Are We Crushing Satan's Work in Our Lives?

I know that we all appreciate the lovely labor of love that the Him choir does for us. It gets us into reading those and hearing those beautiful words that are in our own hymnal. The Book of Romans is an amazing treatise on the subject of salvation for all of humanity. It's been divided up into 16 chapters. Very profound, dramatic, intense, and ultimately wonderful once we come to understand it. But we're not going to go through the whole Book of Romans today. I want to take you to chapter 16. Join me, if you would, there with all of that spoken.

Paul unravels this incredible treatise and salvation and then concludes Romans with encouragement, with admonition, and with a prophetic utterance. We don't often think of Paul being the prophet. We think of him being the evangelist. We think of him being the writer.

But here Paul refers to something very important. In Romans 16 and verse 19, let's notice what is mentioned. For your obedience has become known to all. There's the encouragement. Now comes the admonition. Therefore, I am glad on your behalf, but I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil.

Notice that. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Now let's divide this up for a moment into two sections, because both of them are going to be very germane to what I want to discuss this afternoon.

One is offered in the present tense. The other is offered in a future tense. Again, let's understand what he says. He speaks of being wise in what is good and simple, simple concerning evil. And that's spoken in the present tense. That's now for those that are followers of Jesus Christ. And then, secondly, he speaks of a future time.

He speaks of a time that when the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. That's in the future tense. And this second thought is a follow-up to the very first prophecy that was ever rendered in all of scripture.

And it wasn't in Isaiah, and it wasn't in Jeremiah. It goes back to Genesis 3 and verse 15. When God speaking said that the seed of the serpent would do harm to the seed of Eve and bruise the heel. But that the seed of Eve, ultimately being Jesus Christ, would bruise the head of the serpent, being Satan. And thus, the purpose and the plan of God unfolded that even as Adam and Eve were leaving and exiting and being forced out of the Garden of Eden. That a way of return was happening and would occur.

And that being that had deceived humanity would only be judged. And yes, indeed, there would be a fate. There is going to come a time, brethren, when the serpent, Satan the devil, the adversary, is going to be crushed, extinguished in that sense, put out a business.

And that is the business and the calling and the work of Jesus Christ. Join me if you would, 1 John 3. In 1 John 3, the epistle thereof, the writer makes it very clear what is the calling that God the Father has given the one that we now know as Jesus Christ. And it says in 1 John 3 and verse 7, Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. So there's a thought going here. He that practices righteous is righteous as He is righteous.

He's following, or that individual is following, the example and the lifestyle of Jesus Christ. He who sins is of the devil, and for the devil is sinned from the beginning. He's the author of sin. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the work of the devil. Now that's very important to understand, brethren, that we have an adversary that has been there from the very beginning.

That has been an impediment to the purpose and the plan of God. And that ultimately, that impediment, that being, that serpent, that adversary is going to be destroyed. When we look at that in this sentence, it says, to destroy the works of the devil. Now let's understand something. Stay with me, please. That began in Jerusalem. That began at Golgotha, when our sins were put upon Jesus Christ. And He bore our sins.

He bore that burden. And after that, that portion, that specific area of the works of the devil, was in that sense set aside because Christ was victorious. And we can now go to God the Father through His name. And we are no longer cut off and our sins are forgiven. But there is more beyond that. And we're coming up to next Thursday, a festival that depicts more of the works of Satan the devil, being crushed, being set aside, and judgment being rendered.

The Feast of Trumpets clearly depicts a time when Satan and his demons and his spirit and his culture are going to be extinguished. They're going to be crushed. And we look forward to that day.

It's quite profound, brethren, when you think about it.

It should give us a sense of awe that God, in His greatness and in His love, has a purpose and a plan in which ultimately the one that is our ultimate adversary is going to be bound by that angel and tossed into that bottomless pit. He's going to be thrown away for a thousand years. And the world is no longer going to be affected by His spirit and His ways. Jesus is going to come back and He's going to crush the head of that serpent. But let's remember something. That is in the future.

