What Is a Christian 13 Christian Is a Soldier — James K. Boswell

Thank you very much. That's real lovely singing, and I'm into it, and that means so much too. It's a real joy having you here this morning, and we trust the Lord will bless you and grant you every encouragement for coming along.

Please do me much in prayer regarding the meeting this evening, so I know you'll have some exercise regarding this particular meeting. Maybe someone who has never yet come to the Lord Jesus as the Lord and Savior, let us pray this meeting the very morning when the heart shall open to the Son of God's love.

The Lord brings near with us the joy, and the peace, and the power, and the purity the praise of the Lord Jesus alone can bring. First, now these mornings and evenings we've been looking at the question, who is a Christian?

And we found a Christian is one who belongs to Christ, who witnesses for Christ, and who suffers with Christ. We notice a Christian is a child of God. A Christian is a heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ.

We notice a Christian is one who has been redeemed, and redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you look at Friday night routine, the Christian as an influence, the Christian as an influence, and we'll be getting across all these wonderful names and titles, and this morning we want to go to the soldier, the Christian as a soldier.

The Christian as a Soldier

Now, this is not a toy soldier, a tin soldier, nor a chocolate soldier. A Christian is a real soldier, a real man, a real woman, saved by God's matchless grace, and cleansed by the precious blood of our adorable Lord Jesus.

So, please open your Bible for you at 2nd Timothy, chapter 2. 2nd Timothy, and 2nd chapter 3, the Christian as a soldier. I want you to please read with me verse number one. 2nd Timothy, chapter 2, and verse number one.

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 good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man at war entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for mastery, yet is he not crowned except he strives lawfully.

The husbandmen that labor must first be partakers of the truth. Now, notice verse number one, he is a son. Verse number three, he is a soldier. Verse number five, he is an athlete. In verse number six, he is a husband.

I mean, I like this point. Consider that verse number eight, remember that Jesus Christ, in the seat of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel. Now, notice, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound.

Therefore I am sure all things for the elect say that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Now, notice, it is a faithful saying that if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we believe not, yet we are by the staples, he cannot deny himself. And, there we got the theme of the example. The son, the soldier, the athlete, the husbandmen, and then the example.

And, right in the very center, verse 70, consider and remember Jesus Christ with the Christian as a soldier. Now, the first word I want to give you, the soldier is selected. He is a select man, woman.

I want to get that this morning. All men and women are not in God's army. Oh no! Just all men and all are not in God's family. Remember, first of all, he is a son, then he becomes a soldier. Now, that's very important for us to recognize that.

You see, the Christian is one who is a son of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and because we are sons, then we become soldiers of Jesus Christ. What an honor! What a privilege to be in his wonderful army!

Are you there? We sometimes think, you know, I am a soldier of Jesus Christ. Are you one of his soldiers? If not, I pray this is going to be the very morning for you to recognize something of the value, and the dignity, and the honor, and the glorious privilege of what it means to be in the army of our beloved Lord Jesus.

So, we are selected. We are sons, and then, remember, we're redeemed by the precious blood, just as in Isaiah chapter 35, it speaks there about the king's highway, and those that are walking along the king's highway, they are soldiers, but they are select soldiers.

Who are they? Redeemed. The redeemed shall walk there, and there are clean people who are walking along the king's highway. If they remember, no unclean shall walk thereon. So, thank God this morning, we're redeemed by the blood, we're cleansed by the efficacy, the value of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Soldier Must Be Obedient

Now, are you one of his soldiers? If you are, we're going to look at a few more points. We break the word up to the initial letters, and the next thing I find about the soldier is this. He becomes obedient.

He is obedient. Daniel is going to preach two verses of scripture. Romans chapter six. We're going to use our bible this morning. That's one thing that keeps you awake in such a dull morning. Romans chapter six, please, and reading verse number 16.

This is one of the great classical chapters in the New Testament touching our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. I never tire of it. Now, verse number 16. Know ye not that to whom ye give service to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

But God be thanked that ye were servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form or mode of doctrine which was delivered you. So, the first thought I want to tell you, a soldier is not only select, but he is obedient, and a soldier must obey orders.

Isn't that true? In other cases, I don't like my captain. I don't like my general. I go and start a little army of my own. Oh no! When we're in the Lord's army, we must be submissive and obedient to the best of all lords and masters.

The best general the world has ever known or ever will know is our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. He's referred in as the captain of our salvation, but now we must obey orders. We sometimes sing, you remember, trust and obey.

There's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. If you're obedient, a child is a happy child. If a child is disobedient and out of favor, it's far from happy. Put it in the things of the Lord Jesus.

