Farewell, Fellow Soldiers

Happy Sabbath! So good to see all of you. Saw you last week, but it seems like a long time. My wife and I have been living out of the suitcase for the last week and a half, so it's kind of been a little bit of an unusual temporary life. I guess we'll go off to the feast. We'll be used to it, you know? You know, what I was thinking today as we drove up to the hall to begin services for today, you know, when we came here, 14, almost 14, well, over 14 and a half years ago, I remember driving over the ultimate pass, and it was just the wind was blowing.

It wasn't at my back. It was coming from the right and the left, and it was dry. I mean, all the hills were all brown and everything, and I had always heard it was green up in Northern California, and I thought, what am I getting myself into? You know, I'm jumping from the skillet in the frying pan up here, because I was coming from Arizona, where it was fairly hot up here, and I thought it was going to be just as dry as a bone up here, and, you know, sort of hot as well as it was at the time I came here, you know, that particular day.

But I was thinking also about when we came. I came, I think, December of 2001, and Joan came later, but Jonathan was, I think, 11 years old or 10 years old. I can't remember exactly, but I think he was in the sixth grade or so, and I was thinking when he was standing up here speaking, I thought, no, he came here when he was 10 years old, and now he's preaching at me. You know, it didn't take very long, did it, before he started doing that?

But it is amazing. The years that go by and the experiences that you have, and they all have been wonderful. Generally, I should say that, because I guess we've had our moments, haven't we, through the last years. But, you know, it has been an interesting assignment up here in the Bay Area. Joan and I have thoroughly enjoyed every one of you. We do love you very much. And, you know, I know, like you say, there have been our moments and so forth with different situations, but we do love you very, very much.

One thing that was kind of interesting, by the way, I sent an email out to the elders in the area telling them, you know, what the progress of our move. I got an email back from Scott Ashley, and it was a picture of a fan, a window fan, that had melted into the floor. And he said, I think the caption was, it's a dry heat.

So, Mr. Crow took a jab at me, and he wasn't the first. So, Mr. Ashley, who did that with me by sending me the picture, reminded me of how hot it gets down in Phoenix.

But anyway, we are looking forward to getting down there to see some of our old friends there. We pastored in Phoenix for 10 years, and our children are there as well. Sean lives about 30 minutes from us, I think. And Stephen lives about 25, and the church hall is about 30. So, we'll be closer, actually, to services in Phoenix than we are here, even though we're going to live out of town in a little town called Maricopa. I wanted to talk to you today, and I've given a lot of thought about what I wanted to say to you today, being the final sermon, final opportunity, as Mr.

Spears says, to convert you. But it really, really changed you. What did I say to you? Not a chance. But anyway, hopefully I can leave you with something. In 1962, there was an old soldier. He was a five-star general. His name was Douglas MacArthur. He was 82 years of age. And I don't need to even tell you about the history of Douglas MacArthur and World War II.

Of course, he was a legend. He stands next to people like Dwight Eisenhower and Patton and many others in World War II. He was a failing half, and he returned as an honor graduate. He had been the superintendent of this particular institution, West Point Military Academy, for a few years before he was assigned over in the Philippines. And he came back to receive their highest award, which was the Savannah Thayer Award there at West Point for his service to the United States of America.

And he gave an inspiring farewell address to the graduates, to the cadets, and he was stressing the code of West Point that was inscribed on the coat of arms of West Point. And, you know, West Point, as you know, trained some of the top military leaders of World War II. I mentioned Eisenhower, the only six-star general that we've ever had. Of course, Omar Bradley was another, was a great general that came out of that war.

Patton, of course, who was sort of psychic, you know, he seemed to be a psychic kind of individual, if he ever saw the movie about Patton. And he would go on a battlefield, and he would remember things that happened on that battlefield. One wonders if he may have been tapped into a demon in some way. That was a part of his psyche there. Ridgeway, of course, that was also very famous in World War II.

But West Point, again, turned out these kind of men, these caliber of individuals. And it got me to thinking, by the way, about how that there's something about an institution that has high codes of honor, high standards, high values.

Of course, West Point is just one of those institutions. There's a number of institutions that like that, that have very high standards. I remember when I was probably maybe 18 years of age, maybe 17 years of age, I was standing on the doorsteps of a Church of God Seventh Day. And somebody happened to have an envoy to Ambassador College.

And we were sort of looking through this. And by the way, this was the Church of God Seventh Day group. This is where I first began keeping the Sabbath. And I was turning with them through this envoy, and they had these fabulous pictures of Ambassador College. And Ambassador struck me as just that kind of an institution, an institution with high values, very high values. And I remember saying to the person who was showing me that envoy, I could never go there, because I couldn't afford it.

I just couldn't afford to do it. Of course, growing up in Arkansas, you think of going off to an institution like that, it's going to cost you a lot of money. And anyway, I learned, of course, over a period of time, more about the Bible. I learned about the Holy Days and so forth. And I began to attend Ambassador College, and I decided I was, I mean began to attend the Worldwide Church of God, and I began to think about Ambassador College.

I was going to Northeastern State University at the time, and I said, well, you know, I was in my second year, and I said, I said, where should I go? My third year. Should I go to Oklahoma State University, pursue my degree in medicine, or should I go to this Ambassador College? And I had worked to save money during the summers, and I had accumulated a sum total of $500. So, I mean, I was rolling in the dole. And I said, God, if you want me to go to Ambassador College, I'm going to apply.

And so, so I applied. And lo and behold, I got accepted. And got on the bus to Glade Water, Texas, and headed off with my $500 in my pocket. And only when I got down there did I ask the question, how was I going to pay for this? But I got to Ambassador College, and when I got to Ambassador College, you know what I heard when I was there?

That Ambassador College was called the West Point of God's work. The West Point of God's work. I had applied to him to West Point during my high school years, by the way. And in the church, we looked upon Ambassador College as a place where, you know, the ministry would be trained, their wives and so forth. In Ambassador College, it was not a ministerial college, but it was a liberal arts college, but it had high values.

And again, there's something about an institution that does have high values that expects that of its students. And you know, in the church, brethren, in a way, the church is an institution with these high values, these very high virtues that we strive to attain, that we want to make a part of us. In the church, we're like cadets in training to rule someday with Jesus Christ. Right here in this room are the future kings of the earth.

It's hard to believe right now, but right here are the future kings of the earth, the kings and priests of the future. You know, Paul told Timothy, who was an evangelist, he said, You endure hardness as a good soldier, he said, of Jesus Christ.

You know, when you went to Ambassador College, you knew you were part of something different. And you know, when you're part of God's church, you're part of something different with high values. I'd like to reinforce, brethren, this code of conduct that was at West Point, I want to apply it to us, as cadets, as it were, as students in God's church, preparing for the high roles we're going to play in the world tomorrow. You know, Paul, the Apostle Paul, admired the dedication and the discipline of the Roman soldier. You know, they had to be trained. They were very well trained and disciplined.

And you know what? When Paul looked at the Roman soldiers, he charged the brethren in the church to show greater loyalty to their calling, in the way that a Roman soldier was dedicated to being a soldier, that the church should be dedicated to our calling. We might say, in the army of God. Now, we're not called to fight physical battles. We know that. But you know what, brethren? The principles of spiritual warfare are essentially the same. I want to read to you some of what MacArthur said. Now, I'm not going to read it as slow as Douglas MacArthur read it. He was very, very slow in how he delivered, you know, this particular speech. And again, it was given in 1962, and two years later, Douglas MacArthur died. But this is what he said. General Westmoreland, General Groves, distinguished guests. I could say to you, all of you here, you know, the brethren of Oakland, the church in San Jose, in Santa Rosa, and our brethren over in the Hawaiian Islands. But he said, in distinguished guests and gentlemen of the Corps, as I was leaving the hotel this morning, a doorman asked me, where are you bound for, General? And when I replied West Point, he remarked, beautiful place. Have you ever been there?

He said, no human being could fail to deeply move by such a tribute as this. Coming from a profession I've served so long and a people I have loved so well. It fills me with an emotion I cannot express. But this award, the Thayer Award I mentioned earlier, is not intended primarily for a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code. The code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent.

That is the meaning of the medallion. For all eyes and for all time, it is an expression of the ethics of the American soldier. That I should be integrated in this way with so noble an ideal, arouses a sense of pride and yet humility, which will be with me always. This is what was engraved, by the way, on the coat of arms of West Point.

Duty, honor, and country. He says, those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, and what you will be. They are your rallying points to build courage when courage seems to fail. To regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith.

To create hope when hope becomes forlorn. Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean. The unbelievers will say, they are but words. But a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. He said, every pendant, every demigod, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and I'm sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character will try to downgrade them, even to the extent of mockery and ridicule.

But these are some of the things they do. They build your basic character. Duty, honor, he said, and country. They mold you for your future roles as the custodians of the nation's defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak and brave enough to face yourself when you're afraid. So, you know, he says he's not eloquent, but it doesn't sound that way, does it? Sounds quite eloquent to me.

But he talks again about these three words, duty, honor, and country. Now again, brethren, Jesus said, he said that the children of this world are in their generations wiser than the children of light. Sometimes it's amazing that in the world, people, you know, see the values and the standards and the importance of those, those high standards. Now, it's true that we're living in a time when those high standards are not that valuable. But the world oftentimes values a high code of conduct for success.

And you know, Jesus Christ was one who valued the high standard of conduct. My son talked about, you know, how we need to depart from the perversity in our lives and how we need to walk in a certain way in our lives. Jesus Christ talked about that. Let's go to Luke chapter 14. Here he gave this, by the way, to those who were seeking him. A lot of people, of course, in our time and our day and age say they want to seek God, but when they find out what God requires of them, then they change their tune.

But here in Luke chapter 14, in verse 26, let's notice here, in verse 25, he says, Now great multitudes went with him. And he turned and he said to them, it's almost like here all of these people were following Christ, and perhaps sometimes it was a bit annoying for him to have all these people following him. And Christ just turned around and he said this, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, in his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

So all of you people following me, unless you can be willing to follow me and love me above all of those things, and God more than those things, don't follow me. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me, he cannot not be my disciple. Now, brethren, that's a high standard, isn't it? That Christ was demanding from people. On down here in verse 33, it says, So likewise whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.

If you don't forsake all that you have, now that would have turned away 98% of those people following him. They weren't willing to do it. They weren't willing to commit themselves to this high standard. Well, brethren, we must be committed to the high code of duty, honor, and country.

I'm going to tell you how that applies to our calling, brethren. Like soldiers, we must be committed to fight the enemy to succeed. We have to be committed from the heart. Brethren, Satan is a formidable foe, and we can't win against him on our own. But we can win if we're dedicated to the cause that we're embarked upon in our calling, and we rely upon Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven. Let's go to Matthew 10. I'm reminded that when Mr.

Armstrong many years ago went over to the Philippines, I think there were probably 25,000 people in the auditorium in the Philippines. And he did several nights of how Mr. Armstrong was. I mean, he just let it rip. And he boomed. His voice boomed to the people. First night he would have 20,000, 25,000 people.

Second night he would have maybe 15,000 people. Because as people heard him more and more, less and less showed up. And then the next night it got down to maybe a few thousand people. Still, again, an impressive turnout, but yet, again, it got pared down. In a lot of ways, what Christ did, it was the same thing. There were lots of people following him to begin with, but the more he said, the less it followed him. And finally it got down to the point he asked his own disciples, Are you going to leave too?

Are you going to leave too? Because the standard was so high. Chapter 10 of Matthew. Let's notice in verse 34 here. It says, Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against his mother, her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be of those of his own household.

Now some of you don't know what that means. You have never experienced it. But I've known of people that have begun to obey God, and all of a sudden their families turned on them. And there was conflict in the family. I had a period of time, by the way, where my father did not talk to me for about two or three years because of what I was believing. When you start bucking against Christmas and Easter and all the family traditions, people don't really like what you're doing, and you're going to be ostracized.

That's what Christ said was going to happen. In other words, you've got to have such dedication if you're going to be one of my followers. Christ is saying, you know, you're going to have to face that. But God's way, brethren, is more important than our physical families. God's way is more important to me than my wife. I love my wife very much.

But God's way is more important to her than I am. And, you know, if I left the church, He would not leave the church. And if He left the church, I would not leave the church because the church is the most important thing in my life.

It has been for many, many years. I pray again, it always shall be and will be. God wants us, brethren, to again realize there's a high standard. And at West Point, they expressed it again by those three words of duty, honor, and country. Again, these things apply to our calling as well. Over in 1 Timothy, let's notice in 1 Timothy chapter 1, I remember I went to Ambassador College.

When I was going to Northeastern, I studied most of the time. I really did. I studied all the time at Northeastern. But when I went to Ambassador College, I decided, you know, I want to become a very well-rounded person. And so I decided that I would not be Mr. Egghead. I would try to get involved in things. I'd always been involved in music in high school and so forth, but I had not done that, pursued that at Northeastern.

My main interest was pre-medicine, mathematics, biology, zoology, all those types of things that, again, one must study to go into medicine. And I pretty much kept to myself not involving my social with people. Of course, I was striving to obey God as well. It was kind of hard to do that and intermingle with some of the kids of my particular generation, because in the 60s, it was the time when pot was very popular, beginning to be very popular at that time. And the mentality was quite different.

And I lived in a dormitory situation at Northeastern. And you don't want to know what goes on in a dormitory at a college. It really is an awful place. I mean, don't get me wrong, there were people that I associated were pretty solid people, the people I did associate with, but most of them were like I was, sort of loners.

But when I went to Ambassador College, I wanted to, again, to branch out. I wanted to become more socially oriented and to get the full value of Ambassador College. And I really strived to do that at AC. But the idea, too, is I wanted to get the full information, the full knowledge of Ambassador College as well. I didn't want to just become a theologian. I wanted to be able to be well-rounded. In fact, I had not intended to go in the ministry. I think I've mentioned that to you before.

But that was the farthest thing from my mind. I'm really happy I ended up there in the ministry, but that was not my idea. When I went to Ambassador College, I changed my major, by the way. I was going to go into business. I was going to get a business degree. But as it turned out, of course, God jettisoned my ideas. In fact, God didn't like any of my ideas, I don't think. He didn't like the fact I was going to go into medicine.

He didn't even like the fact I was going to go into business. And decided, well, you're going to go into the field ministry. And they announced it at the forum, the way they did it back in those days.

They didn't tell you you were going to go into the field ministry, by the way. At least they didn't tell me that. They just announced it. So-and-so was going to Sownwear, wherever it was. I was going to go to Oklahoma City. I thought that would be a good place to be. And in the graduation line, they decided to send me to Pennsylvania, someplace called Harrisburg, which I'd never heard of.

But anyway, that's what happened. And I ended up again in the ministry. But Ambassador was a wonderful place, again, to learn high values. Let's go to 1 Timothy chapter 1 now, and verse 18. 1 Timothy 1 and verse 18. Here Paul says to Timothy, This charge I commit, you son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made, concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.

Having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenas and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. And so Timothy was told he was charged to wage a good warfare as a soldier of the army of God. He had to be, again, a sharpest attack.

There were those that maybe demeaned him because of his youth. And Paul said, you don't allow that in the church. And Timothy was not allowed to compromise God's way of life, but had to be absolutely loyal to God's laws. In a way, Paul took him through Ambassador College.

He taught him. He considered him a son. General MacArthur said there are three hallowed words to a West Point conduct that reverently dictate what we want to be, what we can be, and what you will be. Three hallowed words. And, brethren, these three words should be our hallmark, our code. These three words, brethren, give us stability to fight the spiritual battles that we have to fight. So, brethren, renew your bearings of what you are and what you want to be.

When Jesus Christ talked about the way of God, he says, Great and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few, he said, there be that find it. But broad, he said, is the way to destruction. So those that are a part of those select few, brethren, that are going to be a part of that initial wave of the kingdom of God are the few, who again have those high standards. So, brethren, when you feel like your life has been turned upside down, realize it's been actually turned right-side up.

When God begins to work with you, your life is being turned right-side up. It only feels different. And what God is doing, brethren, is transforming you into what you should be, into his new creation. And you know, all God needs, brethren, is a few good men and women to catch the vision and dedicate themselves to the great transcendental purpose to rule with Jesus Christ and to be God's servants in the kingdom of God, to be kings and priests in the world tomorrow. Do we have that vision, brethren? You know, that really is what we've been talking about for over 14 years. The vision. It's been given many different titles and many different sermons.

It's all the same message, basically. The vision of being in the kingdom of God and ruling with Jesus Christ. You know, duty, honor, and country for all of us, brethren. Our code in the spiritual way is duty, honor, and country. Let's talk about duty. What is your duty to do? Well, even Jesus Christ said, if you only do what it is your duty to do, you're an unprofitable servant. So you see, his standard is pretty high, isn't it?

If I tell you what your duty is, and that's all you do, Christ said you're an unprofitable servant. If you only do what you're supposed to do. But you know, even in this world that we're living in, duty is not spoken of very much anymore. It seems since the 60s, self-discipline has declined with what began, I know in the 60s and the 70s, the do-your-own-thing, you know, attitude that people have that has pervaded society. Remember, you know, when I was a boy hearing JFK when he was inaugurated into the presidency, I can hear it even now. He said, ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.

So he taught or believed in the obligation that every citizen in this country, you know, owed a duty to the country in some way, shape, or form that needed to be paid. And of course, in the 60s, that all went by the wayside, didn't it? It was lost by, you know, a lot of the free sex movement that began back in the 60s and the do-your-own-thing society that enveloped, in fact, the entire country and the whole world, for that matter.

Do you have a sense of duty, brethren, though? For what Jesus Christ did for you? Do you have a sense of duty? Of owing God something? Owing Jesus Christ something? For what He has done? Do you have a sense of duty in His church to contribute willingly?

You know, our attitude, brethren, is that God's wish is our command if we have that attitude of duty to God. We want to do what God says. We want to obey God. You know, if you really have duty, a sense of duty, as a servant of God, brethren, nobody has to make you do anything. You want to do it because you're obliged to do it because of what Christ has commanded us to do, given to us in the form of His sacrifice. But He's commanded us to do it, but He's not going to make us do it. But we do it willingly because we are obliged to do it. We feel obligated to do it. The word duty, by the way, in Webster's is defined this way. Bound by natural law. It's natural. It's natural for us to want to do something out of duty to someone. Bound by natural law, legal, moral obligation to pay or perform. That's what the word duty means. I think MacArthur was right, brethren, when he said that these three words, to a lot of people, are just words. They're just like slogans. And I would imagine that when I said those words, you may have thought in those terms. I know I've heard them before in that way, but it's like the songs that were sung by the choir and Mrs. Crow. You know, here my wife and I are sitting in the last service here in Oakland, talking here now to you now. I listen to those two songs differently than I have ever before. I really do pray that the wind is at our back. I pray all of those Irish little sayings that sometimes are positive, are true in our lives, that God will smile upon us, that the sun will shine upon us. And you know what? I pray that for you, all of you, too, that God will be with you. But these words, these words, duty, honor, and country, they look different to me now after being in the ministry for decades or so. They look different to me now than they used to. They're not just words anymore. I think, like MacArthur told the cadets, this is what makes you into what you need to be. We need to be if we really see them for what they are. If we can have a sense of duty within ourselves, an obligation to Jesus Christ, they will make us what we need to be as God's people. And you know, if we have a sense of duty, a real sense of duty where we feel obliged, brethren, the church is not just a group that we sort of come to here. You know, we spend a little time with the church and then we leave. We have ownership here. We're part of this group. We're part of the family. You know, when we came here, you know, many years ago, I didn't know anybody in this congregation except, I think, Mr. Roram. I knew him at Ambassador College. He was down there at the same time. I think he was a class or two ahead of me, but, you know, he was the only one I knew.

But now I've got a whole big family. You know, Joan and I have got a family here of people that we know, that we feel comfortable with. And, you know, you're gone for a week and you feel like you've been gone for two months. That kind of a family. We love you again very much, but it's the sense of duty that has brought us this par, that has brought us to this place, brethren, that we're here with you. And a sense of ownership. I'm a part of this family. Joan and I are part of this family. Hope you feel that way, brethren. We're not mere servants. We're family members here. We're part of this spiritual family. We're God's kin. We're His relatives. And we're not simply passing through. You know, what was Jesus Christ's attitude, brethren? Let's go to Matthew 4. Matthew 4. Matthew 4. So, brethren, do you have that sense of duty? Matthew 4. Matthew 4.

And chapter 4, verse 1-4. And Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights afterward, He was hungry.

He had a monstrous appetite. And now when the tempter came to Him, He said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Every word. This is Jesus Christ. This is what you do. This is your duty to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And you notice on down here that Christ was taken to the pinnacle of the temple and said, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it's written that He shall give His angels charge over you, and into their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone. And Jesus said to Him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

And then the next time that Satan tries to tempt Him, Jesus Christ says, Away with you, Satan, for it's written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve. So there are two things that we see here. That Christ says, it is a duty of all Christians who follow in His footsteps. Number one, to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And number two, to trust in God, to look to God and no one else.

To have our minds riveted on those two aspects, on God and the Word.

So Jesus Christ set the example, brethren, for us. He put God first. He put God's Word first, and He put God first, and all things.

You know, He didn't skirt the edge of the cliff and play with fire, and expect God to sort of bail Him out.

He didn't compromise.

But He served God from the heart, as was His duty. He set an example, brethren, for us.

Well, God wants us, brethren, to have that sense of duty. I'm going to read a little more of what MacArthur said here, talking about these three words, these hollowed words he talked about, of duty, honor, and country. He says, they teach you to be proud and unbending and honest failure, but humble and gentle and success, not to substitute words for action, not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge, to learn to stand up in the storm, but to have compassion on those who fall, to master yourself before you seek to master others, to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high, to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep, to reach into the future, yet never neglect the past, to be serious, yet never take yourself too seriously, to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the weakness of true strength. They give you temperate will and quality of imagination, a vigor of emotions, a freshness of deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what's next, the joy and the inspiration of life. They teach you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman. Duty. Duty, brethren, honor and country. We'll do that for us, brethren.

Every time there's a battle, brethren, we think of the sense of duty that we have. And if we have a deep sense of duty to God, brethren, in a storm, we will stand, no matter what it is. God helps us master ourselves to help others. We won't compromise, and we teach others not to compromise the truth. And we reach out to our destination, and we pursue that destination to the kingdom of God. And, brethren, if you have that sense of obligation within you to fulfill your calling, you will not fail. You will succeed, and you will fully yield to God's word and his Spirit in your life to lead you.

And if you have this sense of duty, brethren, you're going to escape the troubles that are going to come in the future, because God will deliver you from them.

You know, that next code word is honor. What does honor mean? This is what honor means, brethren. Consideration, do.

Respectful regard. Cause of esteem or revere. You know, the Bible says this, you don't have to turn to it, but in Psalm 89, verses 6-7, it says, Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. That's us, brethren. He's greatly to be feared or revered or honored in the assembly of the saints. To be held in reverence by all those around him.

Again, do we honor God, brethren? As we hold God in high honor and regard, brethren, we will follow Him with more dedication. If we honor God, we will follow His path and His way. And if we have that desire, brethren, to fulfill duty, our obligation to God, and we honor God, God will strengthen us to help us to make our goal of His kingdom. He will strengthen us in the time of battle, and we'll rise up, and God will allow us to fly when other people become weary. And God will not only help us to do that and strengthen us, brethren, He will fight for us. He will fight our battles. And, brethren, of all people, God deserves your honor. He deserves your honor for what He's done for you and me. All of us should be honoring God because He deserves our honor and our worship of Him. Let's go to Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12 over here. In Hebrews 12, Paul talks about God over here. There are other scriptures that talk about how high God is and how He is to be honored and how He is to be praised.

In Hebrews 12 and verse 25, here Paul says, he says to the church of the general assembly of the brethren that were scattered abroad, he said, See that you do not refuse him who speaks.

For if they did not escape, who escaped or refused him who spoke on earth? Of course, when God spoke from Mount Sinai and He thundered from Sinai, the people ran because they were afraid and the ground shook. Paul says, Much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven. So we better honor that voice that speaks to us from heaven. And in these last days, he spoke to us by his Son, Jesus Christ, whose voice then shook the earth, but now he is promising, Yet what's more, I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. His voice is reverberating not only here to us upon the earth, but in heaven itself.

And he says, Now this yet what's more indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Brethren, if we truly honor God, we won't be shaken loose. But if we do not honor God, we will be shaken loose, like all the other riffraff of society that masquerades around as though they do honor God, and we will fall by the wayside. And Jesus Himself said that if we love God, we should also then love our neighbor as ourself. Those are the two great commandments that remember Jesus Christ spoke of. We love God first, and then we love our neighbor.

And Peter, when he came, he taught, he said, Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the King. So the Bible talks about how we need to learn to honor all men, and respect all men.

And the Bible says, brethren, if we honor God, He will honor us. If we do not honor God, He will not honor us.

No matter what we might think.

Some people have this idea that it doesn't matter what we do, that God just looks down and is going to pat us on our pointed head there. You didn't mean it. Well, brethren, God wants us to grow up and realize that He holds us accountable. Christ said, the words we speak, we're going to be held accountable for.

So, brethren, if we honor God, He will honor us. He will lift us up. Eli, by the way, is an example of someone that God raised up in Israel, and he gave him opportunity to lead Israel. And Eli let his boys begin to deal with Israel. And you remember that Eli's sons desecrated the offices that they held. They misused offerings and sacrifices. They committed adultery. They stole. And finally, God came to Eli and basically said to Eli, look, now's the time of reckoning.

And God told Eli, He said, look, where's my honor? You've been very lenient on your sons. You haven't done anything about your sons.

And so God punished Eli because he did not honor God by taking care of his own sons. And God told Eli, then, He says, if you honor Me, I will honor you. If you don't honor Me, I'm not going to honor you.

So once again, in that situation, by the way, you know, Eli was not honoring God by how he dealt with his own family. So, brethren, we need to honor God, not only ourselves, but our families need to honor God.

We have a responsibility to our children, even, to teach them to honor God, and to have an honor of God. The third word, you know, that was, again, engraved on that West Point coat of arms was country. Now, what does that mean? Now, of course, MacArthur was talking about the United States, loyalty to the United States, to a particular solitary or government, with a Constitution that, you know, has certain laws that need to be obeyed, that the soldier was a custodian of those things so that the country itself could realize its vision. But, you know, the Church of God is a country as well, is a nation. We are the Israel of God. You know, we're, of course, the spiritual version of Israel. We had the physical Israel and the wilderness, and now it's the Church of God, which is Israel, the Israel of God. And Jesus Christ, brethren, said that His kingdom was not of this world. But He said, I will build my church, which was the Israel of God. Later, Paul says that our citizenship is in heaven. And, of course, here upon the earth is where God's church is and God's family is. But our citizenship is in heaven. And very soon, Jesus Christ is going to bring His leadership down to this earth, establish His kingdom upon the earth. And then He's going to begin to dole out the responsibilities to all those who have been called in this time who have been faithful.

The patriarchs of old, brethren, they were soldiers, Hebrews says. Hebrews 11 is sort of the hall of fame of all the who's who of those who were faithful through the ages, the men and women who were faithful through the ages, from Abraham to Isaac and Jacob, all the way through Moses and David and others that suffered great loss. Great loss and Sarah and Rahab and others that were very faithful to God, proved themselves to be faithful to God. But, you know, it says that they died having not received the promises. But they looked to a city whose builder and maker was God, that city that was not made with hands. Of course, the New Jerusalem. We know that that New Jerusalem is going to eventually come down out of heaven after the monium of Christ, when Christ yields his family up to the Father. So, brethren, we are part of, as the patriarchs were, of an unseen country right now, and we're soldiers until it comes. And, you know, this country, like the United States, has a dream.

What is the dream of America? The dream of America is prosperity. The dream of America is freedom. You know, those are probably two greatest things about America. Freedom and prosperity and happiness. And, you know, those things are mentioned, you know, within the Declaration of Independence, quite frankly, are spelled out there. But you know that the Israel of God has a vision as well. It has a dream. I have a dream. The Bible talks about this dream of one day, all of us sitting under our fig tree. A part of the song that was sung in the special music was that we would have peace. And I dream of peace. Of peace, not just in the world, brethren, but peace among God's people. I look for that. You know, I've been in the church now since 1968. I've seen a lot of battles. A lot of battles. I've been in a lot of battles.

