If you have your Bibles this morning, turn to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 1. Don't worry, I'm not going to continue Sunday school. 1 Timothy chapter 1. Glad you're here this morning. Everything alright? 1 Timothy chapter 1. If you're a visitor here this morning, I don't know everyone, please don't hold what I say against this church. Come back here, Pastor Andrew, and I'll explain the Sunday school. I call him Andy because he's always been my little Andy and he grew up so I think everyone here around calls him Andrew. So if I refer to him as Andy, that's why. I told a story about whenever I set him on the washing machine, I went to change the laundry and I bent down and I put it in the dryer and looked up and he was gone. He fell over. I've had a lot of memories with Andy and I'm proud of him. And I mean that in a godly way. I mean, I'm happy that he's serving God, living for God, and I appreciate your encouragement and help. He loves this church. He calls me every time he leaves here. He probably doesn't want me saying anything, but he talks about who's here and what's going on, and he's just excited about your lives in this church and what God's doing. And I know He's going to appreciate, and I know He's going to ask me when I call Him, well, who was there? Well, I don't know. There's faces there, people everywhere. But His heart is here. He called me yesterday and He says, you got your message ready? I said, I'm working on it. He said, well, you better get something ready for them people. I want them people to be fed. I want them to be encouraged. I want them to be helped because He loves you. And I know he's hard on you sometimes, but sometimes, you know, a pastor has to be. If you're a parent in here, sometimes you've got to be hard on your children, do you not? I mean, if you love them. I had a friend of mine one time said his goal in life was to never tell his child no. Boy, you don't want to raise a brat. You don't want to raise a brat. And you want to, sometimes you have to say things and do things that your children may not like. Well, as a pastor, you have to do things. Listen, as a pastor, I did things. I did things I didn't like. I didn't agree with. So you may not agree with some things the pastor does, or sometimes he doesn't even agree with what he's doing. But sometimes you just got to do different things. But I appreciate you being here. I hope and pray it's a blessing. Like I said, don't hold anything I say against the church. If you're a visitor here, come back and listen to him and see what God has for you here. Amen? Let's pray and then we'll get right into the message. Our Heavenly Father, Lord, we pray, God, that you would touch this morning's message. God, we pray that you would do a work, a spiritual work, a heavenly work, Father, a work that I cannot do. Lord, the words that are coming out of my mouth are carnal, are fleshly. But God, if the Spirit of God will move in, if the Spirit of God will work and touch, God, something may be accomplished today, Father, that would encourage us, strengthen us, draw us closer to Thee, Father. That's what we need. Lord, we've heard from the world this week. We've heard from everybody else this week. God, we need to hear from heaven. We need to hear from You today, Father. God, I pray, Father, whatever it is that's on our hearts, whatever's on our minds, Lord, may we set it aside just for a few moments. and concentrate and think about and hear what you have to say. Father, help us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The title of the message is, No Surrender. No Surrender. 1 Timothy 1, look in verse 18. 1 Timothy 1, verse 18. 1 Timothy 1 verse 18 says, This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before thee, that thou biest them, mightest war a good what? A good warfare. Paul tells Timothy, we're in a battle. We're in a war. We're in a struggle. And the Christian life can be a struggle sometimes. Turn to 1 Timothy 6, verse 12. 1 Timothy 6, verse 12. To war, a good warfare. And the Bible lays out our armor and our different things. We're not going to really get into that. But I'm just trying to show you this morning that as a Christian, we're in a battle. We're in a war. We're in a struggle. 1 Timothy 6, verse 12, 1 Timothy 6, verse 12, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called, also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. But Paul's telling Timothy, we're in a battle, we're in a war, and you're going to have to fight a good fight. Christian life is not for wimps. The Christian life is not for sissy. The Christian life is not for cowards. Because if you live for God, you try to accomplish anything for God, it's going to be a struggle, it's going to be a fight, and it's going to be difficult at times. And Paul's telling Timothy, it's not going to be all sunshine and roses. It's not all going to be rainbows. It's not going to be kumbaya all the time. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. One book over. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 1. Yeah, he's got you all trained to say that, doesn't he? Amen? Sometimes that's probably the only way you can get people to say amen, but that's okay, that's alright. 