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What a joy it is to be able to come together for worship in this way. Especially to have the very word of God as we studied in Sunday school. Let's pray as we dive into this inerrant perfect word. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for the privilege of being able to come and worship. We thank you for drawing us to worship. We thank you that you have revealed yourself to us and then through your word, and that you give us everything we need for life and godliness. And so as we dive in once again to 2 Timothy, we ask you to lead and guide us, that you would uh guide uh my heart, my mind, my brain, my mouth, uh, that I would only speak your truth, and that uh we would be uh strengthened, not because of anything I say, but because it is your word to us. And so use it for your purpose as we pray. In Christ's name. Amen. So today we're back in 2 Timothy looking at the second weapon of the Christian soldier. Uh, as we look into this, I want to start by uh telling you a quick uh story or account that happened uh back in March of 1966 over in Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, as you know, there, as with any other war, there are many acts of gallantry and bravery from the American troops. And one such act of bravery, or continual act of bravery, was by a sergeant named Bernie, or excuse me, Benny Atkins. Uh he is uh famously known as a Medal of Honor recipient for his act and for his continued acts of valor uh against the North Vietnamese during that time. During that time, he was stationed at Camp Asha, uh, and there was a long battle over those three days. And I'm just going to summarize by saying he single-handedly manned a mortar pit on his own. Uh, when many of his uh fellow soldiers or comrades had gone down, he ran through hail of bullets and other mortars from the enemy and uh rockets or whatever to go and pull each one of them, numerous other soldiers out and pulled them back into the camp to save them with rounds exploding all around him. Uh while there, uh, an airplane came and dropped a supply of much-needed resources. And guess who? Single-handedly went out and drug all of those things back to give them ammunition and supplies and everything they needed. That was him, again, through the hail of gunfire, uh, absorbing all kinds of wounds, uh, getting hit in many different ways, fragments and bullets. Uh, and uh, when it was time to uh pull back, uh he led and grabbed multiple soldiers and took them to the helicopter, and they were too late. And so, again, for another 48 hours, I believe it was, he stayed his ground and and and protected his men. And in the end of it all, uh, about 38-hour battle, 48 hours of escape, um, with all of these things blowing up around him and him saving multiple guys and bringing the aid they needed, um, he ended up suffering 18 different wounds. And he is said to have killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 135 to 175 men by himself. Uh, and so again, awarded the Medal of Honor for this. And so we can read stories like that, and there's so many all throughout history, American history and beyond, and we just say, wow, what courage! What bravery? What self-sacrifice and love for others. Maybe you ask yourself, how can one man do those kinds of things? How can a man have such courage in the midst of that kind of danger? Most of us, Lord willing, will never have to face that kind of wartime danger. Most of us will never be in the trenches with bullets and mortars whizzing overhead, landing nearby. But you see, that doesn't change the fact that we are still all called to have, at a minimum, that kind of courage. It's, of course, just in a different way as a Christian. And believe it or not, I would say the courage that we are all called to have is, in fact, not only more dangerous and more significant, it's more important. It takes far more bravery. Because walking and fighting and living the life of a Christian soldier takes even more courage than what that sergeant did all those years ago. It takes real guts to pursue holiness of life. And so here in our second message, we're gonna see the vital weapon for the soldier of Christ that we are to constantly be wielding. And that is the weapon of courage. The weapon of courage. I know, again, some of you may be saying, well, that doesn't sound like a weapon. You know, you talked about bellows last week. I mean, I don't even know what that is. You know, and these are the weapons of the Christian soldier. We have got to be courageous. As we talked about last week, we are to fan the flame of faith with the weapon of bellows, that great igniting weapon that comes as we remember the gospel, as we go to the Word of God, as we remember our hope, and we fan the spark that is in us of the faith into full heat and full light. And so today, as we look at the weapon of courage that we are to wield in this Christian life, we will again be drawing this uh from this passage, but it comes from really chapter two, is why we have uh a whole series on the weapons of a Christian soldier, because Paul tells us in chapter two, as he tells Timothy, be a soldier for Christ, be on the battlefield. Really, the the whole letter kind of aims us in that direction, and I would say the rest of the Bible points us, if we are the Lord's, we are to live for him with passion as soldiers, with compassion, purity of life, honor, diligence, and we are to fight. Fight for truth, fight for holiness. As we look deeper into this passage, we will see how we are to wield this weapon of courage, but we must realize right off the bat, I need you to