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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/john-fitzpatrick/goliaths-in-the-christian-life/
I have indirect warm memories of this area, even though I was only here one other time, and that's when Brother Jerry brought me to see Roy Weber and his wife, I'd say a couple years ago. I've had meetings with Brother Roy in Forest Grove, Oregon, and in West Bank, B .C.
And Brother Roy was one of the ones that was instrumental in nudging me to step out into the Lord's work. I had a tiny little business, and so I could work when I wanted and shut down when I wanted construction, and I injured myself.
And Roy graciously said, the next time you don't listen to the Lord, he's going to take your head off. So you ought to shut down work and start working still where the Lord works. And then the verse in the scripture was, to cease building and rameth.
And so for two years, I stopped working. And two years later, on a Wednesday night when I came home, the assembly handed me a letter of commendation to make it a little more official, I guess you might say.
Let's look in the book of 1 Samuel, please. 1 Samuel chapter 16, I want to touch on the man of Goliath a little bit. And verse 11, I'll try to move fairly quickly in the reading because I realize the clock can be an enemy.
I only had one time with an exceedingly unique experience. The battery on the clock broke. The saints were probably alarmed. And when I looked at my watch, I was quite surprised. But with a couple of clocks around, three of them, a three-fold cord is not easily broken.
I don't think that's going to happen this afternoon. 1 Samuel chapter 12 and verse number 11. And Samuel said unto Jesse, hear all thy children. He said, there remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep.
Verse 12. And he sent, and he brought him in, and now he was ready, and with all of the beautiful countenance and good to look to. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is he. And then I know you know the story well, and I'm just going to touch on it.
Every Sunday school scholar knows it here. Chapter 17, the last part of verse 8. Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. And if he be able to fight with me and to kill me, then will he be your servants.
But if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants. And the Philistines said, I defile the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. Verse 12. David was the son of that Ephraimite of Bethlehem, Judah, whose name was Jesse.
Verse 15 of chapter 17. And David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. The Philistines drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. And Jesse said unto David his son, take now thy brethren an ephod of parched corn, these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren.
Carry these ten cheeses, and last part of the verse, see how thy brethren fare. Verse 20. David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper. Verse 22. And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran unto the army, came and saluted his brethren, and he talked with them.
And the timing was there, the champion, the Philistine of Goliath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, spake according to the same words, and David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him.
Were afraid, so were afraid. Verse number 26. And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach noticed from Israel?
For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defile the armies of the living God? Verse 28. And Elabid his eldest brother heard when he was spake unto the men, and Elabid's anger was kindled against David.
Why camest thou down hither? Verse 32. And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail of him, because thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Verse 34. David said unto Saul, And thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and a lamb out of the flock.
And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered him out of his mouth. And when he rose again, I caught him by the beard, and smote him, and slew him. And thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defiled the armies of the living God.
Verse 37. David said, Moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, out of the paw of the bear, he'll deliver me out of the hand of the Philistine. Saul tried to put his armor on him.
Verse 38. Verse 39. David girded his sword, and then David took a staff in his hand, chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag. Verse 42. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained them for his but a youth, and ruddy, and fair countenance.
And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog that comest to me with staves? Verse 44. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.
Quite a line drawn in the valley that day. All were fleeing for forty days. And verse 45. Thou comest to me with a sword and a spear, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defiled.
This day the Lord will deliver thee into my hand, and I will smote thee, and take thine head from off thee. Verse 47. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword or spear, or the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you unto our hands.
Verse 48. The Philistine arose and came, and drew near to David. And David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his hand in his bag, and took hence a stone, and slain him, and smote the Philistine right in his forehead.
As the stone sank into the forehead, and he fell his face to the ground, David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling, and with a stone. And he slew him, and then David drew the Philistine's sword, and cut off his head.
Now I know it's a long reading, and I know it's a story that all know well, but I've never seen a man this big. I worked with a man one time in the East, name was Urkula, he was a Russian. He was the most powerful man I've never met.
