When Giants Return

Praise the Lord, church.

Father, we want you to get all the glory.

Father, be lifted up in this place.

Thank you, Lord, for your presence that's here.

Thank you for meeting with us.

Thank you for your precious anointing and the sweet presence of your Holy Spirit.

Would you move and touch every person's heart?

Minister to each person's soul.

In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray.

And everyone said, Amen and Amen.

Welcome to church, everybody.

It is so good to see you all in God's house.

We're glad that you are here.

Welcome to all of our church family, our Spanish ministry, our Brazilian-speaking folks, our Italian folks, any Italian folks in the house?

That's weak.

It's only one book in the Bible written other than to the Jews, specifically.

The book of Romans to the Italians.

Come on.

Any Italians in the house?

Alright, that's a little bit better.

I told people as they were coming in, I said, if you don't find your flag, just take one from Italy.

That's the best one anyway.

Even though I'm American, you know, we identify with where our family has come from, amen.

We should identify with Christ as much as we do with our different cultures.

We'd be all right if we did that, amen.

Anyway, welcome to all of our campuses that are tuning in, our online television, social media audience, everybody, wherever you're tuning in from, we know God is going to speak to your heart.

If you have your Bible, would you take them out?

If you need a Bible, raise your hands.

The ushers will gladly get you one.

Let's hold it up nice and high and all together.

Let's say this.

Ready, go.

This is my Bible.

It is my primary source of spiritual nourishment.

I will read it every day and become all that God wants me to be.

My mind will be renewed, my life will be transformed.

I will become fully surrendered to Christ.

Therefore, I will hide his word in my heart so I can be all God has destined me to be.

Amen.

Would you kindly remain standing in honor of the Word of God?

We are going to 2 Samuel chapter 21.

2 Samuel 21 · chapter mention

Before I read, I have two questions.

How many giants did David face?

You were in the first service.

Acting smart.

You whisper the answer to it.

She shouted like she knew it from the beginning.

Except for Kateon.

David fought two giants, not one.

How many giants did David defeat, which is God and him?

One.

Look at our text.

Here's what it says.

2 Samuel chapter 21, verse number 15.

2 Samuel 21 · chapter mention

Moreover, the Philistines had war again with Israel.

And David went down and his servants with him, and he fought against the Philistines.

And David grew faint.

Then Ishbai Bonab, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was 300 shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David.

But Ishbishai, the son of Zerua, came to his aid and struck the Philistine and killed him.

Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest ye quench the lamp of Israel.

Contrary to popular belief, David did not face two giants in his lifetime.

I mean, one giant in his lifetime, he faced two.

And one he defeated with a slingshot, the other he defeated because God sent help.

And so today I want to minister to you from the subject when giants return.

How many of you know it's not good enough to just win a battle yesterday?

How many of you know you need to stay battle ready in God?

How many of you know one battle won yesterday does not stop you from having to be vigilant today?

And most people lose it because they don't stay vigilant after the victory.

And I want to encourage you today to stay vigilant.

Let's pray.

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, would you minister by your grace and by your power to every heart?

We give you all the praise in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Most people are living on yesterday's victories.

We get a victory in God and we celebrate and we're doing great and all that kind of stuff.

And then we kind of let our armor down.

We let our guard drop, if you will.

But the Bible teaches just the opposite.

First Peter chapter 5, verse number 8 says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

In other words, stay alert, stay discerning, because the enemy does not just stop simply because you won one victory.

And this is important because as we mature in God, we are supposed to grow.

We're supposed to go from milk to meat.

We're supposed to go from faith to faith.

We're supposed to leave the elementary things of the gospel and move on to meatier things and grow into maturity.

And many believers are not people, mature believers are not people who just don't fight anymore.

They're those who fight differently.

As you get older in God, as you grow wiser in God, you know how to fight smarter and not necessarily harder.

And this isn't true of every area of life, I think, as you mature.

When you first get married, you you bicker about little things.

Right?

You lift the toilet seat up again.

It's like a big thing.

You know, you're ready to ruin your marriage over the toilet seat, right?

And then you grab the toothpaste from the middle of the tooth.

Who does that anyway?

You grab it from the bottom, push up.

I go in there, it looks like you know, some some alien invaded the toothpaste.

It's like all crinkled.

And it used to really bother me, and I just fix it and make it look nice, and I don't say nothing.

Right?

Or, you know, your spouse makes a comment.

It used to be your spouse makes one comment, you're ready to put on your boxing gloves and go.

And now you just let it slide.

You get older, you get wiser.

You know how to conserve energy.

You know that every every everything is not worth a battle.

There are some hills that are not worth dying on, or perhaps when you become a more mature parent.

When you're a young parent, you know, and your teenager does something crazy.

And I don't even know every teenager usually does a few things crazy.

Can I remember when you were teenagers?

And this is what always to remember this.

When you are a parent, when you were a teenager, you did crazy things too, right?

But when your teenager does something crazy, as a young parent, I mean you want to lay the law down, I mean you want to tell them the what for, so on and so forth.

