Dean Miller: I am so glad to be here in Wisconsin. I tell you, I came for one reason. Cheese curds. That’s why I’m here. I want some cheese curds and I have not been offered one piece of cheese since I’ve been here. And so I need some cheese. I thought this was the land flowing with cheese and curds. I was looking for little Miss Muffet who was sitting on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey. And along came a spider and sat down beside her and scared Miss Muffet away or whatever her name is. I don’t know. Anybody ever remember that poem, that nursery rhyme?

Okay, I thought I was in the homeschool crowd. Come on, let’s go. All of us people can still quote, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. This world has forgotten those great truths, amen? Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the water spout, right? All those great verses from the Bible. But many years ago, I pastored in South Mississippi. I was in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. That’s the home of the University of Southern Miss. And you guys should, if you’re from Wisconsin, you should know about Southern Miss because that’s where Brett Favre played college football. Some of you are thinking, who is Brett Favre? Well, he was a quarterback way back in our day.

And he was a NFL quarterback. He was MVP many times, won the Super Bowl. And my daughter was working one day. She was working for a man in our church who had a handyman business. And, and, uh, I get a phone call from my daughter and, um, she’s the middle daughter and, um, she’s an incredible girl, not always bright, but she’s incredible girl. And she says, dad, I pick up the phone. Hello. She said, dad, I said, what? She said, who is Brett Favre? And I said, what? She said, who is Brett Favre? I said, you mean Brett Favre? No, Favre.

It’s pronounced Favre. She said, but it’s spelled Favre. I don’t care how it’s spelled. Who is it? Who is it? Who is this? And I said, Brianna, he’s a NFL quarterback. He won the Super Bowl. Who did he play for? I said, he played for Green Bay. He played for the Green Bay Packers. And I said, he used to play for Southern Miss when he was in high school. Okay, got to go. I thought, why is she asking me about that? Five minutes later, she calls me back. How do you say his name? I said, Favre. She said, are you sure it’s spelled Favre?

I said, Brianna, what are you calling me about? What is going on? She said, I’m in his house. He’s coming in. I’m going to talk to him. Bye. Like, why are you in Brett Favre’s house? So he walks in and he walks in. I didn’t get the privilege of hearing this conversation from her, but I later heard it from her and him. But this is how the conversation went. He walked in and said, Hey, how you doing? Cause he didn’t know who she was. She’s like a 15 year old kid in his house. He’s like, Hey, how you doing? And she’s like, why do you spell your name Favre if it’s far?

And he said, I don’t know. That’s what my mom, my mom called me Favre. So I’ve always said Favre. She said, well, it should be Favre. So she said Brett Favre straight. So anyway, he lived in our town. He lived there. And I had an opportunity one day to talk with him and his wife and share the gospel with him. And it was a precious time. And just thank the Lord for at his house in South Mississippi, he gave me some cheese. So he wasn’t even from here, but he had cheese at his house. So I’m hoping I get some cheese curds while I’m in Wisconsin.

But I hope you’re having a great time. I hope that God has been speaking to your heart. It is an honor and a privilege to be here and to preach. And I mean that. I have great respect for the Van Gelderen family and just the ministry that they’ve had. And I want to tell you, every time I come on this property, I am always convicted about my walk with the Lord, my prayer life. And they are an incredible sharpening and an incredible edifying force in my life. And I know that you feel the same way. And I just always have to make sure that I’m walking with the Lord when I come here.

when you talk to some of the Van Gelderans, it’s like they can look right through you into your soul. And it’s like a preview of the judgment seat of Christ. And, you know, they’re kind of like the dental assistant when you get in the dentist chair and she’s like, have you been flossing? And you’re like, and she’s like, no, you had not. You have not been flossing. Well, I thought about it once. OK, that’s what we thought. So anyway, I just have you. How’s your prayer life, Brother Miller? Oh, it’s good. No, it’s not. No, it’s not. But it’s always a joy to have believers in your life that make you closer to Jesus Christ.

And I’m thankful for that. Good to see good friends here and many of you that I’ve known through the years. We’re going to be in 1 Samuel chapter 16 and 17 tonight. 1 Samuel chapter 16 and verse 17. So I want you to find that and I want you to mark it in your Bible. Put your little marker, your little tab. We had a lady came to church for the first time a few weeks ago, right after Charlie Kirk died. In fact, it was the Sunday after Charlie Kirk was assassinated. She came to church. She had her Bible in a box.

She walked in. I met her at the front door. I just happened to be coming across at the same time she was coming in. I was coming out of my office. She had a Bible in a box and I walked up and I said, man, I’m so glad you’re here. I said, what’s your name? I don’t think we’ve met before. She said, I’ve never been here before. And I said, well, well, I’m glad that you’re here. And she said, I’ve never been to church before. And I said, wow, I’m really glad that you came to this church for your first experience.

I’m glad that you’re at church. She said, I’ve never read the Bible before. She said, but I just bought this Bible. I hope it’s the right one. And it wasn’t, but I, um, I took it and, and I, and I walked her in and I just said, I’m so glad you are here. I’m glad you have that, um, Bible with you today. And so come over here. And so I introduced her to a lady in our church and had them sit together. And, and I said, you’re going to need to take that out of the box. And so she said, Oh, okay.

