Clean Transcript

Have You Ever Wanted to be a Champion?

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

• First Kings chapter 2, and we're going to read the first three verses. I will tell you this: the message I want to bring is about 15 minutes long. That's all. However, I've got a 45-minute introduction, so it'll still be an hour. But notice, if you would, First Kings chapter 2. The title of the message is "Have You Ever Wanted to be a Champion?" Watch verse 1: "Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth."

  #1 | 0:11 to 0:50 | cleaned

• "Be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man; and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself."

  #2 | 0:51 to 1:12 | cleaned

• Now, I've used the word "champion" for a reason, which you will discover, I hope, very shortly. The truth of the matter is, every child dreams of being a champion. It doesn't matter if his dream is in martial arts or shooting or ball playing or rodeo riding or any activity. Every child always wants to be a champion, and oftentimes grownups as well. We will picture ourselves in our daydreams and sometimes in our nightdreams as well as winners and champions. Have you ever noticed that in your daydreams and in your nightdreams?

  #3 | 1:13 to 1:56 | cleaned

• If you are involved, usually whatever is happening, you're the one that's coming out on top. You're the winner. Not always, but most of the time. And I believe that there is an inherent drive in anyone to be successful and to be a champion, so to speak, whether it's your vocation or whether it's any activity that you happen to be engaged in. Now, I will tell you this

  #4 | 1:57 to 2:23 | cleaned

• about dreams, and I've said this before. I certainly do not put much stock in dreams. Everyone dreams. The Bible tells you in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 3, "For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by a multitude of words." So a dream cometh through the multitude of business. Dreams may also deceive. If you were to read Jeremiah chapter 23 and Jeremiah chapter 29, you would also find that God speaks against those who dream dreams in order that they might deceive others as well. And then the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 7, "For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God." So it says there are different idols, there's different images, there's different things in a multitude of dreams and in a multitude of words, but we are to fear God. Now, this message is not necessarily about dreams.

  #5 | 2:23 to 3:35 | cleaned

• But I want to point out something. It is possible for you to cause yourself to dream certain dreams. For instance, if you look in your Bibles—hold First Kings 2, but turn to Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 8. It is possible to cause dreams to come. Notice in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 8, look what God says. Jeremiah 29 verse 8: "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed." Now, how in the world do you cause yourself to dream a dream? And the answer is by keeping your thoughts on a particular subject, by considering, by studying, by longing for certain things, by desiring certain things, by wanting certain things.

  #6 | 3:36 to 4:41 | cleaned

• If you have all of this on your mind and in your heart, inevitably, you're going to end up dreaming about it. And a dream does not necessarily have to be true, does not necessarily have to be accurate. But when you get to Jeremiah chapter 28 and 29, the truth of the matter is, if there is a market for your dream, you can cause those dreams to be dreamed. And that's what these false prophets were doing. They were preaching to these people and getting all kinds of sacrifices, all kinds of money, because they were dreaming dreams that the people wanted to hear. And of course, God is condemning those dreams. Now, whenever we think of the word "champions," we think of someone who is very, very good at something.

  #7 | 4:43 to 5:32 | cleaned

• But we also have to remember this: when you hear the word "champion," you must consider that there are what you and I would call good champions, but there are also evil champions. They're champions on both sides of the battle. Champions for good and champions for evil. So let me give you a good illustration, first of all, of evil champions. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 17. Everyone should recognize this passage; it's where David meets Goliath and, of course, slays him. But I want you to note what the Bible says about Goliath. So if you look in 1 Samuel chapter 17 and verse 4, the Bible says, "And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span." Now note, the Bible said, "And there went out a champion." Then if you will skip down to verse 23, 1 Samuel 17 verse 23: "And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them."

  #8 | 5:33 to 6:58 | cleaned

• Then if you look in verse 51: "Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled." Now, three times in this passage, Goliath has been called a champion. The Hebrew word for champion is the word "ish," and it refers to a man in contrast to a woman, but it also refers to a great man, or champion. So Goliath then was a combatant, one who was unique, one who was superb in the skill of fighting. However, he was an evil champion in that he hated God and he hated God's people. His intent was to conquer for his gods and for his people. So if you look in verse 43 of 1 Samuel chapter 17: "And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls

  #9 | 6:59 to 8:25 | cleaned

• of the air, and to the beasts of the field." In other words, Goliath is against David. He's against Israel. He is against Israel's God. So, champions of evil are very prevalent in the Bible.