And they come home and they'll be like, how you like my girlfriend?

How you like my boyfriend?

And you want to tell them what you really think.

You want to be like, that ain't for you, no way.

Drive, this isn't no.

But as you get older, you'd be like, you know what?

You have really great judgment.

And if this is somebody you thought that you should date, then I'm sure that you're gonna be able to figure that out.

And just so you know, I'm always here if you need me.

Right?

You get a little wiser as you get older, right?

You don't fight every battle along the way.

Or when you're young, you know, you gotta tell everybody how much you know.

You gotta set everybody straight.

You know, somebody says something, you just gotta let them know that ain't right, that ain't right, that ain't right, that ain't right.

And as you get older, you just let the ignorant be ignorant still, right?

The Bible says, don't cast your pearls before swine, right?

And so as you get older, you're like, yeah, okay, they believe that that's wrong, but I'm not gonna say nothing.

But when you're young, you just can't control yourself.

You gotta jump into everything, you gotta be involved in everybody's business.

But as you get older, you mature, and that's true spirituality.

Some people know how to start battles, but very few know how to sustain faith through decades.

And mature faith learns endurance, mature faith learns wisdom, mature faith learns how to keep walking with God season after season after season.

And this is why this story matters, because in 2 Samuel 21, this is not young David.

This is not David charging Goliath, this is not teenage David with a slingshot, this is not fiery young warrior David, who with his strength was able to kill tens of thousands on his own.

This is older David, battle-worn David.

David who is experienced, and yes, he's weary, and yes, uh, he's he's gone through a lot, but he's not washed.

He's just different.

And in this often overlooked story, we find something about how to overcome the giants when they return in life.

And number one, first thing I want you to realize is that giants return when we're weary.

2 Samuel chapter 21, verse 15 says, Moreover, the Philistine had war again with Israel, again, and David grew faint, which means that David was weary.

2 Samuel 21:15

He's older, he's fought battles for decades, he's carried pressure for years, he has buried friends, he's endured betrayal, he's survived warfare, he's led a nation, he's carried responsibility, and now the Bible says David has grown weary.

And one of the things this verse teaches us is that giants are always looking for another opportunity, a more opportune time in order to come back into our life.

They are strategic.

The enemy studies seasons and vulnerabilities and weaknesses and access points.

And that's why even Jesus, when he was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, at the end of the story, it says this in the Amplified.

It says, when the devil had ended every temptation, he temporarily left him until a more opportune time.

He he wasn't gonna fight him when he was strong.

He wasn't gonna fight him when he was when he was prayed up, he wasn't gonna fight him when he was worded up.

He was gonna look for an opportunity, a way in.

The enemy was not happy that David years earlier had defeated Goliath.

He wanted another shot, he wanted to go another round, he wanted to see whether David stayed giant strong in the Lord or whether he just got lucky one time.

And there's some believers, you know, they get one victory and they think, yeah, I have arrived.

But can I just tell you not to scare you, but to hopefully keep you prepared?

The enemy's gonna return again.

He's gonna test that area you say you're strong in.

He's gonna test that area you don't think you don't think you can ever be defeated again.

He's coming for you in that area, which means that David doesn't just fight an isolated battle.

Giants come back.

We specifically learn that this giant is related to the giant in Gath, the scripture tells us, which means Goliath had relatives, descendants.

He was part of a giant-producing lineage, and that's how the enemy often works.

You defeat one battle and another shows up.

You survive one season and another one comes.

You overcome one temptation, and years later another attack happens.

Because victory in one season doesn't mean vigilance in another.

Doesn't mean you don't have to be vigilant in another.

First Peter chapter 5, verse number eight again.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Not everybody, but whom he may devour.

In other words, he's looking for access, he's looking for openings, he's looking for vulnerabilities.

And many times giants come back in weary season because weariness weakens vigilance.

When are you weary?

What happens is you stop praying and you stop guarding your heart like you used to.

You stop reading your word and surrounding yourself with other believers like you used to.

You become careless where you were once careful, and the enemy is watching for that.

He's waiting for spiritual exhaustion and emotional fatigue.

He's waiting for compromise and prayerlessness and isolation.

He's looking for more opportune time, and that's why we can't live off of yesterday's victories.

We can't say, Well, we were we used to be prayed up.

We used to pray all the time, we used to go to church regularly, we used to read our word every single day.

No, he wants to see are is your faith in sprint form or marathon form?

This isn't the long haul, not the short haul.

We are in this until we go home to be with Jesus.

And our goal is to make sure that we stay steadfast the whole way through.

And Jesus modeled this for us.

The enemy tested him in the wilderness, then came back to him in the garden, and then came back again on the cross.

But Jesus stayed giant strong.

He was always prayed up, he was always worded up, he was always holied up.

You say, What's holied up?

It's living right before God.

That's important.

The Bible says godliness, godliness has the promise that is in this life and of the life to come.

That means that God wants us to live a godly and a holy life.

Why?

The enemy's looking for a foothold.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 27 says, Give him no place.