When we are obedient to his revealed will and submissive to the word of God, then we are obedient children for walking the ways which are well pleasing to himself. The word obedient is a wonderful word, you know.

Go back with me, will you? This time to 2 Samuel chapter 15. 2 Samuel and the 15th chapter, and verse number 15. 2 Samuel 15 verse 15. The king's servant said unto the king, Behold thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.

Notice the words, Behold thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint. And also in another scripture, in 2 Samuel, it says, Obedient is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of lambs.

Obedient, my friends, to God's revealed will, to his revealed word, all what joy this brings into your life and into my life. Remember in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, when the sheep came down from heaven in Acts chapter 10, how the Lord said to Peter, Rise and eat.

And remember what he said, Not so, Lord. Not so, Lord. Now, that is a contradiction in terms. We dare not say not so and Lord in the same breath. Remember that he is Lord, it is just Lord, whatever he may say to us, and there must be obedience to his revealed will and his distinct command.

I wonder, as soldiers this morning, are we obedient to what is revealed to us in his holy word? Remember the word of God said very clearly, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.

Now, this is a distinct commandment. We hear a lot about baptism. Correctly so, and baptism is definitely a commandment, and we should obey that commandment too. As chapter 6 of Romans brings out very clearly, and we should be obedient to this wonderful ordinance of baptism.

I think of the word in Psalm 119, where it says, I sought in my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimony. I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments. Revelation 22, 14 says, Blessed is a man that shall do his commandments.

Matthew chapter 28 says, and the very last verse, I quote the 19th verse also, Christ is standing at resurrection. Psalm is saying, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. Disciple the nation, baptize them in the name of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Ghost.

Teach themselves all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And notice that little personal pronoun, I. I have commanded you. I know I have moved you all the way even to the consummation of the age. So, there you have a distinct command.

In Acts chapter 10, again remember, Peter says, In the name of the Lord I command you to be baptized. So then, my friends, is the truth regarding baptism as a command. Then, furthermore, regarding the Lord's Supper.

What a beautiful ordinance this is, and what a wonderful ordinance, isn't it? The loving request of our adorable Lord Jesus when he said, This do in remembrance of me. What a wonderful, wonderful ordinance.

We thank God for the wonderful privilege we have this morning in that very sweet, blessed, fragrant gathering as we gathered around the Lord Jesus, and we sought to break the bread, a picture of the body given, and for sake of the wine, the blood up poured for an honor, for the privilege.

And you know all my heart was saying, even so come Lord Jesus, even so come today. And remember we do this in view of the coming again of our adorable Lord Jesus, and maybe just we wish for thinking on my part, but I would love the Lord to come when we're gathered, just we were gathered this morning.

There we are gathered, fulfilling his last loving request, this do in remembrance of me, and wouldn't it be wonderful in the very act to hear him say, rise up my love, my said one, and come away far above the clouds.

Oh we can almost hear his footfalls on the threshold of the door, and our souls, our souls of longing to be with him evermore. And so he says, now a new command I give unto you that you love one another.

There's another one, the very same chapter, Romans 6. You know what it says? Yield your members a distinct commandment. Romans 12 .1 a distinct command. I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, represent your bodies a living sacrifice.

2 Corinthians chapter 6, another command, come out from among them. Now that does not mean to come out from other Christians. Oh no, this is something positive, something very much alive. Oh no, I want to get that my friend, where I thought it to come out from evil principles, where not there's not a verse asking to separate from another Christian, none whatever.

I want God to get that across your heart and my heart. Come out from among them and be a successful Lord, and I will receive you. I will be a father unto you, and he shall be my son and daughter. Isn't that just wonderful?

So there it is now, a soldier must be obedient, able to compensate, ready for anything. Isn't that lovely? Lord I am ready to do whatsoever my Lord the King shall command. May God give us grace to be ever submissive and obedient to what he has said.

But I like this one, you know, in John verse 13, where it says, A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another, and by which all men know that your mind is troubled by your love one for another.

You know, I like to see an army that's moving forward in harmonious relationship, and all submissive and obedient to the distinct orders of their commander-in-chief. Isn't that wonderful? And the Lord of John, he himself, is just that.

Go to the Father, shall we? Not only must we think of the soldier being select, and the soldier being obedient, but before I leave this, Mr. George Goodman tells a very interesting story, and this has happened while he was a lawyer back in London, England.

You've probably read some of the books by George Goodman, and his brother Monty Goodman, a very well-known man, an outstanding Bible teacher. I never forget George Mueller, George Goodman rather, at Casey convention, before five thousand people, he stood there with one hand in his pocket, without any notes whatever, and he gave some of the most wonderful exposition I've ever heard, or anyone else has ever heard by the way, because it came up in a various magazines, Bible teaching at its highest, and Romans five, six, seven, and eight, and he just stood there as if he was talking to a great big Bible class, and his heart just overflowed.

Oh, he knew the Lord. The Lord was precious to that dear man, and it's over, I'm going to refer to right now, at that particular convention, a young lady before just two and a half years of age had acquired a desire for strong drinks.

Her daddy, going with length with her, they're trying to require to put a little tube of low sugar into whiskey, and let her suck it, and before she's two and a half, she requires a desire for strong drinks.

She grew up with that desire, she went onto the world, and before she'd been very long in her teens, she was on the street. A Salvation Army girl thanked God for the Salvation Army, and all they're doing is similar work.

A Salvation Army officer, immaculate in her drink, and in her appearance, saw the girl one day, drew near to her an entire stranger, threw her arms around the young girl, and said to her, my dear, I love you, because Jesus loves you.

It struck a chord in the girl's heart. Salvation Army officer took her home to the hospital. There she's cleaned up, cared for, all the time she thought there must be some gimmick in this, something she wants underneath doing all this for me.

She didn't realize the girl was doing it all for the sake of the Lord Jesus, and all those other officers working along with her. But one day, after two or three years, that girl was gloriously saved.

She was completely transformed, her whole life was transformed by the transforming grace of the Lord Jesus. She went through college, she became an officer in the Salvation Army. One day she walked into the office of George Goodman for some legal advice.

He said she was immaculate. She was lit up with a radiance that came from within, a wonderful glow about her, Compton. Her eyes just in the sparkles were full of light. There was a gleam about that girl's smile, and after all the legal transaction had taken place, he said to her, now before you go, I want you to tell me something about yourself.

I know a great deal about your background. I know how you were brought up. I know the life you're living, and now with all the passions and all the desires surging in your young life as a young teenager, longing for satisfaction with these desires, how is it now you're living such a victorious legal life?

And George Goodman looked over that great crown and said, I'll never forget her answer. Sir, prompt obedience, prompt obedience. She said, as far as I know from the moment I identified my whole life with Christ, the moment I was faint-eyed, in fact, I have never denied the Lord anything he's asked of me.

The answer? Prompt obedience. There it is, my friend, there's no other way. There's that line about pleasing to God, and as soldiers of Jesus Christ, there must be prompt obedience to be revealed to us through his holy word.

May God give us greatly true soldiers in this particular sense of the word. Now, go down to the next verse, shall we? Or the next letter, rather, and the word is loyal. A soldier must always be selected and obedient, but he must be loyal.

The Soldier Must Be Loyal

I think it says there in Matthew chapter six, Matthew six and verse number 24. Now, these are wonderful verses. I want you to take them down on your note. Look at them, by the way, afterwards. May I suggest something to you, though?

I understand there are tapes being made of all the conferences' messages, and I've been a blessing to so many already. Some have asked for the tapes that are being made right now. Let me suggest this to you.

Now, some of you can't get me. What I'm talking is I'm talking now. That you get the tapes, and you'll get a disclearing editing without any mispronunciation at all. You'll find the clearest editing on the tapes.

I'll tell you how I know. I was in Victoria some time ago, British Columbia. They were always passing the place out night after night in Victoria Gospel Chapel, and there was a dear man called Monday, a very, very lovely man, whose son is John Monday from Ecuador.

He's a little bit dead, but he never missed a meeting. He felt his presence there was an influence to others. He couldn't always hear me, but he always wanted to be there, you see, because it was an influence to other people.

But, you see, if you recall, there's some nurse there who had been there the first week, said to Mr. Monday, will you take those messages down and take? We want to have them. We're on duty next week, but we want to get those messages.

And he said, you know, Jim, I go home, and for the next hour, I sit down and enjoy your ministry. I enjoy it. Why? Because I'm getting it, and there's no background noise. I hear all the clearest editing on the tapes.

So, there's a suggestion. Well, you're my friend. I don't know which Mr. Willie charges for the tapes, but I think you'll find them worthwhile. Matthew 6, verse number 24. Verse number 24. No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.

Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Now, a soldier must be loyal. He must be loyal to his commander. He must be loyal to his Lord and Master, and beloved soul must weave as soldiers of Jesus Christ. You know, when the Americans, the Southerners and the Northerners, those Yankees came down here, they tried to invade the South, you know, and because the Southerners, they were very correctly stood up and going to fight them back.

I didn't know it was a terrific battle at Rage, long before my day, but I remember reading about this, and there was one man calling he was from the South. But, you know, when the Southerners were winning, he was on their side.

