Legendary Soldiers

Good afternoon. Hello to all the people on the Internet and wherever. You never know where you're talking today, which is good and bad, I suppose. It's good to be with you again. I said that Mr. Miller called me. J Brothers got hired about – he's 83 or 84 when I had too much work to do on the plane, so it's good to see him. It's interesting to meet with people that affected their lives years ago, and he ended up in a position that was pretty traumatic, which a lot of people have gone through – a lot of history in this room and in the church itself. We're here today to praise God, to learn about His ways and talk about true life. You know, Christ and John 10, 10, made the comment that I come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. And indeed, through Him we have life, and God gave us His Son so we could have eternal life. God's plan through the Holy Days was always fascinating to me, even from my childhood, and always gave me great encouragement. I always wanted to be there to see it happen, and of course my parents were going to end the work, and my mom died a couple years ago, and now it's my turn to finish the work. I'm not sure which – some of us are going to finish this work with God's help. It was interesting that the plan of God was always the most special thing to Mr. Armstrong. He thought that God revealed to him the Holy Days, what they meant.

He didn't fully understand them when He started keeping them, and yet He came to understand it. And when you look through the Bible, and I talk to my neighbors and people, and I always say, if you understand the Holy Days, you can hang the Scriptures on those and understand what's going on. I think about the Josiah, King Josiah, when he was king, and they found the book of the law in the temple, and he read about keeping on loving bread. Obviously, they hadn't been keeping it because he was so excited, and yet ashamed that they hadn't kept what was in the book, and was worried about what God was going to do when He read about the blessings and cursings, and realized they hadn't kept the law. They got excited about it and kept the fees for an extra week, even, because it was so special to them. I think of the Church of Modern Times, finding truth and being excited about it, understanding it, and loving it, and rejoicing it. Because, especially with the feast days, Christ is really put into the Church, and everybody in the world wants to put Christ in the pagan holidays, and yet to honor Christ, you put Him in every holy day. He's the center of every holy day.

And indeed, the Kingdom of God and God's plan was the springboard of many of the meetings that were held in the campaigns when God was basically spreading the Gospel around the world through one man. And Mr. Armstrong used to use that in talking to world leaders.

And it was interesting to watch world leaders hear Him, and like it, some of them would say, boy, if it was only true, if it only happened, if you'd only teach people this, that we'd have peace. But yet, they didn't have God's Spirit, and they didn't have a willingness to yield to the Bible. And again, God knows who He's calling and why. And it was interesting just to watch them as it went over their heads. They appreciated it and saw it.

I met many interesting people as we traveled with Him. It was interesting that one couple that I want to talk a bit about today did say that there was something else to it, a lot more than met the eye. It was in Kathmandu, Nepal, a small country just north of India in the Himalayas. Mr. Armstrong had met King Mahendra in the 70s, and he had died, and his son King Berendra had become queen with his wife Queen Ashwarya. And they wanted us to do a project in Nepal. Of course, Leon Sexton, his sister's here, and Leon was sent over there. I sent him over there safer there than it was in Pasadena at the time. But it was interesting. He went over to do a project, but they had asked for us to do a project, and the king and queen were real close to the king and queen of Thailand. They had been over visiting, and Queen Sexton had talked to Queen Ashwarya about our students and the projects we had done in Thailand, and was really enthralled at the success that it had been. So she was asking us to see if we could do a project in Nepal. And so again, Leon and Gloria Sexton were sent over there with their children, and they stayed with a man named General Arana, General Aditya Arana and his wife Sinita. And it was interesting because I met General Arana when I was over there at the visit, and then later when I was there visiting Leon. And he was a unique individual. And it was interesting because every place he went, when he was with us, he could tell you about every building, because most of the buildings there were old palaces and things, and he could tell you what was going on and where everything was. But his wife and he had invited Mr. Armstrong over for lunch when we were there. And while we were there having lunch, and Mr. Armstrong didn't really like to go to people's houses for lunch so much in other countries because you never knew what you were going to have to eat. And even if they had the dietary laws, it didn't necessarily mean it was going to be fun to eat. I mean, in some places they had clean fish, but clean fish, the fact that they were clean, all the vidicas leaven didn't mean that they were clean by the way they cooked them. I remember once them dragging a fish that they had caught, and it was a clean fish, and it had been dried across the dirt and they put it on the cutting board and chocked it all up, had all dirt, everything, and made little fish balls drop in oil. And that was, it was clean, but not exactly clean.

So you never knew what you were going to get. And so he, but he went, he didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings, so he accepted and went to the house, and then he ate, and while we were there he had a bit of a heart attack and some problems, and he took nitro and oxygen and of course Nepal's higher altitude anyway, so it was a bit of a problem in that way.

