Veterans Day 2014
INTRO.- ILL.- When Dwight D. Eisenhower was President from 1953 to 1961,
• He received a letter from eight-year-old Keith Aiken of Trumbull, CT.
• Kevin wrote, “After listening to the news about the cold war, I am worried about the people in the world.
• In thinking it over, I have a plan.
• Get all the leaders together who want war,
• Put them in a ring and let them fight it out.”
I’m sure that many veterans feel this way about war.
• Just let those who want to fight, do the fighting!
• Don’t involve everybody else in it!
• War is a terrible thing and it seems that war is inevitable in our world.
Mt 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come
Most Bible commentators believe, that Jesus was talking about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, which took place about 70 A.D.
• But could it be that wars are also a sign of the second coming of Christ?
• Many people believe so. Wars do seem inevitable.
ILL.- Gen. Sherman once said, “You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I’ve been through two wars and I know. I’ve seen cities and homes in ashes. I’ve seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is hell!”
I don’t question Sherman’s feelings and convictions about war.
• If you’ve haven’t been there you just don’t know.
• But at the same time, I have heard it put this way.
• WAR IS HELLISH, BUT NOT HELL!
• Based on Scripture, I would say this is true. Because Nothing is as horrible as hell.
ILL.- WWII qualifies it as perhaps the greatest war, or the most hellish war in history.
• In all, 61 countries with 1.7 billion people, three-fourths of the world’s population, took part.
• In terms of money spent, it has been estimated at more than $1 trillion dollars,
• which makes it the most expensive war of all.
• The human cost of lives, not including the 5 to 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust,
• is estimated to have been 55 million dead – 25 million of those military and 30 million civilian.
• War is indeed hellish!
Some aspects of war are never right, regardless of the war,
• And we have to support those who are willing to go / give on behalf of their country!
As someone wrote:
It is the VETERAN, not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the VETERAN, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the VETERAN, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the VETERAN, who salutes the Flag,
Who serves under the Flag.
This Tuesday is Veterans Day so today I want to honor our veterans.
• Because, we owe each one of them a debt of gratitude
• Because they were willing to go,/ to serve / to give on behalf of the United States of America! God bless you!
And with this being said let’s think about what it takes to be a veteran of the faith of Christ,
Something we all need to be / do.
• And we see that it involves 3 steps
1-Obey the Commander
2- Engage the enemy
3- Fight to the end
I. OBEY THE COMMANDER
ILL.- A blowhard Air Force major was promoted to colonel and got a new office. The first morning he was in his new office an airman knocked on the door and asked to speak to him. The colonel, feeling the urge to impress the young airman, picked up his phone and began talking.
“Yes, General, thank you. Yes, I will pass that information along to the President this afternoon. Yes, goodbye, sir.” Then, turning to the airman, he barked, “AND WHAT DO YOU WANT?”
“Nothing important, sir,” said the airman, “I JUST CAME TO HOOK UP YOUR TELEPHONE.”
Some people have authority and some just pretend to have authority.
• Some people have authority and some people just “wanna be” in authority.
• Our President has authority.
• And While we may not agree with everything he does or says,
• He is still our Commander-in-Chief. We must support him in prayer.
2Ti 2:3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
2Ti 2:4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.
Our ultimate commander-in-chief is Jesus Christ!
Eph 1:22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
• Christ is the head of the body, the church.
• AND WE NEED TO LISTEN TO HIM!
ILL.- Shortly after joining the Navy, the new recruit asked his officer for a pass so he could attend a wedding.
• The officer gave him the pass, but informed the young man he would have to be back by 7 p.m. Sunday.
• "You don’t understand, sir," said the recruit. "I’m in the wedding."
• "No, you don’t understand," the officer shot back. "You’re in the Navy!".
ILL.- One afternoon author Patsy Clairmont found herself on an airplane, sitting next to a young man.
• She writes, "I had already observed something about this young man when I was being seated.
• He called me "Ma’am."
• At the time I thought, ’Either he thinks I’m ancient, or he’s from the South where they still teach manners, or he’s in the service.’
• I decided the latter was the most likely, so I asked, "You in the service?"
• "Yes, Ma’am, I am." "What branch?" "Marines."
• "Hey, Marine, where are you coming from?"
• "Operation desert Storm, Ma’am." "No kidding? Desert Storm!
• How long were you there?" I asked.
