Well, what a joy it is to be with all of you again this morning.
I can't believe that it's been a month already.
Time is just flying.
But I did promise you on Mother's Day I would be back for Father's Day.
So I'm excited to see what the Lord has to say to his people.
It is definitely not anything to do with me.
Like I'm just here to tell you what the word says.
And there is comfort in that, right?
Because I know and I'm confident that it's what God has prepared for all of you, whether
you're here in the room, whether you're joining us online.
It is what he has for today.
Mana for today, right?
So let's get started and see what God has.
As I get going and go over a few things, if you want to follow along in your Bible this
morning, you'll be wanting to turn first to Micah 6.
Micah 6.
And we'll be pulling from that to start off.
I do warn you though that we're going to be going through a lot of Scripture today.
So be prepared.
I'll tell you where it is and I believe everything will be on the screen so you can follow along
there.
This morning I'm going to be using the Amplified Bible version, if you're familiar with that.
There's a lot of really good explanation on that as you go through the Scripture.
So maybe a little different than what you have in front of you, what you're following
in in your app.
That's okay.
It's all the Word of God.
Just dial in and you'll be fine.
And the other thing is, as we go through so much Scripture this morning, you know, it
gets very easy and this is definitely something that the enemy does, right?
And that is that as we're reading Scripture and if it goes overly long, it is very easy
just to kind of tune out.
I am praying that my voice and my tone does not aid the enemy in that regard, right?
I just need you to stick with me this morning, right?
No matter what, just be there, be present, because what he has to say to you through
his own word is vital to your life this morning.
You know, today it is Father's Day.
So I mean, the question is, who am I going to speak to this morning, right?
Well, obviously, I am speaking to the body of Christ, right?
All teaching is for the edification of the body as we gather.
So everything that's going to be said today definitely applies to everybody in the body
today.
Ladies, that does not mean because it's Father's Day and I may say many things that are pointed
to the men that is not your opportunity to tune out, right?
Not that you would, because you're much better than that, right?
But just again, stick with it this morning.
So we're going to be focusing a bit on the guys this morning, right?
You don't have to be a father to get what the Lord is saying and I'll explain that later.
Certainly if you are a man in this body, a lot of this message is for you.
But it's vitally important that the men in this body, especially today, that they take
their God-appointed role seriously, as is worthy of a son of God, right?
There is a calling upon your life.
You have been redeemed.
You have been made His.
You are now a son of God.
That entails a response from you.
So that's part of what we're going to be getting over today.
So just as we learned on Mother's Day when we looked at the prophet Samuel's mother,
Hannah, you remember that?
Hannah and her song, right?
We saw that God has made women very distinct from men and He has given them special talents.
He has given them gifts.
He has given them callings.
Well we know that the same is true for men, right?
You don't get a pass.
You know, God doesn't just gift one of the pair.
He gifts everyone.
It may be different, but still that gifting is given freely from the hand of God.
So when we look at men and me being a man, right, I have a lot more leeway in this study
to actually speak of what men feel and what men know rather than Mother's Day where I
was guessing.
What I do know is that men, we don't say much, right?
Can you agree with me?
Yeah.
Of course, it's the ladies who answer, right?
That is one of my wife's main complaint about me and her comment back will often be, use
your words, right?
Please, men, use your words.
But you know, the fact that men don't say much, it's actually a blessing and a curse
all at the same time.
You know, as a man, I'm going to share with you a truth kind of peeking behind the curtain,
so to speak.
I just want to share with you that the responsible and pressure of manhood can be a daily battle
and is a daily battle.
We're pulled in 20 different directions all at the same time, all the time, right?
We're trying to meet the needs and wants of those around us consistently.
We're being stabbed a thousand times from both friends and enemies, and then we don't
say anything about it.
So I'm going to make a statement, and it may sound funny, right, especially to maybe some
of the ladies, because look, let's be honest, ladies, I went through that, those three points
right there, and you're like, yeah, that happens to me every day.
You know, it's a big deal.
It doesn't happen the same way, right?
There is a heavy crown upon a man and his calling.