know, we'll talk about this more. It is all by the power of God in us. Again, we'll talk about that more, but uh we cannot conjure all these things up in and of ourselves. It is God in and through his people. And so let's look at some of the ways, though, that we are to wield this weapon of courage and the power of Christ in light of this passage, verses 8 through 12. Look at verse 8 with me. So the first thing, we're gonna go through multiple things, nine things that we're gonna have as ways or reasons and implications about courage. And so the first thing is to have courage in light of the witness of the gospel, the testimony of the gospel. You've got to remember, as Paul is writing this, this is a man that had suffered much for the gospel from the powers of the world. We've got to remember that he is currently, as he's writing this, in a dark and dank dungeon for the gospel as he writes to his son in the faith, Timothy. Remember, in verse 7, he says, Timothy, you do not have the gift of timidity. That's cowardice. No. You have the gift of power, you've been given power. And he calls him his son in the faith. And so yours is that of power, of love, and of discipline in the Lord. That's what you're called to. And in that, we must remember that when Paul encourages Timothy with these words, being a follower and soldier of the gospel of Christ, it was dangerous in that time. It's not like us today. It's running through mortar fire, if you will. At that time, the man or woman of Christ was in constant danger as they fought the good fight of faith, ran the race, and lived for Christ. And so Paul says here, hey, have courage. Have courage. Do not be ashamed. Do not be afraid to live for Christ and to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ. Do not be afraid to be his witness. That's what we're called to. So take up the courage the Lord has blessed you with as you came to the faith. Take it up. Live for the truth of the gospel. Tell others. Not just by how you live, but with your mouth. Don't be ashamed of the testimony. And of course, this is the Bible, so the call is still for us today, right? Some of our community members and maybe state leaders really detest the idea that God and specifically Jesus could be real, right? And that's minimally. They detest the truth of the glorious gospel of grace. They think that they don't need God and even more intensely despise the fact that they actually have a need for mercy because they're sinners. So many people are infuriated by the mention of human rebellion to the will of God, and they want nothing more than to make sure that Christians are shut down and silenced. We see that all over the world, especially. In America, it's hardly anything. But what does that mean for us as Christians? Do we shrink back into the shadows? No, we continue to be witnesses for Christ either way. Not that we're obnoxious and annoying neighbors who just rub it in and take pride in the fact that they reject our message, but we love with the Spirit within us and we stand firm for Christ as we give testimony to his goodness and kindness in our lives and with our message. And it's it can be really, really simple. Maybe it's a beautiful day and we have the courage to say, what a gift of God's. When the world's going haywire, we stand resolute with hope because we know that our Savior lives and that he has crushed the enemy. When their life is broken because of the fall, we plead with them to flee to Christ for hope and for comfort. And so we've got to have courage, brothers and sisters. Your captain is going to see you through to ultimate victory. Tell others about him with courage. Don't be ashamed of Christ before the world because what does the Bible tell us? If we are ashamed of God before the world, it says that he'll also be ashamed of you before his father, Christ says. Not a great place to be. And so testify to his goodness daily. Testify to his grace. Have the courage that he has given you to have the confidence it takes to stand before the world and say something simple without wavering, like, I'm Christ. I'm in Christ. I believe in the gospel. Here I stand, I can do no other, as Martin Luther said or Athanasius said. Again, we're not talking about courage in mere moral things or political maneuvering. This is gospel courage. So Paul says, Don't be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord or even of me his prisoner. Don't be ashamed. We're living for Christ. So that's first. Second, again found in verse 8. Look at it again. Second, have courage in the suffering. Now, this one, nobody wants to talk about, right? We're going to look more at this as we study through this whole letter, but please hear this. It is not some foreign concept for you and I to suffer for the sake of the gospel or for Christ. In fact, it's promised all over the Bible. Listen to 1 Peter 4.12, for example. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. Or right here, 2 Timothy 3, verse 12. Coming up soon, it says, indeed, now man, this is a passage. Indeed, all, notice that word all, all who desire to live godly, not all who are American or all who all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. It doesn't say all who desire to live godly will get health and wealth and uh comfortable and rich and everything will go well. No, no, no, it says all who desire to live godly lives will be persecuted. Does that mean God doesn't love us? It means that he is growing us, shaping and molding us. Therefore, knowing that that is coming for the Christian, have courage. Have courage. You have his power in you. It's yours, he's given it to you. You and I can endure. Even if we're not in North Korea at the threat of our very lives, every second of every day, there's still things that come at us, isn't there? Familial relationships that get tough. Maybe it's coworkers, maybe it's neighbors that just don't like our God. Therefore, don't want to hear what we have to say. And so maybe you're asking yourselves, how do I endure that? I mean, how on earth did all those martyrs down through history suffer and stand firm as they're being burned or beheaded? Is the power of Christ in them? Simply that. They had courage because Christ granted it to them, and if you are his, the same goes for you. You will be able to stand. Here's the thing. I recently read of a martyr who was burned at the stake. Not long before that day, he knew the day was coming. Not long before that, he knew it was coming, and so he had a candle in his prison cell and he put his hand to it just to see how he's gonna do as a test. Quickly recoils and then led him to despair, thinking he would never be able to stand. He's going to recant, he's going to fail when he's actually tied to the stake and his whole body is burned. But when it was time, God gave him the ability. Not only to stand firm for the truth and to not recant his faith in Christ, but he ended up proclaiming the truth from the stake as he's being burned. God will supply all you need in the suffering for his sake when the time comes. You and I may think, I don't know if I could do it. That's true. You and I can't do it in and of ourselves. He will supply when the time comes. And then please notice something really important about suffering as we read scripture. It's for all Christians. Or as Vodibakum used to say, everybody. Just everybody that's in Christ. And think of it. If Jesus suffered, who are we to think that we won't? Therefore, since it's for all of us, please don't see that, or please see that Paul doesn't even allow the weak and subjective powers of the world to be what he deems as a providential source for his suffering. He doesn't say, man, those Romans. Paul says here in verse 8, he's a prisoner. Who is he a prisoner of in his sufferings? Rome is the evil force doing the action, right? But Paul sees rightly that he is a prisoner of the Lord's. Now, how can he say that? Does that click in our minds in 21st century America? Since he is imprisoned for the gospel and is preaching of it, he then rightly sees that he's a prisoner of the Lord. He's bound and chained by the gospel and its proclamation. He can do no other, no matter the world's response. In fact, in Philippians 1.29, it says that we have he was granted suffering. Granted, gifted suffering from God. Accompanied with a greater belief, it says, but it was gifted in the sense that it furthered his own trust in the Lord, and of course promoted the glory of God through the proclamation of the gospel in amazing ways that would have never transpired. As Paul says in Philippians 1, starting in verse 12, he was even able to spread it to Caesar's own household. He calls it the Praetorian Guard. Truly greater progress for the gospel. And so how can Paul be courageous in his imprisonment and his suffering? Because he knew that it was God's own purpose, his will, his providential truth that had to go forward. And he would be given the strength needed. He knew it, he trusted it. And so Paul here is telling Timothy, join me in my sufferings. Don't be ashamed, obviously, but join me in it, for the gospel of Christ. Not just jump in with both feet before the Lord asks you to, but when he does call us to that, when it comes upon our doorstep, so to speak, live courageously for Christ and his gospel. Don't shrink away. And so for us here today, of course, the call is for us to do the same. Accept those kinds of suffering as a gift of God's. Not that we like it, but we can have courage in it because he's in us. Knowing the Lord is at work and his gospel is going forward. We just need to make sure it's truly for the advancement of the gospel and his glory and not suffering for our own sin and rebellion. Those are different things. Let me give you an example from Scripture of this happening in Acts chapter 5. In Acts 5, we see some of the apostles actually, get this word, rejoicing for suffering for Christ. Again, does that register in our brains as Americans? Acts 5 tells us Peter and some other apostles have been put in jail and had been beaten, and they were flogged, and they were said, do not, or they were told, do not speak about Christ any longer. If you do, there's repercussions, even further. And so what's their response? They bounce up out of that time with exuberant praise. Why? Verse 41 of Acts 5 tells us this. So they went on their way from the presence of the council, rejoicing they had been considered worthy. That they were considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. Think about that. Rejoicing because they were considered worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. Oh great God in heaven, I am overwhelmed with joy because you consider me worthy to be a man who is compelled to announce the message of peace between God and man, the gospel, and for it, I have been beaten. Praise God. I'm worthy of his name. Is that how you and I would respond? Not in your own strength. Or would we end up just yelling and screaming at the top of our lungs, it's not fair. I'm American. World is watching, brothers and sisters. They're watching to see how we will respond to persecution, to the hate of the name of Jesus. When the world spews out what I call true hate speech against God and they break the third commandment, when they want to harm you for