2 Timothy 2, verse 1. It's just funny how, and preachers always say it, you know, boy, you go to a football game and you shout and you holler and you come to the house of God, we can't get boo out of you. We can't get anything out of you. It ought not be that way. We ought to be excited about the things of God. And let me say this, if you can't get excited about the things of God, that ought to alarm you. That should concern you. You say, preacher, I just don't get excited about spiritual things. I don't get excited about the Bible. I don't get excited about God. I don't get excited about those type of things. You know what that would do to me if I come to that place where I couldn't get excited about God, where that wasn't my life, my focus. There was no joy in my Christian walk with God. You know what I would do? Just because I know I need help from God, I'd get on an altar. I'd go somewhere and get along with God and say, God, I need help. I want my joy back. I want my excitement back. I want to be thrilled about the things of God, and I'm not feeling it. Don't just stay in your condition. Do something about it. Did not David pray, restoring to me the joy of thy salvation? 2 Timothy 2 verse 1. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I can get off on rabbit trails really easy. So I'll try to stick to my notes. 2 Timothy 2 verse 1. Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness as a what? as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth and tangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath called and chosen him to be a soldier." So Paul's telling Timothy, you've got to fight the good fight. There's a warfare going on and you need to endure hardness. And then Paul uses the illustration of a soldier at war. Paul used the illustration. God did. I didn't. So what we're going to look at this morning is a soldier. We're going to look at the illustration of what a soldier has to endure, has to go through. And the Christian life can be a battle sometimes. It's not all the time. It's not 24-7. You're not fighting all the time, but you're going to be fighting a lot of the time. You're going to be struggling. Listen, we've got the world, the flesh, and the devil to contend with every day. And you know who our biggest enemy is? Probably our number one is the flesh. It isn't so much the world. It isn't so much the devil. We can't get past our own flesh. We can't get past our own desires, our own wants, and our own wills, and our own life. Apostle Paul said, he died daily. Maybe that's why he was such a successful Christian, because he conquered the first thing first. We need to wake up every morning and decide, look in the mirror and say, we're going to do what God wants us to do, we're not going to do what you want to do. And if we do that, that'd be just one hurdle that we'd get, but we can't get past the first one. Most of us can't even, you know, the flesh gets the victory first thing in the morning, almost every morning, you know how, because we hit the snooze button. First thing in the morning, boom, snooze goes off, alarm goes off, you hit snooze, and you lay back down, flesh has already won round one. Amen. Flesh has already won round one. We can't get up early to pray. We can't get up early to read the Word of God. The flesh has already got us. And I'm preaching to myself. I'm just as guilty. The Christian life can be a battle sometimes. The Bible says all they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer what? Every one of us. Maybe that's why we don't live godly sometimes. Maybe that's why we don't stand up sometimes. Maybe that's why we don't step out for God and declare our allegiance to God. Because we don't like the persecution that comes with it. We don't like the adversary things that comes with it. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to try you. As a child of God, you're going to go through some trials. You're going to go through some hardships. You're going to go through some difficulties. There's no doubt about that. The Apostle Paul understood all of that. Turn to 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11. Now, if you go to Joel Osteen's church, and I know Andy rails on him and I do too, you're not going to hear about difficulties and hardships and trusting God and believing in God and getting closer to God and living a holy and a separated life. You're not going to hear those things. He's going to tell you about how wonderful life can be and how to have better relationships and those type of things. But listen, that's not true Christianity. That's not Bible Christianity. Every saint of God, every prophet of God, everybody that stood up in this book for God was persecuted and most of them, 98% of them were crucified, killed, murdered for what they believed. Hardship, soldiers, warfare. 2 Corinthians 11 And that's probably why a lot of people quit. Probably why a lot of people give up. They don't want to endure that stuff. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 23. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 23. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more. Now listen to this. Listen to what the Apostle Paul had to endure. He knows when he's telling Timothy, listen, this life can be hard. This life can be a struggle. This life can be difficult. Paul is speaking from experience. I am more in labors, more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths off. Of the Jews, five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck a night and a day have I been in the deep. in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils of the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness, in painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger, in thirst, in fastings often, in cold, in nakedness. And Paul said, besides all those that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." Boy, none of us have even... 3% of what the Apostle Paul had to endure and encounter none of us have had to deal with. But he didn't quit. He didn't surrender. He didn't give up. He didn't throw in the towel. And Paul has given Timothy, a young pastor in the ministry, and we showed you in Sunday school that he was the first pastor of the church that he was at. And he's telling Timothy, it's going to get hard. It's going to get difficult. You're going to go through struggles, strives, troubles. Endure hardness. Endure it, Timothy. Don't run from it. Don't hide from it. Don't try to get out of it. Endure it. Did he not say endure it? As a good what? As a good soldier. Now, I don't know if anybody in here has been involved in warfare, gunfight, life on the line. Listen, you don't get a potty break in war. You don't get a lunch break. Well, my eight hours is up, so I'm going to clock out now. You don't get to do that in war. You don't get to pick your circumstances. You don't get to pick your surroundings. You know what you need to do? You need to endure it. You need to get through it and not give up and surrender. I'm going to preach a message this morning on no surrender. This book was written by Hiro Noda. He was a Japanese soldier who was put on the island of Lubang in December of 1944 and was told to secure the island, to scope it out, get the lay of the land, commit guerrilla warfare. He was given three orders. He couldn't kill himself. He had to secure the island, and he had to wait, and he couldn't surrender. He could not surrender. So in December of 1944, he's put on the island, with some other Japanese soldiers. In February 1945, just a couple months later, the American and Philippine forces invaded the island of Lubang, and that's where he was at. Every Japanese soldier was either killed or surrendered, but four. There were four Japanese soldiers on the island of Lubang. That was February 1945, and September 2nd of 1945, Japan officially surrendered. Hero Onoda fought World War II for 30 years after it was over. True story. 30 years after the war was over, Hero Onoda continued fighting World War II. No help, no assistance, no anything. And we're going to look at some of the things. Listen, the Apostle Paul said endure hardness as a what? A good soldier. Would you not say that he was a good soldier? Don't you think he endured some hardness? And if anybody wants to read this book, I want it back. I will get your name, social security, telephone number, your place of address, where you were, and three references before I let you take this book. But if you want to read it, I'll let you read it. It's a fascinating story. But he was told to survey the island, destroy the airships, and the pier at the harbor. He was to commit guerrilla warfare. He was told to occupy it until they returned. He was told he couldn't surrender. And he could not commit suicide under any situation. That's what he was trained to do. In September of 1949, one of the four surrendered. Akatsu, and I know you don't know who these people are, but four years after the war was over, Akatsu said, you know what, fellas, I had enough. I'm quitting. I'm giving up. So he quit. In May of 1954, nine years after the war was over, Shimada was killed fighting the Philippine forces. Listen, they're still committing guerrilla warfare. They're still killing people. They're still burning rice fields. They're blowing up the pier. They're blowing up the harbor. They're blowing up the airstrip. I mean, they're committing. The war was over in 1945, and in 1954, they're still doing guerrilla warfare. October of 1972, 27 years after the war was over, another fellow, Kazaku, was shot and killed by the Philippine police, leaving only Lieutenant Onoda. all by himself on the island of Lubang, carrying out what his orders were. There's five areas you're going to be tempted to surrender, and that's what we're talking about. Paul's telling Timothy, endure hardness, stick with it, stay with it. There's going to be five areas in your life where you're going to be tempted to surrender, where it gets hard, it gets difficult, or things come up, and we're going to look at those five things. I'm going to give them to you real quick. Number one, because of the conditions. Number two, because of the crowd. Number three, because of the quitters. Number four, because of the coverage. And number five, because of kinship. You'll quit because of those things. You'll be tempted to quit because of one of those five things. Number one, a good soldier doesn't quit because of the conditions. Do you understand he's living in a Philippine island in a jungle for 30 years? You know, you see these TV shows where people go survive a couple weeks. That's impressive. I wouldn't want to do it. Who wants to go live out in the wilderness for a couple weeks? I wouldn't want to do it. Try 30 years. How are you gonna line up with Hiro Noda who lived 30 years? Listen, we're talking no cell phones, no internet, we didn't have those type of things then. Listen, no hospitals, no Krispy Kreme, no McDonald's, no Outback, no TV, no sports. I'm talking, yeah, I mean, listen, he was given an order and was told what to do, and he did what he was told. He endured some hardness. He talks about not being able to find a place to sleep because there were ants everywhere. He would get bit so much, his ears and his head would swell up. He couldn't hear for weeks. You imagine no matter where you go, there's no place to lay. There's ants everywhere. They're biting him every night. He talked about rainy seasons. It would rain for three months straight without a day of nonstop rain. Can you imagine? You've got to find a place to sleep in these environments. endure hardness, endure some difficult things. A good soldier doesn't quit because of the conditions. Do you not see that his conditions were awful? Can you not imagine? I mean, I can't do it justice. I can't even begin to describe to you what it was like to live 30 years on an island without a pillow, without a place to lay your head, without a bed, without a