INTRO.- 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 mean to contest or contradict Gen. Sherman who has been to war and seen the horror of war, but after considering God’s Word I would have to say that war is not hell. Hell is far worse, but war is hellish.
ILL.- Consider WW II, for example. It’s basic statistics qualify it as by far the greatest war or perhaps 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 put at more than $1 trillion, which makes it more expensive than all other wars combined. The U.S. spent the most money on the war, an estimated $341 billion. Germany was next, with $272 billion; followed by the Soviet Union, $192 billion, etc.
The Soviet government has calculated that the USSR lost 30 percent of its national wealth. The full cost to Japan has been estimated at $562 billion. In Germany, bombing and shelling had produced 5 billion cubic yards of rubble.
The human cost, not including between 5.6 million and 5.9 million Jews killed in the Holocaust who were indirect victims of the war, is estimated to have been 55 million dead-25 million of those military and 30 million civilian.
The human cost of the war fell heaviest on the USSR, for which the official total, military and civilian, is given as more than 20 million killed. The military deaths on both sides in Europe numbered 19 million and in the war against Japan, 6 million. The U.S., which had no significant civilian losses, sustained 292,131 battle deaths and 115,187 deaths from other causes.
What can we conclude from all these figures? WAR IS HELLISH! And our veterans of war need to be honored for giving their lives in service to our country.
Rom. 13:7 "Give honor to whom honor is due."
ILL.- On May 13, 1938 the 11th of November of each year became a legal holiday - - a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day."
Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting the word "Veterans."
With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars. And we are more than happy to honor all our armed service veterans. They deserve both recognition and honor. God bless all our veterans!
Veterans of another kind need to be considered as well.
Phil. 1:27 "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel."
We are to contend for the faith of the gospel. That word "contending" carries with it the idea of fighting in a battle. Living for Christ in this world is something like fighting a war. We are greatly opposed by the world, it’s thinking and practices. And there are many veterans of the faith who fought this battle against the world and deserve to be remembered and honored.
PROP.- As we remember our armed service veterans, let’s also consider three veterans of faith who have fought the war of faith.
1- Enoch
2- Noah
3- Abraham
I. VETERAN ENOCH
Gen. 5:24 "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."
Heb. 11:5 "By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God."
I CALL ENOCH A MAN AGAINST HUMAN NATURE. He "pleased God." He "walked with God." And it is not natural for people to walk with God. Our human nature is to sin.
ILL.- In the days when there were few cameras and few photographs, and when it was an event in one’s life to have one’s photo taken, an evangelist with a party of friends was enjoying a pleasant Saturday afternoon in Glasgow, Scotland, on a lovely summer day. He carried with him a little leather case containing his Bible and, as he walked along, a company of young people out for an afternoon’s enjoyment approached him and said, "Please will you take our photograph," thinking that the little leather case contained a vest-pocket Kodak.
Without a moment’s hesitation the evangelist said, "O, I have it already." The spokesman of the party asked in surprise, "When did you take it? You must have taken our picture when we weren’t looking." "Well, anyway I have it here, and here it is," said the preacher as he pulled out his well-worn Bible and said, "This is God’s photograph of every one of us," as he read Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
This is true for us all. It’s true whether we want to admit it or not. We’re all in the same boat and that boat is sinking. We all have sinned. There is not one among us better than anybody else. BUT THERE WAS ONE BETTER THAN THE REST OF US AT ONE TIME IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.
That person was Enoch. He was a very rare individual. He was so godly that God did not allow him to die. Enoch walked with God. Enoch didn’t listen to the music of the world. He marched to the beat of a different drummer and that drummer was the Lord.
Marching to the beat of a drummer. That should become the goal for each of us. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it should be our goal. How can we learn to walk with God?
ILL.- Someone said to me one time when I was running, "Steve, to run fast, you must run faster." Huh? How’s that? To become a faster runner I had to run faster...push myself to get faster.
To walk with God we must walk with God! If we want to walk with God then we must do what it takes to walk with God. We must read Scripture. We must purposely set aside a time to read and reflect on God’s Word.
We also must read material that points us to God and Christ. This is why I love to read the books of Max Lucado. He says it best. His writing stimulates me and motivates me in my Christian faith more than any other Christian writer. TO WALK WITH GOD WE MUST DO THINGS TO HELP US WALK WITH HIM!
Time is a big factor. We have more time than ever before and have less time than ever before. The reason is because we are constantly filling up our schedules (our days and hours) with stuff. And some of that stuff is stuff that won’t help us in our walk with God. We spend less time with God and in His presence than anything else we do. BE HONEST ABOUT THIS.
How many hours a week do you spend in church? More pertinently, how many hours do you spend each week in prayer and Bible study? How can you expect to walk with God if you don’t walk with God?