his name, are you going to stand in courageous power and love as his witnesses and speak the truth? Will you with unwavering conviction stand for Christ and his gospel, no matter what words, stones, bullets, axes, or bars that they come at you with? Take courage. Suffer when he calls you to as a good soldier of Christ. It is abnormal in the history of the world, especially in the history of the church, that we would have such freedom. Let us take advantage of it and use it for the gospel now, but not be naive to think it will last forever. Be prepared. Third, have courage because you're saved. Look at verse 9. If you're in Christ, if you're a follower of Christ and you have turned to Christ and you have confessed him as Lord and Savior, turned in repentance in that way, you are saved from eternal destruction. What can man do, right? Saved. And so have courage in whatever comes your way. It's by his power that we're saved. Therefore, I ask you this can we not then all wield the sword of courage in light of the knowledge of God's perseverance of the saints? He will carry you through whatever trial for the gospel. He will complete his good plan and work. Save fully and finally that which he has called. That's the beauty of Paul reminding us of our salvation here. By his power, we're saved. Does that not bring courage? Jesus has come. He lived the perfect life. He died the death we should have. He rose again. He conquered the grave. He ascended to the Father. He is interceding right now. Will he not save that which he came for on that final day? Will he ever lose a single one that was given to him by the Father? And thereby really deplete the power of the cross and the resurrection? No way, no how is the answer. And so we take courage from this. Because we have been saved by his mighty, eternal power. Fourth, have courage in light of that, because you've been called. Again in verse 9. Have courage in your labor of walking in holiness. What Paul is speaking of here is the calling that the elect have in walking in holiness. It's our holy calling, if you will. This calling means that we have been set apart to live courageously, courageously holy, courageously righteous, and courageously pure. We are called to be obedient saints, living with the power of God in us, obeying our commanding officer, our commands, our orders, with the courage of a Medal of Honor recipient. It is courageous living to forsake the bonds of the world and live for the glory of Christ. It is courageous to say no to the things of the world. It's lust, its sensuality, its hippie style love where anything goes. It's anger, its sinful indulgences. It is the cowardly, quote-unquote, Christian who capitulates to the world to do as the world does in every way. And love that which is evil. It is the courageous Christian who stands like a bulwark and says, I will follow Christ. No, thank you. Christ is my champion. He's my captain, my general, my shepherd, my kind leader. I will follow him and his instructions. I will courageously stand for truth and purity like a good soldier of the king. I will live a godly life. I will not pursue fleshly indulgence that's so easy. I will instead take the hard road of holy living as I rely on the power of my heavenly commander. My holy calling will encompass all of who I am. The world will not win out. I will shake off the world's lust and its anxieties, and I will live for Christ alone. That's what I've been called to. That's courage. Courage, my brothers and sisters. It's what it takes to live for Christ, isn't it? Any coward can say they love Jesus and then not live for him in obedience to his word. It's the courageous Christian that follows Christ no matter what, because holy living is courageous living. Living according to the patterns of this world is for the cowards, the yellow bellies, and the faint of heart deserters. And so live out your calling, your eternal calling, my fellow soldiers. Fifth, again in verse 9. Have courage in the knowledge of his grace. If you're sitting here going, ah, shh, I don't know how. I can't. Here's good news. It's what I referred to earlier. This kind of living cannot be attained by mere force of your will. You will never stand up and take the bullet, the proverbial bullet of verbal abuse from the college professor to the glory of God without his power in you. You will never stand up and take the hit of losing friends and loved ones by mustering your own strength alone. You will never work hard enough to stand. You will never pull your bootstraps high enough to work your own way into his battalion, into his family. No. Christ looks at you and for his own sovereign purposes extends his unmerited favor to you, and it's all his work. That has got to be one of the most courage-promoting truths in all of Scripture for the soldier of Christ. I love what one commentator put it. What God determines in eternity is as good as done in time. Doesn't matter how much training you've had, it doesn't matter how strong you are, how much you can bench press, doesn't matter how sharp and effective your mind is, how intellectual you are, oh, I'm, you know, this, I got this degree, and it doesn't matter how quick-witted you are. You cannot be a good soldier in your own strength. It is by his grace and for his eternal purposes that you're his and in his family and called and therefore now allowed to live holy. And that should bring us so much comfort. Your ability to be a good soldier does nothing to make you saved. It does nothing to make you holy. It doesn't even cause you to be in the army. In fact, without his grace, you'd be fighting on the other side. You'd be fighting for