change of clothes, without new underwear. We just go on and on and on. His situation was really bad, and like I said, I can't even begin to describe it. And in this life, you're not going to have to endure those type of things. Ours are more spiritual. Ours are more flesh. Ours are more a desire to follow God or be persecuted, those type of things. But listen, in this life, you can have financial difficulties. And listen, if you've got a financial hardship, I'm not going to belittle your situation. It's hard. If you live in this country and you're having a hard time, it can be difficult, and it seems to be getting worse and worse. It seems like no matter what you do, you just get further and further behind. You could have a physical hardship. You know, there are people who go to the doctor and get bad news that are believers in God, that's been faithful to God, that's always been in the house of God, that's always prayed, Oh God, why me? You can have emotional issues. They're real. I'm telling you, they're real. I'm not going to say that. The Lord won't let me. You can have a death of a loved one. My mom died one year ago, just a few days ago. Love my mom. Talk to her all the time. If you've lost the death of a loved one, if you've had to endure that, it's hard. That's difficult. Thank God, I know she's saved and I know I'll see her again. Sometimes we question God because of our conditions. We think just because we're saved, we're followers of God, God's going to bless and God's going to prosper in everything. Our cupboards are always going to be full. The gas tank's always going to have gas. We're never going to have any problems. You don't get that out of the Word of God. Now you get it from Joel Osteen, but you don't get it from the Word of God. Yea, all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Think it not strange concerning the fire of trials which is his trials. Man that is born of woman is few days and full of what? Trouble! You're going to quit because of the situation? You're going to quit because of conditions? Things aren't perfect? Well, God, you didn't work this out in my life, so I'm giving up. I'm throwing in the towel. I'm surrendering. I'm quitting. I hope you don't stand behind the Apostle Paul at the judgment. Can you imagine your puny little excuse? Oh, God, I just had this or that, and so I quit. And there you are, standing at the judgment. You stand behind the Apostle Paul. He goes down that list of all the things that he had to endure. He's not the only one. There's many saints of God that's endured way more than you and I will ever think about. And we're going to be standing behind them at the judgment, and then it's our turn, and we're going to be like, well, God, I failed you. You ain't going to have the courage to get it out, because you'd be so embarrassed and ashamed. And I'm not belittling your situation. I'm not belittling your condition. I understand. Things do get difficult. Endure hardness. Don't give up. Don't surrender. Don't quit. That's the whole thing of the message. Timothy, endure hardness. Endure some difficult things. Don't just run out and quit on the first thing where conditions aren't perfect. Conditions will never be perfect. Were the conditions perfect for John on the Isle of Patmos? No. Were the conditions perfect for all the apostles? No. Did they quit and surrender on God? No. One of the greatest books you'll ever read is the Fox's Book of Martyrs. It gives recounts of stories of people who had to die for their faith. Who would not recant that they believed in God. Who would not recant the Word of God. And then our washing machine tears up. My God, I'm done. I can't believe it. God, you're going to let me down like this. I even gave money at the church. I went to use a washing machine and it don't work. I've had enough. I can't take it. That is the straw that broke the camel's back. Yeah, go read the Fox's Book of Martyrs. Read about the saints of God. Read about missionaries who've left families, who've left loved ones, who've left grandkids, who've left everything that this world, America, has to offer. to go live in a jungle somewhere ministering to pygmies. And you're going to quit, and you're going to give up, and you're going to surrender over something. Listen, you live in the greatest country in the world. The poorest of this country live better than kings have lived thousands of years ago. Do you realize a king never lived in an air-conditioned room? A king never had a cell phone. A king of any kingdom, of Rome, never had internet. They didn't have the conditions, the lights that we have. God's blessed this nation. God's blessed us. And I'm not belittling your situation, but I'm telling you, when you compare it to what others have gone through, and who you're going to stand behind at the judgment, I'd hate to quit on God over something trivial, over something like that. Hero noted he didn't quit because of the conditions. Listen, he had a friend that did. He said, I had enough, and I can't buy on. A good soldier doesn't quit because of the conditions. Number two, a good soldier doesn't quit because of the crowd. Listen, the whole world was telling Hiro Onoda to quit. The whole world! They dropped leaflets from airplanes telling Onoda, Onoda, man, the war's over! Quit! Japan surrendered in 1945! They're dropping leaflets. They're walking around with a bullhorn because they knew he was out there. He's still committing guerrilla warfare. They're still fighting against them. And they're trying to... QUIT! Hiro, quit! Man, the war's over! And he won't quit. He won't stop. The war really was over. Japan really did surrender. Hiro Onoda wouldn't quit. They're trying to convince him. The whole world is telling