Men, if you're like me, there have been times when things get particularly full and chaotic,
so much so that you find yourself in a conversation with God that goes like this.
God, this is absolutely ridiculous.
What do you want of me?
And so, let's start our adventure, Micah 6.
Micah 6 verse 6 is where we're going to start.
Very quickly, just let me give you a brief overview of what's going on in the book of
Micah, very general.
And that is that Micah is a prophet of God who was tasked with speaking judgment against
Israel.
He was also tasked with speaking about the future restoration of sinful man, Israel, through
repentance.
Balanced out.
God doesn't leave us just with judgment.
He doesn't leave his own children just with judgment.
Significantly, in the book of Micah, you also find one of the clearest prophecies regarding
the birth of Jesus, naming the place of his birth, and that's in Micah 5, too.
So that's what's going on in the book of Micah in a very general sense.
And it's in that midst of the dialogue between God and sinful man, Israel, that the question
is actually asked of God, and that is, what do you want?
So, when we read Micah 6, 6, so here we go.
You ready?
Micah 6, 6 says, With what shall I come before the Lord to honor him, and bow myself before
God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves?
Will the Lord be delighted with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my acts of rebellion, the fruit of my body for the sin
of my soul?
In other words, dear Lord, what do you want?
The thing about God, and the wonderful thing about God, is that he always answers.
It may not be the answer you expect, it may not be the answer that you agree with, it
may not be the answer that you understand, but God is faithful to his children.
When you call, he answers.
Right?
And the Lord does the same here.
We're going to continue, we're going to go to Micah 6, 8, and a lot of you are aware
of this verse, right?
We used to have a song that we would sing about it years and years ago at Calvary's,
right?
It's Micah 6, 8, it says, He has told you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
Accept to be just, and to love, and to diligently practice kindness or compassion, and to walk
humbly with your God, setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness.
That's what he wants.
You asked, he answered.
The first is to be just, or to walk in God's commandments.
The second is to love one another and practice God's kindness, His mercy, His compassion.
And third, walk humbly with God.
And in this sense, walking humbly with God is, He is God, you are not.
And yet the King desires that you walk with Him.
Let that sink in.
The King of kings, the Lord Almighty, the one Pastor Nathan has been sharing with us
as we begin our new study in Genesis, the one who spoke light into existence, the one
who spoke all matter into existence.
That's the one who wants you to walk with Him.
You know, Jesus answered the same question, what do you want, God, Himself?
And that's in Matthew 22.
So, let me read that to you.
Matthew 22, verse 36, it says, Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the law?
And Jesus replied to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
The second is like it.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself, that is, unselfishly seek the best or the
highest good for others.
The whole law and the writings of the prophets depend, or sometimes you'll see it say, hang
on these two commandments.
Can you see how what God said in Micah flows right with Jesus' reply in Matthew?
Right?
So, what was my cry to the Lord?
God, what do you want?
What was His answer?
I want all of you.
Man, I need you to take a deep breath, and I want you to let that sink in.
I want all of you.
Ladies, this is for you too.
Don't get me wrong, but it hits a little different from a man.
I have a hard time explaining it, but you fear a man out there, and you're listening
to what I just said, that God's response to you is that He wants all of you.
That means something very specific to you.
It kind of goes like this.
Lord, I just need a day, just one day, one day to myself.
And His reply is, nope, I want all of you.
We say, Lord, I just need an hour, just an hour to decompress, just an hour to just kind
of let everything else be released.
And He says, nope, put down your nets and follow me.
Lord, I just need a moment, just a moment.
Nope, pick up your cross and follow me.
Guys, that's the gig.
That's what we're called to.
That's what you were saved for, to walk with Him, to be His, holy and completely, to give
everything that you are and everything that you have to Him because He wants all of you.
Yeah, He didn't come for that part of you that you're willing to let go of.
No, He paid for all of you.
Every stripe upon His back, every nail in His body, every drop of His blood upon the
mercy seat, that was ransom for you.
Man, if we just stop and let the immensity of all that, of what God has done for you,
for the purchase of you, if we look at the immensity of His justice and His mercy, His
grace and His love, if you let all of that just sink into yourself, we should become
undone every time we consider it.
