Killing Your Goliath

I just heard from David Chibley and a lot of us are excited to believe every word, others hear it and process it well, it's probably partly true, a little exaggerated, but well-meaning. Others hear it and say, nah, just talk. Some of us say, nah, it's just talk, not that we doubt the person, but we've just never seen God move like that. And we become unbelieving believers. Now we've all heard hype and we've all heard false testimonies and we've all been exposed in one way or another to somebody dishonest or some kind of charlatan and we've gotten burned in different ways, how many know what I'm talking about? We've been taken advantage of, we've heard reports that weren't real, we've gotten to the place and it's not so, that's happened to all of us. But I want you to know that Jesus is building his church around the earth and that all of us who've been out around the world in ministry have met the very kind of people, is that so? Did you meet him in Africa, Bert? Did you meet him in Indonesia, Josh? Wherever you go, wherever God sends you, did you meet him in the inner city, David? God doing the impossible, God doing the impossible. I want you to recognize, I don't know exactly where we're going to end up in the meeting tonight, but I want you to recognize that in the midst of all the darkness and the junk that we see all around us, God, at this very hour, God is doing things that would startle us and stun us and amaze us and overwhelm us. And I want us here in worship to not just worship by rote, to not just give thanks by rote, but to believe God. So just together, we don't have to shout right now, but just thank him with all your heart that he is God. Just thank him from your own heart that he's God, that he's faithful, and you can shout if you want, but I'm not trying to work anything up. I just want us to express our appreciation to the Lord. Jesus, we thank you. We thank you that your word is true. We thank you, Jesus, for your faithfulness. Bless you, Lord. Tonight, Father, make a difference in our lives. Tonight, Father, speak to every heart. Tonight, Father, give us ears to hear. Give us wills that are receptive. Change us, God. Give us that spirit of wisdom and revelation that we can know you better. Father, help us not to deceive ourselves by being hearers only, but help us to be doers of your word and so blessed. Lord, those that are tired, those that have traveled distances, those that are under pressure, those that are in the midst of battle, every single one here, Father, may you move upon us in the power and might of your spirit. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. You can be seated. When you sit down, if you can move in a little bit, do so, and if there's room, don't squeeze so that you're uncomfortable, but if there's room, raise your hand. If there are any students that are still standing anywhere and you need to sit down, come and do so. I just want to announce something to you. When parents have a child, they make an announcement, a baby's been born. Well, we've got two natural children, two daughters, but every time I write a book and a book comes out, I feel like another child's been born. And last May, completely out of the blue, completely out of the blue, the Lord moved on me to write a book on holiness called Go and Sin No More, a call to holiness, and I wrote it over the summer last year and the intensity of the revival atmosphere and just got my hands on the first copy today. So just want to mention that tomorrow you'll be able to get it over in the church bookstore next door. There are a lot of other materials there that'll be a great blessing to you, so take advantage of those. All the proceeds that come through there just go right back into the work of ministry, but I wanted you to know that that was there. By the way, if you have no problem with sin and no battle with sin and no battle with the devil and you're never tempted, don't bother with the book, you don't need it. Everybody else, it'll probably help. Hallelujah. How many of you are here? Would you raise your hands? All right, if you're here, I want you to look right at me and say, I'm here. Okay, now I need your help tonight. Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why I need your help tonight. God's put something in my heart that I want to deliver to you, but my body somehow has got caught between several time zones, several climates, and I mean we went from heat to snow, we went from canceled flights in India, having to be a believer and a New York Jew at the same time and tell them, listen, I am getting back to the States one way or another, and you are getting me there politely, with a smile, with grace. But we were just over in India, over there for about six days. Before revival, I used to go for a month every year, and often Nancy, my wife, we'd go together, but because of the intensity of the revival and school schedule, I'll only go over there for six days, and I'm used to lots of different time zones and travel, but somehow, because of travel problems getting back from India, we had about 44 hours of travel to get back, went straight from Bombay to Louisville, Kentucky. You say, I didn't know there was a direct flight from Bombay to Louisville, Kentucky. There is not a direct flight, nor is there a direct flight from Visakhapatnam, where we started, to Louisville, Kentucky. So it was quite a few flights and quite a number of hours waiting, and then got straight into Louisville late Sunday night for the Awake America, in fact, went from the heat of India to the snow that had just come down in Kentucky that was on top of the cars, and we were there for the first day of Awake America, got moving wonderfully, tremendously powerful meetings there, and then came back in yesterday for the first day of our missions week at the school, and somehow, I'm used to getting right back on schedule, but somehow, the middle of last night, about 2.30 in the morning, I was awake and I tried to go to sleep earlier and get a good night's sleep. How many remember what a good night's sleep felt like? Remember that long time ago? You remember what that was like, a good night's sleep? I remember that. It's kind of nostalgic to think back to that. But I was determined to get fully on schedule, and somehow, middle of the night, was awakened, but I was awakened with a burden to pray and ended up being up from about 2.30 to 6 or 7 when I was able to fall back for a little bit and fall back to sleep for a bit, and I was trying in the midst of the day to just grab a few minutes to rest in the midst of the day, but the schedule ended up being intense, so if you don't let me know you're here, okay, periodically, I may just fall asleep in the middle of my own message. No, I won't do that. I wouldn't do that. Trust me, I wouldn't do that. That would be a terrible insult to me, and I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't—I couldn't live with myself if I treated myself like that. I do have to clarify one thing, though, before we start. Is that alright? I thought you were going to let me know you're here. Is that alright? Thank you, thank you. I want to clarify the item that Josh Peters was explaining was stolen and the Lord brought back to him. You may be wondering what that was. That's used in the harvest when you're harvesting lots of stuff, and just one—you know, the sickle is kind of—you know, it takes a lot of work, so he had a motorcycle, and he used that for farming, right, for farming. He had a motorcycle, and I just—I want to explain that in case you were wondering. I never heard of going to a restaurant for a buffet before I came here, and I never heard of a motorcycle before. Now, some of you never heard of a $5 bill until you went to New York, but that's—that's okay. I want you to turn with me to Luke chapter 11, and be prepared to move straight back to 1 Samuel chapter 17. While I was in prayer in the middle of the night, the Lord laid several themes on my heart, and during the day, I've just been going before God to find out exactly what he's wanted me to speak about. We just came from a place in the world that has had a sudden, unexpected rise in persecution. We know from the Word that persecution is promised to the righteous, amen, that Jesus pronounced blessings on those who were persecuted. In Matthew 5, we know that it says in 2 Timothy 3.12 that all who live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. We know in John 15, Jesus said, if they persecute me, they'll persecute you. We know he said in Matthew 10 that the servant's not above his master, and if they call the master of the house Beelzebub, the devil himself, what are they going to call the servants? But in India, there's been persecution through the years, and according to strong church tradition, Thomas, the apostle, was martyred in India. But recently, just in the last few months, there's been a sudden rise. It came almost out of the blue. The militant Hindu party, the BJP, has been pushing to really see India as a Hindu nation. Bear in mind, there are over 800 million Hindus in India. There has been a strong push. We preached in a place called Karamchedu about four or five years ago where the stage was taken over, and the instigators were folks from the BJP. We love them. We pray for them, but they took over the stage. It almost got to be a very violent scene. It was a wild night. And we would hear reports through the years of people being attacked and people being intimidated, here and there of believers being killed. But recently, there was just a sudden increase. And we were in India, and pastors had come from a number of different states in India in the midst of persecution. I'm saying this to lead into a message because