him. Onoda, quit! He wouldn't quit. And when you read the book, he got the leaflets. He saw it. He didn't believe it. Japan would never surrender. Japan would never... This is just... I don't believe it. He wouldn't quit. I admire somebody who won't quit. Just, I mean, by God, I don't care what the rest of the world says, I ain't quitting. You know what they told Martin Luther? They said, Martin, the whole world is against you. Do you know what Martin Luther's response to that was? The whole world is wrong. I like that. I don't care if the man is wrong about something. I like somebody who'll stand up and just be defiant, so I don't care what everybody else... Listen, you read the story of David and Goliath? Everybody was scared of the giant. Nobody wants to fight him. You know what little David says? He comes out and says, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that defies the armies of the living God? Well, if you're a man in here this morning, that does something for you. You ain't a man. You're something else. There's something about a man that'll just say, listen, I'll fight him. I'll take him on. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? And you got Martin Luther there, the whole world was against him. He stood up against the Roman Catholic Church at a time when it was a death sentence. He said, Martin, the whole world's against you. He said, well, the whole world's wrong. Woo, I like that. Something about that gets you fired up, man. I tell you, when I was a young man, I watched a movie one time on the Alamo. If you ever read the story, you know the story behind that. There's a few men in there fighting against Santa Ana and the Mexican army. You know what they said? We ain't leaving. Yeah, they died, but they stood up. Their names will be embracing on an altar or on a plaque somewhere. When you're dead, you're just going to be on a little graveside. We're all going to die. Won't you go out in a blaze of glory? Amen. Won't you go out with somebody knowing who you are and what you stand up for? I remember watching that, and I ain't gonna lie, I cried. I watched the movie. They're coming in there and killing them men. There's just something about somebody just standing up and saying, I don't care. We ain't giving up. We ain't surrendering. We ain't gonna stop. We're not gonna run. Here I stand. Martin Luther wrote a book called Here I Stand. I like somebody telling me what they believe. I ain't talking to somebody, and on one side of their mouth they say this, and the other side of their mouth they say that, and you really don't know what they believe. Man, just say what you believe and deal with the consequences. Martin Luther said, the duty of every believer. I like one more study about Martin Luther the more I like him. The duty of every believer in every age is to find out the spirit of that age and then stand against it. I agree with that. The world has never accepted this book. The world has never accepted God. But we want to conform to it. We want to blend in. Get along. The Bible says, if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That's what the Bible says. If you love this world more than you love that book, you don't love God. He that is not with me is what? See, God likes distinctions. God likes clarity. God likes definitive. You're either with God or you're not. You're either on God's side or you're not. This is what you believe, this is what you don't believe. So many Christians are caught up with the fads, fashions, philosophies of this world. Do you know the Bible calls us to be a peculiar people? We don't want to do that. We want to blend in, get along. We want to be undercover agents for God. We do. We do. We go out because we don't like persecution. We don't like the problems that come with it. You know what the average Christian is consumed about? Who's going to win American Idol? What movie's coming out that's got my favorite Hollywood actor? Well, I can't wait to see that movie. I know I'm in Alabama, and I like football just as much as anybody else, but we're about to come into football season. But football season ought not be our motivating factor. I like football. Don't get me wrong. I'm gonna watch it. I ain't gonna lie to you. Right there in front of me, I'm gonna be yelling and screaming. It's like I yell and scream up here. But that's not my main focus. That's not where my love is. Amen? A good soldier doesn't quit because of the condition. And he had some bad conditions. I can't even begin to describe you the conditions. You just would not believe the conditions this man had to endure. A good soldier won't quit because of the crowds. Because everybody else is quitting. Or because of the crowds I meant. A good soldier, number three, doesn't quit because others do. In 1949, Akatsu, one of the four, surrendered. He wasn't killed, he wasn't shot. He just walked off. Just walked off. It's discouraging when people quit on God. In certain wars, I've read stories that if you're in a battle and you defect, you run off, they shoot you. They'll shoot you. You ever heard of that? Do you know why? Who in here would like to guess why they would shoot you if you're in a battle, you're in a war, especially having a lot during the Civil War. If you're in a battle, you're in a war, and somebody runs off, why do they shoot that man? Huh? He's a traitor. But what happens if he leaves? Everybody else is going to leave. See, it's discouraging when people quit on God. It's discouraging when you're in a war, and you see Johnny or Ted or Frank, and they're turning and running, and they're going to live just like in that war with the Alamo. There's a name, I forget the name, I'm not going to say it, but there's one man who did