Are You Truly a Christian Soldier?

You know, I've recently been examining the topic of World War II. And, you know, I've been struck by the enormous sacrifice of young men and women who were like 15, 16, 17, 18 years of age who fought in the European and Pacific theaters of war. You know, the fierceness of the battles that these young people endured, who fought for their country, cannot help but sober you if you have any understanding of what they went through. You know, in reading about some of the things that happened in World War II and seeing some of the newsreels, as I'm sure you have. You know, I never really, it really never hit me as hard as it did this past week that these men who were so young were young, you know. It didn't strike me that way because my dad was 18 years of age when the war started. And, you know, he was in that generation. And I never thought of, again, them as being young people. I always thought of them as being old people. But they were not. They were snotty, you know, kids, a lot of them, you know, from the streets of America. But many of those young men and women, you know, they came back home from the war, but they never ceased to carry the carnage of battle in their minds. They carried it around with them until the day of their death. I talked to Mr. Fowler.

Some of you may know him. He was in World War II, but he's since died. But I talked to him a number of times through the years. You know, I don't think there was a solitary conversation I had with him that did not, the subject of World War II, did not come up.

It was always on his mind, wherever he went, whatever he did. And you know, when I think about these kind of people, the kind of people that they were, in my mind, these people earned the right to be called Americans. You and I are Americans by birth. But these people earned the right to be called Americans by what they did and what they sacrifice. And countless men and women from the beginning of the United States of America have earned that same right by shedding their own blood and sacrificing their lives for the cause of freedoms that we take for granted in this country.

Now, I'm not encouraging us to go off and join the military and become a part of that world out there. But, brethren, we are engaged in a war. It's a different war that is more important than any war waged on this earth since the beginning of man. But ours is a war for freedom, just as much as it was for them. Ours is a war against the bondage that is in this world. So this world can be free and independent of the shackles that are on it. You know, the Apostle Paul wrote this in Romans 8, 21.

He said, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. And so this world, brethren, needs the children of God, the sons of God, you know, to free it. And we are going to have an opportunity. And like the soldiers of this world, we're like in the United States and other countries that fought against the tyranny of World War II, they came into nations and they liberated nations, brethren. If we prove to be the good soldiers that we should be as God's people, we're going to have the opportunity to help Jesus Christ liberate this entire world and free this entire world.

It caused me to ask myself the question, you know, am I truly a good Christian soldier of Jesus Christ? You know, am I a Christian soldier? Have I even, you know, earned the right to be called a Christian soldier? Frankly, I don't think I have. I don't think I've been through enough. I don't think I've experienced enough. But, brethren, are we truly good Christian soldiers of Jesus Christ? No, in the world today, it's kind of interesting that you look at the word Christian, and it's used very loosely, isn't it?

I mean, anybody can be a Christian. If you just believe in the name of Jesus Christ, you're called a Christian. Doesn't mean anybody's living by any set of ideas or in the Bible, even, but people can be called Christian, brethren. But I'm talking about a Christian in the strictest sense of the word. I'm talking about people who live the way of life. I'm talking about people who are Christian soldiers engaged in a mission that ultimately will bring this whole world down, and that Jesus Christ is going to replace it with a world that is going to free this world from the shackles that are on it right now.

You know, the Apostle Paul, now, he knew what it was like to be a Christian soldier. He knew what it was like to live that way of life. I'd like you to go to 1 Timothy 2, and let's notice here what Paul says, and what motivated him in his life. There were many things that probably motivated him, but this was one thing, obviously, we see that motivated Paul more than anything else. But in 2 Timothy 2, verse 1, he's saying to Timothy, he says, "...you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Be strong. Buck up.

No, be tough, he's saying to Timothy. And the things that you've heard from me among many witnesses commit these two faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And so, you know, as a soldier, we are supposed to be teaching other people and leading other people to have the same desire to fight this battle and influencing and infecting other people. Verse 3, "...you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." You've got to go through some hardship, Timothy.

You know, why would we think, somehow, brethren, that we're going to slide into the kingdom of God? Just get baptized, believe in Jesus, live a certain way of life, you know, for a few years, and then slide on into the kingdom of God, especially knowing what Jesus Christ himself went through. And he talked about, no one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

So we've got to be focused as God's people on the calling that we have. And also, if anyone competes in athletics, he's not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

And the hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops. He says, consider what I say. In other words, listen to what I say at Ponderut. Think about what I'm telling you, Timothy. It says, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things, that you understand this, you have a comprehension about what I'm saying to you. And he said, remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. And notice it says, for which I suffer, trouble is an evildoer. They treat me like an evildoer, Paul said, even to the point of change.

But the word of God is not chain. He says, therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect. I'm willing to go through everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. And so here Paul was telling Timothy to consider what he told him, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You know, Paul had a strong sense of what that meant.

It's like somebody from World War II understands war unlike anybody else.

Now they understand the kind of commitment that was involved in it. I'm sure that there were drill sergeants that drilled that into their minds, what it meant to be a good soldier. And these men went and they became the good soldiers that in fact helped to win the war. And so that we could have the freedoms that we have. You know, Paul was vigorous. He was vigorous in what he was doing.

When he was not in the church, he was vigorously persecuting the church.

But one thing about Paul is that when he came into the church, he was more vigorous in promoting the church. He was more vigorous in striving, brethren, to live by these principles and fight for it in this world and in this society. You know, when Paul, by the way, was persecuting the church, he didn't find it very hard from what we can see in the Scriptures. He didn't find it hard to identify Christians. If I were to ask you to go identify Christians today, I think you'd have a hard time, wouldn't you? But then he didn't have any problem identifying those Christians. Let's go to Acts 9. No, he didn't, brethren, because God's people live a certain way of life.

If we are indeed true Christian soldiers, then we can be easily identified. They knew where Paul was coming from. Acts 9, in verses 1 and 2, it says, then Saul, as it was called then, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the way. You know, it was so distinct, it was called the way by the apostle Paul. And it says, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And so he identified them as living the way. Not a way, but the way. The way of God. A specific way of life that God's people lived. Now, obviously, they were Sabbath keepers. We know that because Christ kept the Sabbath. We know also that they kept the Holy Days because Christ kept the Holy Days.

You know, so that was a part and parcel of the way, but it was much more than that. It was more than that. Than just keeping the laws of God, brethren. It was much, much more than that. There was a vigor that was there in those people. In Acts chapter 22, in fact, they sought to turn the world upside down.

And they did so in that time. Those people. It's like you think about, again, in World War II. These men turned the world upside down. You know, the world, as we know it, could have gone the other way. We could have had communism. We could have had Nazi, German leaders all over the world today, if it had not been for the work of those men in World War II. Of course, God blessed the effort as well. But in chapter 22, verse 3, let's notice this, and he says, he said, I am indeed a Jew, Paul, talking about himself, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our Father's law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. And notice in verse 4, I persecuted this way, I persecuted this way, to the death, binding and delivering into prisons, both men and women. And so here Paul says, I persecuted this way, then seemed to have a hard time identifying who these people were, and what kind of people that they were. Let's go to chapter 24. Chapter 24. Here's another occasion where, you know, we know he's before Felix here, but notice what he says here in verse 14. He says, but this I confess to you that according to the way, which they call a sect, and what we're called today, brethren, a sect, we are, you know, something to be detested. And so, so I worship the God of my Father's, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets. And so even though he was going the way of God, now he says, I was living by the law and the prophets too. And I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust, believed in the resurrection. Obviously, here we see what Paul understood, but he confessed now here to worship this way, persecuted it before, but now he came back with gangbusters, and he supported and backed it to the very hilt to walk in the way. And it was, again, a specific way that he lived, and the people of God at that time lived. Now, again, today, people view anyone who walks in a way of life professing to follow the first century churches of Waco, that you are a crackpot. You're trying to live according to the way that the church did in the first century, and they are amused that anyone would take the Bible literally.