So she took it out of the box. She said, does everybody else have a box? And I said, well, we used to, but, uh, you know, but, uh, but you just take it out of the box and hold it. And I said, now I’m going to be preaching today out of John 15. So I took, took her there and then I took the little tab and I put it down like that. And I close it and she goes, is that what that’s for? I said, yeah. And so all service, she was just doing this. She thought that was the greatest invention.

And, um, anyway, but, uh, she got saved that day. It was great. It was amazing. And, uh, so, uh, you’re going to mark that in your Bible. Don’t play with the tab and then we’re going to walk through some things that are all introduction before I bring some very practical things from 1 Samuel 16 and 17. If you’ve been saved for any length of time, 1 Samuel 16 and 17 is the story of who? David. Chapter 17 is the story of David and Goliath. And we’re going to talk about that in a moment, but I want you to keep that in your mind because we’re often so familiar with that story that the familiarity with the story causes us to lose the greater truth of why that story is in God’s word and why God gives so much attention to the story of David and Goliath.

Let me tell you where the story starts. Story starts back in Genesis chapter three. Go back there for just a moment. Genesis chapter 3. Adam and Eve have sinned, plunged Adam’s sins and plunges all of creation into the curse of sin. Satan, the great serpent, is the deceiver and the devourer. He is the liar. By the way, young people, listen, Satan is a liar. And Satan has deceived Eve. Adam has sinned. Now the consequences of sin are in full effect. There will be sorrow. There will be pain. And there will ultimately be death. Every cancer, every disease, every famine, every war, every tragedy, every crime, every vicious thing that is ever done on planet earth came from that moment when sin entered into the world.

And God shows up in the garden and he sees Adam and Eve. He understands God knows exactly what they’ve done. Adam where art thou he says God knew where Adam was by the way listen whenever God asks a question he already knows the answer God wants you to know the answer God’s not looking for information he already knows Adam where art thou well Adam’s hiding from God he’s hiding in fig leaves things that he has sown together to cover his shame. Listen, that’s the first religion. The first religion was a religion of fig leaves. It was man in his own effort, in his own works, trying to cover his shame to come into the presence of God.

God doesn’t go along with religion. You don’t come before the Lord with your own works. So God brings them out. He asks them what happened. There’s a confession. They confess, we’ve eaten of the tree. God removes those fig leaves and slays an animal. Now an innocent. His life drains out of him. It’s the first time Adam and Eve have ever seen anything die. it dies. God through the shed blood of a substitute takes the skins of that animal and clothes them in the skins of the substitutionary sacrifice. It’s all a picture of the cross of Jesus Christ and what is to come.

And in that moment where God is going to visually show them death, substitution, blood atonement, and covering in someone else’s sacrifice. God’s going to visually show them that. But before that, God gives a prophecy. God is the first prophet. And in Genesis chapter three and verse 15, watch what the Bible says. God says, and I will put enmity. He’s talking now to Satan, the serpent. I, God said, I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. It, the seed of the woman, shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. Now here’s the first prophecy, that Satan is going to have a seed.

Satan is going to have an offspring and a generation, and that there is going to be a seed that comes from the woman. And that this seed born of a woman, without the aid of a man, that seed, the virgin born one, is going to be bruised by the serpent. But in that bruising, there will be a crushing. And the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. And this is God prophesying that there is going to come a Savior and a Messiah, virgin born, who is going to be the son of the woman, but actually the son of God, because there’s no earthly father.

He’s born of a virgin. And Satan is going to do everything he can to destroy that seed of the woman. And what kicks off in Genesis chapter three and verse 15, what kicks off is a holy war. What kicks off in that passage of scripture, young people, is a vicious battle between good and evil, between God and Satan, between righteousness and unrighteousness, between light and dark. There are some shadows in the Old Testament, and we won’t even dive into those shadows, but you’re going to see what happens in just a little while when Cain kills Abel. And then there is the line of Seth and then Seth’s line.

And then you’re going to see in Genesis chapter six, that as the population grows, there is this incredulous thing that takes place where the sons of God marry the daughters of men and they have giants and these men of old are renowned and there are violent things and spiritual things beyond any of our understanding or comprehension that God doesn’t want us to know because he buried it in a worldwide flood. Bible says something very interesting about Noah. He was perfect in all his generations. Noah had not been tainted in this sin of humanity who was engaged with the seed of the serpent.

And the Bible says in those days, Genesis 6, and also after that, there were these beings in the world. And we find them after that. We see the seed of Satan pop up in Sodom and Gomorrah. We see the story of all of these Ammonites and Moabites. and we see all of these nations of the world who are following wicked, idolatrous ways. They’re worshiping everything but the God of heaven. They are prone to worship the creature more than the creator. And they are always at war with this woman who the Bible would tell us later is the nation of Israel.

She is the woman that will one day bring forth the son born of a virgin. Young people, God did not choose Israel because they were special. God chose Israel out of his sovereignty. And God chose Israel. God chose the Jewish nation with Abraham and Sarai, and then eventually Isaac and Jacob. And God chose this nation and put a blessing upon that nation. And you will see the Old Testament will unfold for you when you see that the Old Testament is a detailed description of this battle, this enmity of the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman engaged in a massive battle while this serpent who will eventually be in the book of Revelation described as the dragon who is waiting for this woman to give birth to a child so he can devour the child.

And you’re going to see this all through the scripture. By the way, this is why those under satanic influence and who are on the side of darkness and evil always want to kill babies. The pharaohs always order the babies to be killed. The Chaldeans always come in and bash the heads of the babies on the corner of the wall. The Herods kill the babies. you better always look suspiciously at the evil of those who want and defend the right to kill babies and young people there’s always been a spiritual war that has been taking place from this seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman the bible often describes these as giants you’re going to see them before the flood.

You’re going to see them after the flood. You’re going to see them when Israel comes across the Jordan and they come into the land of Canaan and they come to Jericho and it’s filled with the land of the Anakims and there’s giants in the land. And they fight with these giants. And when we get to Genesis chapter 16 and Genesis chapter 17, you’re going to see an Old Testament picture where God shows you in a snapshot, not of just a story of a boy killing a giant. It’s not just a random story. It is God showing you in Old Testament prophecy, God is showing you what is to come.

That there is one coming out of Israel who is uncomely, who is unseemly, who is unlikely, who when you see him, there’s nothing about him that you would desire him. In fact, Samuel didn’t even want to anoint him. But there was going to come a shepherd out of unlikely places. There was nothing grand about him. He was uncomely and unseemly. And when you looked upon him, there was nothing there to be desired of. But this little shepherd was going to come out rejected by his brothers who were going to tell him to go back home and tend to his little sheep.

but that little boy was going to take a sling and a stone down into the valley of Elah and he was going to face the grand champion and the Bible said in Genesis chapter 3 that the seed of the woman would be bruised in his heel but he would crush the serpent’s head and young people, when David threw that stone, where did it go? the last thing that went through Goliath’s mind was a rock and down he came boom and David girls I know your sensitivities but David went over to that giant unsheathed his sword climbed up on that giant’s chest and took that giant’s sword and started hacking his head off.

He was a little kid and that was a big sword and that was a giant head. It did not come off easily. Don’t you think for a minute it was just a clean cut? It was a whack here and a whack there Here a saw, there a saw. But eventually it came off. And then David grabbed that head by the hair and picked it up to him. What many people miss in the chapter 17 at the end of that chapter is David carried that head 17 miles to Jerusalem to bury it. Why would he do that? Because thousands of years later, there would come the seed of the woman, the son of David, who while the serpent was bruising his heel, he would crush the serpent’s head.

Perhaps in a place called Golgotha. The place of the skull. Now I say all that to tell you this. We’re in that war. We’re in that war today. satan lost the war to keep jesus from coming he thought that he could take him down at calvary satan thought that he had jesus one in fact and jesus said in john chapter 15 or john chapter 14 he told the disciples look the prince of the world cometh but he has nothing in me he thinks he’s coming to get me but he’s not he has nothing in me. He thinks that he’s going to take me down, but he doesn’t realize this is the trap.

He’s coming to take me. He’ll bruise my heel. You’ll see me die. I will be wounded and I will die, but in my death, I will crush his head. And in that victory of Jesus Christ, we stand tonight. We’ve sung all about it. I just marveled at the songs that we sang tonight in thinking about the text that we would be going through about standing in the victory of Jesus Christ. Listen to me. How many of you are born again? How many of you are born again? You were not born to lose. Paul said, now thanks be unto God, which causes us always to triumph in Christ.

How often? How often? Nay, in all things we are more than. In how many things? Those who have been born of God have overcome the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. And young people, I want to tell you tonight, like David of old, you and I are standing in the middle of a giant battle. We’re standing in a battle tonight against evil and against darkness and against sin and against the sinister minister of evil himself, Satan himself. Listen, we are living in his world. He is the little G God of this world. He is the prince of this world.

This world has his philosophy. This world has his mind. This world follows his desire. He is the father of the lie. He is the father of this world. Jesus said in John chapter 8 to the unsaved, hear of your father the devil and the lust of your father you will do. Listen to me. This is his world right now. This is his world system and everything in this system that Satan has created hates God, hates good, hates righteousness, hates anything that is truth. Satan hates the truth because he’s the father of the lie. Satan hates righteousness because he is unrighteousness.

Satan hates God because he is evil. Satan is the enemy of all that is God’s and all that is good. And Satan is your enemy. Be sober, be vigilant for your adversary. Walketh about seeking whom he may devout. Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. Satan is waging a warfare. Young people, listen to me. We are in a war. That’s why Bible says, take on the whole armor of God. There is a great war. One of these days, the Bible says, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when the Son of Man cometh.

I don’t understand all those things, but we’re seeing it coming now. A day of violence, a day of great wickedness, a day of immorality, a day of perversion, a day when the whole world has apostatized and left the truth, and we don’t know anything about right and wrong and we don’t know what’s up from down. We don’t know what’s female from male. We don’t know anything. The world will have lost its mind. And in that day, Satan will have his Superman. It will be a man of sin, the son of perdition, the beast. As the Old Testament calls him, the Assyrian.

as we know him today, the Antichrist. He will one day come on this earth and he will set up an authoritarian rule over the world that Satan owns and he will dominate this planet. And the world will know tribulation like it’s never known before. There is coming a tribulation, young people, like never before. A third of the world, humanity will die. A third of the fresh water will be destroyed. A third of the salt water will be destroyed. In just the first three and a half years. It is going to be a crushing tribulation. Thank the Lord. Those of us who know Jesus Christ will be with the Lord.

We’ll be going to the judgment seat. We’ll have the marriage supper of the Lamb. and then Jesus will come again. At the end of that period, Jesus will come again and this time he’s not coming as a lamb but as the lion of the tribe of Judah. He’s not coming as a babe in a manger. He’s coming as the mighty, glorious son of God and he is coming in power and might. The whole world will see him. The Jewish nation who is in apostasy and darkness, the Bible says they will look upon him whom they pierced. They will ask him, where did you get these wounds?

And he will say, I was wounded in the house of my friends. I came to my own and my own received him not. And in that day, many in Israel will repent and will usher in a glorious age where Jesus Christ will crush the Antichrist and he will devour his armies and Jesus will set up his kingdom and he will rule from his father David’s throne in the holy city of Zion and he will fulfill the covenants that God has given to Israel that God gave to Abraham and that God gave to Moses and that God gave to David. He will reign on David’s throne in the land he gave to Israel in the city that he promised.

By the way, young people, listen to me. As the world grows more and more and more intolerant of Israel and more and more hatred to the Jew. Remember one thing, God is not through with the Jew. Israel may be in sin and they may be in darkness and they are, they’re blinded. But God has eternal covenants with them. Don’t you buy into this age and this generation of anti-Semitism. There is a epic war that is taking place in your generation and there is deceit and darkness and you’re living in a generation where people are putting out, there’s now all the artificial intelligence, all the social media, everything is filtered.

The news media is bought and owned. You’re only gonna get propaganda news. This world is going to be deceived. There’s gonna be great deception in the last days. And the only way to be victorious is to know the truth. And if you know the truth, the truth will make you free. Amen. Now, I said all of this to say this. This is not just a story of a shepherd boy and a giant. This is an Old Testament picture of Jesus Christ overcoming that wicked one, crushing his head. Now, listen to me. Are you in that war? Yes or no? Are we in a war of good and evil today?

Are we in a war? Are we in a warfare of light and dark today? Yes or no? Don’t you let anybody tell you. Don’t you let anybody. The world wants to divide us in every way. They want to call us left and right, Republican, Democrat. They want to divide us on racial sides. They want to divide us on social economic ways. They want to divide us in every way. Listen to me. Listen to me. There’s only one race. It’s the human race. And there’s only one enemy and his name is Satan. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places.

Everybody understand that? So don’t you buy into this idea that this is a left versus right and a Republican versus Democrat. Listen to me, this is not a political war. This is a spiritual war. This is a spiritual war of truth and deception. This is a spiritual war of righteousness and unrighteousness. And you and I, and listen to me, there is no discharge in this war. There is no way out of it. You’re on one side or the other. So when I got saved, I was on the winning side and I’m going to choose to stay on the winning side and I’m going to walk in the light as he is in the light and I’m going to win.

Do you believe that? I don’t know that some of you believe that we’re going to win. Let me tell you, let me tell you the end of the story. I read the back of the book. Jesus wins. Satan loses. He’s a loser. He’s going to spend his eternity in a place burning in the fire and brimstone in the lake of fire. Satan is not going to go to hell to rain. He’s going to go to hell to rot. He is not the king of hell. He will be a victim in hell. Amen. And Jesus will reign forever and ever and ever.

And we will reign with him. The Bible says he’s made us kings and priests. You’re looking at a king tonight. I’m King Dean. Now, you say, that was a lot. Well, that was the introduction. Let’s talk about you in this war. How are you going to be a champion? What is a champion made of? That’s what I want to speak tonight. God tells you that he’s given you this victory. Christians are not fighting for victory. We’re fighting from victory. We stand in the victory of Jesus and we fight from that. So how do you become a champion? Let me just tell you tonight, look at chapter 16 of 1 Samuel.

The Bible says in verse number six, And it came to pass when they were come that he looked unto Eliab and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, nor the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on thee. On the heart. There’s a heart that God’s looking for, the heart of a champion. Verse number eight, Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this.

Then Jesse made Shema pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither. And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and with all of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he.

Young people, listen to me. Let me tell you where God develops his champions. God develops champions in quiet places before God displays them in public places. God develops champions in quiet places. Everybody loves the story of David and Goliath. He’s the young shepherd boy. He’s gonna go take down this great giant. I love it. I love thinking about, I love thinking about, I was standing in the Valley of Elah a couple years ago. and I had bought one of those slings from a Bedouin guy down in the Negev desert. I bought this sling. I put that thing. I’m not talking about like one of these slings.

I’m talking about like one of these slings. I put a stone in that thing. I had my church, had 45 people from our church there and I said, watch this guys. This is how it’s done. And I got that thing going. I let that thing go. I’m looking for the rock. there was only 44 left of us in our group that poor lady it was this guy in our church it was his mother-in-law so then we had to figure out are we going to bury her here are we going to send her home to bury her and uh we could bury her there for like three hundred dollars it’s going to cost like seven thousand to send her home but jim said do not bury my mother-in-law here.

I said, Jim, you’re going to pay $7,000 to send her home? He said, yes. I said, why is that? He said, because I read a story about somebody got buried here and he rose again. I’m not taking that chance. Well, I didn’t kill anybody, but I will tell you this, that rock didn’t go anywhere. Those things are hard to throw. Maybe David was throwing that rock and it went that way and God just took it, brought it that way. I don’t know what happened, but I know this. I know this. I love the story of David and Goliath. David, long before he stood and stared down Goliath, stood faithfully in a field.

