God's First Airborne

Good morning, brethren. Still all rearranging here. That was beautiful music. Here we are right in the very midst of the Feast of Tabernacles, three days behind us, three days in front of us, and then another feast. And I hope your feast is going great, and trust it will continue to go great. Jim Martin, better known to family and friends as Pee-Wee, Pee-Wee Martin, I wonder if he's still alive. If he is, he's 94 at this time because he was alive last year on June 6, 1944, and he was 93. He made a special parachute jump on that date at age 93. Not too many people of that age do that. And it made the national news. He jumped because 70 years prior to that date of June 6, 2014, he parachuted at Normandy on D-Day. He was part of G Company of the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. He was a paratrooper. He was airborne. He was a young man of 23 at the time, 1944. But mid-November 1944, the Allies had the successes of D-Day and crossing Normandy behind them. They were at the western boundary of Germany, and it looked like they had everything well in hand. But Hitler had other plans. By December 15, he had secretly amassed 25 divisions in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium. On a cold, foggy dawn of December 16, three entire panzer armies came smashing into the Allied lines across a wide front in the Battle of the Bulge was on. By the time the battle was over, it would prove to be the biggest single battle of World War II on the western front and the largest engagement ever fought by the U.S. Army. Before it was over, 600,000 American soldiers would be involved. The official, and some say it went actually higher, but the official casualty count would be 80,000. Almost 20,000 were killed.

Another 20,000 would be captured. 40,000 would be wounded. Two infantry divisions would be annihilated. In one of them, the 106, 7,500 men surrendered. That was the largest mass surrender in the war against Germany, and nearly 800 American Sherman tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed. The Allies were caught completely by surprise and off guard.

The power of the German onslaught was staggering. All along the battle front, the German armies met with quick success because so many of the Allied units were just overwhelmed and had to fall back. They couldn't hold. In the midst of this onslaught, there was a key strategic position, just a little market town of 4,000 people. History knows it. It remembers it. Bastogne. V-A-S-T-O-G-N-E. Bastogne. Now, what made Bastogne of such strategic importance was that all seven of the main roads and the Ardennes Forest converged right there. So, control of those crossroads was vital. Vital to the success or the failure of the German attack. The Germans would need the road network to rapidly move their armed forces further west. So, Bastogne was a central crossroads. Control of it was vital to the German advance. Now, the Panzer commander, General von Lutwitz, said, quote, Bastogne must be taken. Otherwise, it will remain an abcess in our lines of communication. We must clean out Bastogne and then march on. Hitler understood the value of it. Hitler ordered that no matter what the cost, you take Bastogne.

On the morning of December the 17th, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was supreme commander of all the Allied forces, declared that the crossroads town of Bastogne was the place that had to be held no matter what. But reinforcements were needed. Major General Troy Middleton's 8th Corps had its headquarters at Bastogne, but it had been hit hard all along its line. He could not hold a position. He could not hold Bastogne. Whatever reinforcements, reinforcements were sent, Major General Middleton could only spare a few units and remnants to stay there and help whatever reinforcements were sent. General Eisenhower looked at the situation on the 17th of December, and he sent his paratroopers. In this case, they were motored in. By 8 p.m., December the 18th, the 11,000 men of the 101st Airborne Division were in Bastogne. The commanding officer at the time was was Anthony McAuliffe, General Anthony McAuliffe. Now, when Major General Middleton left the next morning, December the 19th, he gave General McAuliffe one order, just one order, hold Bastogne. The 101st set up a defensive perimeter around Bastogne. They didn't set up a line of defense against the advancing Germans. They set up a circle. They set up a defensive circle all around Bastogne because they knew what was going to happen.

And by midday, December the 21st, all seven roads to Bastogne were cut off by German forces. The town, its citizens, the Allies, the Americans there, they were all completely surrounded, cut off, and isolated. That's what they were trained to do. It's interesting, the records show they were not unduly worried about being surrounded. As one of the members of the 101st noted in a report that he made, he said, the cutting of the roads had no effect upon our present situation except to make travel hazardous. What an understatement. Now, in some skirmishes that had taken place at previous times before the Battle of the Bulge, before Bastogne, and some previous skirmishes in Normandy, previous to that battle, there had been times where some of them had found themselves surrounded. In one case, when someone had alerted a unit of the paratroopers, the 101st, that they were about to be surrounded, one of them replied, he said, look, we're paratroopers. We're supposed to be surrounded. In another case, when a group of them were cut off, the one informing the group said, men, there's nothing to be excited about. The situation is normal. We are surrounded.

