A Warrior's Heart

Greetings, y'all, in the name of Jesus. I'm glad to be back and glad to see y'all. Praise the Lord. I would like to appreciate what Brother Duane shared. Um, just another way of many different angles that we can take from, uh, we can find how God works and sometimes it means a lot to us and sometimes not so much and different people means differently. But the bottom line is that do we believe that he'll be coming back with a field someday for us? Even though it looks like an impossible situation right now, is there going to be a time when we're going to have, do we have enough faith to think that far? Those are some of the thoughts went through my mind. Joseph, he said, put my bones in a wooden box and take me along back to Canaan, I think. Um, 400 years. I thought that was kind of similar. He had that faith that there's going to be something again. And, uh, one of these days we will also be put in a graveyard. Are we prepared for that field that's going to return someday? And where are we not prepared? How are we prepared for it? That's always my thought. I, um, always, but often I think about, um, how can we be faithful? How can we continue on? How can we survive? And this kind of plays into this idea of, do, have we put this in the, in the can there and sealed it? Is it worth keeping? Is it worth having? Is it worth striving for? And if not, we, of course, don't put it in that can. And we, of course, we're not going to put our bones in a wooden box. It'll be taken somewhere someday because we don't have faith that it's going to come back or that time is going to, Jesus is going to return someday, basically. And, and are we, do we, are we that prepared? Are we that faithful? And it's, um, it's a challenge, uh, in my own heart. I challenge myself with that all the time. And, um, the different, the different things we, the different things we do is, um, do make a difference. The little things, like, I appreciated what was shared last week, I think, about David was doing these little things. And that is so important. If we're not about doing the little things, a little thing like, well, someday we're going back to Canaan, so put my bones in this box and take me along. And it seems like they did exactly what they did. I wonder if the people would look at that box and say, Joseph said we're going back. And then they die, and the next generation rises up, and they look at this box, and that's Joseph's bones, and we're supposed to take them along back when we, when we go. Was it maybe a strength to them as well? I don't know. Were they, like, doubting it? Like, how can this be possible? We're slaves. We're in this world now. And it's just a challenge to me to, uh, to be able to see that far and prepare today accordingly. Because of assurity we have only today to, uh, prepare. Yesterday's gone. Tomorrow's not here. If y'all want to stand, come before God again in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this beautiful day again that you over and over give us in this time that we can come together again and build each other up and encourage one another and strengthen one another. Help us to be solace in these things and help us to be strong in your ways. We ask that your Holy Spirit would come and teach us of these ways and live amongst us and touch each one of us with your spirit and your power and your glory. You're so beyond us and we hardly know what to say. And we know your spirit intercedes for us and bless us. In Jesus' name. Amen. This last week I was, we were traveling quite a bit on the way home and we didn't do much stopping. It seemed like many miles from the west coast to Texas, Dallas. And, uh, but we, neither did we have to push it real hard. We were able to make it all in good time. And we were going to meet with Alec and he said, well, they contacted COVID-19 since we were there and his wife doesn't really want to give it to us. And, um, so I don't know if he was willing to or not, but had he not said anything, I probably wouldn't have worried about it. I don't know. Anyways, it seemed like he wanted us to, I wouldn't want to give it to somebody. So I appreciate it. And I was thinking about certain, certain people that seem to have given up the faith and, and the thought came to me about a warrior's heart and like, we need to, we need to persevere. We need to continue on. Not in, not in pride, not like, not like a warrior of, of the countries. I just had a thought that maybe, maybe in the old Testament warriors, they were more humble. Like they had to seek God to win, especially the, the godly warriors. They were not, like Goliath, he was proud. He, he was this man that said, oh, you know, send a man up to me to fight with me. He, he, he felt like he could whip anybody, I think. He was ready to try. He's a, had a warrior's heart in that way. And, and he did give his life, but he lost, to a, to a shepherd boy that had trust in God. And that is, that's where all this lies in, is whether we have our trust in God or not. If our trust is in other things, we will fail. There's, there's really no hope. And there's really no hope in winning if we don't trust. However, there's still something for us to do. And, and this is where we need to persevere. There's differences in outcome, different outcomes in our lives, in our family's lives. In, in how we strike out and walk in faith and the different choices we make will have an effect on, on people around us and, and our own lives too, for sure. I was kind of surprised. I looked the word warrior up and there's like 145 in the Old Testament, but none in the New Testament, not in the NRSV. I didn't check out any others, but I figured there'd be some, but I said it was zero. So I wonder, that made me think, well, yeah, we need to, we need to for sure be warriors in the spirit, not in, not in the flesh. In the Old Testament, they, they had to have both, seems like. They, they, they fought in the flesh, with the flesh, against the flesh, and they also had to have faith in God. So, so I guess the challenge is again to us. Are we warriors at heart? Are we training to be able to lay down our lives? I once talked with a, I guess he was a Navy SEAL, they call him, and I asked him, are you not afraid to die? And he said, no, I don't have any fear of dying. Whether that was true or not, I don't know, but he, I think he was trained. He had, and a matter of fact, I don't think you can fight very well with a great fear in your heart. I think you would, if David would have went up to Goliath with fear and trembling, he's just shaking, and I guess God could have still made things out, come out okay, but I suspect David had such confidence in God that he was not quaking. I think he was calm, deliberate, and in the fear of God, he, he went against this enemy that was defying the armies of the living God, and his trust was not in his sling. His trust was not necessarily in his accuracy. But in the living God, and that is our challenge today, is that same thing of our trust in God. It's really the important thing. This thing of forsaking ourselves for him alone, for our leader and master, Jesus. He's the one that we're training for to forsake all, and let nothing coming in between us and him. We can, I just think includes everything that we have in touch and lean. Everything we have is included in this. If we, if we want to honor a man, and we want to dress up, and have houses, and clothing, and cars that make other people impressed, this is a big danger sign that we're not serving Christ. We haven't forsaken all. We're trying to have some, some hit in this world. We're, we're, our, we, we will have a reward for that. The world has its reward for that, but not the world, not the reward from God, and even our own life. I've talked about families. If we have to forsake wife, and children, and lands, and our own life, what, what is left? He wants everything forsaken for him, and we can check our hearts for the things that are precious to us, and the reason we do things. We can check our, we can check our hearts, and we can know whether this is, this is truly for Christ, or if this is for some other person, or whatever other reason we might be doing things so little in, even in our families, we can train our children. I had to think when, um, um, how much, um, well, I was thinking about Jonathan as being a, it's kind of a unique character, like, it seemed like he had lots of faith, and he had a bad father. I don't know what y'all think about it, but it seems like he had to give his life for his father's sake. I think that's the reason he died, and this is why, and then I had this thought that our children, we need to, we need to be, um, we can, we have great effect on their lives, how we train them, how we teach them, how we, training and teaching is kind of the same thing. We teach, we train, it's, um, it's something we do day in and day out. It's, it's, it's, um, it's a work all the time, and children are, they're masters in, um, in trying us out. Our children tried us out, and I see other children trying their plans out in the same ways. There's no, no getting away from it. We have to be trainers, and we have to be, and the things, the different things we do is going to make a big impact in their lives, later in their lives. Jonathan was this man that he was able to, I mean, he went up toward this Philistine army, if I have it right, him and his armor bearer by themselves. I just marvel at the trust he had in God. He, he was really no different than David in that way. Maybe that's why they were kind of like one flesh. They had the same mission. I've never thought of that before, but, um, but they did the same things. So the challenge again is, is, are our hearts that diligent? Are we, are we that serious about taking our enemies down, taking these Chinese down? And so Jonathan, he, he just went up toward these Philistines and said if they, if they say come up, he told his armor bearer, we'll go up. If they say, um, we'll come down to you, I guess he was going to retreat. I'm not sure exactly what it says there, but he, um, and they, when the guards saw them, they said, come up there. We, I forget what he said. Maybe we'll show you something or just come up. And so that was the signal that Jonathan needed to go. And they went up there and they just, they had to cost a great disarray for them. They cost them the, I don't know what happened, but God was in, God was in it and, and they were able to, it was such a big uproar that their, their guards at home or in the Israelite army, that they saw something was happening and they went up there and helped and chased them, chased them off. And, but then I think how, just a, just a thought for me to think that, for all of us, that Jonathan seemed like he had to give his life because of how his father was. I always felt like, why did Jonathan have to die? It just seemed like such a, such a man of character and such a man of faith, but he had to die with the rest of the sons. He was part of that family. So if I had this thought today that this is how serious it is for our families, we need to, we need to, they will, there's an effect on our families, how we, what we do and how we do. As it will be in our own life as well. It's not just our own lives. And each other as a community, how we operate, function together as a community. There is, we, we have effects on one another and the more we can walk in the light and walk in the truth, the more we can function together for this single goal like David had and Jonathan had together. Can we be that together? Can we, can we have a goal that Jesus Christ is the only way and through him alone we can, we can walk together instead of getting sidetracked in so many different ways of theology and ideas. Our most division from ideas and not rock, not on the rock because rock is divided. Is it not because of our own theories and ideas that we become divided? I would say the spirit tells us all the same thing. And not that we're all the same, but he tells us all the same mission, the same goal. And that is being obedient to him, to Christ. I was going to share a little bit in Isaiah 43. I was thinking of Matthew, I guess the latter part of Matthew 7 maybe or Matthew 8. But here in Isaiah, he says, I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Thus I say of the Lord who makes the way in the sea and the path in the mighty waters. So it was God who opened the seas. Man couldn't, man can't open those seas. Man can't break down walls. They can break down walls, but not like Jericho walls. They fell over or sunk out of sight or some people think they just sank out of sight and they could just run in. I don't know what happened, but they were destroyed in such a way that they could just go in. But he also made a path through the sea, a path in the mighty waters. Big boats float in waters and they experiment with the nuclear weapons in the waters and they're still there. But God can part them apart and you can walk right through. Who brings out chariots, horse and army and warrior, they lie down, they cannot rise. They are extinguished, quenched like a wick. He may be talking about Pharaoh's army, I suppose. They went into that water and they lie down, they cannot rise. They just, they couldn't even, they couldn't even, they couldn't do anything. And then the waters, of course, came together and their bodies were floating. Well, some things were floating. Somebody said that with all the armor and things that they sank to the bottom, but they saw, I think they saw bodies floating around. So how this works together, I'm not sure. Or maybe they took them off and then drowned. I don't know. They're extinguished and quenched like a wick. This is the God we're serving. And we do not need to fear. I'm about to do a new thing. Night springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make your way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. It's not again this new thing, this box or this vessel that we closed up or the faith that Jonathan, not Jonathan, Joseph had in knowing there's something beyond. The sadness of history is that it seems like most people don't get a hold of that. And we're making history right now. Are we getting a hold of that? I'm about to do a new thing. Night springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. He's prepared to give us something better, something new. Canaan was free. Well, they had to take Canaan when they went back, but God gave it in their hands in many different ways. Trust in our hearts is not just a math profession. If it doesn't have fruits, we can know it's false. There's not an example in the Old Testament and in the new and the history since that time that a man would just profess and wouldn't have no fruits to go with it. It just doesn't happen that way. When we have faith in God, there are fruits and there is, there are things that happen when we follow God. Matthew 7 24. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell and the floods came. The winds blew and beat on the house, that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. This is just this great difference. The person that hears Jesus' words and builds a house, I would say that's a profession of words. But when you do what Jesus said, you start building with a rock and it's an automatic thing the way I look at it. Like your house is going to be, our house is going to be on a rock if we build on the teachings of Jesus and his will and his ways. And he just finished giving them a long sermon, or however long. He gave them a sermon, Sermon on the Mount, they call it. And the one who hears these words of mine does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house in the sand. So we do something and we know that we shouldn't. We should repent from that. And we don't. We don't act on it. We don't act when the Spirit speaks to us. We don't act on it. Then we're built on the sand. When we hear the Spirit, however small it might be, and all these little things that we can do, then, and we do these little things. We keep our heart clean before God. We keep our minds clean before God. We keep, there's just so many ways that we can, it all starts in our heart and minds. So we hear the Spirit of God and we fall. And when we do it, we're built on the rock. It's just, and storms come. So, so things are not going to be easy. I think we tend to like the idea of wanting an easy. I did for a while. I thought, surely there's like this place we could come to and we would, things would become clear and become easy. I think some things have become clear as I have gotten older. At one time I would have been like seeking some things I'm not seeking anymore. I feel like God has shown them to me and I no longer seek to know that thing. But there's other things that come along in similar ways. And I think that will continue. We will continue to walk. We will continue to grow or to be built on sand. And we'll fall. Jesus wants everything from us. He doesn't want half of us. He doesn't want 95% of us. He wants 100% our attention. And I was just thinking how I think a marriage is a likeness of that. Do we want our wives or our husbands to be 50% in agreement with us? Or do we, do we want to be together that much? Do we want to be 100% together or do we want to separate and part some ways? I don't know what the survival rates are before God. If God can, if we're only 50% solace for Him and He chooses to save us in that, I would not give any, I could not give, I couldn't say that's a right thing to do or a good thing to do. And if we do it intentionally for sure, I think there'll be death. But nevertheless, there's a difference in man, in their ability or their solace that I think makes differences in these things. But anyways, the point is not to be half-hearted. A marriage is not pleasant if it's even 1% off. There's 1% disagreement. And guess what? That 1% actually grows to, it can consume over top of the 99% that you do agree with. This happens in the church too. And this is what becomes the focus. And it ruins more things. So I guess I'd have to say maybe 1% grows to 50%, 90% on the bad part. We want to be growing the other way. We want to be solace the other way. We want to gain ground. We want to, we don't want to be on that side of the things. No, we put our whole heart into a marriage. We put our whole heart into serving God. We put our whole heart into a community. This is the only way. If we can't, there's problems. Serious problems. I don't know how that all fits together. It's just a challenge. I know in churches, I grew up in a church I cannot support or I believe that our church is not a church. We're representing the truth the whole way. And other churches I've been with, some don't exist anymore. They evaporated. They're not anymore. There's some that are, and it's, we have to make decisions. I would hope my children that they do not feel like I'm keeping them from serving God. I would hope that I'm encouraging them to serve God and even more than they want to perhaps. I hope. It's not like, and I hope that for all of us together here that we could be more zealous in encouraging one another for that eternal life. Let's put this in this thing and close it up because there's a time coming. And this pottery, seal it up. Let's put our bones in a box, a coffin. The day is coming. We have faith. We believe it's coming. I was just kind of traveling with James 4 as well and I'll read that and some of it at least. And this will be my closing I think. Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something, you do not have it, so you commit murder. And you covet something and you cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. I sometimes think that politics and governments tend to trap us in some of these ways. State and church is not together. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us? I think of this sometimes. God has made our spirits and he yearns jealously for the spirit. It is something, we do not see it maybe. I am not sure I could put a picture to it. But God has a picture of the spirit and it is his will that every spirit would come back to him. God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us. But he gives all the more grace, therefore says, God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into detection. Humble yourself before the Lord and he will exalt you. This is the people that I feel like David and all these faithful patriarchs. Like they had a hold of this. This. God could exalt them. God did exalt them. And he is wanting to do that today yet. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge. Therefore, there is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So then, so who then are you to judge your neighbor? Let's remember what Jesus taught and the things he showed us to do and the things he practiced. Are the ways that I would want to go and the ways I would want all of us to be together in going. And I don't think anything different, that's all of our mission and goal on that. But it seems, it seems, although the church I came from when I was growing up, they would often say, you know, we're forgetful hearers. I guess we need to repeat these things all the time to one another and because we forget so easily. May God bless us. Walterita, correct or share whatever lays in your hearts. Thank you, Walter. And just appreciated those thoughts. Just sobering, real, something we can identify with or, you know, apply. I just have a few thoughts. You talked about just about zeal and half-heartedness and and how God wants everything and how maybe people's zeals aren't all the same and yet, you know, you don't necessarily know how, maybe we don't exactly know how God will judge somebody who, I don't know, in our terms would maybe have less than 100%, be 100% wholehearted. But anyway, all I wanted to say is that there's this song that we used to sing in German, one of my favorite German songs. Maybe I say that about a lot of them. I don't know. and I've thought of translating it. Maybe it is translated already, but it starts in like Ringe Recht, das Gottes Gnode. I think maybe Ringe Recht would be like Strive Aright, and I think maybe almost every verse starts in with Strive. Like Ringe. And there's this one verse that says, just kind of a quick and loose translation, would be something like Strive so that your zeal glows and your first love um and that your first love will completely remove you from worldliness. And then here's the last line, half-hearted love will not pass the test. And I just, I like that song. Maybe just thinking about it kind of reignites my desire to maybe translate it and make it singable for us all here. Well, I just wanted to say at the end here when you said about how, you know, your teachers when you were growing up said, we're forgetful hearers. I remembered that too. The Amish preachers say that. Um I just agree. We just have to hear things over. Sometimes, maybe especially doing teaching, I sometimes I kind of run out and I think, oh I've already shared this. I've already talked about this. What more is there to talk about? I've said everything I know. But I just think we have to remember like, we have to remember a couple things. First of all, there's always children growing that three years ago did not catch what they could catch now. And not only that, like we do learn by repetition. We learn by by hearing something over and over again, and it just if if the gospel gets old, then then you know, take heed that we don't become the children of Israel who got tired of manna. And one thing I've learned in children, and I suppose we've all learned this, is like why do they, why do our little two and three year olds and four year olds when when they want a story, why do they go get the same book over and over and over again? And you've read it and you've read it and you've read it. And sometimes you try to read it and get by with skipping as much detail as they allow you, and it just but that's how they learn. They learn from repetition over and over and over again. Anyway, that is the kind of creatures we are. Thank you for the message. Amen. It was good to hear you back speaking, Brother Walter, and not only for one another should we say those verses or repeat them, but for ourselves, I think, at least in my case, repeat it over and over for myself. Jonathan, yeah, I guess he is a type of Christ. I never thought of it like that, Jonathan, and that was a good one. Another type, whether it's Daniel or the one Brother Dwayne shared about Jeremiah and ransom, and I guess there's lots of types of the Lord. What you said, as you opened in the beginning, Brother Walter, about kind of how do we perceive God or understand God and and on one hand, you have work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Tremble and you know, consider the goodness and severity of God. And Noah's ark, how many people were saved? Eight. Sodom and Gomorrah, four, really three, right? Lot's wife turned away. And out of the wilderness, six thousand, maybe two. The odds are really bad, and if we look at God as being boy, the consuming fire and and the slim gate, you know, what are our chances? But as you shared, how we perceive God, God is love. The love of Christ constrains us, as Brother Walter said in James 4. He earnestly yearns for our spirit. If we look at God like this, the father of the prodigal son, he comes running after him. He's repented a little, and he comes running, and that's who our God is. And so let's grab on to that. He's a loving God who's coming running for us, but we have to repent. We have to turn to him. He's not some evil monster just waiting to jump on us. Aha, I got you, checkmate. No, no, he's a good loving God. The Lord be magnified. I had some thoughts on Saturday, and I wrote them down. I wrote, there was a man who received a gift. The man wrote wind. The man wrote, the wind blew on the tree. The wind said to the tree, I speak to you concerning the wind and tree. The wind blows, the tree moves. The man writes, praise the Lord. The man wrote about an air vent. He wrote, the vents are always ready for use when the master of the house is ready. The power is turned on, and the air flows through the vents. I got my Bible, and I opened. It was at Matthew 12. And I started reading. At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn, and his disciples were hungered and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have you not read what David did when he was hungered, and how they were with him? How he entered into the house of God, and did he that shew bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, or only for the priest? Or have you not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priest in the temple profaned the Sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if you had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. You would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath. And when he departed thence, he went to the synagogue. And behold, there was a man which had his hand withered, and they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days, that they might accuse him? And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep? And if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore, it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth. And it was restored whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against them, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him. And he healed them all, and charged them that they should not make him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, and whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flat shall he not quench, till he shew forth judgment to victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. Then was brought unto him one possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his good, except he first find the strong man, and then he will spoil his house? He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All men are of sin, and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto them. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good. Or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt. For the tree is known by its fruit. O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things. And an evil man, out of the treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, by thy words thou shalt be condemned. And certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a son from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a son. And there shall no son be given to it, but the son of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three nights in the well's belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it. Because they repented at the preaching of Jonas. And behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it. For she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, a greater than Solomon is here. When an unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return unto my house from which I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with him seven other spirits, more wicked than himself. And they enter in and dwell there. And the last day of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be unto this wicked generation. While he had talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brother stood without desire to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without desire to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother, and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother. 