And while we were there, Mrs. Arana came to me and said, well, we need to cancel the meeting, because that night was the meeting with the Parliament of Nepal. Mr. Armstrong was supposed to address all the political leaders of the country, and she said, you can't, he can't do this. We need to cancel. And I said, no, don't cancel the meeting. I said, Don, it'll be okay. Don't worry about it. She says, no, you're killing him. I said, no, just leave it alone. We'll be okay. And so we left the house and went back to the hotel. And while we were there at the hotel, you know, he rested for a while and got ready, and that evening came time for the meeting. And he walked down the hall, and the way the room was set with the banquet, the hall was on one side, and General and Mrs. Arana were sitting at a table on this side. And they even saw while he walked in the hall, he had another little episode and he stopped for a couple minutes, took some nitro and oxygen again, and I brought him into the room and put him at the head table and went inside at the same table where General Arana and his wife were staying. And she looked at me and said, you're killing him. And I said, I said, just wait. She said, he can't do this. And he said, we should have canceled this meeting. And I said, no, don't. And while the meal came and he ate, he kind of played with his food a little bit and ate a little bit, and all the rest of us ate our dinner. And as soon as they put the mic in front of him, he stood up and he started just pounding away about the kingdom of God and the message he gave. And it turned into one of our TV programs. But it was fascinating because what was interesting to me is about two or three minutes into him talking, General Arana and his wife, she leaned over to me and she said, that's not him talking. That's God talking. He's not that strong. The recognizer is something to it. And again, what he said there in the message was of God, although not everything any of us says, obviously, our edicts like the pope would have them from the Catholics. But in her mind, she knew he wasn't strong enough to do that and that God was speaking. Turn to Matthew 10, verse 18, if you would, because it was interesting when you read the scriptures and what God's going to do. And again, in Matthew 10, verse 18, it says, And you shall be brought before governors, and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. And when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what you'll speak. For it is not you that speaks, but the spirit of your Father which speaks in you. Again, he wasn't taken up in bonds or anything like this is referring to, but at the same time, are you prepared for God to speak through you? To give a message through you. Can he speak through you? Have you read his book enough to understand it? Do you have a close enough relation with him to do your part for him to be able to speak through you? No, the Rana's never came into God's Church, and their knowledge of the truth was rather limited. But as I came to spend time with John Rana, I was rather impressed with he and his wife. It was not because of his size, because he was of normal height for Nepalese, which is not that tall. He might have been an inch or so taller than average or whatever.

Or the fact that he was a general. I mean, that is impressive in this country. You get to be a general, but I knew that in Asian countries and most of them, you become a general by just staying in the army long enough. And in Thailand, if you're in the army 30 years, you are a general. You may have never been through a war, never done anything heroic, never done anything, but now you're general because you've been there long enough. So being a general isn't necessarily that impressive in some of these countries. He was not a great orator. He was a rather quiet man, in fact. But he did know the ins and outs of every government building. And everywhere he went, you'd see people get quiet, and then they stand their attention. Often some would salute him, even. And so you knew there was something there and they would often, you know, whisper at each other. So I began to study a bit about the Rana family and learned that General Rana's grandfather was actually the king of Thailand.

He ruled. He was one of the Ranas that ruled Nepal for over 100 years. And it was interesting because his great-grandfather, whose grandfather actually was the last king, was actually the British helped the other main family, the Shah family, which was the current king at that time, to become and install this king and queen of Nepal. And so King Mahendra and King Burender were the other family. And that's the ones that Mr. Armstrong met. And it was interesting because the crown, so to speak, was taken from his family and given to another.

And then we read in Revelation 3. We talk about crowns there in Revelation 3, verse 7. If you turn over there. God's talking to the church of Philadelphia. And he writes to them and he says to them, he says these things that says he that is holy, he that's true, he that has the key of David, he that opens and no man shuts and shuts and no man opens.

Behold, I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door. No man can shut it. For you have a little strength and have kept my word and has not denied my name. So again, that's what we're to do, to not deny him. And I'll make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I'll make them to come and worship before your feet, to know that I have loved you.

And because you kept the word of my patience, I will keep you from the hour of temptation, which will come upon the entire world to try them that dwell on the earth. And again, that time of the tribulation is soon to be honest, and the world is setting up for it right now. It's an economic and moral and spiritual and physical decay completely. He says in verse 11, Behold, I come quickly, hold fast that which you have, that no man takes your crown.

Because you can let other people take your crown. Him that overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. And I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from God, and I will write upon him my new name. God is going to bring that city back down here. It was interesting with General Rana, though, he seemed to bear no animosity for the ruling family.

In fact, he was friends with them. His son actually served as a aide-de-camp to the crown prince, and they were good friends. And there was a humility in this family, and although that was there, that of itself would not seem to command the respect that I saw with people when they looked at him and talked to him. As I came to know him, I began to see that he saw the crown, not as a title or position, but as service to people.

But why was he so respected? I began to talk to some people around there and ask them about General Rana. I asked, I said, why is he so respected? And the people said, oh, well, he said he saved Nepal from the Chinese. I said, what do you mean he saved Nepal from the Chinese?

What did he do as such? I thought of Samson with the donkey's jaw, beating off all the Philistines and stuff like that. But what did he do? How did he save them from the Chinese? It was interesting because General Rana was a Gurkha soldier. If you know much about the Gurkhas, all the old people that saw the movie Ganga did, and they know what a Gurkha is, but it was interesting.

He was a Gurkha soldier, and that's where he became a general. And in the 1950s, it was interesting the Chinese sent a whole division of men to attack Nepal to go through a pass and take it over. It was a surprise attack, and there was little time to move very much of an army from Nepal to stop them. So General Rana had taken about 20 men, and they took their packs in a small quantity of food and mostly ammunition, because they needed ammunition to fight and hold off the army.