• "A year and a half. I’m on my way home. My family will be at the airport."
• I then commented that he must have thought about returning to his family and home many times while he was in the Middle East.
• "Oh, no, Ma’am," he replied. "We were taught never to think of what might never be, but to be fully available right where we were."
Jesus, our Commander-in-chief tells us in Luke 6:46
• “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
• What else is there to say?
II. ENGAGE THE ENEMY
ILL.- An 18-year-old apparently took a Seattle police car for a joyride.
• The theft was reported on law-enforcement broadcasts, and a bicycle patrol officer in downtown Seattle spotted it.
• A police car immediately gave chase but lost sight of the stolen vehicle after pausing to check for oncoming traffic at an intersection.
• It was then that a second police car pulled up and - thinking the stopped car was the stolen vehicle - rammed it from behind.
• Two policemen in the car that had been hit thought they were under attack.
• So they pulled out their guns and started shooting.
• A police spokesperson said the officers involved - 2 in the rammed car and 1 in the other - exchanged more than 25 before they realized!
• THEY WERE SHOOTING AT EACH OTHER!
Now isn’t this what happens in some of our churches?
• Some church members do more shooting at one another
• Than they do at the real enemy.
As Christians we are at war, but we’re not to be at war with each other!
• When we fight with one another we are only helping the enemy.
• The devil loves church fights, etc.
• We need to fight against such things by fighting against him!
Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
1Pe 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
ILL.- In 1934 Joe Louis became the heavyweight boxing champion of the world and successfully defended the title 25 times over the next 15 years.
• The sports voice of those days, Bill Stern, asked Joe how he had been able to knock out his opponents so quickly in almost every fight.
• After a few moments, he answered, “Two things—1st I study my opponent until I know him better than he knows himself, and 2nd , I make a plan of attack.”
What is our spiritual plan of attack?
ILL.- An old deacon who used to pray every Wednesday night at prayer meeting
• Always ended his prayer the same way:
• “And, Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life.”
• It got to be too much for one fellow in the prayer meeting.
• He had heard the old deacon one time too often.
• So when the man made that prayer, the fellow jumped to his feet and shouted: “Lord, Lord, don’t do it! Kill the spider!”
Sometimes we are focused on the cobwebs instead of what caused the cobwebs,
• We all have cobwebs in our lives, but our real enemy is Satan.
• We need to fight against him.
• And We do that by bringing in the big guns
• And this comes in the form of Prayer, Bible study, church, giving, serving, etc.
1Pe 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1Pe 5:9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
WE FIGHT THE ENEMY BY DOING THE FAITH STUFF IN LIFE!
III. FIGHT TO THE END
Mt 10:22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved
Mt 24:12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
Mt 24:13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Mt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
ILL.- A man said, "A young friend of mine just got back from boot camp. It was a rude awakening to life in the military. It was 24/7 for him - not 9:00 to 5:00."
The Christian life is not a matter of coming to church on Sunday morning and then forgetting all about the faith the rest of the week. It’s 24/7.
ILL.- A young recruit turned his nose up at the Army stew and complained to the mess sergeant,
• “I don’t like this stew. Don’t I have any choice here?”
• The sergeant replied, “CERTAINLY, SOLDIER. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT.”
We are called to fight in a war,
• Not to sit around and gripe about what we don’t like in life or in the church.
ILL.- Gentleman Jim” Corbett, who held the heavyweight boxing title for 5 years at the end of the nineteenth century: said this
• “When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round.
• “When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to guard yourself, fight one more round.
• When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round
• Remembering that the man who fights one more round is never whipped.”
As Christians we are expected to Fight one more round.
• And then after that round, we fight another.
• We must keep on fighting to the end if we expect to experience victory.
ILL.- After the deliverance at Dunkirk, Churchill rallied Britain with his most memorable speech.
He said: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.”
2Ti 4:7 I have fought the good fight,
• But Have we? Will we? Will we be found fighting ‘til our dying day?
CONCLUSION--------------------------------------
ILL.- John Stuart Mill, philosopher from London, England, died in 1873, said,
• “War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things.
• The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling is much worse.
• The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight is a miserable creature…”
In Life There are some things are worth fighting for:
• our freedom in America and our freedom in Christ!
• So today as we close God bless the USA!
• God bless our US veterans!
• And God bless the veterans of the Christian faith!
