pray; the three Hebrew children defied the king’s order to bow.

Defying evil is not sin; it is commanded!!

·       Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Jesus defied the Pharisees in Matthew 23.

He called them everything you can think of.

He warned the people and told them to beware – and named religious organizations and political leaders.

·       15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Peter and the apostles and Paul and Silas defied the authorities in the book of Acts repeatedly.

The question tonight is – where is the man that will defy the opposition? GIVE ME A MAN!!

Paul reminded Timothy no less than twice that we are called to be SOLDIERS.       

·       2 Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

·       2 Timothy 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

"Give Me a Man..."

III. To Deter our Oppression – vs. 9

·       9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.

We need to understand something. The Philistines want us to serve them.

That is the bottom line – plain and simple.

·       They want our wives, our children, our young people.

·       They want us to do their bidding.

·       They want us to further their agenda.

·       They want us to worship their gods.

·       They want all of our money.

·       They want all of our time.

·       They want to raise our children.

·       They want to control our churches.

·       They want to dictate the messages we preach.

·       They want to rewrite and reword our Bible.

·       They want to water down the songs we sing.

·       They want us to dance to their music.

·       They want us to wear their brand.

·       They want us to support their agendas.

·       They want us to vote for their candidates.

·       They want everyone in our ranks committed to their cause.

·       They want us to stand on the mountaintops and scream, “Am not I a Philistine!”

But the question is – who’s going to stop that from happening?

Who’s going to prevent our children from being enslaved by Philistines?

Who’s going to stand up and protect our wives from grinding at the mills of the world?

This entire army of soldiers did nothing to deter the oppression that was intended for their families.

Not one man came forward to stop the total enslavement of their people.

Conclusion: Goliath said, “Give me a man.” And the only man there was a boy.

And when David stepped forward to answer the challenge, they all tried to stop him.

·       They got angry with him. – vs. 28

·       They misjudged his heart and his intentions. – vs. 28

·       They told him he wasn’t able to do it. – vs. 33

·       They tried to tell him HOW to do it. – vs. 38

But not one of them offered to help him or go with him.

The challenge is still being echoed across the mountains and valleys of this nation – “GIVE ME A MAN THAT WE MAY FIGHT TOGETHER!”