(7/16) Welcome. We’re on the final week of our series called "Like A Child" and we’ve been exploring different texts where Jesus said that we must become like a child. Today I want to launch with a story recorded in Matthew chapter eighteen where an argument broke out among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In verse one, wanting to resolve their dispute the disciples asked Jesus,

"Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:1)?

Jesus took a little child and had him stand beside him. He said to them,

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3-4).

And so, Jesus took this child who in their culture had no privilege, no rights according to the law, and said this child is an example of true greatness. In other words, Jesus described greatness as a childlike humility of spirit, something which at that moment his disciples were not demonstrating. In fact, in Luke’s gospel he said greatness is what they lacked, but he who is least among you all — he is the greatest (Luke 9:48).

In this example of this little child, Jesus illustrated that true humility, true greatness, is not thinking less of yourself than you ought to, or thinking more of yourself than you ought to. But rather thinking of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you" (Romans 12:3).

And so, Jesus was gently warning them and us, that we need to think differently, because apart from having the humility of a child we can’t even enter the kingdom. In other words, it’s not a competition to see who can jump higher or run farther, but greatness in the kingdom starts with being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

Jesus tells them that they need to change their way of thinking, becoming like little children. Not boasting about who is better than who, not pushing your way to the front, not climbing your way to the top, but Jesus said,

"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all" (Mark 9:35).

And so, we come into the kingdom with the humility and simplicity of faith like a little child.

Now, there are many reasons why that is important, but first and foremost because we want to enter the kingdom of heaven. And yet, many of us are facing impossible situations, challenges, significant trials that we don’t know how to get out of, we don’t know if we can make it through, and so what we really need is childlike faith. Faith to believe again, faith to dream again, and we genuinely need the power of God who can do anything. As Jesus said,

"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).

In other words, what is absolutely impossible for you and me, is totally and completely possible with our God.

And so, my goal today is to build your faith through the power of God’s word because I know that there are those of you who really want the faith to believe that with God all things are possible. That’s why we need to become like a child, believing like a child, having faith like a child, and using our imagination like a child. I believe it’s time to step outside and count the stars like Abraham or praising God like Jeremiah saying,

"Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you" (Jeremiah 32:17).

It’s so important to pause every now and then to reflect on the goodness of God, reminding yourself that nothing is too hard for God. Because more than likely there is going to be a time when your faith is tested and you’re going to need to have faith in the power of God.

For some of you, it may be a broken relationship, a financial difficulty, or a health complication, and you may find yourself struggling to believe that nothing is too hard for God. And so, you want to have faith like a child, believing that with God all things are possible, believing that God can restore that relationship, that he is your provider, that he is your healer, and it was by his stripes that we’re healed and made whole. And so, like a child you will want to humble yourself under God’s mighty hand so that he may lift you up in due time (1 Peter 5:6).

Like a child I believe, and I want to illustrate this with a familiar story found in first Samuel chapter seventeen. In the time when armies would go out to battle and they would line up facing one another. Sometimes one side would send out their strongest and best warrior as their representative, challenging the opposing army to send out their strongest and best warrior. And so, these two warriors would fight and whomever wins would determine which side takes the victory.

That was the situation when the Philistines lined up against the Israelites in first Samuel chapter seventeen. The biggest and strongest Philistine, their champion named Goliath, stood, and shouted to the ranks of Israel:

"Choose a man and have him come down to me… Give me a man and let us fight each other." On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified" (1 Samuel 17:8-11).

Day after day, the Philistine champion did this, much like many of you have your own enemy that taunts you.

Do any of you know what I’m talking about? We are not unaware of his schemes, right?

The devil knows how to get to you, he knows your weaknesses, he knows your temptations, and he will come out to you day after day with his usual defiance. And as long as you let him talk, he will taunt you and keep picking at you, and the Bible says,

"For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand" (1 Samuel 17:16).

And so, day after day the enemy comes out, he’s cursing the people of God, and Saul, the King of Israel, falls under the influence of Goliath’s taunting. Saul who is already insecure and well aware of his own weaknesses is beat down every morning and every night for forty days. Mentally and emotionally, he is exhausted, because there was this continual harassment, belittling him, mocking his leadership, and demeaning his army.