Ephesians 4:27

Don't leave a cracked door, don't leave an open window, don't leave an access point.

You have to keep your weapons on you at all times.

And this reminds me of the story of Gideon in the Bible.

You remember that story?

Gideon had 30,000 men.

He was gonna go fight the Midianites, who were even larger than that.

And God said, No, we're not gonna do it with 30,000.

We're gonna do it with the right people.

How many of you know it's better to have the right people than a lot of people?

He said, We we can't we can't work with all these people.

You got a lot of wrong people here.

And he keeps whittling it down, and finally, the the last whittle down to 300 men.

Here's how he does it.

He said, Take them down to the river to drink.

They were out on the battlefield, they were really thirsty, and he says, Anybody that sticks their head in the water and drinks, get rid of them.

How many of you know you have to get rid of more people than you think in your life?

I'm not saying be mean, but I'm telling you that God will use people to assist you, the enemy will use people to twist you.

And so you got to be really careful about who you allow into your circle and into your life.

And so he says, Take them all down.

I know they say they for you.

I know they say they're gonna fight, but I'm telling you, you're gonna you're gonna have problems if you go into battle with these people.

And he says, You know, anybody that sticks their head in the water and drinks, get rid of them.

But those that reach into the water with their hand and lap the water with their tongue like a dog, you can keep them.

Now, why?

Was there something special about the way they drank?

No.

Well, one was consumed with their problem, with the with their own thirst, with their own issues that they forgot forgot about their assignment.

In other words, they buried their head in the water.

And when you bury your head in the water to drink, you gotta lay your weapons down.

But the other ones, they scooped it up.

Why?

They were still cognizant of the assignment.

How many of you know you gotta stay ready?

You gotta stay ready, you gotta stay ready, you gotta be vigilant, you gotta be sober.

That's what the Bible is telling us, because the enemy is looking for access points in our lives.

But then, number two, giants are not content until they extinguish our light.

The enemy, I've said this before, is not really after your health, even though he'll attack there.

Not really after your marriage, even though he'll attack there.

Not really after your wealth, even though he'll attack there.

Not really after your mind, even though he'll attack there.

He's after your relationship with God.

He's after your light.

2 Samuel chapter 21, verse 17.

2 Samuel 21:17

But Abishai, the son of Zeruah, came to his aid and struck the Philistine and killed him.

Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest ye quench the lamp of Israel.

Notice the language, lest ye quench the lamp of Israel.

This giant was not trying to wound David.

This giant was trying to extinguish David's light.

And I think this is one of the clearest revelations of what the enemy's strategy is in the Bible.

The enemy is never satisfied with just hurting you.

He wants to put your fire out.

He wants to put your zeal out, your passion for God out, your prayer life out, your worship out, your testimony out.

He wants to ruin your relationship with the Lord.

He wants to destroy your spiritual influence and your confidence in God.

Jesus made it clear.

He said the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

The enemy wants to steal your joy, kill your faith, and destroy your light.

And if we're honest, this is exactly how he attacked David, right?

He tried to get him through compromise, Bathsheba.

He tried to get him through betrayal, Absalom.

He tried to get him through people, Saul hunting him like an animal.

And now he tries to another giant, Ishai Banab, a new giant related to the old giant.

Because the way the enemy often returns is through related battles.

You overcome the addiction.

Now here comes the giant of regret.

All the bridges you burned along the way.

All the time you wasted, all the opportunities you missed it.

And now you're fighting a new giant, but related to the old giant.

You you overcome the abuse, and now comes the giant of shame.

Well, maybe it was my fault.

Maybe there was something wrong with me.

Maybe I could have, maybe I should have.

Maybe I had this.

A new giant, but related to the other giant.

You overcame the toxic relationship, and now comes the giant of distrust.

Well, I'm not going to give my heart to anybody anymore.

These people are always like that.

I can't trust anybody.

And now you're you're fighting a new giant but related to the old giant.

You overcome depression, and now here comes the giant of hopelessness.

New giants related to old giants, and the enemy keeps sending them for one purpose to extinguish your light.

But I want you to notice something particularly interesting about Ishbai Bonab.

Here's what it says: that Ishbi Bonab, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was 300 shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David.

And the Bible gives us very specific uh detail about this giant, his lineage, his spear, and his new sword.

Because the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us how new giants, when they return, how they operate.

First notice is spear.

Goliath's spear was 600 pounds.

This guy's spear is 300 pounds.

What's important about this is not every returning giant is bigger.

Some are more subtle.

The first came with overwhelming intimidation.

This giant comes differently, not necessarily bigger, but just strategic.

Why?

There was that mature faith that learns how to fight smarter, not harder.

You've got to learn that the enemy is strategic, so you've got to be strategic.

Sometimes it's discouragement, sometimes it's compromise, sometimes it's subtle spiritual fatigue, sometimes it's subtle offense, sometimes it's subtle prayerlessness, sometimes it's subtle drifting.

The first giant attacks his courage, the second one his endurance.

One is out in the open, the other one is more, more subtle, more subdued.