And they carried as much as they could carry, and they marched that day all the way up to 18,000 foot to where the pass was. General Rana knew that they'd be too outnumbered and couldn't stand there hold the pass from that spot.

And so he actually took his men and climbed up another couple thousand feet above the pass and waited for the Chinese to come through. For nearly a week in the freezing rain and the cold of that pass, they held off the entire Chinese army from coming through. They were cold and they were miserable, but they stood fast when the Chinese retreated and left. General Rana lived up to the reputation of the gherkas, often asked, do we live up to the reputation of Christ? Do we know God well enough to fight off Satan to hold the pass?

General Rana had lived up to what he had been taught, and I was impressed with his story. I was impressed with the gherkas up, and I wanted to buy a gherka knife called a kukari. And it's interesting because the last day I was there was a Sunday, and all the stores were closed, and so I couldn't go buy a gherka knife. General Rana went to the airport to see me off, and as we were there talking, I told him one thing I regretted was the fact that I was there in Nepal and never got a chance to go out and shop and get a gherka knife.

And so it was at that time I was very surprised because, you know, he had been traveling with us, and because it's cold in the mountains, he always wore a real heavy coat. He took his coat and he pulled it back and he reached back behind his coat and he pulls it out and he pans out, and he hands me his gherka knife. This is the one he used when he fought off the Chinese.

This is the one he carried for the forty years or so that he was in the Army. And he gave it to me. And I was really stunned that he gave it to me for a couple of reasons. I mean, the gesture that he gave, the fact that it was his, it still got his insignia on the handle of the knife in the Army.

Because I knew, in one thing, generally in Asia you don't give a knife. I had a friend who worked for a knife company in Japan and it was really expensive German steel and they gave him a real nice knife color reset for his wedding. And he kept saying, no, it's too much, don't give it to me, please, thank you, but that's too much, please don't give it to me.

And what the people that gave it to him didn't realize is that when you give a knife in Japan for a wedding, you're basically saying that the marriage is going to be severed and you'll be divorced, which makes knives not a really good gift for weddings. And I knew in Thailand with Swat who did our sit-up there, he knew I had some little knives and liked some and he was finding some knives for me and he'd always say, you got a dollar, you got a quarter, you got some money.

I'd say, yes, well give it to me and then he'd give me the knife because you can buy a knife but you give it as a gift to sever your friendship. So it's kind of funny. I knew he kind of violated protocol but yet he gave me his own knife. I was interested in it because I knew I had to accept it, especially as it was, and the first thing you want to do is you get something like this and you want to pull it out and look at it.

And I started to do that and then I remembered the protocol, the gherkas. Because you see, a gherka doesn't draw his knife unless he intends to draw bud or die. And so I didn't have anybody I wanted to draw blood from and I didn't want to die, so I left the knife in his sheath and thanked him for it and went on. Being willing to die, as the gherkas were and known to do, reminded me of Jesus' words in John 10. I'm going to go back to John 10 where I started where Christ said we're going to have life more abundantly.

Because in verse 11, right after he makes that statement, he says, I am the Good Shepherd.

He is our Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. He'll die for him.

He'll fight the bears and the lions and whatever. But he that's a hireling and not the Shepherd, who's owned the sheep or not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf catches them and scatters the sheep. And sheep indeed have been scattered at times.

A hireling flees because he is a hireling, but he doesn't care for the sheep. But I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. And as the Father knows me, even so I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. And the other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring that they can hear my voice and that they shall be one fold and one Shepherd. Yes, you and I. We aren't alive at the time he was, but he died for us and for those before he lived and for those after, because salvation only does come through Jesus Christ. Therefore does my Father love me? Why? Because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay down of myself and I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it again. And this commandment I have received of my Father. And Christ always did the will of his Father.

General Aranda loved his people and he was willing to die for them. Jesus Christ's knife was the word and his code of conduct was that of his Father. The conduct that you and I need to live up to and live. Christ gave us more than a gurken knife. He gave us life.

He gave us his words. It was then, though, that General Aranda, when I was boarding the plane after getting the knife, said something to me as I prepared to board the flight. The last thing he said to me was, we made a big mistake. We should have lost to the British.

Now, for someone who is a proud soldier, it was a hot statement. For a gurken soldier who cried and honor came in being willing to die. It's interesting. Those who win in the world's eyes often lose in God's eyes. We win by humility, by giving, not taking, by being servants with love.

Why do I tell this story today? Well, to understand, you really need to know about the Gurkhas a little bit. So I'll read a few things about them, because the Gurkhas were a very special group of people. The British in their colonial pursuits learned this when, almost 200 years ago, the Gurkha War of 1814 to 1816, the British East Indian Company Army waged war against them in Nepal. The troops in support of the British invaded, and they suffered heavy casualties at the hands of the Gurkhas and ended up signing a hasty peace treaty so they wouldn't be destroyed. A soldier of the 87th foot wrote in his memoirs, I never saw more steadiness of bravery exhibited in my life. Run they would not, of death they seemed to have no fear, and though their comrades were falling thick around them, they proceeded. They never gave up. They kept coming. I thought of Jacob in Genesis 32.