I'm going to talk to you about Goliath tonight and the intimidating tactics of the devil and how to deal with Goliath. But somehow, Goliath began to raise his head in India. A pastor was there from Gujarat, and he explained how in September of last year, one of the pastors was beaten to death and then hung up from a tree. And that began suddenly a wave that went through that state. Christmas, they just tried to shut down services and shut down churches. Intimidation, fear. Many of you know what happened in January where the same state, an Australian missionary, been working in India for many years, Australian missionary with his two sons, two boys. They were spending the night in their van, their truck. Hindu mobs surrounded the van and burned them to death. I had read via e-mail some reports that spoke of 35 churches in that state being burned down, but a pastor from Gujarat said that there had been a thousand churches burned down. And he said that he would get a call every single day. Had a phone in his home. Many Indians don't. He did. We get a call every day, see your wife, see your family today. You're not going to see them tomorrow. This is the last day of your life. Someone calls you, that means they know who you are and they know where you live. Other pastors came from another state, worn down by the pressure, loving Jesus, going after God, but heavy pressure upon them. Strong man coming against them saying, we're going to get your mouth shut. Listen, just as God is moving all over the earth, I want you to understand, there are countries where the gospel has come in power in past years, and now there's a counterattack from hell, and there is a concerted effort to exterminate Christianity and Christians from certain countries. It's happening. While we were with these pastors, we received a report that on the last day that they were with us, that people were going from house to house in the villages where they lived with an idol that would just cost a couple of pennies. And saying to each of the people, will you buy this idol so you can have it in your home and be blessed by this idol, knowing that the Hindus would gladly welcome it, and it was very inexpensive, but that the Christians wouldn't, and it was their way of threatening Christians and marking them. If they refused to buy the idol, they were going to mark that family either for violence or for discrimination or intimidation or persecution of some kind. And in another church, just right before we were there, people came into the service with guns, told the Christians, if you don't burn your Bibles now, we'll start shooting. These are things that had been happening in recent weeks. I want you to understand that when we talk about the enemy, we're not talking about people. We're not talking about human beings being our enemies. We love them and pray for them. Even if they oppose us and stand against us and come against us as our enemies, we love them and pray for them. But I want you to understand, there is a powerful work of the devil in the earth today to try to intimidate and quiet down and stop the people of God from a forward march posture. I want you to understand that aside from persecution, aside from these overt ways of saying, if you don't burn your Bible, we're going to shoot you, I want you to know that the devil is at work to shut your mouth, to intimidate you, to drag you down, to say, you are going down. You are going to fall. You're not going to be healed. You're going to die. You're not going to see victory in your family. It's going to fall apart. You're not going to see your marriage come back together. It's going to end. You'll never make it for Jesus. You're going to die in your sins. The devil is out to intimidate and destroy you. Now, Jesus says something interesting here in Luke chapter 11, verse 21. He says, when a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. Now, this is in the context of Jesus driving out demons. Jesus is messing with the devil's kingdom. The advance of the kingdom of God means conflict. It means battle. It means war. It means opposition. If you don't want opposition, then don't follow Jesus. Jesus is talking about Satan here, pictured as a strong man. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. He's giving a general principle and applying it to the spiritual realm. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. Notice those words. He attacks him and he overpowers him. It's not passive. It's not just having a discussion and working things out and having kind of a chess match strategy. It is a frontal assault. It is an attack and there is more power on our side than on the enemy's side. And the enemy is overpowered by God's people. Now, let's go to 1 Samuel chapter 17 and look at some of the tactics of the devil. This passage has been on my heart lately and I spoke some from it in India as well. Goliath. Wouldn't you like to know what the name Goliath means? Wouldn't you be curious to know what's the meaning of the name Goliath? He's this intimidating giant and so on. And wouldn't you be glad to know that the one speaking to you studied for many years Near Eastern languages and literatures and ancient Semitics and this is my very field to tell you what this name is. And doesn't it work out just right tonight that here I am and here you are and you'd like to know what this name means? We don't know. We're not sure. We're not sure. Now, the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Soko in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Damim between Soko and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another with the valley between them. The Israelites and the Philistines were often having battles and in this life we will often have battles. It's just the way it is. You're not going to get around it. There's a devil who's trying to tempt us and oppose us. There's a world with its temptation and its pull. There's the flesh that has to be disciplined. There are misunderstandings that arise among believers. There's opposition to the gospel. There are going to be problems. You know, sometimes we just want everything to be perfect without any problem. I remember sometimes when the kids were younger in the house and we'd be having guests coming over and Nancy would be cleaning the whole house. And I remember her saying, you know, she just loved the day when there are no dishes in the sink. There's no garbage in any garbage can in the whole house. You know, there's nothing that's undone. Everything is just right but it never would last because no sooner you finish cleaning everything and then you have to throw that piece of garbage away into a garbage can and no sooner have you finished cleaning everything that you've got dishes to put in the sink and I don't want to depress you that are going back to that. I'm sorry. Enjoy the hotel while you're here, okay? But, you know, we'd like, I don't want battles. I don't want fights. I don't want hassles. I don't want misunderstandings. I don't want oppositions. I don't want temptations. It's part of this life. How many believe that's true? How many think that's a profound insight? What does it say in the Word? Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, goes about like a roaring lion seeking who he may divide. There's a battle. What does it say in Acts the 14th chapter? Paul's speaking to the believers there. He says, look, we've got to go through a lot of hardships to enter the kingdom. On our way into the kingdom of God, there are a lot of hardships. What did Jesus say? In this world, you're going to have tribulation. You're going to have trouble and pressure and difficulty. It's in this world. You're going to have bad drivers driving on the road. There are no bad drivers here, but I'm just saying you may have bad drivers driving. You may have a person in front. I'm talking about real suffering. You may have a person in front of you at fast food that can't make up their mind. You're going to have difficulties. You're a student here in the school of ministry. Some of you will have a roommate that snores. Some of you will be married to someone that snores. I'd like to soften the blow, but it's a fact. There are going to be problems. I'm talking about real hardship here. It's an amazing thing, but the flesh, human nature, finds it easier to do wrong than right. You know, why is it it's easier to gain weight than lose weight? Why is it it's easier to sleep in than to get up early? Why is it it's easier to have a bad attitude than a good attitude? Why is it we have to deal with a sweet tooth as opposed to a fruit tooth? Now, I want you to understand, I didn't plan on saying any of this. I mean, this is good anointed preaching. This is like straight from heaven, this stuff, because I wouldn't have the wisdom to just pull this out. The Israelites and the Philistines were having a battle. That was like normal life, okay? What I'm saying is just being in this world, okay? Normal life, there are battles, there are problems, there are difficulties. You've got to believe God for healing. You've got to press in for finances here. You've got to resist this temptation. You've got to get through this challenging time. You've got to deal with some real pressure and hardship and family struggles and so on. That's being a believer in a fallen world. God protects us, God heals us, God helps us, God delivers us, but we are not exempt from problems. That's normal life, but every so often in the midst of the normal battles, the devil sends along a Goliath. Something unusual, something intense, something overwhelming, something intimidating, something that seems to be impossible to overcome or deal with. A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was, according