And if we are not spiritually discerning, we will overlook the smaller spears because they don't see as dramatic as the big ones.

But don't underestimate smaller attacks.

A small leak can sink a ship.

It's the little foxes, the Bible says.

Not necessarily the big things.

You get to a point in your spiritual maturity where there's certain things you automatically know are wrong.

So the devil is not gonna come, the enemy's not gonna come, life is not gonna come and tempt you with those things.

It's gonna be more subtle about those things.

It's gonna be those little things that you don't think matter.

I'll just skip prayer today.

You're too busy, God understands.

I'll just skip prayer tomorrow.

You're too busy, God understands.

You can connect with God later.

I just meant three months of church because of sports.

Don't worry, God understands.

I mean, that's important after all, even though we do have a Wednesday night service for people who can't be here on Sunday for some particular reason.

But I'm gonna just let the enemy begin to get subtle in my life to cause me to keep slipping away and slipping away and slipping away.

New giant, but related to the old giant.

That's why you can't rely on yesterday's prayer life, yesterday's victories, yesterday's encounters with God, because giants return carrying new swords, new strategies, new weapons.

Right?

And one particular giant, what I thought was really interesting about this, was there were three other giants, one that David faced, needed help, three more that his mighty man had to take care of for in total.

Some people will say, Well, that's why David originally took five rocks to go defeat Goliath, one for Goliath and four for the others.

But I don't think that's actually true.

But some people say that sometimes.

But here's what I want you to say: one giant had six fingers and six toes on both hands and both feet.

One giant was a 24-digit giant.

I asked the Lord about this.

And I said, What does that mean?

You know, and here's what God spoke to me.

I don't know if it's true or not, but I think this is what God spoke to me.

He said, Because when giants show up, they try to intimidate you by how they look.

Because how many of you know if you ever see somebody with six toes on each foot, that is scary stuff right there.

I mean, that's stuff for grounding the relationship.

Walk away.

No, I'm just kidding.

I'm just scared.

But here's how the enemy does it, right?

He seeks, he walks around as a roaring lion.

He's trying to scare you, he's trying to intimidate you, he's trying to wear down your faith, he's trying to steal your light from you.

Why?

Because your light in God is everything.

Matter of fact, listen to the story about in ancient Greek.

There was this race, it was called the torch race.

And the objective of the race was not to finish first, it was to finish with your torch still lit.

So you could be faster than somebody else.

And you could get to the finish, you could be way ahead.

And let's say you're all the way over here, right?

Finish line is over here, and right as you step, your flame goes out, you lose.

And the person that is way back here, not going as fast as you, but still carrying that flame.

Guess what?

They're still in the race, they're still winning.

Can I tell you what our objective is as a believer?

Is to carry that torch for the rest of your life until you go to see Jesus.

Stop worrying about how fast you're going, how much you have, how much you accomplish.

That is secondary stuff.

Worry about your flame, worry about your torch, worry about your life, worry about your relationship with God.

Put all of your energies into keeping your fire lit, and God will take you places that you cannot go by yourself.

And God steps in.

When we keep our torch lit.

How does he do that?

Well, here's the first one.

And most people don't like to hear this one.

God steps in through repentance.

Nobody preaches about repentance anymore in the church.

We preach about, you know, we we we preach such a soft gospel that people come in and out of church full of sin and never change.

Never get convicted.

They walk in and then God loves me.

And he does, right?

Because even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

But they take that and they take that as an excuse.

I'll just continue doing what I'm gonna do what I'm always done.

Doesn't matter.

What do I care for?

I'm covered by grace anyway.

And there's elements that see the dangerous truth is truth that has grains.

Uh the dangerous lies are lies that have grains of truth in it.

And so we come in now because we don't talk about repentance.

But before David ever faces this giant in battle, something important happens that most people overlook in the story.

The first 15 verses of the chapter before these giants return are all about how Israel was living in famine.

The land was struck in famine.

And it was three years.

And David finally goes to God.

He says, God, what is going on?

Because can I tell you something?

Everybody faces battles in life.

There's no shame in that.

But if you are in seasons of defeat, there's a problem.

You need to inquire of the Lord because you are an overcomer.

You are supposed to walk in victory.

Something is not supposed to keep you down for a whole season.

Yea, though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, not camp in it, not live there, not make your tent there, not think this is my lie in life.

You're supposed to have victory.

David goes to God.

He said, God, what gives?

And here's what God says.

2 Samuel 21, verse number 1 is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.

Under Joshua, Joshua made a covenant with the Gibeonites not to wipe them out.

Saul became king and he decided even though there was a covenant in place, he was going to destroy them anyway.

I want you to know something about God.

God is a covenant-keeping God.

I want you to know that God considers covenant to be so serious.

That's why God says, listen carefully to the words of God.

My word will I not alter, will I not break, nor alter the thing that comes out of my mouth.

If God said it, you can take it to the bank.

That's why, listen to me, theologically, it is insulting to say God says no to a promise.

It is insulting to God to say that God didn't do what he said, because God is a covenant-keeping God.

