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Life Guard What Kind of an Armor Bearer Are You?

Provoking One Another to Great Exploit


Mens Retreat 2007

!" !ntrodu#tor$ %emark "


I want to share a concept with you that should revolutionize the way you think about ministry and God fulfillin !is call and destiny in your lives" Its an attitude that must be in place in our lives if we are to properly motivate one another to reat e#ploits in $esus" %e are livin in an a e that will demand more and more of us as &hristians" If &hristianity is to become more of a force to be reckoned with' it will demand that we as &hristians are more involved in reat e#ploits for our (in " %e need to be men who provoke one another to reat e#ploits in God" Daniel 11:32 (NKJV) "Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their od shall be strong! and carry out great e"ploits# Gods desire is for all of us to be people who know our God and thus doin reat e#ploits for !im" )he focus of this messa e is about encoura in others and esteemin others as more important than yourself" Its about bein an armor* bearer" It about perceivin the race and anointin in others so that you can properly encoura e them to reat e#ploits in God" &e age 'itle( What Kind of an Armor Bearer Are You?

)efinition of an Armor*+earer( +n officer selected by kin s and enerals because of his bravery' not only to bear their armor' but also to stand by them in the time of dan er" $ %aston&s 'llustrated (ictionary !!" !llu tration( 'he ,tor$ of -onathan and Armor +earer . ,amuel ./ )his is a powerful story of someone who knew his God and what God was capable of and how $onathans armor*bearer encoura ed him to take a risk of faith that brou ht forth a reat e#ploit and victory for the nation of Israel" )his passa e of scripture truly shows how we must work to ether to do reat e#ploits for $esus"

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.ife Guard / %hat (ind of an +rmor*0earer +re 1ou2

(en 0irks' ,astor3)eacher

Ba#kground of ,tor$( 4aul and his army are reduced to about 500 men because the ,hilistines are operatin from a stron hold and terrorizin the Israelites to the de ree that most of the army has deserted and is hidin in caves' thickets' rocks' holes and pits" 6f the 500 men only 4aul and $onathan have weapons' because the ,hilistines took away all their blacksmiths" ,imilar to 0here 1hri tianit$ i toda$( Much of &hristianity today is cowerin before the enemy with our entire spiritual arsenal stripped from us because we have compromised ourselves before our enemies of the faith" %hat is needed today are new heroes of the faith who are willin to do reat e#ploits by takin reat risks in faith to insure the victories that are needed" 1 Samuel 14:1-2 Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of )aul said to the young *an who bore his ar*or! "Come, let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side." But he did not tell his ather. +,nd )aul was sitting in the outskirts of ibeah under a po*egranate tree which is in -igron# The people who were with hi* were about si" hundred *en# Wh$ didn2t -onathan tell hi father? lau hed at him and destroyed his faith" !is father probably would have

We need to kno0 0ho the people are in our live that 0e #an hare our vi ion 3 goal and #alling 0ith 0ithout +eing ridi#uled" $onathan knew" !e oes to his armor*bearer and be ins to share his plan" )o $ou kno0 0ho $our tru ted armor*+earer are? 1 Samuel 14:! Then Jonathan said to the young *an who bore his ar*or! "Come, let us go over to the garrison o these un"ir"um"ised# it ma$ %e that the &'(D )ill )or* or us. +or nothing restrains the &'(D rom saving %$ man$ or %$ e)." -onathan2 #onfe ion of faith !e stepped out in faith in what !e knew God was able to do" Many of us are afraid to step out in faith unless we have a sure word from the .ord" +t this point in the story' $onathan did not have a sure word" +ll he had was what he knew God was able to do"

,rovokin 6ne +nother to Great 7#ploits

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.ife Guard / %hat (ind of an +rmor*0earer +re 1ou2

(en 0irks' ,astor3)eacher

.ater on in the story !e had a faith that was invincible' because as he be an to move forward in what !e knew God was able to do' his faith was personalized and is confession turned from one of .it *ight be/ to "0o*e up after *e! for the 123( has delivered the* into the hand of 'srael#" )he ri hteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith / Romans -08-7" 'he Armor*+earer2 re pon e" 1 Samuel 14:, )o his ar*orbearer said to hi*! "Do all that is in $our heart. -o then# here . am )ith $ou, a""ording to $our heart." 4Then Jonathan said! "Very well! let us cross over to these *en! and we will show ourselves to the*# 5 "'f they say thus to us! &6ait until we co*e to you!& then we will stand still in our place and not go up to the*# 'hi 0a to +e one of -onathan2 greate t and mo t u##e in hi life" ful exploit