to the accounts, nine feet, nine inches tall. Everyone say, that's tall. Dear brother, would you just stand up for one moment? I just want to make a point here. How tall are you? Six, six, six, seven. You'd be like a midget next to Goliath. I was in an airport in Atlanta last year. We were sitting there in the airport. I was with my assistant, Scott, and our older daughter, Jennifer, was there. We were about to make a gate change, and Scott looks up and says, that's one big human being. And this guy came walking by, the largest human being I've ever seen. Turns out he's a professional wrestler, and he's like the biggest professional wrestler. And I thought, man, I got to go talk to this guy and witness to him, give him my track, my life testimony from LSD to PhD. He'll think that's really cute. So I caught up to him, stood next to him and said, just want to see if you're as big as they say you are. And this guy wasn't just tall. I mean, I don't know if he was seven feet or much over seven feet, and there are a lot of seven-footers out there, but he was hugely proportionate. I mean, he was not just tall. He wasn't tall and thin. He was huge, and he wasn't like 900 pounds of glob. This guy was huge. And we got on the shuttle train that goes through Atlanta in the airport, and I was standing right next to him, and Scott and Jennifer were just a few feet away. And I was standing there, and he had the track in his hand, and I talked to him a little bit, and he had to keep his head down on that train. Next time you're on that train flying through Atlanta. See, on a train flying through Atlanta, I mean, on a train in the airport as you're flying through Atlanta. I feel so much pressure on me. I'm so nervous. It's hard. It's hard. He had to keep his head down a little bit because he was so tall. And I asked Jen and Scott afterwards, I said, how did I look next to that guy? They said, you just looked like a little boy next to him. Listen, this guy, this giant that I met at the Atlanta airport would have looked smaller than a little boy next to Goliath. Do you understand that? Me next to this guy would have been nothing compared to this guy being next to Goliath. I'm talking about a huge, monstrous, ferocious, powerful human being. Those of you who have nightmares, maybe you'll dream about him tonight. That's not in my notes either. In fact, I don't have notes, so everything I say is not in my notes. But I'm right where I'm supposed to be at this moment. A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. This is ridiculously huge. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing 5,000 shekels. On his legs, he wore bronze greaves and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. Behind him was a shield bearer with a motorcycle. No, that's not in there. I just put that in. There must be somebody with a real traditional religious spirit tonight. The guy's just trying to crush that thing. His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod and its iron point weighed 600 shekels. According to the footnote here in the NIV, that is about 15 pounds. So, the point on the spear shaft weighed about 15 pounds and his shield bearer went ahead of him. That's the strangest part of the whole thing, that he has a shield bearer, but the shield bearer went ahead of him. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he's able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects. But if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us. Then the Philistine said, this day, I defy the ranks of Israel. Give me a man and let us fight each other. On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. They were ready for battle. They were ready to do war with the Philistines. They had done war before and they were ready to do war again. But this time, Goliath came out and they were dismayed and they were terrified. I want you to understand that one of the devil's chief weapons, one of the devil's chief ways of dealing with us is intimidation. The devil's always a big bully and he comes with a frontal challenge, a frontal assault. It can weaken your knees. It can make your stomach feel sick. It can cause you to sweat with fear. He comes with that frontal assault. You're not going to make it. Man, you felt full of courage. You felt full of power. You felt full of vigor. We're marching. We're the army of the Lord. Hallelujah, glory to God. Blow that shofar sound, the trumpet, glory to God. We're going to take the enemy. He's under our feet. He's under our feet. Jesus is Lord. We proclaim your name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Oh, my God. Oh, we're ready for battle. We're going to bind you, we loose you, we turn you out, we turn you in. I mean, even if the devil was trying to do what we were telling him, he wouldn't know what to do because we don't know what we're doing, but we use the words. We get all stirred up and we're all praying in other tongues. And hallelujah, glory to God. And the devil says, you're mine, Goliath. At that moment, at that moment, the sense of the presence of God can just leave. At that moment, all the assurances can...at that moment, all the promises can just leave. I mean, you're believing God. It's a life and death situation. You're praying for healing of cancer. You believe in God. God, you're faithful. You feel this witness. You feel this excitement. You're worshiping. There's this awesome sense of the spirit of God in the room. And the doctor just comes out, a very kind and supportive doctor. The doctor just comes out and says, we've just looked at the latest x-rays. We've done the latest test. It's spread throughout your whole system. Boom, faith just disappears. Where are the promises? Where is God? And there's the enemy saying. There is no God. It's not going to happen. Doesn't matter if you were just delivered 10 straight times, if you just received 10 straight miracles from God. The 11th time you hit a wall and the devil says, there is no God. It's not going to happen. You are in over your head. How many have ever heard that from the enemy? You go start a church. You go plant a church in a new area. God begins to move. You're all excited. Next thing you hear, this one's falling into sin. Next thing you hear, this one's spitting with a disease. Next thing you hear, this one's in a car wreck. Next thing you hear, the church is dividing and the devil says, you're in over your head, kid. You're not going to see God moving. You're not going to see victory. You're not going to see this thing happen. It's almost like the devil says, go ahead, have your fun, fight with the Philistines a little bit, and whenever I want, I can take you out. Oh, mighty student in the Browns Revival School of Ministry. Oh, praise God, I'm delivered from drugs. Oh, God, I'm delivered from Port Harvey. I'm delivered from this. I want to take a break for two days. I'll cut you down. You know I will. That's the way he comes, intimidating. And he comes that fear when it hits you is paralyzing. You're going to fall. You're going to sin. You could be worshiping God and the enemy will just attack you. You know, you think, oh, wow, what did I do to my neck? I've got this crick in my neck. Brain tumor, you're going to be dead in six months. It doesn't have to have any relation to reality whatsoever. That light, boom, it hits. You know, you've been living a holy and pure life and you walk past some X-rated video store just on your way home and the enemy says, you're going down. You're going to fall. You're going to become a slave to that. See, he hits, but he hits with a certain force, and that's a characteristic of Goliath. And I want you to see something. He comes with a challenge. He comes with a frontal assault, but look at this. You get a man, if he's able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects, but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us. I want you to see two things. Number one, it's a life and death struggle. It's a life and death struggle. If we overcome you, we're going to kill you. And that means your people will become our subjects. I remember before I was saved, late 60s, early 70s, there was a lot of anti-authority mentality in the schools. There were those student riots on the college campuses, and some of that kind of filtered through to our high school. And there was some new rule passed that you couldn't go out in the hallway without having a special pass to do it, and we thought this is too oppressive, too restrictive. It's gone too far. I was into drugs at that point. So we were going to have this protest. We were going to go on strike. I mean, everybody was doing that on the college campuses. We were going to do it on the high school. We were going to go on strike. It was in West Hempstead High School in Long Island, about 1970. We're going to go on strike. So we all meet. It must have been a good half of the student body. A lot of people. I'm sure at least a third, maybe a half or even more. We all gather in the front of the building, in the main foyer and hallways, and the bell rings for class, and we all just stand there. We're not going. We're not going. We had one gal there, a white girl, who was going with a black guy who was in the Black Panthers, and she raised her fist, the militant Black Panther thing. It was like, yeah, this is where it's at. And the assistant principal just came walking in, and he said, OK, that's it, everybody to class. Because I looked around, and I saw a lot of people that weren't druggies, and weren't rebels, and weren't into all this stuff, and I was surprised that they were there with us. And the assistant principal just said, OK, everybody to class, that's it. And because it was him, they just started to go. I couldn't believe it. What? And he just pulled a few of the ringleaders. You, you, you, you, you, in my office. Well, listen, before I was saved, I was not the kind of person that you would want your daughter to marry, unless you hated your daughter. I was somewhat of a jerk. So I yelled out, because I wasn't going to let this thing sit, I yelled out. If they go to his office, assistant principal, Mr. Stout, if they go to his office, we all go. Well, next thing we start piling in the office, and there are too many people. So we now have to go into the auditorium. So now we're in the auditorium, now there are more people piling in there. Do you know that we ended up getting our own wing of the school for 60 students? For the last two years of high school, the only formal classes that I had were band and orchestra. Every other class was, if you wanted to go, you could choose pass, fail, or, as one of the profs said, it was all first-name basis with all the instructors, if your education is to go on the field and get high, and you want an A for it, I'll give you an A. It was called student and faculty education, SAFE, because it was a learning experience for everybody. We had, you know, graffiti on the windows, the windows painted, these four rooms that we had, and right in the beginning of that, God saved me, and I had these hours and hours and hours every day. Those that know my testimony know I used to memorize 20 verses a day when I was in high school. I had time with this class schedule. I mean, I was diligent, and I did it in an hour every day, but I've seen that picture in my mind now, that same picture, forgive the illustration, but it's one that you'll remember. But that same picture, we're going to stand, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, we're not going to be moved, and the authority, in this case, it was a good authority that we were rebelling against, but in my picture here, it's the enemy. He just comes in, okay, that's it, oh, oh, oh, enough with your big talk, enough with your big boasts, enough with your big plans, let's just get, little kids go back to school. I'm a mighty warrior in Jesus, oh, the devil's under my feet. Okay, Tommy, bedtime, go to sleep. Okay, Mommy. You get the picture, you understand what I'm saying. Now, I want you to see something here. I want you to look at this. Verse 16, for 40 days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. Forty in the Scriptures is often a number of testing and trial, just as ten is often a number of testing and trial. So, it's a 40-day period. It's a long period, and Goliath is standing again, and Goliath is standing again, and Goliath is standing again. The call on your life will not be fulfilled. The blessing will not come. You're going down, you're going under, it's gonna end. You're losing your mind, but look at this. This would happen every day, I want you to see this. David ends up on the scene, he's the youngest of seven, just coming to bring some supplies to his brothers. He's too young to be out in the front lines. But the Israelites all gathered together. Every day, they gathered together. Look in verse 23, as David was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear, but look back up in the middle of verse 20, when David reached the camp, as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. You've got to see this picture. They're going to battle, shouting the war cry. It's been 40 days. Maybe this is the 20th day, right? Today, today, amen? Today, we're gonna do it. We're gonna take the land. We're gonna, who? We're gonna do it to the enemy. We've been praying. We've been fasting. We've been believing God. We've been quoting the Scriptures. We've been holding up. We've done warfare prayers. We've done prophetic praise. We've interceded. We've bowed. We've done it. Now, all right, let's raise the shout. Oh, that's the picture, the war cry, and Goliath comes out, and they run. Now, we laugh at this picture, but let me tell you, you do enough ministry. You get on the front lines enough. You throw yourself in in life and death situations enough. You're gonna take authority over the devil and break that thing over somebody's life and then get a call two hours later, they just tried to commit suicide. What? We drove that thing out. We broke it in Jesus' name. Praise God, all the pain left. I'm free. The pain left first time in years. I can, the pain's gone. I'm healed. Thank you, Jesus. You just finished praying and fasting and believing God. It's done, and the next thing, you get an emergency call, middle of the night, person screaming and howling in pain, having to be rushed off to emergency. That's how Goliath comes in. You go to a special meeting. You come here to the Brownsville Revival. You have hands laid on you. The power of God's all over you. Man, you know that you're free from sin. You go back to the hotel room. Next thing, you see yourself watching something you never watched before in your life. My God, what happened? Goliath says, you're no match for me. See, I didn't mind. This is what Goliath says. I didn't mind when you were just minding your own business, when you weren't trying to be aggressive. I didn't care, but now you're trying to fight. I'm going to put you in your place, little boy, little girl. See, before you were praying and fasting and going after God, before you were in the school of ministry, before you're getting ready to graduate, anyway, before you're a fixin' to go to the mission field, before you gave yourself to early morning prayer, before you started to take these things seriously, before you started to be a threat to the devil, he didn't care. Your passivity didn't threaten him. Your lukewarm Christianity, my lethargic Christianity didn't bother the devil. Suddenly, we start to get stirred. Suddenly, we start to awaken. Suddenly, we start to say, enough is enough. I'm going after God. And we make some progress until Goliath walks in. If you'd be honest, you'd see that you fall in the same way in similar places at similar times on a regular basis. If you keep messing up, you'll see it's the same stuff over and over and over again. I've used this illustration because it's so simple. But when I was in junior high school, so somewhere around seventh, eighth grade, I was one of the bigger, taller guys in the class. And we had this little run where we were playing a lot of tackle football. We got some pads and helmets. And we were just playing. We didn't have a league, but just playing. And I remember, I'd be running to make a tackle. Next thing, I'd fall over. And I'd be standing on the line, and the runner's coming at me. I'm ready to get him. Next thing, I'd fall over. As soon as somebody blocked me, I went down. So what's the matter? I'm bigger and stronger than most of these guys. I keep going right down. And then I heard one of the guys talking to a friend. He said, you just hit Brown in the knees. He'll go right down. For whatever reason, one of my knees had just been weak with some bone structure. And if you just hit me in the right place, it knocked me over. That's what some of us are always saying. Doing fine, doing fine, doing fine. Devil says, OK, watch this. There you go. Oh, you're holy. You're righteous. You're doing good. Start to get in a relationship. Next thing, you're almost fornicating. What happened? Devil said, you're not holy. You have no discipline. It's just I've been easy on you. Anybody know what I'm talking? Am I speaking to anybody who can relate to this? Goliath gives a challenge. We were in India. And knowing I'd be ministering to these pastors and leaving there and coming back, we've had a few situations that were life-threatening. And in them, we were aggressive and stood. In fact, got even more aggressive than wisdom would have told you to and took our life in our hands. I knew I've done that several occasions. And I know my spiritual instinct is to attack and not to retreat. But come on, let's be honest. I'm an American. I'm going to preach, talk about persecution, talk about being strong, get on the plane, and come home. My wife and I were talking. Nancy and I were talking. And she said, it's easy for you to say the words because you're just going to leave. I said, you're right for that exact reason. It's not easy for me to say these words. I'm going to have to pray about every word. I'm going to have to meditate on it and ask, am I living this? Do I have a right to encourage and challenge these? Can I say it? I told these brothers the very first day. I mean, they'd come, some of them, two, three-day train rides at great distances. They're going to be with us for five days. Some of them had a couple of belongings with them. Others just the clothes they wore. Some of them, that's all they owned was the clothes they wore. And I saw them as we were driving up to the first day of meetings. And they had just arrived from the train. And they'd taken the bus. And now they were coming in. And I saw about 40 of these men walking, some of them with a few briefcases, a little belongings, and a little suitcase. And others just walking along, mainly men, some women. I saw them. And I started crying. I said, God, I'm not worthy to minister to these men. I'm not worthy. But as we spent day after day together, and our hearts were knit together, as we literally washed their feet, as we wept and sobbed in one another's shoulders, and some of our team, our clothes were soaked with their tears, as we hugged and wept in one another's arms, they had come, many of them, under pressure. You ever been severely beaten for the gospel? I had someone spit in my face, threatened to strangle me. We had a stage surrounded by people with knives and razor blades and saw that I wasn't cut up. I wasn't beaten. Wasn't in prison for the gospel. What's it feel like to be severely beaten, your back broken? What's it feel like to be thrown in a prison? The conditions must be utterly horrific. You leave your family behind. Who's going to provide for them? Just quiet down. Just use a little more wisdom and compromise with us. Just back down a little, and everything will be all right. Goliath comes, always uses force, always tries to intimidate. And God began to speak words, not just of comfort, but words of encouragement, and then words of challenge, and words of equipping. Go after it. Stand strong. By the end of those meetings, they were praising God for the BJP, the BJP are our friends. They help us preach the gospel. But you feel the pressure and the weight. I remember I brought a message, not this exact word, but talking about Goliath. We had two translations. The message had to be very concise. An hour's worth, you're only speaking 20 minutes. And I was talking about he can hit in unexpected ways. And some of you, listen to me, some of you that have messed up over the years, some of you that have started well and then fallen back, some of you that have believed and the thing didn't work out, or the person died, or the illness wasn't healed. Some of you are spiritually held hostage. It's like, I'm gonna follow Jesus. Listen to me, you're not under persecution. No one's saying if you preach, you'll be put in prison. But listen, some of you are being held hostage by the devil, because when you really went after it, you messed up. When you really believed, when you really took a step, you got burned. When you really thought you were hearing God, you found out you were deceived. When you really were gonna believe for the financial miracle, it didn't happen. When you really knew that person was gonna make it and be healed, they died, and you've retreated. You still love Jesus, you still believe, but you're kind of playing it safe. You don't even realize it. The zeal, the passion, that faith, just go, knock out the enemy. You don't, you just kind of stay back now. Try to use a little caution. Held hostage. Held hostage. Listen to me. I got back to the place where I was staying after speaking. They wanted me to stay in a hotel where I could get rest each day. I got back to the hotel, just gotten finished preaching about Goliath. I had spoken to my wife the day before, and she had been in terrible pain. Gone to the doctor. We were trying to find out what's going on, praying the thing hadn't broken yet. She was in terrible pain, could barely walk. I come into the hotel, I get my key, and they hand me a note. Nancy called. That's my wife. That's my wonderful wife. Sunday was her 23rd wedding anniversary. I get this note. It's a little piece of paper. It's not nine feet, nine inches tall. Massive. It was a piece of paper with a nice note. Nancy called. There's anyone in the world I wanted to talk to, anyone that I wanted to hear from. Nancy, my wife. And I got that, and this thing hit me. She's sick. It's bad. She went to the doctor and got a bad report. I remember, no, sir, I talk about Goliath. I'm sitting with a piece of paper in my hand. Nancy called. And this thing just comes all over me. This fear tries to just grip me. Isn't that amazing? I just ignored it. Just ignored it. Called her, chatted. There's absolutely nothing, too. In fact, she was feeling better that day. Sometimes the devil says, oh, yeah, you're a big talker. I saw you in church. Oh, you're full of the spirit. Yeah, I was watching that. I'm just going to give you one other illustration and then move on, finish this thing. But I was ministering in Sicily and Italy in 1989. And we had this wonderful move. This tent, the missionaries used a good-sized tent. It was totally packed with people. And they had to open the side flaps for the overflow crowd on the outside. People were weeping and getting right with God. And we were just having these wonderful meetings. The Holy Spirit was falling. The gifts of the Spirit were being manifest. And I was going to lead that team and then fly to Portugal and get picked up and be driven about six hours to the location we're going to be, get in about midnight and have to minister. And I was told that the team in Portugal was in a real tough area. Almost nobody's coming to the meetings. It's the rainy season. It's muddy. Everybody's kind of discouraged. And I remember, as I was preaching in Sicily, and man, we were having great meetings and God was moving. And I love Italian food. The food was great, too. You know, the camaraderie of the believers, the fellowship was great and all that. And victory in the camp and people getting delivered. The power of God coming down. And I said, you know, I'm on my way now. It's just going to be a few days. That's it. I'm not going to have to live there. I'm on my way over to Portugal. And I'm going to be with the team there. And I know they're going through a tough time. But you know, I love a challenge. I said those words. I love a challenge. I remember I got into the airport after one of those endless days of travel. Sometimes you do overseas in a six-hour drive to the campsite. And of course, the people don't speak English and I don't speak Portuguese. And we arrived there and I'm in this little trailer. I mean, I can't stand up straight because the size of it. I can't lay down fully across anything because the bed's too small, you know, the little bunk thing that I was supposed to sleep in. And in the middle of the night, if you've... or any time, it doesn't matter, middle of the night or day, you know, there's not bathrooms in there. There's these little toilet things, just kind of like a bucket and you stand over. I mean, just I'm talking about not pleasant and it's rainy and it's wet and it's muddy. So, you know, your time's off. What time is it? You know, you got to get out in the mud and the rain in the middle of the night. Remember we had the first day's meeting and almost nobody came in, like 80 people. I prayed for a blind guy. This is one of those defiant things. Not he wasn't defiant. You lay hands on him and just, you know, they're just staring at those blind eyes right at you. In Jesus' name, nothing. You know, almost no response to the message and go back in the mud. Now, look, they had to live there. I'm just passing through. They're the ones that had the real struggle. God bless them for their tenacity. But I remember in the middle of the night, getting up in the rain, walking through the mud to go to this little tin outhouse, just feeling miserable, hungry, alone. And I remember I hear the words playing back in my mind from Sicily. I'm going to Portugal. I know it's like that, but I love a challenge. And I heard those words and I said to myself, you're a big talker, aren't you? Oh, yeah, you love to talk. And I took it and I said, I love a challenge. That was just a three-day challenge. Some of us have three-year or 30-year challenges. Some of us are married to challenges. Thank God I'm not, but some of you might be. I mean, some are long challenges. But see, Goliath will come just like that. Oh, yeah, big planner, big talker, big visionary, let's see it. Challenges the ranks of Israel and they crumble in fear. I want you to realize something. This struck me in India. It takes a Goliath to bring out the Davids in a generation. See, David was there. He was a shepherd boy and he was known to Saul on a certain level, but it takes the Goliaths standing there, attacking, intimidating, threatening, causing everybody to run and crumble and buckle. It takes the Goliath to bring the Davids up to the surface. And David hears about this whole thing. I read a quote from Jewish evangelist, Lewis Kaplan. He said, King Saul thought Goliath was too big to fight. David thought he was too big to miss. So David finds out what's going on and he tells Saul, look, let me fight this guy. Saul says, you're not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him. Verse 33, you're only a boy and he's been a fighting man from his youth. You can't possibly do it. The wisdom of the elders. Now, often, the elders have the wisdom that we need. To many of you, I'm an elder and there are many here that are elders to me. And we need to listen to the counsel and wisdom of the elders, but sometimes it's just a counsel of unbelief. It can be youth giving it. It can be elders giving it, but it's that counsel of unbelief. You can't do it. We've been there and it doesn't work. We've been to Brownsville 99 times and nothing's broken out in our city. It's a tough region. We've had every missionary team come to her and nothing's happened. We've had every person, every...we've had every healing evangelist in the country pray for her and she hasn't gotten better. Pour in cold water on the hot fire of faith in your heart as you're rising up like David. It's an interesting thing. We've got some folks here. We've got students. We've got some faculty here. We've got some special guests that know the word. But I don't think anybody up here on this platform, unless you intentionally studied, to answer this. I don't think anybody on this platform here, we've got visiting pastors, I don't think anybody here can name the 10 spies that said, we can't take the land. Can you name the 10 spies that told Moses and the Israelites, we cannot take the land? Can you? Can you name one of them? No, no, no. Not the good guys, the bad guys. Who are the two good guys? Everybody knows Joshua. Everybody knows the ones that said, we can take the land. The ones that said, we can't. You forget their names. Let me ask you a question. I asked this when I first got to the revival a few years ago. I haven't asked it around here for a long time. How many of you appreciate and love and read the