Walking With a Warrior
Pastor J.P. Fuller 5/13/2025
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49:37
Summary
Pastor J.P. Fuller calls the congregation to move beyond being spectators and become 'armor bearers' who walk alongside and protect their spiritual leaders in battle. Using the example of Jonathan and his armor bearer, he emphasizes that the church's greatest victories occur when the body stands in unwavering unity with its warriors.
Key points
- •Ministry leadership is under intense pressure and spiritual attack, making the role of the 'armor bearer' - those who support and protect their leaders - vital for the health of the church.
- •A true armor bearer does not just enjoy the perks of leadership but actively places themselves between the leader and harm, especially during times of travail or criticism.
- •Victory in spiritual warfare often depends on the unity between the warrior and the supporter; Jonathan and his armor bearer proved that 'few with God are the majority' through their mutual commitment.
- •Walking with a warrior requires developing the same spirit - hanging around those with a warrior spirit transforms common people (like the 'Adullamites') into 'mighty men of valor.'
- •Honoring spiritual leadership through trophies of victory and public support provides the emotional and spiritual fuel pastors need to continue the fight.
Scripture
Spiritual Warfare
Leadership Support
Unity
Honor
Transformation
Life application
Commit to being a shield for your pastoral leadership this week by praying specifically for their mental and spiritual protection and by speaking words of public honor that counteract the weight of their burdens.
Reflection questions
- Are you currently an armor bearer who provides strength, or a consumer who adds to the leader's weight?
- What 'spoils' or testimonies of God's work in your life can you share with your pastor to encourage them this week?
- When your leaders face 'cliff-face' moments that don't make sense to conventional wisdom, are you willing to say, 'Do all that is in your heart; I am with you'?
- How has being part of this local body transformed you from a 'rebel' into a 'mighty person of valor'?
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Full transcript
0:00it's a bonus to be here on a Tuesday
0:00night. And so I'm thrilled to be here
0:01with you. God bless you. Sit down if
0:03that's what you do. I You know, I told
0:06Pastor Als, it's Tuesday night. What do
0:08you do? Do you preach, teach? I don't
0:11know if we know the difference, but
0:13we're going to just we're going to have
0:15a little fun tonight in the house of
0:17God. I believe that the kingdom of God
0:20is at hand. I believe that God's
0:22greatest work is yet to come and I'm
0:25glad to be a part of it with you. So, I
0:27will I'll fix this story for Pastor
0:30Elms. Let me fix it here. So, I was I
0:34was in the Marine Corps and I had been
0:36in for uh several years. I had done most
0:40of my deployments by this time. I had
0:42one more to go and I met who was to be
0:47my wife of 27 years next
0:51[Music]
0:53month. I know I know she doesn't look
0:57that old, but I So when I met her, I
1:01said, "Well, listen. Here's what I'm
1:02going to do for you. I'm going to I'm
1:04going to give you my phone number." Now,
1:06listen, wait a minute. This this was
1:08before cell phones, you understand? And
1:11so I had a friend of mine who had an
1:13apartment that happened to have a phone
1:15because you had to have money to pay for
1:17them back then. And so they had a phone
1:20and I said, "I'm going to give you my
1:22number." And she said, "Oh, here's the
1:26deal. I don't call
1:29boys." Well, I had no idea what to say
1:33next. So she saved me again. She said,
1:35"But I tell you what I'll do. I'll give
1:37you mine." And I said, "All right, deal.
1:41So, I went home that evening and I
1:44couldn't wait till the next morning. So,
1:45I stayed up all night and I called her
1:49because we had a date set. We were going
1:51to go to the movies. We weren't in the
1:53church. We were going to go to the
1:54movies and go I was going to take her
1:55out to eat. And I
1:58called Ghost.
2:02Man, got me. That's what I
2:05get. So, I called about 15 more times in
2:08a row.
2:11And she answered the phone finally.
2:14Hello. I said, "You okay?" She Yeah, I
2:17was I was next door. I I said, "Okay,
2:19super cool. I'll be there in five
2:21minutes." I didn't know she had just,
2:24you know, gotten out of the shower was
2:25trying to get ready. It takes longer
2:26than five minutes apparently, unless
2:28unless Brother Huntley pulls in the
2:30driveway, then you then they get done
2:32dressed fast. And so we went on a date
2:36and we hung out. We were chilling. we
2:38had met at the bar, honky tonk,
2:40whatever. And she said, "So, let me ask
2:43you a
2:44question." She said, "You go to church?"
2:47I said,
2:48"Man, no." She said, "Have you ever gone
2:52to church?" I said, "I have, actually."
2:54She said, "Well, what what religion are
2:57you?" I said, "Well, I don't think
2:59they're anywhere but Texas. I I I just I
3:01I've never heard of them anywhere else."
3:03She said, "Well, what is it?" I was on
3:05Pentecostal.
3:08And she sat she sat bolt upright in her
3:11bed and she said,
3:12"What? You been reading my
3:15Bible?" I said, "Come on, man. No." She
3:19said, "You're not Pentecostal." I said,
3:20"I am, too. Watch." And I pulled my dog
3:22tags out and you had to put something on
3:24your dog tags of some kind of religion
3:27that you were, and it said
3:29Pentecostal. She said, "I'm
3:31Pentecostal." I said, "No, nah. No, you
3:35ain't." She said, "Yes, I am." I said,
3:38"No, you're not." She said, "Yes, I am."
3:41And she she said, "Well, how do you
3:43know?" I said, "Cuz I can tell by
3:44looking at
3:45you." Now, you now hold on. Hold on.
3:49Time
3:49out. Don't get mad at me
3:53yet. The only reason I knew is because
3:55when I was 16 years old, there was a
3:57little Pentecostal church around the
3:58corner.
