Dr. Charles E. Booth - It's Time To Fight! (David & Goliath Sermon)

open your bibles if you will this morning to the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel 1 Samuel chapter 17 it is one of the great history books of the Old dispensation the 17th chapter of 1st Samuel and if you would be so kind as to just stand upon your feet for a few moments as I read the scripture and if you could give me a little more volume on this microphone I'd appreciate in 1st Samuel chapter 17 I want to read selected verses beginning with verse number two and I read this afternoon now from the new international translation of the scriptures Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the valley of elaw and Drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines the Philistines occupied one Hill and the Israelites another with the valley between them a champion named Goliath who was from gath came out of the Philistine Camp come down to verse 8 gol stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel why do you come out in line up 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 your subjects but if I overcome him and kill him you will become our subjects and serve us then the Philistines said this day I defy the armies of Israel give me a man and let us fight each other on hearing the Philistines words Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified verse 16 for 40 days the philistin came forward every morning and evening and took his stand verse 24 whenever the Israelites saw the man they all fled from him in great fear verse 26 David asked the men standing near him what will be done for the man who kills this philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the Living God versus 43 and 44 he said to David am I a dog that you would come at me with sticks and the Philistine cursed David by his Gods come here he said I'll give your flesh to the birds and the wild beast amen you may return to your seated places today as We Gather beneath the banner of him who is the way the truth and the life I I want to preach from the subject it's time to fight yes it's time to fight I do not think that anybody who looks at the times in which we live can walk away without recognizing that these are very treacherous times in which we live and there are many issues that are looming before us that demand our attention what disturbs me however this morning is that in so many instances the Church of Jesus Christ has become silent when she ought to be vocal when we consider many of the issues that are confronting Us in so many instances our pulpits are pregnant with m voices men and women who have chosen to capitulate to the culture rather than address those issues that are not only undermining the Republic in which we live but in so many instances they are tearing apart the very fabric of the Civilized World H Richard neber wrote a fascinating book many years ago entitled Christ and culture and then that book he gives us several metaphors that have never lost or left my Consciousness number one he says that Christ is above the culture and because he is above the culture you and I who follow him are expected to lift men and women boys and girls up to him our ask aspirations ought to be where he is in terms of what he demands of us then he said that Christ is in the culture that he is not absent from the experiences that we have from day to day that he is the word made flesh he is the Incarnate one who dwells Among Us who identifies with our issues who participates in our drama and who leads us into something called reconciliation but then he says there is a third context in which we must understand Jesus Christ he's not only above the culture he is not only in the culture but there are times when he is against the culture and it would seem to me that if ever there were a time that Jesus Christ is against American culture I think that day is now yes sir sir it's almost as if we can hear the writer of Judges writing in that long ago day of Old Testament Antiquity a word that is prevalent for our time namely that we are sitting each one of us beneath our own Vine and fig tree pretty much doing as we please the theologians call this age a postmodern age an age in which there are no absolutes an age in which everything is relative that we pretty much do as we please with no sense at all about the welfare and the well-being of other people it's pretty much a Do Your Own Thing generation and not only is it damnable but it is destructive and if we are not careful Western Civilization as we know it will perish from beneath our feet why is it that the church seems to be quiet muted silent when there are so many issues that are pressing upon us there is the issue of materialism on one hand there is the issue of Hedonism on another there is the issue of immorality there is racism there is classism there is sexism all of these Giants all of these behemoths if you will are alive and doing well and many of us live comfortable and convenient lives and because we are living comfortable and convenient lives these giants that are seeking to destroy us seemingly do not have our attention and so this morning I want to go back thousands of years to a story that is most familiar to us who are of American bent for few of us who live in this country have not heard the story of David and Goliath in the valley of Elo to borrow the words