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:
Ready? We have to be willing to get in the game!
Understand though, that there will be a price to pay no matter what we do in our service to the Lord, but wasn’t Jesus’ price He paid greater than something we would ever have to pay?
No one in this church has been asked to give their life for anything, so therefore the cost Jesus paid far outweighs what we have been asked to pay.
On Wednesday night we talked about “God’s Amazing Grace”, and one of the upcoming things we will be doing as a church is reaching out and performing some evangelism during parades and other events in our surrounding cities.
I mentioned the example of several churches gathering together in Pass Christian during a MG parade to feed whoever came by hamburgers and hotdogs and pass out bibles, and that is something we will be doing as well.
It is a tremendous witness for the Lord to just give, and I believe that God would have us give freely, without looking for anything in return.
They were willing to get in the game, and their example ought to be the norm, not a unique thing. To this date, I have not seen too many churches bothering to reach out and I believe it is because of one reason: There is no one willing to get in the game – we talk about it, now it is time to do it.
Think of it this way: If we are the only ones doing it, then we will be the best!
How difficult would it be to step out of our comfortable pews and witness and fellowship with people? Would Jesus not be willing to do the same?
Read Luke 19:1-10
If Jesus is willing to go and bring salvation, why aren’t we?
Church, if we are not willing to pay the price of reaching out … then we fail as Christians.
Jesus paid a price for us, and so we have to pay a price for Him.
Point 4 – Pay the price
Read Luke 9:57:62
Serving the Lord means that there will be a sacrifice – and we must be obedient to follow Jesus in whatever it takes.
If you would say AMEN to that statement, then I pray that you will be there when we start this evangelism project.
Jesus asked the man to follow him and the man was first concerned with going back and taking care of his personal business.
Should we not be prepared to serve Him immediately when he calls? Are our lives not supposed to be given up as a sacrifice to Him?
Jesus rebuked the man who said he had to go back and take care of business because he knew something the man would not admit to: He knew that once the man went home, he would never return.
What does the idea of doing something outside of Sunday morning attendance of the church do to you? Does it make you feel a little uncomfortable? Why?
Is it because it falls outside of the realm of normal things that we do?
Jesus was not normal – he preached salvation and repentance to a world that did not want to hear it and for that, He gave His life as a sacrifice.
When Jesus calls, do you follow or are you like the man who still needed to take care of a few things because he was not ready to serve?
Conclusion
Invite singers
With every eye closed … Ask yourself, “Are you the same man or woman who still needs to do a few things before you will serve Jesus?”
Does God call you into service and you have to go and think about it?
In the beginning I believe that God spoke to several people when the question was posed: “Do you serve God for yourself or for Him?”
The word Christian means “follower of Christ” – do you really follow Him?
Following Jesus has to be authentic; we have to get off the bench, get in the game, and be willing to pay the price – no matter the cost to ourselves.
I pray that you would answer the call this morning, and be willing.
Pray