Simple man, we do not deserve any of it, none of it.
But God Almighty gave it all for you.
He left glory for you.
He took on this form of a man for you.
He bore the cross and the shame and the pain for you.
He has purchased you.
So if we continue in Micah, same set of verses, this is what our response really should be.
In verse 7, it says, but as for me, I will look expectantly to the Lord and with confidence
in Him I will keep watch.
I will wait with confident expectation for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
Do not rejoice over me amid my tragedies, my enemy.
Though I fall, I will rise.
Though I sit in the darkness of distress, the Lord is a light for me.
I will bear the indignation and the wrath of the Lord because I have sinned against
Him until He pleads my case and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light and I will behold His amazing righteousness and His remarkable
deliverance.
How beautiful, right?
I mean, we're kind of feeling right now like we're on a song of Solomon kind of moment
with God.
You know, I'm my beloved and He is mine.
And so you're thinking, wonderful, made a lot of progress with that, Ron.
Are we done?
Are we finished?
Got to be in the right position with the Lord.
Got it.
What's my response in my position to the Lord?
Problem solved.
Not quite.
Guys, if you're tracking with me, you can see the right position that we're going to
be in with God.
You are His, holy and completely.
And as His, you have a calling.
Ladies, we spoke to one aspect of your calling on Mother's Day.
And now I need to speak to the men.
Guys, happy Father's Day.
So I don't know if there was a title screen or anything like that before we started, but
oh, there it is.
I can see it.
The title is To the Armor Bearer.
So maybe you're wondering, where's the armor bearer thing, right?
Are we going to get to that?
Yeah, we are.
We're there.
We've arrived.
So let's go for it.
There are two of the biggest lies that the enemy speaks to our ears and hearts, men.
Is one, you are alone.
And two, you are not enough.
For the man who understands his relationship towards God, please remember, this is 100%
a lie.
It is not true.
It is not what God has done.
God is faithful and true, and He always, always equips those that He calls.
Always.
Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5.
Two things that I want to point out to you before we get into this section.
The first is, I'll give you a quick overview of the book of Ephesians.
That is, it's written by the apostle Paul while he's in prison.
So they tend to call the letters that Paul wrote while he was in prison, the prison letters.
Makes sense.
But what you notice in the prison letters is that there is often a feeling of the fact
that Paul is desperate to communicate all that he can to the young churches, you know,
so that he might be, so that they might be made strong in the faith with or without him.
Because he doesn't know what's going to happen when he's in prison.
He could be killed, you know.
And the feeling in his heart is, I don't want to leave my spiritual children weaponless,
so to speak.
And so I have to take this opportunity to communicate to them as if this is going to
be the last time that I can communicate with them.
And so in Ephesians when we get to chapters 5 and 6, it reads very similar kind of to
passages in the book of Proverbs where you hear the heart of the father speaking to his
children and his sons.
It's very much that same thing.
He needs to communicate these things to you.
This may be the last moment.
He wants to hit everything.
And so he speaks as a father to the young church in Ephesus.
And Ephesians 5 and 6 are definitely a word from our Father God to us.
We're going to read very long passages here because when I was going through and I was
preparing for today, I was so blessed to simply read the Scripture, right?
I actually couldn't stop.
I mean, it would have been easy just to pick out the parts that are focused on just fathers
or just men and all that.
But man, it was beautiful to just read the entire thing and to hear it as God was speaking,
as if he were speaking directly to my heart, which he was.
And I can't let you experience less than that, right?
So again, when we go through it, you have to listen to it with that understanding that
this is God.
We talk about the Bible being God's Word.
Well, it is.
And it is 100% alive all the time.
And when you approach the Word of God and you read it, it is Him speaking to you.
So don't let the enemy rob you of that when we get into these passages.
Be present because you need to treat this as if this was the last time He was going
to speak to you on these matters, okay?
So in Ephesians 5 and 6, what we find is that God is providing two gifts, two gifts to you.
The first one is instruction on fulfilling your call as a man of God, okay?
So as we read together, listen to it again as the Word of the Lord, your Father, as if
your life depends on it, because it does.