In fact, there may be some of you here listening, who are experiencing the same thing. Maybe it’s in your home, a sibling, child, or spouse; or maybe it’s in your workplace, but the enemy keeps speaking to you, "You can’t do it, you’ll never make it, it’s always going to be this way, it was better before you started following Jesus, it was easier before you committed your life to the Lord," and he just keeps taunting you day after day.

Here’s what I want you to understand, here’s why we need to become like children, because a childlike faith refuses to worry, doesn’t retreat, won’t give up, and doesn’t play it safe. And so, you can choose to live in fear of what might happen like Saul did, or you can step out in faith taking your mind back, taking your thoughts captive, getting your prayer back, and getting your praise on so that you’re able to fight back and keep in step with the plans God has for you.

"Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

Now, most of you are familiar with the story, that a young teenager named David who should’ve been off tending sheep was sent down to the camp of the Israelites. But he didn’t come to the camp that morning expecting to fight, because he was just following the directions of his father who told him,

"Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp" (1 Samuel 17:14).

But what happened was that when David arrived, he heard the taunts of Goliath, and it provoked something within him. God was doing something in David, and he chose to take on a fight that he wasn’t expecting. David asked the men near him,

"What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel" (1 Samuel 17:26)?

Now, most of the time we don’t get to choose our battles, because usually it is the giant that picks us. And so, we don’t get to pick our fight, but David chose this battle, he chose this fight, because he believed that his God was bigger than Goliath. And so, this young teenage boy stepped out from the line and said, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26).

"What David said was overheard and reported to Saul and Saul sent for him. David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him" (1 Samuel 17:32).

Now, I don’t believe that when David said that he was claiming to be fearless, because courage is not fearless. Courage is the ability to do something that frightens you, to place more faith in God’s word, to put more faith in what God promised, then in the giant standing before you.

That’s what the apostle Paul meant when he said,

"Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away… we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

And so, that’s what David was saying, "Let no one lose heart." Not that the emotion was gone, not that the feelings were gone, but that his faith was stronger than the fear that he felt. And so, he refused to let fear dictate his response, he chose to be courageous, fixing his eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

I find young David’s faith to be so encouraging. He encourages me, because he lets me know that fear doesn’t have to be a stronghold in our lives. And if we live in fear of what might happen and never take a step of faith we’re always going to be like Saul and we’re never going to be like David.

Now, we know that King Saul’s fear was justified because Goliath was a big dude, but that is why Jesus said to his disciples,

"Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).

In other words, we must become like little children, learning not to worry, not to live in fear of what might happen so that we never take a step of faith.

You see, I don’t want to be like Saul, always trying to talk people out of their dreams. I don’t want to live a small, sheltered, insecure life. I don’t want to live like Saul who said, "No way!" He replied to David in verse 33,

"You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth" (1 Samuel 17:33).

In other words, Saul knew about Goliath, his men had reported to him that this guy was in the top of his class. He knew how to use a sword and when it came to hand-to-hand combat there is no way you can stand against this nine-foot-tall giant of a man. And so, Saul is looking at this teenage boy and says there’s no way you can possibly fight this Philistine and win.

But faith like a child sees another way, faith looks for the possibility in the impossibility, faith looks for what God could do in spite of the impossibilities, because faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. And so, David persisted because faith is not moved by what is seen, faith will move in spite of what is seen. David persisted because he had faith, believing that even with a slingshot Goliath was too big to miss.

And so, he pushed back at the voices that were trying to stop him from walking in faith and he said to Saul,

"Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God" (1 Samuel 17:34-36).

You see, David recognized that God had called him for this, he didn’t choose this fight, but if he was going to be in the fight, he might as well face it with courage. And so, he 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" (1 Samuel 17:37).

And so, he recognized that Goliath was just a steppingstone to his calling; an opportunity for greatness, and that without facing Goliath he couldn’t step into his calling as King of Israel.