You know, reflecting back on their training time at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, there was a mountain there, more of a hill than a mountain. And the name of it was, I guess they still named that today, Mount Karahi. And the men were told when they asked what it meant, it was an Indian name that meant we stand alone. Well, that's the way the paratroopers were expected to fight, and it became a battle cry for them. The 101st, they would fight to the south, fight to the east, fight to the north, fight to the west. They fought in a circle, completing the points of the compass. That was the way the airborne was trained to fight. They fought a forefront battle, a perimeter-style war. That's the way surrounded troops have to fight, and that's the way that they were trained to fight. In fact, they were the first ones employed, paratroopers were the first ones employed into action at D-Day. They went in before the waves hit the shores. They went in behind enemy lines. They were part of the very first wave where they were dropped behind enemy lives to achieve certain objectives before the main forces hit the beaches, and they achieved their goals. Their training had been rigorous, extremely rigorous. You know, if you look at most young men, especially young men of that time, young men are a little bit taller, a little bit bigger these days, but the World War II, 19-23, 18-23, think about having to carry 100 pounds of weight on you. Not your weight, but weight that is packed on you, and some of them have weight packed on them of 150 pounds. In fact, some of them have much weight packed on them that buddies would have to help push them up the steps into the plane. It'll help them to climb in. The training was extremely rigorous. Only one-third made it through all the training to become part of the 101st Airborne, and now here they were in Bastone, completely surrounded, completely cut off, in one of the worst winters in living memory. They were outnumbered around five to one. They had limited ammo and limited food because they had to be rushed in there before full preparations could be made. They did not have cold weather clothing. Medical supplies were low. There was no way to evacuate the wounded, and there were no air drops of supplies that could be made due to the current weather that was overcast. The hardship was extreme, and it required great sacrifice on every individual member's part. Napoleon once made this statement. Napoleon said, the first quality in a soldier is constancy and enduring fatigue and hardship. Courage is only second. Poverty, privation, and want are the school of the good soldier. It's interesting from the Corrary scrapbook. There's this notation by one of them.

We weren't particularly elated at being here. Rumors are that the Germans are everywhere and hitting hard. Far this from your mind is the thought of falling back. In fact, it isn't there at all. And so you dig your hole carefully and deep, and you wait. Not for the mythical Superman, but for the enemy that you had beaten twice before and will again. You look first to the left, and then right at your buddies, who are also preparing. You feel confident with Bill over there. You know you can depend on him. After the war, when General Eisenhower was asked about the situation, he said that he knew that the only units he had that had been trained to fight the enemy when surrounded was the airborne troops. Most GIs, troops, when they're surrounded tend to panic because no supplies can get in, no ammo can get in, you can't take your wounded out. It's a totally different situation. But Eisenhower said it was their very job to drop behind enemy lines. So Hitler had a problem. Sitting right at the crossroads of his last all-out offensive, and that was his last all-out offensive. He was banking everything on that being a success.

Was the 101st Airborne surrounded but entrenched, and he had ordered, you take Bastogne no matter what the cost.

Under a flag of truce, General von Lutbitz sent a proposal for surrender to the commanding officer, General McAuliffe, and basically stated that if the Americans did not surrender within two hours, they and the town, everything would be annihilated. General McAuliffe's now famous answer is a matter of history. Nuts. His last order was to hold Bastogne, and he was going to do it. His gritty response boosted the morale of the men, and the fight was extended. And not only that, but the stubborn defense of the besieged town was not only holding up the German advance, but at the same time it was raising morale all across the Allied front and also back home.

Now, the actual type note was, this is the actual type note that he typed and sent back, December the 22nd, 1944, to the German commander, Nuts, in big capital letters with an exclamation mark, the American commander. That was what it said. Now, the meaning of Nuts had to be explained to von Lutbich. And was he enraged? And he threw everything he had at them, and literally tried to annihilate them.

