Being an Armor Bearer

Note: Please accept our apologies for the late posting of this past Sunday's notes. We WILL do better!!!
Text: John 21:15-17  

15  So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

In our text we see Jesus asked Peter the same question 3 times. This question is one that we must ask ourselves - Do we love Him?

a.   When you love right, you will act right, serve right, and follow right.

b.   Along with His question, He gave a command twice. We will examine this command today.

c.   Verse 22  Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

d.   In a world full of compromise and sin, we must learn to follow the pure example that Jesus set.

What is the mentality of an Armor Bearer? Every person in this room is commanded to be an armor bearer. An armor bearer is one that protects someone else.

a.   We all must be armor bearers to one another. This is a high calling, and one that takes supernatural help to do.

b.   In order to truly be an armor bearer to another, we must get out of ourselves and stop being selfish.

c.   There are some things that every follower of Christ needs. There was not a greater armor bearer than Christ who came to give His life for us, a ransom for many.

d.   The Bible tells us that Jesus took upon Himself the form of a man, and became obedient to the point of death.

e.   Humility is a readiness to risk self-humiliation. One reason why we cannot humble ourselves is we are afraid to put ourselves out there, lest somebody have something to say, and that stops us from being an example of what Christ told us to be.

f.    Jesus washed the feet of Judas, although He knew that those would be the same feet that would go to the soldiers and betray Him. He served a man whom He knew was not worthy of His service, but did it anyway.

g.   We say, I'm afraid to try to help other people, because if they say something about me, it may damage me, but if you say that, you have just admitted to yourself that your relationship with God is nowhere where it needs to be.

1.   In order to be an armor bearer, we have to have a servant's mentality.

a.   It is better to have a servant's mentality that it is to have talent. Many people with talent allow that talent to pervert them.

b.   It is wrong to treat people good only if they treat you good. The people that you don't like are probably the people you need to get to know the most.

c.   John 13:12-13

12  So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

13  Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

             i.        Christ knew who He was, He didn't need anybody to validate Him. The problem with us is that we often look to other people to validate our gifts.

            ii.        Christ didn't need the disciples to validate Him. When you know who you are, you cannot be manipulated.  You will do what you do because you know who you are in Christ.

          iii.        We cannot look to people for validation, because the people we look to for validation will break our hearts. As long as God validates us, we don't need to care how other people feel.

d.   "I love you, but I don't love you enough to allow you to control me.

             i.    There is only one who needs to have control in one's life and that's God.

e.   Many times Jesus let the disciples knew, I am God, I am the One. Jesus said verily verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.

f.    John 13:14  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

             i.    If I have served you, you also ought to serve one another, if I acted as your armor bearer, you also ought to act as each other's armor bearers.

g.   John 13:15-17

15  For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

16  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

17  If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

             i.        It's not that we don't know, because we do know, but how many of you know, that sometimes there is a big gap between what you know and what you do?

            ii.        The people that have learned how to be doers are happy. They have learned how to put things in their right perspective. These people have learned that God is bigger than anything that could come into their life.

h.   Too many times we want to be served, instead of being the one doing the serving. Happy are you if you do them.

             i.    The word Happy is translated to blessed. It means to be "fully satisfied in yourself."

            ii.    Strength has nothing to do with your circumstances, because fulfillment comes from within, not from without.

          iii.    Money never brings fulfillment. Money was only meant to be a current, it was never meant for you to put your trust in it, it was meant for you to use it for the glory of God.

          iv.    To be fully satisfied means you got an inner peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding.

           v.    If your happiness is dependent on the things that happen, you will be on an emotional roller coaster.

i.     A person that's full of self is a person that's never fully satisfied, they always want more.

j.    The word Happy has nothing to do with favorable circumstances, it is a happiness that only God can give you.

k.   God knows what you need, and in due time, He will meet that need. Right now, it is not time to focus on the need, it is time to focus on the purpose.

l.     Jesus constantly set an example, and of Jesus the immortal, all-knowing, I am, came as a servant, what makes us think we're better than Him?

2.   An armor bearer has to truly LOVE.

a.   What allows you to be an armor bearer is not how others treat you, it is the love you have for Him.

b.   You will learn to look at the other person as if you are looking through the eyes of Christ, you will begin to say "Lord, teach me to see them as You see them, to Love them as You Love them."

c.   If our church could ever get there, we would see a great revival, not only in our church, but in our community.

d.   I wonder, when we stand before Christ and He says I gave my life for you so that you wouldn't have to worry about death, will we say "Lord I was the finest soldier that I could be for you!"

e.   What is love? Love is a commitment, you cannot have love without commitment.

f.    If a man is not willing to commit to you, he's telling you he doesn't love you. Don't ever waste your time on a joker that won't commit to you.

g.   If you love someone, you will try to give them what they need, not what they want. They may want to be comforted, but sometimes they don't need to be comforted, they need to be confronted.

h.   Love is the ability to put others needs before your own. When you truly love God, you learn how to put Him before anything else.

i.     The way God loves us, is the way we must strive to love each other.

             i.        Lay yourself down for somebody else. It takes supernatural power to do that. That separates the fakers from who's real.

j.    Jesus, the strongest man who ever walked the earth, got punched in His face and the hairs in His beard yanked out, uttered not a word.

             i.        He did what He did because He knew what the Father wanted Him to do, and set a powerful example that we must learned to follow.

            ii.        The Bible tells us to study to be quiet. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you could do is shut your mouth, and say Lord, regulate my mind.

3.  An armor bearer must learn to walk in the Spirit, because the flesh will not allow you to do what God wants you to do.

a.   If you allow yourself to get in the flesh, you will render evil for evil.

b.   The Spirit of God empowers us to do the will of God.

c.   Do you know how to be filled with the Spirit?

             i.        Just ask Him. Ask Him to show you how to see with the eyes of the Spirit and not the eyes of the flesh. It's that simple.

            ii.        When is the last time you asked the Spirit to fill you?

d.   The church can only be unified as we are led by the Spirit?

e.   If you don't give God time to regulate your mind, you will be frustrated.

             i.        If you spend all your time on Facebook, you aren't giving God enough time.

f.    If we want the power of God, it's not gonna happen if you walk in the counsel of the ungodly.

g.   Meditate in His Word day and night, and you shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

             i.        Waters represent adversity. Adversity to us is like water to a tree.

h.   Get in the presence of God, and let's pray that God will bring revival in this place, so we can affect our neighborhood and all the surrounding communities.

God didn't place us on this hill for us to start acting like He isn't alive. We are here for a purpose that's higher than a good choir, and the pastor having a lot of money. Our purpose is a lot higher than that.