We read about Jacob, and how diligent are we? Do we give up? Jacob's the grandson of Abraham, and he in Genesis 32, 25, when he was there, when he was just being converted basically, and understanding God, he had stolen the birthright and the blessing and ran off to his Uncle Laban and was coming back. Verse 25, Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. We understand that to be Christ in human form. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint. But he kept wrestling with him. He wouldn't give up. And he said, let me go for the day breaks. When Jacob said, I will not let you go except you bless me. And he said to him, what is your name? He said, Jacob. And he said, your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for us a prince hast thou the power with God and with men and have prevailed. You wouldn't give up.

And Jacob asked him and said, tell me, I pray you your name. And he said, wherefore is it that you ask my name? And then he went ahead and blessed him. Do we have the tenacity to hang on? Are we committed as Christians to never let any obstacle stop us in our pursuit to be like our elder brother, Jesus Christ, and like our father God? The British, again, were very impressed by their Gurkha soldiers after reaching that stalemate with them. And they made Nepal a protectorate, and even offered to pay the Gurkhas to be mercenaries in their armies with India.

But who were these people that actually fought the British and won?

Because very few people, other than our Revolutionary War, beat the British.

It was interesting because they were not a single people. There really, there's no tribe called the Gurkha tribe. I thought it was kind of just the people in Nepal. They were Gurkhas, and that was a tribe, but it wasn't. In reading about the Gurkhas, it says, the soldier recruits were mainly drawn from several ethnic groups. When the British began recruiting from the interior of Nepal, these soldiers were mainly drawn from the Magar, the Gurung, the Rai, and the Limbu tribes. Ethnically, the Gurkhas are all originally from Nepal, but are made up of many different ethnic groups. They comprise the Indo, Tibeto, and Mongolian and ethnic Rajput. Gurkhas of the Tibeto-Mongolian originally are most of the Magar, the Rai, the Limbu, the Gurung, and the Temang and the Karanti tribes. Where the Gurkhas of Aryan origin are mostly belonging to the Chhetri and some of the Brahmin origin. Their name Gurkha derives from the Hindu warrior saint Guru Gharaknath, an eighth-century warrior.

They have one thing in common, however. You can turn to 1 Peter 2 and go there next.

They have one thing in common. They lay aside their tribal uniqueness for a greater sense and a singleness of purpose. In essence, they become one for a cause, and that makes them a formidable force. In 1 Peter 2, verse 1, we are told by Peter, therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. If so be, you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, and to whom his coming unto the living stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious. People don't know what precious is in this world. But you, as lively stones, yes, you're precious to God also. Each of you, individually and collectively, are built upon a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. Why? To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. And therefore, it is also contained in the scripture, I lay the ensign, the stone, the chief cornerstone, elect and precious, that he that believes on him shall not be confounded. He'll have the truth, he'll understand. And therefore unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious. And again, different values from the world. The world values things that aren't precious, they're temporal. But unto them, which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto they were appointed.

They rejected Christ, the foundation. But you, verse 9, you are a chosen generation, you are a royal priesthood, you are a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in times past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which have not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Deirdre, beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from freshly lost, which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles. You are required to do it right, whether they are or not, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation. Do our works glorify God? Obviously, at times they do not, but they should be, and they should see a oneness of purpose. And every time we have a division or problem, I fear, because we need that oneness of purpose. Do they see a group known as the children of God, the army of God, or do they see a bunch of individuals seeking for things for themselves?

Sadly, in our history, we've had fallen brothers who did not see a singleness of purpose at times, and of course God knows what he's doing and he brings people back. But division has happened, and it's sad. But we need to become, with forgiveness before God's throne, and bravely fight the same pride as the unit of God's people. And you can't make anyone become a humble Christian any more than you can make anyone become a Gurkha soldier. An individual has to choose to forsake the pride and the vanity and take on humility, to give up the ethnic tribal background or whatever you have, and to become one for a cause, to seek truth, not emotion. We all, excuse me, when we lose humility and the godly thinking, we're no longer a cohesive unit. We can no longer set the example that God wants us to set. And until we get our relationship right with God, we can't be right with each other's. The Gurkhas' bravery and cohesiveness is legendary, and not without a cause. A famous quote from a British soldier, Field Marshal Sam Mckennasaw, famously said about the Gurkhas, he says, if a man says he's not afraid to die, he's either lying or he's a Gurkha. Such was the reputation that they had. History shows why he said this. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Gurkhas fought on the British side and became part of the British army on its formation. And during the conflict, 25 Indian Order of Merit awards were made to men from the regiment of the siege of Delhi. Three days after the mutiny in India began against the British, a Gurkha battalion was ordered to move to Meerut, where the British garrison was barely holding on. And in doing so, they had to march 30 miles a day for three days to get there to save them. During the four-month siege of Delhi, they defended the garrison, losing 327 out of 490 men. Nearly three-quarters of them died. From the end of the Indian Rebellion in 1857 to the start of World War I, the Gurkha Regiment saw active service in Burma, Afghanistan, Northeast Frontier, Northwest Frontiers of India, Malta, the Russia-Turkish War, Cyprus, Malaysia, China, and the Bakhshir Rebellion, and in Tibet. Between 1901 and 1906, the Gurkha Regiments were renumbered from the 1st to the 10th and re-designated as the Gurkha Rifles. In this time, the brigade of the Gurkhas, as the regiments came to be known collectively, was expanded to 20 battalions and 10 regiments. During World War I, more than 2,200,000 Gurkhas served in the British Army, suffering approximately 20,000 casualties and receiving 2,000 medals of gallantry. But there were also large numbers of served in France, in Turkey, in Palestine, in Mesopotamia. They served on the battlefields of France in Luz and Gavincie, in Nouveau-Chapelle, in Yapri. And they also served in Mesopotamia, in Persia, in the Suez Canal, and in Palestine, in Gallipoli, in Salonica. And during the ultimate unsuccessful Gallipoli campaign in 1915, the Gurkhas were among the first to arrive and the last to leave. The first, the six Gurkhas, having landed at Capella, led to the assault during the first major operation to take out the Turkish high point. And in doing so, they captured a feature that later became known as Gurkha Hill.