Before he ever ruled a nation, David ruled his own heart. Let me ask you a question. How well do you rule your passions? How much control do you have over your own appetites and your own desires? Before David ever wore a crown, David gained character. The heart of a champion is not formed in public battles. Listen to me. The heart of a champion is formed in private faithfulness. So let’s look at what goes into the heart of a champion. Number one tonight, I’m talking about you. I’m talking about, listen, some of you don’t understand. There’s an evil world out there.

There’s giants of wokeism. There’s giants of all sorts of deception and craziness in this world. And young people, when you stand for truth and you go up against those giants, they don’t want to just send you home. They want to destroy you. We’re seeing it in our own eyes today. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So when we’re going to go out and face this world, we’re not going to go timidly. We’re not going to go as cowards. We’re not going to hang out in the background. God’s got a battle for us to win.

He’s already won it. He wants us to enter into his victory. The walls are going to come down. The giants will fall if we will be people of faith. But it’s going to take people who know how to have the heart of a champion. Here it is. Number one, don’t miss this. A champion guards his private life before his public life. Look in chapter 16. We read a moment ago, look at verse number 11. Samuel said to Jesse, are all thy children? Are these here all thy children? He said, there remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep.

Notice where David was. David was out tending sheep. Samuel had come to find a king, and instead he found a shepherd. David was not seeking attention. David was not seeking status. David was not looking for more followers on TikTok. David was not looking for likes. David was not hiding his life behind filters. David was out in a pasture being faithful. While his brothers were in the house impressing the prophet, David was in the pasture just doing his job. Young people, listen to me. There are a lot of people in this world who always get really good when the boss is around.

the bible says that what we do we are not to do as men pleasers and for eye service listen to me god sees you in the dark god sees you by yourself god sees you alone in your bedroom and i want to tell you if you’re ever going to be a champion for god in the public stage you’re going to have to do something in your private life you’re going to learn to guard your heart god was watching God said I am not looking at the outward appearance anybody can put on a show anybody can perform but God sees your heart here’s the truth young people if you win in private God will promote you in public if you win in private God will promote you in public What was David doing in the private?

What was David doing when no one was watching? I’ll tell you what he was doing. He was worshiping God. Read some of those early Psalms. David, a young man, was writing music. One of the things I love about coming here is I love the emphasis on the music. And I love to see young ladies and young men performing well with excellent music. They’re playing skillfully. They’re singing skillfully. And I want to just say something. Young men, listen, there is nothing unmasculine about that. David was a man’s man. And I will tell you, David could play skillfully on the instruments that he had.

He had honed his character and his ability to be able to practice and to be able to do it right. David was worshiping God. David was writing psalms. I’ll tell you what David was doing. Listen, David was fighting lions and bears. Do you understand what that means? The Bible says that this lion came in to take a sheep. And let me just tell you, whose sheep were they? Whose sheep were they? They were Jesse’s sheep. They were not David’s sheep. He was keeping his father’s flock. Now listen to me. Be honest. If you were watching your dad’s sheep and a lion came, Wouldn’t you just kind of think he can have one?

Dad can buy another one. Next season, there’s probably going to be some more lambs. It’s like really no harm, no foul. No, no, no, not David. He went and grabbed that lion, the Bible says, by the beard. I didn’t even know lions had beards. but he grabbed it by the beard and then David grabbed that thing by the mouth and just ripped him in half. I don’t think you’re thinking about that. I don’t think you’re really comprehending what David did. David killed a lion with his bare hands and then later he killed a bear with his lion hands. No, I’m just kidding.

He killed a bear. David killed a lion and David killed a bear. Think about that. I was driving through the Smoky Mountains one time and I saw a bear out in the pasture. And I had my wife and my little girls and I threw the car in park and I said, look at that bear. The crew’s like, dad, where? So they saw it. It was a little bear over there. I hopped out of the car and they said, what are you going to do? I said, I’m going to go wrestle it. And I was just playing around. I was like 100 yards from that bear.

I was just playing around. And my girls are going, no, no. I’m like, what, you think that that bear is stronger than your dad? Look at these guns. So that bear’s going down. So I started running towards the fence. This is a true story. That bear stood up, and I ran back to the car. I got in the car and said, did you see anything stand up? and my daughter said, dad, that was the cub. Listen to me. David killed a lion and a bear and nobody was there to see it. He was taking care of what his dad had sent him to do.

He was out in that place where no one was watching. David was developing character. David was cultivating courage. David was fighting battles that nobody could see. Young people, listen to me. Some of you got a lion in your bedroom tonight. You’ve got a bear in your private life, and it’s been ravaging your flock. It’s been taking away the things of the peace and the joy. You’ve got a sin in your life that you’re not having the courage and the character to conquer in your own private life. How is God ever going to use you in public if you cannot be faithful in private?

David cultivated courage when no one else was looking. If you are not faithful in the pasture, you will never be fruitful in the palace. David had the heart of a champion because David guarded his private life. Let me ask you several questions very quickly before we move to number two. Let me ask you a question. How’s your Bible reading? How’s your prayer life? Are you having victory over sin? Young men, what is your viewing habit? Do you have addictions that you’ve allowed into your life? Are you scrolling in places and finding workarounds, the filters and the guards that your parents have up?

Listen to me. This is an evil world and sin abounds in this world. Are you clean and private? You’re never going to be fruitful in public until you’re faithful and private. Number two, a champion embraces responsibility. A champion embraces responsibility. Look at chapter 17 and verse 15 with me, please. But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. The Philistine drew near morning and evening and presented himself 40 days. Jesse said unto David, his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn and these ten loaves and run to the camp to thy brethren and carry these ten cheeses.

He had to be at Wisconsin. Listen, listen, this is an amazing thing. David was a cheese head. I’ll prove it to you. Look, he had these cheeses. And look who he gave them to. Watch this very carefully. The Bible says that David gave them to the chief. It says in verse number 18, and carry these 10 cheeses to the captain of their thousands and look how their brethren fare. He took the cheese to all the heads of the army. The cheese head. He was actually, it was all prophecy about how the Packers were going to do in the NFC. Everybody in their division was in this story.

David killed a lion. He killed a bear. And he killed a giant. Somebody say amen. It’s in the Bible, right? It’s amazing what you get when you study. But look what David did. David took this and the Bible says in verse 19, Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines. David rose up early in the morning. He left the sheep with a keeper. Don’t miss that. He left the sheep with a keeper. and took and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the trench as the host was going forth to fight and shouted for the battle.

Watch this. David embraced his responsibility. Listen, David did not shirk his responsibility. He did not run from his responsibilities. While his brothers were out fighting in the battlefield, David went back to feeding sheep because that was his responsibility. His brothers got to go to war and he went back to work. And then when he went back to work, his dad came and said, son, I’ve got an errand for you to run. I want you to take these things to your brothers and I want you to go get a report and see how they’re doing and bring me word back and make sure your brothers are doing well.

And so what did David do? David obeyed his dad, but not at the detriment of his responsibilities. David was a shepherd keeping watch over his father’s flock. And so what did David do? David obeyed his dad, but still maintained his responsibilities by getting a keeper to look after the flock. Young people, listen to me very carefully. David did not see shepherding as something that was beneath him. He saw it’s where God had him. David did not complain about being overlooked. David did not resent others for having bigger jobs. David took care of what was his and God took care of the rest.

Let me ask you a question. How do you keep your room? You say, I thought we’re supposed to be learning spiritual things here. Nothing more spiritual in all the world than how you take care of your bedroom. How you make your bed, how you hang up your clothes. Your basic responsibilities of the house. In what attitude, in what spirit do you do that? The responsibilities that you’ve been given, do you look after them? Do you take care of them? Are you working faithfully in the things that your parents have given you to do? Are you taking care of the shoes that they’ve bought you?

Are you taking care of the bicycle that they bought you? Nothing more disrespectful to your father than him to buy you a bike and then him to come home when it’s raining and your bike is laying in the driveway. Nothing more disrespectful to your parents than them to go out and spend hard-earned money to buy things that you want, and then they come home and those things are neglected. They’re abused. They’re misused. They buy you something that you can use, and then you use it to disobey them. You see, young people, listen to me. Champions are made out in private.

Champions are people that are made who embrace their responsibilities. Listen, if you’ve got a job, if you’ve got something that is yours to tend, tend to it. you say yeah but it’s just my bedroom and that’s no big deal it’s a big deal because one of these days it won’t just be a bedroom it’ll be a family let me just tell you something young men the way you treat your sister is how you’re going one day treat your wife how you treat the things in your life that god has given in your hand now listen god is not going to give you great things if you cannot be faithful in the little things David was faithful with his father’s sheep David was faithful in those private places And embracing the responsibility David took care of what God had entrusted What his dad had put in his hand David took ownership of that When David was asked to take the supplies He obeyed quickly He came up with a plan, a responsible plan Of making sure that his responsibilities were covered while he took care of what his dad sent him to.

Listen to me, young people. There’s a principle in this. Faithfulness in little things is the foundation for greater things. Jesus said, he that was faithful in little, I’ve made him ruler over much. Let me tell you, when you walk into a church and you see a pastor who’s pastoring that church and he’s got a congregation of people and God has given that man a gift to preach and to pray and God has given that man the ability to lead a church and you sit back and say, sit back and go, wow, man, I can’t wait to be a pastor. Well, listen, all you’re seeing is his public life.

Let me tell you what that’s going to, let me tell you what you ought to be seeing and what you ought to be thinking when you see somebody who’s serving God in a wonderful way publicly. Let me tell you, they fought a lot of battles privately and they’ve been faithful in little places. Jesus said in Luke chapter 16 and verse over 10, he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful in that which is much. God is not going to give you much if you cannot be faithful in what God’s given you today. And people listen to me.

Don’t miss this statement right here. Many people want to slay giants, but they don’t want to feed sheep. many people want to stand in the spotlight but they don’t want to be faithful in the shadows i’ll tell you where david’s greatness grew david’s greatness grew in the soil of responsibility you see young people let me tell you one of the devil’s lies one of the ways the devil deceives you he i told you in the beginning of this message he’s a liar let me tell you he’s a good liar you know you know what makes satan a good liar i don’t want to teach you how to be a liar but let me just tell you the best lies the best lies are the ones that are always closest to the truth a clock that is five hours off is no no problem to you

when you look at it you know it’s off but a clock that is off by five minutes will make you miss your bus so satan always gives you lies that are mixed in with a lot of truth let me tell you what satan’s done in in our in our world today satan has told you lies about your life is coming in the future satan has told you that life is coming up life is waiting for you in the future oh no no listen to me young people right now you’re not promised tomorrow you be faithful in what god’s put in your hand right now.

