The Results of David’s Faith

김정호목사 

Dr. Jung-Ho Kim, Pastor   

⁴³ 블레셋 사람이 다윗에게 이르되 네가 나를 개로 여기고 막대기를 가지고 내게 나아왔느냐 하고 그 신들의 이름으로 다윗을 저주하고 ⁴⁴ 또 이르되 내게로 오라 내가 네 고기를 공중의 새들과 들짐승들에게 주리라 ⁴⁵ 다윗이 블레셋 사람에게 이르되 너는 칼과 창과 단창으로 내게 오거니와 나는 만군의 여호와의 이름 곧 네가 모욕하는 이스라엘 군대의 하나님의 이름으로 네게 가노라 ⁴⁶ 오늘 여호와께서 너를 내 손에 붙이시리니 내가 너를 쳐서 네 머리를 베고 블레셋 군대의 시체로 오늘날 공중의 새와 땅의 들짐승에게 주어 온 땅으로 이스라엘에 하나님이 계신줄 알게 하겠고 ⁴⁷ 또 여호와의 구원하심이 칼과 창에 있지 아니함을 이 무리로 알게 하리라 전쟁은 여호와께 속한 것인즉 그가 너희를 우리 손에 붙이시리라. ⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field." ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand." (1 Sam. 17:43-47)

FCF: We tend to be paralyzed by fear before a daunting challenge in life.

주제: 하나님은 승리를 주시는 분이기에 그분을 의지하므로 삶의 도전을 당면해야 한다. 

Theme: Because God gives us victory, we must face challenges in life by faith in God.

Introduction 

I guess Korean Christians may have heard about two Christian headline news. Both of them are related to two mega-churches. The one is the largest Presbyterian church, that is, the Myung-Sung Presbyterian Church and the other is the largest Baptist church, that is, Global Baptist Church. Both have something to do with their senior pastors. The former has been criticized for the fact that the senior pastor handed the church over to his son. The pastor has almost absolute power over his congregation, suggesting that his son should be elected to continue his ministry without any disruption of his pastoral principles and practices. The church held the communicant members’ meeting and voted to accept the senior pastor’s son as its next pastor. But that was against the law of the denomination. And the church tried to change or bypass the way to appoint the pastor’s son to be the next pastor. The whole Korea has raised its voice against the practice of handing the privileges of the mega-church. The denomination has been divided over this issue. Non-Christians have mocked Christians due to such outdated practice, which is often witnessed in the third world communist countries or tribal communities. This church’s unfortunate decision has wielded a negative influence upon Christians and non-Christians in Korea and their perceptions of Christianity. Unfortunately, some churches do the same thing, following the example of that mega-church.

On the contrary, the pastor of the other mega-church announced his sudden resignation in worship, telling that he will go to Kenya as a missionary. The congregants were in shock, not knowing how to respond to such sad news. He has been known for his faithful preaching to his congregation. The Global Baptist Church had no fight between the old pastor emeritus and the current senior pastor. They had a peaceful transition from the old pastor to the new pastor. This new pastor has been serving in the church for eight years. His resignation is remarkable in that a lot of pastors have a dream of pastoring a mega-church. He simply relinquishes his privilege and fame and chooses to serve people in the Dark Continent. He is seen in contrast to the former pastor and his son who seem to choose ease, privilege, and power. This pastor became the voice of pure conscience against man’s quest for position, privilege, and power. This humble pastor, who just took courageous action to fulfill what God placed in his heart, touched a lot of people in Korea and set a good example for what pastors seek to do. These two examples illustrate that our words and actions surely affect people around us, either negatively or positively. Though we may be as famous as these well-known pastors, our decisions certainly make impact on those around us. We are not living by ourselves. We are social beings. We live together in a community. So, we influence one another in one way or another way. This is a fact of life. 

Certainly, David, a shepherd boy unknown to the world, rose up as a superstar in Israel. His impact was much greater because no one expected David to be a giant-killer. The news spread like a wild fire because this “nobody” in Israel killed Goliath with a single sling shot. Surely, his courageous act of faith was not without impact. His bloody killing of Goliath made significant influence upon both Israel and Philistine. This narrative illustrates the fact that faith affects others. So far, we have been studying the challenging reality of faith, the nature of experiential faith, and the God-glorifying motive of faith. The overall theme we have drawn from the story of David and Goliath is that we must face challenges in life by faith in God because God gives us victory. Today, I will conclude the series of sermon on faith. Let’s turn attention to the results of faith, which means faith affects…      

I. 믿음은 도전을 대면한다.

 Faith faces challenges.