And at Saribatel, they were the only troop in the whole campaign to reach and to hold the crust line that looked down the straits, which was the goal. The British didn't make it, the Austrails didn't make it, the others there didn't make it, the Gurkhas made it to the top.

During World War II, there were 10 Gurkha regiments and two battalions each, making up 20 pre-war battalions. Following the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, they increased it.

Required 10 training centers to train basic training for the regiments that applied.

A total of 250,000 Gurkhas served in the Second World War, in all the different theoriters in Europe, in Africa, in Italy, in Greece, in Burma, India, also in Singapore.

And they did so with distinction more than any other troop, earning 2,734 bravery awards, suffering 32,000 casualties. One of the most famous, the detachment that served with Lawrence of Arabia, during the Battle of Luce, a battalion of the 8th Gurkhas fought to the very last man, hurling themselves time after time against the weight of the German defenses, till they all died to a man. It was like the Alamo, where they all died. And yet for the Alamo, men were defending their own land and their own farms and their own freedom, and yet the Gurkhas were willing to die for land that wasn't even theirs with such bravery. Turn to Luke 9, 23.

Do we have that kind of spiritual bravery that they show? At a time when the world is falling apart, do we give in and hide, or do we stand tall? Luke 9, verse 23, Christ said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Follow me every day. Verse 24, For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man, the advantage, if he gains the whole world and loses himself, or be cast away? What advantage is that? And whosoever shall be ashamed of me, of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, and when he comes in his own glory, and in his Father's glory, and in that of the holy angels? If you're willing to die for what you believe, you also will be legendary. What will you look like? It's interesting the gherkas receive special uniforms from the British, a green uniform, so they can be recognized to stand out. Verse 27 of Luke 9, Christ says, I tell you the truth, there'll be some standing here which shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God. And of course then, in verse 29, as the eight days later, as they prayed and fashioned, they sought Christ, the transition of Christ in their minds. They saw this, what happened there, where his ramen was white and glistening. Verse 30, And behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease, how he was going to die and what was going to happen in Jerusalem.

Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep, it says, and when they were awake, they saw his glory and the two men that stood with him. And then it all changed, went back to the way it was. In verse 35, there came a voice out of the clouds, saying, This is my beloved son, hear him.

When the voice was passed, Jesus was found alone.

Peter and them, they said, they kept it close and told no man in those days what they'd seen. They probably thought they'd be putting the loony bin. We're seeing something that no one else saw.

But we're going to look like him. John writes later in 1 John 3 in verse 1, he says what we're going to look like. And he says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the sons of God? Therefore the world knows us not.

Why? Because it didn't know him. It didn't know who he was.

Verse 3 of 1 John 2, Beloved, now we are the sons of God. It doesn't yet appear what we'll be, but we know when he shall appear we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.

Of course, we'll be spirit beings because we can't look on God now. We'd die.

And every man that has his hope in him purifies himself, even as Christ is pure.

A clean uniform. It's white, bright. We have our gurkenife, indeed. It's the word of God.

And we have it. And our uniform is our conduct and how we act.

I didn't unsheathe this out of respect for John Arana, but I unsheathe this knife every day.

Not to cut other people, but to cut myself. To understand what God wants to do in me.

Because you need to open your gurkenife and draw it out of its sheath to understand what you need to do every day to be like Christ.

Do we unsheathe our gurkenife each day and draw that blood that teaches us how we're to live?

It's interesting. Everyone wanted the gurkas to fight for them.

Along with the fighting in World War I and World War II, the gurkas were stationed in Malaysia, in Borneo, and during the confrontation in Indonesia and in the Falkland Islands conflict, down in the Atlantic, and also on various peacekeeping missions, such as Sierra Leone, in Timor, in Bosnia, in Kosovo, and in Afghanistan. The gurkas were also in Hong Kong, and they were part of the Indian forces to serve in Pakistan and in China in 62 in Sri Lanka.

They've been used all around the world in different forces.

You know, we, Christ sent His disciples into the world. He sent us in the world, preached this gospel to some witness. We are scattered around the world as well.

When we fight a different battle, and we draw our sword, and we live a life that we have to live, because we believe what He taught. Everyone wants them, and why? Because they're loyal to their word.

They're willing to die rather than betray or give up someone they've made an agreement with.

Are we like that? Turn to Zechariah 8, verse 23.

The Gurkhas are definitely in demand in a militaristic world.

And when the world is at peace, they will look to you to know and ask about your future.

They'll know that you're loyal to God in the millennium. Zechariah 8, 23, a scripture we often read in Tabernacles. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, In those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all the languages of the nations. Even shall take hold on the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Indeed, God is with us. And when we rise with Christ, and when we're there to help teach in the millennium, they'll look at you and you'll be in demand.

This is the Gurkhas are, but not because you can wield a sword or a knife, but because you can wield the Word of God, and your conduct has been such. What are you going to teach?

We'll teach the laws of God. What you're learning now? What you're studying from your knife?

We have overcome. And we'll be ruling with Christ when that happens. Are we listening? Are we staying close to God? Many people have bought into false teachers over the centuries. The world has gone different directions. But we can't buy into the rumors or into the weakness. We can't get away from God. We have to keep God's Spirit close. We have to look at this every day and draw it and know that God is feeding us and helping us. Do we hear Christ? Back in Revelation 3, verse 20 again, talking to the churches. He wants us to hear Him. He wants us to know where He is. He says, hold fast. But in Revelation 3, He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. He's knocking.

If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to Him. He'll be there for us. This is a gurkah. A soldier would be with an agreement. Christ made a promise. He'd be there. And I eat with you and He will eat with me. To Him that overcomes, I'll grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame and am sat down with My Father in His throne. God is doing this for us now because it's a tough time to be a Christian. It's a tough time to be a spiritual gurkah. It's a tough time to fight a world that doesn't appreciate what you believe or what you stand for.

That's why Christ says, blessed is He that takes part in the first resurrection. It's special because of the war you've had to fight. The gurkahs became legendary through war. We make our mark through humility, through service, through suffering, by going against the world's values and realizing that this is all temporal. You see, you have to see your future and value it more than your presence. With the gurkahs, there have been 26 Victoria Crosses awarded to the gurkah regiments. The first was 1858, the last in 1965. There have been two George Cross medals awarded to soldiers for acts of bravery and situations that weren't even involved in combat.

Large numbers of gurkah men have been recruited for specialized functions in paratroopers and signal men as engineers and military police.

Many Nepalese volunteers served in non-combatant roles in the armor barracores and the labor battagans as well. It's interesting the reputation they have. Very few names come. You don't see a lot of statues in Nepal to gurkah soldiers. It's a group thing. There's no real legendary names to speak of. Probably General Rylos, probably one of the very few in that sense, and I never saw a statue for him either. But they were all willing to die for their cause. They were all willing to fight for that common goal, to stand up and not let anybody down.

Of course, in some ways, you might realize with the reputation of the gurkahs, if you decide you want to run, you'd be turning around facing the gurkahs instead of the enemy and probably better facing the wimps than you would facing the gurkahs behind you. But they knew. They were fighting for bravery and a cause. I've never heard of a gurkah deserter. Never heard of any of that. And again, never heard of major names of heroes. Because, you see, you don't have to slay Goliath to be a hero.

All too often, people are looking for that one great thing I can do, that one great idea, make me a millionaire, that one great enemy I can conquer, that everybody says you're a hero.

It is not about that one great thing you do. Not at all. You don't have to do great acts of war.

It's about being willing to sacrifice and do all the little things in life that come along. Again, it's valuing your future more than your present. It's about giving up yourself and making God the center of your life. And you do that by drawing your gurkah knife every day and drawing blood.

And learning about Him. Matthew 10, verse 37, Christ tells us we have to be totally committed to Him. 100 percent. There's no halfway gurkas that I know of. There can't be any halfway Christians. Matthew 10, verse 37, He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.

He that loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. It's hard. And He that takes not His cross and follows after Me is not worthy of Me. He that finds His life shall lose it, and He that loses His life for My sake shall find it. He that receives you receives Me.

And that's where we should be. And He that receives Me receives Him that sent Me. God is waiting for you as well to be presented by Christ to Him. He that receives a prophet in the name of that prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And He that receives a righteous man the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say to you, he shall not in any wise lose his reward. A cup of cold water. It's hard to think you can be considered a hero for a cup of cold water. When someone's thirsty and in need, when someone is hurting and you can comfort with your sword, that's what God says that He appreciates and what His Son expects us to do. Of course, later in Matthew 25, He talks about being hungry and He gave me meat and thirsty and He gave me drink. It's a way of life that does the right thing all the time, and it's a bunch of little things on a daily basis. There's only been one Goliath. David slew him.

And yeah, he became a hero over that, but that's not why he did it. He didn't do it to become a hero. He did it because the man was rejecting the God of David, and David knew in faith that God would deliver him. The gurk is considered a great reward to follow their code of bravery, to be willing to die to the last man. And they were so trained mentally that they were willing to go against all odds, no matter how tough that they were. And they indeed did forsake all for the cause.

You prove your willingness to follow by doing all those little things, for each other and for humans even that may even hate you. It's not easy, but it's worth it. To quote from Shoraf Lilliternal in the emcee who served in the third Queen's Alexandria's Gurkah reward in the First World War, he wrote of the gurkhas. He writes after the war's over, he says, I write these last words, My thoughts return to you who were my comrades, the stubborn and indomitable peasants of Nepal.

Once more I hear the laughter with which you greeted every hardship.

Once more I see in you your bivouacs about your fires, on forced march or in the trenches, now shivering with wet and cold, now scorched by a pitiless and burning sun, uncomplaining you endure hunger and thirst and wounds, and at the last your unwavering lines disappear into the smoke and the wrath of battle. Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had a country more faithful friends than you. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1, 24.

