[0:00] turn there so you can open up your Bibles to 1 Samuel, or actually 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel chapter 23. 2 Samuel chapter 23 is where I will be at. I told my wife this morning, I told her as I was talking with her and actually as I was typing up the outline, because my practice is to have the message kind of played out and I don't type up my outline until Sunday morning.
[0:19] I do that because I like to have the message done, the special Sunday morning message, done by Thursday. And I like to, as Adrian Rogers said, let it sit in a crock pot for a couple of days before I finalize it, just to kind of so that the message can become one with the man.
[0:34] And I know I tell you guys all the time that I have to deal with the message before you ever hear it. Well, that's usually those two to three days that I'm dealing with the message because God's working on my heart.
[0:45] So my practice is on Sunday mornings, I come in and I finalize it. I type it up. I get my outline set and that's what's going on most of the time while you guys are in Sunday school. So for those of you that come for that Sunday school hour, if you ever wonder why your pastor is not out of the office, that's what I'm doing.
[0:59] And I told her as I was typing that up, I said, you know, this is a message that I can stake my flag in. This is one that I can say that's a representation of what I believe. It's a representation of everything that I would stand on.
[1:11] It is a message, if we could be honest, that could be offensive, but it carries a lot of truth. And I say not offensive to you guys, but it can be offensive in our society and in our world. This is something that I believe is a very defining moment of my ministry that God has called me to.
[1:25] It is something that I really believe that he has put a desire and an ambition within me. O.S. Hawkins, who was the president of Godstone Financial Solutions, which is an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention.
[1:35] He is a past president. He was also a pastor. He used to say there are special messages for special days. It is not typically my habit to pull out of a series and preach a special message on a special day.
[1:46] But on Mother's Day, we pulled out because we saw the reality there was the influence of the mothers of Timothy. And the letter of 1 Corinthians was sent by the hand of Timothy. And we saw the mother's influence.
[1:58] If we were to continue on in 1 Corinthians, we would be in the seventh chapter. And in the seventh chapter, you see a lot of focus on marriage and on husbands and on fathers. Now, we could go there and we could preach the message there, but I think we need to have a time and ladies, if you would give me the freedom to do it, because this message has just as much application to you as it does to the men, even though it speaks pointedly to men.
[2:20] We'll take a moment and just speak to the men and we'll see the application is there. I want you to see this great need that we have. This great need that we have in our society.
[2:31] And the reason I state my flag on this and the reason I think that it is something, a point of conviction, I am not convinced of these matters, I am convicted of them. If I am convinced of something, then you have the freedom to come and to attempt to persuade me otherwise, and you can change what I may be convinced of.
[2:48] But a conviction is something that has the individual, and therefore you cannot change the conviction without changing the individual. And I have a conviction over these matters. When you open up the pages of scripture, and you open it up in the book of Genesis, you see that God has a great plan.
[3:03] God organizes and ordains creation. He spoke and things came into existence. And then from the dust of the ground, he created man. In Genesis 2, we read that God created man and woman in his own image.
[3:14] In his image, he created them. That's the plurality of it. In Genesis 3, we stop. We slow down and we go back to what happened, what was just told us in Genesis 2. So in Genesis 3, we go back. In Genesis 3, it is there where we read from the dust of the ground.
[3:27] God created man. He formed and he fashioned man. He created man. And he breathed the life into man. He gave him spirit. The word is imuna or spirit, the same word we get for Holy Spirit. He breathed the spiritual life and the physical life into this created being of man.
[3:42] And then he did something amazing. He gave man responsibility. He entrusted man with responsibility because it says, then he put man in the Garden of Eden and he told him to tend it and to keep it. And he gave man responsibility. It is here we see the chief end of mankind, what man is supposed to do.
[3:56] Because it is the first responsibility that man has given. One of the tasks that Adam is given is all the animals come before him and he names the animals. And this is an intentional task from our gracious, loving creator because it is there that Adam finds no helper suitable for him.
[4:11] So God gave him a responsibility and then God gave him a need. And after he gave him a need, it says, and then he took from the woman, he took a rib and he formed in a more complicated manner a woman's helper suitable to him.