  #10 | 8:25 to 8:41 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to turn to a passage which is extremely controversial. It's only controversial because good men disagree on the interpretation. I will share with you my interpretation and show you why I believe it is correct. However, I will say that there are good men who disagree with me, but for the sake of it, let's look at our Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 6 and let's read verses 1 through 5. Genesis 6 verses 1 through 5. Look what the Bible says.

  #11 | 8:42 to 9:24 | cleaned

• "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Now, there are some that would interpret this passage to mean that the sons of God happen to be fallen angels. And these fallen angels somehow are having intercourse with women and they then produce a race of giants.

  #12 | 9:27 to 10:35 | cleaned

• I personally do not agree with that interpretation for a number of reasons. Now let me just say there are men that hold that interpretation. There are good men, and some of them are my friends. I disagree with them, and I will tell you why. First of all, I believe that the sons of God are nothing more than sons of God. They were Christians. They were believers. They were godly men. And the daughters of men, of course, would refer then to those women who were unsaved, who did not know anything concerning God. Now, so let me tell you why I do not believe that the sons of God here are fallen angels. And yes, I know that angels are called the sons of God in the book of Job. I understand that. But first of all, here's why I say that this cannot be fallen angels. Number one, angels, fallen or unfallen, are spirit beings.

  #13 | 10:37 to 11:34 | cleaned

• That's what the Bible says. "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" The Bible says his ministers, his angels, are spirits, ministers of fire. I mean, let's face it, a spirit does not have a body. God is spirit. Now, whenever the Bible, of course, speaks about God's hand or God's arm, that is anthropomorphically speaking, that is man-form speaking, putting it in language you and I can understand. Moreover, when you talk about angels, whether fallen or unfallen, it doesn't matter. You must understand that there was a certain created number of those angels. No more are being created. And the truth of the matter is, contrary to what a lot of people think, when little babies die, they do not become angels. Okay? Because angels are spirit beings. Secondly, it is also true that whenever an unfallen angel, that is an angel of God, appeared unto anyone in the Bible, he appeared as a man. Now, angels, of course, do not have wings.

  #14 | 11:36 to 12:54 | cleaned

• They do not need wings because they're spirit beings. God is spirit. God does not have wings either.

  #15 | 12:54 to 13:01 | cleaned

• Now, when I tell you this, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 2. This is why I'm telling you that whenever an angel appears on earth that God sends, whether it's Gabriel, whether it's Michael, whoever it is that God sends, they appear as a normal human being. So the Bible says in Hebrews 13 and verse 2, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares," that is, unknowingly.

  #16 | 13:02 to 13:42 | cleaned

• Now, if I hear a knock on my door and I open the door and there stands someone in a long flowing white robe with big old fluffy wings sticking out of his back and his head shining, I'm sorry. He's not getting into my house. Not if I can help it. Because that's not an angel of God. Every time an angel appeared in the Bible, he appeared as a man. Here's something else. Nowhere in the Bible, as far as I've been able to tell in 59 years of preaching, nowhere in the Bible does the Bible state or even imply that angels have the power and the ability to take upon a human form in and of themselves whenever they please, whenever they will. No, it doesn't say that at all. Anytime God sends one—in fact, the Bible says in Psalm 103, they're all ministering spirits waiting upon God, waiting upon his commandment. In other words, when God commands them, they go. If he doesn't command them,

  #17 | 13:43 to 14:51 | cleaned

• they stay. It's just that simple. So clearly then, an angel is a spirit being, and yes, whenever they appeared on earth they appeared as men, but they do not have the power in and of themselves to change whenever they wanted to. But thirdly, since we're in Genesis 6, I want you to look at what I'm going to call the most conclusive proof that these cannot be fallen angels. So in Genesis 6 in verse 2, the Bible says that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. Now let me ask you, is not a fallen angel an evil angel? And the answer is yes. Why would an evil angel want a wife? If an angel, a fallen angel, is an evil angel, if he wanted to have intercourse with a woman, he would not marry her. He would just ravish all the women that he could possibly ravish. And I'm just pointing out the fact these sons of God took unto themselves the wives of all that they chose. So remember, if you would, a fallen angel is an evil spirit.

  #18 | 14:51 to 16:13 | cleaned

• He doesn't have a body. Moreover, here's what our Lord said twice in the New Testament. I want you to listen to this. Matthew 22 verse 30: "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." So the angels of God do not marry. They do not procreate. He said it again in Mark 12 in verse 25: "For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven." So angels then do not marry. Neither can they procreate. So I'm just saying that in light of these truths, the sons of God have to be what you and I would call believers intermarrying with unbelievers. Now, here's the question.

  #19 | 16:14 to 17:17 | cleaned

• If that is true, which I believe it is, how do we explain the giants? Well, let me say this. First of all, look in verse 4: "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." First of all, I would have you to notice that giants, whatever they were, were already here before the sons of God went into the daughters of men. There it is in verse 4: "There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that." So the giants, whatever they were, are already there.

  #20 | 17:17 to 18:13 | cleaned

• Now, the word "giant" in the Hebrew is the word "Nephilim," which we pronounce in English as Nephilim. And yes, I know that there were large men in the Bible. Look at Goliath. Look at all of his brothers. And yes, I know that large skeletons have been found by archaeologists. I understand that. There are still large men today. The Watusi tribe, practically all of those men are over seven feet tall. You remember—he's been dead a number of years now—but there was a man called Andre the Giant. Look him up on the internet. I forget how tall he was. He was a huge man. I went to school with a man whose father was seven feet two inches tall. You'd ask him how tall he was, he'd say six feet 14 inches. Well, but I mean he was a tall man, obviously. But the point I'm trying to make at this time is this: there are other ways that you can understand the word "giant," and I'm going to explain that to you. And that is, you can be a giant in wickedness, you can be a giant

  #21 | 18:14 to 19:23 | cleaned

• in tyranny, you can be a giant in evil as well. And I believe in our text we're going to see that this is true, because in verse 4 they also said that they were also mighty men and men of renown. Now if you look in verse 4 again, the Bible says, "the same became mighty men." The Hebrew word for "mighty" is the word "gibbor," which refers then to a mighty man, a valiant man, a strong man, and a champion. Now it's not the same word as "ish," but it does imply a champion as well. Then he says they're men of renown. The phrase "men of renown" is from the Hebrew word "shem," which of course means one that is famous or infamous, one that is of reputation or one that is of a name. Now the question must be asked: if these men were famous, if these men had a reputation, for what were they famous? Of what did their reputation consist? And the answer is, their reputation and their infamousness consisted of rebellion against God and tyranny. For instance, look in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 10 at verses 8 and 9. Genesis 10 verses 8 and 9, look at this: "And Cush begat Nimrod.

  #22 | 19:23 to 21:04 | cleaned

• He began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."

  #23 | 21:06 to 21:28 | cleaned

• Now, you will also find this in 1 Chronicles chapter 1 and verse 10. So let me just quote it: "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be mighty upon the earth." Now the word "mighty" in Genesis chapter 10 and verse 8 and verse 9, and the word "mighty" in 1 Chronicles 1 and verse 10, are the exact same word that is used for "mighty" in Genesis 6 and verse 4. Moreover, the name Nimrod actually means rebellion, or one who is valiant in rebellion. Now, Nimrod was the son of Cush, who happened to be the son of Ham, who happened to be the son of Noah. So we're talking about the fact that Nimrod was a grandson, a great-grandson of Noah. And the Bible calls him a mighty hunter before the Lord. Now the word "before" in the Hebrew means "in the face of" or "in the presence of," "against." So we use an expression similar that if I was upset with Gary, I could say to Steve, "I'll get right in his face and tell him this." That means we're not afraid, we're not ashamed of, we just get right in front of him and say whatever we want to say.

  #24 | 21:29 to 23:19 | cleaned

• Well, that's exactly what this means. These were mighty hunters against the Lord, before his face. They were disrespectful, they were disbelieving, they were dishonorable. In fact, Genesis 11, which follows Genesis 10, demonstrates this rebellion, because God told them to be scattered and to be fruitful and multiply, and you get to Genesis 11, that's when they want to build this tower up into the heavens, "lest we be scattered abroad." In other words, "We're not going to do what God says; we're going to stay in this one place in the land of Shinar." Now, I suppose that yes, we can argue that giants are big and strong, and that is proverbial what we think of when we hear the word "giants."

  #25 | 23:19 to 24:12 | cleaned

• That they're men of physique, they're men of stature, they're men of muscle, and that is that which sets them apart. But it's not just the physique, it's not just the muscle in this passage, and from Genesis 6 all the way through 11, it's their rebellion, it's their wickedness, it's their evilness, it's their tyranny. Now what I want to do is show you this. I want to give you a number of quotes, and I'm giving you this number of quotes to show you that when I say in Genesis chapter 6 the sons of God were not fallen angels, they were godly men, I'm just trying to show you that historically, the vast number of scholars have held the position that I hold. I'm not saying that that makes me right. Neither am I saying that they are right. But I'm just saying that, yes, they held the same position. That means the interpretation that they are fallen angels would be different, historically speaking.

  #26 | 24:12 to 25:21 | cleaned

• So John Trapp, one of the old Puritans, said it like this: "There were giants, Gigantes, earth-born. They were of the earth, they spake of the earth, and the earth heard them. Heard them, I say, and fell before them, as the beasts of the field do before the roaring lion. Hence they are called in Hebrew Nephilim, such as being fallen from God fell upon man, and by fear and force made others fall before them. Thus they sought to be renowned, and to raise themselves by depressing others and doing violence." Now when he says they're fallen from God, he meant by that that they were apostate. Did not mean that they were fallen angels. Here's Matthew Poole, another Puritan: "Giants, men so called partly from their high stature, but principally for their great strength and force, whereby they oppressed and tyrannized over others. For this is mentioned as another sin and cause of the flood. And therefore they seem to be here noted not for the height of their stature, which is no crime, but for their violence, which also is expressed beneath in Genesis 6:11-13."

  #27 | 25:21 to 26:49 | cleaned

• And then Matthew Henry, whom everybody regards as an excellent commentator, he says this: "These made them the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. And thus armed, they daringly insulted the rights of all their neighbors and trampled upon all that is just and sacred. Note, those that have such power over others, and are able to oppress, they seldom have so much power over themselves as not to oppress."

  #28 | 26:52 to 27:26 | cleaned

• "Great might is a very great snare to many. This degenerate race slighted the honor of their ancestors had obtained by virtue and religion, and made themselves a great name, which was the perpetual ruin of their good name." So once again, he's saying that the sons of God were godly men who went into these daughters of men. Here's Keil and Delitzsch: "Now, if according to the simple meaning of the passage, the Nephilim were in existence at the very time when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, the appearance of Nephilim cannot afford the slightest evidence that the sons of God were angels, by whom a family of monsters were begotten, whether demigods, demons, or angel-men." So he's saying it's impossible. Here's Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown.

  #29 | 27:27 to 28:23 | cleaned

• "The term in Hebrew implies not so much the idea of great stature as of reckless ferocity, impious and daring characters who spread devastation and carnage far and wide." So again, he said they're giants in evil. John Gill, the noted Baptist theologian: "The word Nephilim comes from a word which signifies to fall. And these might be so called either because they made their fear to fall upon men, or men through fear to fall before them because of their height and strength, or rather because they fell and rushed on men with great violence and oppressed them in a cruel and tyrannical manner, or some think because they fell off and were apostates from the true religion, which is much better than to understand them as apostate angels."

  #30 | 28:24 to 29:23 | cleaned

• Now Adam Clarke was a Methodist. Listen to this one: "The Septuagint translate the original word, Gigantes, which literally signifies earth-born, and which we, following them, use the term giants, without having any reference to the meaning of the word, which we generally conceive to signify persons of enormous stature. But the word, when properly understood, makes a very just distinction between the sons of men and the sons of God. Those were the Nephilim, the fallen earth-born men, with the animal and devilish mind. These were the sons of God, who were born from above, children of the kingdom, because children of God."

  #31 | 29:25 to 30:16 | cleaned

• "Hence, we may suppose, originated the different names given to sinners and saints. The former term, gigantes, that is earth-born, and the later, hagioi, that is saints, persons not of the earth, but separated from the earth." So once again, Adam Clarke says, it's got to be the sons of God, the Christians, the believers, versus the sons of men. And then one last one, Albert Barnes: "Two classes of men with strong hand and strong will were here described: the giants, the well-known men of great stature, physical force, and violent will, who are enabled by these qualities to claim and secure supremacy over their fellow men. Had been in the land in those days, in the days when those intermarriages were beginning to take place, and the warriors were asserting the claim of might. Violence and rapine were becoming rampant in the land. And after that, the progeny of mixed marriages, where the second and subsequent class of leading men, the sons of God are here contradistinguished from the Nephilim, or giants, who appear therefore to have belonged to the Canaanites."

  #32 | 30:16 to 31:40 | cleaned

• Now listen to this: "The offspring of these unhallowed unions were the heroes, the gallants, the mighty men, the men of renown. They were probably more refined in manners and exalted in thought more than the predecessors of the pure Canaanite descent, men of name, whose names are often in men's mouth because they either deserved or required to be frequently named, frequently on account of their influential or representative character, being distinguished from the common herd by certain qualities." Now, when we talk about men of the name, if I were to just call some names: Bill Gates, you automatically think of billionaire. I'd hope you'd think of wickedness as well. George Soros, Hillary Clinton. Then I can also say John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield. And we would say that each of these individuals are giants. Some are going to be giants in wickedness and evil, and some are going to be giants in goodness and in faith as well. So, I believe that basically speaking, when you look at all of this, these mighty men, these men of renown, according to Genesis 10, Genesis 11, were men of rebellion and men of wickedness.

  #33 | 31:41 to 33:26 | cleaned

• Men that tyrannized others. That's why Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord, began this kingdom in the land of Shinar. Now, I said all that to show you these men usually hated God. They were called champions, just like Goliath. Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to First Kings chapter 2. And in First Kings chapter 2, I want you to notice this text. I want to read it again, because I gave you all of that introductory material to share this one thought with you. "Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man; and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself." Now, in case you do not remember, I will repeat it. We looked in 1 Samuel 17 and we looked at the word "champion," and three times, Goliath was called the champion.

  #34 | 33:27 to 34:59 | cleaned

• The Hebrew word was the word "ish," and it literally meant a man, a man in contrast to a woman, a great man, and a champion. If you look at verse 2, David says to Solomon, "I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself an ish." Show thyself a man. Show thyself a champion. That's exactly what he told him. Now I want you to note, before he said "show thyself a champion," he said in verse 2, "be thou strong." When you stop and think about a champion, I don't care if it's a martial artist or I don't care if it's a man who has the ability to shoot, I don't care if it's track and field, you find a champion is someone who is strong, who is disciplined, who understands self-sacrifice. There's no such thing as a man being a weakling and being a champion, unless he's a champion in weakness.

  #35 | 35:01 to 36:19 | cleaned

• You follow what I'm saying? Because to be a champion, there must be a work ethic, there must be a schedule that you're forced to keep in order to become good at whatever you are striving to be excellent in. And so he tells him, "be thou strong." Champions are not weaklings. Champions have strength and they use strength. And one cannot be a champion when he's vacillating, when he's double-minded, when he is inconsistent, when he refuses to exercise and refuses to eat right and do right. It's impossible to be a champion like that. So David tells him to be strong.

  #36 | 36:20 to 37:08 | cleaned

• Did you know the Bible says in Ephesians 6 and verse 10, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." Now, let me point something out. We're going to be a champion of good. If we're going to be the Lord's champion, we must be strong in the power of his might, in his righteousness, because we have no strength in and of ourselves. Now I want you to watch this. Look in verse 2. David said, "I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a champion." And now, what is he to show himself a champion in? Well, first of all, he says in verse 3, "and keep the charge of the Lord thy God." He's actually to be a champion in keeping the charge of the Lord God. The word "charge" is the Hebrew word "mishmereth," and it refers to a charge, a watch, an office, an obligation. You remember Aaron and his sons were to keep the charge of the priesthood. The Levites were to keep the charge of Aaron and the priest, that is, they were to protect them. They were also to keep the charge of the tabernacle. They were to protect that tabernacle, and they had duties and responsibilities in that tabernacle.

  #37 | 37:08 to 38:38 | cleaned

• They had an office. So here's what he's telling Solomon: You need to be strong. You need to show yourself a champion, and you need to show yourself a champion in keeping the charge of God. Now, you have to ask this question: of what does that charge consist? Well, look in verse 3. He said, "and keep the charge of the Lord thy God." Here's the charge: "to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself." Now, in other words, his charge was to walk in the ways of the Lord, to keep God's commandments, to keep his judgments, to keep his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses. That's the charge, basically, that every real Christian has. Now, I want to point something out. There's a benefit and there's a blessing to keeping this charge. What is it? Look at verse 3, the latter part: "that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself."