They were peasants. They seemed the weak of the world. Not big men, but small. Not well-educated, but peasants. But fully committed and dedicated. Like he said, you couldn't ask for a truer friend than a gurkah soldier. Verse 24, 1 Corinthians 1, But unto them which are called, both Jew and Greek, Christ, the power of God, the wisdom of God, because of the foolishness of God is wiser than men, the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For you see your calling, brethren, of not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many mobile, are called, but why God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, the base things of the world, and the things which are despised. God has chosen you, yes, and the things which are not to bring to naught the things that are.

You and I, Christ, He wants us to help change the things the way they are. Why? That no flesh is glory. It's not about us. It's not trying to make your name or my name or anybody's name in the history books for some mighty act. But it's about God and His glory.

Verse 30, But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption, that according us it is written, he that glories let him glory in the Lord. We have to be like Christ. We give up everything to become Christians after His name, take on His knife, His conduct, His sword, and that's what we fight with.

God called us to confound the worldly strong. The Gurkhas served as a band of brothers, heroic in their cause, and we can do no less. Our prize is much greater than theirs.

I'm proud to serve alongside each of you and all the brethren in God's Church.

I pray that I can encourage you. It just as many of you have encouraged me through the trials and examples and things that you've gone in, encouraged in prayer.

Truly, God and Christ through the Holy Spirit holds each of us up, or none of us could make it.

But General Arana was tired of fighting. He was tired of the sacrifices, and he recognized that it just kept going on and on and on, and he recognized the futility for what? For another war.

Why did a man so trained mentally that he could climb a mountain, that he could hold off a whole battalion of the Chinese army and brave those hardships and do those things? Why did he say we made a big mistake? We should have lost the British? He said our pride helped us win.

We should have lost. He said if we had lost the British, we would have roads and bridges and schools. We would not be so poor and uneducated. We would not have to fight all around the world.

Indeed, that was true, because when the British won over our country, they put schools and bridges and roads. In Nepal today, to get around, it's almost impossible. You have to use helicopters, and the roads are virtually impassable and jeeps, and it's very difficult. But their pride, they won.

Indeed, mankind is given to the way of Satan, and many have been good at learning Satan's way and how to win by lying and cheating and stealing in whatever way and deceit.

Indeed, for 6,000 years, it's prevailed, and it will prevail until Christ returns.

We would appear to be the losers to this world because of what we stand for, that we don't play the game the same way they do. If I can paraphrase in reality what the general really wanted and didn't even know how to say it, if mankind had only surrendered to God long ago in God's way of life, we wouldn't have had 6,000 years of human misery and suffering and wars and famine, disease and corruption and misery for most of mankind. Most people haven't had it very well. Some have, but most haven't, and usually those who had it well was because of the blessings of Abraham and his obedience. We have a knowledge of God through His word and His Spirit, and we are a group of dedicated individuals. Sometimes we slip, but we band together, and we need to enjoy letting God win that war in our lives, and enjoy the shadow of His bounty and the treasures of peace that we could have with each other, if we have the humility we need to be willing to sacrifice, and we have to create that permanent, godly relationship with God and with Christ and with each other, if we're going to have peace and if we're going to be qualified to teach that peace in the world tomorrow.

Indeed, when Mr. Armstrong spoke at that banquet, it was not him speaking, he was giving a message from God that the kingdom was coming.

General Rauner was a true gherka soldier, but he would have loved to have had that peace.

When Mr. Armstrong, there will be peace. Christ is returning. He said, you don't have to believe me, it's coming. It's going to happen, whether you believe it or not.

General Rauner would have loved to have had that. His knife, really, he gave me is not really polished, not that clean. He quit polishing it long ago because he carried it, the symbol, but he didn't want to fight anymore. He realized that that wasn't what it was about.

I've learned a lot from General Rauner, and many like him that I've met, who have been willing to die for causes and yet understood that their causes were not always so noble. Turn to Hebrews 11 because we're going to join a group of heroes that lived and died for the right cause, a cause that we have faith and know it will happen, a true reality.

Hebrews 11.1, chapter I've read so many times, it would have worn off the pages if there was such a thing as wearing them off by reading them. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But we haven't. We haven't seen Christ. In our mind's eye, we have.

We know He exists and we believe. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith, we understand that the words were framed by the Word of God. So the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. But we see it in our mind's eye. Yes, they did. And Abel and Enoch, all the men of God, dropping down to verse 6, without faith it is impossible to please Him. For He that comes to God must believe that He is, that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. It's diligence. You can't just say, I believe. The world wants to make it easy to be a Christian. Just believe on Him. Just accept Him. It's more than that. You have to diligently seek Him.

Noah, by faith, in verse 7, being warned of God of things not seen, moved the fear and prepared an ark to save his house by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith. It would be hard to believe if someone said, yeah, this whole world, all the mountains are going to be covered with water. I've seen rain before. It never got that high.

But he did it. And of course, Abraham, verse 8, when he was called to go to a place which he should receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and went out, not knowing where he went. He just obeyed.

Simple command. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise. That's a strange country, dwelling in Tabernacle with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of him with the same promise.

He's going to be a great nation, and yet it started out pretty small. One son, and then two sons, two grandsons. And then it began to expand. Promises were there.