of godness SE Taylor let me dip my bucket in an old well and prayerfully bring up some fresh water the greatest of all is Israel's enemies the greatest of all her foes were the Philistines she had fought against Many Many Nations the Egyptians the Babylonians and later years the Persians the amalekites the amorites the Hittites all of these ites that are a part of Old Testament tradition we're enemies against the people of God but the greatest of all Israel's enemies beginning with Moses all the way through through the davidic Reign were the Philistines and at the writing of our text there is yet a battle in which Israel must fight philistia Israel had fought against the Philistines and lost in one battle and the Ark of the Covenant was put in the temple of deeon and yet there were victories that Israel could claim victory could be claimed by Israel that a place called misbah renamed by the prophet judge Samuel to eonia eonia meaning hither to had the Lord helped us Israel had also beaten the Philistines at a place called giba at Benjamin and it was Saul the king who had led them in Victory but in this 17th chapter of 1 Samuel when the battle line has been drawn in the valley of elaw Saul and the armies of Israel plural are on one side of the line of demarcation and the Philistine giant from gath Goliath with the army of the Philistines is behind him for 40 days and 40 nights the champion from gath stands with the army of fisa behind him and he looks at Saul and all of the men of Israel and he pleads he begs for somebody to come out and fight him and these are are the terms of Engagement if you win The Spoils of Victory become yours but if I win The Spoils of Victory become ours and you will become our subjects but for 40 days and 40 nights nobody will fight against the giant a Shepherd boy not a man but a Shepherd boy from the backside of the Judean Hills one of the eight sons of Jesse a boy born in Bethlehem comes to the battlefield but he does not come to fight he comes at the beest of his father Jesse to bring viables to bring food and water to his brothers that they might eat but when this Shepherd boy gets to the battlefield he is soon to discover that nobody is fighting he expected to hear Warfare there he expected to hear the sound of Steel against steel conflict ensuing but instead all he sees is a giant who stands before Saul and the men of Israel and not one of them has the courage not one of them has the guts to fight the giant Saul and the men of Israel suffer from what Edwin fredman calls a failure of nerve and I say almost with a tragic sense of reality that we too in this country and particularly African-American men suffer from a failure of nerd Giants are in the valley of our experience giants that are seeking to destroy our sons and our daughters and they are standing before us day by day but ain't nobody fighting there are four things that you need to understand about Giants number one they will appear at any time secondly they are not to be taken lightly number three every giant has strength and weakness and finally number four every giant can be overcome Henry Ford said that there are only two kinds of people in the world those who think they can and those who think they cannot and Henry Ford says both are right there are those who say they can and there are those who say they cannot Barack Obama believed that he could be the president of the United States and he kept on believing it until it became a reality you and I must believe that we can bring down Giants in the valley of our own experience if we have the faith and if we have the courage David Goes to the battlefield and what I love about it is that he has courage that no man in Israel possesses he doesn't text the Giant he doesn't tweak the giant he doesn't go on Facebook to talk about the giant but to the Giant's [Applause] face he says who is this disgrace in Israel and then to his face he calls him an uncircumcised philistine where I came from in the Northwest section of Baltimore those were fighting with number one he calls him a disgrace number two he calls him an uncircumcised Philistine and he looks at the Giant and declares in his spirit that the giant Must Fall and in the precious moments that are mind this morning I'm going to raise this question why must Goliath fall and why must the Giants that threaten us today fall as well first of all David shows us that as terrifying and horrific as the giant appears to be at root he is nothing more than an illusion that is not to suggest that he is a ghost I'm not saying that he is some kind of aberration I am not saying at all that he is a phantom he is real but he he is an illusion in terms of who he thinks he is and all too often you and I are captivated and we are encapsulated and we are placed in places of fatigue and weariness and we are greatly intimidated by who and what we think the giant is now mind you he was somebody of stature now ft tall wore a helmet of brass armor of brass shins of brass spear was brass his shield was brass his sword was brass is believed that his arm alone weighed 126 PBS and that the spear that he would throw had a tip that weighed 15 lbs and he looked like somebody because of the enormity of his SI eyes that in fact he was unbeatable but it was just an illusion because there was something in the psyche of David there was something in the spirit of David there