So I said, number one, David was taking care of his private life. Number two, I told you that David was embracing his responsibilities. Let me give you quickly number three, the heart of a champion encourages others to fulfill their duties. Look at chapter 17 and verse number 26. Look what the Bible says. And David spake to the men that stood by him. Now when David got to the battle, where were all the men? They were what? They were hiding. Where was Saul? He was in his tent. And David gets there with the lunch. He thought he was coming to see a war, but he just saw a bunch of men hiding behind the bushes.

And in verse number 26, And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What should be done to the man that killeth the Philistine and takeeth away the reproach from Israel, who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? hey guys what’s going to be done for this guy that goes out there and kills that guy why is that guy defying our god and then he says in verse 27 and the people answered after him in this manner saying so shall it be done to the man that killed him and alive his eldest brother heard when he spake to the men and alive’s anger was kindled against david he said why camest thou down here and with whom has thou left those few sheep in the wilderness i know thy pride i know the knowledge of thy heart for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.

And David said, what have I now done? Is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? And look at the next verse. And he turned from him toward another and spake after the same manner. Listen, David said to his brother, is there not a cause? And he turned to another and said, is there not a cause? And he turned to another, is there not a cause? And David was going through the camp. Is there not a cause? Guys, is there not a cause? Who’s this guy defying our God? Is there not a cause? what did we come to do do we come to watch or do we come to war is there not a cause is there not a cause is there not a cause is there not a cause and David turned one to another to another to another to another until that

question came to the ears of Saul and Saul said go get that kid and bring him in here he said what are you doing here and David said it to him why is this man defying the god of our armies and Saul said what are you going to do about it well sir I killed a lion and a bear one time and if God can give me a lion and God can give me a bear God can give me that Philistine young people listen what was David doing David was encouraging others to do their duty to do their responsibility look look when you’re faithful in private and you’re maintaining your integrity and you’re doing your responsibility.

You need to begin to cheer others on and encourage others on and provoke others to good works and to edify them and to exhort them and to cheer them on and get your youth through. Don’t you be intimidated by the mockery. Don’t be intimidated by the people who say, oh, what’s in your heart? You got a naughty heart. What did you come down here for to do? I came down here to glorify God. There’s a cause here. David began to stir something in the heart of the men. who is this Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God who does this guy think he is who does he think we are who does he think God is this army over there is thinking about our God by the way we’re responding they think our God is weak they think our God is wrong they think our God is non-existent they think our God has no power think our God is not worthy.

Is there not a cause? See, a real champion doesn’t just fight his own battles. He inspires others to pick up the sword and fight their battles. He doesn’t tear down those who are afraid. He encourages those that are afraid. Notice the word encourage. You put courage in. you know what young men we need some young men and young ladies we need some young ladies in our youth group that are not slanderers and gossipers and back biters and quick to laugh at other people’s mistake we need some people who get behind one another and provoke to good works and encourage and cheer and to edify and to build up and to spur on and to and to give people the strength and the courage to pick up the sword and fight I remember when I walked the aisle at a youth camp and surrendered my life to preach I was a little junior high kid I had giant ears I was the baby of the family my mom bought me I had to wear glasses when I was a little kid and my mom bought me these little tiny glasses that had these little curly things.

I already had big ears and then they wrapped around my ears and pulled them way forward. I got pictures of me as a kid. I looked like a satellite dish. I got hand-me-down clothes. I was like four foot two and I got hand-me-down clothes for my brother who was six foot three. true story i walked around in my brother’s corduroy pants they were pinned up in the back and tucked up in the in the bottoms my mom pinned them i was four foot two wearing a size 11 shoe did i have a size 11 foot no my foot my shoes were so big that the kindergarten teacher would bring me down and turn me sideways and teach the kids how to draw a capital L.

You’ve never lived until you walk in corduroy pants and they go zzz, zzz, zzz, zzz. And then I had my brother’s hand-me-down shoe and that one sole on his right foot always was floppy and my foot would go skapap, zzz, zzz, skapap, zzz, zzz, skapap. Kids in the school would make me walk faster so I could make a beat and they could dance to it. Hey, Dean, jog a little bit. Zoom, zoom, kapap, zoom, zoom, skapap, zoom, skapap. They opened up all the lockers So when I went by, my big ears would close the lockers On both sides of the hall Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom I was a one-man band, man It was so bad, my dad looked at me one day When I was in seventh grade, and my dad said Are those your ears, or are you a taxi cab Going down the road with his doors open?

when your dad’s throwing shade on you it’s not good I remember walking the aisle one night at teen camp and I came to that altar and I surrendered my life to preach I knew God was calling me and I surrendered to that I remember going back to the cabin and I remember a couple of the boys that were in that cabin saying hey do you think that God was really calling you to preach? Like, I mean, you don’t really look like a preacher. I remember a boy in my youth group named Tom Kearns. I was in seventh grade. Tom was in tenth grade.

