We Will Remember Them! - Heb 11:39-40

We will remember them ..

November 13, 2011

Hebrews 11:39-40

Introduction

• Friday was Veteran’s Day
• On this day we remember those who defend our country both today and in the past. It includes those in law enforcement and our firemen
• How many of us have been in the military, in the past, or currently?
• On behalf of this congregation, I want to thank you for your selflessness in choosing to fight for our country and freedom
• Soldiers, sailors and airmen fought for our freedom
• They fought in the trenches of Belgium, they fought on the beaches or Normandy,
• They fought in Vietnam, In Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan
• They put their lives on the line in fighting crime, or in rescuing people from the rubble of the twin towers
• Wherever they fought, there is a character profile that goes along with being a veteran
• Today we are going to look at this character profile
• Because each of us is called to be a veteran

Qualities of a veteran

• Care about others
• Captain Joshua Byers, a West Point man born in South Carolina who died in Iraq. When this son of missionaries was given command of a 120-man combat unit, he wrote this to his parents: "I will give the men everything I have to give. I love them already, just because they’re mine. I pray, with all my heart, that I will be able to take every single one of them home safe when we finish our mission here."
• A veteran cares about others
• Veterans whom we remember did not do it out of a selfish desire for glory or honor
• They did it out of a desire to serve humanity
• When our soldiers go to far off lands to fight for the cause of freedom, there is something more important than self that motivates them
• Each of us has been called as a light in the darkness
• We have not been called for our own salvation
• We have not been called to bank brownie points in heaven
• We have been called to make a difference in a dark and hurting world
• A veteran is a person of faith
• Sergeant Major Michael Stack, who was laid to rest at Arlington, wore the uniform for 28 years and is remembered as a soldier’s soldier. The sergeant major must have been quite a guy. When he was a young platoon sergeant, the recruits gave him a nickname: No Slack Billy Jack Stack. By all accounts, he was the kind of man you want in charge of a tough situation. And by the account of his mother, he finished his goodbyes with these words: "Mom, I’m going because I believe in what I am doing. And if I don’t come back, we will meet in a better place."
• We have been called to be men and women of faith
• Without faith we just won’t cut it
• Faith is an essential ingredient of a veteran’s character
• We must believe in what we are doing
• This means it is not a 30- minute a day exercise in devotions
• No, it is the core of our beliefs, at the center of our being
• Heb 11:6
• It takes real living faith to be a Christian
• There will be obstacles and things in our way
• But the kingdom of heaven is stormed by men of violence, with fire in their bellies and a faith that surmounts every obstacles
• A veteran perseveres
• The veteran perseveres to the end
• The battle is not over until it is won
• Veterans kept fighting under terrible circumstances
• In WW1 – the battles in the trenches were horrible
• But the allies persevered until the war was won
• Christians too, can never surrender
• We are engaged in a war that will only be complete when the last enemy has been vanquished
• 1 Cor 15:50-56

Jesus our veteran

• Jesus went before us and fought every battle that we will ever fight
• Hebrews tells us that Jesus was made perfect through sufferings
• This does not mean he was imperfect before,
• But he was perfected and made complete by the suff3erings he experienced
• Jesus loved us more than we can imagine
• He gave up everything to fight to the death so that we might have freedom
• He believed in his cause so that he persisted in absolute and total obedience to his Commander in chief, the whole of his life
• He never once turned and fled from the enemy
• He stood and fought against terrible odds
• But he persevered to the end
• On the cross his last and final words were, "It is finished"
• He had completed the reason why he came here
• And death was swallowed up in victory the moment that Jesus triumphantly rose from the dead!

Conclusion

• Jesus came so that you and I could have freedom
• This is the message of the gospel
• Have you experienced the freedom that Jesus came to give you
• Do you appreciate that Jesus made freedom possible for you?
• you will have the opportunity to accept Jesus today, and experience the freedom from guilt and sin that he came to bring
• Before he came, you would have had to die in your sins
• But he came to give you a new beginning, a fresh start, free from guilt
• Will you surrender your life to Him, today?