!is armor bearer said' /Do all that is in $our heart, . am )ith $ou "9 )he whole nation of Israel reaped a reat blessin and victory because the armor*bearer encoura ed $onathan in this process" 4aul and his army were literally stuck in discoura ement with the enemy attackin from every side" :ow the balance of war is about to chan e because of the e#ploits of one man and his armor*bearer" A the tor$ goe on3 -onathan +e#ome invin#i+le in hi faith and the .ord works with him to win a reat battle in which the enemies of Israel are in such a state of confusion' that they be in to kill one another" 1 Samuel 14:12% Jonathan said to his ar*or bearer! /Come u0 a ter me, or the &'(D has delivered them in the hand o .srael. 4aul and all the people eventually ;oin him in the battle with all those who had been scattered and were in hidin " 1 Samuel 14:22-23 1ikewise all the *en of 'srael who had hidden in the *ountains of %phrai*! when they heard that the 7hilistines fled! they also
,rovokin 6ne +nother to Great 7#ploits ,a e <

.ife Guard / %hat (ind of an +rmor*0earer +re 1ou2

(en 0irks' ,astor3)eacher


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followed hard after the* in the battle# the battle shifted to 9eth ,ven#

)o the 123( saved 'srael that day! and

'he point ! 0ant to fo#u on here i 3 ho0 important the armor*+earer 0a to -onathan and hi great exploit and vi#tor$ that en ued" !e encoura ed $onathan reatly by sayin "Do all that is in $our heart. -o then# here . am )ith $ou, a""ording to $our heart." !e stood with him in the battle and risked his life in the same way that $onathan did" %ithout his encoura ement and willin ness to stand with $onathan in the battle' I dont believe $onathan would have had the coura e to o it alone"

!!!" What )oe !t 'ake to Be a Good Armor*Bearer?


%e find some of these attitudes later on in the life of $onathan in his friendship to =avid" 7ven thou h $onathan had has his reat moments in battle' he was perceivin the race of God in =avid and that God had truly called =avid" !e must decrease while =avid increases" In the same way that his armor*bearer laid his life down for him' he must now do the same for =avid" $onathan and =avid were both kin dom men" )hey saw beyond the natural circumstances and into the kin dom perspective" ." We &u t ,ee Our Live 'hrough A Kingdom Per pe#tive " 1 Samuel 21:4 )o Jonathan said to (avid! "6hatever you yourself desire! ' will do it for you#" +re you seein your life throu h the here and now and what benefits you the most or do you see your life throu h an eternal perspective2 4" We &u t Be Willing 'o La$ Our Live )o0n 5or 'he Benefit of Other and the Kingdom" -onathan a#rifi#ed hi po ition for the throne in light of the gra#e he per#eived in )avid" ! +elieve he took an inventor$ of hi life in #ompari on to )avid and kne0 in hi heart )avid 0a the man not him" +s a result he
,rovokin 6ne +nother to Great 7#ploits ,a e >

.ife Guard / %hat (ind of an +rmor*0earer +re 1ou2

(en 0irks' ,astor3)eacher

fully supported =avid and helped =avid to become the reat man of God that he was" 1 Samuel 21:31-31 Then )aul&s anger was aroused against Jonathan! and he said to hi*! ":ou son of a perverse! rebellious wo*an; (o ' not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own sha*e and to the sha*e of your *other&s nakedness< 8="+or as long as the son o 2esse lives on the earth, $ou shall not %e esta%lished, nor $our *ingdom # Now therefore! send and bring hi* to *e! for he shall surely die#" $onathans willin ness to help =avid escape his father shows that he was willin to lay down his own dreams and aspirations to see =avid succeed" !e was willin ly ivin up his position as the future kin of Israel because he perceived the race and anointin was on =avid" 1ou will never be able to properly encoura e and provoke others to reat e#ploits until you are truly willin to lose your life" &u*e 1,:33 "6hoever seeks to save his life will lose it! and whoever loses his life will preserve it# - $ohn <8-5 / .ay our lives down for one another" %e must learn how to throw the lifeline to others no matter what the cost to our own lives maybe" !ow many of us are willin to lay down our own dreams and aspirations to see others succeed in our stead when we perceive there is a race and an anointin that may be reater than our own2 Per onal te timon$ of re igning a ,r" Pa tor8 My wife and I pastored in the 0onita 0uildin for -2 years before the Rock moved in" )ook an inventory of my life and race / did not feel I had the race to move the church forward from a state of decline" 6ur prayer was that the buildin could be sold to someone who could make a kin dom difference in our community" I was led to ,astor ?rancis' knowin he wanted to start a church in Roseville" I had been to his evan elism seminars and ifts of the spirit seminars and knew he was a man of vision and e#cellence" 0ecame an armor*bearer to ,astor ?rancis"
,rovokin 6ne +nother to Great 7#ploits ,a e @