works of Bishop George Lavington? Nobody? You don't know who Bishop George Lavington was? How about Reverend Alexander Garden or Director John Kirkby? Household names? Who were they? They were the men that said the Methodist revival is from the pit. It's the devil. It's blasphemous. It's satanic seduction. Stay away from the method. You forget the names of those that opposed the move. You forget the names of the ones that said, you can't take Goliath. You forget the names of the one that said, it can't happen. And you remember the names of the one that bring Goliath down. You remember the names of the one that said, we can take the land because the Lord's with us. I don't want to be one of those whose names is forgotten because I said, well, we couldn't do it. We couldn't take the land. We couldn't defeat the enemy. We couldn't heal the sick. We couldn't drive out demons. We couldn't fulfill the Great Commission. We couldn't see a holy bride. It's never going to happen. It's never happened before. I don't want to be one of those. I want to be one that says, we can take the land because the Lord, our God, is with us. I don't care who's fallen. I don't care who's gone down. I don't care who's messed up. I don't care who's died. I don't care who's fallen short. I don't care what calamity's come, what tragedy's come. We're going to take the land because the Lord, our God, is with us. Period. And Jesus gives us a great word of comfort in the midst of it, a great word of encouragement for the fainthearted. I'll paraphrase it. He says, you've got nothing to fear whatsoever because the worst the devil can do is kill you. Like one of these dear brothers said in India, he said, why die a natural death when we can be martyrs for Jesus? That's his attitude. He said, they're coming with this. They're coming with this. They're threatening me. And he just looked with a smile, with his chest out. He said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Devil can't stop that. You can't go out. Be realistic. You know how many times the enemy's come and put that pressure on us here in the revival? It's not going to last. It's not going to happen. It's going to fall apart. You know when that pressure came? We just had a wave of things happen recently. There was a wave of things that happened in the fall of 97. Our pastor, John Kilpatrick, doing some work over the house that they were building, fell about 20 feet, terrible accident. Broken ribs, pelvis fractured in four places, serious accident, serious fall. That same day, there were people visiting from a ministry in England, car wreck. They're in the same hospital, similar injuries, not so severe. Same day, dear student driving back from out of state, falls asleep at the wheel, runs off the side of the road into an 18-wheeler, little boy in the front seat, instantly killed. I remember the enemy just coming right at us. And right about that same time, the local newspaper, God blessed them dearly. God caused them to be everything he wants them to be. Came out with slanderous, libelous charges against the revival. You see, it's really hurt us and stopped us and slowed us down. And the enemy was right there. I remember the pressure he's putting on us with the school. I'm taking you down. You felt it? I'd stand up and speak by faith and make declaration in Jesus' name and just feel the breath of the enemy, said, it's not going to happen. I don't know how many times the leader Shapiro, my precious brothers, have stood up in the same way. Terry Robertson, a military man, stood up the same way, not giving a hint of the pressure he's under or all the junk he just went through during the day in the church. Steve getting up to preach, not a hint of, you know, you get up sick and feverish and all that, and the enemy's saying, it's not going to happen, God, it's not going to work. Nobody's going to respond. I remember one night Steve gave an altar call and there was a momentary pause before the response, just a momentary pause. And you know what? That split second, I heard the voice of the enemy. I don't hear the devil a lot in that sense, but I knew it was in my own mind. I heard the voice of the enemy. At that, we just had two awesome nights the night before, massive altar calls and powerful moves of God. And Steve gave an altar call, and there was a split-second pause because normally people just come in still. There was a split-second pause, and that split-second, I heard the voice of the enemy, the revival's over. How many hundreds of servants ago that was? The revival's over. Saul says, David, be realistic. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. David said to Saul, your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off his sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it, and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. Saul said to David, go and the Lord be with you. Just going to take a couple more minutes, but listen. The experiences you have had in God are real and undeniable. The touch that's been on your life, if God healed you today and you prayed the next day for another person and they were not healed, that does not take away for one split second the reality of the healing that you did experience. The fact that you were delivered, the fact that you were enslaved, enslaved. Some of you, you don't even remember the slavery that you were in, the bondage that you were in, how desperately you wanted to be free from some terrible, debasing, embarrassing thing. You so much wanted to be free and now you can't even relate to being tempted there anymore, you're so free. I want you to know that what you've experienced in God and the Spirit upon you and the anointing upon you, it's not some fantasy, it's not just some little hyped up thing, it's not some little charismatic or Pentecostal game. If you have had an experience of God, it has been real and it will prove itself out in reality. I can't tell you how many places, just my own limited little experience, how many hundreds of messages have been preached in other parts of the world and other settings and each one of the devil says, it's not going to happen here. Virtually every, for years, virtually every time I would stand to speak, right as I stood to bring the message, this thought would just hit me and try to impact me. Tonight's going to be the night you're embarrassed because God's not going to move. Just in one ear, out the other, just like tonight, in one ear, out the other. In one ear, out the other. The enemies have worked other places, it's not going to work here. There's a stronghold here. We send folks out to Erie and John, it's not going to happen in tribal Erie and John. The power's not going to come down there. Did the power come down there? Power of God came down. If you've experienced God, listen to me, don't let the devil rob you. That's why testimonies are so important. That's why journaling things is so important. That's why hearing what God's done is so important. It encourages your own heart and soul. You remind yourself of the goodness and blessing of God. That's why the psalmist prays God. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all my inward parts, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and don't forget all his benefits. Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with love and kindness and tenderness. Don't forget the benefits of God. Don't forget the goodness. Don't forget what he's done. Don't lose sight of it. Don't let unbelief come and swallow it out. Same God who delivered me from the lion, same God who delivered me from the bear, same God who set me free from drugs, same God who healed my body, same God. He's going to take the life now. So here's the key. If I was 70 or 80 years old, I would say herein lies the key. David realized that Goliath was attacking God. You got to get this perspective. You must see this properly. I think it's the most absurd, stupid. It's not arrogant. It's absurd, stupid, utterly deceived thought that there's like a big man of God, big woman of God. Oh, he's really powerful. She's really powerful. Look at these little worms here. And then you just step back. He's got a big ministry. Come on, 99.9% of all the people on the earth never even heard of this individual. And if God didn't give them breath, they wouldn't get out of bed. If God just went, boop, to their back, they'd go, oh, big man of God, powerful. Oh, she's really anointed. Okay, fine. Put her in a room without food and water with fleas all over for three days and let's see the mighty power. Come on. We're sustained by the grace of God. There's no big, very, very powerful man of God. I'll go to some countries where the leaders are over-exalted, you know what I mean, almost adored. You know what I'll do to lower myself there? I can say this as a drummer, but in my opinion, like piano is probably... If you're a minister of the gospel, a preacher, you can probably play piano and that's okay. But drums is really low. You know, I think it's like piano, guitar, bass, drums, and then probably congas and bongos, either that's exotic or lowest of all. I'm not quite sure where that fits. But I get to some of these places and like, oh, Reverend Brown, Dr. Brown. At the end of the service, I go and play the drums with the band. It's like, you're playing drums with the band? I want to break any possible image. This big man, I want to live holy, I want to be pure, I want to be everything you think I am in God in terms of a leader that's set apart to Jesus and lives what I preach and so on and knows God and experiences the grace and goodness of God and has something to offer you and I hope you live the same way. He's a big, mighty man with a powerful ministry. A powerful ministry. Let's just stop giving him money for a month and see how powerful it is. I mean, we're dependent, you understand? We're not so big. Get up in the plane and look down at the mighty man of God. You can't even see him. He's disappeared. And the people that are really used by God, they're just regular people. You know, you meet them and they're sold out and they're separated and they love Jesus, but you see, they don't think so highly of themselves. They're just in love with Jesus and sold out to God and do it his will. But see, here's the picture. Here's Goliath, a huge, big, massive Goliath. He's not fighting me. He's not fighting you. See, when God just kind of appears on the scene, if God just said from heaven, what's your name, boy? Goliath would die of a heart attack. If God...I mean, some of us were really anointed, you know, I've had this happen. You know, you may have had it happen praying for someone. You just go to, you know, walk past somebody from behind. You put your hand on their shoulder to move them out of the way and then crumble into the power of God. And you think, whoa, I feel fine, so. But, you know, if the Lord just kind of...if I said, Goliath, hey, just winked at him, the tremors of the wink of God could blow up the entire universe in a...just like that. I was praying one time and just had this thought, oh, God, oh, God. Just, I don't think about seeing angels and demons and having all kinds of visions, but I had this thought one time just, what if God just appeared? What if an angel of the Lord just appeared? I was praying at night. I was on my face because our daughters were little and our younger daughter, just real skinny little legs, but she was real little and she'd come down the steps in her nightgown and just wanted to ask me something. I'm on my face praying, oh, God, and thinking, what if I had an encounter with God? What if I saw the angel of the Lord? And I look up and there's tiny little ankles, oh, oh. What if it's God? You know, people say, oh, I saw Jesus. He kind of came in and we sat down like chatting. You didn't see Jesus like that. Maybe a one trillionth, you know, revelation of a little peek, but if you saw, if he came in in glory, boom, you're out. You know, he says, come on, get up off your feet. I'm dead, Lord, I got to get up off my feet. He says, I'm speechless, I'm stunned, I'm overcome, I'm overwhelmed. You know, Goliath, standing there. Here's God, just picture, you know, creator of the universe. Heaven is my throne, the earth is his footstool. Let's just picture him as if he was that size physically. The earth is his footstool. You can't find Goliath. Take 10 million Goliaths and stack them up, you can't even find them. Here's God, just, oops, sorry, crushed them all. Sorry. You got to get the right picture of this whole thing. You know, this is really the Lord. I've never used any of these illustrations. I mean, it's just flowing, it's just flowing. There was a little pastor, a little white guy, kind of, he was a real runt of a guy. He self-described himself like that, I mean, self-described himself. Forgive the English, but it's getting late. He was ministering in an inner city in a real tough area. He happened to be the only white guy in that area. He made some good friends, but he had some enemies as well. And to break his fear, he would walk through the city at night alone just to break his fear because he was so terrified of walking through the day. He just had to break his fear. And one night, one day he went outside and there were these two African-American and two black men had a fight. And one guy started to pound the other guy, pound the other guy, sort of really, I mean, really hurting him. And the other guy was out. So this little pastor, this guy, Larry, just comes out. He says, come on, man, what are you doing? You beat him, you beat him already. Come on, don't kill the guy, just let him go. And this guy, big guy, just turns on him, this arrogant little white guy. Once he, you know, he turns and he's now ready to take this little dude out. He's going to do it, true story, ready to take him out. And suddenly he's like, oh, he's getting big like saucers and he takes off. And this little guy's thinking, angels of the Lord, probably angel of the sword, you're a powerful angel. What he... Well, it was two next-door neighbors, they were like six foot six each and they were friends of this little guy. And they'd come out with two by fours and they stood behind him. Here's David, David's handsome young guy, but just a kid, just a teenager, maybe, you know, strong kid, just a little guy going out against Goliath. I mean, the way that this must have sounded to Goliath is, yeah, one time, there was like this bear and I killed the bear, it was like a big... No, no, no, he was alive, he was like a teddy bear. He was like, he even had some teeth, he even had some teeth. And I killed him. There was a lot of... It was a lion, I killed a lion. See, if you would learn the Hebrew the way I did, you'd get these insights, you'd just like roll off the pages, actually. You know, Saul tries to put his armor on him, you can't fight the battle somebody else's way, take all the counsel, wisdom, learn everything you can, but you got to fight Goliath the way God tells you to fight Goliath. So, he says, look, I can't wear your armor and fight this guy. So, he goes, and look at what it says, he's just got a shepherd's bag with five smooth stones in it, slinging his hand, and he approaches the fellow, saying, he doesn't have a sword, he doesn't have a shield, but he doesn't have anything, just a little guy, no armor, no nothing. I killed that bear, I killed that bear, real good. He looked David over, look at this, verse 42, and saw he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. It was actually insulted by him. I tell you, this is going to be one of the best-selling tapes in the history of the revival, I can just tell. Maybe we should call it, Cutting Goliath Down to Size. I've been waiting for the inspirational title to hit. Philistine despised, Goliath despised, and she said to David, am I a dog that you'd come at me with sticks? The Philistine cursed David by his God. See, that's really what it comes down to. Who's more powerful, Satan or Jesus? That's what it comes down to. Who's the one with the power and the might, who rules, who reigns? Who's the creator, and who's the created one? Who holds everything together by his powerful word, and who's going to be cast into hell forever by that same powerful word? Come here, and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. David said to the Philistine, you come against me with... No, we won't read it like that. We won't read it like that. We won't, because David's full of the spirit. I just wanted to remind you, though, that it's David. It's this little guy, David. I want you to remember this. It's this little guy, David, with a big God. You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day, the Lord will say, I'm not putting my confidence in me. It's the Lord who delivered me from that bear, and it was a bear. The Lord who delivered me from that lion, and it was a lion. Same God that did it is going to deliver you, buddy. It doesn't matter how big the enemy is. It doesn't matter how... If fighting against God, it doesn't matter if it's all the armies in the air. It says in Psalm 2 in the nation sentence, cast his yoke off, and he who sits in heaven laughs. Go ahead and do it. This day, the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. You're going to get him, get him. You're going to deal with Goliath, decapitate him. Don't just say, okay, I hurt you there, I showed you. No, kill him. Drive that thing back and put it down. Oh, there may be other Goliaths you face later on, but when you fight that one Goliath that one time, kill him. Today, I'll give the carcasses of the Philistines' army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord says, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands. And as the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Attack and overcome. Attack and overcome. You who are held hostage to past defeats, you who are held hostage to past failures, you who are held hostage to present fears based on historic lies, you need to move forward and attack. You need to break out. You need to say, enough is enough. Enough being a slave, enough holding back, enough not believing, enough being discouraged, enough making excuses. I don't care if I run into Goliath and he smashes me down. I'm getting up and I'm taking him down. You know, you have some examples in Scripture where the Israelites were told to go to battle, and they went to battle and lost the fight. And they went back to God, and there was no sin in their midst. They went back to God. He says, now do this, and then they won. Well, just first battle, second battle, second hit, boom, it's going to come down. And just when that tree's ready to fall, the devil's saying, you're not hurting me. You're not moving me. Why don't you give up? He's saying, why don't you give up? Because one more shot and that thing's coming down. These believers in India, they were dancing and celebrating before God. I felt the Spirit of God moving in those meetings more powerfully than any other time I've ever been in India. More victory, more excitement, more faith, more fervor, more commitment, more dedication, more willingness to go, but no fear. They just marched out. It was like, man, you sent a little persecution devil. You don't know what you stirred up. You don't know what you provoked. You just raised up a whole bunch of Davids. These men were effective. They were being used for God, but now they're going to be warriors. David ran through the stone, took Goliath out, took his own sword, chopped his head off. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone. Without a sword in his hand, he struck down the Philistine and killed them. And when the Philistine saw their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Listen, the devil has hurt some people here. The devil has wounded some people here. The devil has stolen things. Some things stolen from you that you cannot get back in this world. But I still say his bark is worse than his bite. I still say his threat is worse than the reality. I still say when he's hit you with the absolute best he can hit you with, if you're following Jesus, you look at him and say, that's all you got to offer? That's the worst you can do? Because I'm still praising God, and I'm still worshiping God, and I still got breath, and I'm going to cause you trouble the rest of my life. Everybody stand to your feet. Those with chairs in the front, move, and nobody else. Move, please. Move these chairs to the left and right. Everybody listen to me. The vast majority of people here tonight would say, I'm a believer. I know the Lord. Some of you here don't know him. Some of you are confused. Some of you have Goliaths in your life of sin. Some of you have Goliaths in your life of fear. Some of you have never surrendered your life to Jesus. You don't even need a Goliath. You're a slave to the devil as is. Jesus is here to set you free. I want you to understand something. No matter what the sin, no matter what the attack, no matter what the bondage, no matter what the problem, Jesus paid for it. The blood of Jesus cleanses us, washes us, sets us free. When he was in the grave, the enemy would have done everything in his power to keep him in the grave, but Scripture says death could not hold him. The power of the Spirit raised him up, and he was set high, far above all authority, all power, every name that can be named, every Goliath that exists. He sits infinitely above it. It says, all authority in heaven and earth is mine. Now, go. I want to declare to you that if you will surrender your life to God and say, no more playing games, Jesus, I want to live for you. Wash me, cleanse me, set me free. You put your faith and trust in him, he will do it. He will touch you. He will set you free. I want you to know whatever you are bound by, whatever you are enslaved to, whatever the battle is, whatever the lie is, I tell you the power of God is here tonight to set you free. I tell you, it's time that we put Goliath under our feet. It's time that we make a declaration, not just words. We've said it over and over and over, but not just words, a declaration, not by might nor by power, but by God's Spirit. It's time we tell the devil, enough is enough. Enough is enough. In a moment, I'm going to give a call. We're going to have a powerful time here in a little while before the Lord. I'm going to give a call in one moment. If you've never surrendered your life to Jesus here in the Family Life Center or at home watching this video, if you've never surrendered your life to Jesus, right now is your opportunity to have every sin, every dark deed, every embarrassing thing, every rebellious thought, act, everything you should have done that you didn't do, everything you did do that you shouldn't have, everything wiped clean in a moment of time as you put your faith in Jesus and it'll give you a brand new heart and you live for God. Don't let anything stop you. Don't let peer pressure stop you. Don't let church affiliation stop you. Don't let wondering about the future stop you. The door is open. It's going to be closed one day and it'll be too late, but the door is open. You may never have another chance after now, but the door is open right now. Everyone here who's bound by sin, everyone who's a slave to shameful things, everyone who's under the attack of the enemy and you can't seem to get free, tonight you're going to come to this altar. Some of you are coming asking God for forgiveness because they're sinned. Others are coming saying, God, help me. I'm pulled down by this fear. How do I break out? And everyone who realizes that you've been passive or you've held back or you've not taken the stand that you should have taken, you're intimidated by fear, you're intimidated by someone else's failure, you're intimidated by the lies, whatever it was, something's held you back. You haven't been willing to step out, haven't been willing to get out of the boat and walk on the water. I'm not talking about get off your medicine and make God heal you. I'm not talking about doing something foolish. I'm talking about obeying God and stepping out and making your life effective. Some of you here have been held hostage. You know who I'm talking to. When I give this call, all those that I just spoke to, those here that don't know Jesus, those here that are bound by sin, those here that are bound by fears of the enemy, those here who are held hostage to Goliath or there's a huge Goliath facing you down right now. Some of you messed up a little and the devil said, that was easy for me. I'm going to take you down fully the next time. And you're under that weight and you're paralyzed by it. Tonight's the night to get set free. This is a call for those that are in sin that need to repent. This is a call for those that are in the midst of a battle and need the power to set you free. I'm going to pray and then everyone that this is speaking to, you're going to come and then we're all going to join together and pull down Goliath in Jesus' name. Father, I thank you for your power. I thank you for the life of your spirit. I thank you that it's not in our grace, our wisdom, our ability, our enabling, our strength, but by your power that we pull down Goliath. And in Jesus' name, I declare him. I declare these lies defeated in our midst. And I pray God for a spirit of liberty. I proclaim liberty to every captive. I proclaim liberty to every captive. In Jesus' name, if God's speaking to you, come down right now. Come down right now. Come on, if God's speaking to you, come down. Get on your knees before God. If you don't know him, say, God, come in my life. Tonight, save me. If you're a drug addict, if you're a slave to pornography, if you're bound by fear, if there's some tormenting sickness and the enemy says it's over for you, whoever you are, come down right now. Come on, come down right now. Humble yourself before the Lord. Jesus, come on, mighty one, mighty one. For every life here, there's a different story. Come on, if you're coming in the Family Life Center, come on. Just begin to play, Charlie. Jesus, Jesus, mighty one, mighty one, mighty one, Jesus, Jesus. If you're coming, come on. Jesus. We're going to be quiet for a bit, then we're going to be loud and aggressive. Right now, if there's sin, be honest with God. Say, God, I've sinned, I'm guilty. Come on, come on, if you're coming. Come on, come down from all the way down from the balcony, all the way down. Come on, you got to walk out the building and leave anyway. Might as well come down now. Jesus, step out of your seat, humble yourself. Listen, November 12th of 1971, as a Jewish young man, rebellious, full of sin, shooting heroin, shooting LSD, huffing diesel gas, I prayed and said, Jesus, forgive me, wash me clean. I didn't fully understand what I was doing, but a little over a month later, when I really understood and the gospel became clear, I said, Jesus, December 17th, 1971, Jesus, I'll never put a needle in my arm again. End of story. Big, bad Goliath, pulled down in one night, head chopped off. Jesus, come on, some of you, you need a breakthrough. Some of you here, you're not right with God. This message was mainly to believers. But some of you here, you're not right with God. You don't know the Lord. You're separated from him. If you were to die right now, you're not sure that you'd be in his presence. Humble yourself. Come on. You at home, humble yourself. Get right. Get right. The door is open. God wants to help you. God wants to bless you. God's desire is to be with you. He said, I've been a wretch. God makes wretches into wonderful people. He's after you. He cares for you. But he will judge you if you turn your back on him because he's fair and he's righteous. If you don't know him, if you're not right with him, come on. Teenager, you know the gospel. Your parents brought you here. You're going to stay in the distance. Don't stand in the distance. Devil may pick you up, pick you off. Young lady, you may say, oh, I'll get right with Jesus later. Yeah, after two pregnancies and an abortion. And then that guilt haunting you for years. Come on. Humble yourself. Humble yourself. God bless you, young lady. Humble yourself. Anybody else? Say, but people think I'm clean on the outside. Yeah, but God sees that you're a slave to pornography, sir. Come on. Humble yourself. He gives grace to the humble. I love to humble myself before the Lord. Sometimes it's not easy. You got to fight through that stinking pride. But I love it because it's a place of grace. It's a wonderful thing when you say, God, I'm sorry. When you turn to someone and say, I'm sorry, I'm wrong, I've sinned. I make no excuse. Don't make excuses. And those of you, it's not a sin issue. It's an issue of intimidation and lies of the enemy. Just tell the Lord, tonight, Lord, remove every barrier. Jesus, everybody that's standing and you just pray quietly. The Lord just wants to speak to a couple more people here before we close this altar call. Jesus, everybody just praying. You can pray out loud. I just don't want you to be shouting right now. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, move by your grace, Lord. Sir, there's a, speak to a brother here. You've been saved. Feels to me like.