In the same way, I believe that you and I need a giant in our lives. We need some sort of impossibility, because we can’t step into our calling, walking in faith, and in the power of God without first facing our Goliath. In fact, the giant that you are facing today, that situation that you’ve been praying about is revealing something about yourself that you never would have known otherwise. Your giant is revealing the truth that you are bigger on the inside than your giant is on the outside, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

And so, that impossible situation is revealing something to you about God that you never would have known any other way. Its revealing something to you about your enemy that you never would have known without this fight. And we don’t always get to choose our battles, but now that you’re on the field, now that you’re in the fight, you might as well jump right in because we can say with confidence,

"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).

You see, it’s only as we stand up to our enemy, facing those giants in our lives, that we truly understand the greatness and the awesome power of our God. It’s those giants in our lives that put us on our knees, teaching us how to pray, no longer comparing ourselves to the giant, but comparing our giant to our God.

Saul said, "Go, and the Lord be with you" (1 Samuel 17:37).

In this moment, David realized it was gametime, he’s coming off the bench, God had brought him to this place, and his anointing is about to become known. In other words, he wasn’t going to fight this battle wearing Saul’s armor, pretending to be somebody else, because God had called him to fight Goliath as himself. This wasn’t somebody else’s fight, this was David’s fight, and so he showed up as himself.

The only problem was that David hadn’t come down to the valley to fight, he was just bringing some bread and cheese to his brothers, and so he wasn’t prepared for a battle. David hadn’t come looking for a fight, and so "he took his staff in his hand" and went over to the stream. Crouching down among the minnows and crayfish,

"He chose five smooth stones and put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag" (1 Samuel 17:40).

Armed with only his sling in his hand David approached Goliath. He kept coming closer and closer and the Philistine champion could hardly believe his eyes. In fact, he looked David over and despised him, he was insulted that the army of Israel would send a little boy with a bag of stones.

Goliath sneered at David in contempt because the contrast was so extreme. He said, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" but he was about to discover that he didn’t know the Scriptures or the power of God. Scoffing at the young boy,

"The Philistine cursed David by his gods. "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" (1 Samuel 17:43-44).

But David was undaunted and kept moving in, drawing closer to the Philistine, trusting that the Lord was fighting for him. He said to Goliath,

"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied" (1 Samuel 17:45).

"This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel" (1 Samuel 17:46).

And so, when all the mighty men of Israel thought Goliath was too big to beat, David declared with my God he is too big to miss. And he didn’t just believe that his God could, but he also believed that his God would, and he boldly declared,

"All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands" (1 Samuel 17:47).

I love the example of David’s faith. He was just a boy, but he believed that God could and that God would. The problem for many of us who’ve grown up around the church, you believe that God could, but when it comes right down to it you don’t really believe he will. In other words, you’ve heard of the great things that God is doing around the world and you believe God might do it for somebody else, but you don’t really believe that God will do it for you.

However, watch what David does,

"As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him."

He had that childlike faith to believe that not only does God do it way over there, not only did God do it back then, but God is going to do it right here, right now.

"Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. So, David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand, he struck down the Philistine and killed him" (1 Samuel 17:48-50).

My prayer is that you would have the faith to believe in a God that can and a God that will when you face something difficult. Not just that he can, but that he will, and that this will sink down deep into your soul now that you’re on the other side.

Now that I’m on the other side, now that I’m standing triumphing over the enemy, I realize how small the enemy is and how great my God really is. And it’s that childlike faith that believes that my God can, but an even bigger childlike faith that believes that my God will, because with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). And so, my faith in God is not based on what he does, or what he did, but on who he is.

It is my prayer today that you would hear the gospel like a child, that you would believe like a child, and that you would serve our God who can do anything. I believe he can, I believe he will, but even if he doesn’t, I still believe. Because I believe in a God whose ways are higher, a God who is for me, a God who is with me, a God who forgives me, and a God who has plans to prosper me, not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future. Like David, I believe in a God who is so good that he is working in all things to bring about good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Let’s pray together.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott