MIGHTY MEN
II SAMUEL 23: 8-17
FATHER’S DAY JUNE 16, 2002
INTRODUCTION: THE TOP TEN THINGS YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR FATHER:
10.When he was your age, kids had to walk six miles to school
in the snow and rain . . . uphill both ways.
9. If he had acted like you, his father would have knocked
him into the middle of next week.
8. When he was your age, kids had to make their own fun.
7. You weren’t born in a barn.
6. When he was your age, he had to work for what he got.
5. You don’t wanna make Dad stop the car.
4. “Because I said so” is a reason that makes perfect sense to an
adult.
3. You’d better stop crying or he’ll give you a reason to cry (like
you didn’t already have one).
2. You’d lose your head if it wasn’t attached.
And the #1 thing you learned from your father . . .
1. Money doesn’t grow on trees!
SOURCE: Submitted by Bob Hostetler, Cobblestone Community Church, Oxford, Ohio.
TRANSITION THOUGHT: Today as we focus on Fathers, we come together to celebrate and affirm fatherhood. We also come together to seek guidance from the living God on the Subject of being the Men that God desires for us to be. This Sunday, the Ladies get a bit of a brake and us fellows get to squirm a little. About a month ago we honored Motherhood with a call to be a Woman of Significance. Today we will do no less as we dig into the word that Tony read for us concerning David’s Mighty Men. What is it that we can take from this text that will help us be better Fathers and Mighty Men for God? Though this text does not address fatherhood, it does give us a shining example of what a real man of God looks like. And I believe, if we follow this example of Scripture, we will be the Fathers our Heavenly Father desires us to be. SO, lets dig in and find out what makes a MIGHTY MAN.
THESIS SENTENCE: REAL MEN SERVE GOD AND ARE THUS MIGHTY MEN!
SO WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO BE A MIGHTY MAN FOR GOD?
I. MIGHTY MEN STAND THEIR GROUND
A. MIGHTY MEN STAND REGARDLESS OF THE OPPOSITION
1. Rambo eat your heart out!! 800 men came to do battle, and did Josheb stick his head between his legs and run? NOT on your life (verse8)!! He raised his spear and 800 men fell in one encounter!
2. Eleazar was no different. He did battle until he was so tired that his hand froze to his sword. The word says, “But he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day (verses 9 and 10).”
3. Shammah also stood his ground. In the middle of a field and defended it and the Lord brought about a great victory (verses 11 and 12)!
4. The key phrase for us is that all three of these men stood there ground regardless of the opposition.
5. What is out gut reaction men, when the battle looks unwinable? Do we stand our ground and fight or do we run?
6. God is looking for some men who will stand their ground regardless of the opposition. WILL YOU BE THAT MAN?
SCRIPTURE EMPHASIS: The Apostle Paul chimes in and states, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, … (Ephesians 6: 13 and 14).”
B. MIGHTY STAND REGARDLESS OF THE ALLIES
1. Did you notice that of the three mighty men that served David, two were left in a lurch when the battle got the hottest: “Then the men of Israel retreated (verse 9)” and “Israel’s troops fled from them (verse 11).”
2. But the mighty men fought on.
3. Now men, it is easy to fight when you are in the majority, but what happens to us when we are in the minority?
4. The word for us today men is Stand your ground whether or not the world or you friends and family think it is cool or not!!
SCRIPUTRE EMPHASIS: Once again the Apostle Paul is our instructor in the faith, “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might heart it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The lord will rescue me form every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom (2 Timothy 4: 16-18).”
5. SO MEN, REGARDLESS OF THE COMPANY WHO WILL STAND WITH YOU, STAND FOR THE LORD IS WITH YOU IF YOU ARE STANDING FOR HIM!
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT THAT WE STAND OUR GROUND???
ILLUSTRATION: PEACE CORP VOLUNTEER STUDIES
Some years ago a study was conducted among Peace Corps volunteers. Researchers took a random sample of volunteers and split them into two roughly equal groups: those who completed their tour commitments and those who returned home early because of "problems of adjustment and conduct (including psychiatric terminations)."
Unlike many studies, this one was nearly unaffected by the volunteers’ race or socioeconomic background. Almost all of them were college graduates from white, middle-class families. The study did not differentiate between reasons for father absence, "psychological" instead of physical absence, age at separation, or other father figures who may have stepped in. So an "absent" father was said to be one who was away from the child’s residence, for whatever reason, during at least the child’s tenth through fifteenth years.
The results were startling. Of the people who completed their duties, 9 percent came from absent-father backgrounds; but among those who came home early, 44 percent had absent fathers. The study was repeated, and again there was a wide gap of difference: 14 percent and 44 percent.
We’re finding similar results in study after study. The evidence must not be ignored: your children need you.
MEN, IF WE DON’T STAND OUR GROUND, GUESS WHAT? OUR CHILDREN WON’T BE ABLE TO STAND THEIR GROUND!!
SOURCE: Ken R,. Canfield, PH.D. The 7 Secrets of Effective Fathers: Becoming the Father Your Children Need. Wheatland Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992.
Citation: Peter Suedfield, "Paternal Absence and Overseas Success of Peace Corps Volunteers," Journal of Consulting Psychology 31 (1967): 424-25.
SO HOW ELSE DO WE RESEMBLE MIGHTY MEN?
II. MIGHTY MEN OVERCOME THE ENEMY
A. THE ENEMY WANTS TO DESTROY YOU
SCRIPTURE EMPHASIS: The Apostle Peter admonishes us, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (I Peter 5:8).”
1. Satan/the Devil has one goal and that is our eternal destruction!
2. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6: 12).”
3. Remember then that it is the enemy that wants to destroy you! And the only one who can let him win is you!!!!
B. THE ENEMY MUST BE OVERCOME
1. “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings (I Peter 5:9).” 2. We cannot give into the enemy, there is too much at stake.
3. Remember the mighty men? Did they give up when the odds were against them? NO! They Stood their ground and what happened? “THE LORD BROUGHT ABOUT A GREAT VICTORY (VERSES 10 AND 12)!”
4. Remember who you are fighting for!! We belong to the Lord and HE will bring the Victory!!
5. Can I tell you the greatest way to win over the Enemy and gain the greatest victory?
ILLUSTRATION: A FATHER’S FORGIVENESS
In his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace, Phillip Yancey tells the story of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway grew up in a very devout evangelical family, and yet there he never experienced the grace of Christ. He lived a libertine life that most of us would call "dissolute"… but there was no father, no parent waiting for him and he sank into the mire of a graceless depression. A short story he wrote perhaps reveals the grace that he hoped for. It is the story of a Spanish father who decided to reconcile with his son who had run away to Madrid. The father, in a moment of remorse, takes out this ad in El Libro , a newspaper. "Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana, Noon, Tuesday… All is forgiven… Papa." When the father arrived at the square in hopes of meeting his son, he found eight hundred Pacoes waiting to be reunited with their father. Was Paco such a popular name? Or is a father’s forgiveness the salve for every soul?
SOURCE: Rev. Brent Eelman, D. Min. Northwoods Presbyterian Church, 1998.
6. Live a life of forgiveness and guess what happens? God gets the GLORY and you get the Victory. “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. BUT if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14).”
FINALLY, WHAT ELSE CAN WE LEARN ABOUT BEING MIGHTY MEN FOR GOD?
III. MIGHTY MEN SERVE THEIR KING (VERSES 13-17)
A. MIGHTY MEN SERVE WITHOUT BEING ASKED
1. Now the text gets really interesting!!
2. How selfish can a man be? Men can be pretty selfish (AMEN LADIES?) David wants a cup of what from Bethlehem. Without asking, specifically, So the three mighty men broke through the Philistines lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David (verse 16).”
3. Did you catch that? For a cup of water these men risked their lives!! David didn’t even ask them to do it! They did it of their own volition!
4. Men what are you willing to do without being asked? What do you hear the King saying and HOW ARE YOU RESPONDING?
SCRIPTURE EMPHASIS: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ and I said, ‘Here am I. Send me (Isaiah 6: 8)!’”
B. MIGHTY MEN KEEP THE LORD AT THE FOREFRONT OF THEIR SERVICE
1. NOW, after all these men have done, how does the “king” respond? The king focuses on the ONE AND ONLY TRUE KING: THE LIVING GOD!
2. David realized his own selfishness and in so doing made the greater offering to God. “Instead he poured it out before the Lord. Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this… And David would not drink it (verses 16 and 17).”
3. What kind of offering are you giving to the Lord? So many have paid the price for us to be here, physically and MOST IMPORTANTLY SPIRITUALLY! WHO HAS THE FOCUS OF YOUR LIFE?
ILLUSTRATION: THE INVISIBLE MAN? WHO ARE YOU?
When Don called home from the road one evening, he spoke briefly to his nine-year-old daughter: "Honey, could you get your mommy on the phone?" He then heard Tasha blurt out, as she set the receiver down on the counter: "Hey Mom, the invisible man is on the phone!"
In that moment, even before his wife got on the phone, Don went through a transformation. He couldn’t laugh it off. He had to face the fact: "There’s something more important than achieving success at work. It’s being a dad."
SOURCE: Ken Canfield, PH. D. The Heart of a Father. Chicago: Northfield Publishing, 1996.
4. Who are you? Will you be the invisible man? OR will you serve the King?
CONCLUSION: WILL YOU BE A MIGHTY MAN FOR GOD? WILL YOU STAND YOUR GROUND? WILL YOU OVERCOME THE ENEMY AND NOT LET HIM DESTROY YOU? WILL YOU SERVE THE KING? WILL YOU RESPOND TODAY?
AS THE PRAISE TEAM LEADS US IN A CHORUS, COME!