He would almost need two chairs to sit, but he was not an ounce of fat in him. He was an iron worker, he was 60, and he was powerful man. During the hippie riots, he says one of the young fellows was sitting on the fence, and I became an auxiliary state policeman.
He says, Sonny, you just come in with me in one piece, or in two, you make the choice. I asked the martial arts expert that I knew, I said, what would you do with a man like that? He says, if he ever caught me, he'd break every bone in the body, you wouldn't get near him.
Well this man David was bigger than, David was facing was bigger than that. Approximately nine feet nine inches, or ten feet tall, and there was some tall men here, so a little advice, when you go down the basement, be careful where you're walking, because two items can't fit in the same spot at the same time.
And his armor was 150 to 170 pounds. His weight was probably 300 to 750 pounds, and maybe he didn't need a diet. And his spearhead was 23 pounds, and little David comes along. Are any Davids here today?
David was between 16 and 20 years old, from any book I could find. And I find a tremendous principle, the greatest choices are usually made in your youth. David was occupied, David had proved God, I've watched grizzly bears, I'd never get near him.
I've watched a number of black bears, I've climbed the quickest tree I could find. I'm usually armed, I have bear spray when I'm around him. But David, he grabbed the bear by the beard, and slew him with a knife, and he wasn't injured.
He proved God in his youth. And what an exercise on touching on a little bit, I put it down in notes in case my remember didn't remember, and I couldn't get the margins on the computer to work right, so I left it on a big piece of paper.
But David was just a teenager, but he knew God. How much do you know God? How much of you prove God? David was a shepherd boy, that was kind of a despised job, just alone off in the hills. And David was a man that knew his God, and was going to prove that victory was going to come from God.
He ran to the enemy. He didn't go slow, he didn't stalk, he didn't wonder what his moves would be or anything. And the giant was so big, they sometimes say that you couldn't miss him. But he caught him right between the eye.
And David's men within a hair's breadth could swing a sling right and left handed. Our sheriffs train right and left hand with the pistol every two weeks to qualify to be on the force. But David's got a sling and he's fully qualified.
But I want to ask you today, what giant are you facing in your life today? This Christian life is not do's and don'ts. But this Christian life is all because of your heart is enthroned with the Lord Jesus Christ, and in love with the lovely man of Calvary.
And so I want to suggest, not just suggest, but there is a Goliath that's after the throne of your heart. And the Lord wants your whole heart to be totally, completely yielded to him, because he gave himself for you.
Maybe there's someone here today, I've been there in the past, this is not just theory. When I had a battle, what world am I going to live to? And when I had a battle early in life, who am I going to serve?
And what path before God am I going to take? And shame on me, I battled for a couple months before I quit the job, because the job was very lucrative. Maybe there's somebody here and there's a battle going on, who am I going to really live for?
Am I willing to say, take me, use me, make me, mold me for thy honor and glory? We are debtors to grace and to God, and the love of God will constrain us, and it will restrain us, in where we go and what we do.
You come into the book of Nehemiah chapter 5, and there's a man by the name of Nehemiah. There's more guidance in the book of Nehemiah for leadership than any other one book in the Word of God. And he never pointed the finger, as you well know, as if we have sinned.
But when you come to chapter 5, Nehemiah says, yet did not I. He did not say I could not, he could have, but he made a choice. And I'm praying at this conference that there might be choices made for God, to live for him completely.
I look over the audience, most of you are younger than I am. God bless you young ones for being here. It's deeply appreciated, because I know in your youth you're under conflict, and I know older in life we're under conflict.
My wife sometimes says to me, what were you doing? I'm driving the car, supposed to be. I says, well, I was kind of taking the scenic tour and looking off to the side. But I says, don't worry, it's on the road.
She says, well, it's better if you don't do that. Distracted driving can be deadly. Distracted Christian living can be disastrous. I read in the Word of God, we all know it, see that you fall not out by the way, you can't lose your salvation.
But we can get distracted, and getting away from God is a slow, gradual process most times. And it's a compromising of the principles and the truth of the Word of God. Started in the garden. Turn to Numbers 32, please, because there's four feet that I want to suggest distracted a man from entering where he should have.