[4:25] Now don't get offended, but this is scripture. So if you get offended, you can get offended at the word of God, not at the man of God, hopefully. It is a helper to fulfill the responsibility that man was already entrusted with.
[4:37] And the responsibility he was given also came with a caution and a command because it was Adam that was told he could eat of any tree of the garden that he wanted to, but he should not take from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[4:48] We fast forward a little bit longer to the end of Genesis 3 and then we get to where Eve takes. And we know that Adam is present because Adam is not fulfilling his responsibility.
[5:00] Because she gave also to Adam who was with her. He was given responsibility. Stay with me, I'm getting to my text, but I need you to see my text. He failed to heed his responsibility that also came with a caution.
[5:13] Therefore, the greater blame came to the man because when God showed up, he went to Adam first and he asked Adam what he did.
[5:25] And the reason he went to Adam first is because it was Adam's responsibility and it was Adam's word. Adam was given the command. Therefore, Adam was responsible to give an account of what had happened.
[5:37] All throughout scripture, we read of these matters. As a matter of fact, when God ordains the marriage institution, had the honor yesterday of officiating a wedding and we do every one of them.
[5:47] It's the same thing. This is the word that God says once in Genesis and then it says it twice in the New Testament, once in the Gospels and it says it also later on in the book of Ephesians. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife and the two shall become one.
[6:02] In pre-marriage counseling, I always tell the husbands, listen, your wife was never called to leave behind her parents, so always expect her to be connected to her parents. That's why daughters don't forget their parents.
[6:15] It's a true thing. True statement. The man was called to leave because the man has the responsibility to form and fashion something new. He's called to lead with authority and with power and subject authority.
[6:29] We see that, but he's given responsibility. We see that repeated throughout scripture. When the nation of Israel falls, the responsibility falls upon the men. And God holds the men accountable.
[6:42] Over and over again, we read these things. We see it. The headlines portray it. There's a great need in our culture. We find the answer to that need in 2 Samuel chapter 23, starting in verse 8 through verse 39.
[7:01] Now, I will go ahead and let you know there are a number of names that I will read, and I will butcher most of them, but that is okay. Because as simple as my name sounds to me, it gets butchered by so many others as well, and that's okay.
[7:15] But the names matter, and we'll get into that why. Because the need of the moment, and I want you to pay attention to this, is a movement of mighty men.
[7:28] Now, my title is intentional because I did not say a mighty movement of men. You can get a mighty movement of men on any given Saturday or Sunday during football season when the stadiums are being filled.
[7:42] There's a mighty movement of men going in one direction to fill the seats to watch a competition that has no effect whatsoever on the world around them.
[7:53] I'm not saying it's sinful. I'm just saying that's what's going on. You see a mighty movement of men? I used to pastor close to a lake every Sunday. I saw a mighty movement of men. It's amazing how many boats push trucks to the lake instead of going to church because the men are moving.
[8:10] You need so much more than a mighty movement of men. You need a movement of mighty men. There is a difference, and we will see that.
[8:22] So if you are physically able and desire to do so, I'm going to ask if you would join with me as we stand together and we read the Word of God. Found in 2 Samuel chapter 23, starting in verse 8.
[8:35] These are the names of the mighty men whom David had. He was also called Adino the Esnite because of 800 slain by him at one time.
[8:55] And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle, and the men of Israel had withdrawn.
[9:05] He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.
[9:16] Now after him was Shammah the son of Agi, a Hararite, a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines.
[9:31] But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it, and struck the Philistines, and the Lord brought about a great victory. Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time in the cave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephim.
[9:48] David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David had a craving and said, Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate.
[9:58] So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem, which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord.
[10:10] And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
[10:22] Abishih, the brother of Joab, the son of Zariah, was chief of the thirty, and he swung his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name as well as a three.
[10:35] He was most honored of the thirty, therefore he became their commander. However, he did not attain to the three. Then Benaniah, the son of Jehadiah, the son of a valiant man of Kabzil, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab.
[10:49] He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. He killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear.
[11:03] These things Benaniah, the son of Jehadiah, did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men. He was honored among the thirty, but did not attain to the three, and David appointed him over his guard.