leave, and his name is Mud in Texas to this day. He didn't stay and fight. But anyway, you're in a battle, you're in a fight, and you start seeing people run off. What are you going to be tempted to do? You're tempted to run off too. A good soldier doesn't quit because others do. In 1945, every Japanese soldier, in February 1945, every Japanese soldier on that island, I still can't get a definite number, but I think it was in the hundreds, half were killed and the other half surrendered. They gave up. But in 1949, one of his closest friends, Akatsu, who had lived four years on the island, slept on the same floor that Akatsu slept on, fought the same elements, Akatsu surrendered. You know how difficult it is when somebody as close to you quits? It's hard. It's discouraging. There are plenty of people you know who quit on God. Does that mean you quit on God? Does that mean you give up? Does that mean you throw in the towel? No. The Bible says every man shall give an account of who? His friend or himself? Himself. And while it is discouraging, you know people, I promise you, you know people that used to belong to this church. You know people that in your life, they were faithful to God, and they believed the Bible, and they sat in church, and they were faithful to the house of God, and they were faithful. They're no longer doing it. But it shouldn't affect you. It shouldn't make you quit. It shouldn't make you give up. It shouldn't make you throw in the towel. For the sake of time, I won't read it, but in 2 Timothy 4.10, Paul said, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved what? this present world. The Apostle Paul had to deal with it. You're going to have to deal with it, Christian. Just because somebody you love, somebody you care about quits on God is not a good excuse for you to quit. And Akatsu quit, but Onoda didn't quit. Number four, trying to hurry. Number one, a good soldier doesn't quit because of the condition. A good soldier, now we're talking about a soldier who's in warfare, in battle. A good soldier doesn't quit because of the crowds. A good soldier doesn't quit because others quit. And number four, a good soldier doesn't quit because of the coverage. So what are you talking about? The media, the propaganda. I told you earlier they dropped leaflets. Onoda, the war's over. He didn't believe me. He requisitioned a radio. You say, what's that? When you're in war and you steal something, it's called requisitioning. It's OK. It's all right. It's legal in war. You can take whatever you need to take. He would requisition cows. He would requisition anything he needs. Why? Because it's war. He requisitioned a radio. He turned it on. He could pick up radio stations from Australia. And the world was going on. They were talking about the stock market. They were talking about horse racing. Him and his fellow buddies would bet on the horse races. They're still in war now. But when they talked about the war, and they talked about the world going on, you don't notice that about all that? It's a lie. No. In fact, it was the truth. The war was over. But a good soldier, you say, what's your point? The good soldier doesn't believe what this crazy world puts out. And Onoda was convinced that Japan would never surrender. He said every man, woman, cat, dog, child, everything that has breath in Japan will die before they surrender. And a lot of them Japanese soldiers, Hiro Onoda wasn't the only one that lasted as long as he did. There was a few others. Man, they had something about them. They just didn't quit, didn't give up, wouldn't surrender. You gotta like that. You gotta like that. And they dropped newspapers. Actual newspapers. You know what he said? Well, these Americans are pretty good at propaganda. He just was convinced Japan would never surrender. You know what, child of God? A good soldier doesn't quit because of the coverage. So where are you getting at? You realize what ABC, CNN, ABC, I dare say Fox, you realize what they put out has nothing to do with the message of God? Has nothing to do with God. They have an agenda. They have a motive. And if you're a child of God this morning and you love this book, you know what you don't do? You don't believe what the message this crazy world puts out. Because it has nothing to do with God. Nothing. Brother Scott Justice talked about it when I sat here and listened to one of his messages during that revival. He talked about the Supreme Court made that decision about homosexuals being allowed to marry. But he's right. He's absolutely right. You know how that happened? We were conditioned years and years before when they had TV sitcoms. And they had your token homosexual on there who's intelligent, funny, articulate. And Christians sat there and watched that stuff year after year. Now, name me a TV show that doesn't have a homosexual on it. Do you realize they only make up? Professing homosexuals are only about 3-4% of the population. But if you were an alien and you come down from whoever, wherever, and you sit and watch TV, you'd think everybody was homosexual almost. At least half the crowd. But it's an agenda. It's a pushing of something that is against God. And when the Supreme Court did it, nobody said much about it. You don't hear anymore about it. No big deal. Because it's a motive. It's an agenda. The media tells you what they want you to hear. Do you realize what you see, what you hear, and what you read influences you? You know that, right? Why do you think they have advertisements? Why do you think you drive down the road and there's billboards? Why do you turn on your radio? Because it influences you and impacts you? How many times have the media got stuff wrong? I know two situations that I was personally