II. 믿음은 하나님을 경험함에서 행동한다.

 Faith acts by experiencing God.

III.​ 믿음은 하나님을 영화롭게 한다.

 Faith glorifies God.

IV. 믿음은 다른 이들에게 영향을 준다.

 Faith affects others.

Faith definitely affects those around us. If we act on faith, we make an influence upon those around us. In this sense, faith works as a power. If it is a power, it brings about effects. But if it has no living force, it is dead and won’t work. Living faith is a vital force within ourselves to lead us to action. When it is manifested in action, it affects others. So, our act of faith is not without consequences upon us and people. Let’s see how David’s act of faith affected those watching him kill Goliath. Here is what the author of Samuel says in vv. 51-54: 다윗이 달려가서 블레셋 사람을 밟고 그의 칼을 그 집에서 빼어 내어 그 칼로 그를 죽이고 그 머리를 베니 블레셋 사람들이 자기 용사의 죽음을 보고 도망하는지라 ⁵² 이스라엘과 유다 사람들이 일어나서 소리지르며 블레셋 사람을 쫓아 가이와 에그론 성문까지 이르렀고 블레셋 사람의 상한 자들은 사아라임 가는 길에서부터 가드와 에그론까지 엎드러졌더라 ⁵³ 이스라엘 자손이 블레셋 사람을 쫓다가 돌아와서 그들의 진을 노략하였고. 다윗은 블레셋 사람의 머리를 예루살렘으로 가져가고 갑주는 자기 장막에 두니라. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. ⁵² And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

First, our act of faith demoralizes our enemies. 

David’s act of faith negatively affected his enemies. As soon as he defeated the representative of the Philistines, he dispirited them. The Philistines only lost one strong man. However, they considered his defeat as the defeat of the whole nation. As Goliath said, “If one of you kills me, then we will be your servants,” it seems that the Philistine army understood Goliath’s words. Anyway, they chose to flee from the armies of the living God. Instead of gathering themselves in line against the Israelites, they ran for their lives. They were afraid of David, though David was a young shepherd boy. They were demoralized by David’s bravery, which arose from faith in God. As they watched David fighting their champion without fear and hearing David’s words, “I come to you with the name of Yahweh,” they came to understand Yahweh is the true God who helped David kill Goliath. They understood David was not depending on his physical power or military equipment. They heard David was relying on the power of Yahweh. They came to believe Yahweh was behind David’s victory.

So, they were afraid of Yahweh, David’s Protector. They were convinced that they couldn’t fight against Yahweh. So, all of the Philistine soldiers fled from the Israeli counterparts, who were hiding themselves from Goliath and his army even a few minutes ago. As David declared, Yahweh surely delivered David from the Philistine and gave him a great victory against Goliath. This implied that Yahweh defeated the gods of the Philistines. David’s act of faith revealed to both the Philistines and the Israelites that Yahweh prevailed against the gods of Goliath. David’s victory entirely reversed the atmosphere of war between the two. Just before, the army of Israel was on the losing side and the army of Philistia was on the winning side. But now, it got turned around. David’s people are on the rise. The Philistines were on their flight from the men of Israel. God used David to demonstrate His power to His enemies. David’s act of faith demoralized the spirit of the Philistine army.

Our spiritual enemies are afraid of our almighty God. When we act on faith, they are fleeing from us. James 4:7 says, 그런즉 너희는 하나님께 순복할찌어다 마귀를 대적하라 그리하면 너희를 피하리라. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We have a tendency of fearing spiritual evil beings. We tend to believe that the devil says about us. The devil tries to convince us to think of our failures, weaknesses, shortcomings, or sins, so that we feel defeated, powerless, or hopeless. When we are entraped with Satan’s ploy that encourages us to live in contradiction to our true status in Christ, we feel sad, discouraged, and dejected. We tend to believe Satan is almighty and we are powerless. But the apostle Paul says, 내게 능력 주시는 자 안에서 내가 모든 것을 할 수 있느니라. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13). We fail to see God’s treasure in our earthen vessels. So, we are dispirited before our enemies. At the same time, we do not know how the devil is working hard among us to destroy our community of faith. We often fail to discern his evil work among us to bring about divisions, gossips, or church infighings. If somebody speaks evil of us, we regard him or her as our personal enemy to whom we must pay back. But most likely, he or she is used by Satan to attack us. Thus, we must recognize the spiritual activities of Satan behind the curtain. But it is not easy to have victory against the devil while being plundered by negative feelings such as a sense of defeatism.

Then, how can we surely defeat our spiritual enemeis? We must remember battle is of the Lord. We can find victory only in the Lord. We must hold unto this truth by faith. Then, we should boldly resist the devil by faith in Christ. We must not fight our brothers and sisters in Christ. They are not our enemies. The devil is our archenemy. We must know first who our enemeis are in order to fight well. David didn’t fight his brother Eliab who falsely accused him of greed and pride. He fought Goliath. He didn’t fight his coward soldiers. He didn’t try to change them. He didn’t fight them. He fought Goliath and his army. Likewise, we must fight our enemies. Instead of looking at how great, tall, and mighty our “goliaths” are, we must look to the Lord our almighty God to fight our enemies. Surely, we must believe we can have victory against them by trusting our almighty God. God is with us. God is fighting for us. Christ is our Captain. Christ already won eternal victrory for us on the cross. When the devil tries to accuse us of our habitual sins, we have to exercise our faith and tell him we are forgiven by the blood of Christ and we are justified by faith in Christ. When we act on faith, the devil tries to attack our faith, reminding us that we are nothing, or failure.

Like David, we have to fight evil spirits with the powerful name of Jesus Christ through which the apostles cast out them. We have to stand on the promises of Christ being with us. We may be paralyzed by fear, depression, anxiety, or panic attack. The devil tries to implant these destrcutive feelings deeply into our hearts. We must take a stand against the devil by the virtue of Christ’s wonderful name. Christ Himself defeated Satan through His death. He totally trusted His Father. He entrusted His Soul to the Father. Satan thought he was about to have victory by putting Jesus to death on the cross. However, Jesus completely obeyed the Father and fulfilled His redemptive purpose. His act of faith, expressed in His complete obedience, crushed Satan and set us free the bondage of sin. Evil spirits couldn’t withstand the power of Jesus Christ who always walked with the Father. Likewsie, we must trust the Father through Jesus Christ, so that we can demoralize our enemies. Instead of hiding or fleeing from our spiritual enemies, we must resist them by faith in Christ and enjoy victory in Him. Paul exhorts us to put on the whole panoply of God. Also, he says, 모든 것 위에 믿음의 방패를 가지고 이로써 능히 악한 자의 모든 화전을 소멸하고. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one (Eph. 6:16). We must rely on the power of the name of Jesus Christ, shouting together with Peter, 은과 금은 내게 없거니와 내게 있는 것으로 네게 주노니 곧 나사렛 예수 그리스도의 이름으로 걸으라. "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" (Acts 3:6). Let’s stand strong by trusting the Lord against all our emotional, spiritual enemies, knowing they will surely flee from us when we act on faith.

Second, our act of faith awakens, encourages others’ faith. 

David’s act of faith positively affected his own people. As a result of David’s act of faith against Goliath, the men of Israel who were watching David destroying their enemy with a single slingshot won inspiration and courage to fight the rest of the Philistines. They were absolutely confident that David would lose his life in fighting Goliath. But, as they were watching him running, throwing the slingshot, hitting right on Goliath’s forehead, and cutting his head off, they were convinced that the Lord was with David and that David’s predictions were fulfilled. Their fear gave way to faith in God’s power. A young David’s act of faith mobilized the fear-stricken men of Israel to fight for the name of Yahweh. David’s courage to die for the glory of God converted his people’s fear into faith in God. David’s faith was contagious. So, the people of Israel were willing to die for the glory of God, risking their lives to win victory against their enemies. David, when he acted on faith, boosted the faith of his fellow Israelites. Humanly speaking, David was no match with Goliath. There were few who would expect David to win. However, David, who was together with God for His glory, was invincible; Goliath was no match with David. In this fight, David became Israel’s national hero. However, the true Star was God who gave him victory. This was what David desired to show forth to the world.

Faith is communal. It means it is not alone. It is practiced in relation to others. It is practiced among people. People around us watch how we live, how we practice faith, or how we fail to live out a Christian life. We are watched from all sides. We live together with others in a community. This means we must live by faith, not by sight, so that we can set a good example of faith for them. Surely, we interact with one another and affect one another. One’s act of faith affects the rest of the community. To the world, our courageous faith is evangelistic; to the believers, it is edifying. How would you affect others by your faith? If you act like the coward Israelites, you would dispirit the courage and faith of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

However, if you act like a brave David, you will encourage them into putting their faith in God. You will awaken their faith. You can’t awaken their faith by criticizing their lack of faith or fear of death. You can influence their faith by showing how to act by faith against challenges in life. Not criticism, but act of faith, enhances others’ faith. Remember all of us face different challenges in life. We must encourage one another into growing in faith, so that we would give ourselves to the cause of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness are in constant battle. God has called us to be soldiers of Christ to fight the world, Satan, and the flesh. Let’s keep in mind that when we boldly act in faith, we can mobilize our fellow Christians to the expansion of His kingdom. We can help them take their life challenges by faith. We should not blame for lack of faith. David didn’t blame the Israeli soldiers for cowardice. He didn’t fight to change their fear-infested faith. Rather, he showed them how to fight against the enemies by faith in God. He showed them what it means to trust the almighty God to fight the enemies.

No doubt faith is contagious. Likewise, fear is contagious. Faith kills fear, anxiety, doubt, etc.We must spread the virus of faith to others, so that they would stand strong against daunting challenges in life. Admiral Lee well knew that his soldiers were deeply shaken by fear. His men assumed that with 12 battleships they could not defeat the Japanese fleet made up of 330 battleships. They tried to convince Admiral Lee to give up the battle and earn time to gather more people and make more ships. However, Admiral Sunshin Lee concluded that there was no way to retreat. What he was worried about was not only they were outnumbered, but also they were infected with extreme fear. To fight the enemies, Mr. Lee had to convert their fear into courage. He himself first overcame fear because he was ready to die for his country. Once he overcame the fear of death, he was ready to take the challenge of the Japanese flotilla.

Instead of staying behind, he led his fleet at the front. When he gave his fleet an order to move forward, none of them followed his order. The battleship he was commandeering was the only one that was heading toward his enemies. He was surrounded by his enemies. He fought fearlessly and broke the initial dispatches of Japan down. He brought them down into the depth of the ocean. His men in the other eleven battleships were watching him fearlessly fighting and winning. All of a sudden, they felt courage welling up out of their hearts. They were moved by the courage and fearlessness of Admiral Lee. They overcame the fear of death, ready to die for their country. They broke about 100 Japanese battleships and made the others retreat from the battle. This battle reminds us of the fight between David and Goliath. Admiral Lee’s act of courage converted his people’s fear into courage to fight to win. Likewise, David’s act of faith and courage moved the hearts of his people to fight to win. Remember your act of faith also affects others. What is most remarkable is that your act of faith increases your own faith in God. When you act in faith, you grow in faith. Your confidence in God becomes greater in addition to awakening others’ faith. Therefore, you must take the challenges of life by faith, so that others would be encouraged to face their challenges and glorify God. 

Conclusion 

Dr. Jung Hoon Lee has been defending the truth of Christianity and democracy in Korea, right after he was miraculously converted from Buddhism to Christianity. Formerly, he had sought to destroy Christian churches in order to establish a socialistic political system in Korea. Like the apostle Paul, he experienced drastic conversion and now works day and night to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and awaken Korean Christians back to the Lord Jesus Christ. He vehemently denounces any type of socialistic or communistic political system. He argues that modern Korea was founded on the principles of Christianity. American missionaries shed their precious blood in Korea to bring darkened souls back to the light of Jesus Christ. One of the greatest results that American missionaries brought about was the March 1 movement, 1919. We call it the “Sam-Il Independence movement,” which was spearheaded by Korean Christians.