[11:14] Asahil, the brother of Joab, was among the thirty. Elhanan, the son of Dodo, of Bethlehem, Shammah, the Herodite, Elikai, the Herodite, Hillez, the Paltite, Ere, the son of Ikesh, the Tekoite, Abizar, the Anathite, Mibunai, the Hushite, Zalman, the Hoahite, Mahari, the Nephthite, Haleb, the son of Banna, the Nephthite, Etai, the son of Rubai, of Gebeah, of the sons of Benjamin, Bedaniah, of Herodite, Hediah, of the brooks of Gash, Abi, Abbon, the Arbethite, Azmaveth, the Barhumite, Elhabah, the Shabanite, the sons of Jason, Jonathan, Shammah, the Herodite, Ahim, the son of Sharor, the Arorite, Elphalet, the son of Abishai, the sons of Mekathite, Ilium, the son of Ahithophel, the Gilanite,
[12:17] Hezron, the Carmelite, Pari, the Arbite, Ilgal, the son of Nathan, of Zobah, Bani, the Gadite, Zelek, the Ammonite, Nahari, the Berethite, armor bearers of Joab, the son of Zariah, Ira, the Ithrite, Gerab, the Ithrite, Uriah, the Hittite, 37 in all.
[12:41] 2 Samuel 23, verses 8 through 39, you may be seated, and as you are being seated, I'm going to ask if you will also find the book of 1 Chronicles, 1 Chronicles chapter 11, and just put a mark there.
[12:54] 2 Samuel 23, verses 8 through 39, and you're making a mark, just a couple of books over, one book over, actually a couple of books after the Kings, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles chapter 11.
[13:07] Just leave it there. We see here the need of the moment, a need of a movement of mighty men. Ladies, just like on Mother's Day, I ask the men not to check out, I'm asking the ladies not to check out here as well, because this has direct application.
[13:25] Because the application is, this is the need of the moment, not just within the church, but it is the need of the moment within society in general, and it is a need that really changes everything.
[13:35] Men were given responsibility from the very beginning pages of scripture, and their shunning of that responsibility led to the decay of the nation. This is something that we have seen in our own nation, and we can give statistic after statistic after statistic, and we can talk about the demise of the home, we can talk about the demise of the church, we can talk about the demise of all these other things, but really what it boils down to is that there is a need of a movement of mighty men.
[14:00] So what does it look like? Number one, these were individual men. This is why I read their names. As hard as it is, and as hard as it is in your office, it's a lot harder when you stand in front of a bunch of people that are trying to read it with you, but we need to understand their name because these are individual men.
[14:22] It says, these are the names of the mighty men whom David had. Each of these men had a name. Well, you said, well, sure they did, but each of these men's names were deemed so important that God recorded their names, and by the time we get to the end of the chapter, it says that we have read 37 individual names.
[14:42] You said, well, I thought it was 30 mighty men, right, and some of them died. Some of them died by not so good measures. You remember Uriah the Hittite, right? David failed that mighty man and put him to the front and had him murdered and therefore was called to account of his murder, but evidently with each passing of a mighty man in battle, there was also a replacement, so there was this continuation of 30 mighty men that were around David for the expanse of his kingdom, and we read 37 individual names because it reminds us that these are individual men.
[15:18] This is not just a corporate body. This is a corporate body comprised of individuals because it is one thing to say that we need men to step up today. It is a whole other thing to name their names because then it gets personal, but it also reminds us that mighty men are not men who are mere copycats of other men.
[15:41] Now stay with me. That is, they did not become David. They stayed who they were when God created them. They maintained their identity. Sometimes I believe we get confused.
[15:56] We need unity, but not necessarily uniformity. Unity means we come together for a common purpose with all of our differences.
[16:08] Uniformity means that we cast aside our differences and come together and we all look the same. We do not need uniformity among men. We need unity among men.
[16:19] And there is a big difference because God created us as individuals. I believe it with all of my heart, with all of my soul, with all of my being. God knit you together in your mother's womb, men and women.
[16:32] He fearfully and wonderfully made you. He fashioned you with every bit and piece that you are. He knew your DNA and your genetic and your makeup and your personality and how you were wired long before anyone else ever knew it.
