You are a Person of Covenant
- CMFI City Harvest Center
- Apr 19, 2024
- 13 min read
By Pastor Manasa Waqanicagica
Transcript
Turn to the Book of First Samuel, chapter 17. A familiar story or familiar passage of Scripture to all of us. All of us have heard this story. I just want to bring it once again today. There are things that are there that I want us to learn from.
1 Samuel 17:26
Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
I just want to emphasize my first point this morning - You have to know that you are a person of covenant.
Turn to the one beside you and tell him or tell her I am a person of covenant.
You know that there was an old covenant. But now we are living in the New Covenant. That's why in this church, we always want to emphasize more and more, what is really this new covenant?
You will be different when you know that you are a person of covenant. It is not because of your goodness but because He is a covenant keeping God.
We can all be Christians. We can all be coming to church. But once we take the covenant of God seriously, God will do things that are extraordinary in our lives. As you will read further, we will come to learn that David was only not only a young man, but he was somebody that, you know, that was not strong, not well-built. He looks soft. He looks almost like what people would say feminine.
The Bible said he was ready. He was handsome and he did not appear that he would be a person that God would use to lead the people of Israel and also to be a man of war and a man of victory.
God chose David because David understood what it is to live under a covenant. Say to yourself once again, I am a person of covenant.
I was glad that in the lesson for giving this morning, it was described to us the covenant that was given to the Israelites in Deuteronomy chapter 28. It started with the blessings and ended with the curses.
All those, I think for 16 verses that are there for the blessings, are all yours in the New covenant, say with me all those blessings that are mine in the New covenant, and I receive it by faith this morning. So all can we turn to and let's just remind ourselves in Deuteronomy chapter 28 from verse 1.
Okay, let's read it. When you when you read it, read it with an attitude. Say with me. Read it with an attitude and read it aloud so that the person sitting beside you doesn't fall asleep this morning.
Deut 28:1
Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord will set you high above all nations of the earth.
Say with me this morning, I am above and not beneath. Okay, continue. Verse 2.
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
Are you living in the city? Say with me this morning. I am blessed!. So wherever you go, you are blessed. Continue.
Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of the ground. The increase of your herds, increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
Blessed shall you be your basket and your kneading bowl
Take your wallet or your purse. My purse is blessed. Continue.
Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; the shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways
Say with me this morning the Lord will fight the battle against my enemies. So stop fighting it yourself. Verse 8.
The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
Okay, pause. Let's go back to 1 Samuel and pick up the story from verse 28:
Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger was aroused against David, and he said, "Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle"
So point number 2, you see there in verse 28. Be careful whom you listen to. Listen to the voice of the Lord. So his older brother, Eliab tried to discourage him. So what did he do? He just turned away. And then he turned to other people to inquire.
Amen.
Turn to the one beside him or her and tell her, if you hear something negative that does not agree with the Word of God, turn away and continue to pursue the Word of God. Verse 29. What does it say?
And David said, what I have done now? is there not a cause?
Verse 30
Then he turned from him towards another and said the same thing. And these people answered him as the first ones did.
Verse 31.
So if he wanted to spend his time to argue and to counteract what his elder brother said, he would have missed God's greatness and God's plan and God's purpose in their life. Focus on what God has called you to do. Don't spend time arguing with people. Just continue to focus on what God has put in your heart. For for us as a church, don't worry so much about what other people are doing. Just continue to focus on what we have been sharing from here. That the dreams and the visions and the vision of Christian mission fellowship focus on and continue to run with it.
Amen.
Turn to the one beside you, tell him, don't get distracted. Keep your focus.
Okay, continue on Verse 32 - 33
Then David said to Saul,"Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine" And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep his father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took the lamb out of the flock..
You see, even King David was at this time already been anointed. He did not hear the voice of the King Saul. King Saul was trying to discourage him. Amen.
But God has already a purpose in his heart. The Word of God is more paramount. That's why if you want to be different, if you want to be fruitful for the year 2024, you have to focus on the Word of God. Don't focus on the word of man.
As we have heard from, verse 34, turn to the one beside you. Tell him and tell her it's more important to be faithful. If you are faithful in the little, God will give you to be in charge in the much.
Amen. That's why in the church values faithfulness. All the cell group leaders. Thank you for faithfully giving. You can learn from here. David took his job seriously when people were not looking. He even risked his life.
Say with me, faithfulness. We have to learn to be faithful. Even if people are not watching because everybody loves the the limelight. Everybody loves the attention. When there is a lot of people, but most of us, you know, we do not focus on the things that are happening in secret. What David, as exemplified here, He even risked his life because he was a faithful young man. He even risk his life because of the bear and the lion. He didn't have to do that. God knows that people are faithful in this church and God will value your faithfulness. God will promote you just like he did to David. He will promote you in due time because you have been faithful to the Lord.
Okay. Verse 36.
"Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God"
God does not see ability. God sees your faithfulness. And David is about to get promoted. Verse 37
Moreover, David said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion, and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you!"
Why did Saul change his mind all of a sudden? Because of faithfulness!
Turn to the one beside you and tell them - In the little, in the unseen, be faithful, because God is watching
Amen.Verse 38.
So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put the bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail.
Verse 39
David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them" So David took them off
Turn to the one beside you and say - Don't try and use other people's technique. Don't try and just use other people's revelation. God will give you your own revelation. God will give you the ability to be able to fight with whatever you have. So stop giving in to excuses.
