The Vanguard Church

1sa 22:2 The Vanguard Church Lu 19:13

Eze 37:10

1 Sa 22:2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

Now this was not the A team of the military, this was a group of angry, disturbed, discontented, distressed, debtors.

You could even say it was a motley crew.

It was a gathering of the worst elements in society.

Don’t get mad it me, but it reminds me of the church, I know we're all dressed up today and looking good and smelling good.

But somewhere in your closet somewhere back down the road back down memory lane, there's some things we wished never happened somewhere back over your shoulder somewhere there's a crack house, somewhere back down memory lane there is a house of ill repute.

Somewhere back down memory lane, you didn't have no friends, you didn't have no peace, you didn't have no money, you didn't have no joy.

But something happened: You came to Jesus with all your problems.

You didn't come to him all cleaned up.

You came bound, you came oppressed, you came high, you came drunk, and you came angry and bitter.

And he took you just like you were, just like David did with these men.

Because he saw something in you, because he saw something in me.

He looked at the worst and he saw the best.

Is anybody glad God saw something in you.

He looked at a bunch of rejects that nobody wanted on their team, and he said I'll put them on my team and I'll turn them into the greatest military fighting force the world has ever seen.

And that's what David did with those four hundred men.

They became an elite army of the highest levels of courage and ability and integrity.

And God said: he's doing the same thing with this body of believers.

He said right here in this place he is building an army. (Yes we are the family of God,) but there's a vast difference between a family and an army.

A family is held together basically by the bonds of blood and love.

An army is held together by commitment and by order by and by vision.

Luke 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

Jesus is not just speaking to the family of God, he is speaking to the Army of God.

He said occupy till I come

Occupy: Is a military term

This word is not passive (passive means, static or without resistance) immobile.

This word is active: That means it's alive full of force and energy, it is not in the defensive it is in the offensive.

That means in order to fulfill this command one must be forcefully and aggressively moving forward, engaging and overcoming resistance.

Lu 10:19 Behold I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions (not hold down the fort) and over all the power of the enemy......

He is speaking of a people who are anointed and are aggressively moving forward advancing the kingdom of God.

He is not speaking of everyone in the church: He is speaking specifically of an elite group in the church that are consumed with the kingdom mandate to establish the kingdom of God in the earth and they are treading under their feet anything and everything that opposes the Kingdom mandate.

This elite group of people have chosen to serve on the front line. (They are called the vanguard)

Vanguard Means:

*the troops that march in front of an army

*the first line

*the foremost part of an advancing army

That means: the best trained, the best equipped, and the most qualified.

Note the definition of: An advancing army:

Not of: A Hold the fort army.

Not of: Hold on hang out army

Not of: An all beat up, bruised up dragging in their tracks, head in their hands army.

But the best: The most qualified, the elite, the best trained, the bravest, the boldest, the advancing treading down everything in it's path army of the Lord of Hosts.

Listen: God didn't give us these mighty weapons Just to hold down the fort till Jesus comes.

He gave us "The blood of Jesus, The authority to use his name, the word of God, prayer and fasting, the great and mighty gifts of the HolyGhost.

He didn't give us these weapons of power to us just to sit down somewhere and wait for the rapture bus.

He gave us these weapons of power so we could advance the Kingdom of God in the earth.