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Amen. Great to be here tonight, and what a great group of guys, huh? And it's a beautiful campsite, and I'm sure you guys are having an awesome time. I just got in this afternoon, but just already just being in the swimming pool, playing volleyball, looking at the facility. This is definitely going to be some great memories for you guys. I hope you guys are building a lot of good friendships and camaraderie because, you know, it's important in church that we love one another and that we have that brotherhood. You know, the Bible says, love the brotherhood, and that's what this week is about here. Getting you guys out here, emphasizing the Word of God, fellowship with other Christians, and so what a great event, and you guys are truly blessed to be able to participate in it, and I'm blessed to be able to just be here for a few hours. But tonight I want to preach on the subject, Be Thou Faithful Unto Death. Be faithful unto death. If you would, flip back over to chapter two. We'll come back to Revelation chapter 12, or another title for this sermon could be, How Would You Like Your Steak? S-T-A-K-E. Alright, so Revelation chapter 2, verse number 10, the Bible says, Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. And that's really why there's nothing to fear, because the second death is the really scary thing. Going to hell is the scary thing, and we're not going to go to hell. We're saved. We have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been passed from death unto life. We shall not come into condemnation. We overcame, because who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. And so we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We believe that Jesus is the Christ. We're born of God. We're saved. We're on our way to heaven, so we shall not be hurt of the second death, but there's one thing that could hurt us. Some of us might be cast into prison, that we might be tried, and have tribulation for ten days, but we are commanded to be faithful unto death. Now what does that mean, to be faithful unto death? I believe that this is saying that our faithfulness should go all the way up to the point where we're willing to die for Jesus Christ. We're willing to die for what we believe. Now I think a lot of people might look at this, and they might just think like, okay, just be willing to die for Christ. Be willing to die for him. I think when it says be faithful unto death, I think we need to be faithful all the way up to that point also. You know, it's not like, well, I'm going to refuse to obey all these commands of Christ. I'm not willing to sacrifice my job. I'm not willing to sacrifice any free time. I'm not willing to lose any friends. I'm not willing to lose any popularity, but I'll die when, you know, when the time comes, I'll die. You know, I think what he says, be faithful unto death, he's not only including death, but it's everything up to death and including death, okay? And that's why the Bible says that Jesus Christ was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. But does that, was that, it's not just death, he was obedient all the way up to that point as well, okay? Now the Bible says here, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. We should not go through life fearing the tribulation or fearing persecution or fearing going to prison or dying. We shouldn't worry about this at all. So I'm not preaching this sermon to get you worried or get you nervous about this because we're not supposed to worry about this at all. If it happens, it happens and it's only going to happen to some people, but we need to understand today that God requires total devotion from us even to the point of giving our lives. You know, how devoted are we supposed to be to Christ? How far does our obedience go? I mean, where do we draw the line and say like, okay God, I have sacrificed enough, I'm not willing to go any further. No, no, we got to go all the way. And it's not just death because here's the thing, if this is just about death, it's only going to apply to very few people because very few of us will be required to give our lives for Christ as far as dying. And you know what? It's possible that nobody in this room will ever die for Jesus Christ as a martyr. Would you be surprised if none of us do that? No, probably not. I mean, it's very likely that none of us will die for Christ. So does that mean this verse only but no, no, because we're to be faithful unto death, meaning that we're faithful and when God says to make a sacrifice, we make that sacrifice. And when God needs us to stand, we stand all the way up to and including death, but not just, well, I'll die. Okay, you'll die for him, but will you live for him? Oh yeah, it's real easy to say, oh yeah, Jesus, I'll go with you to death. Does that sound familiar? Peter. And he's like, oh really, you're gonna die with me, huh? You're gonna die for me? Before this night's over, you're gonna three times deny that you know me. So it's easy to talk big about dying for Christ. How about standing for Christ now? How about making some sacrifices now? You know, Paul wasn't just waiting to someday be martyred for Christ or something. You know, he said, I die daily. I die every day. Now if you would, go to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12, we have a similar verse. While you're turning there, I want to point out, he says, Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death and I'll give thee a crown of life. Let me just point out a couple things about this verse. First of all, he says you'll have tribulation ten days. Now I don't know about you, but that doesn't really seem like a really long time. And obviously that's, you know, it's symbolic and not necessarily a literal ten days when we're thinking about like an end times application. You know, this literal church back then, they probably went through something that lasted an actual literal ten days, and then of course there's a more end time significance. I've got the whole chart about that. But when you think about what ten days should say to you as the reader, you're just, you know, a guy in 2021 reading the Bible, you shall have tribulation ten days. The thing that I take from that is just that, you know what, the afflictions that we go through on this earth, they don't really last that long if you think about it. Because our life is but a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes it the way. So God's not asking us to go through hundreds of years or thousands of years or some super prolonged torture session here. He's saying, look, you're gonna go through some hard things and, you know, it's it's gonna be relatively short. You're gonna go through some tribulation. It's gonna last ten days. Be faithful. Stand up for Christ and don't fold. But notice he says the devil should cast some of you into prison. Everybody's not gonna go to prison. Everybody's not gonna die for Christ. And the main point I want to make about that is that most of the things that we're scared of in life or fear in life, they don't ever end up actually happening anyway. I guarantee you there have been so many people who thought, man, if I witness to this guy, you know, he's gonna think I'm an idiot or something. And then when they actually went to witness to the guy, the guy probably received it really well or he really respected them for what they... You know, you get audited by the IRS. That's a pretty scary thing. But, you know, I got audited by the IRS and I was stressed out for months and I was worried and stressed. But you know what? Everything ended up fine and I didn't end up having to give them any money. They gave me money. That's why they're going bankrupt. They audit you and then they give you money. But the point is, you know, we worry about things that don't even happen. We're scared of all these boogeymen and phantoms and, you know, the Bible says the wicked flee when no man pursues. It's like you're scared of things that aren't even real. But the righteous are as bold as a lion. And it's like, okay, yes, some of this stuff will happen. Yes, some people are gonna go to prison. But you think I sit around worrying, what if I go to prison? What's that gonna be like? I don't think about that at all. Because number one, I know that the vast majority of time, God's people are delivered out of their afflictions, are delivered from prison. They don't end up dying for the faith. It's actually rare that they do. They usually get delivered out of all their afflictions. So why would I worry about something that there's a 99% chance probably isn't gonna happen anyway? And number two, I'm not gonna worry about it because if God chooses to allow me to go to prison or be killed for for his sake, you know, that's a privilege. That's a blessing. And I know that in that hour, God's gonna give me the strength I need because I'm not gonna be tempted above what I'm able. So he's gonna give me strength. He's gonna give me grace in that hour and sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof and I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'm not worried about it. Don't worry about it. Don't be scared. Don't worry. So many preachers, they're scared. They're scared to preach the Word of God. They're scared to take a stand. They're scared to rip on the sodomites or whatever. They're scared to get up and preach the Bible because they think, oh man, you know, I might get arrested or I could lose my building or I could get sued or whatever. But you know what? We should fear none of the things that we could possibly suffer for standing for Christ. We shouldn't fear those things. Because first of all, they only happen to some people. And number two, even if they happen, just be faithful to death. Just get through it. Whatever God decides, that's fine. You know, we were over dinner, we were kind of reminiscing a little bit about the Botswana missions trip and the Deported movie. We were kind of talking about that movie and everything. And you know, in that movie, you see, you know, some Christians being persecuted in that film. And especially the director of the film, Paul Wittenberger, he actually ends up being thrown into prison. And he thought that he was going to be there for ten days. He thought he was gonna have tribulation ten days. Literally. Because when he went in there, they had him sign a paper that said, like, you're gonna be in here for like a minimum of ten days and then we'll talk. So he's like, oh man, you know, I'm gonna be in here for ten days. And it was, you know, if you've seen the movie, you know, he is in a pile of urine and just surrounded by filth and everybody was taking drugs around him in the jail. And someone said to him, I like your pants. Give me your pants. You know, you don't want somebody saying that to you in some African prison, right? You know, so he went through that kind of nightmare. But you know what? Those days were shortened because he was only in there for, I believe, like a day and a half. But he had to eat out of a communal slop bucket and do all this, you know, stuff in that thing. So it was it was a bad couple of days, but God was merciful to him. He was only there for a couple days. But here's what you don't see in the deported movie. What you don't see is that during that exact time that Paul is rotting in a Botswana jail for a couple days, I was over in Germany with my wife's family and I was staying at her dad's house and and her dad's wife is like one of the best cooks in the world. She used to work as a professional chef. So I was like doing all this like fine dining over at my father-in-law's house. We're going on bicycle rides through the German countryside. You know, I'm witnessing to her family and we went to a roller coaster park and everything. So I was experiencing persecution level zero. You know, Paul was maybe a seven or an eight or something, you know, over there, you know, in a dirty jail cell. The point is, you know, some will be cast into prison. How many people were on that trip? I mean there were a lot of people on that trip. How many went to jail? How many, you know, went to the urine part of the jail and stuff? So the point is don't be afraid of things because 99% of time they don't happen to you. And if they do happen to you, maybe you could make a movie about it or whatever. So anyway, so let's look at Revelation chapter 12. It says in verse 11, the context of course is talking about Satan in verse number 10, but it says in verse 11, they overcame him. Who'd they overcome? Satan. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death, right? That's how far they were willing to take that. They'll take it all the way to death, okay? Go to Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter number 16. Yes, we're willing to die for Christ. If somebody puts a gun to my head and says renounce Christ or die, you know, it's just pull the trigger. I mean that's what the Bible asks of us. Is that going to happen? It's extremely unlikely. Study your Bible from Genesis to Revelation. How many times were men of God spared and delivered? They're rarely martyred. Sometimes they're martyred, but most of the time God delivers them. You look at guys like Jeremiah. Yeah, he went to prison. He went through stuff, but in the end he's delivered. So don't be afraid of phantoms that might not even happen. And if it does happen, then praise the Lord to be counted worthy of suffering persecution for his sake. Look at Matthew 16 24. It says, Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. And the will there means wants to, right? Like what you what your will is. He says whosoever will save his life shall lose it. And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Okay, so if you go through life trying to just preserve your life at all costs and hang on to the things of this world at all costs and hang on to this life itself at all costs, you know what? You're a candidate for losing your life, actually. And you know, I don't really know, obviously, you know, the exact mind of God and what he's gonna do toward the end times. But you know what? If I were God, I would make all the cowardly preachers who are trimming the message be the first ones to get smoked in the tribulation. And I would let guys like me and your pastor make it all the way to the bitter end. Because I would love for people to just be thinking to themselves like, oh man, Pastor Anderson is gonna be the first one on the chopping block and then the first one is some compromiser. You know, because the guy who's trying to save his life loses it. And the guy who says, come and take it, you know, let's go. And when I say come and take it, I'm not talking about my weapon, I'm talking about my head. Let's go. Hey, he makes it all the way to the bitter end. Isn't that ironic? But isn't that what the Bible says? Be faithful unto death. In fact, by being willing to be faithful unto death, you probably reduce your chances of dying. Because God likes that and he'll protect his own. And if he does consider me worthy of dying for Christ as a martyr, then you know what? I'm willing to do that. Amen. Because I've got news for you. If you would go to Philippians chapter 1, every single one of us is probably going to die. I mean, the only way that we're not going to die is if Christ returns in our lifetime. Okay. So chances are, just statistically speaking, if you think about the history of mankind, chances are every single person in this room is going to die eventually. Okay. And you say, well, you know, yeah, but I think Christ is for sure coming back in our lifetime. And so that's a way. Okay. But stop and think about this for a minute. Just stop and think about this. Let's say you make it all the way to the rapture. Okay. I mean, you make it through the whole thing. You make it through the tribulation. And I think most believers will. Most believers who are alive, I think are going to make it through. But let's say you make it all the way to the bitter end and then you go up in the rapture. Right. How is that really different than if you died like a month earlier? Like stop and think about that. Like, like, like, man, I really hope I survive. You know, I really want to make it the end. Cause it's like, okay, but aren't you kind of going to the same place anyway? Stop and think about this. Let's say, and please don't say I'm date setting the rapture cause I'm just making up a random date. Is it warning random date alert. Okay. Let's say, let's say like on a particular year, you know, Jesus coming back on, you know, August 22nd of this and that the year. Yeah. Write that down. Okay. You know, and let's say, let's say one guy survives until August 22nd and boom, you know, he goes up in the rapture and then let's say another guy gets beheaded on say August 18th. He gets beheaded. Is it really that different? He just felt a quick little sting and then it was over, but either way you all meet in the same place. We're all going to the same place, right? I mean, you'd almost rather be that August 18th guy in a sense. It's like, were those four days really worth it? And you're, it's like, oh man, you weren't even, you didn't even get beheaded, man. Cause it's a special club over here, you know, for the guys who did. So, so here's the thing, like, would it really make any sense if it, let's say we knew right now, oh man, we're in the tribulation. This is it. Would it really make sense to just like go into some bomb shelter with food just to make it till the rapture? You're just going to survive and I got my survival food and I'm just going to just wait this thing out and then yes, I did it. I made it alive. I was alive and remained. Hey, the dead in Christ rise first. So the first shall be left, the last shall be first. You're second in line. What's the difference? So look, if I knew I'm in the tribulation right now, you know what I know if I'm, if I were in the tribulation right now, I know in a couple of years I'm leaving this world one way or another. In a couple of years I'm going to be carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom one way or another. So might as well go out with a bag. Like what's the difference? It's amazing to me though, listening to people talk about like, oh man, we got to survive. We got to do this. But here's the thing. Wouldn't you rather think to yourself, well, I've only got a couple of years left to earn the rewards. I better, I better win one more soul. You know, I want to preach one more sermon. I want to go soul winning and do more because I know I have a little bit of time left than to just say like, oh, let me just hang on to my life for these last couple years. Just because you don't want to feel that little pinch at the back of your neck for one second when the blade comes down, it's like, get over it man. Okay, go to Philippians chapter 1 verse 20. It says, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Look, all that matters is that Christ is magnified in my body. Now for most people that's going to be by our life. For some people that's going to be by our death that we magnify Christ in our body. But Paul says, you know what, it's equal to me. Whether it's by life or by death, I just want Christ to be magnified in my body for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I want not. For I'm in a straight betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance of joy and faith. And what Paul's saying here is that he's more valuable to God alive than dead. He's like, the reason I, where's the clock, by the way, because I just don't want to, I don't want to go over time or, here we go, I'll just pull this out here. All right. I just try to pace myself here. All right. So the thing is, you know, the apostle Paul is doing so much for Christ and he knows that people need him. He knows the Philippians need him, other people need him. So he's saying, you know what, I'm not gonna be killed because I know that God wants me on this earth to fulfill the mission. And so one way to avoid being a martyr is just be more valuable to God alive than dead. You know you do stuff, do stuff for God. And how about this, since, you know, dying for Christ is pretty glorious anyway, how about this, make yourself more valuable outside of prison than in prison. Because think about it, like a lot of guys who probably didn't do much soul winning, then they got thrown in prison and now all of a sudden they're doing soul winning. Because now there's nothing else to do but soul winning. You know, and you want, you know, if I were in prison, I'd want to get as many people around me saved as possible, not just because I want to get people out of hell and obey the Great Commission, but also just I just want to be saved, surrounded by saved people. Because at least if they're saved I know they can't turn into a reprobate down the road. And at least if they're saved then I'm gonna have my brotherhood, I'm gonna have my friends, I'm gonna have people around me that are gonna be more righteous because they've got inside them the Holy Ghost of God and if I can disciple them and, you know, it's just gonna create a better atmosphere in my little corner of the world. And so, therefore, I guarantee you that there have been some guys who didn't read their Bible much and then they got thrown in prison, all of a sudden they're reading their Bible. Because there's nothing else to do but read their Bible. There's nothing else, they got nothing but time on their hands and they've got the Bible. And how many people have you met that say, oh, I read the Bible back when I was in prison. At the door, soul winning, I've had people tell me that more times than I can count. You know what, maybe if you read the Bible outside of prison, God wouldn't have to put you in prison so that you'll start reading your Bible. And I've literally prayed to God sometimes. I've literally prayed to God and said, God, look how much I'm reading my Bible today. You don't have to put me in prison to make me read my Bible because I'm already doing it. You know, hey, I'll go talk to poor derelicts and the roughest part of town. I'll go to the worst ghetto, God, because you know what, I don't have to go to prison to get around rough derelict people because, you know, I'll go find them and seek and save the lost right now, God. You don't have to force me to go to that neighborhood, God. I'll go to that neighborhood willingly because I love my fellow man even if he is poor or a criminal or whatever. You don't have to put me in prison to show me that. All right, so therefore we just want to glorify God and we want to be more valuable to God alive than dead. We want to be more valuable to God outside of prison than inside the prison. And so that's how Paul knew. He's like, I'm not gonna die anyway because I've got too much important work to do. Look right across the page at chapter 2, verse 17. Chapter 2, verse 17, the Apostle Paul again visits this theme in chapter 2. He says, Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. He's saying, look, I'm willing to be a sacrifice. I'm willing to be sacrificed. If it's God's will for me to die, I'll die. I don't believe that's God's will because you know what Paul is saying? I'm more valuable to you alive than dead. I know I have work to do, but if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. Go to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. Title of the sermon is, Be Thou Faithful unto Death. Be Faithful unto Death. What does that mean? That means be willing to sacrifice for Christ. Be obedient unto Christ. Be willing to follow Him even if it costs you everything because when we talk about death, we're pretty much talking about that as the ultimate price that you would pay, right? You know, because there's all these sacrifices that you could make up to that and then the supreme sacrifice is giving your life, dying for Christ. Most of us won't have to pay that price, but we should be willing to pay whatever price God asks us to pay all the way up to and including dying for Him. Look at Luke chapter 12 verse 4. Let me turn there myself. Luke 12 4 says this, And I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. And this is what I mean about being faithful unto death, loving not our lives unto the death. He's saying, you know, up to that point and including that point because that's sort of the final price that you pay where you've kind of given everything at that point, where you've given your life, you've died. And so he says, you know, after that there's nothing more that they can do. Don't be afraid of these people. All they can do is kill you and to live as Christ and to die is gain. So be willing to pay that ultimate price. Be willing to die. If he says, fear not them which killed the body, but after that there's nothing more they can do. He's basically saying, look, don't fear death. Be faithful unto death. Be willing to die for Christ. But then look what he says in the next verse. In verse 5 he says, But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear. Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear him. See the scary thing is the second death. The scary thing is the lake of fire. The scary thing is being cast into hell. And what did the Bible say about those of us who believe in Christ? We shall not be heard of the second death. We shall not come into condemnation. We've been passed from death unto life. Therefore there's nothing to fear. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? Now I just want to stop and point out here that this verse would make absolutely no sense if hell didn't last forever. You know, you've got false religions out there that are teaching that hell is not something that goes on forever. They just teach that you're burned up and that's it, right? Seventh-day Adventists are a big one. Seventh-day Adventists believe in an annihilation doctrine that says, well, you're cast into hell and then you're just burned up immediately and it's over. You just, you burned up, you die, that's it. You know, Jehovah's Witnesses are the same way. It says you're burned up, that's it, it's over. There are other people out there teaching this. Those are kind of the big ones. Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. Think about how this verse would make absolutely no sense. Don't fear those which kill the body because after that there's nothing else they can do. Fear the guy that tosses you into hell and then you're immediately burned up and then after that there's nothing more he can do. Does that make, I mean, think about that. It's like why would he say, oh don't be scared of death, it's just, it's over and then there's nothing else they can do. But be scared of hell where it's over and there's nothing. Oh wait, see how that makes no sense? Now let me ask you this. Have people been burned at the stake for Christ? Yeah, you know, you think of people during the Middle Ages and then, you know, into the Reformation where you got in England leading up to the King James Bible. It's kind of going back and forth in the 1500s between the kings that are Protestant and the kings that are Catholic and now it's legal and now it's not legal to read the Bible and translate it and, you know, you have a guy like William Tyndale being burned at the stake but guess what? You had thousands of other people burned at the stake as well. So you have thousands of people being burned at the stake and obviously not all of them were saved because the Catholics, you know, they're burning all kinds of people at the stake. So it's not just saved people but, you know, I guarantee you that some of them are saved, you know. So you got people that are saved who are burned at the stake, for example. Okay. Well, so they burned. They experienced being on fire but the great thing about it was that it's just temporary, you know. I mean, I'm sure it was horrible for those few minutes or hours or however long it lasted. So they're going through this burning but then it's over and then they have eternal glory because they died for Christ, you know. They went through that painful few minutes or hours and then they have eternal glory as a martyr for Christ forever, literally, okay. But hold on a second. But we're supposed to believe, well don't fear that because once you die it's over. Fear hell which is also immediately over because you just burned up. No, no, no. The reason why he says don't fear them that kill the body but are not able to kill the soul or after that there's nothing more they can do. Fear him which after he is killed has power to cast into hell. I say to you fear him is because of the fact that hell isn't just over and there's nothing more God can do. Hell goes on forever and ever and ever. And if you don't believe that, this verse makes absolutely no sense. And by the way, there's about 30 other passages we could go to that also wouldn't make sense. But that's another sermon that shall be preached at another time. So if you would flip over to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter number 11. Hebrews chapter number 11. How would you like your steak? Hebrews chapter number 11. People have been burned to the stake haven't they? There's no question about that. But you know there have been people who've even died through you know worse deaths than that and others were tortured the Bible says. But it all comes to an end. God's not going to tempt them above that they're able. He's not going to put us through more than we can handle. And in the end the sufferings of this life are but for a moment compared with the eternal glory in Christ. And it's a very small group of people that go through that. But what I've been emphasizing in this sermon is the fact that different people are going to go through different things. You know one guy's over in Germany you know on a bicycle ride through the countryside and other guys eating slop in a prison. But you know what? We were both standing on the same doctrine. We were both you know doing the same thing. It's just God had two different paths for us you know. And and I'm you know I'm not complaining about the path that those chosen for me you know. But you know what you know I'm sure I'll go through other rough things and and you know while he's living it up somewhere. Okay Hebrews chapter 11 says in verse 32, And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me. He said I don't have time to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah of David also and Samuel and 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, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Hey sign me up for that. Sounds great. Hey I want to be like the great men of God in the Bible who did these valiant acts and and they just waxed mighty in battle and they slayed enemies with the sword. They quenched the violence of fire, performed miracles, did all these great things. Women received their dead, raised to life again and others were tortured. So you see some of God's people will go through life victoriously even from an outside perspective. This this guy won in the end. You know you think of King David or something. You know he defeats Goliath. You know you think of King David. He defeats all his enemies around about. He defeats the Philistines. He defeats the Moabites. He defeats all these people around him and God subdues his enemies under him and when there's a civil war David gets stronger and stronger and Saul's faction gets weaker and weaker. You know after Saul's dead of course his his descendants and when Absalom rises up David wins. He's winning. He's winning. He's winning, right? Okay but 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. Now you say why preach this sermon at a men's meeting? Well you know obviously I could preach this sermon in church. I mean that you know the Word of God is is always appropriate to be preached at any time but women don't typically get jazzed about a sermon like this. You know this isn't because it's not it's not really that pleasant sometimes to talk about gnarly things that could happen to us. Women probably don't necessarily like to dwell on these things and so this is kind of a good topic to think about at a men's meeting because when we think about being mighty men for the Lord or or quitting ourselves like men and and playing the part of the men for our people and and being manly you know part of that is courage and bravery and being willing to lay down our lives for Christ or for our family or just just being men in that sense. And so you know we as men we're we should be willing to face these realities even even more than women would. Obviously women should be willing to be faithful unto death as well but especially us as men. I mean this is who we are as Christian men. We should be willing to stand and and fight if necessary and lay down our lives but you know and and plus you know maybe I'll be a little more graphic because of the fact that it's it's all men here so we can get a little more graphic. There's no little kids to send home to have nightmares but you know so let's get a little more graphic. So you know it says here that they were sawn asunder. You know sawn asunder means basically you saw it in half is what that means and I don't know if you've seen some of the medieval artwork of this but like I just saw some medieval artwork of this like two days ago and it was like basically this guy like being hung by his two feet and basically this is where they started sawing right here at his crotch basically this he's hanging upside down and they got his two feet pulled apart by two different ropes and they're just sawing the guy in half you know start at the groin and go down all the way to the head and do that you know and I mean if any of you have ever read Fox's Book of Martyrs you know it's pretty intense it's got some gnarly stuff you know whenever people complain to me about super mild persecutions I always say to them yeah it reminds me of that chapter in Fox's Book of Martyrs you know about people who lost their job it reminds me of that chapter in Fox's Book of Martyrs where people got sued oh that's right there isn't a chapter like that but man Fox's Book of Martyrs has got some grotesque things it goes into graphic detail about torture upon torture upon torture you know there was a time in the English-speaking world when that was the most popular book second only to the Bible like as far as actually being in people's home in England it was like the Bible and Fox's Book of Martyrs were the two books that you just you just had them on the shelf I mean if you have a collection of books so it's a very widely read book and I've read it I've read a lot of it a few times and it's pretty gnarly stuff it's some rough things and and so you know you imagine somebody being hung up by their feet and sawn in half you know that's real because you say well I don't know if everything in Fox's Book of Martyrs is real well everything right here's real you know this is real and it says they were sawn asunder say well I don't think that they did it that way I think they started somewhere else well here's the thing it doesn't really matter where they start you got cut in half okay and you say well you know I don't know if I want to be cut in that part of my body but here's the thing you know that part of your body is not going to do you any good after you've been cut in half anyway no matter what when you're cut in half the family jewels aren't going to help you anyway so what's the difference so that you know the point is people were sawn asunder for Christ they were tempted they were slain with the sword I mean they got either beheaded or stabbed or however that would work with the sword not only that but they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy now what is it like to have God give you that compliment what is it like to have the creator of the universe say you know what the world is not worthy of you guys you guys I mean you guys you're pilgrims on this earth you don't even belong you guys are too good for the earth I mean here you guys are on earth because I put you here you guys don't even belong here because you're you're you're not even up to the level that would even the world's not even worthy of you even existing on this planet you're too good that's a powerful compliment I mean can you imagine God sent you're like well thank you you know it reminds me of that meme where the guys looking real meek with the fanny pack like receiving some kind of an award or something and it's like the you know wow the world's not worthy of me that's a great compliment so here's the thing like you know we might look at this and say well I don't want to be wandering around in sheepskins and goatskins I don't want to be freezing my butt off in some cave out in the desert somewhere or I don't want to be sawn in half I don't want to be slain by the sword but here's the thing you know let's say you did get slain by the sword or or sawn in half or whatever you know to get that kind of a compliment that's gonna soften the blow I mean think about it imagine I mean how long does it take to get sawn in half you know you get saw it's it's gonna be pretty rough for a few minutes it's gonna be super rough for a few minutes it's gonna be real painful but guess what a couple minutes later God's telling you hey the world's not even worthy of you man enter thou into the joy of thy Lord and then you're gonna be there for a thousand years ten thousand years a hundred thousand years you know what be faithful unto death I mean it be willing to sacrifice everything and and here's the thing God's asking you to sacrifice something that you can't even hang on to anyway it's like you gotta be willing to give up your house for Christ imagine this what if you knew you were gonna lose something anyway like what if you had a car and you knew that you hadn't paid the bills and you knew this car is getting foreclosed on this Monday and a guy comes up to you on Saturday and puts a gun to your head give me the keys you know and you're just like okay man I don't want any trouble here you go here you go here's the pink slip just to make sure we don't have any trouble buddy I mean think about it you're gonna lose it on Monday anyway some guy wants to take it from you on Saturday it's like sure here you go think about that you know what if you knew you're gonna lose your job anyway what if you knew like let's say you're doing some contract and the contract ends in like three days and you've already been paid for everything you've done so far there's like three days left you know when people are like that at a job or they they already know they have a new job lined up that they're starting three days from now you know what we would always say he knows he's on his way out and if you notice that when people kind of know they're on their way out they know they're not really gonna take any guff from anybody and they might just get fed up and just walk out two days early they kind of know they're on their way out anyway so they might start kind of breaking the rules a little bit and kind of goof it off a little bit because they kind of know that they're leaving they know it's over they know they're on their way out okay well here's how I live my life I just kind of know I'm on my way out you know what I mean if you think about it like I already know that I'm gonna lose everything I already know this jobs gonna end my church is gonna end my house is gonna end my car is gonna end you say what about your family my family's gonna end what about your body it's gonna end everything is going to come to an end eventually I lose everything I'm on my way out so you know what I'm gonna do whatever I want right just like a guy who's at his job and he just kind of does what he wants because he knows he's on his way out well guess what when I get up behind the pulpit to preach I'm gonna preach what I want because I know I'm on my way out I know I'm on my way out I can say whatever I want burn it all down I'm on my way out even so come Lord Jesus it's true you say preach whatever you want yeah you know what I want to preach is the truth so when I say do what I want I mean preach what the Bible says and I'm not gonna say back man I'd love to preach this powerful truth from the Bible but I'm afraid it's gonna offend people I'm on my way out anyway I mean what if I knew what if I knew like okay I'm the pastor of faith for Baptist Church and if I knew like I'm retiring at the end of next month or something you think I'd be really worried like oh man I just want to make sure that mr. moneybags doesn't get offended and you know I just want to make sure you just be like I'm gonna say what I want let me just unload the whole truck because I'm on my way out hey guess what all of us are on our way out and look I'm 39 years old and man I feel like my life has accelerated so much and and those of you that are older it's going fast isn't it yeah I'm telling you it goes fast as you get older right can I get a witness all right God bless you I see that hand almost didn't see you there in that camouflage but anyway you know what hey life speeds up I mean when you're a kid it's like just getting to the end of the school week getting to Friday afternoon it's like it's just like a little eternity there isn't it just getting through the week and the school year is like it is like an eon every school year is just like an eon and it just goes on huh now that I'm 39 it's just like I feel like my life is just like Sunday Wednesday Sunday Wednesday Sunday Wednesday Sunday Wednesday it's just like the the the sermons come so fast I'm like I just preached it's like what I'm preaching again it's like it's like what so winning again I just did this because it's just time just flies by because it's a it's a smaller percentage of your life you know when you're nine years old each minute is like a greater percentage of your life than when you're 39 and I'm just I'm watching as my life just accelerates and it's just 2019 20 21 20 and I do I know I know that I'm gonna blink my eyes I'm gonna be 50 I'm gonna blink my eyes I'm gonna be 60 I'm gonna 70 and I'm just gonna whoa it's over I mean life goes by those of you that are young you might not understand this yet but those of you that are getting older you probably have noticed that life accelerates as you get older and it blows by and I'm telling you only one life so soon has passed and only what does what's done for Christ will last and we all need to get this attitude that says I'm on my way out anyway now here's the thing I do care what God thinks because I'm not my way I'm not on my way out God's the new boss you know going back to that job illustration like I know I'm leaving this job at the end of the week I'm on my way I'll do what I want but when I see the new boss of the job I'm starting next week it's like hello sir you know I'm gonna be super polite and all my best behavior with the new guy that's where I really got to watch out okay so here's the thing when I'm living my life like I'm on my way out that's not in regard to Christ because I'm spending eternity with him that's not with regard to my brothers and sisters in Christ I'm spending eternity with them you know but when it comes to this world nuts to them I'm on my way out anyway who cares you know all this world doesn't like my preaching they're offended you know they put me on a list or something I mean I kid you not just on the way here at the airport I'm on a list at the airport they have to call security when I fly here when I go to the airport tomorrow when I go up to check in at the kiosk it's gonna say see the agent to check in and I will go up to the agent tomorrow and they will call security and get permission to let me on the flight from Dallas to Phoenix they just did it to me this morning when I went from Phoenix to here and so you know what's up with that I mean I'm Baptist pastor traveling within the United States and they have to check with security whether I'm allowed to fly today and they always let me fly but why are they even why do they go through this when I go to the airport so I have to get the airport a little bit early to go through this song and dance when I fly places because of the fact that you know this is just a little ritual that we do at the airport you know but but who cares right and and look you know let's say your pastor you know is is is lied about or attacked or criticized or looked down upon by this world you know what I mean what's the world gonna say about us as Christians you know one of the things that they'll say about us is that we're stupid and it doesn't matter how educated you are it doesn't matter how smart you are how learned you are the world's always just gonna say that you're stupid because you're a fundamental Baptist you know oh you're fundamental us you're stupid you know you're not educated you could be like the smartest person in the world they're still gonna say that about you okay you know what's the world gonna say about us they're gonna say oh you know you're you're so hateful you're just these mean-spirited angry hateful people isn't that how they see us but yet is that what we are is that what you've experienced on this on this camp so far no you just wait when you're you know in the bunkhouse and when you're out at the pool and when you're out hiking and when you're at the zipline did you just experience just a bunch of bitter mean cantankerous just hateful people or did you experience the love of Christ shining through brothers that love one another you know the brotherhood you know I mean you know I I've seen a lot of joy a lot of smiles a lot of happiness a lot of good times love in our hearts peace you know peace in our hearts you know all kinds of weird stuffs going on in the world we don't care we're on our way out but Palestine and Israel are blowing each other up or something I don't even know I don't even care I don't even pay attention I don't know is that even still going on is it over I don't know maybe I'll check on Monday maybe I won't why you know why cuz I just I just have peace about it you know what I mean I just have peace about it until it gets to my block I'm fine so I've got peace about it I got peace like a river okay I've got love in my heart I've got joy sometimes sometimes I'm just so happy sometimes I just have so much joy I'm just like bursting with joy I'm just like overflowing with joy you know I'm not trying to get all weird or anything I'm not trying to get charismatic or anything you know but but here's the thing though sometimes I kid you not sometimes I'm just like so happy I just can't I just can't help but just smiling even I'm just like by myself and I'm just smiling I'm just so happy and I just like I think that song let the joy overflow and that's how I feel sometimes like I'm just so joyful I'm just like and I'm just I'm just by myself I'm just so happy just so great but is that is that how the world sees me is that what the world would think like there's a guy that's just too happy is that what they would say about me you know darn those fundamental Baptists they're just way too happy it's so irritating is that what they would say is that how the world looks as they look at us and be like oh yeah the Baptists you know happy they are you know I stinkin joyful they are they're so peaceful nothing bothers them yeah I wish they'd get a little more frustrated no that we're not we're not gonna be looked at that way by the world because the world hates us they lie about us they twist what we say they take the most radical two minutes of the most radical sermon and then they just act like we just wake up in the morning and we're just like pouring motor oil in our cereal you know when in reality we're just nice people yeah that's true I don't care what they think I was just talking to somebody yesterday and I said you know what I said people are gonna lie about this and say it's a certain way but I just said hey I don't care what people think anyway so let's just do what God wants us to do and nuts to them let them say whatever they want let them think whatever they want we're on our way out anyway hey be faithful unto death you know what if God wants me to die for him I'm ready to die right now right now I am ready to die for Christ right now let's do it that's what I thought no so the point is you know I'm willing to die for Christ because because here's the thing it's basically tossing the keys to my life when I know my life's gonna get repoed when I get to be 70 80 90 anyway it's gonna be you know what I mean I mean think about what if I was like 95 what if I'm like 95 years old and it's the tribulation all right let's head for the bunker think about that I mean if you're 95 it's just like you know they're like put you a wheelchair up there puts you on the chopping block it's like wow big sacrifice buddy but you know what if you think about a 95 year old man getting beheaded for Christ that's anybody who's being beheaded for Christ in eternity's view they're both like giving up the same amount they're giving up like this little hairline in in history you know what I mean like this look oh oh you know you could oh you live 40 years you could have lived 70 it's like well yeah but I was a great 40 years and here's the thing like dying for Christ is such a mega reward that like it's worth it you know that's now look I'm not saying that I'm just that's my goal or something I'm just saying that if that's if that's what it takes if that's what if that's what it comes to then I'll do it that's all I'm saying and so the point is we should be willing to die for Christ we should be faithful to death we should be faithful in life because we should be faithful up to and including death most of us are gonna be delivered from all of our afflictions and trials and tribulations anyway some of us will be cast into prison and then an even smaller percentage of those will be killed or beheaded for Christ but we're willing to sacrifice everything because we're basically sacrificing what we were gonna lose anyway the car was gonna be repo'd anyway this body was temporary anyway you know I read one of my favorite nonfiction books is the Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn it's not exactly light reading but it's got some really gnarly things about the Soviet Union in the 20th century documents everything from 1917 all the way up to 1956 or so and it goes through all of the horrors of the Soviet Union and these things and there's a part in there where Alexander Solzhenitsyn because you know he did spend many years in Gulag himself and although he didn't have the worst possible experience he did go through some some things and and he went through a little bit of torture a lot of people went through much worse than he did but he did go through some torture and so he understood a little bit and he has a section in there where he explains you know how to get through torture he said you know just because he interviewed hundreds of witnesses and he'd been through it a little bit himself I believe he spent like 11 years in Gulag or maybe eight years or something I don't remember but he talks about you know people being tortured and he and he says you know psychologically he's like giving you advice if you ever get tortured you know this is this is the advice that he gave he said that you have to just kiss your body goodbye just say like my body is toast because it you know the worst part about being tortured is like you're thinking about how your body is being permanently damaged so he said just kiss it goodbye and just decide you know I am a soul not a body and this you know this is just a secular source just I'm just giving you this from Gulag archipelago he said you know the way he thought about it and the way other people thought about it that were able to withstand torture was to just think of their body as something foreign to them and realize I'm not a body I'm a soul and this body is temporary and I'm already kissed it goodbye it's going to be destroyed I'm going to die I'm not gonna get out of this and so it's just about just the soul and just let my body be destroyed because it's gonna be toast anyway you know anyway I thought that was interesting but if you think about it as Christians you know we do have an understanding that our bodies are not gonna last forever that our body is foreign to our soul our body is separate and distinct from our soul our soul has an existence outside the body our body's temporary our body's gonna be destroyed and someday we are going to put off this tabernacle the Bible says and the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 5 that we know that if this earthly tabernacle if our body is dissolved we have a building made of God in the heavens not made with hands we've got the new body coming you know so I'm you know I'm driving this old car and you know what I know I'm getting a new car on Monday you know and I know that this car is just going to the junkyard when I get the new car on Monday then you know what you know I might do a little off-roading in this thing right I mean I might I might drive it a little hard I might be grinding some gears and going off-road doing some donuts burning out I'm not really worried about keeping the tires nice you know I might just drive it you know like I rented it and just just go crazy with it because I know I'm getting a new one anyway and this car is going to the junky might as well have some fun and and and and burn some rubber amen well you know what that's our body by the way you know it's like we can't just preserve the body at all cost and and obviously our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit so don't drive it till the wheels fall off but the point is though every parable breaks down eventually but the point is that we need to realize that eternity is what matters heaven is forever and whatever we sacrifice for Christ we're basically giving up something that we were gonna lose anyway and there's a famous quote about this I'm probably gonna butcher the quote because I wasn't prepared with this quote but there's a quote that says something along the lines of you know he is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep in order to receive that which he cannot lose you know that's kind of a rough version of that quote from some missionary in the 20th century and I don't remember but you get the point don't you you know God is asking you to give up something that you were gonna lose anyway your life your money your your reputation you know your your Ecclesiastes says you're gonna be totally forgotten someday anyway like everyone else so you know he's asking you to give up your your life your ambition your goals your money your your reputation he's asking you to give up something you couldn't keep anyway so that you can gain something that you can never lose eternal glory rewards with Christ be thou faithful unto death and I'll give you a crown of life are you willing to trade your life for the crown of life hey if that's what God asks me to do then I will do it gladly I will do it gladly and I'm willing to be obedient up to that as well and including that now I'm not saying that I'm perfect you're not perfect but you know what this is what God calls us to do he calls us to put everything on the altar you know the Bible or the you know the song right is you're all on the altar right you have longed for sweet peace and for faith to increase and have earnestly fervently prayed but you cannot have rest or be perfectly blessed until all on the altar is laid right this is what God wants he wants us to to give everything you know and guys in the Bible that were greatly used by God they were willing to give everything I mean Abraham was he willing to give everything Genesis chapter 22 Isaac he was willing to give everything you know God wants us to be willing to make the sacrifices rarely will he ask us to go to prison or be killed but if he demands that of us then he also demands us to do what maybe lose some friends maybe make a financial sacrifice or maybe have to do something inconvenient or some extra driving or maybe you know not wear something that we wanted to wear or something you know I mean the girls aren't here they're the ones who need that preaching right of you know that you know oh no you can't wear the outfit that you wanted to wear because you know is it modest or something it's like well you know you should be willing to make all those sacrifices up to and including death right be faithful unto death let's not love our lives unto the death let's not hang on to this world so tightly and and hang on to our bodies and preserve our body at all cost and preserve our life at all costs hey look you know God forbid that any of us would ever be tortured I hope none of us ever has to be tortured man I don't want to be tortured you know death is one thing torture is worse death is just it's just a quick trip to heaven right just a one way but man torture that's rough man I don't want to be tortured but I'll tell you what you know if I ever get to that point God forbid that anyone in this room would ever have to go through that but you know I'm gonna take Alexander Solzhenitsyn's advice and just be like you know what his body's toast see you later family jewels see you later rest of my you know what I mean just you just got to be willing to kiss it goodbye Daniel kiss the goodbye amen and you know what you just you have to be ready to give it up there to be a Daniel there you go you know what I mean because it is what it is you know yeah you know you can't take it with you friend you can't take anything with you this body can't be taken with you let it go you know enjoy every day that we have on this earth every day man just when you wake up in the morning every single day you should pray and say God thank you so much just for another day you know I mean just every single morning it should just be like thank you Lord that I'm I'm in peace and I have another day to serve you and I have another day to be with my family and I get to enjoy these blessings thank you for my house thank you for my job thank you for my wife thank you for my children thank you so much for another beautiful day the sun's out the birds are chirping this is the day which the Lord have made we will rejoice and be glad in it you know what enjoy this camping trip you know someday you're gonna look back on this trip and think about how great it was and how fun it was and you can have all those memories and you know what enjoy it but realize it's all gonna be gone someday and God's the one who made it all possible the Lord gave and eventually the Lord will take away blessed be the name of the Lord that's parents and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much Lord for the lives that you've given us Lord you've given us so many blessings and we don't even deserve the the wonderful blessings that you give us Lord you're so merciful and gracious to us because Lord if you gave us what we deserve we would have already been consumed a long time ago Lord and so thank you so much for your mercy and your grace and Lord help us all to realize that we're living on borrowed time and that every day is a gift every hour is a gift our body is a gift Lord and one day Lord when you require those things back from us Lord help us all to realize that they were all temporary they were all on loan anyway and Lord help us all to be faithful unto death since it all belongs to you anyway in Jesus name we pray amen