The Point Man Part 1 Series

The Point Man

2 Timothy 2:1-10

REFLECTION: Go back in your mind 40 years ago. You are in Viet Nam and you’re selected as the point man (leader) for a team of 7 men to go on patrol.

> Your Mission: To identify a safe passage for your outfit to their next destination.

> Your Enemy: Unseen Viet Con waiting to ambush you, your men, and your entire outfit.

> Your Resources: The seven men on your team and the equipment you carry.

We are in enemy territory (2 Cor 4:4; James 4:4; 1 Jn 2:15,16; 5:19; Phil 2:15) and God has commissioned the Father to act as the Point Man to lead his family to safety. The danger is far more significant (if less obvious) than safely navigating the jungles of a distant country, for you face an enemy that is far deadlier and your success or failure has eternal implications.

> Satan’s strategy has always been to “Divide and Conquer.”

Divide you and your wife or the other Team members. {Spiritually, Emotionally, or Physically.}

NOTE: Sometimes soldiers go AWOL and leave their leaders to find their own way and end up getting ambushed by the enemy. Likewise some children and even wives rebel against the leadership of God’s Point Man and end up a casualty of spiritual warfare. It is also tragically true that some “Point Men” (FATHERS) are careless and lead their “team”

(FAMILY) into an ambush.

> The Father is God’s Point Man, and will come under the greatest enemy fire. (Mark 3:27) "No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house."

The first time the word “Command” is found in the Bible is in Genesis 18:19 where God says of Abraham: "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring

upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."

DIRECTION: This morning I’d like to look at the “Right Stuff” or the equipment we need to learn as God’s Point men. This evening I will look at two men and how they used, or neglected this equipment and the effect it had on their family.

THE EQUIPMENT NECESSARY TO BE A GOOD “POINT MAN”:

P: PERCEPTION 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant…”

> A sensitivity to the condition of your team. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Fears)

> An awareness of the tactics used by the enemy.

(2 Cor 2:11) "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."

O: OBJECTIVE “He shall command…they shall keep the way of the LORD” Gen. 18:19

> Do you have orders from the “captain of the LORD'S host”. {Joshua 5:15}

> Are you under His authority. (Mat 8:9) "For I am a man under authority, "

> Do you know where He wants you to guide your family?

(Proverbs 29:18) "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

I: INTEGRITY (Pro 20:7) "The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him."

> Integrity deals with our Tongue. Job 2:9 “dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die.”

> Integrity deals with our Track Record. (Pro 11:3) "The integrity of the upright shall guide them:."

(Phil 3:17) "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample."

> Integrity deals with our Trustworthiness. (Gen 18:19) “I know him…”

(1 Cor 4:2) "it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."

N: NERVE (Endurance, Courage or Control) (Josh. 1:6,7) “Be strong and of a good courage:…Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law..”

> It takes NERVE (courage) to follow God.

> It takes NERVE (courage) to lead others.

> God gives NERVE (courage) to those who will obey him. (Joshua 1:8,9)

T: TRAINING 2 Tim 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God…”

> Life’s most important battles are being fought by men who are inadequately trained. No wonder the casualty rate is so very high.

> If Father’s devoted as much energy to perfecting their ability on the job as they did to perfecting their parenting how would it affect their performance at work?

> God’s plan involves on the job training. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

“The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”