4:00And I remember going in there one night
4:02upon invite from some friends of mine
4:04whose parents were backsliders, but
4:05their grandmother was the old matriarch
4:07that made everybody go to church. And so
4:09I was kind of afraid of her. And so I
4:11went to church. And when I was 16, I was
4:15filled with the Holy Ghost, baptized in
4:16Jesus name. Now before you clap, it
4:19didn't
4:24take. It didn't take. It wasn't God's
4:28fault, but it just didn't
4:31take. And she said, "Well, well, how do
4:33you know what Pentecostal girls look
4:34like?" And listen, I didn't know
4:35anything, but this is what I did know. I
4:37remember one verse of scripture. I said,
4:39"Well, here's what they believe. They
4:41believe you got to be baptized in Jesus
4:43name. You got to get the Holy Ghost.
4:45Speak in other tongues. You got to
4:47repent before you do all that." And they
4:50don't dress like you.
4:53And so I gave her some details on how
4:55she needed to be acting and how she
4:56needed to be
5:00dressing. And so as it were, she was in
5:03the honky tonk. I was trying to win
5:05souls. She was in
5:07there. But but
5:12listen, she sat both upright. She we
5:15were we were we were at her dorm and she
5:17sat up in her chair and she said, "Boy,
5:19let me tell you something." She said,
5:21"Just a few weeks ago, I got baptized in
5:24Jesus name." Just a few weeks prior to
5:27that, I got the Holy Ghost. She said,
5:29"What was the name of that church that
5:31you went to?" I said, "It was called
5:32Jesus Name United Pentecostal Church."
5:35And she said, "Boy, this ain't no
5:38coincidence. We're going to church." The
5:40next Sunday, we got up and got dressed.
5:41It just so happened to be Easter Sunday,
5:441997. I thought I was some dude. I got
5:47into my dress blues. I had a chest full
5:49of medals. I walked in there with my
5:51high and tight haircut and before I knew
5:53it, before the church service was over,
5:55I was down at the front with my hands
5:57lifted, my white gloves, my black suit,
6:00and my clear tears, I was balling my
6:03eyes out asking God to forgive me one
6:05more time. And God, that time it took.
6:08And I want you to know we've had some
6:10struggles getting started. But once it
6:12took, I want to let you know from that
6:14day to this, we have never looked back.
6:17Folks, the Holy Ghost is real. And if
6:19you don't think God doesn't know where
6:21you're at, you're mistaken. He sees you
6:24every day, he knows where you are. And
6:26brother Elms, when we walk back in that
6:28little old church about 5 years after I
6:31had left. Now, let me set the stage for
6:33you. You got a beautiful facility here.
6:36You got beautiful carpet. You have
6:38beautiful lighting, beautiful
6:40decorations in preparation for Pentecost
6:42Sunday. You've got beautiful people.
6:44You've got technology.
6:47This little old church was a shotgun
6:49style church. It had tan and brown and
6:52red shag carpet. It had brown paneling
6:55on the walls, swamp coolers on the
6:57ceilings that you had to spray with
6:59water in the summertime to keep you
7:00cool. It had five brick dearorn heaters
7:03on the wall to keep you warm in the
7:04winter. They didn't have fancy lighting
7:07and fancy uh words on the screen. We had
7:10sing unto the Lord's song books. I
7:12thought I saw one in here a while ago.
7:17No,
7:19cuz I don't
7:20sing. But let me tell you something.
7:23When I walked back into that church that
7:25had an old warship for a pull pit and
7:28had a a SM58 microphone with a 100 foot
7:32cable plugged into a guitar amp. That's
7:34all they had. this old white-haired
7:36preacher. He walked down that center
7:37aisle with these old hard wooden pews
7:40and this ugly carpet and this lowslung
7:42ceiling and this upright piano in the
7:45corner and this Hammond A100 in the
7:47other corner. He walked right down the
7:49aisle right towards me and with tears in
7:51his face, she said, "Boy, I have prayed
7:54for you every day since the five years
7:56you have been gone and look what the
7:58Lord has done. You may be gone. You may
8:02be undone. You may think you are lost
8:04and nobody can find you. But I want you
8:06to know that God knows exactly where you
8:10are.
8:13We got to talk about something
8:16else. Oh, Holy Ghost.
8:23I want
8:25to wasting some time here.
8:291 Samuel, if you will, please.
8:33Chapter 14 verse
8:361-7. And I want to read something and I
8:39hope to help us tonight. I know it's
8:42Bible study so I'll calm
8:44down. But I want to help us tonight
8:47because I feel that if we can get the
8:49revelation of what Jonathan was going
8:52through, we can do greater things than
8:55we have ever done before. And here's
8:57what the word of the Lord says. Now it
8:59came to pass upon a day that Jonathan
9:02The son of Saul said unto the young man
9:04that bear his armor, "Come, let's go
9:07over to the Philistines garrison that's
9:09on the other side." But he told not his
9:13father. And Saul terried in the
9:15uttermost part of Giba under a
9:17pomegranate tree which was in
9:20Migron. And the people that were with
9:22him were about 600 men. and Aaya, the
9:25son of Ahitub, Icabad's brother, the son
9:28of Phineas, the son of
9:30Eli, the Lord's priest is Shiloh,
9:33wearing an ephod, by the way. And the
9:36priest knew not Jonathan was gone. And
9:38between the passages by which Jonathan
9:41sought to go over to the Philistines
9:43garrison, there was a sharp rock on the
9:45one side, there was a sharp rock on the
9:49other side, and the name of the one was
9:51Boz. And the name of the other was
9:54Sineia, the forefront of the one that
9:56was situ northward over against Mcmash
9:59and the other southward over against
10:00Gibia. In other words, Jonathan had
10:03found himself here between a rock and a
10:06hard
10:09place. And Jonathan said to the young
10:11man that bear his armor, "Come, let us
10:13go over to the garrison of these
10:15circumcised, and that it may be the Lord
10:17will work for us. For there's no
10:19restraint to the Lord to save by many or
10:21by
10:22few. Let me tell you something. You and
10:25God are the majority.
