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Lessons From a Soldier (1 Chronicles 11:1-25)
26 Plays1 year ago
Sunday Message recorded 26 May 2024
by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church -- Columbus TX
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
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Transcript
Gratitude and Welcome
00:00:06
Speaker
Good morning. I appreciate so much John Miller leading us in prayer and Marshall Miller leading us in worship. I know it's been a tough week for them. And so I just thank the Lord so much that they still have the well that's overflowing and leading us in worship and leading us in prayer. And I really appreciate so much you guys. It's a joy to serve with you.
00:00:34
Speaker
And also, it's a joy to have Pinecote folks here in our midst.
Humorous Pinecote Story
00:00:39
Speaker
So welcome. We're glad to have you and thank you for all that you'll be doing throughout the summer. And if you've ever taken a child out there, when you're driving in, they're on both sides of the road coming in and they're jumping.
00:00:51
Speaker
And I mean, not just like a couple of inches. They're jumping really high. And I thought to myself, wow, it's so hot out there. And I thought, are they just jumping for us? And I realized that there's like 50 cars behind us and they're still jumping. And so I thought, wow, but they serve just so willingly and cheerfully throughout the summer and appreciate all that y'all do for the Lord. I know He uses you every summer.
00:01:18
Speaker
And I'm not allowed to go back out there because when y'all got the water park, I said people could go out there and be waterboarded. And so there's a difference between a waterboard and a water park. And I got those mixed up. So anyway, I'm on the no fly list out there. No, I'm kidding. I'm not.
00:01:37
Speaker
But anyway, I did say that though, it actually in a worship service, so I've learned from my mistakes.
Memorial Day and the Bible's Significance
00:01:43
Speaker
But anyway, today is Memorial Day weekend, and I'm so excited to share with you what God's placed on my heart. 1 Chronicles 11 is where we're going to be if you want to take some time to find that one. Maybe you don't spend a lot of time in 1 Chronicles 11,
00:02:02
Speaker
But you know, the Bible is God's revealed, his written, inspired, infallible word. This is what God wants us to know. And in some cases, the Bible could be sort of compared to, well, let's say 66 letters, 66 letters that God had written to you and to me. He wants us to know what's on his heart.
00:02:26
Speaker
And since its Memorial Day weekend, I thought that we would think about Jesus' words, greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Honoring Fallen Soldiers
00:02:38
Speaker
And so we're going to look at the mighty men of King David. And then next week, we'll begin a new series. We're actually going to start going through the Gospel of Luke. But I want today to look at 1 Chronicles chapter 11. We're going to look at verses 1 through 25.
00:02:57
Speaker
I believe that there are some lessons that we can learn from soldiers. And I believe the reason that I know that is because God included this passage among many others in His word, and it's about soldiers and how God used them. Do you know that in terms of those who have laid down their lives, that back in the Civil War, 620,000 men died.
00:03:21
Speaker
In World War II, 407,316. World War I, 116,516. Vietnam, 58,209. In the Korean conflict, 36,516. In the Revolutionary War, 25,000. The War of 1812, 15,000.
00:03:46
Speaker
and in the current war on terror, 7,078. That's just eight of the wars that America has been a part of. But out of just those eight, do you realize that 1,285,635 soldiers have fallen in battle defending our freedom, that we could be here today. That's something that I don't want to ever forget.
00:04:12
Speaker
And I want you to know that each one of those numbers that I read, those are men. Those are individual men. They were husbands. They were fathers. They were brothers. They were uncles. They were cousins.
Tribute to Christopher Kilpatrick
00:04:25
Speaker
Before I begin, I want us to honor a young man from our church. Some of you may remember Christopher Kilpatrick. Others of you, the Lord brought you later. And you would not know this man just having been with him.
00:04:40
Speaker
Christopher Kilpatrick served in the US Army faithfully until he was killed in the line of duty in Tal Afar, Iraq, on June the 20th, 2005. But whenever he signed up to join the US Army, I'm sure they would have said to him, you know, young men, there are seven core values that we hold important and valuable. Loyalty, duty,
00:05:06
Speaker
respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. And he must have said, you know what? I'm fine with all seven of those. First Chronicles and second Samuel both cover the reign of King David, King of Israel. It was written perhaps by Ezra to the returned remnant after 70 years in exile. He wanted to encourage them
00:05:35
Speaker
Perhaps some of you need encouragement. So I just wanted to say First Chronicles is gonna offer to us both heritage from the past and hope for the future. It's gonna point to God's faithfulness, to God's faithfulness. In the 11th chapter, we're introduced to the king and to the warriors whom God used to establish that kingdom.
Warriors of King David and Spiritual Battles
00:06:02
Speaker
As I read this passage today about their commitment to their king, I would like for each one of us to consider our commitment to our king, the Lord Jesus Christ. Each day we live, we're in a spiritual battle, always fighting real enemies like the devil, the world, and the flesh. So I want us to stand, if you would, with me in 1 Chronicles 11, verses 1 through 25.
00:06:30
Speaker
We're going to look at these verses together. It says in God's word, 1 Chronicles 11, verse 1, then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, Behold, we are your bone and flesh. In times past, even when Saul was king,
00:06:50
Speaker
It was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord your God said to you, you shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.
00:07:03
Speaker
So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel. And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is Jebus, where the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land. The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, you will not come in here.
00:07:34
Speaker
Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David. David said, whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and commander. And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, went up first. So he became chief.
00:07:52
Speaker
And David lived in the stronghold, therefore it was called the city of David. And he built the city all around from the Milo in complete circuit. And Joab repaired the rest of the city. And David became greater and greater for the Lord of hosts was with him.
Five Lessons on Commitment and Service
00:08:10
Speaker
Now these are the chiefs of David's mighty men who gave him strong support in his kingdom together with all Israel to make him king.
00:08:20
Speaker
according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. This is an account of David's mighty men. Josephine, a Hachmonite, was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against 300, whom he killed at one time.
00:08:37
Speaker
And next to him among the three mighty men were Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the Ahoite. He was with David at Pasdamn when the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley and the men fled from the Philistines, but he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and killed the Philistines and the Lord saved them by a great victory.
00:09:07
Speaker
of the 30 chief men went down to the rock, to David at the cave of Adulam, when the army of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Refiam. David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. And David said longingly, oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate.
00:09:33
Speaker
Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord and said, far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the life blood of these men?
00:09:56
Speaker
For at the risk of their lives, they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men. Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the 30 and wielded his spear against 300 men and killed them and won a name besides the three. He was the most renowned of the 30 and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three.
00:10:26
Speaker
Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was a valiant man of Kabzil, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two heroes of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. And he struck down an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits tall, seven and a half feet. The Egyptian had in his hand a spear, like a weaver's beam, but Benaiah
00:10:56
Speaker
went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptians hand and killed him with his own spear. These things did Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. He was renowned among the 30, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, how can ancient words
00:11:24
Speaker
inspire in this day in which we live. O Lord, whenever we read that your word is active in living, we understand how.
00:11:33
Speaker
Lord, would you inspire your people? Would you motivate your people? Motivate us in terms of our commitment, our courage. I pray that, Lord, you would help us to see how worthy our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, is of full devotion like we see these men that are listed here. So use their example to inspire our lives. How do we apply your scripture? How do we follow our King? In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
00:12:04
Speaker
I want to give us five lessons today from this passage. The first lesson will be this, to listen to the commander. The second lesson will be loyalty to country. The third lesson will be lead with courage. The fourth lesson will be leave the comfortable. And the final and fifth lesson will be learn from the cost. These five lessons I feel can equip us for effective and fruitful service to our King, Jesus.
00:12:32
Speaker
and to the expansion of His kingdom. So let's look at lesson number one, listen to the commander. If you were to read through verses one to three, at first glance, you might think it's all about David. But I guarantee you, if you slow it down like I did all week and you read it over and over again, you know what you'll see? It's not about David at all. It's about the Lord.
00:12:59
Speaker
the people realized what God was saying to them. The people were ready to follow because they said, you know what, this is what the Lord wants. And so it's really all about the Lord. In those first three verses, the Lord is mentioned three times. If you read all the way down like we did in verse 25, the Lord is mentioned seven times.
