Voice of the Nazarene 7-9-23

I'm coming to you from North Central Ohio, we share with you the voice of the Nazarene, a week by week venture into the Word of God sponsored by the Bucyrus, Ohio Church of the Nazarene. We join our Pastor Ray LaSalle, and the voice of the Nazarene.

It's a purpose were written for our learning. That's why we have this book. That's why we have the great truths and the great biblical stories. It's for our learning, that we through patience, and the comfort of the scriptures. Don't they bring comfort to you? The comfort of the scriptures that we might have hope. And I'm talking again about David. Here's David, the only man at all the Bible that God said, this he's a man after my own heart. Overlooked by his own earthly father, ignored by his brothers, disdained by King Saul. It's a man that was a tender of sheep. He's a Psalmist. He was a man that loved God. He was a king.

Talking about David. There's a story told about a young guy back during the war time. That I guess he got a letter a draft from Uncle Sam. He was a good, good young guy he didn't like to fight, loved everybody. He loved others so much so that even when somebody tried to pick a fight with him, he would just laugh shrug it off. He loved people, but he got these draft letters, and he just ignored them and let them pile up. And and finally they sent the sheriff after him, the sheriff arrested him, brought him in and brought him to the draft board. And the lady said, I want your full name. And he gave his full name. But he said before you say anything, I'd like you to speak first.

Here's what I want you to do. I want you to send me out the very heart of the battle where they're shooting guns so I can get wounded. And then I want you to take me back to the hospital and patch me up and send me back to the battlefield. Let me get shot again and then send me back to the hospital get me well. He repeated that over about five times. She said you're crazy. He said write that down. Write that down. Well, David wasn't like that. I tried to do research it and I could not fully back it.

But some say that he at least fought thirteen great battles during his lifetime. Others on different web pages said that he fought 66 battles that we know of. He was a warrior. And I thought of David the warrior and I thought Well man, we're all leaders. We're all in a battle.

We're all under attack. I don't know about you. This is not the refs praying . We're in full fledge battle and all hell is declared war against the saints of God. I want to tell you something once you sign up to serve God, here's what Second

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier. We're a soldier.

Gracious. We didn't even realize we were signing up to be a soldier of Jesus Christ. So tells me we are all warriors, we're all in a battle. Ephesians

12 says, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So folk, our battles not with flesh and blood. Ever so often I get stuck. I'm trying to figure out what in the world and somebody that was another Christian just stuck a spear in my side or jabbed me or poked me with whatever they can get a hold of.

And I have to watch out sometimes my attitude gets a little twisted and I get angry with somebody else in the church world. And he reminds us, we're not against each other, we're on the same team. It doesn't matter what name might be on the church door we're not in a fight with any other church in town or out of town . We're a team we're in this together. We may not agree with every other soldier but we've all got the same enemy.

And the devil is real. Did you hear what I said? The devil is real. We don't hear much about that around the church anymore.

We don't preach about a real hell or a real devil or they think we're cuckoo. I want you to know, the devil is real. And we have an enemy and it's not you and it's not me. It's the devil. And it's a spiritual battle that we're in. It's not a fleshly earthly human battle.

It's a spiritual battle. And that's why the Bible tells us in

And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for not with your brethren, fight for your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your house. He's saying here that we're to fight for our family.

If your marriage is under attack, you better fight for your marriage. The devil wants your marriage. The marriage represents the church more than anything else, that relationship between the church and Jesus Christ. We're to submit to Jesus and wives are to submit to their husband, and if the devil don't like that he'll fight your marriage. Hey, we're gonna fight for our marriage. The devils out for your child, you better fight for your kids. You better fight for your grandkids. I picked it up or my wife did either on Facebook or wherever that one of our precious couples in the church here. Been here for several years. Their grandson was killed in a motorcycle accident. I'm driving out of where I was I picked up the phone and I called their house and I said I understand there's a death in the family. And she said yes, our grandson 24 years of age. In a little bit I got a phone call right back from her, she said pastor I need you to know something. She said when we were looking for a church before we came to your church, we were visiting churches and we got into this little church and somebody came to us and said, somebody's going to be baptized this morning. And you know, they found that their grandson had been led to Jesus Christ at the desk of their friend. And their church was to be baptized that morning. And they just happened I don't believe it just happened. I believe that God ordained them to be there and see their grandson being baptized. Who had just found Jesus Christ is the Savior a week before. As she said, I want you to know it eases it some because we know where he is at.