And when you say God doesn't do something that he promised, what you're actually saying is God chose not to uphold this covenant.

God doesn't do that ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.

And so David goes before the Lord and he says, God, what gives?

And here's what God says: there's an open door.

There's a crack.

There's a foothold here.

There's an access point here.

And David says to God, What should I do about it?

And he says, Go talk to the king of Gibeon.

And so he goes to talk to the king of Gibeon.

He says, What can we do to make this right?

And verse number 14, so they performed all that the king commanded.

And after that, God heed the prayer for the land.

After what?

After repentance, after the open door was dealt with.

After that, God was entreated for the land.

Here's one of the greatest lessons in the Bible, in this story, is that if we want to stay giant strong in the Lord, we cannot play games with sin.

We expect to be walking victorious and always on fire.

And we are knowingly and willfully playing games with sin.

We have no conviction in our heart.

We come in and we act like it's not a big deal.

Our heart ought to be smart and our heart ought to be stricken.

Not that we are perfect in any way, but we ought to have a conscience that is speaking to us.

And the Holy Spirit on the inside of us ought to be saying, It's time we deal treacherously with that thing.

Sometimes you got to be violent with sin in your life.

Because sin is an open door for the enemy.

Thank God for his grace.

And I don't say this to make anybody feel because can I tell you something?

I need the grace of God just as much as you need the grace of God.

Anybody needs the grace of God.

I need his grace that covers me.

I am far from perfect in any way, shape, or form.

I thank God for his grace, but I also thank God for the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

I also thank God for the voice of the Holy Spirit.

I also thank God that my heart smites me when I do something that hurts the heart of God because unrepentance or lack of repentance opened door for the enemy.

That's why Jesus said, if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.

He's not talking about mutilate yourself.

He's talking about don't play with this stuff.

Take violent action against this stuff.

Violent in every way you can.

Why?

Because God wants to do something amazing in your life.

See, we want giant-level victories while tolerating known compromises.

But compromise becomes an access point that the enemy is looking for entrance into our life is.

Don't give him a more opportune time.

Don't leave doors cracked.

Don't leave windows open.

Cut the thing off.

Walk away.

Change the environment.

Change the habit.

Change the relationship.

Change the pattern.

I want to talk to relationships because relationships is the number one area.

It's the subtle thing.

If there's an open door in a relationship, my life changed when I went to God and I said, God, take this relationship from me.

I said, I know it's gonna hurt, Lord.

But this relationship is not of you.

Why?

Because it kept pulling me away from God.

It kept making me disobey God.

Yeah, was I trying?

Yeah, was I trying?

Yeah, but you know what?

I was living in it.

It's like expecting to never drink alcohol after an alcohol and hanging out at a bar.

It's foolishness.

No matter how much you want to pray, no matter how much you want to ask God, there are certain things you need to be violent with.

I said, God, take this away.

And here's why I want you to take it away.

Because God, nothing is more important to me than my relationship with you.

I will not give up my destiny for this.

God steps in through repentance.

And here's what happens when we repent, God's favor begins to flow in our life again.

God was entreated for the land.

His favor was lifted from the land, but now it's getting ready to return to the land.

Why?

Because they had fixed the gap.

They had closed the issue.

They had dealt with the issue.

They had said, you know, God, we repent.

And repent is not just a matter of saying you're sorry.

It's about turning the other way, going 100%, 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

And when they dealt, God's favor begins to flow.

And can I tell you, there is no giant big enough that can stand in your way when the favor of God is flowing on your side.

I'll tell you what, God's favor will take down Goliath, it'll take down Ishbish, it'll take down whoever is in your way, it'll take it down.

Let the favor flow.

But then God steps in number four through others.

But Ishbishai, the son of Zerua, and by the way, Zerua, I found out, was the sister of David.

Sister of David.

So this is somebody that's related to Abishai, came to his aid.

He struck the Philistine and he killed him.

And I love this verse because tucked away in this dramatic battle scene is one of the most powerful truths about mature faith in the entire Bible.

And that is that God often steps in to our battles through people.

David is weary, the giant is present.

He's his light is under attack.

God doesn't send an angel, he sends Abishai.

One of the greatest lies of the enemy that the enemy whispers is you need to fight alone, handle it alone, struggle alone, carry it alone, hide it alone.

Isolation is one of the enemy's tricks to not keep you free, but to keep you bound.

That's why the Bible says God brings all hidden things of darkness to light.

It's a scary verse, but it's actually a freeing verse.

Because God is not trying to bring stuff to light in order to hurt anybody.

God is trying to bring it to light so you could be free.

Because when light comes, help is supposed to come.

Let me say it again.

When light comes, help is supposed to come.

Let me say it again.

When light comes, help is supposed to come.

Not when light comes, judgment's supposed to come.

The light is the judgment.

When God brings it to light, finally that conviction you were supposed to feel, now you feel it.

But the light is supposed to bring restoration.

That's why the Bible tells us when you see a brother or sister overtaken in a fault, those of you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering your own self lest you fall.