Story of Desmond Doss
00:13:20
Speaker
But I just couldn't help but think in verse two, what are the people doing? The people are doing what they knew that God was saying he wanted done. Is that the way you live your life? When you read in God's word, this is how God wants me to live. These are the attitudes. These are the standards. This is the way God wants me to talk to other people. Is that the way you live your life? Whatever your commander says, you're saying, I'm listening. I want to do it.
00:13:50
Speaker
If you look at verse three, you'll see they were also entering into a covenant. And they entered into the covenant before the Lord, it says. Verse three goes on to say, they anointed David king over Israel, why? Because it was according to the word of the Lord.
00:14:08
Speaker
So I think you can see right away that the base of what they're doing, they're all trying to follow God's will for their lives, just like these who've come to serve at Pine Cove. That's what God wants for them to do, at least for this portion of their summer.
00:14:24
Speaker
Sometimes the commander asks for challenges though, challenges that are difficult, difficult objectives. If you were to drop down to verse four and following, drop down to verse six, he says, whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and commander. Sometimes whenever the Lord tells you something to do, it's hard. And you think, but other people, I won't be popular. Other people won't like it.
00:14:50
Speaker
But we need to say, you know what? Listen to what they're saying to their king. They're saying, you'll not come in here. Are there any areas in your life where the flesh, the world, the devil, they're all saying, Jesus isn't coming in this part of your life. This part belongs to me. You should say, oh, he's coming in because I'm giving him complete control over all of my life.
00:15:17
Speaker
And so I couldn't help but think how difficult it would have been when Joab heard David, his king, say in verse six, whoever goes in first, I'm gonna make them the chief and the commander. But the glory went to the Lord for the victory because you can see that clearly as you keep reading through like at the end of verse nine, David became greater and greater one.
00:15:43
Speaker
For the Lord of Hosts was with him, and the Lord of Hosts will be with us as we put him first, as we listen to what he says, as we obey what he says.
00:15:53
Speaker
That's how the Lord will help us to advance. Do you know there was a medical doctor that was in the military named Desmond Doss. And he was a Christian. He heard the Lord's voice. And one of the things for this medic, he said, I'm never gonna carry a gun. He almost killed his dad. So he's gonna say, now that I'm in the military, I'm gonna spend my time and my effort to save lives rather than take lives.
00:16:21
Speaker
And so Desmond Doss was made fun of in boot camp and all the different things. So many different things. If you want to see the movie Hacksaw Ridge, that's a really good movie that'll depict this man's life. This man's real.
00:16:36
Speaker
But late in 1945, Desmond Dawson and his company were in a fierce battle on top of a rocky plateau where Jody and I used to serve in Okinawa in Japan. Many who had once laughed at Desmond for carrying no gun, now that they were in this fierce battle and he was a medic, they were calling out, Desmond, I need you. Would you come and help me?
00:16:59
Speaker
Do you know that one by one Desmond Doss rescued 75 soldiers, lowering them by ropes down a 400-foot cliff?
00:17:09
Speaker
Go ahead and check me out, fact check it on all the military records, it's true. But each time that Desmond Doss was going to, when he would rescue one man, you know what his prayer was? He tells him, you can read about it. He used to pray, dear God, please let me get just one more man.
00:17:30
Speaker
Do you have that kind of passion for lost souls? When's the last time you said, Lord, please help me just win one more person to Christ? That was Desmond Doss's commitment right in the middle of a battle, just like we're in the middle of a battle, spiritual battle in our country. Well, I want us to learn a second lesson, not only to listen to the commander, but loyalty to country, loyalty to country.
Loyalty and Citizenship
00:17:57
Speaker
Do you know that this is in God's word in 1 Peter 2, verses 13 through 17. Listen to what it says carefully. 1 Peter 2, 13 to 17. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good,
00:18:25
Speaker
you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the emperor.
00:18:42
Speaker
I got to thinking about how, does God want Christians to be really bad citizens? Or would He want us to be good citizens? The way I was taught from scripture, but also being brought up in my home, I was taught we should love our country. We should be thankful for our country. And when there are laws on the books, we should obey those laws that are on the books. And so when I looked at verse 10,
00:19:08
Speaker
It says, now these are the chief priests of David's mighty men who gave him strong support in his kingdom together with all Israel to make him king according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. I thought to myself, isn't that amazing? God's actually telling these guys, give David your strong support. And so I thought, that's amazing.
00:19:29
Speaker
Do you know that loyalty is really important? What if nobody was loyal? What if all across America, nobody was loyal to this country? Every man just did what was right in his own eyes. How would that be? What do you think it would be like here? You know, I got to looking at this passage and I thought, you know, loyalty strengthens unity. It says they gave strong support. I believe that loyalty sharpens clarity. It says they wanted to do one thing.
00:19:57
Speaker
Make him king. Loyalty submits to authority. Loyalty is willing to be held accountable. He says, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. That's our accountability is God's word. So everything goes by that. I don't know how you feel about America, but I'll tell you a man who was a naval flight commander named Mike Christian. He was loyal to our country. Lieutenant Commander Christian was a prisoner of war.
00:20:27
Speaker
in North Vietnam. And what he did when he was there as a prisoner, he found a piece of cloth and he cleaned it.
00:20:36
Speaker
And he ground some roof tile and he mixed that roof tile with some water. And so he was able to make red stripes on that white cloth. And then afterwards he said, does anybody have any medication here? And so someone had some blue pills. So he took those blue pills and then he made like this, he mixed up a blue dye and he formed this square.
00:21:00
Speaker
And he made a dark blue square on that blue that in that blue area. He made that dark blue square. But then he took a bamboo splinter because they didn't have access to paint brushes or anything like that or needles. And so he took a bamboo splinter and he took the threads from his own blanket. And you know what he did.
00:21:21
Speaker
he would sow stars into that little piece. And so then he hangs it up and he says to the men that were there, there were 40 of them. He says to them, why don't we say the pledge of allegiance? And there in that prisoner of war camp, 40 men stood there at that flag and they said the pledge of allegiance.
00:21:44
Speaker
Eventually they found out that these men were doing that and they said, who made it? And Christian didn't want the other guys to suffer. So Mike Christian said, I made it. It says that they took him out and they beat him all through the night. When he came back, he had bruised ribs, his face was all swollen and so forth. And he goes to his commanding officer and he says, if it's okay with you, I'd like to make another flag. And it took several weeks, but he made another flag.
00:22:15
Speaker
Is that the way that we are toward our country? That's the way they were toward our country and that's why we can gather here. That's why we have freedoms is because there were men and women like that in the military who were saying, you know what, we will protect our freedoms.
Courage of David's Warriors
00:22:34
Speaker
Lesson number three is to lead with courage. When I look at verses 11 through 14 and then verses 20 through 25,
00:22:43
Speaker
I see these different individuals and I think, wow.
00:22:47
Speaker
Look at their courage. For example, would you look at verse 11, Joshua Beam? Joshua Beam had so much courage. And I thought, you know what? No wonder they made him the leader. There's something about courage. It should be displayed by leadership. Leadership is never cowardly. People don't follow a coward for a leader. People want to follow courage. People say, I want to know where we're going.
00:23:15
Speaker
And those who do, well, they're going to be promoted. Courage often defies odds. As you see, Joshua Beement says, wielded a spear against 300. Would you be willing to stand against the odds if following Christ is standing for the word of God? If there's 300 standing against you, would you be willing to say, I'll take God's word, the sword of the spirit, and I will stand. I will make a stand right here.
00:23:44
Speaker
There was another man named Eleazar who definitely took a stand. I think that courage also defends rather than retreats. I think sometimes we run, we run from conflict or we want to try to embrace everybody and we wound up standing for nothing. But Eleazar said, you will not take this field. And he stood there and he defended that field. Why did he do that? You know why I think he did that? Love.
00:24:14
Speaker
Love. I don't know many that fight out of hate that are in the American forces, at least the men I've talked with, they all love. And that's why they're willing to say, I will fight for that which I love. That's true courage. If you drop down to verses 20 to 21, I'll introduce you to Abishai, the brother of Joab.
00:24:38
Speaker
This guy was made the chief of the 30. Once again, Abishai, like Josephine, he demonstrates that courage often defies odds. He too took a spear and stood against 300. But then in verse 21, I think it says, he was the most renowned of the 30 and became their commander. So once again, I want you to know that courage, it sort of distinguishes, it distinguishes a man or a woman from the rest.
00:25:08
Speaker
You know, this was not the first time though that Abishai had courage. Let me give you a couple of cross references.
00:25:14
Speaker
Before this time was First Samuel 26, 6, when David says, you know, I need somebody to go with me down into the camp of Saul. They're all sleeping down there. And I want to go down there. I want to take Saul's spear. And they're like, you mean down there where all his bodyguards are all around him and where the army's all around him? He said, yeah. He said, I just want to sneak in and sneak out.
00:25:38
Speaker
And one guy said, yeah, I'll go with you. You know who it was? Abishai. Abishai said, yeah, you can count me in on that one. And then once he got down there and he sees Saul asleep and nobody else is awake, you know, he whispers to David and says, let me take this spear. I'll only have to do it once and he'll be gone. And he said, no, we're not going to raise our spear against God's anointed.
00:26:02
Speaker
But then another time that we see Abishai's courage is in 2 Samuel 21, verses 15 through 17. This is later, this is after what we're looking at. David's actually an older man at this time. David, he had it in his DNA to always fight. Don't lose your sense to fight for the Lord Jesus Christ, to stand for him. No matter how many come against you, no matter how old you are,
00:26:29
Speaker
because David still wanted to fight. These are descendants of Goliath. These are big guys, really big guys. And David got in a fight with one of those big guys named Ishbibinob. We don't name our kids things like that in Texas or Tennessee. So I don't know where they got that name. But anyway, David almost lost his life. And so that day Abishai stepped in with courage.
00:26:55
Speaker
And he spared David's life. I'm thinking, I'm so glad that he did. But you know, there was another soldier that also we can learn wisdom from named Benaiah. He had courage that had been developed over time. Look carefully, if you will, at verse 22. It says, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was a valiant man of Kebzil, a doer of great deeds. I got to thinking about this man.
00:27:25
Speaker
And I thought, why did it say whose son he was? You know what his dad named him? Benaiah. You know what that means? It means Jehovah has built.
00:27:36
Speaker
But then Jehoiada's name means Jehovah knows. So God knows and God built. But what you may not realize unless you have the King James Bible or New King James Version or the CSB version, you don't realize that there's actually a grandfather that's mentioned here.
00:27:55
Speaker
And so it's like you have three generations. And so it wasn't Benaiah that was the doer of great deeds, the valiant man of Kabzil, it was his grandfather. Some of the other translations make it clear son of, son of is mentioned two times, not one time.
00:28:14
Speaker
And so it's interesting that this guy was developed, his courage was developed over time, perhaps by his grandfather's son, but for sure by his daddy. His daddy said, son, don't be afraid as you're living your life. Don't be afraid. You be courageous no matter what. But I think also he was developed by his detachment. Look at the kind of men he's around.
00:28:41
Speaker
If you're going to hang around a bunch of people that do nothing but, you know, they're cowardly, they criticize or whatever, that's the way you're going to be. But be around people that stir you up to greater things, to noble things. I think about a Mexican-American who was raised in the barrio of San Antonio. His name was Jose Lopez.
00:29:03
Speaker
Do you know that Jose Lopez earned America's highest military honor for his heroic one-man stand during the Battle of the Bulge? I watched that movie last night. I watched the longest day the night before. My family is sick of it. They're like, come on, not another war movie.
00:29:24
Speaker
But with his company there in the Ardenese Forest near Kringkelt, Belgium, this guy killed 100 Germans. Why? All by himself. He was trying to protect his company. They weren't ready for all of these. So he said, I will stand here in the gap and I will make sure they do not discover my company until they've set up their defensive line.
00:29:49
Speaker
No wonder he was presented the Congressional Medal of Honor. Let me go to lesson number four from these guys. As we get to verses 15 through 19, this is really where I just wanted to end with two last lessons.
Leaving Comfort Zones
00:30:04
Speaker
The fourth lesson is to leave the comfortable.
00:30:08
Speaker
You know, it probably goes without saying that most warriors, they have to be willing to leave a comfort zone, don't they? I mean, in order to go to a battle, in order to go to a war, in order to defend other people, you've got to be willing to sacrifice some of your own
00:30:24
Speaker
comfort and pleasure and so forth. And so I just thought it's interesting how when it starts introducing some of these three of the 30 chief men in verse 15, it says they went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam and David was then in the stronghold. And so I couldn't help but think, you know, they're attending this gathering
00:30:50
Speaker
But as they get in there, I think these guys are warriors, they're doers. And they get in there and all they're doing is sitting. They're just sitting around. And they're not attempting anything. And they look out over the horizon, the Philistines, they're not doing anything. It just says the Philistines are in their garrison. And here's the mighty men of Israel and mighty men of David, they're just sitting there. But then they hear, these three guys over here, David, say something.
00:31:19
Speaker
And it says he said it longingly. David said longingly, oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate. That was all they needed just to know what's on the heart of the king. What's the king want me to do? And so they were listening and paying attention.
00:31:40
Speaker
And so what they did was they risk it all. It says, then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines. Is there anything you need to break through? Is there just inertia in your service for the Lord? Is there inertia in your witness for the Lord? Are you just sort of on a treadmill? How about following the example of these guys and breaking through
00:32:09
Speaker
Michael Mansour was willing to leave the comfort of his loving parents, his two brothers, and his sister in Garden Grove, California. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in March 21, 2001. He excelled in SEAL training and was eventually deployed by SEAL Team 3 Delta Platoon to a place called R. Ramadi, Iraq in April 2006.
00:32:35
Speaker
Just so you don't think that they just go over there and have a picnic, what was it like for Michael Monsur and those SEALs in SEAL Team 3? Well, it says that their gear weighed 100 pounds. So they're carrying around 100 pounds of gear every single day. What was the temperature there, by the way, in Western Iraq? 130 during the summer. They'd been in 35 heated firefights.
00:33:05
Speaker
So he's not there for comfort. He's already left behind the comfort zone. Why? For us. That's why he did it. He did it for us. But on September 29th, 2006, he chose to save the lives of three SEAL teammates rather than take the exit that was right there. He had 1.5 seconds to make a decision, but he had already decided if it comes between my life
00:33:32
Speaker
in the life of my teammates, I'm going to lay down my life for my teammates. When you got 1.5 seconds to decide, that's it. Four seconds is all you got when a grenade is pulled and then there he goes. But what he did was he fell down over the top of that grenade and his teammates
00:33:55
Speaker
in the task unit called Bravo were so grateful that he did. Some of them were injured that were closest by, but his injury was fatal. He was definitely willing to leave the comfortable. Let me close with one last thing.
Respect for Sacrifice
00:34:12
Speaker
To learn from the cost. To learn from the cost
00:34:17
Speaker
verses 18 and 19, whenever you see David's reaction, maybe you like me at first you're thinking, that's outrageous. Look at what they did. And you just pour it out like that. But you know what? I think that David had learned to respect sacrifice, the sacrifice of others. And that's why it says David would not drink it.
00:34:41
Speaker
You ever take for granted those who've sacrificed for you? You ever just take it for granted what your dad has done, what your parents have done, what soldiers have done, what policemen have done, and firemen have done? I think it's so easy to lose that sense of respect for the sacrifice of others, and we just take it for granted. But I think there's something more. He had learned reverence.
00:35:07
Speaker
He had learned reverence through the sacrifice of others. That's why I think when he saw it, he thought, this is really valuable. This is too valuable for me to just consume. So he said, you know what? The only thing I can think is, I'm going to give it as an offering to God. And I think that there was a lot of reverence when he poured it out before the Lord, it says. And then I think it's interesting that it says, for at the risk of their lives they brought it,
00:35:35
Speaker
And then it says, these things did the three mighty men. They remembered. They remembered the sacrifice. And I think to myself, is our country going to still remember? Because we're going really fast in a direction that's wanting to kind of cut off all of the things that have happened in the past and say, we got a way better future than we've had in the past. Oh, really? I would like to see it.
00:36:04
Speaker
I want to encourage you to see a documentary entitled The Gift. It was produced by David Nice last year, 2023. It tells the story of the heroic sacrifice of a marine corporal named Jason Dunham. He was in Kilo Company in the Sunni triangle of Iraq.
00:36:29
Speaker
April 14, 2004, Corporal Dunham covered a grenade with his helmet. And it blew up, and it took his life. But it spared Lance Corporal Jason Sanders, who was standing right beside Jason Dunham. And so Jason Sanders was able to kill the insurgent
00:36:55
Speaker
But despite having killed the man that killed his friend and his teammate, it says that he spent 18 years wrestling with what's called survivor's guilt. And he thought, I'm alive. And he's not. And so for 18 years, he wrestled. And on the other side of Jason Dunham was another man named Lance Corporal James Castaneda.
00:37:23
Speaker
And he also said, it cost me so much. He said, as a matter of fact, it cost me my marriage. It cost me my family. And it eventually cost him almost his life because he just couldn't stand it. The survivor's guilt was too heavy. And I think to myself, do we even care?
00:37:45
Speaker
Do we even care about these kind of people that laid down their lives for us? I think David cared. I think God cared. You know what it says that Jesus did when Stephen was being stoned? It says that Jesus stood. He stood. He stood up at the right hand of the Father. Of course, we don't know for sure why, but some scholars have said, was it his way of honoring?
00:38:14
Speaker
the first one that it laid down his life for him. The point of the message is to learn these valuable life lessons from real soldiers who laid down their lives for us. There are many US soldiers to learn from. And if you're ever saying I'd like to learn more, I mean, I didn't know about those five. There's the pictures of those five that I mentioned. But you can read more in a book by Peter Colliers called Medal of Honor.
00:38:45
Speaker
If you wanna read Medal of Honor, Portraits of Valor, Beyond the Call of Duty, and then tell me that you wanna tear America up, fine, that'll be your choice. But as for me, when I read about people like this, when I read about men like in David's Mighty Men, I think to myself, wow.
Commitment to Jesus
00:39:07
Speaker
Do you know that 3,536 have been awarded the Medal of Honor? Do you know that 41 million
00:39:15
Speaker
41 million men and women have served in the US military. Out of the 41 million, estimates are maybe 2.8 million gave the ultimate sacrifice. They never came back. They never came back. The chronicler sent us correspondence from the battlefield. And he said, these men really lived. And here's what they were known for.
00:39:45
Speaker
Number one, they listened to their commander. Number two, they were loyal to the kingdom. Number three, they led with courage. Number four, they were willing to leave the comfortable. And number five, they were willing to learn from the cost that others had paid. What about you? I think about Jesus and all that he went through, all that we sang about. Does it mean anything?
00:40:13
Speaker
that he laid down his life for you. I hope it means a lot. Would you stand with me? I want to lead us in a prayer. I want to invite those who are going to lead us in this closing song to come. But we're going to sing a song called You Are My King. You, Jesus, are my king. As we sing this song, sing it to him with the devotion that he's worthy of. But if you don't know Jesus as your king, this is the good news of the gospel.
00:40:43
Speaker
He suffered incredible abuse against himself. He went to the cross to die for your sins and my sins, all of our sins in this whole room. And the Father saw such heroic sacrifice, such a perfect life.
00:41:00
Speaker
And the father said, my son doesn't deserve death. He deserves life. And he raised him from the dead three days later. And so he's so worth living for and serving. He's still alive. He can change your life. Let's go to the father and pray. You come as I'll be waiting down front if you need to pray with somebody.
00:41:20
Speaker
Lord, thank you so much for this time to look into your word. I really pray that you've inspired us and motivated us, that we would be willing to love you with all that we have. But also, tomorrow, on Memorial Day, help us to remember
00:41:38
Speaker
Help us not forget those precious sacrifices that were given so that we could be here gathered in peace, gathered in freedom. We love you, Lord. Thank you so much that you died so that we could have spiritual freedom from Satan, from sin, from the world. So bless us as we respond. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
00:42:10
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.