God will just use whatever I have, whatever I have with my faith, God will use whatever we have. We will build the ten stories that we will been dreaming about. Let us not be afraid. Whatever money we have, let's just move forward.
The Bible said we have to mix it with faith. In Hebrews chapter four verse two, they mix the Word of God with faith, and that's why things begin to happen in their lives.
Okay. Verse 40
The he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.
Turn to the one beside you and say - Just be comfortable in who you are, and don't try and imitate somebody else. God wants to use you in his own unique way and use you just as you are. Don't try and copy this person. Don't try and copy that person. You will become effective in who just as you are.
Verse 41. Okay, continue.
So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth..
Pause there for a moment. Don't look down on yourself. Whatever you need. If you come by faith, God will meet your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He was only a youth but he knew that he was a person of covenant. It was not because of his own strength. It was because of the strength of the Lord.
Okay. Verse 43-45
So the Philistines said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks. And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of the hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
Okay, continue verse 47
This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and 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 earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
Amen. Say with me this morning the battle is the Lord. You are a person of covenant. You are not there to represent yourself. You are not even there just to represent the church. You are there as ambassadors of Christ, representative of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. You have to know who you are in Christ.
Amen.
It's not enough to know which village are you from. It's not enough to know which church you are from. It's good to know who the Lord is, and the Lord is not out there. The Lord is in me. Say - With me!.
For the one that lives inside me is greater than the one that that's out there in the world. We are coming to the climax of the story. I've made you read a lot today. We need to read instead of just hearing.
Where are we now? Okay. Let's continue verse 47.
Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands"
So say to that situation - whatever situation is bothering you this morning, the Lord will give you (situation) into my hands this morning. Be it sickness, be it financial situation, be it whatever Goliath-like situation that you are coming against this morning, the Lord will give it to your hand this morning.
Okay. Verse 48.
So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine
Okay. Pause. So other people are in the mood of reading this morning.
Something interesting that If you study the the way that they put on their armor before, not only was Goliath more than nine feet, but Goliath was all armored up like an armored truck that always bring money to the ATM. I was thinking that he would also have a helmet. The main purpose of the helmet in these olden times was to cover this part of the head, especially the part of the head that is between the eyes, because just directly behind that is the gland that we call the pituitary gland, which is, master gland that controls all the hormones in our body.
Think about it. David was able to throw that stone and even though he was wearing a helmet, I don't know what happened, the stone went right there and hit that spot, and he fell to the ground.
So it turn to the one beside you and say - Use whatever you have. Believe in God, and God will do the impossible.
Somebody said, even if David closed his eyes and threw that stone with a sling, it will never miss. Say with me this morning, by faith I will never miss. I will hit the enemy, and he will fall to the ground. Amen.
What's also interesting, the second part from verse. 51. Let's read it together.
Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head and when the Philistine saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
What did He use? He used Goliath's sword.
What I'm hearing this morning is that In order for the victory to be complete, you have to learn to use the Word of God. Not only hear the Word of God, but learn to use the Word of God so that God's healing power may work in your life. That means David took the sword upon himself. Use the Word of God upon himself. He personalize the Word of God so that he would completely annihilate the enemy. If you also read the rest of the chapter, the Philistines did not run when Goliath fell to the ground. Maybe because of the immensity or the varsity of the of the place that they were in.
You know, this is going to be the venue or the area that they will fight the last battle, which is called the battle of the Armageddon. It is the Valley of Eli. That's why it's very symbolic that God will win that final battle. So that valley, one mountain on one side, another mountain on the other side, and on the top of that mountain right now is a church and the church is built on Mount Carmel, in which, Prophet Elijah made that sacrifice. And God was victorious that day.
Not only that David believed in the Word of God, but he used the Word of God.
So what I really want to bring this morning is that you must know that you are a covenant person and number two, God wants to complete everything that he has been doing in you. Your healing will be complete, the projects will be complete. Whatever the enemy has been trying to hinder, God will complete it in the mighty name of Jesus. But we have to learn is to take the sword. You have to be skillful in using the sword to completely annihilate the enemy.
The Bible said David did not have any sword, but after the devil, the enemy has been defeated. Maybe all this time you have not completely defeated the enemy. But I want to speak prophetically this morning that the enemy said will be cut off.
Turn to the one beside you and say - Cut it off completely this morning because the enemy will never leave you until everything is complete. In the next line - And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. So the enemy will never leave you until everything is completely complete and the victory is completely won.
Okay. Verse, 52. Let's just finish this now.
Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron.
Say with me this morning - The purpose of battle is victory. And the purpose of victory is his territory. Amen.
I believe that God has called us here to take over territory. It's not enough just coming to church and going back. God has called us here. Don't look down upon yourself that you are from Fiji. Just believe in the Word of God. You are a person of covenant. All promises, as we have learned how many weeks ago, all the promises of God in my life in second Corinthians 1:20 is yes and Amen. I just want to do something different after that. After this, we will ask the worship team to sing again that song.
But I just want to play one song, maybe you've never heard this song before. This song is called Superman by Martin Pike.
Reference Bible Verses
1 Samuel 17:26 - 52
Deuteronomy 28:1 - 8
2 Corinthians 1:20
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