But the hundred and first, in spite of everything thrown at them, they and their helpers held. And the very next day, December the 23rd, the fog cleared just enough for some much needed supplies to be airdropped to them. And then on the 24th, the weather cleared, and Allied planes were able to go in and fire at the German tanks and troops. And then on the 26th, the 4th armored division of General Patton's 3rd Army blasted its way into the defenders, and the siege of Bastogne was broken.

And the hundred and first then would go on also to distinguish themselves throughout the war. They would be the first to get to Hitler's vacation retreat and hide out the Eagle's Nest, 8,000 feet high in the Austrian Alps.

And they would also spend the last days of the wars hunting out and seeking members of the Nazi leadership that had gone into hiding. They were actually in process of preparing for an airborne assault on Japan when the Japanese surrendered. And the division was deactivated, you know, from action, from current action, November 30, 1945 in France. But the Battle of the Bulge and Bastogne made the 101st Airborne into a legend. And they actually became a legend. They became a legend even as the battle had raged. You know, think about it.

Here at home with the press and the newspapers and thousands of maps and the newspapers showing this place, this one spot in the midst of a rolling tide of the enemy totally surrounded, totally cut off, and holding out. The eyes of the allies and the American people were upon them.

The legend that began to Normandy and grew in Holland reached its climax in Bastogne. And of all the 89 divisions of the U.S. Army in World War II, it became the most famous and admired. In mid-March 1945, at a parade celebration of the 101st Airborne Division, General Eisenhower gave a speech and he announced that the division had received a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance at Bastogne. That was the first time in the history of the U.S. Army that an entire division had been so cited.

And for their efforts in World War II, the division wound up awarded four campaign streamers and, from what I was able to gather, two Presidential Unit Citations. And in a short speech, when that was, they were informed of that, General Eisenhower said, he said, you were given a marvelous opportunity and you met every test. I am awfully proud of you.

With this great honor, he went on with a mixture of praise and exhortation, he said, with this great honor goes also a certain responsibility. Just as you are the beginning of a new tradition, you must realize each of you that from now on, the spotlight, the spotlight will beat on you with particular brilliance. Whenever you say you are a soldier of the 101st Division, everybody, whether it's on the street, in the city, or in the front line, will expect unusual conduct of you.

I know that you will meet every test of the future like you met it at Bastogne. The 101st Airborne Division was activated on August the 16th, 1942. Its commanding officer at that time was Major General William C. Lee. Three days after its activation on August the 19th, General Lee read out General Order Number 5. And I'd like to read it to you. The 101st Airborne Division, which was activated on August 16, 1942, at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny.

Due to the nature of our armament and the tactics in which we shall perfect ourselves, we shall be called upon to carry out operations of far-reaching military importance, and we shall habitually go into action when the need is immediate and extreme. Let me call your attention to the fact that our badge is the great American Eagle. This is a fitting emblem for a division that will crush its enemies by falling upon them like a thunderbolt from the skies. The history we shall make. The record of high achievement we hope to write in the annals of the American Army and the American people depends wholly and completely on the men of this division.

Each individual, each officer, and each enlisted man must therefore regard himself as a necessary part of a complex and powerful instrument for the overcoming of the enemies of the nation. Each in his own job must realize that he is not only a means, but an indispensable means for obtaining the goal of victory. It is therefore not too much to say that the future itself and whose molding we expect to have our share is in the hands of the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division.

How true, how prophetic, those words proved to be, especially a rendezvous with destiny. Those words became, actually, their official motto. Their badge is the American bald eagle, their mascot is the American bald eagle, their nickname is screaming eagles, and their distinctive unit insignia is a diving, swooping eagle with the words under it, rendezvous with destiny. Currently, they are garrisoned and headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. A very good read on the 101st Airborne Division is Band of Brothers.

You think I'm advertising this? I kind of am. Give credit where credit's due. This is by Stephen E. Ambrose. He was the biographer. He was Dwight Eisenhower's biographer and a historian, of course. Stephen E. Ambrose, Band of Brothers. And some of you may have seen the 10-part home box office miniseries taken from this. The book puts a specific focus on E, or that is Easy Company as they called it, 506 Regiment, 101st Airborne.