10:28You understand? That's right. That's
10:30just how it works. And his armor bearer
10:32said unto him, "Do all that is in thine
10:34heart. Whatever you
10:36decide, turn thee. Behold, I am with
10:39thee
10:40according to thy heart."
10:44I want to talk for a minute
10:46tonight or until we get
10:48convicted what it
10:51means to walk with a
10:54warrior. What it in what what what the
10:57job description is to stand arm in arm
11:01with a war
11:03fighter. To stand with somebody who was
11:06willing at every moment to engage in
11:08combat with the adversary.
11:11And what does it
11:12take to walk with
11:15him? Father, would you help us tonight?
11:18God, give us strength for the next few
11:20minutes to be engaged with what you have
11:23to say. Give us give us an understanding
11:26of where we need to be tonight so that
11:28we can follow your will in all ways.
11:31God, I pray you will touch every heart
11:33in the building, every mind. God, I pray
11:35for your anointing to be upon us in
11:38Jesus name. And everybody say, "Amen."
11:41God bless you. You may be
11:45seated. In one of the most famous
11:48passages in all of literature, Charles
11:50Dickens begins the classic novel of the
11:53French Revolution with these
11:55words. It was the best of
11:58times. It was the worst of
12:01times. And the reason why this comment
12:04is so drastically
12:07profound is because it's true.
12:11Anytime there is something
12:13good, there is inevitably
12:16going to be something bad.
12:19Life is a constant tension between good
12:23and bad, up and down, positive and
12:28negative. Anytime things are good,
12:31things are going to be bad. Anytime the
12:34Lord
12:35works, it should not shock us that the
12:39adversary is at work. Also,
12:45we are witnessing such a time in our
12:47earth right now. The word of God
12:50describes it as this, Pastor Elms, that
12:52where sin doth abound, and it certainly
12:55does, that grace does much more abound.
13:00And we believe that and we applaud that.
13:03So where hell is seemingly having its
13:05unbridled way, where hell is seemingly
13:08attacking us on every front, it ought
13:11not shock us that our services are
13:14getting better and better, that the Lord
13:16seems to be moving in greater ways than
13:18he ever has. We are not being stopped by
13:21the powers of the adversary. We are not
13:24being stopped by the form of culture
13:26that is around us. where sin will
13:29abound. I want you to know that grace
13:31will much more abound. Where sin would
13:33seem to find a foothold in everything
13:36that we do, it is no match for the power
13:39and the grace of God. I wish somebody in
13:41the building would just stand and give
13:43me a hand wave an offering right now
13:45saying, "God's been good to me. When I
13:47thought the devil had me, he didn't have
13:49me like I thought he did. When I thought
13:51the world was against me, it couldn't
13:53help me like God could help me.
14:06skip over some of this. I I I just I
14:08want God to move on us tonight. I want
14:11God to help us. There was a story many
14:15many years ago at our general conference
14:17where where uh CBS put out an article
14:20saying that that the Pentecostal
14:22movement was a offshoot of the Catholic
14:25Church.
14:27And because of that, our general
14:28superintendent every four years had to
14:30fly to Rome to get his marching orders
14:33from from the
14:36pope. That's what they
14:39say. And about the same time that that
14:41came out, that's not true, by the way.
14:44But about the same time that that came
14:46out, MSNBC wanted to show up at one of
14:49our general conferences in Birmingham,
14:51Alabama, and they wanted to interview
14:53people and they wanted to take videos of
14:55our church people. And they said they
14:57would stick to certain parameters. Well,
14:59they didn't stick to certain parameters,
15:01and it backfired on them actually. So
15:03the same day that CBS put out that
15:05nonsense about us reporting to the
15:07Catholic Church, MSNBC for about five or
15:10six times in a week put out this little
15:13special. But when they did, it wasn't
15:15people making fools of themselves. What
15:17they saw was the people of God loving
15:19people. What they saw was the people of
15:22God being healed by the power of the
15:24Holy Ghost. They saw people dancing and
15:26shouting and worshiping God. They saw a
15:29move of God and what the enemy had meant
15:31for evil.
15:35In that moment, it was the best of
15:39times and the worst of
15:41times. A well-known charismatic
15:44television personality was interviewed
15:46and asked, "Why are the people seeing
15:48here these Pentecostal people growing
15:50and reaching when so many others are
15:53not?" And his answer was this, and it
15:55rang true in 199 something. And I want
15:58you to know that I feel like it rings
15:59true in
16:012025. He said, "Well, going to church
16:03for most people is about like going to
16:05the dentist." Yet for these people, it's
16:07exciting and it's powerful and it's what
16:10church ought to be. I want you to know
16:12when we show up to the house of God,
16:14it's not for show. When we show up to
16:16the kingdom of God, it's not like going
16:18to the dentist. It's like going to the
16:20doctor, but it's the one that can heal
16:22all things and touch all things and help
16:25all things. When we come into the house
16:27of God, we enjoy oursel and we have a
16:30time in the Holy Ghost.
16:33Even former President Bill Clinton said,
16:35"If you get a chance to go to a
16:36Pentecostal church, you ought to go." I
16:39don't know how to explain it, but God is
16:41giving us favor in these last days. Uh,
16:44amen. The Bible says that the church was
16:46kept by the power of God. We used to be
16:49on the other side of the tracks. We were
16:51in the Brush Harbors. People were
16:53throwing tomatoes at us and marching
16:54with their shotguns to tell us that we
16:57weren't welcome in their city. But if
16:58you fast forward about 30 years, we're
17:01the largest buildings in town. We're the
17:03fastest growing movement in the world.
