The Criterion Of The Captain- Bro Jesse Howell 8-30-2026

I was doing fine until he got up here. I

appreciate the Lord and this wonderful service. I don't plan

on crying through the whole thing, but I do appreciate

all that God has done. Can I get two microphones, please?

It's been wonderful service thus far. I appreciate the Lord.

Can I get y'all to help me this morning?

Thank you, brothers. Appreciate my pastor. So very thankful for

this opportunity.

He's such a thoughtful man and just sensitive to the

spirit and tries to be sensitive to everyone. And I

just appreciate that and love him. Amen. I honor him tonight.

Brother Buford said something there that.

I can relate to. He said that... He said it'd

be real hard if God ever called.

Nathaniel elsewhere. And for me, there's only two reasons I

wouldn't go with him. And that's my Jesus and my pastor.

Any other reasons? Any other thing, I'd be right there. Amen.

I love him. I appreciate him for all that he

does for Bethel.

Amen.

It's just wonderful. Amen.

A golden text this morning is going to be 2

Samuel chapter number 10. Again, I appreciate my pastor. I

love him so very much. Wonderful man of God and

a great example. A lot's been talked about about examples

and About role models and all that.

And I believe we have two of the greatest. Amen.

I just think we have two of the greatest this

side of heaven. Amen.

Second Samuel chapter number 10. Our first co-text, Brother Samuel,

is going to be 1 Chronicles chapter number 11. 1

Chronicles chapter number 11 there, just after Kings 10.

Amen.

1 Chronicles chapter number 11, verse number 6. Brother Caleb,

can you read 2 Samuel chapter number 18, verse number

1 and 2?

Amen.

Appreciate each one. I just think this is a wonderful occasion. Amen.

Brother Samuel, whenever you got that, 1 Chronicles chapter number

11 and verse number 6, my brother. And David said,

Whosoever saith to David, the Jezebi, the first shall be

the chief of the captains. So Joab, the son of Zerui,

went up first and was chief.

Amen.

Brother Caleb, 2 Samuel chapter number 18, verse number 1

and 2, my brother.

And David numbered the people that were with him and

set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.

And David sent forth a third part of the people

under the hand of Joab and a third part under

the hand of Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother,

and a third part under the hand of Ittai, the Gittite,

and the king said unto the people, I will surely

go forth with you myself also.

Amen.

Beloved, our text here, golden text, 2 Samuel chapter number 17.

We're going to read a few verses here. I mean,

chapter number 10, I'm sorry. 2 Samuel chapter number 10.

Starting in verse number 6. And when the children of

Ammon saw that they stank before David. The children of

Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob. And

the Syrians of Zobah 20,000 foot men. And of King

Micah 1,000 men. Of Ishtab 12,000 men. And when David

heard of it. He sent Joab and all the hosts

of the mighty men. And the children of Ammon came out.

And put the battle in array. At the entering in

of the gate and the Syrians of Zobah and of

Rahab and of Ishtab and Micah were by themselves in

the field. When Joab saw that the front of the

battle was against him before and behind, he chose of

all the choice men of Israel and put them in

array against the Syrians. And the rest of the people

he delivered into the hand of Abishai, his brother, that

he might put them in array against the children of Ammon.

Would you lift your hands and ask the Lord to

help us here this morning. Lord, we thank you so

much for your goodness and mercy. God, we thank you

for your grace and your kindness. We thank you for

this occasion, Lord, for how you have helped us with

this man of God here to lead the youth. God,

we ask that you would anoint my voice, Lord, that

you would anoint my mind and my words, Lord. Help

me to speak the things that you would have me

to speak. God, in the name of Jesus, would you

be with us, Lord? Help us for just a little

while here today, I pray. We'll give you all the glory,

all the honor and the praise. In Jesus' wonderful name

we pray. Amen and amen. Amen. I want to title

this thought this morning, The Criterion of the Captain.

Amen.

Here in our text, we find a common theme, and

I also have a supporting text is what I'm calling

it this morning over in the book of Deuteronomy chapter

number 20 and verses number 1 through 9. And we're

going to get into that a little later, but there's

a common theme in our co-text, our golden text, and

even our supporting text this morning. These great men of God,

such as Moses and David, they took a perfectly unified

army and they divided them up under captains.

Amen.

So Moses there in the book of Deuteronomy....

Got into some of the things there.

And David talked about dividing the army up into thousands

and into hundreds. It's a common theme throughout Scripture where

great generals, amen, would give charge to certain groups of people,

to certain men.

Amen. And the division... that.

These great generals caused was not a dividing of the

army or a dividing of the goal. It was simply

taking men of God or great men that would take

their tactics and their several abilities and they would put

them over different armies and different sections in the army

and they knew they were stronger that way.

Amen.

The army was still fighting for the same reason. The

army was still fighting under the same general. But God

and these great men set these captains up around them.

Amen.

There were times and places where these great generals and

these captains could divide and conquer the enemy by using this. Amen.

And there's times and places throughout scriptures and even in

today's society where this where this strategy is very crucial

to winning great wars and winning great battles. In my study,

I was reminded about the man of God, the great

General Gideon.

Amen.

He started out with a great number of soldiers, and

then they narrowed it down to 300 men. And even

there at the end of that, Gideon took and he said,

you can take 100. You take 100 and you take 100.

So he took his army and he divided it into

three groups of 100. And he gave them trumpets and

he gave them pictures and lamps.

And the three groups surrounded the enemy. Amen.

They were able to surround the enemy and the enemy

felt completely hopeless.

Amen.

They felt like they had no way to go. And

the armies there, they broke the pictures and the lamps.

Amen. And they shouted with a great shouting. We've all

heard the shout our whole lives, the sword of the

Lord and of Gideon. Amen. Whenever Gideon used this tactic,

the enemy felt completely surrounded. Amen. They thought that they

were well outnumbered and they all ran. Amen. Simply because

the great general.

Knew, I need to send a man over here attacking

from this side. And I need to send a man

over here attacking from this side. And all together, we

can win this battle.

Amen. All together, we can fight this battle to the end. Amen.

And Gideon's strategy was.

A crucial component to his victory.

Amen. I believe that that strategy was God-inspired. Amen. By

the great General Gideon. Amen.

And in our text, there were some great generals that

entrusted certain men with charge of certain sections or portions

of their armies.

Amen. I'm going to flip over to the book of

Deuteronomy now.

Deuteronomy chapter number 20. And I'm not going to read

it all, but if you skim through those first nine

verses there in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is writing

the law and he's instructing the people how things should

go even after his death.

Amen.

Moses knew that while I'm here, I'm going to enforce it.

While I'm here, they could come to me and ask

me about it. How do we do this? How should

this go? But Moses here is no doubt looking into

the future. And he's saying, I've got to write all

this stuff down. It's a book of remembrance. Deuteronomy, if

I'm not mistaken, is a big old recap of what

all God did for him. And right in the middle

of that, there in chapter number 20... Moses, the man

of God, gives the people some things that they should

do before they go out to battle. Verse number 1 says,

When thou goest out to battle against thine enemy, and

seest horses and chariots and a people more than thou,

be not afraid of them. For the Lord thy God

is with thee, which brought thee up out of the

land of Egypt.

Amen. And then he goes into verse number 2.

And it shall be when ye are come nigh unto

the battle that the priest shall approach the people, shall

approach and speak unto the people. So now Moses is saying,

don't be afraid of that great army whenever they seem

like they're greater than you. He said, but what we're

going to do is we're going to get the priest

together and we're going to get everybody that's going to

come to fight there that day and tell them, don't

let your heart be faint.

Hey, don't be fearful.

Don't tremble there, neither be terrified because of them.

Amen.

And he said whenever you get all the people, and

I'm going to paraphrase here, you get all the people together,

let's get the priest up there, and he's going to

lay out some rules for the battle here. And he

said there in verse number 9 that we're going to

assign some captains. Amen. We're going to put some people

that's over the army. He said, but those people have

got to meet some criteria.

Amen. There's some things that they're going to have to

line up.

With before they are able to fulfill that role, before

they're able to be called a captain over the army.

We've got this list of things that must be done.

We've got a list of things, a whole bunch of

boxes that they've got to check off before we can say, yes,

you can be a captain.

You can be a captain.

And just some of them here, he said if you

planted a vineyard and you hadn't ate of it, well,

send him home. If you've bought a house or you've

built a new house and you haven't dedicated it, well,

send him home.

If you've betrothed a wife, amen, and you haven't married her,

go home. Amen.

And Moses laid out a whole list of things that

they had to check off. And I really believe that

it's of utmost importance that there be a captain over

the army. Amen.

Amen.

We have the general, amen, that answers straight to God.

And Moses said, amen, you're going to have a general

out there, no doubt.

Amen.

But Moses said there should be captains over that army.

And it's of utmost importance that there be somebody that

stands in there with the people, that stands.

There with the people and tells them which way to go.

But Moses also felt like it was necessary that these

men would have the foresight and the heart to lead

the army or even a section of army.

Amen.

He felt like that these captains should meet certain qualifications.

He said if this isn't going on in their life,

then they should not be a captain. You should not

pick a captain over that army until you've weeded out

all of these kind of people.

Amen.

You shouldn't put somebody over an army until you've made

sure they ain't doing this. Until you've made sure they

ain't got this going on in their life. So Moses

way back in the beginning said there ought to be

some qualifications. And he said there ought to be some

standards that go into the effort whenever you put a

captain over the army. Amen.

Moses was very clear on that. He went through a

list of things.

And he went through a list of reasons for someone

not to be able to hold that position.

Amen.

And Moses told the people there, don't choose captains until

you've weeded out all of these types of people.

Amen.

Verse number 9 said, And it shall be when the

officers have made an end of speaking unto the people,

that they shall make captains. When they're done speaking, then

you make captains. Once this has been carried out, once

you've done what I said... Once you've made sure that

everybody's lining up with this right here, then you can

make captains.

Amen.

No doubt as time went on and Israel held to

the teachings of Moses here and to the law, there

were many men that realized they weren't fit to hold

that position. Amen, because Moses said it was law. It

is the law. This is what we go by. This

is the guidelines. This is the criteria that we meet,

that we must meet. And so there no doubt were

men that realized later on that they weren't fit to

hold a position of directing and leading their brothers and

their sons and their fathers to battle.

Amen.

Moses simply said that if you fall into these categories,

you don't fit. Moses simply said, if you got this

going on, you don't fit. There was nothing they could

do about it. Moses said it, that settled it. Moses

knew we can't afford to put someone in as a captain.

Amen. And them turn out to be a coward.

We can't afford to put somebody in an army and

set them over an army and set them as a

captain over the army. And we entrust lives with that man.

And we entrust our babies with that man. And we

entrust our sons and our daughters with that man. And

when the enemy comes, he runs back home because he

ain't married that bride he loves so much.

Amen. Because he ain't ain't of that vineyard that he planted. Amen.

And that's all he could think about.

And when times get hard, he realized if I kiss,

if I stay here, I might lose my life. And

if I stay here, I might never make it back

over there. Amen.

To do those things that I wanted to do.

Moses understood that we can't afford to get right in

the middle of a battle.

And these men.

Pick up their head, and all they see is the

eastern side of their captain headed west.

Amen. We can't afford for that army to be out there, out.

There trying to fight, out there trying to win the battle,

and they pick their head up, and they see their

captain turn tail and run. Moses said we can't afford

to have that. Jesus said the hireling fleeth because he's

a hireling.

And he cares not for the sheep.

Because Moses understood that those men in that shape cared

more about that bride than they did about their fellow soldier.

Amen.

They cared more about that new house that they built

that some other man was going to get.

Amen.

Than he did about his brothers and sisters or his

brothers that were fighting there with him. We can't afford

to appoint a captain that would leave them right in

the fight of their lives.

Moses understood that.

And Moses wanted the generation following to understand that.

Amen.

Our co-text here, 1 Corinthians chapter number 11 and verse 6.

Amen. Brother Samuel read it.

And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first... shall be

chief and captain. So Joab, the son of Zariah, went

first up and was chief. When David here, he's newly

appointed king. He's newly appointed king, and he's looking for

someone to appoint as his chief captain. He's looking for

someone that's going to fill that role.

And he said here, he opened the floor. Amen. He

offers the position.

And he says, whoever smites the Jebusites, whoever goes up

there and fights that army and utterly destroys them, that's

going to be my chief captain. The one that wins

the battle, that's the one that's getting the position. Joab,

you know, was David's kinfolk.

Amen.

Joab was the son of David's daughter. I mean David's sister.

Joab was the son of David's sister.

Amen.

But Joab didn't get that position as chief captain because

of who he was.

Amen.

He didn't get the position because of whose son.

He was or whose daughter he married.

Hey, Joab got that position because when David said, who's

going to take the battle?

Who's going to win the war? Who's going to win

the fight?

Joab's looking for a sword. Joab said, David, you need

somebody to fight that battle? Well, I'll go take care

of it. Amen, not because of the name on his tag. Amen,

not because of his pedigree, not because.

Of who his daddy was, but because he earned it.

Brother Nathaniel ain't got that position because of who his

father is. Amen. He ain't got that position because of

who he married. Amen. He got that position because he's

put the work in and he's put the fight in

and God has blessed him and God gave him that position.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Can go against that devil and be victorious. That's who's

going to be my chief captain. That's the one that

I'm going to entrust with my army. That's the one

that I'm going to trust standing over a group of people, hey,

that I know that will lead them to the battle.

And they'll come back victorious because they've proven themselves.

Time and time again. This is our youth pastor appreciation service.

The man of God isn't in the position that he

is in because of whose son he is or because

of whose daughter he married.

Amen.

He's there because our pastor just like David saw a

man like Joab And when the opportunity was presented, it

might have been a little bit of Joab's reason to

go fight that battle.

Who wouldn't want to desire that? It's a wonderful thing

to desire. Amen.

Maybe there was a little bit of that in Joab.

That he said, I've got enough in me. Amen. I

want to be David's right hand. There's nothing wrong with that.

If that was some of it. But I don't believe

that was all of Joab's reason. I don't believe that

that was the only reason that Joab said, I will

go fight that battle. I really think he had a

heart for the people. And he had a heart for David.

And he said, I really believe that if Joab was

faced with it or not, whether David said you're going

to be chief or not, if David would have said,

I need a battle fought, I need a victory won,

I really believe that Joab would have went after the

battle regardless of position, regardless of the title, because we've seen.

The man of God do it. Time and time again.

Pastor saw a man step up and take the challenge.

When others took a step back. Not sure what they

wanted to do in their life. And young people, y'all

know I'm telling the truth. There's been times whenever we faltered.

And I don't mean fail or nothing like that. I

just mean whenever the battle was right there, instead of

stepping forward, we did a little.

The pastor saw a man that was willing to take

the fight. Willing to go to the fight. The man

of God.

is always looking for a sword to pick up, looking

for a battle to fight. Amen?

I believe Joab was looking for a sword whenever he

heard his captain or his general say, I need somebody

to win that battle. I was thinking there in my study,

there might have been a group of people standing around

talking about what David had just said. Hey, did you

hear what David said? David said, whosoever smiteth the Jebusites

first shall be chief and captain.

And maybe they were trying to figure out, well, we

could do this. We could do that. I wonder what

Joab thinks. Hey, Joab. Joab. Where's Joab? Joab done went

to the battle.

Joab wasn't sitting around waiting on them to make a decision,

make up their mind what they wanted to do, if

they wanted to be a Christian or not. Joab wasn't

standing there with that group of people that's trying to

figure out whether they want to live holiness or not.

Joab was already in the battle. Hey, man, I wonder

if Joab left a whole group of them standing right there,

and he said, there's a battle.

To be won. Hey, I've already made up my mind.

I've got my eyes set on the prize, and I'm

already going to the battle. I've seen the man of

God jump into the fight with our pastor quicker.

Than any soul in this building. I've seen Brother.

Nathaniel get the back of our pastor quicker than anybody

in this room.

And I feel like that's the way Joab was.

As soon as he realized that David needed a man,

as soon as he realized that David was looking for

somebody to fight the fight.

Hey, David said, Joab will go.

It got to a point where David knew, I know

exactly who to send. I've seen Brother Nathaniel get in

the trenches with our young people as he preaches and

he prays for them. Trying to help them win the battle.

Trying to help them come forth victorious. Doing all that

he can. Saying all that he can. Getting the pastors back.

That's what a captain does. A captain is not the general.

Brother Nathaniel, he knows this and he would not expect it.

Brother Nathaniel is not the general. He's not the final say.

He's not the only one pulling the load. But that

is what a captain is for. A captain is there

to get the generals back. To help him with the army.

To help him with a portion of the army.

Amen.

And I've seen Brother Nathaniel direct the army.

We've seen it Friday night. Amen.

God has entrusted him. And I count myself in that group.

Amen. That's my youth pastor. Amen.

That's my youth leader. I count myself in that group.

And I see him time after time get out here.

And as the captain with the army, he points us

in the direction to go. He shows us the way

that we should go. He shows us how we should walk.

In prayer, I felt like the Lord gave me something.

And I hadn't looked at Brother Rocap's outline and pastor's

said a lot this morning already along those lines. But

I felt like the Lord gave me something for our

youth group concerning Brother Nathaniel. Our wonderful pastor has appointed

Brother Nathaniel to the position of youth pastor. And it

is a position in the church. Amen.

It is a position of respect. Amen. We should respect him. Amen.

He should be as respected as our parents are Amen.

The pastor should get the utmost respect. Our parents should

get the utmost respect.

Amen.

And our youth pastor should get that same respect. I

heard him recently tell some of us, and it's not

me because I was raised better. Amen. But I heard

him tell some of us recently, don't you say yeah

or no to our pastor.

Amen. And I'd like to come in on the heels

of that and say if we respect the man of God...

If we respect the youth, pastor. Amen. I don't want

to hear that either. I ain't your youth leader. Amen.

But I don't want to hear you do it to

that man of God either. Amen.

I think we should have some respect for the man

that leads us to the battle. I think we should

have some respect for the man that shows us the way.

But our pastor here.

Promoted him to the position of youth pastor by direction,

no doubt, of the Holy Ghost.

Amen.

And by God's grace and by God's plan. But I

felt like the Lord told me it's not only a position,

but it's a pattern. And a lot has been said

about it. I've already had it in my notes.

Amen.

I feel like that the reason for the position... the

purpose of the position is for a pattern. It's not

just so we can say, Brother Nathaniel.

Is our youth pastor.

It's not just so we can say, hey, we have

a youth pastor, or our youth pastor said, our youth

pastor did.

Hey, but it is a pattern for us to follow.

If it wasn't a pattern, if Brother Howell, if our

pastor wasn't okay with us patterning ourselves after the man

of God, he wouldn't have put him in the position.

Amen.

I believe that he is in that position to be

a pattern for us.

Amen.

We should look at our lives, and we should pattern

our lives after the example that is set before us

as young people.

Amen. Ultimately, our pastor is our chief example.

Hey, but as young people, we should look to the

young minister that God and the pastor has set up

in our stead, and we should follow the pattern that

God has given us. He is a role model for

the youth at Bethel to pattern our lives after. Our

prayer life. Our worship when we come into the house

of God. How we worship the king.

Amen.

If he wasn't a good example in worship and in prayer,

I don't believe Pastor would have promoted him. Amen. I

don't believe Pastor would have set him up and said,

this is your example. I believe that God wants us

to be, hey, to follow some of the example that

he set before us. Sometimes you look at the pastor

and you say that's the pastor. And you look at

the youth pastor and you say that's just the youth leader.

But God has given us examples and we are to

pattern our lives after them.

Amen.

2 Samuel chapter number 18. Brother Caleb read it. Verse

number 1 and 2. Here in our second kotex, we

realize that David saw the benefit of having great men

help him with the responsibilities of the army. There's three

men that he sets as captains over the army. Joab, Abishai,

and Ittai.

I believe.

That David here understood that these men can help me.

These men cannot do my job. They could never be king.

They're not looking to be king. Joab never looked to

be king. I've never seen where Abishai looked to be king.

They never tried to usurp as Absalom done. And I

thank God that I've never got that off of The

man of God. Amen.

I've never got that vibe off of the man of God. Amen.

Because that would be wrong. Amen.

That's not right. Joab was never meant to be king.

Joab was meant to be a captain in David's army.

Here in this text that David here has been king for.

A little while.

And yet again he realizes that although he's a mighty

leader himself.

David was quite the man.

Amen.

David was quite the general. David was quite the mastermind

at warfare.

Amen. He had many a battle under his belt.

And the fact of the matter is, David could have

went out there and he could have led them boys

better than anybody could.

Amen.

David could have went out there and he could have

led the charge, but he realized, I've got a wealth

of benefit here in these three men. Amen.

Amen. David here is the ultimate general over the army.

And he assigns mighty men that respected his position and

his decisions. Amen.

What David said, that's what was done. Amen.

Whatever David wanted to get done, that's what was done.

Generally, these men had.

Proven themselves to be men that would stand when others wouldn't.

Amen.

Just as Brother Phillips said in the youth service last

Friday night, these men had proven that they were dedicated

to the cause. These men had proven that they were

men that would stand when others would tuck tail and run.

Those men had.

Proven themselves that they would stand in the middle of

the fight and they would lift up their sword and

they would win the battle. These weren't just, I think

the word is Joe Smough. I don't know where that

came from. I just know I've heard it. These weren't

just fly-by-night men. Amen. These were men that had proven

themselves to David, but through the battle, amen, through the hardships,

through the struggles, David knew these.

Men have got my back. These men are going to fight.

David did not pick random people to be captains. They

had proven themselves that they would stand when others wouldn't.

They were dedicated to David and to the cause. David

knew that he could depend on these men. And they

would be there when the battle was hot.

Amen.

When the time got tough. When the battle got sore.

These men would be there in the trenches with him.

They were courageous in the face of the enemy. Amen.

Our golden text finally this morning.

2 Samuel chapter number 10. Our final text here this morning,

David heard how the Ammonites and the Syrians had combined

forces to come against Israel.

His course of action was called Joab.

He said, I've got a possible catastrophe on my hand,

but I've got a dependable captain. I've got somebody that

I can count on. I've got somebody that's proven themselves

in the fight. I've got somebody that when I call them,

I know they're going to be there. And they're going

to go out. And David here, he calls Joab and

the mighty men. Joab and all the hosts of.

The mighty men.

It must have been wonderful for old David to know

that he could call on Joab. It must have been

a wonderful feeling for David to be sitting on the.

Throne or wherever he was.

Word come to him and say, hey David, the Syrians

and the Ammonites, they've combined forces.

They've came back with a fury.

They've come back with a fury. They've combined forces here.

They're stronger than they've ever been. They're fighting harder than

they've ever fought. And David probably never missed a beat.

And he said, call Joab. Call that man that's proven himself.

Call those men, that mighty host. That I know I

can count on. That when the battle gets hot, that

they're going to be there and they're going to fight

my battles with me. I've got some palace matters to

deal with. I've got some things that I need to

deal with. But I know Joab's got the battle. I

know Joab's got the foresight. And he's got the knowledge.

And he's got the heart. And he's got the burden.

And he'll go out there and he'll lead.

That army to victory.

I believe that David had perfect confidence in Joab and

those mighty men. I believe he knew that they would

go out to the battle and fight for their families.

I believe David knew that he would fight for his family.

Amen. David knew that he would fight for all of

his children. All of Israel. All the moms and the dads.

But there in the text.

Joab realizes that he's walked into an ambush.

He realized that the children of Israel weren't the only

ones that knew. Sometimes we can divide forces and we

can come in from the front and the back.

Amen.

He realized, Joab realizes when he gets out there, I've

got people in front of me.

And I've got a battle behind me. And I'm stuck

right here in the middle with those men. They have

pledged their life. And I'm facing a fight. I'm facing

a battle.

He realized he was standing against extreme odds. So Joab

takes the army. And he splits it up between himself

and his brother Abishai. And he said, Abishai, you take

this army and you go that way. And I'm going

to take this army and I'm going to go this way.

And we're going to fight this battle. Now these two

brothers were in the battle together. Now these two brothers

were fighting different battles, but they were fighting for the

same goal.

They were fighting different battles, but they were in the

same war. Amen.

And our youth pastor has led us into the battle

time and time again.

Amen.

And Joab here, he realized that I've got to pick

some people. And Abishai's got to have some people. And

Joab picks out the best of the best. I don't

believe his army was as big as Abishai's was. I

don't think Joab took the majority and left Abishai with

the minority. But I think when Joab went, the Bible says,

if I'm not mistaken, he chose. Joab chose of all

the choice men of Israel. He handpicked some men. Give

me Buford. Give me Christian. Give me Ethan.

Give me Brother.

Luther.

Give me Brother Luther. Joab picked choice men and I

wonder at what point in our lives do we become

the benefit to the Joab I wonder at what point

David trusts Joab I believe David has confidence in Joab

In the captain. But does the captain have confidence in us?

If he was to go to face the fight of

his life.

Would we be one of his phone calls? Would I be?

Would I be one of those men that.

When he knew he was in a fight, when he

knew that he was in the fight of his life,

would I be one of those men that he said,

I need that brother in the fight with me.

I need that man of God right.

There to get in the trenches with me and fight

with me because I believe in their ability to win

the battle. I wonder if we've earned that confidence. I

see brother Nathaniel. Each service that he's here. With his

body language. Speak to the pastor.

Don't worry. I've got your back. Amen. I see. I see.

I see brother Nathaniel. Try to get in the fight

with the pastor. And he's never.

He's never.

He knows this and. He's never fought to the extreme

that the pastor has. And he never will. But I

see a man that's willing to do what he can.

To do his best. Amen. To try his best. He

isn't the general.

But he's been assigned to be a captain over a

portion of the army. And he's trying to win some battles.

He's trying to win some battles. That way our pastor

don't have to fight him.

Amen.

Every Sunday morning that they walk out those two glass doors,

what I see is a captain. I see a captain

and his army marching out to the battle.

Amen.

And I feel like telling Brother Nathaniel this morning, and

I'm a nobody, but I want to.

Tell you, Brother, every lesson taught is a battle fought. Amen.

Every time you go into that Sunday school room and

you put the sword to the enemy, you're leading an

army out to war.

And you're trying to fight a.

Battle so that the pastor don't have to worry about it.

Amen.

If we can win one battle out there, that's one

battle that David don't have to worry about.

If we can win one.

Soul out there, that's one soul that David can have

confidence in.

And he can know that when the battle.

Gets hot, that we can win because we've got a

man that has our back.

I see an army marching out to war. Amen.

Let me say this. We all have a battle to fight.

Every day that we live, we are fighting. And if

you're not fighting, you're losing.

Amen.

The elders and the middle-aged saints, they all have a

battle to fight. They could raise their hand right now

and say, yes, I've got a battle to fight. Us

young folks, we're no exception to the rule. We might

face different battles. We might face different struggles.

Nevertheless, we're in the battle. And we're in a fight.

There's a battle raging in our text this morning. And

I love what Joab told Abishai. He told Joab, he

told Abishai there, he said, look, I'm taking this army.

And I'm going this way. And you're taking that army,

the rest of the army. And you're going this way. Joab,

they were in front. They were before and behind. So

they were fighting back to back. Abishai was going this way.

Joab was going this way. But I love what Joab said.

And I want to read it. Verse number 11. And

he said, Joab to Abishai, If the Syrians be too

strong for me, then thou shalt help me. If you

see me getting overcome, then you'll help me. But if

I see you in the battle, but if the children

of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will

come and help thee.

We're taking different approaches here.

You've got to fight your battle and I've got to

fight mine. But brother, rest assured that I'll do everything

within my power.

And I'll have your back and I'll fight with you.

And if I see you going down in the battle,

if I see you losing ground, then I'm going to

run to you and I'm going to fight with you.

I won't leave you.

In the battle, Abishai. I won't leave you fighting alone.

I won't leave you facing that devil alone. We've got

men of God in this building. Ask God, tell us.

When I see you in the battle, when I see

you in the fight of your life, I.

Won't leave you there.

When the enemy comes in like a flood.

Then the spirit....

Lift up a standard against it. I've seen the pastor

lift up some standards with the spirit. Joab told Abishai,

if I have to, I'll come over there myself and

I'll help you.

We're in this together. We're fighting together. Amen.

It's not the elders against the middle aged people. And

it's not the elders against the youth. We're fighting different battles.

We're facing different enemies. But we're in the same war.

There's a battle raging. But Joab said, I won't leave

you there, Abishai. And God knows you won't leave me.

Joab went ahead and spoke for Abishai. That's not in

my notes, but man, I like that. Would to God

that this man of God, that this man of God

could go ahead.

And speak for us. I believe that when.

Joab said that, he had 100% confidence that his brother

would come to him.

He told Abishai, if you see me going down, come

help me. He said, you will.

If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou

shalt help me. I know you'll do it, Abishai. I

know you'll be there when I need you. Would you God,

they had the confidence in us.

They were in a battle. They were in a fight.

And they say, I know you'll come help me. I

know you'll come fight with me. I know you'll get

in the battle with me. And you'll get in the

switch with me. And you'll help me fight.

As we close this morning, God has handpicked this man

of God to be our youth pastor, our youth leader.

Don't leave him in the fight alone. Don't leave him

in the fight alone. As David knew he could count

on Joab. Can he count on us? Can he count

on us as young people to get in the fight

with him? To get in the fight with him and

help him win the battle. To give our 100%. To

give the best we got. Great men of God look

for special men with special abilities to be captains. They

weren't just anybody. They weren't whoever they just wanted. It

was men with a purpose.

There was a reason.

Brother Phillip talked about those mighty men Friday night. There

was David's top three. And then there was his top 30.

Those men did something to earn that title.

They fought the battle to earn that title. What good

is a good.

Leader with an ill-equipped, unprepared, and unwilling army? The general

can't do it on his own. The captain can't do

it on his own. It's a group effort. It's everybody together.

What good is pastor's plan and your vision if we

don't join the effort? What good is Joab's battle plan

if Abishai said, Nah, Joab, let's just stay together. What

good is Joab? What good is Gideon? Laying out a plan.

If each and every time they laid out a plan

and said this is the way it's going to be.

This is the way we'll win the battle. It might

not seem right. But this is the way we go.

You might not think it's right. It might not align

with your ideals of how things should be.

You might think.

Well, Joab and Abishai should stand shoulder to shoulder. No,

they should stand back to back. Our plans are not

his plans. Let's stand if you're able this morning. It's

a unified army at Bethel. We are a unified army.

The captain is fighting with the general. The general is

fighting with the king.

Amen. We're fighting in the same war. We're fighting together. Amen.

The man of God, Isaiah, said this in Isaiah 6

and 5. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?

Then said I, Here am I. What if Joab, what

if the captain this morning came to you? What if

David said, I need the Jebusites.

Taken care of? Joab said, here am.

I.

Isaiah said, here am I. What about it? What about

it this morning? Is that your prayer? Here am I.

Send me. You can count on me. I'm going to

be in the fight. I'm going to be in the battle. Amen.

Amen.

We've got a battle to fight. We've got a war

to win.

Let's get Brother Nathaniel and Sister Rachel up here to

the front if they don't mind. I wonder if I

have some young men and some young ladies that say,

I understand what God's done. Amen.

And I understand what God's given me.

I understand what God's trying to tell me in this moment,

in these years. God's tried to show us an example

and tried to give us a role model that we

can fall in line with.

Does anybody want to pray? Anybody want to get their back?

Anybody interested in getting behind them? Fighting the fight with them? Say,

you're not in this alone. You won't fight this fight alone.

You won't fight this battle alone. I can only imagine

when Joab looked over his shoulder every now and then

to check on Abishai. to check and see how Abishai

was doing. And he looked and he said, yeah, Abishai's

in this with me. Abishai's in the fight with me.

I can count on him.

He's in the fight. He's in the battle. Oh, God.