I'm trying to tell you better fighting for your grand children. You better fight it for the ministry, the devil is out to destroy the ministry and if you're a part of a church, fight for your church. Don't let it lead to the divison come to the congregation fight for it.

And may I say fighting for your influence for the devil has come to steal that and to kill that and destroy that. And let me say something. This is not a Sunday school. We're in the battle.

We're the war, we're in a fight and the battles with the enemy.

And just think if the greatest Christian that ever lived unequivocally is the Apostle Paul. From the time that he got saved to the time he went to heaven he was in a battle. All hells against him shipwrecked, beat up, talked about, influenced, killed every which way he turned. He was under attack he was in the battle.

And the Christian life, I want to tell you something it's not all peaches and cream like this happy clappy crowd, I want to tell you. You listen to that crowd they'll tell you that everything is smooth sailing it's just silky, we're tiptoeing through the tulips. Let me tell you something sometimes theres no tulips to it. We're in a battle. Some of that stuff's not biblical. And the Apostle Paul went through battles. Now he gets to the end of the way and he standing before Nero's chopping block and he's about to be beheaded and he wanted to say something and in Second Timothy

he said, I fought a good fight.

He's trying to tell you that it'd be in a battle. It's a warfare, these things that happened in our life we're in the battle. Hell hates God's children. Now here's David, this is all gonna say about it. If you could talk to David and say, David, out of all the major battles, whether it was 13 whether it was 66, I don't know.

But David out of all battles that you were in, Which one was the most memorable? And I believe he would have dropped his head and paused for a moment, got a four way thought.

And finally, he would say probably when I was 17 year old chap. And I went down to see my brothers and there was a war on.

I wasn't allowed to go down there and fight. My brothers were there and I took them some food. There was a giant, more than 10 feet tall. He weighed over 500 pounds, big enough to eat hay and dumb enough to enjoy it. He's cursing God and defying Isreal and nobody would stand up against him. And I asked if there's something that worth dying for? Is there not a cause? Is anybody gonna respond to him? My brothers begin to poke fun of me and Saul came out he wanted to instruct me how to do it. He was writing a book on how you kill giants, but he never did any killing of giants himself. May I just say to you, if he overcame you're asking pastor, How can I overcome the giants? I'm not an anthropologist, I haven't spent my time studying societies through the historicity of the years. But I've been around long enough to know that we've all got some giants, we've all got some struggles. We've all got some battles in our life. I'd like to look at David for a few moments and look at the principles that he used and how he succeeded and what we can learn. And first of all, I'd like to say that he was consistent in routine things.

Here's what's amazing is you read the Bible, God told Samuel, the prophet, he said, I want you to get over King Saul, I know you're mourning his death and you just can't lay it down and you got to understand something.

I've taken my hand off of him.

He's lost the anointing. I've departed from Saul. I'm not answering him anymore. Get over it, Preacher. I want you to get up and wipe your eyes and get some clothes on and I want you to go down to the little town where Jesse lives and I'm going to annoint a new king. One of Jesse's boys. And when he arrives he takes the oil and pours it over David and annoints him to be a king. Pastor,. he became the king. No, not quite.

14 years passed before he is ever brought in the kingship.

He's right back to the routine things back to the same old same old back tending sheep, fighting off bears, fighting off lions down there alone. His brothers still poking fun. Still not allowed to come home. He's down out there in the fields doing the mundane routine things. He was consistent in routine things. D.L. Moody said it's when we're willing to do the little things that God entrust us with bigger opportunities, doing the little things. One of the largest churches in the world it run about 52,000 on the weekends. The guy that is pastoring that thing, for 17 years, all he did was run a camera behind the scenes. He wasn't the pastor his daddy was the pastor. For 17 years he would film the services and then night he would sit there and edit them for television. And he would edit and edit and edit all week long. On Saturday he would drive over to his dad's house and get his dad's clothes. He'd lay out his suit, lay out a starched shirt be sure the tie matches the suit and he would get his dad's shoes and he would polish them up and sit them by the suit. And go home and next morning go early and pick up his dad drive him church and then he would set up the cameras and he would film the services.