Abraham didn't see that growth, but he knew it. He believed it. In verse 10, why? For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. We look to that same city, and we study and learn about it. That's why we're willing to go against the grain, to lose in Satan's world, to win in God's world, to die for our cause, if necessary, and to draw our sword, our Bible, and learn and be prepared. Verse 13, these all died in faith, not having received the promises.

Indeed, Jay's mom died. Joy's didn't receive the promises yet.

Many others have died. Many more will die, probably, before he comes. But having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that there were strangers and pilgrims in this land, on the earth, and they that say such things declare plainly they seek a country. They seek something else. And truly, if they had been mindful of the country they came from, they might have opportunity to return. But they desire a better country. You and I desire that country. A heavenly country where God is not ashamed to be called their God. And He is prepared for them and for us as a city. And it goes out about talking about Moses. Moses who was destined to be Pharaoh and gave it up, became a shepherd for 40 years in the wilderness, and then was asked to lead God's people. I'm sure he was concerned. I mean, it was like him being asked to go against the United States. Somebody asked you, I want you to go and you leave this country and I want you to go back and attack the U.S. The army of Pharaoh was the largest army in the world, the richest army in the world. And to be asked to go back and deliver my people and took faith. It'd be tough to think you're going to go back and fight the number one army on earth at the time. But he did.

It was difficult for them. But God delivered different things. Verse 33, some were delivered.

Who through faith subdued kingdoms, brought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the miles of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, and out of weakness were made strong, and waxed valiant in fight, turned to the flight the armies of the aliens. And yeah, we can read the Old Testament, the Battle of Jericho, and Jonathan and the armor bearer fighting the Philistines, and David and Goliath, and Daniel and Shadrach, we can read all those stories, and we understand that.

Verse 35, women received their dead raised life, and others, though the others, the casualties, the gherkas who didn't live through the wars, but they showed their bravery, were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection, that they would live and die by what they believed, as you and I have to be willing, and as many have. And in verse 36, and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings. Yes, moreover, the bonds of imprisonment, they were stoned, they were sauna sundered, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. A lot of people put to death who didn't deserve it.

They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth.

And again, verse 39, all of these, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise. God, having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. They and you and I, and if we're alive, they'll rise out of the graves and we'll meet Christ. Why? Because we fought for a cause. We stood for something. We drew our knives.

We drew blood to correct ourselves and our own attitudes and our actions and our motives that we would be there. It's interesting, when they abolished the monarchy recently, the Gurkhas, the Communist Party, so we're in Nepal now, it was interesting. They stayed the recruitment of mercenaries is degrading and they've stopped them from being able to fight in other armies. Someday, they may try to ban us from being able to fight our battles. They'll try to.

Well, the Gurkhas is probably a good thing. They don't fight other people's wars, but for us, it's not. We have to keep fighting our wars. It's interesting. We're not afraid to die. We're not afraid to face the enemy. Why? Because we have a cause that we know is just and true and is worth dying for. Some of you have lived it your whole life. Others are new in the faith, but we're all fighting the same battle. We all receive the same rewards. It's interesting we can all win. It's not like the Olympics we're just going through where one person wins the gold. Each and every one of us can win the gold. It's just the little things. You don't have to be faster than someone else.

You don't have to be better than someone else. You just have to be like Christ. You have to serve and give. Our faith and our God, He'll fulfill His glory in us, His plan.

My fellow comrades, we don't fight with guns or knives, but we draw our sword every day, not to cut others, but to be ready to give an answer, to let God speak through us, and to make ourselves like our older brother, to be like our Father in heaven.

And we can't be afraid to suffer if that's what comes, because there is suffering ahead whenever that starts. And we may be seen as losers for not chasing what the world chases, for not trying to become the most rich or the most popular or the most famous, because we have to live by this word and truth. Indeed, we gain life by taking a loss. We win by losing in this world's eyes.

We're building the spiritual bridges. We're building the spiritual roads. We're building the spiritual schools, the schools of generon would like to have in this country if they had lost to the British. And how we build them by faith in our God, faith in our belief in Jesus Christ and the study of our gurkenife, our sword, always ready to win for our heavenly cause by forsaking God's world to the last man. Indeed, we're not afraid to die, but we must become one people. General Rana died a few years ago. He's going to rise in a world that's going to be different, and I think he'll appreciate and be interested to see him again and talk to him, and have him truly understand the words he was told years ago, that there would be peace, that it would come. No one took General Rana's crown from him because he saw crown as service to his people. And many a gurka has died for a cause that only gave them heartache to them and their families. Indeed, we would have had the bridges and roads and schools.

They would have had them had they lost. And in thinking they won with their pride, they actually lost. No one can take our crown unless we give it to them, unless we give into the world.

People of this world, again, think they're winning when they're losing. They're losing to Satan, who's changed good into evil and made wrong seem right. They may think turning to the cheek is cowardice, not bravery, but they're wrong. That's the bravest thing you can do. We are willing to die for our cause, and our cause is about life and life more abundantly than Christ promised.

Indeed, from what this world believes, we gain life by losing.

It's interesting because I pray that God can look at each of us and say as a group, never has there been a moustadiness or faithfulness group of people. Run they would not, and of physical death they were not afraid. Though many trials came on them from their enemies, they overcame them all, and they stood fast. May we all be such as the people of God, as we face the end and prepare for His kingdom.