Verse 32, now I know there's farmers here, God bless you, and I know there's cattlemen or dairymen here, God bless you, so I'm not developing it that way, don't take it wrong. Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gath had a very great multitude of cattle.
And when they saw the land of Jazzer and the land of Gilead, that behold, man, that's the place for the cattle. And verse 16, and they came near to him and said, we will build sheepfolds here for our cattle and cities for our little ones.
We ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel until we have brought them into their place, and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
It's bad country, but it's lucrative country for the business. We'll return unto our houses and unto our children. Our inheritance is found on this side of Jordan. Can I use that as a principle? That sometimes there's a Goliath for the silver or the gold, and you might lose the family.
We'll put the fence around the building. We'll keep the enemies away. You might be preserved, but your younger ones might not be preserved. And then there's a Goliath of fear. David didn't have that problem, but David had a great problem later on, but we won't have time to touch on it.
After the greatest victories, there's the greatest tests, and often the greatest chance of falling by the way. The disciples were in a storm, and the Lord graciously, kindly, tenderly came along and calmed the storm.
Maybe you've got a storm in your life today, and I don't know about it at all, but God does. And I want to remind you, Naaman 1 and 7, that the Lord is a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knows them that trust in him.
I had that verse come in a card many years ago when we were coming down the Alaska Highway, and the van rolled about a hundred miles south of Whitehorse. Linda was on the road with her eyes going back and forth.
I wondered if her back was broken. Amy was only a few weeks old, and Debbie a couple years old, and I realized the thigh was broken. And we found ourselves in a land that didn't know us all, hundreds of miles from anyone, and the Lord uniquely came along and helped us every step of the way.
And the verse that was such a help was on a little card sent. The Lord is a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knows them to trust in him. He's real, and he's in it, and he's with us. And maybe there's a difficulty coming.
All men are born into sparks that fly upward, but could you put that in your pocket, beloved one? He's with you, and he's for you, and he'll never let you go through the trial. And when you get through it, you'll be able to help somebody else, because you've tasted those waters.
Can I embarrass myself, particularly the younger ones? I grew up in a school where there's 365 of us that graduated, Yonkers, New York. God saved me in the seventh grade, not a Christian home. We had 20 minutes to eat lunch, a brown bag, and milk costs three cents for a carton like you had downstairs.
And a hot lunch was 35 cents, and that was an exceeding treat once or twice a year, to give it 35 cents to get a lunch. So I ate with the same buddies every day, and I'm sitting at the table, only 20 minutes to eat.
What's wrong with you, John? Nothing. Why haven't you started eating? Because I didn't want to. There was a Goliath in front of me at that lunch table. Am I going to bow my head and give thanks for this food?
I hadn't been, and I know I should. You can laugh at me when the meeting's over. That was a major Goliath in my life in junior high, eighth grade. Am I going to bow my head with my buddies here in thanks for the food?
You know what happened? The chicken gland kicked in, and I compromised, and I closed my eyes and put the straw down at the same time. Shame on me. You probably never had that problem in school. You're probably stronger than I was and wiser than I was, but you understand the point, don't you?
Sometimes the Goliath seems so big, and you laugh at it later on and say, oh, silly John, would you ever grow up? He's a refuge for the oppressed. He's a refuge in the time of trouble. There's no temptation greater, but he'll be able to trial greater, and he'll be able to deliver us.
We're kept by the power of God, and my grace is sufficient, and them that honor me, I will honor. Peter had seven steps down. Moses had seven excuses why he wasn't the one. The first time I ever spoke was at Macaulay Water Street Mission in New York City.
One of the elders brought me there, 10th grade, shaking in my boots, and I said, I'll never do this again. It's not my calling. Well, I don't know, it's changed a little bit, but what Goliath is in your path today.
The Apostle Paul could say for me to live as Christ and to die as Cain. There's a line drawn in that valley that day, and you and I draw lines, whether it be over doctrine, whether it be over principles, whether it be over the precepts that are found in the word of God.