Today, we want to talk about now, because going back to Paul's words, he talks about having a simplicity and a simple manner of understanding evil, seeing it clear, seeing it plain, knowing what it is and knowing what we ought to do about it. I have a question for you. Please hear the question, and then you need to give the answer. Simply this. How much are you allowing God's purpose and desired involvement in your life to be crushing Satan right now in your personal world?

How plain? How simple? How clear are the choices before you? You and I have an opportunity given by God and by the Spirit of God in us and the life of Christ in us to at this time and in this day be part and parcel in our world that's been surrendered to God now to crush the works of Satan that have been in our life. Think about it. I posed a question to you. I want you to think about it for a moment. It's a very important question because I presume because you're here today in church that you practice an act of Christianity. Christianity is not just a theory, but you are practicing it. And if you're practicing it, then there are fruits that are born out that things are happening. Over the last couple of weeks, we've been having the kingdom of God seminar. Cardinal verse has been Mark 1, 14 through 15, where it says that Jesus came into the Galilee, preaching the kingdom of God and saying, the kingdom of God is at hand. I want to stay on that. We're going to be discussing that more in January, but we're going to do a little appetizer right now. The kingdom of God, brethren, is not just simply in the future. The kingdom of God is not an event that happens just simply in the future. The kingdom of God in that realm under the Father and under Jesus Christ is now, in that sense. And you and I, as firstfruits, called ahead of season, are experiencing that now. There's going to come a time in the future that the Feast of Trumpets represents when Jesus Christ, as Lord of Lord and King of Kings, is going to land literally on the Mount of Olives. And the kingdoms of this world are going to have to involuntarily surrender their sovereignty to Jesus Christ. But that's not our case. Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ has already, in that sense, through the call of the Father, come into our lives.

And you and I have already surrendered our kingdom to God. That is a work in motion, as you and I know. But you and I have an opportunity today, and I want to put this in your mind. If you go away without anything else, I want to ask you and keep on coming back, when have you last crushed the work of Satan in your life through God's help and through God's grace?

The answer to that speaks volumes, and that's why I want to give this message today.

You and I have an opportunity now to be instruments in this. I like to read once again from what I read a couple of weeks ago when I gave the seminar, because I think it's germane to this point regarding the kingdom of God that I quoted out of the Expositor's commentary. Please listen. I sent it out the other night, but that's all right, because repetition is the best form of emphasis. Allow these words to sink into your head for a moment. The kingdom is the reign of God.

It is his sovereignty over mind and heart and will in the world. It is sonship to God and brotherly relationships with men. It is the future, but wherever a human life is brought into harmony with the Father's purpose, it is present. What is that telling us? The kingdom of God is not just simply a destination, it is a way of traveling. It is not just simply one event in one moment in time and space in the history of humanity, but it is an existence that you and I have been called into now as the first fruits of God to bring God glory, to bear fruit in our life, and to crush the works of Satan that are in our life. Now, that's hard sledding, and that's tough going because, well, we're still in this human tent. But today, I want to share the story of one man who stood on the ledge of the valley of decision and crushed the works of Satan before him in his day and time. Now, the reason why I mentioned that is simply put, friends, I'm looking at about 130-140 people out there today, and I realize that a number of you this very moment are having to make some very, very big decisions in your life. There are challenges that are out there. We live in a challenging world. There are giants that are in the land, and we look down into that valley that we know that we must travel, and it seems scary down there because it's going to demand sacrifice. It's going to demand spiritual courage. It's going to demand not being anxious.

Don't be anxious. Are we all agreed? Easy to read?

Hard to do.

And there are battles that are out there in your mind and in your heart that you are responsible for, but yes, also Satan and his wavelength and his spirit with a small s are striving to lure some of you too and or to diffuse you so much that you settle for less than what God called you to be. It's time, brethren, that we face ourselves. It's time that we look at ourselves. Oftentimes, as human beings, we want to look at everybody else.