If you like that kind of read, I highly recommended it. Some of the historical material for this sermon, some of it came from this book. The 101st Airborne, yes. But when I look out upon all of you, I see another airborne. I see another airborne in the making, another airborne in training.

I see God's airborne, God's first airborne. If you want to title the sermon, you can title it that way, those three words, God's first airborne.

God's first airborne, who have a rendezvous with destiny. I see the first wave, you who are part of the first wave of the kingdom of God. I see a special unit in God's word called the first fruits, first fruits of the kingdom, having the first fruits of the spirit.

I might quote to you from Romans 8 and verse 23. Romans 8 and verse 23, where Paul said, wrote to the Romans, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to with the redemption of our body, the first fruits of the spirit. And if you went a little further in the New Testament to the book of James, and we're very familiar with it, James 1 and verse 18, for James wrote in James 1 and verse 18, he says, of his own will, begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. So God's first airborne, first fruits of the kingdom, having a rendezvous with destiny. I see, as I look out, those were part of the very first ones destined to be truly and fully airborne. Notice with me in Matthew 24 and verse 30, and that airborne is spelled A-I-R-B-O-R-N-E. And B-O-R-N-E has a different meaning than B-O-R-N. In Matthew 24, but let's look first at Matthew 24 and verse 30. It says there in the Mount Olivet prophecy, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Now, verse 31 says, here's Christ returning, and verse 31 says, and He shall send His angels. He's going to send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. Reckon which trumpet that is. That's the last trumpet. That's the seventh trumpet. That's what signals the resurrection. That's what signals your feet not planted on the earth, but all of a sudden you're ascending into the air. You're in the grave like Mr. Fay is now, resurrected. If you're alive, you're changed, but you become spirit, you'll send into the air. And they shall gather, the angels that are sent forth shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heaven, the physical heavens, to the other, from the four winds. He means from all directions in the air, from one end of heaven to the other.

Why? Well, let me add another scripture, and you don't have to turn there necessarily. You're very familiar with it, but 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 16, again, I'll quote this, 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 16, says, For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven. Of course, that's what Christ said in Matthew 24.30 there, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. That's the seventh trump. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The earth is round. We all know that. We don't, we're not part of the flat earth society. It's round. God has had first fruits sprinkled all around the globe, and certainly will have additionally in the years ahead. There will be many around the world in the grave, first fruits, and there will be many around the world alive when Christ is sent back.

And we will lift off from whatever point we are at at that time, and Christ sends His angels, that's like going around to where all of His first wave of the kingdom, His first fruits, are being resurrected, being changed, and we will follow those angels. They'll guide us right straight back to Christ who's descending through the heavens to this planet. To meet the Lord in the air, airborne with an e on it, born, carried, that's what it means, carried. Be carried. We're going to be carried into the air by the chains that take place because of our spirit. The angels are going to lead us right back to Christ. We're going to join Him, ascending into the air, because now we have truly been born with no e on it, because we will truly have been born again at that point. We're born into the air because we are born again. We are now completely of the Spirit, composed entirely of Spirit, no longer subject to the laws of physics at that point. And at that point, in every sense and meaning of the Word, we are truly and fully God's first airborne.

And so shall we ever be with the Lord. So we meet Him there.

We're the ones that do the U-turn, not Christ. He's on His way to earth.

The scripture in Zechariah 8 was read the other day, I believe, by Mr. Ost.

In Zechariah 8, he read some of the first scriptures there in that chapter. Christ, you know, the scripture says, so shall we be with Him. Where's He going to be? Where's He going? Well, He's coming right back to this earth. He's on His way back to this earth. I want to read from Zechariah 8, beginning in verse 1, verses 1 through 3. It's coming to Jerusalem. Zechariah 8, verses 1 through 3. Verse 1. Again, the word of the Lord of hosts, again, the word of the Lord of hosts, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. And in a sense, He is swooping back.

And we're going to be swooping back with Him.

Thus says the Lord, verse 3, I am returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.

And Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. And of course, just a couple of chapters back or so, or actually, forward, chapter 14. We're very familiar with verse 4, Zechariah 14.4, where it says, His feet will stand on the, in that day, on the mouth of olives. He identifies clearly where He will come back to. We understand that. And He'll be king over all the earth, as verse 9 states.

