Rhema Ehiemere - But I Warned You

Life is a war of words. What you say really matters. The enemy wants you silently accept a life of defeat, delay and disappointment. However, the power to change the outcome of our life lies in the words we speak. We cannot see what we do not speak. We cannot conquer what we do not confess. In 1 Samuel 17, David had a face-off with Goliath but He killed Goliath with his words first before he killed him with his stones. If you are not bold enough to speak the promises of God, you may never see them come to fruition in your life.

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Tell them: are you excited to have me as a neighbor? Because if you’re not excited to have me as a neighbor, you can look for another seat. Amen? No, you’re not excused. Can you be upstanding? I’m going to stand for the next 30 minutes. You can stand too; come on! If you are sitting beside someone who is not standing, except they have a reason, I’m the one with the mic so I can tell you what I want you to do. But the reason we say we try to stand as a custom, as a tradition, is because we believe that the word of God is a person. We stand for everyone and anybody that we think and feel is important. The word of God is a person, and his name is Jesus. That’s why we do it. We don’t just do it because we want you to stand; we do it out of respect and honor for who God is and who his word is. Amen? Amen!

I have an assignment by the Holy Spirit this morning, and I’m going to be using 1 Samuel 17, a couple of verses from that chapter in the New King James Version. This is a very popular story about David and Goliath. How many people have not heard about David and Goliath? Okay, I was about to lay hands on some people because I believe everybody has heard about David and Goliath, right? So, I’m not going to read all the verses; I’m just going to pick a couple. This is 1 Samuel chapter 17, the New King James Version. Can I have another mic if this one is not working? Um, the New King James Version, you want me to stick with this? Let’s try this for now. Just watch him and let me know if I need to change the mics.

1 Samuel 17, starting from verse 4: «And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath from Gath.» Everybody say Gath! «Whose height was six cubits and a span.» Verse 5 says, «He had a bronze helmet on his head and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.» Everybody say bronze! Let’s skip over to verse 10. We know the interaction that happened between Goliath and Israel for 40 days. He says, «I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together.»

Verse 11: «When Saul and all of Israel heard these words, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.» Now, what happens in between here is that eventually Jesse sends his son David to check on his brothers. He gave him food to take to them. Let’s skip over to verse 40 because I want to start from there. It says, «Then he took his staff in his hand and chose for himself…» Look at somebody and say «for himself.» Don’t let anyone choose for you; you have to choose for yourself. It’s not even in my notes, but I don’t even want to go there. He chose for himself five smooth stones. If you have your Bible on an iPad or an iPhone—just joking, not a Samsung—highlight the word «smooth stones» from the brook and he put them in his shepherd’s bag.

Now, let’s skip over to verse 43: «And the Philistine looked at David and said to him, 'Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? '» I like the word «sticks.» «And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. How many people know that the giants can curse?» Verse 45 says, «Then David said, 'Hold up! You’re not the only one that can curse; I can also speak. You’re not just going to keep talking and keep talking.' He said, 'You come to me with a sword, you come to me with a spear, you come to me with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied this day! '» Somebody say «this day.» This is a sermon on its own because Goliath had been doing this for 40 days. David says, «I don’t have time to waste; it’s going to happen today!» Somebody say «today!» «The Lord will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you and take your head from you, and this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the field, that all the earth might know—that’s the reason I’m doing this, that’s the reason I’m killing you—that there is a God in Israel. Then all of the assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with the sword or the spear, for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.»

Verse 49: «And David put his hand in his bag and took the stones, the smooth stones which he had chosen, and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead.» It just happened to be the only part that was not covered, so the stone sank into his forehead. Watch this: «and he fell on his face to the earth.» So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the Philistine and killed him. I love this, but there was no sword in his hand.