was something in the foundation of this Shepherd boy from Bethlehem that let him know that the giant was not as big bad and Bodacious as he appeared to be David is my kind of guy somebody who looks at what appears to be impossible and says yes I can he looks at the Giant and in his Spirit he says the giant will fall and if Saul and nobody else fights the giant will fall it does not matter that my brothers iLab abadam and Shamar are cowards and hide behind behind the lines the giant Must Fall because the giant is selling nothing more than what we used to call back home a wolf [Applause] ticket now I know some of you don't want to admit where you came from but back in the day in the neighborhood no no we don't have a neighborhood anymore we just got the hood all the neighbors have gone but back Yonder in the neighborhood there was somebody called a bully and the bully was always somebody whose bar was far more excessive than the bite the bully was always who had somebody with strong words but he never had the fight to back it up and all this man does for 40 days and 40 nights is sell wolf tickets what drives me to that conclusion if he were were as Fierce and if he were as bad as he appeared to be why did he come out for 40 days and 40 nights it would seem to me that on the first day on no longer than the second if anybody had not come to the battle line to cross it and fight it would seem to me that he would have just wiped out Saul and everybody else but the fact that he's got to do it for 40 days and 40 nights would suggest to me that he did not have the bite and the punch that he claimed to have the Giants are still in the valley which is why the government of our nation has been shut down this morning and why there are so many terrible things that are occurring because of this government shut down but thank God the president is holding his ground [Applause] somebody needs to thank God for the courage to stand your ground and somebody needs to tell the Republican Party somebody needs to tell John Boehner somebody needs to tell the Tea Party people with Ted Cruz and everybody else that they are going to fall they must fall because at root they are an illusion I wish I had some help in here does anybody believe that Giants must still fall does anybody believe that God still has the power to bring Giants [Applause] down I thank God I'm in church that even though the government May shut down God will still put food on my table God will still put water on my lips God will still put a hat on my nappy head Shoes On My Feet clothes on my back joy in my heart love in my spirit because the giant Must Fall the devil is a liar not only is the giant an illusion but David said the giant Must Fall because ultimately when you listen to what the giant says and what he represents the giant gives us a false definition of size or life rather he defines life according to size according to stature he defines life according to what is external but anybody who understands our judeo Christian ethic understands that life life is not defined by size life is not defined by stature life is not defined by externals and all too many of us live life from the outside in when Jesus calls us to live life from the inside out how many of us are building life simply on externals we are creating a facade because stuff does not matter when you have no substance at the end of the day it's about what's on the inside John 10 and 10 says what I am come Jesus said that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly but Goliath tried to impress upon upon Israel beginning with the King that size Matters you'll get that going home but it doesn't matter who you project yourself to be at the end of the day it is who we are on the inside here is David and the scriptures defined him as a ruddy land in many instances he was considered to be almost a run even in his father's sight he was of little consequence because when Samuel comes to the house of Jesse to anoint the next King Samuel the judge Samuel the prophet is in love with size and external appearance he chooses iLab not based on Integrity not based based on character not based on convictions and values but because iLab was the oldest the handsome One the tall one he brings this man back to God and God says I have refused him and then he utters those words we look on the outward appearance but God lookth upon the heart Samuel comes back to Jesse and says to Jesse do you have another boy and almost as if David is an afterthought he says oh yes I've got one more but he's out on the backside of the Judean heels doing nothing more than watching sheep and Samuel says get him and upon his head flows the oil of the anointing now I know where I am I know that I'm in a Baptist Church but there ought to be somebody in here who believes that God still anoints that there is power in the anointing that God sets aside certain people and tells us touch not my anointing do my profit no harm David said I'm not kept ated by size St stature doesn't move me have you forgotten that one day I was out on the Judean Hillside watching my daddy's sheep and the king of beasts came a lion and tried to take my daddy's sheep I ask God for power and God let me grab that lion by his whiskers and I killed him on the next day the enemy sent a bear and the Bear died the same death because size and stature don't matter when you're in the