Come to 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, it's clear, we all know it, it's no new theology, being out on the hill together, believer with unbeliever. Business, social, matrimonial, political. Did you know there's no evangelistic dating found in the Bible?
What is that anyway? I want to label it that, well, she's a very pretty lady, and I think that's the kind I'd like to marry. But she's not saved, but I am. Or he's the kind of, what do they call it, handsome man, or whatever, goofy fellows, you know what I mean.
And that's just the type I think I want to marry, so I got to get him saved. I'm going to start going together so I can get him saved. You've missed the whole point. You've begun on an ankle yoke. And it's dangerous ground.
I had coffee with a fellow, not in these parts, and I says, what are you doing? Well, he says, the Lord is nudging me along with this lady. I said, how could the Lord be nudging you along in a relationship that's contrary to the word of God?
Would you explain it to me? He fought back the tears. And two weeks later he called back and he says, I gave it up, John. I could see it was wrong. You know, it's possible to justify things, and yet we know inside our marrow that it's really not right.
Shame on me. There is a Goliath of temptation. The lust of the world, the pride of life. We cannot engage in a spiritual work and warfare with carnal methods. And the real you and me is when we're alone.
I heard a story about Polly the parrot. One of the Christians in Arizona has a parrot. I would get rid of it, it's so loud and noisy, but that's quite all right. But the family, and all the little ones, loved Polly the parrot.
And Polly was always in the cage. And one day the circumstances were the cage was open, and the house door was open, and Polly the parrot left. Flew away with the crows. All the children cried, the family tried to get it back, and then Polly comes back a while later.
Bandaged wing and bandaged feet. Polly, Polly, what happened? Bad company, bad company. Evil communications will always corrupt good manners. God gives you two feet, they're better than two fists. He says run, flee, resist the devil and he'll flee from you.
Evil communication will corrupt your manners. God tells us to stand and ask for the way, and ask for the old path, the good way. If you obey God, the blessing of the Lord makes rich, and it adds no sorrow there too.
I've got a scar on my left wrist. As they categorized me that way with social services for the draft, I fell on a glass milk bottle as a child, and the scar is still there. Beloved younger one, old one like me, no need for those scars.
No need for those heartaches. Self-inflicted wounds are very sad. Please, know when to run, know when to resist. The Goliath of moral integrity, you've been bought with a price. You're no longer your own.
Keep yourself pure. You'll be the odd duck at school. You'll be the odd one at the university. You'll be at the odd one in the company when you won't join with the company party and all that goes on. Keep yourself pure, because there's one that loves you.
Love me. And he gave himself for us on the cross at Calvary. Testimony is making God look great in the eyes of the world. And there's a Goliath of difficulty. What do you do? How do you handle it? I come over to Hebrews and it says, Consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be worried in your mind.
Read about the Apostle Paul. He never complained. Suffering, shipwreck, night and day in the deep, beaten, stolen, didn't deter him. Those weren't Goliaths that were going to stop the Apostle Paul in any way, shape or form.
And all that live godly in Christ Jesus, one way or another, many ways, will suffer persecution. Moses said the reproach of Christ is far better riches. And there's the Goliath of disappointment. You'll be disappointed someday.
That's part of life. Come to Psalm 42 and 43. Why am I cast down? Several times it occurs. He finally comes to the conclusion in Psalm 43, not chapter, Hope thou in God. He's pulling out of it. We're living in a day today of epidemic times.
I'm going to touch on a subject just for a moment or two that I've only touched one other time at one other conference. Tom Baker came up to me and he says, What did you speak on that for? I said, I was deeply burdened to.
We're in an epidemic today of people not wanting to live anymore and take their own life. In the morning, around the mile, around our houses, one of the neighbors was there and she said, How are you doing, John?
I said, I'm okay. She says, two weeks ago I was ready to take my life. My husband and all his paperwork after he passed away almost buried me. We have a dilemma today in this land and in Canada, I want to address it, of young ones taking their lives and 60 and up taking their lives.