And usually, you know, they kind of creep up on you, but you've got to stand up to those things that arise from time to time. You know what, brethren? I get tired of fighting the battles. And, you know, I'm sure you do, too. I look to the time when there will be no more battles. That God's people will get along from one side of the world to the other. There will be no more sisms, no more splits. When we'll all be under Jesus Christ. And, of course, if there's any question then of who's in charge, we've got a problem, Houston. I think Christ is going to do some straightening it up if anybody doubts his right to make decisions. But, brethren, we have a great vision. A time when there will be no more death, no more dying, no more suffering. It's quite a vision, isn't it? And, you know, as a soldier in Jesus Christ, I fight until that vision is realized. I don't want any more battles, but, brethren, I'm ready to rise and fight if we have to. Until we get there. Until we arrive. I think MacArthur was right. He said, duty, honor, and country are three hallowed words. They reverently tell you what you want to be, what you can be, and what you will be. Those three words. I want to read to you a little bit more about what he says here. I promised myself I would not get emotional, by the way, in this particular sermon. He says to these cadets, yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory, that if you lose, the nation will be destroyed, that the very obsession of your public service must be duty, honor, and country. You see how that relates to us, brethren? We can't lose. We can't lose. We have an obligation to win with God's help. We can't let down. We have to keep pushing forward to the kingdom of God.

He said others will debate the controversial issues, national and international. He's saying that as soldiers, others are going to be debating these things in the country. And look what's happening today. You know, in the United States, about who's going to be the next president. That's not what a soldier's duty is, to pay attention to that. But it's not our duty to pay attention to that either, because we're apolitical. We don't care. God is the one who makes those decisions anyway, doesn't He? He said others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds, but serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the nation's war guardians. As its lifeguards from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiators in the arena of battle, for a century and a half, you have defended, guarded, and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom of right and justice. Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government, whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent, whether our personal liberties are as firm or complete as they should be, these great national problems are not for your professional participation of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war toxin sounds. The long gray line has never failed us. He says, your guidepost stands out like tenfold beacon in the night, duty, honor, and country. You know, and, brethren, how does that apply to us again? We see that clearly. We're not to get entangled in the affairs of the world. You know, we don't go off to fight in wars, physical wars. We're called to fight physical battles in the army of God.

And again, ours' duty is to keep aloof of what's going on in the world. We need to know what's going on out there, but we don't become a part of it. We don't become a part of this world and the society that we're living in. We're called to a higher purpose, brethren.

We don't involve ourselves in those things. The most important thing that we have, brethren, is to fight the battles that need to be fought and to preach the gospel to the world of the good news of the coming kingdom of God. And we only have to fight the battles because there are voices on this planet that don't want us to preach the gospel. There would be no battle if they'd just let us have free concourse to do that, wouldn't there? But we have to fight those battles. But we have to continue to preach the gospel. And unless we preach the gospel, brethren, and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children of the fathers, as Malachi says, God will smite this earth with utter destruction. We have a duty, an obligation to this world and to God, brethren.

Now, MacArthur concluded his speech. He said, The shadows are Lincoln-ing for me. Like I said, he was 82. He died two years later. He said, The twilight is here. My days of old advantage, tone and tense, they have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of the wondrous beauty, watered by tears and cokes and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listened then, but with thirsty ear for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing revelry, of far drums beating the long roll. In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-eckos duty, honor and country.

Today marks my final row call with you. But I want you to know that when I cross the river, my last conscious thought will be of the core. I bid you farewell.

So he concluded his speech to the cadets, the brethren, every time I think of the Bay Area, I'll think of you.

I'll think of the faithful who stood firm in the palace. I'll think of the Doug Bosarts. I'll think of the Mrs. Martin. I'll think of all of those who've died in the faith. Many others that I too many to even mention, who have been faithful, stand by this code, this spiritual code, duty. We're obliged to serve God for what He's done for us.

Honor. Honor God because He deserves the honor from us and country. Our kingdom is in of this world, brother. But our citizenship is in heaven to be revealed when Jesus Christ returns the second time and establishes His kingdom in the world tomorrow. And one day, brethren, in the kingdom of God, when that is established, I want to make sure that you and I stand there together. Jonah, I love you all. I bid you farewell. Fellow servants.