17:05And every Sunday, Pentecostal churches
17:07are having revival. It may have used to
17:10been the worst of times, but right now
17:13it is the best of times.
17:20We are in the best of
17:22times. I can't explain to you what God
17:25is doing at Sebring. I would love to be
17:28able to sit here and tell you of all the
17:30systems and strategies that I've put in
17:32place because I'm so awesome. I can't. I
17:35would love to be able to tell you what
17:37we do in Sebring that that that is
17:40bringing revival, baptizing 5, 10, eight
17:43people a month. I don't know what's
17:45happening. I couldn't explain it. If you
17:47asked me to preach a church growth
17:49seminar, it would be the shortest one
17:50you've ever
17:52seen. Brother Fuller, we'd like you to
17:54come up here and tell us all you know
17:56about growing churches. Okay, here we
17:58go. We come Saturday night
18:01prayer. We have pre-ervice
18:04prayer. Our Sunday school teachers study
18:06their lesson. They love kids. Our
18:10worship team joins together on Saturday
18:11night from about 6:00 to 7:30, unless
18:14they're being knuckleheads and they're
18:15staying till 8.
18:18We show up on Sunday morning, get there
18:20early. We get our minds right. We don't
18:22get distracted by a bunch of knucklehead
18:23worldly mess. And we get up there and we
18:25have great church. We have great
18:28worship. We've got mediocre preaching.
18:30We've got wonderful altar calls. And we
18:32love people to death before they leave
18:34the building. Church grow seminar over.
18:36Let's be dismissed and let's go eat. But
18:38what I can really tell you is that when
18:40we gather together in the house of God,
18:43people are coming that we have prayed
18:44for. Since the day we got on site, we
18:46said, "God, put us in the path of people
18:48that are hungry." So everybody I meet, I
18:51just dumb enough to feel like God put
18:52them there for me to talk to. So when
18:55they show up in the altar, I got to feel
18:57like they're hungry. When they show up
18:58at the church, I just feel like they're
19:00hungry. When they show up at the
19:02kingdom, all we do is love on them and
19:04preach to them. Brother Elms, it is the
19:06best of times.
19:12I would rather be a Pentecostal preacher
19:15today than at any time in the history of
19:18the
19:19church. I think the last century was
19:22something. If you think if you think the
19:2380s were good or the 90s were good, you
19:26hadn't seen nothing yet.
19:30I remember when a big Pentecostal church
19:33was 100 people. A big big church was two
19:37or 300 people. There are churches now
19:39that average three or 4 hundred people
19:41every Sunday and they're just a couple
19:43of years old. There are places in our
19:45towns where our churches are the largest
19:47churches, sometimes the most beautiful
19:49churches that you've ever seen in your
19:51life. And we have been blessed by it
19:54being the best of times.
20:03But it ought not to surprise
20:07us that when God is having his
20:12way, that the devil, the
20:15adversary, doesn't try to put his nose
20:18right in the middle of what's going on.
20:21And in the midst of the best of
20:24times, we will
20:26experience the worst of times. If you
20:30think the devil's going to take all this
20:31laying down, you got another thing
20:34coming. He's going to do all that he can
20:37to defeat you. He's going to do all that
20:39he can to destroy you. This is his last
20:42chance. He's had his way for a long
20:44time, but because of revival, his plans
20:47are going ary. He's going to do
20:48everything he can to destroy us. And the
20:51enemy understands one thing that if he's
20:53ever going to destroy us, if he's ever
20:55going to get to us, if he's ever going
20:57to sidetrack us, he can't attack the
20:59body, he's got to attack the
21:03head. And so I'm on a recruitment
21:06mission
21:08tonight. Because if you cut off the
21:11head, the body dies.
21:14So it should not surprise us that in the
21:16midst of our greatest revival, in the
21:18midst of building programs and in the
21:20middle of all things going on that you
21:23don't find the ministry being attacked.
21:26The greatest period of growth and
21:28progress that we have ever enjoyed and
21:30our ministry is under attack like never
21:33before. Now I want to slow down and talk
21:35to us just for a minute.
21:38I got Pentecostal preacher friends all
21:40over this country, some in other parts
21:43of the world. And I'm at camp meetings
21:45and I go to district conferences and
21:47even ladies conference as it were, men's
21:50conference we go to and I see preachers
21:52that are hurting and I see ministry
21:55that's struggling and these men of God
21:58are under attack every single day. Hear
22:02me.
22:04They get up in the
22:05morning and they know that as soon as
22:07their feet hit the ground that the enemy
22:09is going to attack, that the enemy wants
22:12to destroy them. There was a time in the
22:14United States where being a preacher was
22:17a good thing. There was a time, Bishop,
22:19when you could walk through the streets
22:21and you would round a corner and you'd
22:22see a group of young men. They may have
22:24been saying something they shouldn't
22:25have been saying, and all of a sudden,
22:26the man of God walks around the corner
22:28and heads go down and lips get quiet and
22:31faces get flushed because they were just
22:33something they shouldn't have been
22:35doing. But all of a sudden, fast forward
22:37a few years when the ministry gets
22:39caught up in this tangled web of mess
22:41that they're in. And there's there's
22:42there's social messes and there's all
22:44kinds of struggles that they go through
22:46and battles that they fight and
22:48high-profile media cases where ministry
22:50has done something wrong. And then all
22:52of a
22:53sudden, you almost find it an
22:55embarrassment when somebody asks you
22:57what you
22:58do. Say, "I'm a preacher.
23:02I'm a
23:05minister. Those days are rapidly
23:08becoming
23:10history when it was something honorable
23:12to
23:13me. Hear me tonight. Being a preacher is
23:17not an ego
23:18trip. Being a minister is not a is not a
23:21is not a costly it's a costly sacrifice
23:24of giving of yourself Sunday after
23:26Sunday, denying yourself what so many
23:29others get to enjoy. Hear what I'm
23:30saying tonight. Thank God for men and
23:32women that will respond to a call of God
23:34and will give sacrificially and
23:37selflessly. And I know there's people in
23:39here, you you may not be the pastor. You
23:40may not be the music minister, but you
23:42minister in some kind of way. I know you
23:44hear what I'm saying tonight is that
23:46you're under attack. And I understand.
23:48But you got to understand what I'm
23:50trying to say tonight is that God is on
23:52your side.
23:59I got to get moving here.
24:02I want to get to my story
24:04tonight. And I just want to say this on
24:06behalf of ministry and preachers and
24:08pastors. You got to have a preacher in
24:10your
24:11life. Listen to me now. You got to have
24:13a minister in your life. You got to have
24:15a pastor in your life. Somebody that
24:17loves you. We can't be a bunch of
24:18mavericks out here. When God comes back
24:20to call his church, he's not coming back
24:22after a scattered bunch of mavericks.
24:24He's coming back after a church that's
24:25wearing his name. He's coming back after
24:27a church that has heard the word of God
24:29and has listened to the man of God
24:31preach to them. Your family's not going
24:33to make it without a preacher. Your
24:35children aren't going to make it without
24:36a preacher. We're not going to survive
24:38this world without a preacher. Thank God
24:40for the preaching corps of the United
24:42Pentecostal Church. Thank God for
24:44preachers that love truth and love their
24:46people and stand up in this hour to
24:48proclaim the word of God even when
24:50everybody is against them. I want you to
24:53know that your pastor tonight is not
24:55just a preacher. He fights battles every
24:57single day. And they're not only fought
24:59in the pull pit, but they're fought in a
25:01prayer room. They're fought in the
25:03preacher's office. They're fought in his
25:05home. And when he walks the floor
25:07weeping and intercedes for you in
25:08prayer, the Bible describes the preacher
25:11as the shepherd that guards the sheep
25:13who keeps the predators away. Even when
25:16his life is in danger, he loves you.
25:18even when his family's in danger, he
25:21will love you. Thank God for the
25:23preacher. Thank God for the
25:26pastor. And so I want to plead the case
25:28tonight. I've got a few minutes left for
25:30our pastors and preachers and
25:32evangelists in missionaries. For those
25:34that are giving themselves and fighting
25:37and and
25:38and giving for a great cause,
25:43I want to preach about what they need
25:45more than anything else.
25:48I want to preach about something tonight
25:50that they need more than they need
25:52offerings, more than they need suit
25:54clothes, more than they need new cars,
25:57more than they need anything
25:59else. What every pastor
26:02needs is
26:04somebody that'll walk with
26:09them. if they're not only going to
26:12succeed, but just a mere survive in this
26:15day and time. What every warrior and
26:18pastor and evangelist and missionary,
26:20whatever preacher needs in this day and
26:23hour is somebody to walk with them.
26:28No preacher who faces the devil ought to
26:30have to do it without somebody helping
26:32him. Come on, Holy Ghost. He ought to
26:35have somebody with a shield in their
26:38hands saying, "Pastor, when you preach,
26:41while you pray, while you guard, I'm
26:43going to watch your back. I'm going to
26:45stand with you. I'm going to fight with
26:47you. I'm going to give of myself as
26:49surely as you give of yourself." The
26:52armor bearer had a dual role. First, he
26:54was to carry the armor. The armor had
26:56one design, and it had one purpose. It
26:59was designed to protect. And the ancient
27:01armor bearer would carry the shield,
27:03putting himself between the warrior in
27:05harm's way. And this function is
27:07absolutely vital. And it defines the
27:11role of the armor bearer
27:13best. He wasn't there for the brillow
27:17pad. He wasn't there just to knock the
27:19dust off and keep it clean and shine.
27:21He's not the one that just helped to
27:22buckle the armor, but he walked into
27:25battle alongside of the warrior. When
27:28the danger approached, he protected the
27:29warrior even at the cost of his own
27:33life or his own
27:37reputation. You want to walk with a
27:40warrior, it comes with a cost. And
27:43sometimes it's easy to be armor bearer.
27:45Sometimes there is no fight. Sometimes
27:47it's all parades and general conferences
27:49and music conferences. Sometimes it's
27:51all fun and it's all games and we get to
27:52stand there and eat at the steakhouse
27:54and we get to sit there and shine the
27:55shoes and talk to the big time people.
27:57We get to do all that. But there's going
27:59to come a day when if you sign up to be
28:01an armor bearer and all of a sudden the
28:03restaurants are no more and the
28:04high-profile meetings are no more and
28:06your man of God is in travail on his
28:08face because he's praying for your sick
28:10baby. And he's got people in the church
28:11attacking him cuz he hadn't prayed for
28:13their sick baby today. And he's got
28:15people in the back that don't love him
28:16anymore because he had to pastor their
28:19children. He doesn't need somebody else
28:21to say, "Pastor, can I go eat with you
28:22at the restaurant?" He needs somebody to
28:24say, "Pastor, when you pray, I'm going
28:26to pray with you. When you fight, I'm
28:28going to fight with you. When you stand,
28:31I'm going to stand with you. If you
28:32fall, I'm going to pick you up. If you
28:35get weak, I'm going to be your
28:36strength."
28:38You got to understand that if you want
28:39to walk with a warrior, you got to be
28:42willing to walk like a warrior. If
28:44you're going to walk with the man of
28:45God, you might have to suffer like the
28:48man of God. But if you I need somebody
28:51in the house that'll walk tonight with a
28:53warrior that'll stand behind the man of
28:55God and say, "No matter what battle you
28:58face, no matter what trial you face,
29:00I've got your back.
29:11You know, I know what the Bible says
29:14about David and
29:16Goliath. This is a dangerous time for
29:18me. Pastor, because I done forgot all
29:20about them notes. I use them keep me on
29:24track. Let me tell you something. I'm
29:27going to tell you what killed Goliath.
29:31Now, I know what the word of God said.
29:33Word of God said, "David stepped out
29:34there, picked up five smooth
29:37stones, walked out to the battlefield.
29:40You came to me with a sword and a spear
29:42and blah blah blah. I came to you with a
29:44sling and a stone. I came to you in the
29:46name of the Lord.
29:49And that's what we read and that's what
29:50we hear and that's what we feel.
29:53David didn't kill him with the rock. You
29:55understand? He flipped his switch. Yeah.
29:58He knocked him out. But the Bible says
30:01David then went and he grabbed Goliath's
30:05own sword,
30:08locked his head off,
30:10took his head back to the camp. David
30:13knew how to get ahead, y'all.
30:18But I contend with you tonight that what
30:21killed Goliath wasn't his own sword.
30:26It's because his armor bearer was a
30:31coward. The armor bearer wears nowhere
30:35to be in sight. Boy, stand up, pastor.
30:39Stand up, pastor. Come on over here.
30:42God, look at this man of God. I mean,
30:45sharp, shiny shoes, man of God, got a
30:50Tesla Cyber Truck. Look here. This a man
30:53you don't have to apologize for when you
30:55walking through town. That's my pastor,
30:57baby. Look at him. Uh-huh. GQ couldn't
31:00even handle him. This a man of God right
31:04here. And that's what you proud of.
31:06That's what you see.
31:09But what happens when there comes a
31:12day when he's in this altar and you walk
31:14in, he's not smiling, that
31:16million-dollar smile, his hair don't
31:18look as good as it does tonight because
31:20he's been in travail for somebody in
31:22your family and all of a sudden the
31:24devil's attacking him and things aren't
31:26going right. I want to know if anybody
31:28is going to walk with the man of God
31:30then when the things get down and times
31:32get tough and battles get hard and
31:35strength is w. Are we going to have
31:37anybody that will walk with a warrior to
31:40keep him safe from the enemy? My
31:42warrior's not going to die because I'm a
31:44coward. My warrior is not going to be
31:47injured because I was afraid. In the
31:49good times, I'm going to love you. In
31:52the bad times, I'm going to love you.
31:54When you are strong, I will be beside
31:56you. When you are weak, I will lift you
31:59up. Who can walk with a warrior in this
32:02house?
32:10Oh, I got to hurry. And I mean it. I
32:13don't just say that. I got to hurry.
32:15Jonathan got to the base of that
32:18cliff. I'm gonna finally get to my text
32:20right here. I'm going to give you about
32:22three minutes worth right
32:24here. Jonathan said
32:27this. We got to go
32:30fight. Something wrong with my daddy.
32:35He done lost out with the prophet. He's
32:38done lost out with God. All of his drive
32:41is gone. But if we don't do something,
32:44we going to
32:45die. We're going to die if we go maybe
32:49or we going to definitely die if we
32:53stay. Boys, I'm
32:56leaving. And his armor
32:58bearer. Now, I've been in Garrison.
33:02I've been in the down times. I've been
33:05laying down with my head on my pack, my
33:07boots unlaced, my belly full of MREs and
33:09hot water. I've been there. I've been
33:13there when we finally was a lull in the
33:14action. I've been there laying down,
33:16chilling, knowing that just about 250
33:19yards away, there was an enemy that
33:21ready to take my life. I've been there
33:24laying down, chilling, just
33:26chilling. There's one rule that you
33:28learn when you're patrolling the gods of
33:29shrimp. You don't sleep good.
33:34Jonathan's armor bearer was just
33:36chilling. Jonathan got
33:41up. Where you going,
33:43Bo? Man, something ain't settling right
33:45with
33:47me. What you mean, man? There's 400
33:51something Philistines over here a couple
33:54miles away. And we in this cave over
33:56here just chilling and we can't see
33:58them. We got big old rock on this side.
34:00We got a big old rock on that side. We
34:02got a little narrow passage that if they
34:04fill it up, we're trapped. We can't go
34:06nowhere. Military tactics had gone out
34:08the window. And they usually do when
34:10you're
34:11scared. Jonathan said, "I I ain't
34:13standing here. I'm
34:14out." And his armor
34:18bearer. He didn't
34:24complain. He didn't
34:27protest. He got up.
34:30stretched his back, turned his neck,
34:33laced up his boots. He said, "Hold up,
34:35hos. I'm going with you." And the Bible
34:39says that they went to where the
34:40Philistines were. When they came up on
34:42the cliff
34:44face, Jonathan said,
34:48"Look, here's what we going to
34:53do. There's about 400 of them up there.
34:58So, what we going to do is we're going
34:59to climb. We going to call out to him.
35:02We going to talk junk a little bit. Hey,
35:07dummy. What you going to
35:09do? Your mama wears combat boots. You
35:12know, he was talking junk and they were
35:15talking junk back and his armor bear's
35:17like, "Bro, what are you
35:19doing?"
35:22400
35:24two John said, "That's okay. Watch this.
35:27He said, "They fix to holler at us,
35:29holler out at us again in a minute, and
35:31if they tell us to come up here and
35:34fight, we going to climb this cliff and
35:38we going to fight them on their terms.