Another very familiar Scripture. We went through this, I'm sure, Edward, probably on trumpets, it was probably read just about everywhere. Revelation 11, verse 15 says, And the seventh angel sounded, And there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. Jerusalem will be the headquarters of God's first airborne. God's first airborne has a rendezvous with destiny. It is our destiny to, number one, inherit the kingdom of God, and number two, to rule with Jesus Christ. That's our destiny. That's the destiny of the first fruits, to inherit the kingdom of God and to rule with Jesus Christ. Notice in Daniel, chapter 7, there's three places, three verses in Daniel, chapter 7, and this first one, verse 18, was read the other day. I believe Mr. Holiday read this. But in Daniel 7, notice how specific it is in terms of inheriting the kingdom in particular.

And we know that Christ is the supreme ruler unto the Father, who is the supreme sovereign. Daniel 7, verse 18, But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. And then verse 22, until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints, judgment, rulership to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. And verse 27, And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. We know, we understand, how we're going to be kings and priests with Jesus Christ assisting him. I want to bring our attention to something. We as God's first airborne, who will be headquartered out of Jerusalem. That will be the headquarters of God's first airborne. 1 Corinthians 15, 50 makes this statement. It's Paul's writing, of course, and to the Corinthians, he writes this to them in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 50. He says, Now this I say, brethren, listen carefully to what he says, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit and corruption. Take that phrase, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We will inherit, God's first airborne will inherit the kingdom of God, because at that point, we will no longer be flesh and blood. Flesh and blood cannot be in the kingdom of God. The human beings of the world tomorrow are not in the kingdom of God. They haven't inherited it yet, but they are a part of it as subjects under the rule of it, under the guidance of it. They're ruled over by it, and in due time can be in it by being changed from flesh and blood to spirit composition. God's first airborne have a rendezvous with destiny to inherit the kingdom of God and to rule with Jesus Christ. God's first airborne does not come from the millennium. It doesn't come from the last great day. I said first, I'm emphasizing first, it doesn't come from the eighth day.

The first fruits don't come from the millennium. They don't come from the last great day. The first fruits come only from this age. God's first airborne, I'm not saying there won't be a second one or a third one, so to speak, but God's first airborne come only from this age, the 6000 year age of man, they come from no other. And for God's first airborne, God the Father is the recruiter.

Remember John 644? Many of us can quote it. John 6 in verse 44. God the Father is the recruiter.

John 644, where Christ said, no man can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him.

No man can come to me except the Father who sent me call him. God the Father is the recruiter. Now there's another scripture that might come to mind in conjunction with this to a degree, Matthew 20 and verse 16. Matthew 20 and verse 16, where it says, so the last shall be first, and the first last, and we always talk about how Adam and Eve were the first, and they're going to wind up last, literally. So the last shall be first and the first last, and then this statement that I want to focus on, for many, many be called from the King James. Many be called, but few chosen.

Let me put it this way. When God calls and one responds, God does not ignore the response. We really understand that. When God calls, you know, in the sermon Ed about overcoming, and he mentioned, Mr. Tyler mentioned, about how we have our part to do.

We have our part that we have to do. When God calls and a person responds to that, God does not ignore the response. But as God continues the calling, as he continues the drawing, if one quits responding, God takes it no further, at least for the time being. That is a lot of what Matthew 13 is talking about when it talks about the the sower of the seed. When you analyze that and look at it, that's a lot of what it's talking about in that parable about the sower and the seed in Matthew 13. Choosing not to respond, or choosing to quit responding, the person does not attain to the category or the level designated, quote, chosen. We do have a role in that. Whether we are in that designation of chosen, we do play a role in that, obviously. And as such, someone who chooses not to respond or they continue to respond, they fail their opportunity to be part of God's first airborne. At the training camp at Camp Toccoa with the 101st Airborne Division, only a third of them came through. Only a third were actually able to make it through and make the division. Now, division is not a huge number. Generally, a division will range from around 10,000 to 20,000. When the 101st Airborne went into Bastogne, there were only 11,000 of them. In most modern militaries, a division tends to be the smallest unit capable of independent operations.

At Camp Toccoa, the training was tough. And that was only the beginning. It wasn't going to get any better. Many are called, few are chosen. Many are called, few are chosen. For those who become part of God's first airborne, Jesus Christ is their general. He is their commander-in-chief.