We want to sit around what this group is doing or what that person is doing or what that minister is doing rather than just simply looking at ourselves and asking, am I crushing the works of Satan in my life so that I can be free to serve God, so that I can be free to have the life of Christ in me, so that I can be free to serve others? Let's talk about it. We read to know that we are not alone. Join me if you would in 1 Samuel 17.

1 Samuel 17.

And this story has not gone away, but it's a story for all seasons and for all reasons. It's the story of the young man David and how he crushed the works of Satan in his life and in his time. And I'd like to go through it with you to clearly show you and to enable you to recognize that discerning evil, discerning where Satan is, that part is simple, if you will allow it to be. The challenge will be what to do with it, but we'll discuss it. Let's go into 1 Samuel 17 in verse 1. Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle and were gathered at Sukkah, which belongs to Judah, and they encamped between Sukkah and Essekah in Ephesh, and Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and they encamped in the valley of Elah and drew up in battle array against the Philistines, which had been their ancient enemies. And the Philistine stood on a mountain on one side and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side of the valley between them. And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Gethseman whose height was six cubits and a span. Now there's all sorts of thoughts about how tall Goliath was. I am almost 6'1". Anybody an inch over me is a giant in my eyes, so I don't know how it was. Six feet, seven feet, eight feet. I don't know. There are some thoughts that he was actually up to nine feet. He was, let's put it this way, a big guy, a big man. And it says here, this champion went out. He had a bronze helmet on his head and he was armed with a coat of mail and the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze. That actually means when it's all said and done, he was wearing about 125 pounds of armament. And he had a bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. And now the staff of the spear was like a weaver's beam and his iron spear had weighed 600 shekels and his shield bearer went before him. And then he stood and he cried out to the armies of Israel and said to them, why have you come out to a lineup for battle? Am I not a Philistine? And are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourself and let him come down to me. And if he's able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we might fight together.

And when Saul and all of Israel heard these words of the Philistines, they were dismayed and they were greatly afraid. Now there's one thing that I want to share with you that maybe you've never seen in your own personal study. 1 Samuel 17. Not once up to this point has the name of God. Did you notice?

Not once to this, you did notice that already, the name of God has not been mentioned in this discussion.

Talks about the men of Saul.

It talks about the Israelites.

But at this point, they are divorced, both in the mind of the giant and perhaps of themselves from the God that first called them. And that's about to change. We notice in verse 16, and the Philistines drew near and presented himself 40 days morning and evening.

40 days, this challenge of this one-on-one battle went out. 40 days.

How would you like to wake up to that for 40 days? Every morning, just like that horrible alarm clock that you have on your nightstand going off. But I have a bigger question for all of us, may I? Some of us in this room have been waking up for more than 40 days to the giants that face us.

For some of us, it's been more than 40 days. For some of us, it's been more than 40 months.

For some of us, it might have been up to 40 years that the rumble comes out of that valley that we stand on the ledge of and have yet not made a decision to enter and to allow God to help us to crush the works of Satan. But now the story changes. This young lad, David, emerges. Let's pick up the thought in verse 22. We know that David was a shepherd out of Bethlehem. He goes to visit his brothers. And David, in verse 20, who left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army and came and greeted his brothers. And then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming from the armies of the Philistines. And he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw that man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. Now let's understand something and be honest with the story. Physically and humanly, this was really creepy. This was scary.

Humanly. Very challenging. There's seemingly no way to go through this.

So the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up, and surely he has come up to defy Israel? And it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, and give his daughter, and give his father's house exemption from taxes in Israel.

Now notice up to verse 22, there is still, this is important, friends, there is still no discussion of God. God is vacant here. He's not even tethered to a leash. And then David in verse 26 spoke to the man who stood by him, saying, What shall be done for the man who kills his Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? Now we begin to understand something, and I'd like to give you point number one. There will be three points. Point number one, David knew God's calling, and his purpose for him. God knew, excuse me, David knew God's calling and his purpose for him.

He knew who God was, and he knew what God was doing with him. I didn't say that I remembered it. It was out in front of him. He didn't look behind him to figure it out. God was an active agent. He's the only one in Israel that brought up God's name and understood. See, remember what Paul says? That you might understand the simplicity that is evil. It was right there. It was right in front of him. There was no distraction. David had the ability to bring everything down to the common denominator. Here was a man who was uncircumcised, which meant that he was outside of the congregation of Israel, and he was defying not Saul, not Israel, but the one that had given birth to Israel.

He was defying the living God. You might want to do a study on that sometime, just another Bible study. How often it is mentioned in the Old Testament and the New Testament that you and I worship the living God. He exists. He is real. He has a purpose. And yet sometimes even the people of God, of the Old Covenant and or the New Covenant, can live and go back and forth and forget that they serve the living God. I want to postpone it to the future, rather than recognizing that Christ is living in them through the Holy Spirit, and that we have a role to play now to crush the works of the devil. Oh no, not in the whole world! Only God can do that. But in our sphere of influence, we have a responsibility. What do you mean that David knew God's calling? Let's talk about it for a moment. Okay, friends, what was that calling? David had grown up and had rehearsed to him, through either readings or around the campfire, that he knew that his people had been called out of slavery by the one that is known as the I Am. He knew that his people on the shady side of Sinai had been given an offer to become a kingdom of priests unto God. He knew that these same people had been offered a covenant relationship, sealed by blood. He knew that these people had been told by God through Moses to be holy as I am holy. They had been offered to be a first fruit unto all the nations of the world, to be an example, to be a light, to be set right in the midst of the way of the sea, right within the middle of civilization, so that everybody could look around and say, oh, who are these people that have such a law that they might have such a God?

And yet, up to this time, the folks weren't talking about God. They weren't talking about the immensity of God's purpose, but the size of the guy down in the valley. Brethren, how about us and the giants that face us in our life? Do we remember our calling and who our God is? Join me if you would for a moment in 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians, and join me in chapter 1. Paul is talking to this troubled congregation called Corinth, but he brings them into remembrance of who they serve and what they are to be. Verse 2, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, and to those who are sanctified. That means set apart in Christ Jesus. They're called to be saints with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.

What is interesting here, friends, is Paul is reminding these people in Corinth, as these words remind us today, that you and I have been called a sacred service.

Oh, wait a minute. I thought I was just going to church today. I thought I was going to just fill up a pew.

Each and every one of you that have accepted the call of God have been called to be members of sacred service. I remember when I was growing up in Pasadena walking the sidewalks of the old Ambassador College campus, and I remember the last thing that I ever wanted to be was a minister. Trust me, it was not on that kid's radar. Last thing that I ever wanted to do is be one of them.

Maybe you've said that in words. You said, boy, I'm glad I'm not like Weber. I'm glad I'm not like fish. I'd never want to be a minister. That's just not what I'm about. That's not my thing. Now, I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but I'm sure somebody out there has said that at one time or another. Well, let me remind you something for a moment. God's thing for you is you are being called to sacred service to be a kingdom of priests. You're going to miss the minister thing in the here and now, but you are being trained now.

And now is the time, not in the future, but now you are being trained to be a kingdom of priests. Let's go a little bit further into Corinthians, where it says, I thank my God always concerning you the grace of God, which was given to you by Jesus Christ, that you were enriched in everything that in Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly awaiting for the revelation that is the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. What does that mean? Pure and simple. You and I are being called into sacred service. You and I have the same calling as ancient Israel, and the calling that echoes through the words of Peter in the first epistle of Peter, Be holy as I am holy. Be holy as I am holy. When we have that in front of us, we can begin to walk down into that valley of decision-making that God wants us to have. Let's go back to 1 Samuel 17. 1 Samuel 17.

Notice what it says here in verse 29.

Now, Eliab, his older brother, heard when he had spoken to the men, and Eliab's anger was aroused against David. He said, Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride in the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle. And David said, What have I done now? Is there not a cause? Is this not true? Did I not nail it on the head? This man is uncircumcised. This man is a pagan. This man defies the living God. And then he turned from him towards others and said the same thing. And these people answered him, as did the first ones. I'm going to share something with you, may I? At times when you understand that you are in sacred service before God as one of his saints, as one of those who are set apart, it can be lonely. It can even be lonely amongst covenant people as it was for David back in ancient Israel. He wasn't speaking to the Buddhist here. He wasn't speaking to the, you fill in the blank, he was speaking to the quote unquote, the people of God. And they didn't recognize it.

