======================================================================== (AUDIO SERMON CLIP) LIVING THE LIFE OF A SOLDIER by George Verwer ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the urgent and desperate nature of the spiritual warfare Christians face, drawing parallels to the lives of saints in the Bible who lived as soldiers in crisis situations. It highlights the faith and sacrifices of individuals like Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, and Paul, who endured hardships, persecution, and trials for the sake of their faith. The message encourages believers to embrace challenges, tribulations, and difficulties as opportunities for growth, transformation, and conformity to the image of Christ. Topics: "Spiritual Warfare", "Faith in Adversity" Scripture References: Hebrews 11:23, Hebrews 11:32, 2 Corinthians 11:23, 2 Corinthians 6:4, Romans 5:3, 1 Peter 4:12, James 1:2, Philippians 1:29, 2 Timothy 2:3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the urgent and desperate nature of the spiritual warfare Christians face, drawing parallels to the lives of saints in the Bible who lived as soldiers in crisis situations. It highlights the faith and sacrifices of individuals like Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, and Paul, who endured hardships, persecution, and trials for the sake of their faith. The message encourages believers to embrace challenges, tribulations, and difficulties as opportunities for growth, transformation, and conformity to the image of Christ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We realize it's a crisis, we realize it's war. We look into the word of God and we see the verses that clearly tell us that our situation is war, that our situation is desperate, that our situation is an emergency situation, worse than anything that happened in Sofia or Iran or during any earthquake, tidal wave, or hurricane. And then when we look into the lives of the saints, when we look into the lives of men in the Old Testament, let's stop, let's stop and turn in our Bibles to Hebrews the 11th chapter. Let's look at some of these men. Hebrews chapter 11, let's see how these men lived, let's see the kind of life they led, let's see if they were militant or not, if they really lived like soldiers, if they really lived as if it were a crisis situation. Let's read about a few of these men. Look at Moses in Hebrews 11 verse 23. By faith Moses when he was born was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the commandment of the king. By faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he had respect under the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seen him who is invisible. Oh my when we look at men like this, Moses with all the pleasures of Egypt, with the best possible education, with all the women of Pharaoh's court, with all the riches, with everything else, he forsook it and he entered into that warfare of suffering and of reproach and enduring hardship as they went across the wilderness and were beaten and went through every possible trial. Moses was a soldier. And we read on, we read about Joshua and then we come to verse 32 like a great crescendo. We read these words and what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah and of David also and Samuel of the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, watched valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, women received, their dead raised to life again and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, were slain with a sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted and tormented. Although the world was not worthy, they wandered about in deserts, in mountains, in dens and caves of the earth and these all 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. Do you see the power of that passage? They just have what we have. They didn't have the promises that we have. They didn't have all the blessings that we have and yet this is the kind of life they lived. And as we look into the New Testament and into the lives of men who lived in the New Testament, we see the same thing. We see the description of the apostle Paul in Corinthians 11 and it's shocking what this man went through because he lived the life of a soldier. Beatings, mockings, scourging, wandering, suffering, the terror of the churches and all the rest. Read the passage. And then we read in 2 Corinthians 6 when Paul is speaking to all of us who desire to be faithful unto Jesus Christ, who desire to be faithful ministers unto Christ. And he says in 2 Corinthians 6, these revolutionary words, why if we dare to even obey this one chapter, the world would be turned upside down. And God doesn't need a great number. We're not looking for great numbers in this crusade. We're looking for a faithful few who dare to begin to live the life of faith. We're not looking for perfect people either. We've given up on that. We're looking for people who are willing to say, Lord teach me. People who are willing to break before Calvary as Isaiah broke and say, Lord hear my, send me, take me, mold me, make me anew, like the potter's vessel, to be broken so that we can be made anew. We're the hands of the Lord, the chastening hands, the loving hands, the kind hands, the meek hands. It'll take us through trials and suffering. It'll take us through difficulties. It'll bring us into life, into life, live with people who are a different personality. It'll take us into various circumstances. It reminds me of a story of a young boy who wanted to learn patience and he went to his pastor and he said, Pastor, I want you to pray for me that I might learn patience. And the pastor said, okay, let's pray. And he got down on the floor and he began to pray. And he said, oh God, the pastor prayed, oh God, send this young man tribulation. Send them tribulation, Lord. And he went on to pray and the little boy began to shake and after the prayer he got up and he said, but pastor, he said, I asked you to pray that the Lord would give me patience. And the wise pastor took the word of God and he opened it. He pointed to a verse and the verse said, but tribulation works patience. And if you want to live the life of Christ, if you want to be conformed to the image of Christ, if you want to become a true disciple and a true soldier of Jesus Christ, get ready for the problems, get ready for the storms, get ready for the battles, get ready for the difficulties, get ready for the unloving people, get ready for the criticisms and the lies and the for all of this will be used to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/vUC8ciiAkuI.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/george-verwer/audio-sermon-clip-living-the-life-of-a-soldier/ ========================================================================