Behind the camera behind the scene. Routine things. He hadn't always pastored 52,000. No, he spent a lot of time just polishing shoes for somebody else.

What are you saying pastor? God wants us to be willing to be consistent in just doing routine things. Listen closely if serving is beneath you then leading is above you. If you can't be just as good a Christian when you're not in the limelight, then God probably can't put you in the spotlight.

Consistency. Now I know sometimes in life we have quantum leaps and there's gigantic break throughs but most of the time God just leads us along little by little. Can I give you a great verse? You can write this one down. Don't take it to the bank they probably won't cash it but it's a good verse. It's over here in Exodus chapter 23, verse 30: By little and little, that will be increased and inherited land.

Exodus 23 · chapter mention

Life involves quantum leaps.

Most of the time when God looks in our lives its little by little by little. And if I can't be faithful there if I can't be consistent there, God can't use me. And David is sitting there saying, Well, I know I was annoited to be king. I know he poured the oil over my head. But 14 years has passed. My brothers are still making fun, dad's overlooked me. I'm out here but I'm going to be as faithful as I can watching the sheep. Nobody knows my name. Nobody seems to care. But God knows. Can I just say one thing?

I've been in ministry now all these years. I've never known all the big names. All the key people but I've always known him that was the keeper of the keys.

He's unlocked the doors. I tell you, you can't keep a good man down. If we be consistent.

Somehow God always let's him have a breakthrough. God used him. That's okay he said I'm willing. And then there was a second thing he was committed in spite of ridicule.

Listen crows only pick at the best fruit. Now I've always admired David just an ordinary guy.

Saul didn't believe in him. But David was committed in spite of ridicule. Jan, my first wife, Jan said to me one time, she said my heart breaks at some of the mean things people say about you. I said, Well, it's a good like, they don't know all the truth. I told ya a story here the other day about in the 19th century, when they came by horseback and there was a big pastors conference and they came by wagons. And one of the outstanding speakers stood up, he said I have been three days riding a horseback been across some rivers and over some mountains and he said I was tired as the rest of you he said I believe the day will come when we'll be flying in the sky.

Another other preacher jumped up and he said I'm not staying and listening to this hearsay, this is foolish talk. If God wanted us to fly He'd of put wings on us. Told his two boys come on lets go and Orville and Wilbur Wright got up and followed their preacher dad out of the building. I imagine when they developed the plane they didn't get much encouragement from their dad. But in spite of ridicule. And there's a third thing he was content in his own skin. Now if you're not happy in your own skin, nobody's gonna be able to help you. Are you listening? If you don't get to the place where you realize that you are what God has made you to be and it didn't make you any taller or any shorter or any whatever. Maybe He didn't make it quite as wide like me, but anyhow, you are who you are trying to be somebody else. He became content in his own skin and a very interesting story First Samuel 17. Very interesting. When Saul found out that David said, I'll go out and face the giant, he said bring him into my tent. And he said we need to talk we need to talk strategy. We need to talk about what kind of armor you're going to wear and how you're gonna handle things. Look at this guy.

He won't even face a giant himself but he's always given advice. I read that and I thought you know I'm gonna be real careful who's passing out advice that I'm gonna take.

Trying to be a good boy and not saying to much right now. Let me just say to you and not be personable here. If you're struggling in your marriage, don't go to some other lady that's been married about four times and got price marks all over her face. Go to some old couple that's been married about 50 years and say how did you do it, how did you stick together?