I took this subject up and I won't tell you where. It was in Canada. I had five believers in assembly fellowship. Not too young. Tell me I was there, John. I've considered taking my life. Get help as you hear because he loves you and wants you to live for him.
And beloved one, when that crosses your path and you're with one that way, get help for them and don't leave them. And don't just say I'm going to pray. It's a major Goliath that's crossing our path in the land today, even amongst God's own amongst us.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Jonah wanted to die. Job, why didn't I die in my mother's womb? He wanted to shorten his life. Moses in Numbers, he said, would you kill me? Before you came forth from your mother's womb, he knew you.
And he loves you. And he will help you through that storm and guide you through that storm. So if the devil, I'll put it that way, is whispering in your mind, just put that switch off and think on something else.
There's a Goliath of disappointment. There's a Goliath of making shipwreck. I used to live near the Hudson River in New York. In the winter, now and then, an icebreaker would go. I always thought that was interesting.
I had to stay under the Suez Canal. A week or two ago, there was a large cargo ship that ran astray. Military men tell me that the research has been that their steering was overtaken by another's computer.
And the speed throttled up, and that's why it went astray. But God wants us to be careful that we don't make shipwreck. That we don't get too close to the rocks or too close to the edge, but we stay away and stay in the channel of God's Word for our preservation.
The will of God will never lead any of us contrary to the Word of God. Could I say that again, beloved younger ones? And can I say it to myself as an older one? The will of God in your life and my life and the assembly's life and all the ramifications will never go from the Word of God.
Never lead us astray. I was taking a tour when I was in Manitoba at one of the assemblies where we stayed and said, I want you to take you to the museum of the Mennonites. It's outside, okay, we'll walk around.
It's not really my thing, but I did it. So they had us in this little building they called their, you know, their old-fashioned church building that they moved in. And then he brought me to another one that was an old one that was brought in.
He said, what did you see that was different? I said they had benches in one where they were just a flat board. And the other one had benches with a backrest. He says, you wouldn't believe it. But when they wanted to put the backrest in, it was so worldly, it split the church in half.
Now we laugh about that, don't we? Let me just say, be careful this virus doesn't split the assemblies. Obey the Word of God. What's that mean? Obey the elders. They're your leaders. They're your guides.
They're accountable to God. Be careful that the vision doesn't come in, that the devil allows it over that which isn't even a scriptural issue. I said, so ridiculous, and then it hit me. I can be just as foolish, can't I?
It was split in half over two benches. Then there's the Goliath after great victories. David had that. No armor like Saul's, no weapon like that. But David was the one that defended him into a field. Saul and my son, know thou God of thy father and serve him.
What's the purpose of living this life? We're all going to be in heaven anyway, aren't we? We're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And we're going to give an account, not for sin, how we've lived, how we've served.
Judge not thy brother, set not thy brother at naught. We'll all stand before the judgment seat. We wait for his Son from heaven who raised us from the dead, even to deliver us from the wrath to come. In light of the judgment seat of Christ, it can help us make the proper choices.
This here and now goes by very quickly. When I was a teenager, I thought anybody that was 30 was ancient history. My thinking changed, I can tell you. But in light of the judgment seat of Christ, we're all going to give an account.
All victory is available. Those Goliaths are pretty small in light of the Lord Jesus. And pretty for all excuses in light of how he can deliver us and help us and sustain us and keep us. God's way is always the best way.
He says, be not dismayed. The Lord will be with thee. You'll fail thee not. I'm praying that at this conference, there might be a band of men and women, a band of brothers and sisters whose hearts are on fire for God, as willing to obey God and obey the Word of God.
You know, there's Goliaths today, even when it comes to the assembly. Well, maybe we need a new method. Maybe something else will work. God's way is the only way. God's assembly is the only place. His Word changes not.
Human reasoning and human advice will lead one astray from the principles and the Word of God. These Goliaths have been real in my life. And I trust that God will give you help. That when they come in our lives tomorrow, where the river meets the road and the shop and the job and the school and our affairs of life, that God will help us to cleave unto him and prove his faithfulness, perhaps in that day.
Well done, thou good and faithful servant.