It's NOT About The Giants | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

thank you pastor erickson and everybody said praise the lord amen and i hear that praise god i i hear that i i want to take just a moment before i read my text today i want to take just a moment and say to front porch media and brother darren cooper and the wonderful media team of first apostolic church maryville that that make all of this possible uh the praise and worship today that was praise and worship from many many months ago um they were able to go back and edit that and spend so many hours i want to personally thank today brother darren cooper and front porch media brother dale mcbroom brother daniel rangel that's translating today into spanish and all of our our good spanish speaking brothers and sisters from around the world that's worshiping with us today and especially my new friends in the great country of chile that i've come to know during the covet virus and i greet all my wonderful brothers and sisters in chile today and pray that the blessings of god are resting upon resting upon them um also you would have you would almost thought that this was uh pre-planned uh and what i'm about to say is we are in the process right now of putting the final coat of asphalt in our parking lot here at the maryville campus now before uh before the the covet reared its head here in our congregation uh before we um had to go back online with our service uh before all of that uh we were brother doug solomon who i want to say brother solomon thank you today he has been heading this project up uh having um ties there with the asphalt company and brother solomon i i do so appreciate you taking this load off of pastor such as making sure that the uh parking lot is uh no cars are here and things that had to be moved it was um it's quite quite a feat but now uh we are receiving the final coat of asphalt and uh i thank the thank the lord you would almost thought that we had planned it all out but it's all working together uh for good i appreciate all the wonderful men and women here at first apostolic church that invisible army of workers behind the screen thank you so much you're home today and i thank you so very very much if you have your bibles and you would turn with me this morning to the first book of samuel chapter number 18 and we're going to begin reading at verse number one and it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking unto saul that the soul of jonathan was knit with the soul of david and jonathan loved him as his own soul look at verse number 3 then jonathan and david made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to david and his garments even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle i want to preach for a few moments today hopefully a word of encouragement hopefully a rally of hope and faith but i want to preach this simple subject it's not about the giants it's not about the giants father i love you this morning i thank you for the privilege and the opportunity to be able to preach the word today i am believing that this word will produce miracles signs and wonders this morning i'm believing god that this preached word is going to produce faith and hope in the hearts of your people today and that they will begin to rise up god in their circumstance and their situation and declare with boldness the lord liveth lord anoint my lips today in jesus mighty name i pray amen and amen i don't remember exactly which morning it was this past week but when i awakened one of these mornings i remember i i was thinking about david and goliath in the battle when david slew goliath and i woke up and i had this already on my mind of david fighting goliath and immediately having it upon my mind i began to ponder i began to ponder was the lord was the lord directing me and leading me into preaching about david killing goliath and i began to ponder and begin to actually read the story there before i got out of bed and i felt as i began to read i felt the gentle voice of god say these words it's not about goliath the story is not about goliath and when those words came to my spirit it's not about goliath i again begin to to meditate and to ponder what the lord could possibly be speaking be speaking to my heart and i begin to to review the life of david that shepherd boy that had been anointed chosen by god chosen by god and anointed by the prophet samuel to be the king of israel i i begin to i begin to go back in my mind and and relive the the the anointing of the shepherd boy and how that at a early age the oil of the prophet's horn was poured upon him and and uh the word was spoken over him that he was the next king and i began to see that david fought in goliath was was for a purpose but that we don't need to get all caught up in that that was the summation of david's life the killing of the giant was just one more step toward david's destiny the killing of goliath served one purpose and that purpose was to give david national exposure when david took his slingshot and silenced the mouth of the reproach of israel goliath with his cursing and blaspheming that was not the end the utopia the end of david's victory it was just a small step in david getting one step closer to his destiny but god knew that david was in need of someone god knew that there was someone in the palace that david needed and david needed a loyal man now we know that saul was not the loyal man in the palace we we understand today that it was jonathan his son that david needed to meet it was that that person of loyalty you see today when we're we are faced in the grip of this very this uh this extreme time such as never before but i hear the lord saying to me that it's not about the giant that the covet is not about the giant that we are going we are going to defeat this giant by the help of the lord but that god wants us to be on the lookout god wants us to understand that after we have defeated this giant there is a jonathan of loyalty that needs to well the church of the living god together there is a need in the church as never before god has allowed and what god allows god always has a purpose and i pray today that after the covet has come and gone that the church family of maryville and sevierville will be found welded together within a bond of loyalty because we have we have two great causes that our our our minds should be fixed upon today we have two great causes that we should all be in unity about today and number one winning the lost in our world if there's ever been a day that the church needs to remember and be reminded of our purpose our purpose is to seek and to save that which is lost our purpose as a church today is to find the hurting our purpose as a church today is to heal the wounded our purpose as a church today is to preach the only salvation message the born-again message then peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of your sin and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost may the church be reminded after covet has come and gone after our goliath has been slain may the church be reminded that we need to reach the lost in our community the next thing our mind should be welded upon is heaven should be our goal we ought to all be preparing ourselves to make it to that place of heaven but we need as never before a jonathan we need the jonathan of loyalty after our goliath has fallen after covet is a thing of the past oh god may we have a jonathan that will be birthed into our life it's interesting as i read there's actually three times in david's life on his way to the throne there are actually three times that jonathan that jonathan made a covenant with david i read to you the first time in first samuel 18. the bible said that jonathan stood there that day jonathan witnessed david killing goliath and then jonathan witnessed a conversation between david and his father saul and the bible just simply said when when david made an end of speaking speaking speaking what well i believe that saul was inquiring of how did you how did you defeat this giant how did you do this and i believe that david gave all the glory all the credit to the god of israel i believe that david began to say saul it was because of the lord god of israel it's god who's on our side it's god that gave me the ability it's god that took that's that stone and guided it to the right place it's god i believe david stood there that day and told saul that it was the god of israel that gave him the victory and jonathan overheard these words the bible said that when jonathan overheard these words that jonathan steps in after david has made an end and jonathan takes david to him and the bible said that the soul of jonathan was knit was knit the the the word knit k-n-i-t the word knit is used like knitting taking uh pieces of yarn and knitting them together the soul of jonathan got entangled with the soul of david until it said that jonathan loved him just like his own soul do you know that it appears that jonathan is the first one in the bible to practice the second commandment of all and that is to love your neighbor as yourself jonathan actually became one with david jonathan loved david just as much as jonathan loved jonathan it has it has been said that true friendship can be described by one soul living in two bodies one soul living in two bodies jonathan loved david as much as jonathan loved jonathan this first covenant that i want to talk to you about today is the covenant of one if there has ever been a day that we not only believe that there is one god there's a day that the church family the church needs to become one just like that prayer of oneness that jesus prayed in the garden in john 17 when he prayed that prayer and he said make them one oh god when the giant of covet has been defeated and it's not all about the giant it's not about the giant but it's about our jonathan that i'm believing god brother erickson that we're going to meet a jonathan of loyalty after the covet giant has been defeated we're going to we're going to meet our jonathan and god baptize the church today god baptized the maryville church today god baptized the severable church today with that spirit of oneness may we love one another as much as we love ourselves the soul of jonathan was knit and he loved him as his own soul it was jonathan that gave david his robe and it was jonathan that gave david his sword jonathan that gave david his weapons it's jonathan when david walked away that day it was david that looked like a prince jonathan made him not appear to be a shepherd boy any longer but jonathan made him appear to be a prince like his calling was saying that he would be a king may our fellowship with each other today after covet 19 is coming gone and our goliath has fallen may the spirit of loyalty baptize us until our coming together makes us look more like children of the most high god no wonder the bible said one can put a thousand but two can put ten thousand because when the church becomes one we change our identity when the church becomes one we begin to resemble the lord jesus more than ever before when the church becomes one this covenant of one that david and jonathan entered into it was something that david would need because if david ever needed protection david needs it now you see saul is not jealous of david when david's an unnamed flute playing shepherd boy on in the wilderness saul is not jealous of david when he's an unknown but let david become known let david have national exposure and let songs begin to change that that say something like uh saul is slain his thousands and david has slain his tens of thousands it's saul then that grabs the javelin throws it at david and david had to dodge the javelins of saul but now david and jonathan have a conversation and david begins to say to jonathan i i'm going to die one day at the hand of your father but jonathan speaks up and jonathan says to david he said my father will not make a move that what he won't tell me about it and when my father says anything about you i promise you my covenant david i'm going to protect you you know i'm i'm reminded of a song today that says i won't harm you with the words of my mouth we we are brothers and and i won't harm you with the words of my lips and the songs a very beautiful song about about unity you know david had a covenant with someone he was one with someone that was going to protect him not only in his presence but when david was nowhere to be found it was jonathan and saul father and son having a conversation and he was saul that began to tell jonathan we got to kill david and it was jonathan that because of the covenant that began to defend david and say what has he done what harm's he done to you dad he's he's done you no harm and you know that for a time while david lived in the palace that it was jonathan and that covenant of oneness that protected that protected him that protected david against the harm of saul it was jonathan that that covenant of oneness oh may the covenant of oneness today cause us to protect one another and may we never harm each other with the words of our mouth may we have a covenant of one and that that when we do speak of each other it's in a way of prayer it's on a way of uplifting one another and strengthening one another and jonathan and david had that covenant but you know as the story goes jonathan finally had to tell david that he needed to leave the palace and david had to become david had to become a fugitive and he had to begin to run for his life and well this is where the second covenant that jonathan and david had david is not living in the palace at this time in the reading he's not living in the palace he is being hunted by saul but it seems like that jonathan was always able to find david seemed like that jonathan was always able sometimes when david didn't even know where he was at jonathan knew where david would be and so this second this second covenant found in first samuel 20 verse 16 17 so jonathan made a covenant with the house of david saying let the lord even require it at the hand of david's enemy and jonathan calls david to swear again because he loved him for he loved him as he as he loved his own soul now now this is the second covenant this is not the first covenant this is more a renewal of our covenant this is a renewal of the covenant oh friend i believe what we need today is a renewal of our oneness covenant with god and with god's people and jonathan found david and he said it's time for us to renew the kingdom it's time for us to renew the covenant that we had that day when i met you for the first time when the death of goliath was fresh and you still held his head in your hands let's go back and let's let's renew that covenant that that we had just like today as i as i watched for a few moments the praise and worship i watched for a few moments today the praise and worship of months gone by my heart swelled inside as a time pre-covet when we were gathered together and and uh we were praying for for each other you know we need to have a renewal of our covenant right now we're not in the palace like we used to be but can we have a renewing of our covenant today but there's a little there's a small change in the covenant the bible said in verse 16 so jonathan made a covenant with the house of david now this second covenant is not just about david it's about david's family it's about david's household do you know today that i believe that all it takes in our homes is one person who has a covenant with god one person today that has a covenant with god oh please don't be discouraged oh please don't be discouraged today if you're the only person in your home that has a covenant because god god is going to recognize that unsaved husband that unsaved wife the unsaved children those that are not in covenant god's gonna god's gonna recognize and there's gonna there's gonna be a there's going to be a part of god upon them because of the covenant and jonathan says today david i not only make a covenant with you but i make a covenant with your household and likewise the covenant was not only with jonathan but the covenant was also with jonathan's household you see there's tremendous power in the gospel today there is tremendous power it's one of the reasons if you're the only one serving god in your family that's why the enemy will work overtime in getting you out of the fold the enemy will work overtime at causing you to throw in the towel and cause you to give up because just one person having a covenant with god has an effect upon the whole family acts chapter 16 and verse number 13. it's the philippian jailer in acts chapter 16 and verse number 13. it's the philippian jailer that comes or excuse me and that that reading is the woman the the seller of purple listen to these words on the sabbath we went out of the city by the riverside where prayer was walked to be made we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither and a certain woman named lydia seller of purple of the city of thyratara which worshiped god heard us whose heart the lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken by paul and when she and when she was baptized look at this and her household she besought us saying if you have judged me to be faithful to the lord come into my house and abide there and she constrained them look not only lydia made a covenant with the gospel not only did lydia make a covenant with the gospel but it it affected the house of lydia not only when lydia opened her heart up little did she know that her household which included her husband her children when she opened up her house to the covenant of god that when she opened up her heart to the covenant of god that she was actually making a way for her whole house to be baptized and to enter into a covenant literally david little did jonathan know when they made an individual covenant that day that they were actually speaking words over their entire household this second covenant now now uh from acts chapter 16 and verse number 30 paul is in jail and the the the lord causes there to be an earthquake and the jailer comes out and acts 16 and 30 and the jailer brought them out and said sirs what must i do to be saved and they said believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house this not only a covenant that's a personal covenant praise god this is a covenant of your house when you say yes to jesus you're opening up the possibility of a covenant being on your house follow this now and they spake unto him the word of the lord they paul and silas spoke to the jail of the word of the lord and to all that was in his house and he took them not just the jailer he took them the same hour of the night and and washed their stripes and baptized and was baptized he and his straightway and when he had brought them into his house he set meat before them and rejoiced believing in god with all his house oh friend this second covenant that we have it's not about goliath it's not about covet this second covenant that we have is is about our household god give us revival in our houses god save our unsaved families god save our unsaved husband unsaved wife unsaved sons and daughters today because we have this this second this second covenant and the third and final covenant in first samuel chapter 23 and verse number 15. it's the third and the final covenant that jonathan and david would make the first was the covenant of oneness the second was the covenant over my whole family and the third covenant is going to be called the covenant of encouragement the covenant of encouragement for in second samuel chapter 23 verse number 15 and david saw that saul was come out to seek his life and david was in the wilderness of zeath in a wood now he's not just in the wilderness probably the lowest time brother eric's in probably the the lowest time of david's life he's not just in the wilderness but he's had to get in the wood in the woods where it's not cultivated it's all grown up thickets where you you can't hardly see a foot or two back into the wood it's a it's it's it's a place that's not been cultivated it's a it's it's a place of danger it's a hideout for for all kind of wild beasts it's a it's a hideout for these uh beasts and and what have you and david's probably the lowest he's got where no no one not even saul could find me he's in the wood but verse 16 said and jonathan saul son arose and went to david into the wood and strengthened his hand in god look at this oh friend when saul can't find you jonathan can can i tell you when the enemy the bible said we dwell in the secret place of the most high when the enemy can't find us can i tell you god has someone that can find out just exactly where you're at when the enemy can't find you here comes here comes jonathan no doubt when david brother erickson when david begin to hear the breaking of twigs and david begin to hear that that somebody's coming down the the trail no doubt david gripped his sword tightly no doubt david got ready for a battle but how refreshing it must have been in the midst of the wood in the midst of this horrible place when all of a sudden david looks and there stands my jonathan my covenant of oneness there stands my jonathan the man that's got my household my mom and daddy taken care of can i tell you i don't know how deep in the wood you are today my sister my brother but can i tell you we are one in jesus name we are together in jesus name and god is gonna say it's not about goliath it's not about covet it's not about fighting this thing it's about when it's all said and done we're going to meet our jonathan and we're going to be stronger as a loyal people more than we've ever been before in all of our existence as a church would you give god praise and honor right now oh it's a it's a time of encouragement it's a time of encouragement he says i i found you and i want you to listen to this he said he strengthened his hand in god and he said unto him verse 17 and he said unto him fear not for the hand of saul my father shall not find thee and thou shalt be king over israel and i shall be next unto thee and that also saw my father knoweth and they too watch this now and they too made a covenant before god and jonathan and david abode in the wood and jonathan went to his house that third covenant that third covenant of encouragement can i encourage you today some of you that's got fevered brows you're not always going to have a fevered brow can i encourage some of you today that's laying there possibly watching this from your bed and the effects of goliath the effects of covet have you in your its grip right now hear me child of the most high god i've come to give you an encouraging word this too shall pass it shall come to pass the goliath is going to be defeated you're going to walk back through the doors of your sanctuary again you're going to sing your songs of zion and you're going to dance your dance of praise and worship the sun is going to shine again and the god of heaven is going to become more to you than you've ever imagined but after it we're going to have a greater loyalty in the congregation there's going to be a greater word of encouragement that's going to speak we're going to be a more loving we're going to be a more encouraging congregation than ever before in jesus name he said david you're the next king i know you're living in briars i know you're living in thickets i know you you don't know when's the last time you've got more than an hour of sleep but david there's coming a day that you're going to be the next king and then jonathan said something that many want to debate about many want to debate he prophesied and he said you'll be the next king and i'll be right beside you you'll be the next king and i'll be right beside you well now we know as we read the story that jonathan would die with his father jonathan would die with his father saul at the hands of the philistine now part of what jonathan said was true david was the next king but the part that he said and i will be beside you is not false because although jonathan would not literally set beside him as jonathan you see the day the day that jonathan died the day that jonathan died at the hands of the philistines mephibosheth his son jonathan's son you remember the second covenant the second covenant was with the house the second covenant was with our descendants the day that news came that jonathan is dead jonathan had a son a five-year-old son by the name of mephibosheth he was a typical five-year-old running about boy a nurse had been put over him the equivalent of a babysitter and that day when the horrible news began to reverberate saul is dead jonathan is dead the philistines are advancing that nurse in a moment of panic ran and scooped up that five-year-old boy mephibosheth and she took off running and as she was running she tripped she fell and she let go of mephiboshev and he when he landed he landed in such a way that possibly gave him a spinal injury no longer would his two legs stand no longer would he walk he would become known as mephibosheth the lame mephibosheth years later would go by the prophecy had come forth the first covenant a covenant of oneness david wouldn't have been david wouldn't have been on the throne had it not been for a covenant of oneness we won't we will not get to where we should go without the covenant of oneness the second covenant a covenant over our household the third covenant of prophecy encouragement david sure enough is sitting on the throne just as jonathan said but jonathan is dead and in a tomb the bible says in second samuel chapter number nine and verse number 12 second samuel chapter 9 and verse number 12 and mephibosheth had a young son whose name was milka and all that dwelt in the house of ziba were servants unto mephiboshev so mephibosheth dwelt in jerusalem for he did eat continually at the king's table and was lame on both his feet david got to thinking about that third covenant and he said i want to fulfill that third covenant and he said is there any that's left of the household of jonathan that i can show the kindness of god and they said yes jonathan's got a son name is mephibosheth he's lame and you know the story david went and called from mephibosheth and they brought him and who would live who had been living in poverty who had been living as a beggar now has been brought into the palace now has been brought up at the king's table now because of a covenant of a household he's eating bread at the king's table he's eating bread as one of the king's sons i want you to know today i want you to know that jonathan didn't sit there but his descendant did his son mephibosheth sit there some of us today have sons and daughters and some of us today have sons and daughters that are not living for god but it's not this this cove it's not about the covet it's about a covenant that's going to hit our church it's about a covenant of oneness that's going to hit our church it's about a covenant of our household i'm claiming our sons and our daughters i'm claiming some of you today that you brought your children up you brought them up in sunday school you brought them up in the youth department you brought them up the best you could but they've chosen to walk a different direction dear mom and dad today we make a covenant together we pray right now that god will touch your child that god is going to bring more of our prodigals back god is going to touch your children right now in the name of jesus i i want to ask you right now i want to ask you to join with me as we turn our homes into prayer rooms right now first apostolic church family first apostolic church of maryville first apostolic church of several i want you to know today this is not about the giant this is about the jonathan that we've got to meet after the goliath has been taken goliath will be taken the victory will return i want to call on us today would you go ahead right now and would you make would you go ahead right now would you make your living room an altar i asked for every father to join me in prayer today i asked today for my family to join me father i love you today father i know today that we're not going to allow this this giant to be fought in vain we're not going to return back to the way we were before goliath we're not going to return back to the way we were god i believe that you've allowed this to happen lord i believe god that you've allowed this to happen because you're coming soon and father you want us god to be concerned about the lost but there's no way that we can love those whom we've never seen until we love one another today oh god i search my heart today lord if i have offended anyone god if i have done anything lord against my brother or against my sister oh god today if i've done anything lord to cause a burden to my brother or my sister forgive me o god of heaven forgive me o god of heaven and wash me in your blood today lord help us god to love one another as we love our own soul father i pray today for encouragement over all of our families father i ask god that you would bind us together with cords that cannot be broken oh god of heaven move upon us today lord move upon us throughout our homes in blount county throughout our homes today in sevier county oh god of heaven today move upon us lord move upon us oh god hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah lord move upon us today god lord move upon the people today god father i pray today for sister faye bryant i pray god and i ask you to touch her god i pray for her blood pressure today lord lord move upon sister faye bryant today lord move upon mary crowder today lord move god upon nolan and barbara havard today move upon brother and sister croucher today sister evelyn croucher today lord father move upon these god move lord upon the cox family father move lord today upon judge sears father i pray over god the families of this church i pray over god the family's god of this church lord keep your hands upon sammy and donetta lord keep your hands upon their business oh god lord keep your hands upon them today lord jesus christ jesus god jesus god loves god be upon the families of this church lord father be upon the families of this church god now continue to pray there in your homes continue to pray there in your homes if there's some of you uh that are watching by way of the facebook or you're watching by way of youtube and you want to send in a prayer request we may not be able to call out that need over when we're actually on the internet but we will pray we will pray and that's what really matters today we will pray for you right now in the name of jesus christ oh god in the name of jesus christ today father move upon them god touched them father touched them today in the name of jesus today lord touch all the needs god touch all the needs o god touch all these needs lord father in the name of jesus today god oh i praise you lord i love you today god bind us together bind us together with cords that cannot be broken bind us together bind us together bind us together as i said earlier when i began to preach today that in 36 years of pastoring this church in 36 years i've never seen and i'm not being gloomed i'm not being gloomed because i really believe that god gave me that message it's not about the giant it's about meeting jonathan and i really believe that when covet has come and gone that god is gonna have a god's gonna find us better people because we've met our jonathan but in 36 years if there's been one little anthem song one anthem song that's always come to my heart it's always seen us through our dark days as a church and we've had some dark times in our our history but there was there's a song that always comes to my heart and i'd like for you to join me in your homes and that song simply says bind us together lord bind us together with chords that cannot be broken lord bind us together lord bind us together lord bind us together with love one more time oh lord bind us together lord bind us together with cords that cannot be broken lord bind us together lord bind us together lord bind us together with love god bless you i pray that today's message gives us new direction as a church family and i pray today as many of you are quarantined that god's hand will be upon you until tonight at 6 00 p.m we'll be right back here online with our sunday evening service may god richly bless you i love you with the love of the lord