13 was good too, and thought I'd share that thoughts I had. Glory to the Lord. The word warrior is not in the New Testament, but the word soldier is used at least twice to describe how we should live. And I did not go to the military, but I think I understand a little bit of what the things they have to do, and a lot of it is repetition. So they can master, or anything that you're going to be good at, you got to repeat it over and over and over and over again until you're able to do it without thinking, probably. And Paul said that he was writing the same things, and he said it was not a trouble for him to write the same things to the believers in Philippi. Then Peter, he said a few times in his second epistle, he said, verse 12, chapter 1, it says, Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this tabernacle, this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able after my disease to have these things always in remembrance. So, remembrance of several times, and he said that he knew them. And it's funny because my diet in my country is the same thing every day. And it feels weird if I don't eat the same thing every day, and I think we never get tired of rice and beans every day down in Brazil. And later on, I learned that it's the perfect, complete protein for you. And I think if we get tired of the things of God, I heard it already. I've memorized it already. It's like brother said, the Israelites despising the bread. They forgot what they called it, but they're despising the bread that God has given them to sustain their bodies. Yeah, so if we are to be soldiers of Christ, as brother Walter said, there are things that we got to let go of. When you turn 18 in Brazil, you have as your duty to go and present yourself to the government to see if you're going to be a soldier. And I went, and I was so excited, and I want to be part of it. And just for the adventure, I don't think I wanted to kill anybody. I just wanted to go out camping with them and jump off of airplanes and rappel off of places. That's how they kind of appeal to you down there. They show you videos of the soldiers doing those fun stuff, and I wanted to be part of that. And I guess, well, they did not choose me because I lived in a very small town, and according to what I understand, they would not take people from there or something like that. And I don't think I would be able to bring all my stuff into the military if they had chosen me, because I would not be able to please them. I would not be able to be dedicated and be a good soldier. And in this slim way, my brother Robert said, the Slim Gate, it's so narrow that it only fits you with a cross. And I want to be, I want to lay aside every weight I need. I need help from the Lord and from His church that I can do it, even if it's a little bit difficult, even if I find it to be boring, I hope I never do. I like reading history, and I have a thick book on the history of the Romans, and I was reading about the way they would practice before they could wage war. They practiced with weapons that were twice as heavy as the ones they would take to a real war. So they could maneuver the weapons much more easily and be able to win. And I guess they were good soldiers in that sense. They were never conquered. And they had, in that book, it says that they would prefer children of farmers or farmers themselves, not people from the city, because city people are weak, so they would get farmers. And every time I read that, I think about the brothers here that are farmers, because if we're living in that time, they would kind of force them to be soldiers. And it's interesting because sometimes I believe God will kind of do the same to us, to make us strong the way we should be. I think he puts us into situations that are very heavy at first, but then it kind of trains you to be stronger in a situation that could be, I don't know, spiritual life threatening. So yeah, may the Lord help us to accept all his repetitions of things, so we keep them in our remembrance, so that way we do not, as Peter said before there, so that way we're not unfruitful in the things of God. May we receive the things of God as little children, like Brother Duane said. Let us take the teachings of Jesus over and over and over and over again until we learn and do them. Praise the Lord. Be not afraid of them, for the Lord thy God is with thee, for the Lord thy God is with thee. For the Lord thy God is with thee, be not afraid of them, for the Lord thy God is with thee, with Brother Enoch out of the land of Egypt. Conquering now and still to conquer, Christ is the King in his might. Bring the hosts of all the faithful into the midst of the sight. See them with courage and blessing, riding their rails beyond the rain, shouting the name of their leader in every folly we say. Not to the strong in the battle, not to the swift in the race, yet to the true and the faithful, victory is promised through grace. Conquering now and still to conquer, who is this wonderful King? Whence are the armies, where is he leader? What with glory they sing. He is our Lord and Redeemer, Savior and Honor divine. They are the stars that forever bright in his kingdom shall shine. Not to the strong in the battle, not to the swift in the race, yet to the true and the faithful, victory is promised through grace. Conquering now and still to conquer, Jesus our ruler of all. Growns in their scepters all shall perish, crowns in their splendors shall fall. Yet shall the armies now meet us, faithful and true to the last. But in their mansions eternal, rest when their warfare is past. Not to the strong in the battle, not to the swift in the race, yet to the true and the faithful, victory is promised through grace. O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, ransom captive, O Israel. O come, Thou rod of Jesus Christ, my hope from Satan's tyranny, from death's cup Thou my people save, and give them victory o'er the grave. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, it's come to thee, O Israel. O come, Thou East Stream, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death's dark shadows bow to cry. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, it's come to thee, O Israel. O come, Thou Feet of David, come and open wide our heavenly home. Make safe the way that leads on high, and close our path to misery. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, it's come to thee, O Israel. O come, O come, Thou Lord of might, who to Thy tribes on Sinai's height, in ancient times didst give the law, in proud and majesty ever gone. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, it's come to thee, O Israel.