Are you ready?
Here we go.
Ephesians 5.
Therefore, become imitators of God, a copy of Him, and follow His example as well-loved
children imitate their father.
And walk continually in love, that is, value one another, practice empathy and compassion,
unselfishly seeking the best for others, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself
up for us an offering and sacrifice to God, slain for you so that it became a sweet fragrance.
But sexual immorality and all moral impurity and decent offensive behavior or greed must
not even be hinted at among you as it is proper among saints, for as believers our way of
life, whether in public or in private, reflects the validity of our faith.
Let there be no filthiness or silly talk or coarse obscene or vulgar joking, because such
things are not appropriate for the believer.
But instead speak of your thankfulness to God.
For be sure this, no immoral, impure, or greedy person, for that one is in effect an idolater
– be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person has any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and God, for such a person places a higher value on something other than God.
Let no one deceive you with empty arguments that encourage you to sin, for because of
these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience, those who habitually
sin.
Do not participate or even associate with them in the rebelliousness of sin, for once
you were darkness.
Let me say that again.
Once you were darkness.
You weren't in darkness, you were darkness.
But now you are light in the Lord.
You are the child of the light, the fruit of the fruit, the effect of the light consists
of all goodness and righteousness and truth.
Trying to learn by experience what is pleasing to the Lord and letting your lifestyle be
examples of what is most acceptable to him, your behavior expressing gratitude to God
for your salvation.
Do not participate in the worthlessness and unproductive deeds of darkness, but instead
expose them by exemplifying personal integrity, moral courage, and Godly character, for it
is a disgrace even to mention the things that such people practice in secret.
But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light of God's precepts, for
it is light that makes everything visible.
It is for this reason that he says, awake sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ
will shine as dawn upon you and give you light.
Therefore see that you walk carefully, living life with honor, purpose, and courage, shunning
those who tolerate and enable evil, not as the unwise, but as wise, sensible, intelligent,
discerning people, making the very most of your time on earth, recognizing and taking
advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence, because the days
are filled with evil.
Therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the will
of the Lord is.
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness, corruption, and stupidity, but be filled with
the Holy Spirit and constantly guided by him.
Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise by singing
and making melody in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for
all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
We're going to keep going.
Stay with me.
Wives, be subject to your own husbands as a service to the Lord, for the husband is
head of the wife as Christ is head of the church, himself being the savior of the body.
But as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives should be subject to their husbands
in everything, respecting both their position as protector and their responsibility to God
as head of the house.
Husbands, love your wives, seek the highest good for her, and surround her with a caring,
unselfish love, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her, so
that he might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with
the word of God, so that in turn he might present the church to himself in glorious
splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be wholly set apart
for God and blameless.
Even so, husbands should and are morally obligated to love their own wives as being, in a sense,
their own bodies.
He who loves his own wife loves himself, for no one has ever hated his own body, but instead
he nourishes and protects and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.
Because we are members, parts of his body, for this reason a man shall leave his father
and mother and shall be joined and be faithfully devoted to his wife, and the two shall become
one flesh.
This mystery of two becoming one is great, but I am speaking with reference to the relationship
of Christ and the church.
However, each man among you, without exception, is to love his wife as his very own self,
with behavior worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her with an attitude
of loving kindness.
And the wife must see to it that she respects and delights in her husband, that she notices
him and prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him, and
holding him dear.
Children, obey your parents and the Lord.
That is, accept their guidance and discipline as his representative, for this is right,
for obedience teaches wisdom and self-discipline.
Honor, esteem, value as precious your father and your mother, and be respectful to them.
This is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may be well with you and that you
may live long life upon the earth.
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger.
Do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable
or humiliating or abusive, nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them.
Practice but bring them up tenderly with loving kindness in the discipline and instruction
of the Lord.
Slaves, or in today's vernacular, people who work somewhere.
Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters with respect for authority
and with a sincere heart seeking to please them as service to Christ, not in the way
of eye service, working only when somebody is watching you and only to please men, but
as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart, rendering service with good
will as to the Lord and not only to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he
will receive this back from the Lord whether he is slave or free.
