Is There Not a Cause 1 Sam. 17:4 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
When David showed up to see how his brothers were doing in the battle against the Philistines he was surprised to find them in a standoff because of one man, Goliath – rather than run away in fear when he heard Goliath speak, David ran in among the soldiers to see what to do about him – something stirred in his soul that caused him to want to fight – when his oldest brother chided him for his zeal David replied, “Is there not a cause?”
I look around today and I see in the church the same scene that I see in this text – a bunch of soldiers standing in the trench waiting for something to happen and too afraid to enter the fray – folks there is still a war against the devil going on – we are in a fight for the gospel, for the Bible, for our families, for our marriages, for our church, and for our country – but the troops are stuck in the trench too afraid to fight – in our warfare against the devil is there not a cause – do you and I not have a cause to fight the good fight of faith? Yes we do need to fight:
Because of the challenge – 8-10 – Goliath challenged Israel to choose a man to come down and fight with him [8] – Goliath was a huge man, over 9 feet tall, and he was extremely well armed – and so one-on-one he looked to be more than any one man could handle – he had continued to challenge Israel day in and day out for 40 days [16] – they were stuck; no man was willing to take the challenge – you know one of the reasons that you won’t step in the ring to fight for the Lord – you know that the devil is in there waiting to take you out – are you going to give up like Israel did without even giving a fight? You are assured of victory [1 Jn 4:4, 5:4; 1 Cor 15:57].
Because of the cowards – 11 – see verse 24 – the battle with the Philistines was stalemated because the soldiers were afraid to fight – they were “dismayed and greatly afraid” – every time Goliath presented the challenge the soldiers fled from him because they were “sore afraid” – are you afraid? There is still much work to be done and yet there are fewer and fewer men willing to do the work – they may give you any number of excuses for why they won’t go to battle, but the one that you won’t hear, that is the most valid excuse, is that they are afraid – and not only are they afraid but they are also critical – in this fight not only will you have opposition from the enemy but you will also have criticism from the cowards [v.28] – they are conceited sluggards – “the sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason,” Prov 26:16.
Because of the compensation – 25 – you can tell the value of the fight by the value of the reward – Saul was willing to reward the soldier who defeated Goliath with great riches, his daughter’s hand in marriage and tax exemption for his family – this was an incentive to get him to fight but it was also indicative of the value Saul placed on the victory – Jesus promises us a reward for a valiant fight – see 2 Tim 4:7-8 – and we must realize that if the Lord is willing to compensate us over and above our inheritance, then this fight must be of great value to him.
Because of Christ – 26 – Goliath reproached Israel and defied the armies of the living God – our enemies stand against the cause of Christ – Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice to save all men – and the devil stands against that sacrifice that all might be damned – he defies the armies [Rev 19:14] of the living God – what are we doing against him? We aren’t doing much more than the armies of Israel did – we are stuck in the trench [church building] waiting for the Lord to return and get us out of here – that won’t do – the whole armor of God is not parade dress for Christians – it is battle dress for soldiers – we are to “fight the good fight of faith,” 1 Tim 6:12.
Because of the call – 32-37 – David had been prepared by the Lord for this fight and he couldn’t back down now – he knew that he was supposed to fight in this battle in spite of the fact that he wasn’t a trained soldier, that he had no armor, that he was young and that no one else thought he had a chance in the world to win – his fight wasn’t about any of those things – his fight was about his call – Esther stood for Israel in spite of the fact that she could have lost her life because she knew she had come to the kingdom for such a time as this – Paul stood for the gospel in spite of the fact that everywhere he went he met with personal attacks and hardships – he did what he did because he was called by God – what is God calling you to do? Sit in your pew and wait for the rapture? I don’t believe so.
Conclusion: You know the fight isn’t over because we are still here – this is not the time to lay down arms and stand still – Israel was in a standoff with Goliath because no one would meet the challenge and fight him – we will end up in a standoff if we don’t muster the courage to stand for the cause of Christ and bust through this lethargy – we need to get out of the trench and advance against the enemy. Come back tonight and I’ll show you some enemies in the battle against whom you can fight, if you are not too afraid.