They made him feel like a leper. What are you doing? Bringing God into this thing. You don't understand. You haven't been around.

We understand. We're cool with this. The guy comes, the guy goes. Comes out in the morning, bellows a little bit, crawls back in his hole at night. We're cool with that. We understand that.

David, grow up. We're just going to kind of wait him out. He'll go away. It'll get better.

David, understand something. David understood evil. He understood what stood in the way of God, his people, and himself, and the future that God had secured for that people. I have a question for you, friends. How clear is your vision?

What are you putting up with in your life that comes at you every morning and or every evening?

Or when somebody has come to you and explained something, saying, oh, you're, come on, you're making a big deal out of nothing.

You know, I used to kind of get excited about that thing when I first came into the church, but you know, we're kind of cool now. We're 40, 60, 70, 80 years down the line.

And I know what the Bible says, and I know what the minister says, and I know this, and I've heard that, but you don't understand. It's 2011.

But I do understand, friends. It's almost 2000 years since Jesus Christ died, and he said he's coming back again, and he can't come back the second too soon. That's what I understand. But until he comes back, you and I have some homework. I want to ask you a question again. I want to make it personal. Are you willing and are you ready to crush the works of Satan in your life now? The ones that God puts in front of you? Or are you waiting for what? Are you waiting for the Mount of Olives? That's for the world. That's for those that are out there that don't understand, have no understanding of God, have not surrendered their lives to God, have not been baptized, have not been called to be firstfruits, have not been tagged with the beauty of being a covenant people. It is now that you and I are being judged by God Almighty as to how we will crush the works of the devil in our life. Let's go to another point here. Let's read down the story because it says here in David's talk with Saul, he comes to Saul and he speaks, your servant used to keep his father's sheep and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out and struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth and when it rose against me, I caught it by its beard, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. David not only knew who his God was, not only knew his purpose, he also remembered what God had done for him in the past. Brethren, when we're in those lonely spots and we're on the ledge of that valley of decision that beckons us to go in, sometimes we become paralyzed because we're just in the moment. I'm right there with you, I'm a human being. We get paralyzed and we don't remember what God has done for us.

We're always waiting for him to do something else rather than, Father above, you've intervened in my life. I know what you've done for me in the past. I know that if you did not do another thing, I know your love, I experienced your existence, and I know that the best thing will work out for me. I know that in my lifetime, I always try and I don't mean to repeat the story again, I know when God has intervened in my life.

I know that I should not be alive. I know that God healed me when I was a teenager, and not talking about from influenza. I know I was healed. In one night, I was healed.

People did not know if I was going to wake up the next morning dead or alive, and I was given to God by my parents. And they said, heal, Robin, and I was healed.

So when you come to be anointed, understand, I believe in healing. I am alive because of a miracle. I am alive because of the living God. Join me if you would in Hebrews 10, verse 31. David remembered the lion and the bear that had been given over to him. And the author of Hebrews speaks words to the Hebrew congregation here that are relevant for us in Hebrews 10, in verse 32. But recall the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings. God says, look back. Remember when the light of my revelation and the fullness of my gospel came into your life and where you are at. Remember the darkness that you were in.

