I wrote this a few years ago, but it still rings true today...
Almost 15 years ago, a new heavy weight champion of the world was crowned. Does any body know who that was? Well in case you don't follow boxing, Evander Holyfield became the heavy weight champion of the world for the third time in his career on November 9, 1996. He defeated Mike Tyson, the most feared man in all of boxing .
There is a lot to this story, and I want to take you through the events leading up to that night, as well showing you another man, who in the face incredible odds never turned his faith from God.
My scripture is 1 Samuel 17:40-47.
In this chapter, you have David. A young boy in his late teens. Who was at this time the court musician for King Saul. And once again, Israel was at war with the Philistines. Come with me now to Israel, and watch the events as they take place.
You're an Israeli soldier. You are only a few miles from Jerusalem. Encamped on one side of the Valley of Elah are your troops, and the Philistines are on the opposite side of the Valley.
Just across the valley there are thousands of men doing the same thing as you. Only they are your enemies. You see the tents being pitched, and the soldiers are cleaning their weapons. In the air is the smell of smoke, as camp fires are burning. You know that they are here for one reason. To conquer you. As time passes, tension begins to arise. You begin to think, " Is tonight going to be the last night that I can look into the heavens and see the stars? Is tonight the night when I will fall asleep, only to be killed as mind is thinking about my sons and daughters playing in the fields?" I wonder if the soldiers on the other side want to be here, or are they just serving their king so their children will have some food on their plates?"
Now some time has passed, and you see that the soldiers on the other side are not attacking. Nor are you attacking them. Then your heart stops. Before you, you see a man approaching like you've never seen before. He is coming down his side of the valley. Then stops.
He is close to ten feet tall. On his head is a bronze helmet, on his chest a coat of bronze armour that weighs close to 125 pounds, and on his legs, bronze leggings. He is armed with a bronze javelin that has a 15 pound iron head.(in comparison, the official weight for an Olympic javelin is 800 grams, or one and three quarter pounds.)
He shouts out a challenge for all to hear, "Why do you come out and line 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 is able to fight and kill me, we will become you subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us."
All is silent. Then he shouts," This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."
How is this like the boxing match that took place many years ago? Let me tell you.
Close to twenty years ago, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson were to fight each other. Then Mike got himself put into prison for rape. So the fight was postponed. Then 18 years ago, Evander Holyfield was forced to retire from boxing because of a heart defect that threatened not only his career, but also his life.
Being the man that he is, Holyfield went to a Benny Hinn crusade. You see Holyfield is a devout Christian and never lost faith that God would heal him. At this crusade, I remember seeing it on T.V., Holyfield was brought up on stage and then he was asked if he believed that God would heal him. He said, "Yes", and bang, to the floor he went. He went to the doctor after that and told the doctor that he had been healed. The doctor, trying to humour Holyfield, agreed to do some more tests on his heart. The tests came back negative. His heart was perfect. The doctor asked for a second opinion and another doctor did some tests, they too came back negative. Holyfield was healed. The doctor's now say that their initial tests were faulty. That there was never anything wrong with Holyfield, just some misdiagnosis.
Holyfield never lost hope in the power of God. He knew that God had a plan for his life and that at times his faith would be tested. And it was. Three years later, he was offered a chance to fight Mike Tyson.
In Tyson's first three fights after he got out of prison, he fought for a total of about four rounds. To see a man being knocked out in less than two minutes was the norm for Tyson. He was powerful, strong and unmerciful. You see Tyson was a lot like Goliath. Not quite as tall, but still pretty powerful.
For forty days, every morning and evening, Goliath would come out and defy the army of God. Finally a young man came forth to the challenge. His name was David. He was already at this time anointed by God. You read in 1 Samuel 16:13, "So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him (David) in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. David knew that the Lord was with him. We now come to our text.
It must have been quite a shock for Goliath. Here comes David, a teenage boy, staff in one hand, five stones in his pouch, and sling. Goliath starts to approach David, with all his armour and shield bearer in front of him. When he finally gets a better look at David, he is not impressed. Look at the last words of verse 42. "It says that Goliath "despised him.'
Why did Goliath despise David? Goliath was insulted that the Israelites would send a boy to fight a man's battle. Verses 43-44 give you a picture of the attitude that Goliath had. Here we see cursing, boasting, and conceit.
Put yourself in Goliath's spot for a second. You are bigger, stronger, and the most powerful person in your entire nation, if not the entire world. You are undefeated, you don't know what it is to lose. And now for the last forty days, twice a day, you have been calling out a challenge to have someone fight you. And finally someone comes forward. A boy that comes just past your naval has challenged you. You think to yourself "I have fought to stay awake harder than I will have to fight this boy. What is going on here, Do they think that I am going to have pity on a him just because he is a boy? Wait until they see what I will do to him for insulting me!!!"
Do you get the picture? He is not impressed.
Then you have David. He has a speech of his own to give to Goliath.
You see, David did not need vain weapons. He had a supernatural weapon.
When Holyfield stepped into that ring against Mike Tyson, no one believed that he would win. Most people thought that the fight would be over almost as fast as it started. But as the rounds kept passing, people began to wonder what was happening. And when the tenth round was over, Tyson(the hands on favourite) was in grave trouble. When the eleventh round got under way, it was over for Tyson. A technical knock out was given in the middle of the eleventh round. The champion had been defeated.
When the announcer went to interview Holyfield, here were the responses that were given.
Question: No one believed that you would go this far, let alone win the fight, where did your strength come from?
Holyfield: When the Spirit of the Lord tells you to do something, you have to do it. There was never any doubt that I would be victorious. My God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is where I get my strength, because He and He alone is Victorious.
Now after that response, the announcer tried his best to deflect the comments made by Holyfield by asking another question, this time he specifically asked that religion be put aside and to just answer the question. To that Holyfield answered every question in ways that were truly lead by the Lord. Then the interview was stopped.
I'm almost certain that no one here saw the apologetic that Holyfield gave after the fight unless you were watching the Pay-per view station. I know that I watched several sports reports over the next following days, and not one station aired his comments on Jesus being Lord.
David had God on his side. He was anointed by the Spirit of the Lord. He walked in obedience to God. And he feared nothing but the Lord.
Imagine for a moment that you are a Philistine, watching the next events transpire. You see a young boy walking toward your champion. "Is that kid crazy?" you wonder a loud, and your fellow soldiers chuckle at the comment.
Then you hear Goliath, cursing at the top of his lungs on what he is about to do to that young boy. You cringe at the thought of seeing a defenceless boy being slaughtered at the hands of a trained soldier. But, there is something strange about this boy, he doesn't even flinch at what is being said to him. You wonder if the boy is deaf, or just plain insane. Then there is silence. The boy is beginning to speak. You hear what he is saying, but you can scarcely believe your ears. You ask your company commander if he said what you thought he said. Your commander verifies that you heard him correctly. Just about this time you see that Goliath has heard about all that he wants to hear and starts advancing toward the battle line. And to your surprise you see that this boy, with no armour is running toward the battle line also.
What is that kid doing? It looks as if he is reaching into his pocket. What does he have? Is it a dagger? Even if it is, it won't have any effect on Goliath.
He's twirling something, it looks like a sling, but it's hard to tell. Maybe he's twirling his hand in an insane dash to humour Goliath.
Smack! What was that? Hey wait a minute, Goliath seems to have stopped. He must be feeling mercy on the boy. That is very considerate of him.
Why is he falling over? The boy is running toward him. The boy is beside him. "Get up! Get up!" you shout, but it falls on deaf ears. You now realize that something is wrong. Something is dreadfully wrong. The boy has Goliath's sword. What is he doing? He can't be doing this. It just doesn't make sense. How can Goliath lose. He's never lost.
You then see the sword fall. Very clearly you realize that the battle is over as Goliath's head roll's from his body. Intense fear grips you. Never before have you felt like this. You have just witnessed a boy killing your champion, a giant, with no armour or military weapons. This boy has something that your army lacks - At this moment you realize that the one true God is on the side of Israel.
You turn, only to see your fellow soldiers fleeing. A cry rings out from behind you, the Israelites are coming, coming quickly. Their swords are drawn and their eyes are bearing down on you. Your time is over.
I bet that all of you have faced one sort of giant or another in your life. I know that I have faced many. And I also know that I have tried to defeat these giants on my own strength on many occasions. Every time I've tried it my way, I been defeated. Yet when I follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and obey His voice, I've never lost.
What sort of giant are you facing today? Are the odds stacked against you? Do you feel that you are in terrible trouble and are in need of help.
Remember these three simple points. Keep faithful to the Lord, The Spirit of the Lord will give you all the power that you need, and always remember that the Lord will always be there when you need Him.
You are the Lord's. He is our God. Ask and you will receive.
