Might Men Of God, Part 2

Mighty Men of God – Part 2

2 Samuel 23:18-23

Introduction

Several weeks ago I brought a message inspired from a Men’s Retreat in September about being a “Mighty Man” of God. This morning is the conclusion of that message and I believe it is important to understand that God is still calling out to His church seeking men and women who are willing to go the distance for Him.

You might remember this previous message as saying that, “In order to be a mighty man of God there are four things required: A great cause, A great commitment, A great sacrifice, and A great victory.”

Read 2 Samuel 23:18-23

In order to work for the Lord it will require four things from you: It has to be authentic, you have to get off the bench, you have to get in the game, and you have to be willing to pay the price.

Let’s examine these this morning and see how the Lord would speak to you.

Pray

Point 1 – Authentic

In order to succeed in a work for the Lord, we have to ensure that our work is completely authentic, and is done under the right intentions.

Take a look at Abishai – he was one man who killed 300, but was not considered as important as the three mighty men of David – but he WAS just as important.

He was named as the commander of the troops; but his status was not something he complained about because to him, his service was what mattered.

Note that we discussed the three mighty men, and their status was well known to all around them, but Abishai was not mentioned.

He was willing to serve David completely, and did not consider his position (or not being mentioned) a demotion or put-down in any way.

His warrior status was well known, and it was authentic.

How about your own life? Are you concerned about your status? Are you worried that others will not recognize your accomplishments? Or do you simply serve the Master faithfully without questioning anything?

It’s a tough question for anyone to answer, but one that before you will serve God you have to ask yourself a very simple question: Do you serve God for yourself or for Him?

We’ll come back to that shortly, but ponder that question this morning.

Second, in order to serve God whole-heartedly you have to get off the bench.

Point 2 – Get off the bench

Benaiah was willing to not only get off the bench, but to go above and beyond what was asked of him by David. He killed two of Moab’s men and an Egyptian who had him over-powered; but he also was willing to go down into a snowy pit and kill a lion.

Why would he have to go and kill a lion? Perhaps for food to feed his men?

There is no reason in this example as to why he had to kill a lion, but if you look at the wording you can clearly see that he simply did it, and it was worth mentioning.

Benaiah was willing to get off the bench and do something for the team, and was not concerned about what it would do for, or to, his reputation.

Could we be that faithful? Would we be that faithful to Jesus today?

Jesus exclaimed that we are to “GO” and make disciples of all, and that means we have to be willing to move when God calls us.

Just look at the word “God” … two-thirds of that word is GO!

Getting off the bench has to be the first step, and if you want me to spell it out it means that we have to leave our comfortable seat in the pew and move as God would lead!

Getting out of the church house is the only way anything will get done for the Kingdom. But this morning, we have to be willing to take the first step.

However, in order to be successful in our service for the Lord, thirdly we have to get in the game.

Point 3 – Get in the game

Benaiah was considered as famous as the three mighty men, and he was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty.

Benaiah was willing to get in the game no matter the cost – and his life proves that his service was centered on his lord, and not himself.

We have discussed before that God does not have a second string, we are all considered players to follow what the Lord has given us.

We have been given salvation freely and because of that working for the Lord means that there is more to do than come to church, go home, come to church, and then go home … we are called to a higher purpose, and here is the secret: