God’s Swat Team

GOD’S SWAT TEAM

LK. 4:18

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: WHO GOD SENT

1. A woman ran to the pharmacy to get her sick daughter some medication. When she got back to her car, she found she’d locked her keys in the car.

2. She looked around and found an old rusty coat hanger and tried to use it to get into the car, but couldn’t. Finally she bowed her head and asked God to send her some help.

3. Within five minutes an old beat-up car pulled up, with a dirty, rough-looking man wearing a strange ball cap on his head. He got out of his car and asked her if he could help.

4. She said, “Yes, my daughter is very sick and I locked my keys in my car. I must get home to her. Please can you use this hanger to unlock my car?” He said “Sure.” He walked over to the car, and in less than a minute the car was opened.

5. She hugged the man and through her tears she said, “Thank you so much! You are a very nice man.” The man replied, “Lady, I’m not a nice man; I just got out of prison today. I was in prison for car theft and have only been out for about an hour.”

6. The woman hugged the man again and with sobbing tears cried out loud, “Oh, Thank you God! You even sent me a Professional!”

B. THE DESIRE TO SWAT

1. SWAT means to “hit or crush,” as of an insect, with a sharp blow from a flat object. Insects are very pesky. Think mosquito or fly. Though tiny, they get our attention.

2. The annoyance they cause often elicits an overpowering response -- to smack them with excessive force.

3. There’s some odd kind of pleasure that comes from successfully swatting a mosquito or fly. Maybe it's the challenge of getting them, because both have ingenious methods for eluding enemies.

4. Maybe it's the relief of stopping their relentless attacks on us. Either way, it feels good to swap one!

5. Maybe it's that good feeling that inspired the idea of turning the word "swat" into an acronym for a police team that stops especially dangerous criminals.

C. THESIS

1. So we’re going to look tonight at what SWAT teams are, the nature of spiritual SWAT teams, and the 3 steps to join Jesus’ SWAT team.

2. The title of tonight’s message is “God’s Swat Team.”

I. WHAT ARE SWAT TEAMS

A. SWAT TEAMS DEFINED

1. SWAT teams ("Special Weapons And Tactics") are very interesting, due to the clandestine/secretive kind of work they do.

2. They are law enforcement units which use military-style light weapons and specialized tactics in high-risk operations that fall outside of the capabilities of regular, uniformed police.

B. DUTIES, FIREARMS, EQUIPMENT

1. Their duties include: confronting heavily armed criminals; performing hostage rescue and counter-terrorism operations; high risk arrests; and entering armored or barricaded buildings.

2. Such units are often equipped with specialized firearms including submachine guns, assault rifles, breaching shotguns, sniper rifles, riot control agents, and stun grenades.

3. They have specialized equipment including heavy body armor, ballistic shields, entry tools, armored vehicles, advanced night vision optics, and motion detectors for covertly determining the positions of hostages or hostage takers, inside enclosed structures. (Wikipedia)

C. IS THERE A SPIRITUAL PARALLEL? YES!

1. In the spiritual realm, there are also criminals, terrorists, and hostage-takers. There are forces seeking to dampen revival and to spread evil.

2. People are bound with sickness or broken hearts. They’re enslaved with fear, anxiety, depression, or discouragement. They’re blinded by pain, bitterness, unforgiveness, and hate.

3. HUMOR "Signs of the Times"

a. A girl brought her boyfriend home to meet her father. He was covered with tattoos and had numerous piercings.

b. After he left, the father said, "I don't know about that guy; he doesn't look very good!"

c. His daughter replied, "Oh dad! He's God a really good heart. He's even doing 900 hours of community service!"

3. Thank God He has Teams that combat the moral breakdown, the decline of the church, and to right the wrongs done to people.

4. Can you think of any O.T. personalities who give the appearance of being one of God’s SWAT team members?

5. EXAMPLES: Moses. Joshua. Gideon. Samson. Deborah. Jephthah. Samuel. David. Esther. Elijah. Elisha. Paul. Peter bf Sanhedrin. Philip at Samaria.

II. THE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL SWAT TEAMS

A. THE MACRO LEVEL SWATS: PROPHETS

1. These specialists have appeared at critical moments in history to reprove, rebuke, and exhort in the name of God and bring in righteousness.

2. 10,000 ordinary pastors might labor quietly on while the spiritual life of the church was normal. But let the people of God fall into declension and immediately these specialists appeared.