Satan's militia if it weren't for the grace of Christ. And so I say again, take courage. He's called you to the other side. You've dropped the shotgun of venom. You've traded the dark weapon of fearful poison, and he has caused you to run all the way across the battlefield, and you now have been dressed in his armor. And you have been given a new weapon, you have new power, you have new love, you now have self-discipline. You're in the Lord's army. Why? Because he's gracious. Because he loves you. Therefore, what do we do with that? Lay down on the couch. Take courage. We take courage. And we can take courage that uh the battle's already won. We're on the right team. We're on the right side. His purposes will come to pass. That's why we're his. And this has always been the plan since before time was created. His grace has been extended to you, and you're his. Is there anything that will produce more courage than that? And this is eternal. Follow him, brothers and sisters. He's a good commander. Six. Verse 10. Have courage, because Christ has come. Paul says, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Lord, or of our Savior Jesus Christ. The long-awaited Messiah has come. For thousands of years, the people of God were awaiting the coming of the Savior, the Messiah. And so have courage. Today, brothers and sisters, you and I are privileged enough to be here on the other side of the cross. We know that Christ has come. The Old Testament and its law is fulfilled. The grace and purposes of God spoken of in verse 9 have been manifested in the revelation of the incarnate perfection. Jesus Christ. Jesus is the perfect embodiment, the grand manifestation of the grace of God, and he's come down. As a good soldier, when the enemy comes at us, we can have the rally and cry, hey, Christ has come. He's accomplished all that is needed to win the battle. The great Redeemer, the captain, the general of the faith, has come. He's attacked the enemy already. He's accomplished all that is needed. He has gone directly to the front lines. He has sacrificed himself for the good of his own army, his people. He's withstood all that they can throw at him. Think of that. They have done everything. They've used the catapult of nails in the flesh on the cross. They have used the sword that pierced his side. They have tortured him with thorns and the weapon of the tongue. They have done what they could, and yet they have lost the war. Christ rose again, thereby defeating and fighting back against sin, the evil one, and all of wickedness in general. And because of this, because of this truth, because he's come, he has accomplished something absolutely amazing and stunning for his people, his soldiers. Seven. Have courage, brothers and sisters. Jesus has abolished death for the soldier of Christ. Verse 10 again. You are a soldier if you're in Christ that will never die. How's that sound? What a gift. What an army. Death has gone for you. Yeah, you and I will die here on this earth. Sure, we're gonna go into the grave here if the Lord doesn't return beforehand, but you will live indeed if you are in Christ. Eternally. Death has been defeated and no longer has mastery over you and I because he conquered it. It's no longer your eternal lot as a soldier of Satan as you were before. Instead, as a soldier of Christ, we have abundant and eternal life. Death was and is the enemy of the man or woman who has not placed her faith and trust in Christ, right? But for the Christian, death is no longer, uh, is not only no longer the end, but it is something that we don't even have to fear any longer. What can it do? What can death do to the Christian? Take us to Jesus. That's the worst thing that death will do for the Christian. The worst it can do is make a make our faith become sight. And it will then thrust us into an eternity of what we call pure worship. And so, in the in the end, death has now become the friend of the Christian instead of the enemy. Isn't that what Christ does? He takes what's evil and an enemy and conquers it in such a way that it becomes subservient to him and now for our good. Death was the thing that we should all fear the most, since it then leaves us in eternal peril. But now it has become our friend. Since it takes us to Jesus and our faith becomes sight. Does that not invoke courage for the Christian soldiers? Maybe the one standing on death's door, so to speak, you know, the hospital. We can now shout at the top of our lungs, as a people of God, the words of both Hosea and of Paul when thinking about the resurrection. What does he say? O death, where is your sting? Where is your victory? Paul says, the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is in the law. But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus came bursting forth out of that tomb, death was rendered mute and dumb. It is without power over the soldier of Christ. And so again I say to you, take courage. Take courage. Therefore, eight. Have courage because Jesus has brought immortality to the soldier. Carrying on with verse 10. Through the gospel, immortality has been brought to light for the people of God. And is this not a kind gift? This is what Paul was appointed to tell the world, he says. This is what he was encouraging the timid Timothy with, and it's what we need to hear today. Not only do you and I have life if we're in Christ to come after this tent of flesh decays and dies off, we have it eternally. If you were to count how many shows right now depict certain people or creatures as having immortality, you would have quite a task in counting, wouldn't you? We as humans are fascinated with