.ife Guard / %hat (ind of an +rmor*0earer +re 1ou2

(en 0irks' ,astor3)eacher

,eople always said to us' A%asnt that hard to do2 !onestly it wasnt that hard because we were ;ust bein obedient to Gods will and to the inte rity of the man God had called us to serve" %e went from bein senior pastors to becomin the church ;anitors and deliverin newspapers while we were fi urin out what to do ne#t" !ow did this attitude come about2 %as it somethin that was ;ust developed over ni ht2 :oB )here were previous trials and responses that led to this bein worked out in our lives" 7#ample of former pastor re;ectin me and continuin to serve as his armor bearer" 6" We &u t )evelop An Attitude Of 7onoring And Preferring One Another" )his really is the attitude ad;ustment that needs to take place in all of our lives if we are to successfully encoura e one another to reat e#ploits" (omans 12:11 9e kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love , in honor giving 0re eren"e to one another# Phili00ians 2:3-4 1et nothing be done through selfish a*bition or conceit! but in lowliness of *ind let ea"h esteem others %etter than himsel . >1et each of you look out not only for his own interests! but also for the interests of others# )his is really the primary attitude and concept that allows us to become all that God has ordained for our lives and that properly motivates us to encoura e others to reat e#ploits in $esus" 4elfish ambition and conceit will only produce wood' hay and stubble in your lives" 1ou may have some e#ploits' but they wont be the e#ploits that are born out of the heart of God" God wants to lead you into e#ploits that produce old' silver and precious stones" It really takes havin an attitude of preferrin others as more important than yourself to produce the Cualities that true armor bearers have" $ohn the 0aptist understood this when he said' A$esus must increase and he must decrease"9

,rovokin 6ne +nother to Great 7#ploits

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.ife Guard / %hat (ind of an +rmor*0earer +re 1ou2

(en 0irks' ,astor3)eacher

2ohn 3:31 (N1T) ?e *ust beco*e greater and greater! and ' *ust beco*e less and less# %e have to uard our hearts from ;ealousies and selfish ambitions" /" We &u t %e#ogni8e 'he ,ea on We Are !n And Build Our Live Within 'he Balan#e" $onathan reco nized both seasons he was in" !e knew when it was time to step out in faith to perform reat e#ploits and he also reco nized the season of bein a reat encoura er to =avid" (in dom people have a sense of where they are at and what they have been commissioned to do and build accordin ly" =o you2 $oel 2 ives us a vivid picture of the church functionin perfectly / 7veryone knew their place and position" )his is what is oin to make the church in the last days become the beautiful and lorious church oin forth doin the reat e#ploits that it has been purposed for" 2oel 2:,-3,11 They run like *ighty *en! They cli*b the wall like *en of war; %very one *arches in for*ation! ,nd they do not break ranks# 4They do not push one another; every one *arches in his own colu*n# Though they lunge between the weapons! they are not cut down# ==The 123( gives voice before ?is ar*y! @or ?is ca*p is very great; for strong is the 2ne who e"ecutes ?is word# 40hesians 4:1! fro* who* the whole body! Aoined and knit together by what every Aoint supplies! according to the effective working by which every part does its share! causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love " +t )he Rock there are so many areas we can serve as armor*bearers such as small roups' prayer team' care* ivin ' reetin ' usherin and servin in the many different areas" If you see a hole' fi ure out how you can plu it up" I believe its time for the balance of power to chan e in our spiritual warfare" $ust as $onathan and his armor bearer were able to chan e the balance of power for the nation of Israel' I believe we can do the same for the church as we link to ether with those we are servin with" 7specially now' as we are positioned at the ates of the city' let us o forth in the position God has ordained for this season of our lives"

,rovokin 6ne +nother to Great 7#ploits

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.ife Guard / %hat (ind of an +rmor*0earer +re 1ou2

(en 0irks' ,astor3)eacher

.et us march in step with each other' no one pushin or shovin for position' but rather united to ether to hear the voice of God as !e ives voice to his reat army in this hour of our destinyB

,rovokin 6ne +nother to Great 7#ploits

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