35:41But if they say we fixing to come down
35:42there, then we going to boat. We going
35:43to get out of here." Now, conventional
35:45wisdom would say it should be the
35:48opposite. Wait a minute. We're not going
35:51to tire ourselves out. Let them get
35:54tired. we'll knock them off the side of
35:56the cliff when they come down, we'll
35:57have a better chance. That's what
35:59conventional wisdom would say, but his
36:01armor bearer didn't say that because
36:05Jonathan convinced him and said,
36:06"Listen, if it's by one or if it's by
36:08few, if it's by a bunch or by whatever,
36:10we're going to go with God and God's
36:12going to take care of all this." And
36:14here's what his armor bearer
36:17said. Do whatever's in your
36:19heart. I got your back.
36:23I want to tell the church tonight, you
36:25don't always get to choose the battle.
36:28You don't always get to choose what's
36:29convenient. You don't always get to
36:31choose what the tactic is. You don't
36:33always get to decide how big the
36:35building program is going to be, how
36:37many buses we run, what do we do with
36:39decorations and how many services we
36:41have and who the guest preacher is. We
36:43may not ever get to decide any of that.
36:45We may never be on a committee or on a
36:47team or it may not even make sense what
36:50the man of God decides. But if you will
36:52get it in your spirit, it doesn't matter
36:54what you do. I'm with you. It doesn't
36:57matter where you go. I'm with you. It
36:59doesn't matter who comes in or who goes
37:01out or how many devils we got to chase
37:03off or how many come in or how many
37:05backslide. I am with you. And whatever's
37:09in your heart, you can expect me to be
37:11with you. I need to know if there's
37:13anybody in the house that will walk with
37:15a warrior when it's not convenient for
37:18you. Will you walk with a warrior when
37:20it doesn't fit your agenda? Will you
37:22walk with a warrior when it's not
37:24comfortable? Will you walk with a
37:26warrior
37:31when it might cost you everything?
37:37I got two minutes.
37:40It's important to remember something
37:42about the armor bearer. You don't get to
37:45choose the fight.
37:48All you get to do is choose whether or
37:50not you will fight.
37:56Boy, I can't talk about y'all, but I can
37:59talk about my people in
38:03Sebring. I I remember when we got
38:06there 2017, the latter end is when they
38:09voted us in. And I was so happy. I was
38:12so happy. All 11 people in the building.
38:17Why so proud? The little home missions
38:19church that we left to take this church
38:21over was bigger than the one we came
38:23to. One was in a hotel room. One was in
38:26a real
38:27church. I remember preaching one
38:30sermon. Two people got up that voted for
38:34me now and
38:42left. Preach about another month.
38:45more people got
38:49up said, "Look at
38:52you. Look at
38:55you." I told the devil that night, "You
38:59made a big mistake. You made a big
39:01mistake letting them people leave. You
39:04made a big mistake letting them people
39:05leave. And here's why, devil. Cuz now I
39:08know who's got my back. Now I know
39:10there's no enemies in the camp. Now I
39:12know there ain't nobody coming against
39:13me. cuz everybody that's left is either
39:16my family or they've been here for a
39:17little bit. I want you to know you need
39:19to be the kind of people that your
39:21pastor don't have to worry about. You
39:22need to be the kind of people that your
39:24pastor can look to. And it doesn't
39:26matter who he chooses that night. Hey,
39:28come here, son. Can you be my armor
39:30bearer? Hey, come here, son. Can you be
39:32my armor bearer? Hey, I'm picking you
39:34tonight, Sean. Hey, Austin. Tonight's
39:36your night. Hey, Elder. I need you
39:38tonight. I want you to know that you got
39:40to be somebody that your preacher can
39:42depend on. You got to be somebody that
39:44your pastor can depend on. Cuz if you
39:47want to walk with a warrior, you got to
39:49be willing to walk every time he calls.
39:57Let me tell you something else about the
40:00armor
40:03bearer. The armor
40:06bearer. Oh, Holy Ghost help
40:09me. He don't ever get the glory.
40:16And folks, I've been an armor
40:19bearer. You
40:21understand? I've been an armor
40:25bearer. You go out to battle and you'll
40:29go out to
40:31fight. And there's a
40:33reason why armies of
40:35old called them
40:39champions. cuz they did all the
40:41fighting and they did all the winning
40:45and they kept some of us that don't know
40:47quite how to fight like them alive long
40:49enough to learn how to
40:52fight. And so it was custom
40:56pastors that the
40:59champion got most of the
41:06spoil. I'm going to show you something.
41:09Bar this chair cuz we got
41:12movables. Be hard to do with a
41:16pew. Bishop, come sit here for me,
41:18please,
41:22sir. And while they did
41:26battle and their hand claved to the
41:29sword, let me digress for two more
41:31minutes and I promise I'll be done.
41:34When David was running from Saul, he ran
41:38to a cave called
41:39Adullum. And the Bible refers to that
41:42cave full of men. There were 300 men at
41:44one time in that cave. The Bible refers
41:47to them as
41:49adulites. They were bachelors. You know
41:53what bachelors are? Raise your hand if
41:54you're a
41:56bachelor. Don't be ashamed. I I can
42:00smell them. I know you. I know who y'all
42:01are.
42:03Let me tell y'all what bachelors do.
42:06Bachelors are men that
42:08typically don't clean up after
42:10themselves very well because you don't
42:11have to. I know how you do laundry. You
42:14pick up the one on the floor and the one
42:16that smells the least bad is what you
42:18wear. I've been
42:21there. This cave was full of adulites.
42:25They were reckless. They were they were
42:27outcasts. They were rebels. They were no
42:30goods. They were mal
42:32contents until David showed
42:36up. David, the spirit of a
42:40warrior. Now, watch this. About eight
42:43chapters later, David comes out of the
42:46cave. And the Bible says when he comes
42:48out of the cave, he doesn't come out of
42:50the cave with a dulamites. The Bible no
42:53longer refers to them as adulites, but
42:55it calls them David's mighty men of
42:57valor.
42:59Because what happens is they started
43:02hanging around a warrior and the next
43:04time we read about him, we read about a
43:07man named Shama in a bean field that
43:09fought off Philistines over a dumb patch
43:11of beans. Yeah.
43:14We read about another man that jumped
43:15down into a pit on a snowy day.
43:20We read about another old cat that was
43:22fighting so long with the sword. He
43:24whooped so many people that his hand
43:26stuck to the sword.
43:33You want to be a
43:34warrior, you got to spend time around a
43:37warrior. If not, you're just going to be
43:39a rebel from
43:41Adulum. So when they would go out to
43:43battle and the old warrior, the old
43:45king, the old giant killer himself, he
43:48would go out there and he would slay.
43:50And the Bible wrote songs about him. He
43:51killed one guy and they started writing
43:53song about Saul has killed his
43:55thousands. David has killed his 10,000.
43:57He killed one
43:58dude. He killed one
44:01guy. They writing songs about it. He
44:04killed all these
44:07people. But David had the spirit of a
44:09warrior. So when they went out to battle
44:11and they and they took the spoils of
44:14victory, the men of valor under the
44:18champion would gather their spoils.
44:29loser. Loser. That's what you get for
44:32loser. Get that
44:36pocketbook. I had to kill your husband
44:38for this
44:40pocketbook. And they'll take their
44:43spoils. Don't get these bags mixed up.
44:46They take their spoils. They set them
44:48down. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
44:56They take them sport and they set them
44:57down in their pile and then they look
44:58through it and they say, "What's the
45:00best? What's the best thing I got?" Oh,
45:05this fine. This fine
45:15polyester, but it sure is fine because I
45:17took it off. I took it off one of their
45:21champions. And so I'm going to honor my
45:25warrior. I want my warrior to know that
45:28I don't just fight for me. I fight for
45:31you. I fight for your family. And as
45:35long as I'm living, I'm going honor you.
45:38And so they'd stand him up in front of
45:39the whole crowd and they'd bring their
45:41spoils say, "Listen, I was down and out
45:43and I was getting ready to give a battle
45:45and I looked across the field and I saw
45:47you killing two war two people at one
45:49time. I saw you hurting two people. Put
45:51my spoils back. I saw you hurting two
45:53people at one
45:58time. You're supposed to be
46:01wounded. But listen what he did. Listen
46:04what he
46:06did. He came up to him and said,
46:09"Warrior, I wouldn't be alive without
46:12you. I got to honor you." And they would
46:15drape
46:16them with
46:19spoils cuz he's my champion.
46:22And everywhere he goes, every time he
46:24goes back to his trophy room, every time
46:27he goes back to his house and he sits
46:29there and he's feeling defeated, he can
46:31look at the wall and saying, "Let me
46:32tell you something. I can't afford to
46:34die because I've got a warrior that
46:36sacrificed everything to keep me alive.
46:38I've got a combatant friend of mine.
46:40I've got a combat buddy. I've got a war
46:42buddy that fought with me that he gifted
46:44me this fine polyester from some unnamed
46:46Italian guy. And it took it took a lot
46:49for him to win that battle. But I want
46:51you to know that every time I start
46:52feeling like I ain't got nobody with me,
46:54I look at what they've brought me and
46:56they've honored me. Every Moses has to
46:58have an Aaron. Every Moses has to have a
47:01her. You may not have a neck tie on
47:03tonight. You may not have any spoils in
47:05your pocket, but if your family saved
47:07and your life is better, you ought to
47:09come to the man of God tonight, right
47:11now. If you're willing to walk with a
47:13warrior and you ought to thank him, you
47:15ought to hug his neck. You ought to
47:17shake his hand. You ought to commit to
47:18saying, "Man of God, warrior of mine,
47:21wherever you go, I'm going." Also,
47:24whatever your heart wants to do, if you
47:26want to win this whole city, if you want
47:28to buy the next 10 acres, if you want to
47:31start a Bible college, whatever it is,
47:34I'm with you. Is there any warriors in
47:37the house tonight? I want to know if
47:38there's any commitment tonight to say,
47:40"Pastor, I'm going to walk with you."
47:42Will you drape him with a spoil tonight?
47:45Will you drape him with an honor
47:46tonight?
47:47Musicians let's
47:49go. I want to know if you'll commit to
47:52the man of God and let the man of God
47:54know that no matter what we do,
47:59come walk with your warrior tonight.
48:01Come honor the man of God tonight.
48:09Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
48:12We don't get to choose the tactics.
48:17But we get to choose our
48:27commitment. Come on. This is a holy
48:29moment right
48:31now. Take advantage of this moment to
48:34commit to the
48:36warrior, to commit to walking with a
48:40warrior
48:42in the name of Jesus.
48:46Come on. You've been wanting to do
48:47something for a long time in the
48:48kingdom. This is your
48:50chance. You've been wanting to shine.
48:52And I'm not talking about shining
48:55armor. I'm talking about gaining crowns
48:58and glory right
49:00now, Bishop. I'm with
49:04[Music]
49:10you. Come on, everybody in the building.
49:13Let's just lift our hands right now as
49:15those are making commitments to stand by
49:17the man of God and his family. I want
49:20you to lift your hand and say, "God,
49:21what can I do? God, what can I do to
49:24serve my part and my purpose? What what
49:26can I do to help the kingdom of God?
49:29God, give me a word. Give me a promise.
49:31Give me a destination.