hand of God it's about what's inside of you that is ultimately important it's not about externals it's about internals when will we learn that Apostle Paul didn't look like much he was short baldheaded and hump back but when he opened his mouth it was as if he was a poet laureate though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love I am become as sounding brass and a tinkling symbol Elanor Roosevelt did not look like much but she had the ear of the president and it was not so much that Franklin delanor Roosevelt liked us as black people but it was because of his wife Eleanor that many of the strides and civil rights were made during his administration it was because of Eleanor Roosevelt that Maran Anderson was able to sing on an Easter Sunday night in the shadow of Lincoln when the Daughters of the American Revolution said that she could not sing because she was black she didn't look like much but there was a lot of punch in that woman Mary McLoud bathon didn't look like much nappy head black skin thick lips but she took a dime and a garbage heat and founded bethon cookman college that still stands in Daytona Beach Florida it ain't about how you look it's about who you are on the [Applause] inside I was on a plane not too long ago shortly after the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Dr King's iconic I Have a Dream speech delivered on the 28th day of August 1963 50 years ago and I was seated in my seat and there was a young black woman who sat behind me who began to Snicker and he began to sneer when talking about John Lewis John Lewis was with Dr King during those momentous years got his head beaten almost died on that Bloody Sunday in Selma when they were marching for voting rights and how he was trampled and almost killed and this woman began to laugh at him and she began to make fun of him in terms of how he looked she talked about how big his head was and what his speech was like and I couldn't take it I got up from my seat and some of us are silent when we ought to speak up sometimes God puts you in a position so that you must say what others are not afraid to say somebody say amen I got up from my seat in first class Dr buts turned around looked at her and said shame on you were it not for John Lewis and men and women like him you wouldn't be sitting Where You Are and I wouldn't be sitting where I am and by the way have you looked at yourself [Applause] recently Dr King Dr King said fleecy locks and dark complexion cannot forfeit Nature's claim sin May differ skin May differ in black and white the same but were I so tall as to reach the pole or grasp the ocean at a span I must be measured by my soul for the m is the standard of the man the giant Must Fall because the giant is an illusion the giant Must Fall because the giant has given us a false sense of definition when it comes to light but finally and I bid you good afternoon the giant Must Fall because God's reputation is at stake shame on you if all you do is come to church on Sunday morning out of some sociological obligation that it's fashionable for middle class African-American Bourgeois people to come to church on Sunday morning that's not why you're here you're here because God wants you in this place that has been for 205 years as a basan of fighting giants he wants you to come in here to get some hope to get some inspiration to get some encouragement so that you can go out there and fight the Giant and bring the giant down because this ain't about you it's not about me but it's all about God God's reputation is at stake [Applause] the Lord didn't save you to have you sit up in here on your Buddhist Maximus looking all comfortable and convenient you have been saved to fight a giant I look at some of you your legs Cross Your Arms folded haven't said amen but that's all right I'll preach the hell out of you [Applause] anyhow now wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute don't you go out here saying I cussed I did not cuss hell is whatever represents the Demonic and whatever is negative whatever is pessimistic whatever is wrong is hell and the reason that you and I come to churches because we want to get the Demonic out of us we want to get the negative out of us so when I preach I'm preaching to preach the hell out of you give somebody a high five and tell them you got to get the hell out of you [Applause] [Music] David said God's reputation is at stake psychologists have something they call visualization in visualization two processes occur on the one hand reality demands that you visualize your enemy so that you know who your enemy is beyond the shadow of any doubt but the second process involved in visualization is not just defining the enemy in terms of who the enemy really is but when you visualize you must also realize that God has given you a strategy for victory on the one hand I must deal with the reality of the enemy but on the other hand since I am not if but since I am a child of God Made In His Image and created after his likeness if God has allowed by way of his permissive will for the enemy to stand in my Valley then God has already given me a strategy for the enemy's defeat as well as a strategy for victory in other words God never opens a door that he doesn't make provision for on the other side so God had given David a boy getting ready to do a man's job he had given David a strategy for victory shame on you if you leave here without a strategy for victory God has not called us to be pathetic God has not called us to be pitiful one of the worst things in the world is to look at a man or a woman calling himself or herself a child of God and you wondering how you're going to make it how have you made it God makes a way out of no way there is something called neuroimaging and Neuro Imaging says that as I grow older the center for my cognitive gravity shifts from right brain to left my right brain is my imaginative side my left brain is my logical reasonable or rational side and what these neurologists have discovered much to my surprise is that the older we get the more faithless we become because because we are moving from the right side which is the imaginative side The Adventurous side the Bold side the daring side to the left side which is more cautious logical reasonable rational in other words right side people who think with that side of the brain live in the future they always always talking about what can be but the older we get the more we cease to live in the future and the more we tend to live in the past which is why older people always talking about yesterday always talking about memory and they begin to De accelerate when it comes to what will be we're not getting ready to build an $18 million I ain't got that kind of power but we are getting ready to build an $8 million family lifesty and we just began this pledge period about a year ago and one of my senior members came up to me said Reverend you know I really can't pledge because I'm living on a fixed income I said wait a minute you've lived on a fixed income all your life negro killed me with that your salary is a fixed income your weekly or bi-weekly check is a fixed income it's always been fixed the issue is do you have enough [Applause] Faith David's a young man right brain faithful bold daring adventurous somebody said well that's because he's young well when he got old I heard him say I once was young but now I'm old I wish I had somebody who talked back to me let me back it up Shake It Fast and try it one more time I once was young but now I'm old but not once have I seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread do I have any Witnesses in here on a Sunday morning that God will fight your battle David took one of those five smooth stones and he wound up and the stone found its trajectory to the center place of the Giant's forehead and the giant fell down on the ground and David ran up on the giant took the sword from the giant sheep and cut off the Giant's head letting everybody know that it is no secret what God can do what he's done for others he'll do for you With Arms Wide Open he'll see you through it is no secret what God can do can I get a witness in here does anybody know that God Will Make A Way does anybody know there's power in the name of Jesus there's healing in the name of Jesus there's help in the name of Jesus there's Deliverance in the name of Jesus can I call his name can I call his name I know it's Sunday morning but can I call his name his name is Yahweh his name is Jehovah his name is Elohim his name is Adan he's Jehovah Shalom the Lord my peace Jehovah shami the Lord everpresent Jehovah Elon the Lord most high the Jehovah Elohim the Lord ever present Jehovah Nishi the Lord my B Jehovah tiitu the Lord who is righteous Jehovah rooha the Lord who is my shepherd Jehovah Roi the Lord who is my healer but thank God I know another name can I really call his name wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of Peace yeah can I call his name Jesus my salvation Jesus my justification Jesus my reconciliation tell somebody he's the lily of the valley he's the rose of Sharon he's the bright in the Morning Star harder yet may be the fight and right May often yield to might wickedness a while May rain Satan's cause may seem to gain but there is a God I said there is a God I wish I had some shouting black people there is a God who rules above with a hand of power and a heart of love and if I'm right yeah if I'm right if I'm right yeah if I'm right he'll fight my battle I [Music] shall I shall yeah yeah yeah yeah [Applause] [Music] yeah yes he will say yeah say yeah say yeah say yeah say [Applause] [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] come on take somebody by the hand tell somebody it's time to fight it's time to fight Shake somebody's hand tell somebody it's time to fight tell them I'm a Victor say yeah say yeah somebody holler it's time it's time it's time yeah it's [Applause] time [Music] y'all got to excuse me but when I think about the goodness of [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Jesus [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] dos of the church

Channel: The Theology Network

Views: 27,752

Keywords: dr charles e booth, Abyssinian baptist church nyc, Calvin butts, Martin Luther king jr, king day, dr marcus cosby, Freddy haynes, Frederick Haynes III, Reginald sharpe, fellowship chicago, clay evans, dewey smith, cogic praise break, shout, Charles jenkins, jamal bryant, new birth cathedral, td jakes, potters house dallas, gardner c taylor, Jeremiah wright, Samuel dewitt proctor, new birth cathdral, theology, James cone, Raphael warnock, howard john wesley

Id: hPPzRy9OZnQ

Length: 45min 43sec (2743 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 24 2024