See, we have to we have to create environments.

Environments where people can, if they fail and they want to come clean and they want to repent, that we come alongside and help them to be everything that God has called them to be.

And so God brings this thing to light.

He steps in through others.

Abishai, don't fight alone.

Here's a couple of things I want to share with you.

Number one, mature faith receives help.

Help is not weakness, it's wisdom, it's humility, it's maturity.

The Bible says, two are better than one.

If they fall, one will lift up his companion.

Deuteronomy 32, verse 30 says, one can chase a thousand, two can put to flight ten thousand.

Deuteronomy 32:30

One of the first principles in the book of Genesis is it's not good for man to be alone.

How did Satan cause Adam and Eve to fall?

Got them separated.

If they were together, they would have been strong.

Eve was over here, Adam was over there.

Adam was doing his thing, Eve was doing her thing.

Watch out, married people, don't get separated.

Say, well, we're still together.

Don't get separated.

See, because you could be together, but you could be doing your thing, they could be doing their thing.

And watch out, because that's where the enemy is looking for an access point in your life.

Stay together.

Stay close.

Stay close in Christ.

Stay close in mission.

Stay close in what you're going after.

Do it together.

And so we can stay isolated.

Some people don't realize isolation is when giants return.

Sometimes you need somebody else's prayers.

Sometimes you need somebody else's wisdom.

Sometimes you need somebody else's encouragement.

Sometimes you need somebody else's spiritual supply.

There are certain battles.

Listen to me carefully, you can't win on your own.

Let me say it again for all the people who are overly strong.

Because the Bible says, be careful lest when you think you're strong you fall.

Every man ought to think soberly of himself according to the measure of faith that God has given to him.

Don't overestimate your strength.

One of the things you gotta know is that your flesh is weak.

Your spirit is strong, but your flesh is weak.

Give it no place because it'll roar quick.

All it needs is a little bit of food, and all of a sudden, it's wanting to go to the buffet if you know what I'm talking about.

There are some battles you can't win on your own.

There was a lame man.

He couldn't get to Jesus all by himself, but he had four friends.

What if he didn't have any friends?

He would have stayed lame.

But he had four friends.

You know what they said?

You can't get to Jesus on your own?

We'll carry you to Jesus.

And they carried them all the way to Jesus.

And when they got to the house where Jesus was, you know, it was so packed because Jesus only preached to small groups of people.

All the haters.

All the haters.

Ah, these big churches, they ain't biblical.

I know what Bible you're reading, but Jesus' crowds were so big you couldn't even get to see them.

You couldn't even get to come.

So what did they say?

They said, We got to get to Jesus.

We got to get what did they do?

They climbed up on the roof, they ripped a hole open in the roof.

And the Bible says, When he saw their faith.

How many of you know sometimes you need the faith of somebody else to be strong when your faith is weak?

You need somebody to help you in a particular moment.

And receiving help is not weakness, it's wisdom in every way.

Moses, he went up to the top of the mountain to pray.

His arms were getting weary.

He needed Aaron and her to hold his hands up in order to win the battle.

There are certain battles that you cannot win unless you take help.

It reminds me of the old story about the man he stranded on the rooftop during the flood.

You heard about this guy?

And a boat comes by and says, Come on, get in.

He said, No, no, I'm gonna believe God, he's gonna save me.

And then God says another boat, and they say, Come on, get in, get in.

He said, No, I'm gonna believe God is gonna save me.

And I say, Okay, and then a helicopter comes.

And they say, Come on, come on, come on.

We came to rest.

He said, No, I'm gonna believe God to save me.

And he dies.

And he gets before God in heaven.

And he says, God, I don't understand why you didn't save me.

He said, I sent you two boats and a helicopter.

Some of you got boats, some of you got helicopters, some of you got all these tools around you in life, and you're not taking the help, and so you're sinking because you don't have wisdom.

But also, mature faith empowers other people.

Notice this: the reason David had help when he needed it is because he spent time empowering people before he needed their help.

In fact, Abishai was one of the leaders among David's mighty men.

He was the brother of Joab.

Joab was the chief of the mighty men, he was the toughest, he was the strongest.

And scripture describes him as a fierce warrior who once killed 300 men with his spear and he fought beside David for years, which means David had spent years pouring into people who were now strong enough to help him when he became very weak.

And now the very people David empowered were protecting David's life.

Listen carefully, I'm gonna help somebody.

Empowerment is not about losing importance, it's about multiplying impact.

Let me say it again.

Empowerment is not about losing importance, it's about multiplying impact.

By the way, I'm at the stage in my life where the people I want to hire is people who are empowers.

People who know how to develop team, not execute a task.

I'm just helping you.

That's free right there, by the way.

Tony Robbins would charge you over$10,000 an hour to receive that one statement.

Empowerment.

It's not about losing importance, it's about multiplying impact.

Jethro understood this when he goes to speak to when he goes to speak to Moses.

Moses is running all of Israel, millions of people.

And he's trying to handle every little thing.

They're coming to Moses with every little thing.

And Moses is like, well, let me make time for this one.

Let me make time for that one.

Can I tell you that when you go higher in the Lord, when you mature in God, you have to learn how to say no just as much as you have to learn how to say yes.

At the beginning, it's yes to the doors that God opens.

At the end, it's no to the ones that the enemy is opening.

And not every door the enemy opens is a bad door, but it's a distracting door.

It's a door that you are not meant to walk through because it is a diversion to your enemy, uh, to your to your purpose.

And so what you have to understand is the importance of empowerment to others.

And so Jethro, the older, wise one, says to Moses, Moses, you're gonna kill yourself.

You're not gonna be able to accomplish your task.

What you gotta do is you've got to set captains over hundreds and captains over fifties, and you got to let them handle all the other things.

I tell people all the time, I'm not the only one with the Holy Ghost.

Let me say it again.

I am not the only one with the Holy Ghost.

You know what?

The same Holy Ghost that is in me is on every pastor on this staff.

They got the Holy Ghost too.

And so you know what?

They got the wisdom of God on the inside of them as well.

And we need to be specific about our assignments.

Empowerment is important, and we see this again through Moses.

Moses says to Joshua when they are fighting the Amalekites, you go down on the battlefield and fight.

I'll go up to the mountaintop and pray, and I'll bring Aaron and her with me, and they'll hold my hands up.

And so you need the one that was fighting, the one that was praying, and the one that was supporting in order to get the battle to be won, in order to get the victory.

If you don't have the right pieces, you can't get the victory.

Empowerment is so, so important.

Delegation protects longevity.

Empowerment advances purpose, shared responsibility produces greater victory.

Jesus was even like this.

What's the last thing Jesus did before he left the earth?

He said, All authority has been given unto me.

Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age.

What was he doing?

He was saying, This mission is bigger than my time on earth.

This mission requires that I empower other people.

And by the way, Matthew 28, 19 is not a suggestion.

My wife told me this this morning.

She said, She said, You see that book on the counter?

I said, No.

How many of you know that?

She said, That don't mean she's not going to tell you about the book.

She said, Yeah.

I said, Well, what is it?

She said, It's a book called What If Jesus Was Serious.

And immediately I thought, is this something on like his personality quirk, like, you know, playful, serious?

She's like, No, it's all about what if Jesus really meant what he said?

What if he was serious, y'all?

What if he was serious when he left the earth and said, Go ye into all the world and make disciples?

What if that was not a suggestion?

What if that was not optional in the life of a Christian?

What if Christianity was really not just about how you could make your life better?

What if it was really about a kingdom cause?

What if it was really about a mission for the world?

What if it was really about the empowerment of an army so that nobody would be lost?

What if it was really about that?

Empowerment.

God steps in through people.

But then lastly, today, God steps in through wisdom.

2 Samuel chapter 21, verse 17.

2 Samuel 21:17

Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest ye quench the lamp of Israel.

Notice Abishai did not say, David, we don't we can't lose your strength.

He says, David, we can't lose your light.

It's not that we can't lose your strength, it's that we can't lose your light.

As you get older, let me listen to me carefully, everybody.

Older in God, not just older from an age point of view.

You no longer win with strength, you win with wisdom.

And so even if you're young and as you're maturing in Christ, you're not gonna win with strength anymore.

There are some there are some times where you're not gonna win because you can just get another job.

That might be part of the solution, but it's not all of the solution.

You gotta start winning with wisdom.

You gotta start knowing how to discern, you gotta start knowing how to sense the voice of the Holy Spirit, you gotta start knowing how to see the enemy behind what is happening in your life.

See, when you're young in God, when you're not mature in God, temptation uh shows up, and here's how it looks to you fun, exciting, no big deal.

But then you mature in God, you know what happens?

You're like, I see you, devil.

I see you, I see you.

All of a sudden, something shows up in your life, and you're like, Look at you, devil, with your eye poking out the corner right there.

I see you hiding behind that thing.

You think I'm gonna go for that thing right there.

You think that I'm gonna give all that up for this moment of this, that, and the other thing.

You think I'm gonna compromise my integrity in God for what you want to promise me for a moment?

I know what you're up to.

I know what the regret behind that, I know what it does to my light, I know what it does to my relationship.

I see you.

I'm not nah, you would have had me 10 years ago.

By the way, if he still has you and has you and has you, grow up in God.

Grow up.

Maturity, maturity.

God is calling the church to become mature in this final hour.

Proverbs says, Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom.

James says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, but let him ask in faith, no doubting.

James says that when you're facing a giant, a trial, ask God for wisdom.

Wisdom is God's view of the situation, seeing and knowing what God sees.

It's the Greek word Sophia, it means a higher perspective.

To see what it means, getting a glimpse of what God sees in your situation.

But notice how to get those glimpses.

Let them ask in faith, nothing wavering.

Now that means a lot, but let me just hone in on one aspect of it.

It means wisdom can only be attained in a growing, thriving relationship with the Lord.

It can only be attained through a relationship built on faith and trust.