The scripture in Colossians 1 and verse 18, Colossians 1 and verse 18, again, a very familiar scripture. And he, Jesus, is the head of the body, the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, to come from God, to be God, and come from God, and for a time to become flesh and blood, and to experience death, and to be resurrected from the tomb, from death. He is the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, he might have the preeminence. God the Father is the supreme sovereign.

Stands along in carrying that title, the supreme sovereign.

But the Father has authorized Jesus Christ, who is the head of God's first airborne, who is the commander and chief of it. He has authorized him with all power and all authority to carry out God's will. That's what Christ in great part was emphasizing in Matthew 28 in the last chapter of Matthew, Matthew 28 in verse 18. Matthew 28 in verse 18, and Jesus came and spoke to them, to his disciples saying, and, you know, he meant what he said. All power. He said, all power is given to me in heaven and in earth. The Father has authorized him with all power, whatever it takes to work with us and help and carry out the plans and purposes of God. He's the commander in chief, and we become his soldiers, his GIs.

It was mentioned the other day about GIs. It stands for government issue. When you join the army, you don't own yourself anymore. The army, the navy, the air force, you know, whatever. You don't own yourself anymore. You're property. You're property of the government. That's what a GA is, government issue. God's first airborne become his soldiers, you know, his government issue. The government issues the GIs of his coming kingdom. We refer to ourselves as Christian soldiers. We have a song in our songbook and our hymnal about Christian soldiers. It's one that people are very familiar with. In 2 Timothy 2 and verse 3, Paul addressed Timothy as a soldier.

He told him, he wrote to him, he said, 2 Timothy 2 verse 3, he says, you therefore, you therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, not just a soldier of Jesus Christ as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And in addressing him as a soldier of Jesus Christ, he also addressed something else in addressing that, something that would be a major factor in the success of a good soldier is enduring hardship. Remember Napoleon's statement?

The first quality in a soldier is constancy and enduring fatigue and hardship. Now, that may or may not be the first quality, but one thing is for sure. That is indispensable. It's indispensable. Without it, no soldier can be a good soldier. You know, you think about it, the ability to endure hardship is necessary. It's of paramount importance because if you tackle somebody that can't endure hardship, you can wear them out, wear them down, run them off, fight them out.

The ability to carry the load, and loads vary, but the ability to carry the load and to make the necessary sacrifices, that's of crucial importance. The strongest saints of all time, forever. Do we capture the picture that the strongest saints of all time, forever, come out of this age, this six thousand years of mankind? God's first, and emphasize first, God's first airborne will be the most tested, the most trusted of all time. They will have come out of the age of the heaviest loads, the greatest sacrifices, and the heaviest assaults. This is the age of the greatest obstacles and the greatest resistance to the truth and the things of God. And we see the forces against such gathering around us more and more and increasing all the time. This age will never be duplicated. Never be duplicated. It's a one-time age. The greatest forces of resistance, of stresses and pressures are in this age. This is Satan's main and major time with man. His main and major time with him. This is the time of man's rule as magnified and influenced by Satan. This is the arena and the training ground of God's first airborne. The most tried, trued, tested, and trained come out of this age. The first wave always has to go against the heaviest obstacles, opposition, and resistance. You know, the 101st airborne division, they had to be willing to make the fullest and final sacrifice, if that's what was required of them. God's first airborne has to be willing to make the fullest and final sacrifice, if that's what's required.

That's a lot about what Hebrews 11 is about. You know, Satan is not bound, as we all know, Satan is not bound until after the birth of the firstfruits. He is not bound until after the birth of the firstfruits, God's first airborne. And it is obvious for anybody that's got their eyes open, their ears open, as we say those of us who are older who know what antennas are, got your antenna up. It's obvious that he's making a bigger and bigger push as we move closer and closer to the kingdom. And the reality is, the undeniable truth is, we hold the truth in enemy territory. We hold the truth in an adversarial atmosphere. We are surrounded, and the spiritual Hitler is on the offensive planning his battles of the bulge. We are behind enemy lines. These aren't just words to me. These aren't just words to us. These are the spiritual realities that we must contend with. We are behind enemy lines. We are surrounded. Notice with me Christ's words, on the night that was the last night that he would be flesh and blood. In John 17 and verse 15, he's praying to the Father. This is truly the Lord's prayer. It's his prayer, and in that prayer he says this in John 17 and verse 15, he says this.

