Prayer and Spiritual Warfare – 13

                                                       Prayer and Spiritual Warfare – 13

Subject – Armor Bearers

By Rick Welborne

Ephesians 6:10-20 (NIV)
¹⁰  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
¹¹  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
¹²  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.
¹³  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.
¹⁴  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
¹⁵  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
¹⁶  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
¹⁷  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
¹⁹  Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
²⁰  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. 

—Last week I talked to you about being armed servants...soldiers with the full armor of God willing to serve their God and people.

—We said how interesting it is that our military branches…many thousands devote themselves to protecting freedoms, maintaining peace, providing relief, and supporting policy around the globe. 

--It requires self-discipline, intense physical work, and time away from family and friends while protecting America and its citizens at home and abroad.

--No matter who our commander and chief is...he needs those armed soldiers to stand with him and protect our country and our allies around the world. We must pray every day.                                                     

--While I was reading and praying about what to share for today I ran across a term...a concept of being an armor bearer. This will probably be the last in this series.

1. To be an armor bearer we must be loyal to the authorities we serve.

Terry Nance - God's Armor Bearer: What does an armor bearer do? In OT days, he was responsible for carrying his master's shield (armor) into battle. He had the awesome responsibility of seeing to the safety of his officer or leader.

—Our modern day military is responsible for being our commander and chief's and our country's armor bearers to protect us from our enemies.

—Every leader needs an armor bearer or armor bearers to protect him and to be willing to lay down their lives or sacrifice for their leader.

Nance - In the church we have become accustomed to having our leaders serve us instead of us serving them. This is particularly true of our attitude toward the man or woman of God.

—Nance said: You will never flow in the anointing of Elisha until we have learned to serve an Elijah.

2 Kings 2:9-15 (NCV)
⁹  After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you before I am taken from you?“ Elisha said, “Leave me a double share of your spirit.“
¹⁰  Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. If you don’t, it won’t happen.“
¹¹  As they were walking and talking, a chariot and horses of fire appeared and separated Elijah from Elisha. Then Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
¹²  Elisha saw it and shouted, “My father! My father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!“ And Elisha did not see him anymore. Then Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them to show how sad he was.
¹³  He picked up Elijah’s coat that had fallen from him. Then he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
¹⁴  Elisha hit the water with Elijah’s coat and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?“ When he hit the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.
¹⁵  The groups of prophets at Jericho were watching and said, “Elisha now has the spirit Elijah had.“ And they came to meet him, bowing down to the ground before him. 

--Elisha had learned the way to receive and walk in the anointing of God was by serving and being an armor bearer to the one (Elijah) God had placed him under.

--Elisha learned what we must learn…we cannot be distracted from serving the Elijahs in our lives. There will always be those who want to get us off course. Be loyal to those whose authority you are under.

--Hear me, I do not speak of that which I do not understand…I have served with some who seemed to be undeserving of my loyalty but God taught me early in my walk with Him to remain loyal and faithful.

--There were those who came to me trying to get me to write a letter or just provide information about how the leader was treating me unfair but I refused because of this principle.

1 Chronicles 16:22 (NIV) ²²  "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." 

--This is speaking of God’s leaders but it is also talking about how we treat each other…Ephesians tells us to submit to one another in the fear of the Lord…we are all God’s anointed ones.

--We will do ourselves well if we let God deal with those we feel are out of line. We do what we do as unto the Lord…The key is do everything for the glory of God not man.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV) ³¹  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

2. To be an armor bearer we must be willing to lay down our lives or protect our leaders.

John 15:13 (NKJV) 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. 

—It is not difficult to claim we are submitted to Jesus, but the question is: are we submitted to another human being? That is a different story.

Listen to this story of a modern day armor bearer: Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guinta receiving the Presidents medal 

of honor. He was leading his men when hit by enemy fire in Afghanistan. Two were shot…pinned down.

When the third was struck in the helmet and fell to the ground, Sal charged headlong into the wall of bullets to pull him to safety behind what little cover there was. As he did, Sal was hit twice, one round slamming into his body armor, the other shattering a weapon slung across his back.

They were pinned down, and two wounded Americans still lay up ahead. So Sal and his comrades regrouped and counterattacked. They threw grenades, using the explosions as cover to run forward, shooting at the muzzle flashes still erupting from the trees. Then they did it again. And again. Throwing grenades, charging ahead. Finally, they reached one of their men. He'd been shot twice in the leg, but he had kept returning fire until his gun jammed.

As another soldier tended to his wounds, Sal sprinted ahead, at every step meeting relentless enemy fire with his own. He crested a hill alone, with no cover but the dust kicked up by the storm of bullets still biting into the ground. There, he saw a chilling sight: the silhouettes of two insurgents carrying the other wounded American away who happened to be one of Sal's best friends. Sal never broke stride. He leapt forward. He took aim. He killed one of the insurgents and wounded the other, who ran off.

Sal found his friend alive, but badly wounded. Sal had saved him from the enemy -- now he had to try to save his life. Even as bullets impacted all around him, Sal grabbed his friend by the vest and dragged him to cover. For nearly half an hour, Sal worked to stop the bleeding and help his friend breathe until the MEDEVAC arrived to lift the wounded from the ridge. American gunships worked to clear the enemy from the hills. And with the battle over, First Platoon picked up their gear and resumed their march through the valley. They continued their mission.

It had been as intense and violent a firefight as any soldier will experience. By the time it was finished, every member of First Platoon had shrapnel or a bullet hole in their gear. Five were wounded. And two gave their lives: Sal's friend, Sergeant Joshua C. Brennan, and the platoon medic, Specialist Hugo V. Mendoza.

—Sal was willing to lay down his life for his country and his fellow soldiers...friends. What a true military armor bearer!

—Definition of armor bearer...two Hebrew words: Nasa - to lift, to hold up, to help, to respect. Keliy - to complete, to bring to pass, to end.

—Nance says the armor-bearer is to stand beside his leader to lift him up, to assist him and to protect him doing everything he can to bring an end to or to bring to pass the attacks of the enemy against his leader.

3. Paul was asking for and we are asking for you to be our armor bearers.

2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV) 

7  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

--Paul was the ultimate soldier...the ultimate fighter for Christ but he needed armor bearers. Listen to our text: After Paul said put on the armor…listen to his request for armor bearers.

Ephesians 6:18-20 (NIV)
¹⁸  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
¹⁹  Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
²⁰  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. 

—Paul said: Put your armor on...pray in the Spirit...pray for the saints...but please pray for me...stand with me...

hold me up...fight with me...be my armor bearer! He continues:

Philippians 1:19-21 (NLT)
¹⁹  For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

²⁰  For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.
²¹  For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 

—Paul was saying as you become my armor bearer:

A. The Spirit of Jesus helps me! 19

 B. Your prayer will deliver me! 

C. I will never be ashamed! 20 

D. I will be bold for Christ.

E. My life will bring honor and glory to Christ.   

F. My life will be lived for Christ. 21

—Your pastors need armor bearers just like Paul did. I am inviting you to put on your armor, to pray in the Spirit, to pray for one another, and to come along side of us and be our armor bearers. Pray the above: