Endure Hardship As A Good Soldier Of Jesus Christ. By Mike Warlick.       

 

                    Part #  2.

 

  David with his sling met Goliath's challenge. Goliath laughed at him and

said, you ruddy little fellow, I'm going to feed you to the fowels of the

air. David said, Oh, but you are mistaken. You see the trouble is that you

are coming to me with swords and shields, but I am coming to you in the

NAME, THE NAME, IN THE NAME OF THE LORD ! That is exactly the way the

Church is today. They have been lying in trenches, scared to death. 

 

   Well, I'll tell you that it is time now for the Army of God to begin to

stand up and start MOVING FOR

God !  It is time---if your gold has become cankered, get Gold that has

been tried in the fire. It is time---if your eyes have become blinded. to

get eyesalve that thou might see.  It is time---if your feet has become

heavy ladened, to come unto Him and He will give you rest. It is time for

the feeble knees to stop knocking and start moving toward the Kingdom of

God. it is time for Ezekiel's graveyard to come to Life !

 

   Ezekiel stood out there one day in the midst of a valley of dry bones,

and God said, can these dry bones live again? The Bible said that they were

very dry. And Ezekiel said, O Lord God, Thou knowest. And He said Prophesy,

and I Prophesied, bone began to come to his bone, sinew and flesh began to

stand upon them. They began to stand up, but there was one thing missing.

It didn't have Life. God told him to keep on Prophesying; he prophesied as

God commanded and it wasn't long until Life began to come inside of them,

and they stood up upon their feet, as exceeding great Army. (Ezekiel

37;1,10)

 

  This is what the Church needs, THE LIFE OF GOD TO COME INSIDE OF HER. You

don't need to be as some dried up corpse, you can be Alive, but it takes

THE LIFE OF GOD !  The Bible said, IN HIM WAS LIFE; (Speaking of Jesus) AND

THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN. ( John 1;4)

 

  2 Tim 2;4-----"No man that wareth entangleth himself with the affairs of

this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."

That is what is wrong with people today. They come to church with

everything else but God on their minds. They wonder what clothes they are

going to wear. They wonder if someone is going to pay them, or if they are

going to be cheated out of their money. They wonder if they are going to

get fired. They are afraid for the sun to rise and they are afraid when it

sets. They come to church with all of these things on their mind; and the

Bible that a Carnal Mind is an enemy of God. And to be Carnal minded is

death.  (Romans 8;7)

 

 I've told this before, but it is worth telling again, of an Eagle that was

in a zoo and they had cracked his wings so he couldn't fly. They became

neglectful, and one day that Eagle made his escape and flew some 35 miles

before he became exhausted and had to land. He landed on a farmer's house,

and the farmer went out to see the Eagle. He tied a rope to the Eagle's

leg, and that Eagle began to walk back and forth. He would walk to the end

of the rope with his head in the air, and would just keep on walking,

wasn't paying any attention to anyone. The dogs began to bark at him, the

chickens cackled at him, the boy threw rocks at him, the cows bellowed at

him; but that didn't faze that Eagle at all. He just kept on walking, not

paying any attention to what was going on around him. The next day the zoo

put an ad in the newspaper saying, we have lost our Eagle, if anyone finds

him, please call this number. The farmer called the number and they came

out to see their Eagle. The farmer said, wait a minute before you pick that

Eagle up, I want you to tell me something. I have had that Eagle tied ever

since he has been here, and he hasn't paid any attention to anything that

is going on around him. He keeps that head high in the air.He walks back

and forth. My dogs have barked at him. My chickens have cackled at him. My

boy has even thrown rocks at him, but it doesn't even phase him, he just

keeps on walking, please tell me why ?They said, we'll tell you why. That

Eagle knows that one of these days there is going to be a great big Eagle

fly over and he is going to give out a scream. If that Eagle is listening

to those chickens cackle, the dogs bark and your boy throwing rocks and

everything, then when that Eagle comes over and gives a scream, he'll never

hear it. He will have to stay there and suffer until he dies. But if that

Eagle comes across and gives that scream and he calls back to him, then

that great Eagle will swoop down and untie the cord that has him bound, or

if he cannot untie the cord, he will kill him. He will not leave him in

that kind of shape.

 

   If you have got your mind and your hearing in tune with this world when

the Trump of God sounds, you will not hear IT. You will be left here to

suffer the awful wrath and indignation of God. You are not to be entangled

with the things of this world. We are to be Pilgrims and Strangers in

search of a City which hath Foundation whose builder and maker is God. We

are to keep the Fire of God burning inside of our bones. When God came

down, He was the One who Lit the Fire, but it was left entirely up to the

Preist to keep that Fire going after God had Lit IT. It was God that got

that Fire going inside of our hearts, BUT IT IS LEFT UP TO US to keep that

Fire of God burning.