I was laying in my bunk that night with fear in my heart. I had surrendered my heart to the Lord. And I remember after lights out, I remember feeling a hand on my shoulder and Tom Kearns saying, hey, little Dean, that’s what everybody called me, little Dean. He said, hey, little Dean, I know God’s going to use you. And Tom prayed for me that night. I would tell you, I laid in that bed, encouraged in my heart. Tom had the heart of a champion. He stirred others to the call. Let me just say something to the parents. Parents, encourage your children.

Encouragement to a child is like water to a plant. Pastors, youth workers, stir faith in the hearts of your young people. Hey, Christians, teenagers, speak life and courage into your youth group. Step out, be courageous. If you can’t be courageous in here, how are we gonna be courageous out there? David encouraged. I’ll close with this. The champion steps up in the moment. What does a champion do? He steps up in the moment. Verse 32, David said to Saul, let no man’s heart fail because of him. thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, thou art not able to go up against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth.

And he was a man of war from his youth. You know, Saul was never a bright guy. That’s the dumbest thing anybody could ever say. You can’t go fight him. You’re a youth. And he’s been winning battles from his youth. pause rewind that and play it again and think about what you just said I don’t think you understand the words that are coming out of your mouth you can’t go fight him you’re a youth and he was winning battles from his year. Okay, Einstein. Any other words of wisdom there? Copernicus? You know, if the devil’s people can do things when they’re young, God’s people can win things when they’re young.

you don’t have to wait till next year and five years and ten years listen you can do things for god right now you can win battles now if if goliath can be a champion when he’s young we can have champions when you’re young god’s people can do great things david did not shrink back in the moment david stepped up and he went down and he faced that giant. And young people, listen to me. I want you to see it. Look at verse number 40. Look at verse number 45. Then said David to the Philistine. Now he’s down there talking to the giant face to face.

And David says to the giant, thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield. But I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, which thou hast defied. This day shall the Lord deliver thee into mine hand. I will smite thee and take thine head from thee and I will give thy carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day to the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth and watch this that all the world may know that there’s a God in Israel.

David did not go down in that valley to go down recklessly to say I’m going to go win a battle and I’m going to be a champion and I’m going to be a hero. Oh no no David didn’t go down there thinking about David. David went down there and said I’m telling you about God. You’re not going to mock our God. You’re not going to defy our God. We’re going to show you how great our God is. God’s going to take a little guy and smite a big old giant’s head, and he’s going to show the whole world how big our God is.

This has nothing to do with me. This is all about him. Young people, that’s the will of God for your life. Let me tell you what the will of God for you is tonight. The will of God for your life is that through your life, this world will know there’s a God in heaven. That’s the will of God for your life. God may do that through the mission field. God may do that through the music ministry. God may do that in the pulpit. God may do that in the house, raising children. But I will tell you something, whatever God’s plan for your life, whatever that is may be different, but his will is just the same.

He has made you that you would bring glory to his name and that you would lift him up and that the whole world would know who God is. David was not a reckless man, but David was ready. The private battles with the lion and the bear prepared him for this public battle. David didn’t depend on armor he didn’t depend on swords he depended on God can I tell you something the battle is the Lord we don’t fight the weapons of our warfare with we don’t fight the war with the carnal weapons of our warfare our weapons are mighty through God do you know what the weapons of our warfare are I’m looking at them we’re the weapon.

And you take the people of God, surrender to God in the hand of God. God does mighty things. The heart of a champion is not self-confidence. It’s God confidence. Champions don’t wait for perfect conditions. They just move in faith when God calls. While everyone else is calculating the risk, David was remembering the faithfulness of God. Man, he’s a giant. He’s a champion. And he was saying, yeah, but I’ve seen what God’s done and I know what God can do. God’s still looking for some young people with the heart of a champion. And we’re in a battle, young people, a battle of the ages.

We’re in a battle that started in Genesis. It’ll culminate in the book of Revelation. And we’re in that war today. And what you do in your private life, what you do in your youth group life, how you stir and help the body of Christ and the people within your church family grow, what you do with your responsibilities will all make for one moment in time when the right things are there, you’re going to step up in the moment and you’re going to seize the day. What God’s doing in your life right now is preparing you for the battle. So win the battles in your personal life now.

May I ask you a question? Are you saved? If you’re not saved, you’re on the losing team. You need to be born again. tonight you can come and trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior give your heart and life to Christ come in repentance and faith and Jesus will save you tonight on the authority of this word one look to him and you’ll live if you are saved how’s your relationship with Christ do you know him are you growing in grace and in the knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are you walking with God how’s your prayer life how well are you getting to know the weapon how well you’re getting to know your sword?

How well do you know the word? Are you hiding the word of God in your heart? Is there sin in your life? Unconfessed sin? Unconquered sin? Sin that you’ve not gotten up and gone to war with today? Sin that does so easily beset you? If there’s sin in your life, bring it. Let me tell you something. You need to bring that sin to the same place that God brought your sin. You need to bring it to Calvary and nail it on the cross of Calvary. Let Jesus conquer that sin in your life. Confess it, forsake it. He’ll give you power to overcome it.

How’s your personal character? How’s your relationship with your mom and dad? How’s your relationship with your siblings? How’s your relationship with your youth department? Are you taking care of your responsibilities? Young people, there’s a battle and God is still cultivating champions. Let God use you.