And remember the challenge that went along with it. You were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. For you had compassion. Now this is speaking personally, but there's a principle. You had compassion on me and my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, but you need have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. The Bible, the Word of God tells us, remember the former things. Go back to basics. Remember where God started with you. Remember God's mercy as much as he had mercy on ancient Israel, bringing them up from the mud pits of the Nile and making a nation out of the people that should not have been a nation. And they were slaves to Pharaoh. And whoever we were, that God picked us up out of the mud pits of sin, the mud pits of misinformation, or not even knowing about him, and said that I will be your father and you will be my child. And we're going to have a relationship. Go back. Remember what God did for you in the past. And recognize that he has not forgotten. He wants us to remember. Did you notice how consistent David's story remained here in front of Saul? Verse 36, the uncircumcised Philistine, and he has defied the armies of the living God. We're going to talk about how we can be that consistent here in a moment because we're going to go to the next feature that I want to share with you. We know the story of where David was overloaded with the armor of Saul. He says, this is just not for me. He basically said, you know, I'm a shepherd guy. And this is how we do it in the foothills of Judah. We sling. Let me be. Let it do my own way as I go down to that valley. Notice verse 40, and something that sometimes we overlook. Then he took his staff in his hands, and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch what he had, and the sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

This comes to the second key point that I'd like to share with you. The first key point was this, David knew who God is, and also what his personal purpose was before that living God. Point number two, David took deliberate steps to uphold his part in God's purpose.

He took deliberate steps. He went down to the brook, and he took five stones. This tells you something about David. Sometimes what we do when we get a kind of a feel, we'll say, okay God, I'll go do it. You can kind of see my heart isn't really in it, but I probably should. I'll try.

I'll do it. And in that sense, we kind of just pick up one stone. How many stones did David pick up? You with me? Lauren? Lauren's got it. Five. I have a question for you.

We are not simply going to crush the works of Satan in our life with simply one stone. Got it? Been there, done that. If you've tried one stone, it does not work. Remember what the apostle Paul said? Having done everything just to stand. When Paul uses that word just to stand in Paul's mind, being in the Roman world, that is that impact moment when thousands of men on both sides came into contact with one another in that great surge. It just kind of, can you imagine 10,000 men coming up against you? And how do you hold your position? Having done everything just to stand. We're not dealing with flesh and blood, folks. And I want to share with you as we go towards the Feast of Trumpets, I must tell you as a congregation, we are not simply dealing with flesh and blood. We are dealing with the spiritual world. We are dealing because the time is short and Satan knows that his time is short and he wants to wear out the saints of God. Are you with me? He wants to wear out the body of Christ. He wants to keep on coming at us again and again and again. He puts out there the lust of the eyes. He puts out there the lust of the flesh. He puts out there the pride of life. He knows that just like Israel of old and Goshen surrounded by Egypt, that the culture of this world begins to permeate us. Begins to blend with us.

It did with Israel in Egypt. It did with the Corinthians in Achaia. It did the same with the seven churches in Asia Minor where finally God just kind of goes, oh, I'd rather it be hot and cold rather than in this muddled middle. Some of you brethren and all of us at one time or another get into that muddled middle like Saul, like the Israelites, on the ledge of the valley, knowing our calling, knowing our Savior, knowing God's holy and righteous law, knowing God's admonition to come out of the world, do not be partakers of her sins.

We know the admonition. How long will you halt between two opinions? How long will you remain paralyzed? How long will you stymie the gift of God's Spirit that I have given you? Well, you know, that'll be taken care of, you know, when Christ lands. When Zachariah 14, verse 4, happens, when the divine feet touch the Mount of Olives, no, no, no, brethren, it is now, it is now that judgment is upon the household of God as to what we will do in crushing the works in crushing the works of Satan in our life. David picked up five stones. What does that mean to you and to me? You know, as the New Covenant people, God has given us five stones. Let's think of them.

Number one, he's given us the stone of prayer, the stone of prayer to beseech God, to ask, to seek, to knock. He's given us the stone, number two, of Bible study, of Bible study, of the holy scriptures written in our own language and in our own tongue, that we might be able to receive all of the help that we need because we're not down here alone like ancient Israel.

We're like the David people. We know there's a God, and God wants to give us the help, and He opens our mind to the scriptures, but we've got to pick up that stone.

Number three, we have the stone of meditation, of just thinking about the wonderful things of God, that God has given us His commandments. He's given us the statutes. He's given us His judgments. He's given us these incredible stories that are in the Bible to encourage us, to allow us to read, to know that we're not alone.

But this life that's buzzing around us does not allow us to meditate.

I have a question for you. Are you spending more time on your computer, and your iPad, and your Twinkle Tweeter, or whatever they call them these days? Blueberries, strawberries, gizmos, distractors.

Do you realize, brethren, how our lives—and I'm not anti-technology, that's not my issue.

All of these things can either be an instrument or a weapon, depending upon your use and your choice. But I have a very strong feeling today that God's people more than ever are being distracted.

We're talking to everybody on Facebook other than God.

We are devoid of going to the one person who has the greatest love, who has the most power, who has the most incisive answers for how we can crush the works of Satan in our life.

And yet we become distracted with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, and the keyboard that I think increasingly is distracting the people of God from reading the Word of God. The Word of God, which is the sword, the Word of God, which is our strength, the Word of God, which gives us life. Number four, four stone, fasting. I need to use that stone more. I'll be just up close, personal. We need to use that stone more than ever because the Scripture itself says that it is only with much fasting that the works of God at times can be demonstrated and carried out. It's given us a fifth stone. Are you writing them down? If you want to crush the works of Satan in your life, you're going to write them down. I am not here, brethren, today to entertain you. I am here to tell you, as the servant of Jesus Christ, that now is the time to prepare to become a kingdom of priests. And we cannot teach what we have not experienced. And we cannot just simply wait for an event in the future that we're once again going to rehearse and that event is going to come. Oh, yes, it is. I just wrote a whole column on it in World News and Prophecy, under all of those that love is appearing. But the activity is today.

Number five, to counsel, to share your life with people that you respect.

Whether it be an older person, whether it be a minister, whether it be a pastor, whether it be an elder, whether it be somebody that has expertise in something. The Bible says that in a multitude of counsel, there is safety. I have noticed over the years, there was a time many, many years ago when I was growing up in this way of life that people counseled, and you know that, that are older about everything. Now, basically, people counsel about nothing.

Why is it in human nature that we go from pendulum to pendulum or the pendulum effect of going from ditch to ditch? People so often come to me as a pastor, frankly, when it's very late in the game. And when I'm called, in a sense, to be a religious fireman and to rush in and help somebody, oh, I wish so much that I could have been there earlier in the game. Oh, I wish I could have been there ahead of time. That doesn't mean that person doesn't have their own decision, because that is the art of counseling. The art of counseling is to share the way in the life of God to allow an individual to make their own decision, but to be able to batter around, to be able to talk about it, to point to them in the Word of God. I remember years ago, I was in a counseling with one of my mentors in Pasadena, and we were going through a marriage counseling with somebody, and the man finally said, oh, Mr. So-and-so, you know, I have done everything that I can in this marriage.

Gentlemen, you have, have you? And let me ask you a question. Have you opened up the Word of God, and have you gone through it and written out every verse that applies to your responsibility as a husband in marriage? Hmm, no, no, I haven't. The minister said, when you do that, then you come back to me, and then I will know that you've done everything that you can. What I'm trying to share with all of you is simply this, brethren. We have five stones. They're in the brook. It's up to us to pick them up and use them to face the giant that faces us. Let's conclude this story by going down to the end, because it isn't the end that is the best. Verse 44. No, let's go to verse 40. Let's go to verse 43. This will go very quickly. So the Philistine said to David, am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. Then David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcass from the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all of the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And that all of this assembly shall know that the Lord did not save a sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. So it was when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David that David hurried, ran towards the army to meet the Philistine. And then David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone, and he slung it and struck the Philistine at the forehead, so the stone sank in his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. Have you ever noticed David was literally running towards the giant? He wasn't standing still like Saul and the Israelites, and neither was he hightailing it the other way.

He was engaged. He was God's man. He was God's servant. He had the living God on his side. And it wasn't about David. It wasn't about his slingshot ability. He gave the battle to the Lord. What is your challenge right now in life? Where is your issue that you want to draw God into and give the battle to Him? I can look at an audience and recognize that we have issues. We have marital challenges. We have financial challenges. We have challenges with this world, with entertainment, with gambling, with pornography, with a lack of modesty within the Church of God. All of these we need to wake up to, recognizing that the world has come into our midst.

And we just kind of look at it.

Well, that's where we used to be, but that's not where we are. Because we're so mature now. We're so clever spiritually. We're so advanced. We used to be concerned about certain things. Well, but now, well now we're spiritually cosmopolitan.

Remember what the Bible says? What did it say to Paul? Paul has a simplicity towards evil. Know the mark. Know the target. Know the giant. Know the evil. Attack the ways of the world. You've been called to be a holy people. You've been called to sacred service before God Almighty. We have been called to be a kingdom of priests, to be dressed in white, not on our outside, but in our insides. We have been called to come out of this world here now. You, me. To be consistent, to be persistent, to be patient in that calling until Jesus Christ comes back to the Mount of Olives. Notice what was done here. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, instructed Philistine, and killed him. Oh no! What have I done? Oh no, I didn't mean to do that. That was a little bit over the top.

Poor guy. I better call the Society for the Prevention of Cool-Leader Giants.

No. Therefore he ran and stood over him and took the guy's own sword and killed him and cut off his head with it. David bagged the head. And when you have crushed the serpent, as Jesus Christ will in the future, totally and completely, that we follow that example now with the works of Satan that come our way, that we don't put up with him, we don't sit on the ledge looking down, we bag it. We cut it off.

We put it to death. We say, I am the Lord's man. I am the Lord's feminine vessel. I am a child of God.

And now is the time. And now is my God looking down. And He's given me the power of the Spirit. He's given me the understanding of what I am looking at. He's allowed me to understand that through that Spirit, I'm not only convicted of righteousness, but I am also convicted of evil, and that I can understand the choices before me. And like that young man, David, crush the works of the devil. You know, when you do that, brethren, things begin to happen in a church. Right after he killed Goliath and cut off his head. What happened? The energy level. The energy level went up in all of Israel. Guess what? They got off the ledge. They pursued the enemy.

Just one man, just one woman, standing up in a congregation of covenant people, can turn the atmosphere, change the environment, and say, we're going to be God's people. We worship a living God. We've been called out of this world for a purpose. The battle is His.

This week, on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, I want to encourage each and every one of you to consider the five stones that God has given us. And beyond that, to recognize that when you pick them up, the stone of prayer, the stone of Bible study, the stone of fasting, the stone of meditation, the stone of counseling with somebody that you respect, and a wise person, that you are not alone. Why do I say this? So often, I am privy to conversations as I walk by. Not that I'm snooping on everybody's conversation, but I've been in enough of them. But sometimes, even with covenant people, even with a congregation in the Church of God, I hear everybody talking about the giants that are in their life, but there's one word missing. What's that word? God. God. And sitting down and saying, you know, you got a problem. Let's sit down and talk this over. Let's go to a scripture. Let's encourage one another. We worship the living God. And sure, there are giants that are out there, but our God is so much greater, so much bigger, so much more awesome than anything that is in our life. How many verses are we going to wait to in our conversations over in Word's Hall this afternoon before we get to the discussion of God? Or are we just going to be talking, oh, you can't believe this. Have you ever been in one of those conversations? I just can't believe this. You don't know what happened to me this week, and it's happening again yesterday. Oh, no, really?

Tell me more. Oh, yeah. Now that you bring it up, it goes back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Two covenant people, two people called by God. It's been a half an hour to 45 minutes. I have a question for you. Are you with me? Have they mentioned God? I hope so, because that's the only source of any answer that we're going to have. Number two, have they turned to Scripture? Now, I'm not just saying this to fill up the rest of time, because I've already gone over time a little bit. I'm sharing this with you because we will exponentially grow as a congregation when we take personal responsibility for our life, crush the works of Satan in our life, bring God into the picture, the living God of the host of Israel, both of old and the Israel of God today, and turn to Scripture. And then we can begin now to experience the kingdom of God right now in our life as God's instrument. Will you join me? Will you think about it? Consider it.

Remember, you and I have tremendous responsibility in downing the giants of this life.