immortality. Again, we're afraid of death. And yet, even as it's staring us in the faith, even though it is freely in the face, freely offered to us in the gospel, most reject and refuse it. They would rather become an elf than a soldier of Christ. They'd rather become a vampire than a man or woman of holy living. They would rather become a zombie than an eternally worship-filled saint of the Lord. They'd prefer to be superhuman with a cape on than an eternal son or daughter of the King of Kings, the King of the universe. In fact, the world would have you believe that immortality comes through having a great reputation here on earth. Rather than just being able to sit at the feet of Jesus with purity of joy and happiness forever. For the Christian, we then rejoice in the death of death as we trust in the Lord of life. And we do this with courage. Do you see the riches of the gospel of Christ in this? Do you see it? The Christian will rise again to be with the Lord forever. The Christian will be resurrected on that final day. The Christian soldier, we will die or may die on the battlefield of faith. The Christian soldier may be shot to pieces as they fight the good fight. But they will be raised, just like Christ, as Philippians 3 says, by the very power of God, and they shall be with them forever. Do you know this today? This passage says that the man or woman of Christ has come to know that the resurrection is true because of the light of the gospel that has come to bear upon their hearts and their very souls. It is by the gospel that we know these things. It's by the gospel that we come to have life. It's by the gospel that we know Christ our captain. And as we studied in Sunday school, how does anybody know the gospel? Through the word of God, spoken by his people. Ninth. Finally. Have courage in the impenetrable foundation of Christ. We see this in verses 11 and 12. As we've spoken of, and as Paul says here in the beginning of verse 12, he's suffering for Christ. And that it is for this reason, the gospel, the gospel is why he suffers on this earth. Again, it takes the courageous, bold-hearted soldier, knowing that suffering's coming. And it says this is why he was appointed for this in verse 11. If you go back to Acts 9 and details out Paul's conversion, we see there that Paul was promised after his conversion that he would suffer, and I think what we can infer from that is Paul's going to suffer in some unique ways. But the Lord would be with him, and he would be incredibly fruitful in his life and ministry. And because of this, Paul is now able to write about his sufferings and say, you know what? I'm not ashamed of Christ. I'm in chains in a dark dungeon, and I am not ashamed. In fact, he's encouraging Timothy, be like me. Be a courageous Christian in your walk in life. Why? Christ. Because of the impenetrable foundation of Christ. Paul knows with utter surety that Christ is the solid rock that the scriptures talk about. That's the thrust of his wording here. It's like he's saying, I know. I know without question, I'm 100% confident. Two plus two equals four. Christ is God who came in the flesh. He is doubtless in his conviction of the truth of the gospel and his Savior and Commander. And he knows not just because he believes, he knows because he knows him. He knows whom he has believed. You see, that's faith. It's not merely believing in God, it's believing God. It's not just knowing about him or even knowing of him. It's knowing him in a personal way through the gospel by the power of the Spirit in you. And so Paul's confidence and therefore courage in the face of all his suffering comes to the one whom he has believed. What does he believe about God? He believes that God is able to guard and trust, it says here. It says, guard is a deposit. Paul was able to forsake his own safety, welfare, status, comfort, and even relationships if needed, all for what? For the gospel. Why? Because he knew that living for God in such a way with relentless fervor was far superior to anything this world had to offer. Paul has taken his very soul and entrusted it to God in every way. God saved him with great compassion and mercy, and in turn, Paul looks to the Lord in great faith and essentially says, Here's my heart, my life, my soul. No matter what happens to me on this earth, I trust you. I am entrusting you alone with the very deposit of all I am. Because I know that you are good and that you are faithful. I know I can count on you. Even if it hurts now, Paul is saying, I even if I don't understand. God, why? Even if that's the frame of mind, I know that you are trustworthy, even though everybody around me may not be. I mean, think about it this way: who else can guard your heart and soul in this life? Who else but the perfect captain? Can your parents perfectly guard your children? No. They can't even keep you safe from all the dangers of the world as much as they try. Can your spouse guard you like Christ? No, they can't love you perfectly or without sin. You can't even trust yourself to guard your own life and soul. Your own self will deceive you. Your feelings lie to you, your heart and mind will fail you. There's only one to trust in. So I say for all of us in here today, allow yourself to be convinced that He and He alone is able to guard your soul. You may suffer. You will suffer. But you will be eternally protected. How can I say that? Well, this is one of those things. The Bible says so. God has used others who have been convinced of this very truth, and He's told us through them we can take His promises to the bank. Think of it if God can create the world and the universe for that matter with