[16:45] When your mother and father were trying to figure out who you were, God already knew who you were. He implanted within you every bit of you. He does not need to change you and make you like someone else.
[16:56] He does not necessarily want you to become the person who stands in front of you, but rather he wants to redeem the person he made you. And there's a big difference there. Because it is when we maintain our individuality that God redeems that and we get it redeemed and purchased from the auction block of Satan that we realize that God puts together individuals to use them for his kingdom purpose.
[17:20] We do not need men who all look like one another or who all act like one another or who all copy one another. We need men in all of their individuality to be redeemed and to allow God to use them as he made them.
[17:34] That's the great need. And I don't know about you, but for that, I'm thankful. If I was there, I would say amen because I'm excited about that, that God doesn't necessarily want me to be like anybody other than his son.
[17:47] And his son is large enough, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is large enough to encompass each and every one of us. I don't have to look like you. I don't have to act like you. I don't have to behave like you. Some of you say, oh, wait a minute.
[17:57] Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Right, in actions, not necessarily in personality. I don't know if you missed it, but there are some personalities in scripture that did not always get along.
[18:11] Paul and Barnabas didn't always get along. Mark was a point of contention, but yet he was found useful for Paul later in his life. It's okay.
[18:24] Jesus, when he called 12 disciples, he called 12 very different men. I mean, he had zealots and he had tax collectors, right? People that hated Rome and people that worked for Rome.
[18:36] And he redeemed them and used them as individuals. What we see is these are individual men. God uses them. Listen, men, God created you. He fashioned you.
[18:46] Satan tries to tempt you and mock you and make a misery out of you. But God wants to redeem you as you are and use you where you are. And that is wonderful news. I'm so thankful that these names are here because we do not just read that David had some men.
[19:02] We read the names of the men. And when God calls us to be used by him, he records our name. I read this morning in my daily reading, maybe you did as well, that there is this great day when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords calls people before himself.
[19:16] And when he looks into his books, he looks into his books and he sees in the books there is recorded the deeds that were done that the wicked are raised. Those who never knew Jesus Christ are raised from the dead and they stand before him and they give an account of everything they did.
[19:31] Their deeds are recorded in the book and the deeds which they did, they give an account and they are judged according to their deeds. But those who go into everlasting life, they don't have their deeds recorded, they have their name recorded.
[19:45] Because their name is found written in the Lamb's book of life and what they did is forgotten about, but they are still individuals. God calls us as individuals, men and women, to be used by him.
[19:59] But men, he's called you as he made you and wired you. These were individual men. Number two, these were influential men. These men influenced their society.
[20:12] I mean, they completely changed it. They were radical in their obedience, they were radical in their actions and they completely changed it to things that stand out to me. And while we have it recorded for us here and we love it, we see, we get in verse nine, it says, and after him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, which by the way, I'm so glad my dad's name is not Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three men of David.
[20:32] Look at this. When they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle, listen to this, and the men of Israel had withdrawn. The Philistines all throughout the Old Testament are counted as the enemies of the people of God, right?
[20:47] Those of you that were with me on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, you know that. These are the enemies of the people of God. So the Philistines came and all the men of Israel had withdrawn. But look at what it says in verse 10. He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was very weary and he clung to the sword.
[21:05] And the Lord brought about a great victory that day and the people returned after him only to strip the sling. These are influential men because when everybody else was leaving, they were staying.
[21:17] The men in general without names fled, but this man who has a name recorded in God's book stayed. His hand was tired. It doesn't say you're not going to get tired, but he gets tired.
[21:28] But he kept swinging the sword. It clung to the sword. That means he had this tight grasp and he could not let go and he would not let go. And then the people came back to strip the sling. What happened?
[21:38] He changed the circumstances because of his presence. Right? Before he showed up, everybody's running away and the enemy of the people of God is having his day. Once he shows up, he's worn out, he's tired, but he will not let go of the sword.
[21:52] And the people of God come back and reap the reward. We go down to the very next verse and we see again now after him there was Shammah the son of Agi, the Harite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plod of ground full of lentils.
[22:06] Some of your translations say barley, lentils, barley. It was a crop. And the people, look at this, and the people fled from the Philistines. Again, what's going on? The enemy of the people of God shows up, is kind of bullying people around and everybody's running.