Dr. Lee shared a powerful anecdote that made a great influence upon American churches that had sent their missionaries to the unknown nation of Korea. A pre-teen girl, who was younger than the Korean Independence movement heroine “Gwan-Soon Ryu,” took a stand without any fear in front of the Japanese policemen. Holding the Declaration of Independence in her hand, she boldly pronounced it aloud, so that others could hear it. One of the policemen cut her hand off right at the moment. What was more remarkable is that she didn’t budge and raised her two hands up to declare, “Long live for the independence of Korea.” Dr. Lee was puzzled by the fact this young girl didn’t get terrified by fear of death. We feel terror of death. This unknown, young, and fragile little girl stood against threats of death by faith in the God of eternity. Korean Christians led the Independence Movement of Korea by trusting God. This remarkable news was spread to American Christians. It brought about a great spiritual revival among them. They were spiritually lacking vitality. Now, this girl’s brave act of faith for the Lord and her country made them cry and set their hearts aflame. Their were deeply shaken to the depths of their souls by this girls and took action for the Independence of Korea. Back in those days, Japan was the only civilized country in the eyes of the westerners. The western countries tacitly connived Japan’s annexation of the Korean peninsula. American Christians began to change their thoughts as they read the news of this little Christian girl and her act of faith and love for her own country. They began to assist Korean Christians in America who strove for the Independence of Korea. One month after the March 1 Independence Movement, Korean Independence movement workers and American Christians formed a separate declaration of the independence of Korea and declared it in Philadelphia. This declaration of the Independence of Korea became the blueprint of the Korean democratic government. This one girl’s act of faith in front of the brutal Japanese policemen wielded a great influence to change the course of Korean history. Surely, God used her for His glory and the independence of Korea. Remember your faith is not without impact. It may change those around you. It may change your life. It may change the course of history. You never know!      

We have studied David’s faith. First, faith faces challenging reality daily. Faith won’t help us escape from this reality. Rather, it helps us face it with courage in God. Second, faith is experiential. It builds up on experiencing God. The nature of biblical faith is not theoretical, but experiential. Third, faith glorifies God. This is the motive of biblical faith. Faith never plays a role in fulfilling our selfish desires. It always centers on the glory of God. Fourth, faith affects others. Faith results in the mobilization of God’s people for His kingdom. We have covered the reality, nature, motive, and result of faith. We all want to have faith like David’s. Surely, we can ask God for that. As we examine our faith, we will see where in our faith is found defective. God shows us what to do through His Word to strengthen our trust in Him. No matter what we do to enhance our faith, we must look to Christ our Savior and Lord. Needless to say Christ had met many great challenges throughout his life. He faced poverty, rejection, threats, insults, jealousy, or abandonment. But he stayed faithful to the Father. At the end, He took the challenge of crucifixion on our behalf. He didn’t escape from it. He took our sin and death upon Himself, so that we could be saved from sin and death. As we follow Christ, we as His disciples will face many challenges that Christ faced. If we do, it means that we are walking in faith. Christ trusted His Father. His understanding of the Father was not theoretical, but experiential. He knew everything about His Father. So, His faith was actual, not informational. Here we learn the importance of experiential faith. Intellectual faith should turn into actual faith by experiencing God. It can’t take the challenges of life. It will hide from them in fear. However, experiential faith is ready to take them on, because it solely trusts God. No doubt Christ always worked for the glory of the Father. He was constantly driven by His Father’s glory. His faith is a model for our faith. We find inspiration in Christ’s confidence in the Father. When we experience the love, grace, and power of His death, we can take the challenges of life by faith to experience and glorify God, and to encourage our fellow Christians to act in faith for the kingdom of God. Remember faith does matter in every possible way. Remember the Son of David is our Lord Jesus Christ who fought Satan to set us from fear of sin and death. Let’s follow Christ our “David” to defeat our “goliaths.” Let’s walk daily in God-honoring faith. 

Benediction  

²⁴ 여호와는 네게 복을 주시고 너를 지키시기를 원하며 ²⁵ 여호와는 그 얼굴로 네게 비취사 은혜 베푸시기를 원하며 ²⁶ 여호와는 그 얼굴을 네게로 향하여 드사 평강주시기를 원하노라. ²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Num. 6:24-26)