  #38 | 38:39 to 40:10 | cleaned

• God said, if you really want success and if you really want prosperity, then you need to obey. You see, I can summarize everything that David told Solomon. When you look at verse 3, he says, "You keep the charge of the Lord, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies, as is written in the law of Moses." I can summarize that in three words: submit and obey. It's just that simple. Submit and obey. You are pleasing to the Lord. You do his word, you do his work, you do his will. And he said, you're going to prosper in everything you do, and everywhere you turn. You know, there are times that I think about the wicked. I look at how they

  #39 | 40:11 to 41:14 | cleaned

• struggle to conquer, the money they expend and throw away. And all their lives they're working for this one goal and this one end, only to die and fail and then be judged by God. They lost everything. But God said, if we obey him, if we become a champion in submission and obedience, we're only going to prosper. We're going to prosper every which way we turn. Not amazing? I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Joshua chapter 1 and verse 7, because God gave this same promise to Joshua. And look at what he said. Joshua chapter 1 and verse 7: God told Joshua, "Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest." Mr. Sutton has written a book years ago. The title of it is "That Thou May Prosper," or "Thou Shalt Prosper." And it's on obedience.

  #40 | 41:14 to 42:58 | cleaned

• It's on keeping God's word. It's on keeping God's law. God said, if you want prosperity, if you want success in whatever you're doing, then you need to be my champion. You need to observe my will, you need to keep my law, you need to keep my judgments, you need to act the way I want you to act. And the benefits of being God's champion and receiving his blessings far outweigh the curses that he places upon those who disobey. Now I've got two applications, and I want you to listen to them. The first one is very simple. It is very easy to be a champion in wickedness and evil. Very easy.

  #41 | 42:58 to 43:46 | cleaned

• All you have to do is follow your flesh, your longings, the desire of your eyes, the pride of your life. Learn to intimidate, seek to conquer and control others, put them down, stomp them, destroy them any way that you can. And pretty soon you're going to be a champion in evil. It's just that simple. But if you want to be a champion in godliness, then you're going to need the grace of God, the mercy of God, the power of God, and the strength of God. Because in our flesh, our flesh is only weak.

  #42 | 43:46 to 44:21 | cleaned

• The Bible says, our Lord stated, John 15 verse 5, "without me ye can do nothing." So the road then to being a biblical champion is the road of submission, obedience, discipline, self-denial, self-sacrifice, and see that you honor God in every area. That's the way to become a biblical champion. That's what David told Solomon. Look back, if you would, in First Kings chapter 2 in verse 3, because here's the second application. What's this? He said, "and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies."

  #43 | 44:21 to 45:14 | cleaned

• Let me point something out. You cannot obey that for which you are totally ignorant. You cannot obey that which you do not know. If you and I are to keep God's law and to keep God's judgments, if we're going to obey his word, it means that we must know his word. We must know what he requires. We must know what he demands. We must know how he wants us to act. We must know what pleases him. You can't keep the charge if you do not know what is in the charge, what God demands of each of us. Now look at it one more time. Look in verse 2 and 3 of First Kings 2. David said to Solomon, "I go the way of all the earth: be strong therefore, and show thyself a champion, a valiant man, and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself."

  #44 | 45:16 to 46:40 | cleaned

• We will either be a champion for God or a champion for evil. And every child of God has the potential to be a champion for God. If we learn to submit and obey, then we can be men of the name. You remember that passage, I think it's in Acts 11: "The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." It should be a real honor and a blessing for men to be able to look at you and say, "He's a Christian. She's a Christian." That is true, men of the name. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We ask, Lord, that you would make us champions in faith, champions in obedience, champions in submission, champions, Lord, in keeping your will, your word, your way, champions, Lord, in obeying thee in every aspect, in every area of our lives. Lord, make us strong. Give us faith. Give us grace. Give us mercy. Give us your power. Give us your spirit. And may we walk pleasing unto thee in everything we do and say. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray.

  #45 | 46:40 to 48:16 | cleaned

• Amen.

  #46 | 48:17 to 48:17 | cleaned

• you you you

  #47 | 48:34 to 48:35 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T16:03:29Z