the breath of His mouth, can He not care for your soul? Have courage then. Have courage. It is the constant and continual testimony of the Scriptures. I mean, did God really create all things? So many times we get so caught up in the, I don't think God can handle this. You may not say that out loud, but that's how we live. I'm suffering. Where are you? But did God create all things, send his son to die on a cross only to fail at keeping your soul until that day? No, he says, I'm not going to lose what? I'm not losing one the Father's given to me. It's like the founders, the American founder said, this truth is self-evident. And so if you're struggling to trust Christ's security or his goodness and preserving you right now, just remember who you once were. Has Christ not performed a miraculous work in you? And if he has changed you and transformed you and you no longer look like who you once were, praise be to God. Maybe not perfection, but if he has indeed caused you to no longer be that debaucherous person, then will he not also see you through to completion? I mean, Philippians 1. What does he promise us? For I'm confident in this very thing that he who began a good work and you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Psalm 121. It tells us that God neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is your keeper, the Lord is your shade on your right hand. Think of all these things. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil. He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. You are under the protection of the God of the universe. Paul knows this. And so he's confidently writing of his trust in the Lord. I'm not going to be ashamed. Courageously living out his truth, his trust in the midst of suffering. Because he's able, brothers and sisters. He's able no matter what. He will guard your soul. No one can touch it, not even the evil one. Exodus 14, 14 says, the Lord will fight for you if you're his. We're not the Israelites of old, but that principle remains strong. 1 Peter 1 says, You and I, as Christians, are God's very own treasured possession. Do we really think that this strong man, the evil one, will come and plunder that which God loves? No way. No way. He will guard his precious saints that he has made precious in his sight. He's worked hard to save our wretched souls. He will defend and protect. He will guard and secure them until that day. Courage. And if you haven't already, entrust your very heart and soul to him now, today. And have courage. Have the courage that it takes to know that you cannot save yourself. Have the courage that it takes to say, I am not trustworthy, and neither is anybody else. I can't save you, you can't save me, we cannot find the battle on our own. Have the courage to just simply say, I need a Savior. I will entrust my life to him. Again, it is the coward who clings to his or her life and says, I got. This God. I can handle this one. It is the courageous soldier that follows their leader into the battlefield of faith until that day. That day, verse 12. You know, many times soldiers on the battlefield cannot see their commanding officer. Why? They're way back there. Orchestrating things, right? Well, the opposite is true of Christ. He is so involved in the battle, he's so far ahead in the fight, we're not going to see him until that day. The day of his appearing. And so the Christian soldier fights, of course, without being able to physically see his commanding officer, but one day that faith and trust will become sight. One day that will trust will no longer be necessary. Faith will be needed no more. As weird as that sounds, we will no longer need those things. Why? Because our Lord will appear. Faith will become sight. We will stand before him, and we will be an awestruck worship, and he will detail out for us how we've done it wielding the weapons that we have been given. One is courageous living. And oh what a day that will be. So I say to you, take heart. Have courage, dear Christian. You are saved by grace. Death has been abolished. Yours is that of life everlasting. Trust in his ability to make sure that this happens for you. Because on that day, our trust in the impenetrable foundation of Christ's power will then turn to everlasting comfort. Do you want that? Our faith will turn to exceeding worship, and our confident courage that we have because of his promises will just be turned to a joy-filled reception of these words. Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master's happiness. And so for today, I encourage you, take out your proverbial bellows. Fan the spark of courage in you that is needed to fight for him and his truth. And don't ever be caught in such a way in your life that the one who follows Satan has more zeal than you do in following God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, change us, mold us, shape us. Cause us to be those good soldiers who wield the weapons you have given us so freely, so abundantly, those weapons that will carry us through day by day that are a gift of your grace. Help us to be courageous in a dark and dying world with dead people all around us. Father, give us courage in the witness, but even before that, give us courage to live for holy purity. Give us an ability to be Christ-like in this world, in this community. Help us to fan that flame day by day of being courageous in such a way that people around us notice the change, see the change. Coworkers, neighbors, others would be overwhelmed to see the difference in our lives. And that we would have a witness through it. Give us this, Father, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.