[22:20] But here's this man, this man doesn't. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck the Philistines. He influenced the situation because the enemy of the people of God was wreaking havoc that the people of God were running away until a man stood up and influenced the situation.
[22:40] He changed the circumstances because he took a stand. Men, listen to me, the need of the moment is for us not to run away but to take our stand no matter how tired we are, to not let the sword fall from our hand, to be more concerned about the people of God and the lentils and the plant of God than we are about the enemies of God and we are to take our stand so that others can come back.
[23:06] Because the reason we see such a falling away is because the men have run away with the crowds rather than clinging to the sword. Men are not influencing anymore.
[23:19] anymore. We are either under the influence or being influenced but we are not the influence. And there's a big difference.
[23:31] Because when the people were fleeing, they took their stand and changed the circumstance. There is one great thing and I know this is where it can get controversial and some of you can get upset at me.
[23:43] There is one great determining factor in every sad statistic that you read, whether it be the jail intake or the drug intake or what happens with the people who drop out of school, the lack of education or even the collegiate education.
[23:57] There is one great determining factor in every one of those sad statistics. And listen to me, it is the influence of the man. Point blank.
[24:10] Show me the man and I will show you the outcome. This is why when I stand at every wedding and I read the passage from Ephesians 5, there's so many women throughout history who get bent out of shape because it says, wives, be submissive to your own husbands in all things and honor them in all things.
[24:30] I'm very cautious to say, as we read this passage, it may seem harsh but what I want you to know the reason it seems harsh is because husband, it's your responsibility. Some of you, to be honest, never experienced that and for that, I'm sorry.
[24:48] Some of you are really suffering because of the lack of that and for that, I'm sorry. Men, you are called not only to influence your home but you're also called to influence the homes of others because everybody came back and reaped the reward because men took us to, and it wasn't all the men, some of the men were fleeing.
[25:07] men are people of influence. That's how God created us. So I fashioned us and formed us the way he did.
[25:20] He said, well, this is a very sexist message. No, I'd rather recall it to be a biblical message because what I read in scripture seems to be true. From the very conception in the womb, male and females are so different.
[25:34] I don't know all the science. Some of you know science better than I do but I love, there's some statistical things that are there. Very early on in the womb as a male embryo is in there, there's this great rush of testosterone that runs through the mother's womb.
[25:48] That testosterone is what fills that man with being a man. It is not what makes him manly, beating the chest and having all these other things. Actually, the one thing that testosterone rush does that happens in the womb of the mother is it burns a portion of the brain, the lower quadrant of the brain.
[26:02] It burns a bridge that's there and it burns it and it's really never formed, reformed. It's never, ever reformed completely but it never even closes until somewhere around the age 24 to 26.
[26:14] Okay, that's when it finally gets a little bit connected and the reason that happens and it doesn't happen in young ladies. Young ladies, they don't have this testosterone. They have estrogen that runs through there and that bridge stays intact.
[26:25] My wife and one of my daughter-in-laws was at a conference during the pastor's conference and said that it was shared as they told me how wonderful young girls are because at the age of 18 months, 18 months old, a young girl can empathize with someone else.
[26:40] An 18 month old girl can empathize with someone else's pain. Now the reason that's there is because they have that bridge in the lower quadrant of their brain which helps them connect their emotions, right side and left side of their brain and they can empathize.
[26:52] This is why when you have those kids in the nursery and one starts crying all the other little girls start crying because they're empathizing with their pain and if you notice the boys aren't crying they're over here playing. Why? Because they can't empathize and God made them that way.
[27:06] It doesn't mean they're hardcore. It doesn't mean they're tough. The reason God did it is because that thing that happens in the womb is what enables men to take risk that ladies can't necessarily take.
[27:17] because the thing that burns is the bridge of if I do this then this will happen. It is the consequence. That is why you find so many young men about the age of 20 doing, let's say this the proper way, stupid stuff.
[27:33] I always say don't trust a man until he's at least 28 because then that bridge is a little bit connected. I don't mean don't trust him not to say anything I just mean don't trust him not to do anything that won't hurt him. Don't ever look at a young man and say don't hurt yourself because more than likely he doesn't know what hurt himself means.