involved with. That was a national story. It went national. And they didn't have the facts right. I told my mom one time, we got in a big argument because I knew something, and she's like, no, it can't be that bad. And it was a few years later, there was another national story. She worked with the Department of Human Resources. She was a secretary to the bigwig, was personally involved with the story. Dan Rather came to Tallahassee, Florida, did this late breaking story on this big break. I don't remember what it was. Me and her would ride 50 miles back and forth to work, 50 miles to work, 50 miles home. We argued and fussed and fought and laughed and cried and talked all kind of stuff because when we're stuck in the car, you know, over about an hour a day, one way, two hours a day. Anyway, mom looked at me and said, they got it wrong. Dan Rather, I mean, big CBS, all the stations were down there, you know, the big satellite trucks, and they didn't have the facts right. Every major story that I've known about, they did not have the facts right. they get something wrong. Have y'all ever known of something in the media reports that isn't right, isn't correct? No, partially true. Did they not just fire... Who's that Williams guy? NBC News. Brian Williams. In 2004, Dan Rather got fired for the same thing. He made up a story about George Bush deserting his post. You say, what's your point? Don't believe everything this world says. Don't believe everything the media says. I was witnessing to a guy one time, telling him about the love of God, the forgiveness of God, you know, those of you that are saved. And I was showing him all this and he stopped and said, wait, wait, wait. If this was true, it'd be on the news. That's what he told me. If this was true, it'd be on the news. You say, what's your point? People listen to that idiot box and they listen to the radio and they believe whatever's coming across that thing. He figured if it was true, it'd be on the news. There was a friend of mine, and I'll give his name because I don't care. He was Darryl Hartley. I worked at Copper and Brass Sales in Dayton, Ohio. Come into work one morning. He said, man, you can't believe what I saw on the news last night. I said, what did you see on the news last night? He said, they had my baby. His wife just had a baby. And they did a story on crack babies. And they showed my baby and said my baby was a crack baby. Honest truth. I'm like, what? He said, yeah. They did a story on mothers having babies who were on crack. And they showed my baby. The camera was on my baby the whole time. They was talking about crack babies. He took them to court and I think he got about $10,000 out of it. But how wrong is that? How wrong is that? That's the media. That's the media. Do you realize the media can ruin your life with just a sheer allegation? You know, they say something, and where's the correction? Page 12C at the bottom paragraph, about that much. Your life's ruined. Everybody already believes something. But I've always said, the seriousness of the allegations outweighs the evidence of the charge. Say, what do you mean? If I accuse you of something so heinous and so bad, the seriousness of the allegation outweighs the evidence of the charge. Just the allegation itself. And the media does it all the time. They do it all the time. Don't believe the media. Don't believe the message this crazy world puts out. I looked up the word media. The means of communication as radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and internet that reaches or influences people widely. Well, that's the truth. That's the truth anytime something happens. We're all home around that idiot box seeing what the pundits say the talking heads a Good soldier doesn't quit number one because of the condition a good soldier doesn't quit number two because of the crowds because everybody else does a good Soldier doesn't quit because other people's quit and a good soldier doesn't quit because of the coverage because of the messages You know, the only message we're to receive This one? This one. You don't make a decision on the will of God off of CBS or NBC or ABC or the newspapers. You make it out of this book. And this world is turning more and more against this book. So you as a child of God, if all your... Let me say this. If you're getting more of ABC, NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN, CNS, BC, I don't care, ABC, DEF, I don't care who it is. If you're getting more of that in your life than this, it will influence you and impact you. You will make decisions based on carnal, worldly, wisdom, philosophy, and knowledge. Then you offer spiritual knowledge. So I'm telling you, you say, why are you harping on it? Because Christians do. They leave this book sitting in the car, laying on the floorboard, laying on the couch, back of the couch, and we just, we sit there and absorb the message this media, the world puts out. And it, come on man, it influences you, impacts you. Look, we're not even saying anything about what's going on now. You don't hardly hear anything else about it. They condition us to be a certain way. I'm gonna move off of it because it's not a popular topic. A good soldier doesn't quit because of kinship. Letters were dropped to Hiro Onoda telling him to quit that were written by his own family. You know what Hiro Onoda said? I don't believe it. His own family. But get this. Hiro Onoda's brother shows up on the island. They gave him a bullhorn. He walks around the island. Hiro Onoda sees him and says, well, that's my brother. And he's saying, Hiro, man, quit. The war's over. Almost 30 years after the war was over, he's back there telling them, quit. And here Herod Notah is looking at his own