Masters, or business owners, do the same thing showing good will towards them and give up
threatening and abusive words knowing that he who is both their true master and yours
in heaven and that there is no partiality with him regardless of one's earthly status.
Quite a big chunk there, right?
But it hits every single point of somebody's life.
Men from the Lord, what is it that I do?
What do you want of me?
It's all laid out there, especially for the men today.
Men, I would encourage you, especially every man who is here or a part of this body watching
online to print out this passage in Ephesians and take 10 minutes a day to meditate and
pray upon this part of his word, even to the point of locking this word in your heart by
memorizing it.
Now, to some of you that may sound ridiculous, I could never memorize all of that.
If you're meditating on something for 10 minutes a day steadily, day in, day out, it'll come.
But you got to do it.
You just have to do it.
But regardless, men, print it out, meditate on it every day.
Just think on this, how would our lives or how would we be different, changed, and transformed
if this became the code of all men?
But look, our Father's not finished with His gift-giving, thank the Lord.
Now what He does is He presents His armor, finally at the armor, right?
He presents His gift of armor, the weapons of our warfare, and He presents it to us.
So let's read on.
Ephesians 6 verse 10 is where we're going to pick it up.
In conclusion, be strong in the Lord, draw your strength from Him, and be empowered through
your union with Him, and in the power of His boundless might, put on the full armor of
God, for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily armed soldier, so that
you may be able to successfully stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the
deceits of the devil.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, contending only with physical opponents,
but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly or supernatural places.
Therefore put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to successfully resist
and stand your ground in the evil day of danger.
And having done everything that the crisis demands to stand firm in your place, fully
prepared, immovable, and victorious, so stand firm and hold your ground.
Having tightened the wide band of truth, personal integrity, moral courage around your waist,
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and upright heart, and having strapped on
your feet the gospel of peace and preparation to face the enemy with firm footing and stability
and the readiness produced by the good news.
Above all, lift up the protective shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of God.
With all prayer and petition, pray.
With specific requests at all times, on every occasion, and in every season, in the Spirit,
with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition interceding in prayer for all
of God's people.
And pray for me that words may be given to me when I open my mouth to proclaim boldly
the mystery of the good news of salvation, for which I am an ambassador in chains, and
pray that in proclaiming it, I may speak boldly and courageously as I should.
You got it?
Look, He is giving us a belt of truth.
God's truth.
It is God's truth that is the foundation for all that He has us do.
If we didn't have God's truth, everything else would be meaningless, but we can always
fall right back on His truth.
That is the thing that girds us, the thing that is our foundation.
The breastplates of righteousness, of God's righteousness.
You can look at this if we're talking about a Roman soldier, there are often two pieces
to the breastplate that they would wear.
The front, in this case, when we're talking about God's righteousness, the front is imputed
to us, His righteousness is imputed to us through Christ.
And the back piece is made through the daily process of sanctification by the Spirit and
the Word.
That is your protection right there, God's righteousness.
The boot of God's preparation.
You know, I have read this list of God's armor so many times, and in one of the commentaries
I was going through, this is how it described it, as a boot, right?
I never always thought of it as just some sort of sandal.
It didn't really get it, right?
I would look at it as, you know, put on the sandals of the good news or whatever, and
I always had this image in my head that, well, we're putting on a sandal, therefore we're
going to take the good news somewhere, right?
And it never quite sat right in light of all the other pieces of God's armor, but okay,
fine, I can deal with that.
But that's not really what's being said here, and I think it is appropriate to call it a
boot or something more than a shoe or a sandal, though.
So what the idea that is getting across here is we're putting on the boot of God's preparedness.
When you look at again at a Roman set of armor and you're talking about the foot covering,
it is not just a foot covering.
It is not just something that laces up.
The important feature of this foot covering is that it has thick, heavy soles on it, and
underneath on the bottom of that sole are like metal spikes, studs, right?
And the whole point of that boot is so that when you're in battle, you stand firm.
It's like having cleats on, right?
You're not going to move.
That boot is going to hold you to the ground.
That is God's preparedness for you for the battle.