[27:48] And God made him that way. And the reason God made him that way and I explained this to husbands is because God created you with the ability to be tunnel vision and to take risk. And the reason he created you with the ability to take risk is because you're to be the influencer.
[28:04] And the reason he created ladies to empathize is because somebody's got to care about everybody else that's getting influenced by the risk being taken. Right? Somebody's got to care about everybody behind them. It's a perfectly balanced.
[28:16] Almost seems like Genesis. Right? A perfect helpmate. Because without the influence of the woman on the home nobody gets cared about. But without the influence of the man on the home no risk are taken.
[28:31] And there's no point of direction. Or if it is taken it is given in an improper way. And as some have said ladies I'm sorry that's not your responsibility to carry.
[28:42] And when you carry it it's too hard. These men took their stand and they influenced it. Number three. These were intentional men. These were intentional men.
[28:55] That is they were intentional about what they did. The one took his stand and clung his sword. The other went into the middle of the lentils field and took his stand and clung his sword. And then you meet my favorite one.
[29:07] If you've been with us on Sunday night and Wednesday nights we're reading through 1st Samuel and we're going through 1st Samuel you know who my favorite one is right? And you see here it is Benaniah. I love Benaniah. I love me some Benaniah.
[29:17] The fact that I love him is because he's the son of Jehodiah the son of a valiant man of Kabzil. Benaniah had a dad who was a valiant man. By the way Benaniah wasn't who he was accidentally because he was the son of a valiant man.
[29:32] And this valiant man who was his dad had done some mighty deeds. But Benaniah killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab and here's this obscure passage but I want you to see it.
[29:42] He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. That's Benaniah. But you know what that is? That is intentionality. Think about this. The lion is already in the pit.
[29:57] The wording tells us Benaniah or anybody else or nor would be the right word nor anybody else is in the pit with the lion. The lion is in the pit on a snowy day.
[30:08] I don't know why we need to know it's snowing but it's a snowy day. But the lion is already in the pit. So you would think a lion in the pit no harm no foul right? Let's leave the lion in the pit not Benaniah.
[30:20] Benaniah said this thing could get out of the pit and then we could have a problem so Benaniah was intentional. He went down into the pit to kill the lion. Because just because the enemy seems out of the way it doesn't mean he's been taken care of.
[30:33] But this fashioned him because sometime later we told he also killed him a mighty Egyptian. Same man who went down into a pit also had to fight an Egyptian.
[30:46] And this Egyptian had a spear and Benaniah had a club. He brought a stick to a knife fight is what happened. And then the text tells us in the same wording that Benaniah attacked the lion it says but he went down to the Egyptian because men listen to me when you fight the battles of God you always got to go down to fight the enemy because you go up to God's presence.
[31:08] He went down to the Egyptian and took his spear away from him because if he could go into a pit to kill a lion what is an Egyptian with a spear? I mean the lion's got four feet with claws and a mouth full of teeth the Egyptian's just got one spear.
[31:24] So he went down into the pit then he went down to the Egyptian and he took the Egyptian's spear and he killed that Egyptian with his own spear. You know what these things are? These are intentional acts.
[31:37] When David was thirsty there were three who intentionally went to Bethlehem and got a cup of water from the well at Bethlehem. David didn't drink it but it was an intentional act because listen to me we don't see a movement of mighty men without intentionally doing something about it.
[31:58] We can walk by the pit all day long and say yeah there's a lion down there but until we decide that lion's worth jumping in the pit and killing it don't matter. Satan has robbed men of their intentionality and has made them master in the unintentional.
[32:20] God has called us to intentionally lead and he's called us to intentionally act. that is the responsibility that's given to us. Right?
[32:31] We don't become mighty men by just hoping that something comes about. We serve as mighty men when we know something needs to be done and we do it. Does it mean it's easy?
[32:42] No. Nobody wants to jump into a pit on a snowy day with a lion. Nobody wants to run to an Egyptian with a stick and he's got a spear. Nobody wants to take his stand in the field of lentils by himself when there's a whole troop of Philistines.
[32:54] Nobody wants to continue to swing a sword when your hand is tired. Nobody wants to go get a cup of water from Bethlehem when the Philistines garrison is all around it. Nobody wants to do these things. It's not a matter of if we want to do them.
[33:06] It's a matter of should we do them. And when we realize the should then we get to the intentional and then we say we will do them and then it becomes that we must do them. And when it comes to the we must do them all of a sudden we're living with intentionality.
[33:21] Friend listen to me. Men and women there are some things we need to be intentional about and men you need to be intentional about what goes on in your home, what goes on in your private life, what goes on in your workplace, what goes on in your sphere of influence.
[33:35] There must be intentionality. Some of us have lines in a pit we need to jump down there and go ahead and kill it and get it over with. Some of us have Egyptians that are carrying spears and we're walking around the club so what put the club down and get his spear and kill him with his own spear.
[33:49] But take care of the problem, right? We need to be intentional about the things that are wrecking us because as long as we leave the lion in the pit on a snowy day there's a chance he could get out.
[34:05] It has to be intentional living because everybody's depending on it. Everybody's depending on it. Fourth and finally, this is where I asked you to put that marker in 1 Chronicles chapter 11.
[34:23] These were individual men. These were influential men. These were intentional men. These were inspired men. Number four, they were inspired men. For all the way that God fashioned and created man and women.
[34:40] I'm not trying to be derogatory here at all. I'm just trying to be intentional. people. We understand that when David was at the cave of Adullam, there were 600 men who gathered to him.
[34:52] About 600 men. Of their 600, only 37 have their names recorded. So there were 600 who were kind of outcast, vagabonds, didn't like what was going on in society, and they knew David was a good captain, and David led them.
[35:08] They won great victories. But only 37 of them have their names recorded. So not everyone could arise to the standard of the mighty men. The reality is this, no matter how big or small the congregation or church, not everyone is going to arise to the standard of a mighty man.
[35:24] Our might is not dependent upon our physical stature. Our might is not solely dependent upon our hereditary nature. Now, Benaniah had the influence of a father who did some mighty things, but that didn't make Benaniah who he was.
[35:40] Our might is not dependent upon our character because God made us as individuals. The thing that determines if there would be a movement of mighty men is what inspires them.
[35:55] It is inspiration. Mondays are one of the hardest days for a pastor. Not because things go bad.
[36:06] Not because of all the troubles. It's because everything you worked for for a whole week, you just spilled out in one day and therefore you're empty on Monday. And you're searching for inspiration.
[36:21] Even if you know where you're preaching, you still need to hear a new word. Because without inspiration, you have no motivation. And without no motivation, you have no intentionality and you're not going anywhere.
[36:33] I have routinely made it my habit that Mondays I'm back in the office. I try not to take Mondays off. Sometimes I do, but I try not to do it.
[36:44] And the reason I try not to do it is because that is the day where my mind is the least focused. That is the day where my mind is the most out of check. And that is the day where I'm kind of in this unintentional manner.
[36:55] And I don't want to give that to my wife. So I come in here and I get by myself and allow God to give me some inspiration. Each one of us deal with that.
[37:06] That's not something that is peculiar or even particular to the pastors. Each one of us. We lose inspiration very quickly.
[37:17] And without inspiration, most of the time there's just rampant hesitation. We sit still. But for these men that were around David, these mighty men whom he had, they were inspired.
[37:30] And they were inspired enough to do something. They influenced their situation by changing the circumstances. They inspired others by bringing them back.
[37:43] They were intentional about what they did. They fought battles nobody else would fight. And the reason they did it is because they were inspired in a way nobody else was.
[37:56] We find the answer to that in the second recording of David's mighty men in 1 Chronicles chapter 11 verse 10. Just one verse. Look at this verse. Now these are the heads of the mighty men whom David had.
[38:11] Seems the same right here, right? Now these are the heads of the mighty men whom David had who gave him strong support in his kingdom together with all Israel to make him king according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel.
[38:27] I'm going to read it again. Who gave him strong support in his kingdom together with all Israel to make him king according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel.
[38:38] What inspired these men to be mighty men whom David could count on? Mighty men who would change their circumstances. Mighty men who affected their society.
[38:49] What inspired them? Well the first thing that inspired them is they believed the word of the Lord. God had said David was king. Saul said he wasn't.
[39:00] But they chose to believe God over Saul. They believed what the word of the Lord said because it says according to the word of the Lord. The thing that inspires men is when men will quit believing what society says and begin believing what God says.
[39:18] When they will believe the word of God and they will stand and take action upon the word of God in spite of what this world declares.
[39:30] The first inspiration we see is the Lord has said therefore it must be so. The second thing that inspired them because they believed the word of the Lord they knew the man they were serving was king.
[39:43] They said David's a king. Well David's hiding in a cave. It doesn't matter. God says he's a king. He is a king. We're going to give him allegiance like he's a king. Well a lot of people say he's an outlaw.
[39:53] It doesn't matter. God says he's a king. A lot of people say he did wrong. It doesn't matter. God said he's a king. He's hiding in a cave. It doesn't matter. God says he's a king. When we serve him we're serving a king and we're going to serve him like a king.
[40:06] So they looked to David like he was king. And in serving him as king they knew that in their service they were ushering in a kingdom. And they were going to bring about a kingdom that the man they were serving was going to set up on the throne and they were inspired because God said a kingdom was coming.
[40:23] And since the kingdom was coming and they were connected to the king they would have a place in the kingdom and they served like everything depended upon it. See they didn't just see a man hiding in a cave running from Saul.
[40:35] They saw a man who had been anointed and appointed as king by the Lord God Almighty and they were just waiting on the revelation of the kingdom. I'm about to get excited. And if some of you ain't figured out where I'm going yet you should have already been there.
[40:48] Because the Bible tells me that I serve a king. Some people say he's a man that was laid in a cave. I say he ain't there no more. Some people say he's an outlaw that they hung on a cross. And I say he ain't there no more.
[40:58] Some people say he did good things but we don't know about him. And I say I don't care. I know what God says about him. God said he is my son in whom I am well pleased. And the Bible tells me he's the king of kings and Lord of lords.
[41:10] Well the world says he's a good prophet or the world said he was a good doer of good deeds. I don't care what the world says. The world says when I give my allegiance to Jesus I'm committing to a king.
[41:22] The world says when he lived 2,000 years ago I don't care. The Bible says a kingdom's coming. That someday soon the king himself is coming back on a white horse. And when he comes in on a white horse he's setting up on a throne.
[41:34] And when he sets up his throne it tells me his mighty men and women will be gathered around his throne. Setting up on the thrones and ruling with him because I serve a king. And my inspiration for what I do is the fact that the one that I have pledged my allegiance to no matter what the world says about him the Bible tells me he's a king.
[41:54] And I believe the word of God not the word of man. And when it tells me he's a king he deserves it. And when it tells me he's a king then shouldn't I be willing to be the man he's called me to be because he's the king he's going to be.
[42:11] He's already on the throne. Men we need a movement of mighty men because we serve a king not just a savior.
[42:25] He is both savior and king. He saved you redeemed you and purchased you and made you new. He's done it for you too ladies. He's the king of kings and lord of lords and he deserves our full-fledged obedience and allegiance.
[42:40] And we serve him like he's the king. Things are different. Things are different. Let's pray. Lord Jesus we thank you so much for who you are.
[42:58] Lord we stand in awe of your wondrous splendor. Sometimes we get caught up in the cares and concerns of this life that we forget about the position you hold over it.
[43:14] So Lord we stand in awe of who you are. Lord I thank you for the men and the women who are present. I thank you for the representation of fathers in this place.
[43:26] Lord I know that many of us have failed including myself. Oh we fall short. Lord we're reminded even in this list of mighty men these weren't perfect men they were just available men.
[43:40] So Lord we ask that you forgive us for where we failed you. Restore us that we may be used more by you. Lord may we be intentional.
[43:53] May the inspiration move us to walk today like we've never walked before for your glory and yours alone. We ask that you would have your way in this place at this time. And we ask it all in Jesus name.
[44:06] Amen. Amen.
[44:55] Amen. Amen.
[45:55] Amen. Amen.
[46:55] Amen.
[47:26] Amen. Thank you.