What is our motivation to walk with God? Well, it could be that God just might take us home without ever letting us die! How could that be when there were only two people in the Bible for whom God did that?! God could do it and He might do it, because HE IS GOD! He does good things! And He can do whatever He wants! What a thought! TO NEVER DIE! To live this life and never die! Just whisked away to heaven!
Enoch was a man against human nature. And we should strive to be like him. No telling what God will do for us if we walked with Him.
II. VETERAN NOAH
Gen. 6:5, 8-9 "The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. V. 8-9 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God."
Heb. 11:7 "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. by his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."
I call Noah a man against all odds. I think of Noah as being against the whole world. By faith, He did what God told him to do. He built an ark when no one was building arks. He built an ark in a time when no one had ever seen a flood. They didn’t need an ark or a boat of any kind, especially, the size of the one that Noah was building. Who did he think he was? What did he know that they didn’t know? I am sure that most of the people, if not all of them, mocked him, thinking him to be some kind of crazy man.
How would you feel if your life contradicted what everybody else was doing? Could you go on living?
ILL.- Did you see the 1993 movie entitled, "Rudy"? As long as he could remember, Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) wanted to play football at the University of Notre Dame. Only a few things stood in his way: He didn’t have the size; he didn’t have the talent; he didn’t have the grades; and he didn’t have the money. What he did have was heart... and that made up for all that he lacked.
Someone said, "Rudy is a testament to anyone who not only has a dream but also the willingness to work hard to achieve it."
After dreaming about attending Notre Dame for years, a tragic accident in his home town convinced Rudy that he had better act if that dream were ever to become a reality. Walking onto the Notre Dame campus with a duffle bag, a thousand dollars, and his dream, Rudy began the long road of fighting against the odds.
Every action Rudy took was a small, hard-earned step toward his heart’s desire. His mentors may have helped to guide and support him with their advice and encouragement, but everything that Rudy accomplished came about as a result of his faithfulness to continually work toward his goal. He simply refused to quit or abandon his dream, despite the obstacles and naysayers who tried to discourage him by saying that it was not attainable.
Rudy was man who did something against all odds. He was somewhat similar to Noah, except that he didn’t work to save his family from a certain death. Have you ever done something or went after something that was against all odds?
And what lofty goals do you have for your life right now? Are they reachable? Are the reasonable in the sight of God?
Please remember that we can do more than we think we can. And if we walk by faith, like Noah did, we might just do far more than we ever imagined.
Prov. 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." When we commit our plans to the Lord (if they are good and godly plans) then God will bless them!
Noah was a man against all odds. And we should be too.
III. VETERAN ABRAHAM
Gen. 12:1 "The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you."
Gen. 12:4 "So Abram left, as the Lord had told him... Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran."
Heb. 11:8-9 "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country, he lived in tents..."
I call Abraham a man against human reason. He "went out not knowing where he was going."
ILL.- I left Joplin, MO, and Ozark Bible College in 1969 and moved to a small town in central Iowa called Bayard, pop. 511. I went there to preach at the Church of Christ which was the same thing as the nondenominational Christian Church. They had no elders, no deacons, but they did have a church board made up of some of the men in the church.
Bayard, Iowa, is farm country, about 75 miles northwest of Des Moines. To me, it was a foreign land since I had been raised in Southern Missouri. They thought I was a foreigner too. They could tell by my speech.
The church had about 50 people and 60 on a real good Sunday. The old parsonage was next door to the church house. It was a two-story house and with an old furnace in the living room.
One winter I saw 36 degrees below zero for two weeks straight. That was not the wind-chill. I learned to wear long underwear, hat, gloves, and a heavy coat. I wondered what in the world I was doing in such a cold place. When the wind blew in the winter the curtains blew too. And that was with the storm windows attached!
As strange as I felt in that small Iowa community I’m sure that Abraham felt a lot stranger where he went.
Abraham was told to leave his home, his home country, his home people, and go somewhere he’d never been and start a new life. What Abraham did was against human reason! It didn’t make good sense to leave home and go somewhere he’d never been and didn’t have a place to live.
This is certainly not normal for us today. Normally, if we make a move to a new location, new town, etc. we generally know somebody, we may already have a job and a place to live. BUT NOT ABRAHAM. He had to walk by complete faith and trust in God!
Is God leading you where you have never been before? It could be. Are you following His leading? Will you? Will you trust Him to provide for you, care for you, take care of the necessary arrangements?
Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear..."
Matthew 6:33 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Abraham lived against human reason. He trusted God to take care of him and we need to do the same.
CONCLUSION----------------------------------
ILL.- Just after WWI Sir Douglas Haig said to a group of preachers in Scotland: "It is your business to put my business out of business."
War is hellish and if there is one thing that could bring it to an end, it’s Christ and Christianity. Let’s pray this will happen. In the meantime, let’s continue to honor our veterans. Both our armed service veterans and our veterans of faith.