That's more the sense of what we're talking about when we're looking at it from that perspective.
That's part of the gift that he's giving you.
He's giving you the ability to stand ready and firm against the enemy.
We talk about the shield of God's faithfulness, where you're able to deflect the enemy's fiery
darts.
You know, this is both an offensive and a defensive weapon.
Sometimes we think of shields as simply keeping you protected from the arrows that people
are shooting at you, right?
And that is true.
However, the picture, especially if you were there at this time when Paul was writing,
and he was describing this in the sense of a Roman soldier and all that, what you would
know and understand is that, yes, while it is a defensive thing, the idea and the mode
of operation for a Roman soldier is that that shield is actually an offensive weapon, in
that you put the shield up and not only do you stand there with yourself, the shield
is able to lock with your brothers in combat and it becomes a wall.
It also becomes a lid, a roof, right?
And not so that you can just stand there and not be hit with arrows.
And so that while you are advancing, the arrows that are shot at you will not hurt you, therefore
you can keep advancing, right?
You are advancing in your warfare.
That's the idea and really the complete picture of the importance of God's shield of faith,
which keeps the fiery darts from hitting you while you are advancing.
And there's the helmet of God's salvation, which signifies your position as one of the
redeemed.
He has saved you, He has put His mark upon you, He has given you a helm of salvation
that is your, it keeps you alive, right?
And then the sword of God's spirit, the word of God, which vanquishes the enemy and pierces
the hearts of people.
So again, I say to you, as Paul says at the beginning of the passage, in verse 14, he
said, so stand firm and hold your ground.
He's given you all that you need, He really has.
I'm going to talk about a different kind of armor bearer though, not just the one who
wears the armor that God provides.
And so I have one final word for men.
We've looked at what it is for one who wears God's armor, but there's another armor bearer
that we need to consider.
And that's the one who holds the armor for another.
I want you to turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 14.
In this passage, we have the short account of Saul's son, King Saul's son, Jonathan,
and his armor bearer.
And just so you understand the complete idea of what's going on here, you know, there were
many battles between Israel and the Philistines, right?
This is one of those moments.
King Saul is being King Saul in that, you know, where we find him in this passage isn't
at the forefront of battle, taking it to the Philistines, in other words, in context of
what we've just talked about, he is not advancing in battle, right?
He's actually hiding in the pomegranate cave, right?
Just kind of sitting there with his troops, and, you know, every now and then he'd look
out, see what the Philistines are doing, yeah, okay, well, we're just going to wait type
of thing.
But Jonathan, his son Jonathan, he does something, and this is not the first time that he's done
this.
This is actually the second time that's recorded.
What he does is he goes out and he advances, right?
He takes it to the Philistines.
So, read with me chapter 14, verse 1.
One day, Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to his young armor-bearer, come, let us go over
to the Philistine garrison on the other side.
But he did not tell his father.
Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibe under the pomegranate tree in Migran, and
with him were about 600 men.
And Abijah, the son of Ichabod's brother, Ahatub, the son of Phineas, who was the son
of Eli, the Lord's priest in Shiloh, was wearing the ephod, and the people did not
know that Jonathan had gone.
Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to go to the Philistine garrison,
there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other side.
And a rocky crag on the other side.
One crag was named Bozez and the other Seneh.
I believe one of them means shining and the other one means rocky and steep.
The one crag on the north was in front of Mishmash and the other on the south in front
of Gibe.
Verse 6, Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, Come, let us cross over to the garrison of
these uncircumcised men.
It may be that God will work for us, for there is nothing to prevent the Lord from saving,
whether by a few or by many.
And his armor-bearer said to him, Do everything that is in your heart, your mind.
Here I am with you in whatever you think best.
Jonathan said, See now, we are going to cross over to the Philistine men and reveal ourselves
to them.
If they say to us, Wait, we will come down to you, then we will stand in our place and
not go up to them.
But if they say, Come up to us, we will go up, for the Lord has handed them over to us,
and this shall be a sign to us.
When both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines
said, Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.
So the men of the garrison responded to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, Come up to us and we
will tell you something.
Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, Climb after me, for the Lord has given them into the hands
of Israel.
Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees, his armor-bearer following after him.
The enemy fell before Jonathan in combat, and his armor-bearer killed some of them after
him.
The first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made was about twenty men within
about half a plow furrow in a plot of land, the area of which a yoke of oxen could plow
in a day.
And there was trembling in the Philistine camp in the field, and among all the people,
even the garrison and the raiding party trembled in fear.
And then the earth quaked, and it became a trembling and terror from God.
What an amazing victory, right?
The boldness of Jonathan, the faith of Jonathan to say, God can do what he wants.
It could be with two of us, it could be with six hundred of us.
If it is the Lord's will, He will do it.
And so we're going to move forward, right?
Amazing.
But while I'm studying this passage, God pulled my eye to Jonathan's armor-bearer, impressing
upon me the critical role he played in the victory.
You know, good leaders, they often have big vision.
It's their call.
That's what they're equipped for, right?
And that's certainly what Jonathan had here in this account, major faith in God, to use
them to show his power and might.
And what was Jonathan's armor-bearer's response to this outlandish big idea to glorify God?
Well, verse seven was, or said, and his armor-bearer said to him, do everything that is in your
heart and mind.
Here I am with you in whatever you think best.
Here I am with you, risking my life, climbing the sheer rock face.
Here I am with you, helping you with your armor and the presence of the enemy.
Here I am with you at your side, defending your back, slaying the enemy together.
This armor-bearer understood the call on his life to stand and to support those who are
called to leadership over him.
So I want to say to the men, especially in our fellowship, please hear this just as you've
read with me in all this Scripture.
Please hear this as a Father speaking to you, and not me as the Father speaking to you,
but as God speaking to you, right?
It may come across as admonishment, but it's also encouragement.
And so hear, hear what the Lord has to say, as one would hear a Father's desperate instruction.
You are the armor-bearers in this body.
Yes, you wear God's armor, but often we forget that we are the armor-bearer for one another
and especially our pastor.
I'm going to name one area, one area in particular because I believe that this area is the heartbeat
of every church.
If we as men can correct this, there will be no limits to what God can and will accomplish
through this body.
Men of God, when your pastor has been instructed by the Lord to call his people to a dedicated
time of prayer, put on your armor and stand ready with him.
Make that call to prayer the most important task before you, because it is.
And come to the sanctuary of God to stand with your pastor, surrounding him as his armor,
bringing praise and thanksgiving to the Lord of armies so that then you can step into the
holy place and make inquiries of the Lord together.
You say that you want to be strong in the Lord and that you want the church to grow
and move forward, not just to move forward, but to move forward valiantly in the world.
But men, you have to show up and stand ready.
If you truly want to see the power of God alive and at work within us, you have to be
an armor bearer.
Be encouraged.
This is not condemnation.
This is my word to you, to build you up actually and to encourage you to be that which God
has called you to be.
Fulfill your purpose and the joy of the Lord will fall upon you.
We'll be your strength.
Be encouraged, men.
Be encouraged to be what God has called you to be.
Be an armor bearer.
Amen.
Let's pray.
Oh, Father, there is no one like you.
Your gentleness, your loving kindness, your patience, your love for us, God, is boundless.
You take the time in filling us with your Spirit and sending your Spirit to speak to
us, to give us instruction.
Do yourself in your very word speak to us if and when we open it and we read it and
are ready to receive what you have for us.
God, let that be who we are so that as men in this body, as members of this body, we
are filled with the Spirit continuously and we are fulfilling the call that you've placed
upon our lives in every aspect.
God, I thank you for the men in this body.
I thank you that you have called them with purpose, that you equip us specifically with
your armor, and that you show us, God, in your word how to be all that you require us
to be.
God, give us the strength in order to do things even as simple as joining together in prayer.
Let that be a priority to us.
Let us support one another in this and let us support our pastor as you lead him, as
you put goals and desires for the growth of this body in his heart and he speaks them.
God, let us stand up and stand firm around him and then advance together to see what
you will do.
God, we thank you.
We love you.
We desire to be that which you've called us to be.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
God bless you guys.