They make fun of us because we take what Christ said, some of the things that he said. We know there are some things allegorical, but there are many things that he said that we should take literally as God's people and live by them. But you know, the ridicule is what a good soldier must endure until everyone will know the truth of God. This is what we have to endure. This is what we have to go through. Where did the idea, by the way, of the way come from? Anyway, you know, there's a, I think, the way Bible study is, or Bible that's out there that you can buy, that probably has the living Bible. I'm not talking about that kind of thing, because obviously that is quite watered down and Protestant in terms of its approach. But where did the concept of the way come from? Well, it came from Jesus Christ. Let's go to Matthew 7 and notice this, because in his ministry, that's what he taught. You know, in his ministry, let's go to Matthew 7 in verse 13 and 14. In his ministry, he taught that there were two ways in the world.

And there's a way that is the devil's way. There's a way that is the way that most go in the world. And then there's the way that is God's way. But let's notice here, again, Matthew 7 down in verses 13 and 14. He said to the people that were there in his teaching, he said, Enter by the narrow gate. So God's way is you go through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction. This is Satan's way.

And it says, And there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is a way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. And so even in that time, there were few that were finding this way, which was the way of God. And so this is where the concept of the way came from. When people talked about it, it's like when you come into the church, what do you people very often ask you? Well, how did you come to understand the truth? I think we refer to the truth in the same way that someone would say the way at that time. How did you come to see the truth? And there's a reason behind that. Why we say that. Let's go to Matthew 18 and notice just another place not to belabor this particular point. But in Matthew 18 and down in verse 24 through 26, and I do not know why I used this. Oh, I'm sorry, it's Acts, not Matthew. I had one scripture I was going to go to and I crossed it out and I thought we were still in Matthew. But it's in the book of Acts chapter 18. Acts chapter 18 verse 24 through 26. And notice it says, in a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, that was a big city down in Egypt and a great library, according to history. An eloquent man and a mighty in the scriptures came to Ephesus, and this man had been instructed in the way of the Lord. It's like a lot of people can read the Bible and they can come to see some things, but it's like the Ethiopian eunuch, you know, when he was reading the scroll of Isaiah, Philip asked him, do you understand what you're reading? And the Ethiopian eunuch was wise enough to say, well, how can I unless a man guide me?

And so he was taught in the way of the Lord, but it says, being fervent in the Spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. And so he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, and when Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And so this is what sometimes we have to do when people are maybe understanding, but they need a little more understanding. And this is where, you know, people can help out where there's a need like that. But you notice here that Apollos knew God's way, but Priscilla and Aquila had to teach him more perfectly, more accurately. I think this is perfectly in the King James Version, but more accurately that way. Obviously, he didn't understand about the baptism and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to the degree that he needed to understand. And who knows what else he didn't understand, what else he didn't grasp. And so we see the way is specific. The way of God is not, as it seems in the world of Christianity today, is, you know, typically you'll hear people say, well, there are many ways to heaven.

Many ways to heaven. Well, of course, the whole thing is kind of comical because we don't go to heaven. So they got it right wrong off the bat. And there aren't many ways to the kingdom of God. If somebody were going to be more accurate. You know, that goes completely against what Jesus Christ said about, you know, the way being narrow. So if that was true, obviously Christ would never have taught that the world is going the Broadway that leads to destruction. No, the way of God is as narrow as this world considers it. But let's notice in John chapter 4 and verse 6, you know, Thomas came to Christ and said, Lord, we do not know where you're going. And how can we know the way? He said. Now, this was a question that Thomas put to Jesus Christ. But notice in verse 6 here, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. So in other words, Christ is the way. He is the way. You know, we need to again, to grasp that, brethren. If we're going to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, good Christian soldiers of Jesus Christ, Christ is the way. And we need to walk in that way. And here Thomas was smart enough to ask the question, we don't know the way. You know, he thought maybe there was some magical, perhaps, a formula for going where Christ was. But Christ says, no, I am the way. I am the way. Well, brethren, where and how has Jesus shown us the way? You and I have been reading the scriptures all this time, you know, and I'm sure we've studied the life of Jesus Christ, the life and times of Jesus Christ, but how did he show us the way? How has he done that? What did Jesus Christ bring to us when he came the first time? What did he teach us? What did he open our minds up to see, you know, so that we could understand the way? You know, what did he reveal that could not be understood before, that could not be seen before, and why the Jews didn't see it, why they didn't grasp these things. So, brethren, where did he present this? How has Jesus shown us the way?

Well, let me tell you, brethren, how he's done it. He did so through his diligent example that is recorded in the Bible. I'm not going to go through every scripture to show you the example that Christ set, because I think you're going to realize that as we go through this, you know, in order to be Christian soldiers that follow our general, who is Jesus Christ, that we're going to have to learn the way and walk in the way if we're going to be those good soldiers. So, how has Christ shown us the way? In ways perhaps we have not understood, in ways that we have not understood and grasped, not that we haven't heard them, but it didn't register with us. It was like Thomas asking the question, we don't know the way. But, you know, he had been shown the way for three and a half years.

And it's like us. We can have been reading about the way and just not realize what Christ was telling us. Let me give you some points about how Christ showed us the way. Christ showed us the way, brethren, by his suffering and his sacrifice. He showed us the way. The way to the King of God. The way to eternal life through his suffering and through his sacrifice. Let's go over to Philippians. Paul recognized this, by the way, and saw it very clearly. And, you know, he taught the church about this. Now, whether they grasp it or not, I don't know. I don't know how many people, through history, grasp things. Many are called, but fewer chose. But Philippians 2 and verse 5, notice here, it says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who be in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. He emptied himself. And if we're going to be good Christian soldiers, brethren, we have to empty ourselves. We need to get out of the way if we're going to be good Christian soldiers. Christ emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Christ came and he was totally subservient to the Father. 100%. He said without the Father, he could do nothing.

You know, the Father, in a way for Christ's life, was his general in this case. He was a soldier on a mission. Well, brethren, our general is Jesus Christ. And if we're going to be like him, we have to empty ourselves. We, as God's people, need to be willing to sacrifice. We need to be willing to suffer as God's people. See, he gave for all of us, through his agony, his suffering, and his death, all he could give. He said there's no greater love than a man laid down his life for his friends. And that's what he did for us. And he became our sacrifice, and as our commanding general, set an example for us about what it would be like to be in the kingdom of God. If you're going to be there, that you may have to go through some hard knocks in your life. Remember what Jesus Christ said in another place where he talked about that, you know, we shouldn't love our father and mother, brother, sister. You know, basically we understand that we should love God more than, you know, our family. And what he says, if you're going to be a disciple of mine, he said, take up your cross and you come and follow me. Well, Christ had to suffer and die for all of us, brethren, and you and I, I don't know what we're going to go through. I don't know what we're going to experience. You know, who knows? We haven't shed blood yet, but, you know, it could happen before it's all said and done. We're not tough enough to make it right now. We probably are not going to make it thin as God's people. See, the very reason that you have been called is to sacrifice and to suffer in your life. That's the reason you've been called. Now, again, we know it's much more than that, but just to boil it down, brethren, so that we have no equivocation on it that we are sure.

God has called us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. I don't mean being crucified, although that could happen, too. Who knows what can happen? Let's notice 1 Peter 2, to really show that to us, brethren, very clearly. But in 1 Peter 2 and verse 20 down here, it says, for what credit is it when you are beaten for your faults? You know, you get in trouble and you get beaten. He said, what credit is that to anybody? You take it patiently, but when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. And verse 21 tells us the story, brethren, about why we were called. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps. So Christ showed us the way that was going to be necessary for us, brethren, in order to be in the kingdom of God, and that is to have a willingness to suffer and a willingness to sacrifice. Our calling is not, you know, all of that in our whole life, obviously, but there comes a time.

And you know, what is very clear in the scriptures is that Jesus Christ conveyed this to Peter and Paul and all the apostles. And the saints of God understood it, too. What it would mean.

That's why you have somebody like Stephen, who was willing to be stoned, and you know, he preached a powerful sermon and it got him killed.

Peter must have been really on fire because he stood out, it seems, when deacons were selected, and it mentions specifically that he was full of the Holy Spirit.

But he was following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. And so, brethren, let's keep that in mind. Christ showed us the way through his own suffering that he experienced that he went through.

You know, the Apostle Paul over here in 2 Corinthians tells us about his own personal life and what he endured. Like I said earlier, when he was talking to Timothy, he told him that, you know, he would basically endure anything for the elect's sake, that he was willing to do that. But here's a short little scripture over in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 15, and it says this. He said, I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls.

Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. So Paul was loveless by, but certainly the Corinthians, they didn't think he should be an apostle at all, but he said, I'm willing to spend and I'm willing to be spent. Are we willing to be spent, brethren, on the work of God? Are we willing to sacrifice and suffer? As Paul there in the first century of the church was willing to do that, you know, he called himself one of the least of the apostles, and yet he talked about how he worked harder than any of the other apostles. I think what motivated Paul was he realized that he had persecuted the church and never forgot that, and he realized he had to work harder, you know, because he had done that. And he just as vigorously again as he had fought against the church, he was more vigorous for the church, for the elect of God.

You know, Paul worked harder because he never forgot what he had done. But, you know, Paul said, look, I am what I am. I can't change what I did in the past, and no one can, obviously. But one thing we can do is we can, you know, if we've lived a pretty corrupt life, that we can make a total turnaround and we can live God's way, you know, as vigorously as we live the wrong way of life. We can change. You know, Paul said this, he said, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. This is reasonable. This is what he says to us. He realized that it was reasonable for him because of what he had done. Brethren, do we think it is reasonable that we should be living sacrifices? You know, the implication here is God doesn't want any martyrs. He wants people to live their lives as a human sacrifice. And we know through that people can be called into the church. Another thing that Jesus Christ showed the way, so we would know the way, brethren, is he showed us the way of truth. That there's a difference. It's important. That truth is important. Like I said, when people come into the church, very often they say, well, how did you come into the truth? It's a way, isn't it? All of us learn a certain way. I know that that's generally the way that conversations begin when somebody new comes in because you want to know how they heard about the truth. Well, Jesus was the word. He was with God, as John 1.1 says. And in verse 14, it says that he became flesh and he dwelled among us. And since he was the word, he was the embodiment of truth. He was the embodiment of truth. But notice this over in John 18. We won't go to too many scriptures here for this particular segment. But in John 18, down in verse 37, here Christ was standing before Pilate.

And it says, and Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? And Jesus answered, he says, You say rightly that I am a king, and for this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. I'm here to bear witness to the truth, to testify to the truth, and everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And of course, that is happening today, brethren. We hear the voice of Jesus Christ via the messages that we hear, the articles we read, and his Spirit, God's Spirit, working in us. So he came into the world to testify of the truth, to give us the truth of God. And this is the job, brethren, that we have today. We are born to be kings, as I mentioned, on Pentecost. But, you know, God has called us to bear witness and testify the truth. You know, he preached the gospel, according to Mark 1.14, as it talks about there, he went preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and that's what we have to do. And when we give the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, then, brethren, we give people the hope that is ahead for everyone. And what a tremendous hope that God has given to us, that we will be able to have one day bodies that are not like these old beaten-down bodies that we have. You know, of course, when you're young, you think that you have a great body, but the older you get, you realize that it's tumbling down. You know, gravity is beginning to have its full effect, you know, before it's all said and done. I didn't know that you don't want me to be talking about that very much, so we'll move on. John 8 over here. Let's notice in John 8, because the truth, brethren, changes things. And this is what Jesus Christ brought us, to give us the way of truth, a way out of this world, of this society. The word way, by the way, in the Greek means road, the road of truth. You see, the way of salvation in the Bible, the road to salvation. And so the way means the road. And through Christ, we've been given the road out of this world. In John 8, verse 32, it says, and he says, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. It's going to make you free. And it says, they answered him, we are Abraham's descendants, and have never been admonished to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? You know, interesting, they made that statement here, the Jews, the scribes, and the Pharisees, because they were in bondage to Romans, and they were paying tribute to the Romans.

And Jesus answered them, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. So they began to tell him what he meant by this. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Here he's talking about becoming sons in the kingdom of God, is what he's referring to here. Verse 36, therefore if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. And so the truth, brethren, sets us free, makes us free from the falsehoods, the lies of this world, in the area of religion. We're freed from the slavery of sin. And there are sins, obviously, that not just people addicted to drugs and alcohol and those kinds of sins, but there are many sins that we become freed from because of Jesus Christ and what Christ does for us. And so he showed us the way to truth, the truth of God. He opened the way up, brethren. Also, Jesus Christ came, brethren, and showed us the road to the Father in heaven, the way to the Father. You know, if you think about it, and Christ said this in so many ways in the things that he said, if you have no Father, you have no Son. And if you have no Son, you have no Father. And so Christ came to reveal the Father. Let's go to John here in the book of John already, but let's go to John 1 from where you are there. And let's notice down here in verse 18, verse 18, here Jesus came. Verse 14 talks about how he was the Word and he became flesh and dwelled among us. And then in verse 18, it says, no one has seen God at any time. No one has seen God at any time here talking about the Father. The only begotten Son who is in the buzz of the Father, he has declared Him. And so Jesus Christ came to reveal the road to the Father, the way to the Father that was not known before. You know, today, often people ignore the Father, but again, if you have no Father, you have no Son. If you have no Son, you have no Father. And you have no salvation if you don't have both. And in fact, it is eternal life to come to know the Father and the Son. I'm not going to go to that verse, but you can write it down. It's in John 17, verses 1 through 3, in that prayer that Christ prayed. So if we don't know the Father, then we could not have salvation. The Jews could not have salvation with what they understood. And so Christ came and He revealed it to us, and He showed the way to us. And we, as a result of Jesus Christ, and it says this in a number of places, brethren, through Jesus Christ, we have the Father. Through Jesus Christ, that we have the Father. And so Christ came and showed us the way to the Father. Another thing that we see that is very much talked about in the Scriptures, brethren, is this. He showed us the way to pray. He showed us the way to pray. You know, how can you have a relationship with the Father if you don't know how to pray?

And Christ introduced things that were totally different. He talked about how to pray, and He spoke about how to go about that. And Jesus Christ, in His ministry, probably every day of His life, from what we could probably guess about it, but certainly during His ministry, He went apart from the disciples to pray. And so they saw Him doing this.

You know, in Matthew it says, and when He had set the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. And now when evening came, He was alone there. He was up there communing with God. You know, it's important, brethren, that our children see parents praying. His disciples saw Him pray. Our children need to see parents praying, talking to God, because it teaches them. You know, even when they're little tights, they should see that and grow up with that kind of thing. On one occasion, Jesus Christ prayed all night long before He decided who was going to be His apostles. How many of you have ever prayed all night long? Jesus did? You know, He set that example. Let's go over to Luke now, and notice what it says over here. It was on just one of those occasions, brethren, when Jesus Christ had gone off to pray that the subject of prayer came up. But in Luke 11, I think that's where we are. I'm sorry, I may have said Matthew, didn't I?

I guess my tongue got over my eye teeth, and I couldn't see what I was saying. Luke 11, in verse 1, we'll begin there, it says, now it came to pass as He was praying in a certain place. When He sees, He says that one of the disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples. And this is, again, a place where He, once again, brethren, led people to the Father in the way to reach the Father here. But He taught them about prayer. And so He said to them, when you pray, say, our Father in heaven. Start your prayer talking to the Father in heaven. As God, of course, the Father is a part of this process of bringing children. In fact, no man can come to Jesus Christ except the Father draw Him, as it says in John 6, 44. And I will raise Him up to the last day, Jesus said. So here we see Christ taught them how to pray, and He gave them an outline here, as we see in Luke 11 and Matthew 6. He showed them how to pray. Now, tell me, brethren, if you didn't have this in your Bible, how would you pray today if you weren't shown the way? So you had to be shown the way to do that. You know, maybe we learned from Daniel how to pray. We wouldn't certainly be communing with the Father, would we? Nor would we have seen that Jesus Christ is our High Priest in heaven, and that He's an advocate for us at the right hand of the Father, an advocate that can plead our case, plead our cause when we go and we pray. So Christ showed us, brethren, the way of prayer.

Another thing that Jesus Christ taught brethren and set the example for is He showed us the way to serve, the way to serve. He showed us the way to abundant life as God's people. He gave us that direction to understand what it means, again, to serve, and we can be richly blessed by that, certainly. Let's go over to Matthew chapter 20. I won't belabor this particular point since we've had sermons on this topic, but in Matthew 20 and verse 25 over here, notice this, it says, And so Jesus Christ came to set the pathway, the road for us and teach us how to serve.

You know, usually in the world, in that day, in that time, and even among the Jews, quite frankly, it was more of an autocratic. And the Pharisees, the chief priests, and all those fellows, they did everything for show in ostentation. But Jesus Christ despised that. They had broad factories and all of the things that they had that trumpeted how great they were and how righteous they were. Jesus Christ despised that. Read Matthew 23. His style of service, brethren, was quite different. It was something that was very radical compared to the world at that particular time. You remember when there they were partaking of the Passover and Jesus Christ stood up and he took a towel and a basin and he washed all of the disciples' feet? He says, you know what I've done for you. And of course, we know the story in the account of how he talked about how he was the master. And he said that, you know, that, you know, I have given you an example as the master. And he set the example that the master serves as well. The master is willing to serve. You know, sometimes in the past, I don't think it's this way with people now, at least I hope it is not this way, but it used to be if you ordain an elder, then he couldn't do anything else. He couldn't pick up a chair after that. You know, elders should be able to do whatever they need to do at a particular time to take care of the needs of the congregation.

When I go over to Stockton, by the way, I help, you know, take down chairs and carry them back and break down and all that stuff. Mr. Armstrong used to talk about that basically that if there was no need, if you had a small group and the pastor could do it, that the pastor should do everything.

You know, obviously there wouldn't be deacons and so forth in such a case. But it was the pastor's job. And so, you know, one thing that Jesus Christ came to do is to show us that titles shouldn't mean anything when it comes to serving. I'm not saying there's no authority in the church. I'm saying that anybody should be able to pitch in and help at any time where there's a need that is there. And, you know, people used to have that attitude more. We live in a more selfish time. I hope, rather than we don't have that attitude. I hope that all of us, no matter who we are, can, if we see a need, we pitch in and we help, get things done. We have a desire to help out. So he showed us the way to serve.

And, of course, the biggest thing that Jesus Christ did, brethren, is he came to reveal to us the way of eternal life. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life.

And so Jesus Christ came to reveal the way to eternal life. Let's go to John 11. John 11. There are so many scriptures about that, certainly scriptures in John 6. But in John 11, verse 25 and 26 here, notice it says, he says in verse 25, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. He says, do you believe this? So through Christ, we have the opportunity, brethren, for eternal life. And he came to show us the way to eternal life. But we have to believe. And it's more than just believing in Jesus. Oh, anybody can do that. Just believe in Jesus. It's believing in everything he did, believing in how he lived his life. And likewise, trying to live that kind of life yourself and following in his footsteps. And you know, one thing that God wants us to know, even though we're going to have to go through suffering in this life, and there will be sacrifice, that there's a joy in it, too. That God gives us a joy walking in his way of life. And one of the things that Jesus said, he said, I want you to have full joy in your life. And so he teaches us, and we've taught in the Word of God, the jettison ways that are contrary to God's laws. So brethren, we can have that joy that comes. You know, when people get tired of beating their head against the wall, as many people do in this world out here in society, you know, where they are continually, you know, going against God's laws, that robs them of their potential joy that they can have in this life. And God has called us, brethren, to make it such that through Jesus Christ we can have full joy. We don't have partial joy, but a full joy as God's people. And he came also, brethren, presenting this eternal life to us so that we would have a peace of mind as God's people. Let's go over to John 14. John 14 from where you are there. In John 14, in verse 27, here Jesus Christ told them, he said, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. He said, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. And so God has given us a peace of mind if we again are living his way of life, because if we're not living God's way of life, then we don't have a peace of mind, because we're walking contrary to God. But when we start walking according to God's way, as God's people, that peace comes, that joy comes. And we're not troubled like the world is. It's like when we went to the funeral over there for Mr. Von Kohl's. Most of the people were there, I would say 95% of them were members of the church. You don't have the same reaction to death among God's people that you would in the world. I've been in funerals, by the way, where you had to tear people off the bodies of those in the casket, because people are just so grief-stricken. But God's people are not that way. All of us were saying, well, we'll see Henry in the resurrection. And that's the hope people have. Don't have the same problem. You know, I know that some of you, some younger people, you grew up in the church. You know, you have never known what it was like to not know your purpose in life.

And I'll tell you what, if you don't know your purpose in life, you know, what happens, brethren, is it's a misery. It is a misery that people have to go through in their lives. Because to not know, to not know, you know, is a horrible feeling. And there are millions of people out there, you know, billions of people that don't know the reason why they were born, why they exist. But so be thankful for the fact if you had that revealed to you and maybe you grew up with it. You knew that your purpose was one day to be a part of God's family, that that's why God put human beings upon this earth. And be thankful that God showed you the way to eternal life. And what is important, though, now is whether you're willing to walk in that way so you can inherit the great promises of the kingdom that has come, is to come. And brethren, if we're communicating with God through prayer in difficult times, I don't care how bad the times may be. Even losing a loved one, brethren, God will give you a peace of mind that, as Philippians says, passes all human understanding. You know, it's interesting in World War II and other wars also, that men can be right in the fit of battle, and they can do mighty and a heroic things. And the reason is, is their focus on what they're doing. You know, they're not thinking about anything else, but they're focused on what they're doing, and as a result of that, the battle is won.

And so, brethren, we as God's people need to be the kind of people that are focused on that goal of the kingdom of God, focused on the way of God so that we can have that eternal life. You know, the Apostle Paul kept focused on his purpose, on his life, and there's not a solitary soul, probably even among the apostles themselves, that did not go through the things the Apostle Paul went through. You know, Paul went above and beyond. I mean, if he didn't, I can only, you know, imagine what the other apostles went through. If they went through what Paul went through. Let's notice in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 23, here, here Paul begins to talk about what he's gone through. There were people that were actually claiming in the Corinthian church that Paul was in need of even a minister. But in verse 23, he says, Are they ministers of Christ? He said, I speak as a fool. I am more, he said, in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I've received 40 stripes, minus one. Now, we haven't been down that road yet, have we, brethren? No, we may find ourselves put in that situation like Paul was. Imagine being beaten three times. You know, when people knew how to swing a whip or belt, I had a cousin one time that went to reform school. He talked about how that when they were reform school, that he remembers they tied down sometimes these young guys that really got out of line at the reform school. And they would take these leather straps and they would tie these kids down and just, they would beat them, basically. This is back in the, I'm talking about back in the 60s, in that time. And he said he could hear them screaming. And so when I'm talking about a beating, I'm talking about a beating here, Paul experienced. But it was a horrific time for that cousin of mine. He got out of there and it scared him straight. He was different after that. Well, Paul went through these kind of things and they were real. Going on, let's notice on down through here, he says three times I was beaten with rods. Once would be enough for me. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day, I had been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in the perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst and fastings often, in cold and nakedness. And besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches? Now, I'm thinking, man, Paul, you've had some bad days that you had to go through. So what we've gone through, brethren, doesn't compare. Doesn't compare with what someone like Paul went through. Doesn't compare with what Jesus Christ went through. Paul endured hardness, hardness, and knew well how he should counsel Timothy about what might come ahead of him, that he had to be a good soldier, that Timothy had to be.

Solomon wrote this. He said, if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

Let that sink in, brethren. Let it sink in. We are in a battle as Christians in this world. We're working to liberate the world and we'll do so when Christ returns the second time. We need to cultivate a hardness and a toughness, brethren. We need to be as tough as nails as God's people to endure tough battles and to stand what is all over. You know, the matriarchs and the patriarchs of the church were true Christian soldiers. We read about them in Hebrews 11. We are Christians, but brethren, we must walk in the footsteps of these dedicated servants of God. And that may mean we're going to suffer before Christ returns in order to enter into the kingdom of God and have eternal life. Well, brethren, when we have endured hardness as God's servants, when we've gone through these things ahead of us, whatever it might be, then maybe we will have earned the right to be called true Christian soldiers. Paul did. Paul had that right, didn't he? It's like the soldiers that fought in World War II. Many of them, you know, suffered immensely and fought with great vigor and the battle that was before them, brethren. We have a battle ahead of us, I'm sure. And let's endeavor to be called one day true Christian soldiers.