He says, I pray not that you should take them out of the world.

I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, Father, but that you should keep them from the evil. The evil is everywhere. We live in the midst of evil. We understand that. We see it growing. I would add to that this scripture, Philippians 2 verse 15. Philippians 2 verse 15.

You know, Christ said, I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil. And in Philippians 2, 15, the Apostle Paul says, that you, because he's speaking to those who are also part of the first fruits, part of God's first airborne, that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke. Where? He says, in the midst of, means you're surrounded, in the midst of, in the middle of, with it all around you, of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. The brightest light shining in the Battle of the Bulge was in a little place called Bastogne, where a division, the 101st Airborne, were surrounded. And there was a spotlight on, and it shined, and the presses back here were full of it, and it was daily until that siege was broken.

And Mr. Holiday and his sermon pointed out the great value of the elect in Matthew 24, being faithful and standing true in what it meant in terms of the salvation of the planet, in regards to Christ's return and all of that.

Among whom you shine as lights in the world. Surrounded? Yep. Everything's normal.

That's the way it's supposed to be.

Doesn't surprise me. Shouldn't surprise any of us. We fight in a circle, don't we?

We don't just fight on one front. You do? You're going to be licked. We fight in a circle.

We have a perimeter set up. We're surrounded. We fight against all points of the compass. First point we generally tend to think of is Satan.

He's always there throwing stuff at us, and you know, in one form or another.

We fight at all points of the compass. We fight in a circle. We have the corruptions of society. My prayers go out to the parents.

In my lifetime, and possibly in the age of the planet, this is the toughest time to be raising children. But however tough it is right now, it'll be tougher next year. And tougher. Because of the corruptions of the society and what's going on. Your challenge. You have my prayers. You have the prayers of many of us because you have a tremendous challenge. And with the prayers of your brethren and God's supply, you can make it. You can do it. And you've heard some very good material on how to add to what you already have or to have your mind refreshed for making it.

And another part that we don't always set the perimeter up against, we let it come in on us. We don't know it. It's the carnal parts of ourselves. The carnal parts of ourselves that attack us unbeknown or we cave into. So we find ourselves surrounded. We find ourselves in a battle of the bulge. We find ourselves, so to speak, in a place called Bastog. And we remember our orders. And maybe you don't think of them this way, but I know what the orders are that we're given. You can find them expressed in Revelation 3.11. Revelation 3 verse 11.

In the message to Philadelphia, we have our orders. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast, which you have, that no man take your crown.

Hold fast. Hold your ground. Relief will come. Hold Bastog. And you send your response.

Nuts. No way. You're crazy if you think, I'm surrendering. Because you bear in mind something you cut your teeth on. Long ago at the very beginning, Matthew 24.13, you don't necessarily have to turn there, but you bear in mind what you cut your teeth on. But he that shall endure to the end, hold out, hold out, hold out. Because he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. He that stays in the fight to the end, doesn't surrender, the same shall be saved. And you're going to endure because you have a rendezvous with destiny.

And in the meantime, God can and God will airlift. You're surrounded, but He will airlift you the measure of supplies and ammo that's needed. Philippians 4, in verse 19, Philippians 4, in verse 19, He will airlift the measure of supplies and ammo that's needed.

But my God shall supply all your need. And He means what He says, He says, He shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

And when God's first airborne rises in the air to meet the returning Jesus, a special unit citation is awarded. You find it in Revelation 17 and verse 14.

Revelation 17 and verse 14, a special unit citation is awarded. It speaks of a time ahead with certain events where God's first airborne has been airborne into the air to meet the returning Christ. And they're born truly of the Spirit at that time and composed of it.

And they're with the Lamb. He's going to finish out with those seven last plagues of the seventh trumpet. These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for He is Lord of Lords, a King of Kings, and they, God's first airborne, that are with Him are, He cites them this way, called and chosen and faithful.

God's first airborne, called, chosen, faithful.

Brethren, God's first airborne, hold Bastone.