kinship, his own brother, and he wouldn't quit. You say, why do you say that? You know who will probably be one of your most difficult adversaries in doing something for God? It's going to be your own family. It's going to be mama, it's going to be papa, daddy, brother, sister, wife, in-laws, Well, be the one that's going to cause you a lot of problems. Convince you to quit. Give up and don't do what God's called you to do. A good soldier doesn't quit because of kinship, because of family. And so many have. I know when we were raising our kids, we did things that my own mother fought with me about. Her parents didn't like. But you know what? You do what God's called you to do. You do what God said to do it in spite of what everybody else says. Akatsu, the guy who quit in 1949, came back in 1950 and was telling Onoda, man, really, the war's over. But he wouldn't quit. So not only family will convince you to quit, sometimes your friends will convince you to quit. Sometimes you may have to choose God over your own family. Turn to Matthew chapter 10, and we're almost done. Matthew chapter 10. And it's hard. When you have to choose over your own family, do you go with God, or do you go with your own family? I'll show you what the Bible says, what God said about your family and Him. Matthew chapter 10, look in verse 34. Matthew 10, 34. Saying not that I am come to send peace on earth, I come not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at Berius against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me. I don't have a red letter Bible and some people seem to think that's more important. So I think this is probably in red letters if that means anything to you. But Jesus said, he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Your Lord, your savior, your master, your God said that I didn't. So if you're own family, your own household, your friends, you may have to make a decision sometime. Do you follow God or do you follow your family and your friends? Do you realize in Middle Eastern countries when you become a Christian they hold a funeral for you? They declare you dead. to the family because you left either Judaism or the Muslim faith or a lot of those faiths. When you leave what you were born and raised into and you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, they will hold a funeral for you and you are declared dead to that family. Can you imagine if you were alive and your family did that to you? In February 1974, I'm about done, a man named Norio Suzuki sought to go to the island Lubang and find Lieutenant Onoda and tell him the war's over. And they told his friend, Norio Suzuki's friend, said, man, you crazy? They've sent over his brother. They've dropped leaflets. Everybody's trying to tell him to quit. You're not going to be able to convince him to quit. You're crazy. You've lost, I mean, for 30 years, the man won't quit. What are you going to tell him to make him quit? Norio Suzuki said, I'm going anyway. So he shows up on the island of Lubang. He's got him a little campfire there on the edge of the water. Lieutenant Onoda comes out with a gun and takes all his requisitions, his food, and says, give me all your food. That's what you do in war. And anyway, Norio Suzuki said, man, look, the war is over. And here Onoda talks about it in the book. He didn't believe it. But Norio Suzuki asked him a question or said something that nobody else did. Norio Suzuki said, Onoda, I'll ask you one question. What's it going to take you to quit? What's it going to take? What are you going to need to surrender, to give up, and quit fighting? You're not going to believe what Lieutenant Onoda said. It's a fascinating thought. You know what he said? The only one thing. He said, I only need one thing in order to quit. Norio Suzuki said, what's that? He said, I need new orders from my commander. I need new orders. All I need is just new orders. I am following orders. They told me in 1945 to secure the island, to commit guerrilla warfare, and nobody's told me anything any different. Nobody said anything any different. I was given orders. I don't care what the crowd says. I don't care what the world says. I don't care what the media says. I don't care what my family says. I'm not quitting until I get new orders. Boy, you gotta admire that. Suzuki went back to Japan, found his lieutenant, found his commander. He was selling books. He had done retired. He was a bookseller. Japan, the government got his, Major Taniguchi is his name. They put him back in uniform. They flew him to the island of Lubang. They got him there. Norio Suzuki saw him, comes out and says, Lieutenant Onoda reporting for orders. That's a good soldier. All he needed was new orders. Child of God. No matter how difficult it gets. No matter how frustrating it gets. No matter what you've got to go through. You were given orders. You know what they are. When do they change? When God gives you new orders. You don't quit. You don't surrender. You don't throw in the towel. You don't give up. That man endured all kinds of things. He went back to the nation of Japan a hero. He was a hero. Why? And he downplayed it. He said all I did was what I was told to do. He didn't want to. Matter of fact, he moved to Brazil. He didn't want the acclamation. He didn't want the status. He said, all I did was what they told me to do. You want to hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You want to hear that from God? Just do what he tells you to do. Don't give up. Don't surrender. Don't throw in the towel. Don't let this crazy world get you out. Don't let your family get you out. Don't let your own flesh get you out. Don't let the conditions get you out. You stick with God. Endure hardness. as a good soldier.