How did you make it work? She says, there was times when I hated him but I stuck with him and now we've gotten through the tough times. We made it and you can to. Well, Saul armed David with his armor versus 38. And he put helmet brass upon his head, and told him how to do it. Armed him with a coat of metal and David girdle sort of on his armor and started to go where he had enough proof. David said, unto Saul I cannot go with these. For I am not fit them and David took them off. Now if you've studied the Scripture, Saul was head and shoulders above all the other men of Israel. His armor would not fit David, it wouldn't fit any man in Isreal. And there's no armor that will fit you, but the one that God has for you. God has a purpose for your life. And God designed you to take care of that purpose. I believe there's cures for cancer. And God's over here trying to find that person and design them to cure cancer.

I hope we haven't already aborted them. I believe for every problem God had somebody that can solve the problem. If we'd get out of the way. God has a plan. The purpose He made you wonderfully and gloriously you're made and you're unique and he made you just for to be you. He didn't make you to fit in but he made you stand out. We need to be who we is. Straighten out my English later. And then fourthly, he was a courageous.

He encountered criticism and he battled loneliness. Can I just tell you something? Most leaders do not have two good days in a row. Great leaders don't even have two good days in a week.

It's tough in leadership. And when he went up against this

It came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and he ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

He ran toward him you talk about courage. You know, sometimes it takes courage just to say no.

People overload your plate. You gotta say, No. I've got a family, I've got to take time to serve God. Sometimes they offer you a cigarette, you've got to say no.

Maybe they're offering you drink. Got to say no. I walked into a little business it's been about 15 years ago here and somewhere around here. Kind of a rough little gathering.

They were sitting around in there and I was needing some work done and they were setting on milk cartons and broken chairs and wherever they could find a spot. When somebody said, Aren't you a preacher, I said me? Ya, you're one of them blankety blank preachers. And he said I hate preachers. And they started in and they belittled churches, they'd belittled pastors. They cussed they damned and I let them go for a little while. Finally I said, bye.

Slipped out, got in my car drove off. Did it feel good? No, I felt dirty. I felt soiled. It wasn't a year later, I'm called a woman's dying in the hospital.

I slipped in the room to her bedside and the man standing across the bed came around and said sir, I own that shop that you came in. I'm sorry for allowing you to take that abuse.

Forgive me. Year later, somebody broke in and took a hammer and beat him to death. There's times you're gonna get hit with a lot of stuff. You better be big enough to say no to some things.

It might be that you're a young lady and there's a boy and he wants to slap his hands where they don't belong and you've got to say no. It's not happening.

You don't want somebody doing that to your daughter, Do you?

Do you want somebody doing that to your sister? And he said well, but everybody else is doing it. She said I'm not but everybody else. Well, you won't have any trouble finding somebody else to meet your needs, then will you? It takes courage not to fit in with the crowd. And then fifthly his confidence was rooted in God.

Rooted in God. You say, Well, I just think what we really need is a positive attitude you need more than a positive attitude.

The chaplain on Bourbon Street, he invited a schoolteacher to come here and preach and she said, No, you're too negative.

If you were positive I'd come.

He said, I'll tell you what you come tomorrow might not be positive. And she came and he said, My teacher said I was too negative, that I need to be positive. I want her to stand up, I want everybody to know she's gonna go positively straight to hell if she don't straighten up. I will tell you something, it takes more than just being positive. And Tony Robbins and all that kind of stuff. Big old giant was positive, look at him in verse 44 chapter 17, he said to David, Come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air.

He had a positive attitude. But he got his head cut off. Look at what David said in verse 45. The outcome was to be with a sword with a spear with a shield, and I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. Today there's a modern verse for David. And it's found in Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ, who strengthenth me. That day, God killed Goliath, through David. Brought down a giant. You say, Pastor, I've got a giant?

What about my giant? Talk about David, What about us this morning? Well first of all, confront the problem. Here's the giant 40 days, he's out there defying Isreal. For 40 days he said bring somebody out, he said bring a man out to face me.

Nobody did anything. Nobody they cowered in their tents, till a little boy came out and walked across the valley stopped to pick up a few stones in the brook. Let me tell you something. If there's an elephant in the room, it'll never go away until you confront it. We're sitting around with problems in our homes and problems in our life. And we don't have the courage to confront it. Somebody's got to confront the elephant.

Somebody's got to address the problem. We don't want the decisions to make when we don't have the courage to confront it.

And there's nothing worse than indecision. There comes a point when you have to face things.

I'll tell you the difference between a pastor of a small church and of a large church is the difference with whether or not you're willing to confront problems. They don't go away without being a confronted.

Secondly, cherish your victory.

David took Goliath's sword he didn't have one of his own and he cut off the giants head. And he carried that head. I don't know if you know this. He carried that head for 30 miles.

He said, Would you like to get ahead? The sign says, stop ahead, stop him. Hey, you want to look over there and go look over here. I think he walked and strutted around with that head for a long while. Big old eyes staring and blood running down the beard, but he showed everybody we won. He cherished the victory. He took the sword from Goliath the fact of the matter verse 61, David ran to the Philistine took the sword through it out of the chute and a rabbit swim and cut off his head at the Philistines saw their champion was dead and they fled. Now listen, Goliath sword killed him. And if you don't control the sword in your life it will destroy you. Have you ever wondered what happened with that sword? Well, it tells you over here in First Samuel 21, verse nine, here's where it ended up. The priest said the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom slewest in the valley of Elah, behold,it is here wrapped in cloth behind the ephod: if

for there is no other save that here. And David said there's none like that give it me.

Evidently after the giant was defeated as a trophy to God David took that sword to the temple. And said hang it up. And every time we look at that, we will realize it was God that gave us some victory over the Philistne. That's one of the reasons we have a cross back there in the foyer, it's telling us that Jesus Christ died on that cross to give us victory over our sins and to rid of us of all our quilt. I don't know about you every time I drive past this campus and I look at it and I give God the glory there's not a way in the world it could be here the size of the city except the miracle of God.

Thirdly, committed to not quitting. Now, if lifes not good right now it will be in a little while. There's a verse in Romans

28. For our God is at work for our good. We know that God works all things for our good may not be good right now. But just wait, hang in there. Don't throw in the towel don't quit. Don't get smothered. Remember, God's at work are good. If that verse is true, that means that heart ache, it means that disappointment, it means that addiction, that alcoholism that abandonment, that affair, that violation, that meth, that dance of divorce, all of that God's going to turn them around and weren't that bad and twist it around for our good. He's gonna get the glory. You thought you'd never be happy again. But you are. What was it?. God took the mess of your life and turned it around and give you the victory.

So don't beat up on yourself.

Don't quit. stay committed. Say God made me a warrior. And God is mighty liberate. We're not going to stay in the battle. I gave you a poem the other day when things go wrong, as they sometimes will the road you're traveling seems all up hill.

When funds are low and the debts are high. You want to smile but you have to sigh when tears are pressing you down on a bit rest if you must but don’t you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out the silver tint of the clouds have that you never can tell how close you are you may be near when it seems so far, so stick to the fight when your hardest hit is when you go wrong and you must not quit David conquered his giant. And I came to tell you this morning you can conquer the giant in your life.

You can deal with that area of weakness in your life and getting victory. that one the Bible calls that besetting sin.

That weakness that area of struggle you always seem to go down. May I just remind you of one thing, the devil never wanted to repent. He'd never wanted to say he was wrong, but you can. He never knew that he failed. But you can admitted and say God I'm still after you. I'm pursuing after you. The thing that made David different than Saul. Saul when he did say he sinned he blamed it on the people. David just fell on his knees and said, Have mercy on me cleanse me, forgive me, restore me. Cast him out of the way. And it may be that you fail over and over and over and there's others that just win.

But if you fail, just get up and say I'm sorry. I don't care if you do it everyday. David kept getting up pursuing God and pursuing God. And I want to tell you something, you could be everything that God wants you to be. Nothing can stop you except yourself. Do you want to pursue after God and have a heart for God God will have a heart for you.

Thanks for being a part of the voice of the Nazarene. Visit us every Sunday at 9am with BNC's pastor Ray LaSalle. For more information regarding BNC visit Bucyrus nazarene.org.