A relationship built on faith and trust only comes by spending time in that relationship.

And there are too many of us that we expect God to give us his wisdom in a 30 second prayer, and we want our entire life to change.

I know that God can give you wisdom in 30 seconds, but can I tell you who God is?

I said this in the first service.

I said, God.

Is like the proper wife.

Some of y'all are wooing, you don't even know what I mean yet.

We're really the bride.

God is the bridegroom.

But here's what I mean by the illustration God is like, uh, you ain't getting that till we married.

Because I don't want to be used.

I don't want you just blowing in here for a minute and then forgetting about me the next minute.

I don't want to give you what I know just to give you what I know so you can go wasted on all sorts of riotous living.

Here's what I want: I want relationship with you.

And when you come into relationship with me, when we have a bond together, when we trust, I give you everything I got.

No holds bar, undefiled communion and relationship.

Call onto me, and I will show you great and marvelous things which you did not know.

I'll let you in on secrets that no giant will be able to stand against in your life.

But you need relationship.

God wants to show up in wisdom in your life, and that's why the Bible says, be still and know that I'm God.

God said, Listen, you got this wrong.

You think that I'm the genie in the bottle God.

You think that I'm the God that you just come to whenever you have something, and I and I share with you everything that I know.

See, it's with those that are my friends.

Abraham, Moses, Samuel.

This Paul.

Paul said, I was caught up to the third level of heaven.

I heard things that I can't even express.

I can't even tell you what I heard because they're too deep.

You think I'm crazy.

But why was God sharing those things with Paul?

Because Paul was serious about his relationship with God.

Samuel was serious about his relationship with God.

These were people in him I live, in him I move, in him I have my being.

These were people who pressed into the presence of God.

Moses said, God, I want to see what you look like.

God doesn't just show himself to anybody, he shows himself to people who give up everything for him.

God is saying, Be still and know.

Stillness.

Quiet time.

Listen to me.

You ought to do more listening than talking in prayer.

Here's how prayer is supposed to work.

We can ask God for sure.

We can lay our burdens down on God for sure.

We can talk to God for sure.

But God doesn't need our wisdom.

We need God's wisdom.

There have been times in my life where I've been in conversations and God has told me, shut up.

With other people.

And I said, why shut up?

God said, because they know more than you.

They're not going to be impressed by how much you don't know nothing.

They know everything you know already.

Shut up, just listen.

When I get into the presence of God, you know what I want to know?

I want to know what God has.

Because if God gives me wisdom, if I can hear the voice of God, can I tell you you need the voice of God?

One word from God will change your whole life in an instant.

It will save you years of pain, years of trouble.

It'll cause you to catapult into your destiny in ways that you never thought you need the voice of God in your life.

One word from God can change it all.

But in order to hear that voice, you need to press in.

And when God speaks to you and you get that wisdom, everything changes in your life.

See, some of you want money, you should want wisdom.

Some of you want health, you should want wisdom.

Some of some of you, some of you want a career advancement, you should want wisdom.

Because if all God does is ever fixed a problem, you don't know how, you don't know the, you don't have the keys that you need in order to maintain the upward progression in your life.

But if you get wisdom, with wisdom comes everything else.

If you get wisdom on how to be healthy, then you stay healthy and you live healthy.

If you get wisdom on how to be wealthy, then you stay wealthy and keep getting more and more wealthy.

If you get wisdom on how to have a successful marriage, then you don't just fix the fight.

You grow in your relationship with one another and have a long lasting.

You need wisdom.

So Solomon goes to God.

He took over Israel.

God appears to him and says, So, whatever you want, I'll give it to you.

Imagine.

Imagine if God showed up to you tonight.

He said, I just want to come because I love you so much.

Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.

Ask me.

Sadly, most of us would say, I want you to make me independently wealthy so I don't have to work.

I want you to pay all my bills.

I want you to give me a nice house and a nice car.

By the way, no problem with all that stuff.

Okay?

No shade.

I'm not trying to condemn it.

Because God, listen to me, He wants you wealthier than you want yourself.

God wants you to have all that.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, his righteousness.

All these things will be added on to you.

God wants you to, He just doesn't want it to be your first love.

So Solomon says to God, when God says, Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.

He said, Can I have wisdom for how to lead your people?

I need wisdom for my assignment.

I need to know what I need to know so that I can fulfill the destiny you put me on the earth for.

And you know what God says back to Solomon?

He said, Because you didn't ask for long life for yourself, because you didn't ask for riches for yourself, because you didn't ask for the head of your enemy, guess what I'm gonna do?

Everything that you didn't ask for, I'm gonna give that to you anyway.

God wants you to be more wealthy and more healthy and more blessed than you want yourself to be.

But under the right circumstances, because when you get wisdom, favor begins to flow in your life.

And when there is a flow of favor in your life, I'll tell you what, you don't need to handle every giant yourself.

You let wisdom handle some of those giants.

You let other things step in and handle some of those giants.

Why?

Because you are focused on the mission that God has for you.

Can you say amen?

Would you stand to your feet?