 

   You say, how can I keep IT burning? You keep it burning by

praying,fasting,giving,sanctifying yourselves-----being set apart that you

might be a good Soldier in the Army of God. Don't let the Devil snuff out

that Fire. He is the enemy of your soul. Our Warfare is not against flesh

and blood, but it is against principilaties and powers and Spiritual

wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6;12)  For our adversary the devil

has gone forth as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ( 1 Peter

5;8) He has gone forth, yea, even with greater measure in these last days,

because he knows that his time is short. He is not some little Sunday

School boogie man with a pitch fork in his hand and a flaming tail, but he

is the principalities, he is the powers,he is the adversary, he is the

enemy of your soul.

 

  The thing that most people don't know is that the devil has every one of

the characteristics that you and I have. He can talk, for we read where he

came out screaming with loud voices. (St.Mark 1;23,26 and 4;1,13) The devil

has intellect, for he told Jesus that we know that you are the Son of God.

(Luke 4;33,35) He can testify, for we read where the damsel that followed

the Apostle Paul said, these men are the servants of the most High God,

which shew unto us the way of salvation. (Acts 16;16,18) But after many

days Paul became vexed and cast the devil out of her. The devil also has

emotion, for the Bible said, that the devil knows that there is One God and

he trembles. (James 2;19) So, the devil has every one of the

characteristics that you and I have. It is time that you realize that the

devil is not some bogey-man with a pitch fork in his hand, but he is your

adversary, he is your enemy and has come to steal, to kill and to destroy.

(John 10;10) Every time that I am tempted, it makes me hate the devil more.

Every time I hear of a war torn soldier, I hate the devil even more. Every

time I hear of a cancer ridden body, I hate the devil even more. What the

Chuch needs today is more hate for the devil. They talk to him, live with

him, let him ride on their backs, but it is time that you rise up and begin

to shake yourself, and realize that is is time to GET ON FIRE FOR GOD !

 

  I will be so glad on that day, when MY Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

comes and plants His foot on the Mount of Olives and cries, the earth is

mine and the fulness thereof. Not half of it, not part of it, but the earth

is mine and the fulness thereof.  God doesn't share anything with the

devil. That's why I want to be Like Jesus. He came that HE MIGHT DESTROY,

DESTROY, THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL. (1 John 3;8) I have walked with Him in the

Word of God. I watched Him there near the tomb of Lazarus as He bagan to

cry over one that He loved. I watched Him cry out with a loud Voice and

say, Lazarus come forth. I watched Him at the funeral procession; Jesus

stopped it there and told the woman's boy to come to Life again. I saw Him

as He stood before 5,000 hungry men, women and children; Jesus prayed and

then he began to break bread off of bread, and fish off of fish until He

had fed them every one. I saw Him stand before that raving mob one day as

they shouted, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him." I saw Him

reviled on, yet He reviled not again. I saw Him as He was led as an Ox to

the slaughter, as a sheep before the shears is dumb, so He opened not His

mouth. I saw Him go to the garden, there telling His Apostles to stay awake

for an hour, but they couldn't. He came back and said, stay awake, stay

awake for just one hour. Later He came back and found them asleep. He woke

them up and said, It's alright now, I've cried, not My Will, but Thine be

done. I saw His there on the Cross of Calvary, as He hung there between

heaven and earth, Life and death, and said the most beautiful words, which

are, "Father,forgive them, they know not what they do." I saw Him there as

He hung on the Cross and He said, "It is finished." Sin and sickness and

all of the enemies of the human race were then conquered along with death,

hell and the grave. HIS VICTORY GAVE US POWER OVER THE DEVIL. Jesus said,

"As the Father has sent Me, SO SEND I YOU." Heal the sick, raise the dead,

cleanse the Leper, loose the bans of wickedness and let the oppressed go

free.

 

  I want to be a True Soldier, just like my Jesus was. As you look in

history, you can see that many great men-----Emperors that rose and

Emperors that fell-----Kingdoms have come and Kingdoms have gone.

 

  One day I enlisted in the Army of the Lord, and I am here to tell you

that I am fighting for a Kingdom, and to this Kingdom there shall be no

end. When it comes my time to die, I want to leave this world in a blaze of

Glory, just like the Apostle Paul. Bro.Paul said, I've fought a good fight,

I've kept THE FAITH and henceforth is laid up for me a crown of

Righteousness, and not only to me, but unto all those who love His

Appearing. ( 2 Tim.4;7,8)

 

  I watched the news the other evening and saw a demon possessed man ride a

motorcycle through a bunch of burning hay. He rode all the way through it

and then when he got to the end, he turned that motorcycle around and began

to ride through it again. This time he did not make it, the flames gripped

his body and he burnt to death. He died the death of a fool, but I am here

to tell you, that when I die, I want to die fighting IN THE ARMY OF THE

LORD.! I don't want to go out of here dying like some maniac or some fool,

but when I die, LET ME DIE IN THE ARMY OF THE LORD ! AMEN !

 

 Conclusion.....May this great sermon be a blessing to all that read it.

Sincerely,Nathan Miller.