Our Armor Bearer - The Holy Spirit
PPT 1 Series Title
I am in a series of message on releasing the lion inside of us.
PPT 2 Text
1Sa 14:6 Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few."
1Sa 14:7 "Do all that you have in mind," his armour-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul." (NIV)
Jonathan single handedly decided he would attack the whole Philistine army by himself.
Picture one person deciding to attack a whole army. That is a crazy idea. Not for a man who had the lion of Judah inside him! The righteous are as bold as a lion, and in this case even more bold than a lion, because a lion won't attack a whole group it will go after a loner, a baby, and the sick or the weak. Jonathan shows himself bolder than the roaring lion satan who wouldn't dare attempt a frontal assault on the army/people of God. Jonathan went straight after the heart of the enemy camp, it is almost as if he believed the gates of hell couldn't stop him, imagine that a man who believed what the bible says!
In this message I am going to show that Jonathan wasn't alone he had an armor bearer with him. An armor bearer is not something we have in modern warfare, as we go through this message I will explain who they are and what they did. Also don't think of some medieval guy in a silver suit of armor. I doubt they were every anything more than for show. Armor has to be practical.
This unnamed "young," man was an armor bearer who was all in on this seemingly insane idea from the get go. I am with you heart and soul, if you are going to face a battle with life and death consequences that is the kind of person you want fighting beside you!
Last week I spoke about how as a pastor I am to be an armor bearer for the church, it is my scriptural mandate to equip (that is one thing an armor bearer does) the church. I try to fill that role as best I can, but there is one who is infinitely better than I am, so this morning I want to talk about the Holy Spirit as our armor bearer. The only ghost or spirit most people know if is some crazy idea about haunted houses. The Holy Ghost is not one who haunts, He is part of the trinity, He is one who blesses.
Who's your armor-bearer? Who walks onto the front-lines of battle with you as you live your life and walk on your journey through the world? Whose got your back, who can you say is with you heart and soul?
In the passage before us Jonathan was the son of the first king of Israel, and he had a full time professional as his personal armor bearer. When it comes to the choice of an armor bearer, you don't want some maybe show, no show kind of person. Nor do you want someone to desert you when it gets dangerous, or who will abandon you if your life starts to unravel and you personally fall apart.
We live in age where it is all about getting to the top, and if anyone hinders you are is a drag on you, you should get them out of your life. Dump them, you don't want people who will hold you back.
There are two reasons that is a terrible life strategy, the first is a lot of people have potential that needs to be developed. Everyone who thinks they are someone was that person at one time in their own life. When they were a baby someone wiped their but. Second is someone will view you as a drag on their life. Do you want to be dumped or developed. Do unto others... Our armor bearer the Holy Spirit doesn't dump us and we should not be so quick to cut people out of our lives who need help to get to a higher level in life.
That is why I have chosen to speak about the Holy Spirit as our armor bearer, he won't chuck you to the side when you have a rough patch of life, and He won't forget to show up for work, or run away because it is dangerous. People might, and often do.
If you have some kind of crazy contagious disease, I will wave to you from the other side of the quarantine glass. But the doctors and nurses won't. Even more so God's Holy Spirit won't.
Things an armor bearer does:
1. In charge of providing the necessary tools. Weapons offensive and defensive.
Even as major sports organizations have equipment managers to make sure the players have everything they need to play at peak performance, so the Holy Spirit is God's equipment manager and He has everything we need for every situation we will face in life.
2. He helps us put on the armor. Ephesians 6 some armor you put on yourself, some you need help with. Having armor and putting it on properly sometimes requires the assistance of another, especially it has to be tied around our backs. We have all seen operating room dramas: the doctor asks for surgical tools: Scalpel, clamps, Etc, and the dutiful nurse has it all at the ready and puts it in the doctors hands. The armor bearer is there to give you what you need, they put it in your hand so to speak. Some things we don't have in our repertoire, and we can't tie down and secure certain parts of our armor. The Holy Spirit is there to help us with that.
3. He stays with you through thick and thin.
PPT 3 text
John 14:16 "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
The word helper there is paracletos and it means: Summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid. They are under orders to protect and serve. Also notice the duration of the service: Forever.
Armor bearers stay with their assignment in the heat of the battle.
He was right there beside the king?wherever the king went?he was there
A lot of people will stay with you in the while it's going good, but how many of you know when things are going bad?many so called friends abandon ship.
Friends multiply our strength, especially in those times where we are exhausted and worn down by circumstances or life. The Holy Spirit will always be there, faithfully by our side as the, "I am with you heart and soul armor bearer."
Isolation is one of the devil's favorite schemes, get them alone they are weaker. No one is ever alone who has the Holy Spirit with them.
4. An armor bearer encourages us. I am with you heart and soul!
Like a pro golf caddy. Or a professional sports coach. They do way more than carry the clubs, and make decisions about substitutions. They give advice, they counsel, they instruct, they pump you up when you are down. Another way that the Holy Spirit is described is: Comforter in John 14:26 and other verses. A comforter is one who brings comfort who cheers us on when we feel like quitting. The Holy Spirit is an amazing armor bearer!
5. An armor bearer will step in when you are weak and in danger.
The word spirit literally means breath and wind. God breathed into man the breath of life. Ruach is the Hebrew word. God can breath life into your heart, your health, your marriage, your mind. A similar word the bible uses is quicken. In psalm 71:20 David said that God would quicken him again. It means to breath life into him again. The Holy Spirit can and will breath life into us when we have run out of strength and energy.
6. He fights alongside you, and protects your weak spots.
He watches your back, but He doesn't fight for you. He does His part you do yours.
7. You have to ask for the equipment.
Have you ever thought about that? You have to ask for His advice. He doesn't force His help on anyone. You have to ask Him to breath life into you. Have you ever asked the Holy Spirit to help you? This shouldn't be a once and life thing. It should be a daily and moment by moment relationship. Going back to the operating room scene the doctor asks the nurse for what instrument specifically he wants/needs, and then he asks for the next and so on. God doesn't force his equipment into our hands He has designed things that we should ask.
You have not because you ask not. (James 4:2b)
Close: Take time to thank God for our armor bearer. Encourage people to seek the Holy Spirit and to ask specifically for what they need. The breath of life, the armor of God, encouragement etc. Pray at the altar.