When the Northerners were winning, he was on their side. And, of course, anonymous to the side, no one was really the winner. So, what happened? Both sides were so ashamed of that man. The Southerners put their trousers on him, belonging to their uniform.

The Northerners put their jacket on them, belonging to their uniform. The one shot him through the trousers, the other shot him through the jacket. There was no use to either side. There was disgrace to both sides.

Are we a soldier? Are we trying to run with the hare and the hounds at the same time? Are we pretending to be the Lord? Yet, my friend, our lives denying it, in practice, we're going utterly contrary to what a Lord and Master would have for us.

Thurston tells a story about the bat. The crow and the sparrows had a terrible war, and the bat, when the sparrows were winning, he was on their side. When the crows were winning, he was on their side, and there was anonymous among the birds, and the bat is so downright ashamed of himself, he only comes out in the dark.

He only comes out in the dark. Now, let me ask you, it says right here, let me go and read the verse again. No man can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other, nor thus he cannot serve God and man.

Go back to another Old Testament scripture. First time, 1 Chronicles, chapter 12, and verse 18. Chronicles, the first book, the 12th chapter, and verse 18. Now, these are wonderful verses, and I want you to see them for yourself.

This is one of my most favorite chapters, by the way, in the Old Testament, the 12th chapter of the first book of Chronicles. Verse number 18. I'll read 17 for the connection. 1 Chronicles 12, verse number 17, And David went out to meet them, and Anselm said unto him, If ye become physically unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you.

But if ye come to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers will part their arms and rebuke it. Then the Spirit came upon the Messiah, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side.

Thine are we, David, and on thy side. Now, great David, greater son, is here this morning. He's looking into your heart, he's looking into my heart, and beloved, he's looking for loyalty. He's waiting for you, and he's waiting for me to say triumphantly, Thine are we, Lord Jesus, and on thy side.

Whatever the cost, we're going all the way, no compromising. Oh no, but Lord, you're my Lord, you're my master, you're the captain of my salvation, and Lord, I'm going all the way. Thine am I, Lord Jesus.

Think of that verse again. Not so, Lord. If you profess no, Lord Jesus, you're going to do something this morning that's going to really count. You take that little French, and we dare not say not so, and Lord, in the same breath.

Either you're going to take your pencil or your pen, and you're going to score out not so, and leave Lord. Are you going to score out Lord, and leave not so? Now, what is it? Think of it. I heard one another say, not so.

That means Lord, doesn't it? And from your heart with my heart, you're going to pray, reign over me, Lord Jesus, reign over all within. Make me a loyal subject to thee in everything, and you'll find he'll never disappoint you, he'll never let you down, he'll never do you dirty, he'll never cause you to share needless fear, nor ask you to carry an unnecessary burden.

All today, trust in my friend with all your heart. It happened in Detroit some years ago, after the morning gathering, that is, after the breaking of bread, young teenagers came to me and said, Uncle Jim, that's just a figure of speech, may I talk with you?

We went down to the basement of the chapel, and that young girl began to unburden her heart. She said, you know, I thought I'd been a Christian, but through the ministry journeys I've found out I've never been a Christian, and I've yielded my whole life to Jesus Christ.

She's a very beautiful girl, very attractive young girl, young high school girl. And I spoke to her about her goodness, spoke to her about the temptations at high school, the opposite sex. Her whole heart just flatly unburdened.

At last said, Uncle Jim, I want Christ to be Lord over every part of my body, my spirit, my mind. I want him Lord over all, blessed forever. That very same morning, a woman broke her heart after breaking bread, and she soon found out she'd been breaking bread for years, and she had never been born again by the Spirit of God, and God, by his Holy Spirit, broke a brother right through for himself.

A few months after, Mrs. Barnes and I were way down in the gas vein, down to the bank. We're having meetings down there. Ms. James, we've got a pile of mail. She said, well, let's go down to the beach.

We had never been down there all the time we'd been there. While you gather some shells, I go through my mail. We got down there, and I was sitting on the log right near to the beach. I was busy reading, when I felt somebody sitting down beside me, and I looked up.

Who should it be but this very same girl? Sheila's mother was down there, and other members of the family had come down there for a summer vacation. See, Uncle Jim, when I made that decision there in Detroit, I meant it with all my heart.

I looked up and said, Sheila, you know, this is going to mean a lot. That means you're no longer your own, and the world calls you to some part of land you are here to stay. Yes, Lord. You're going to some particular part here in the homeland.

Yes, Lord. And, if you're placed in some hospital bed to undergo some particular illness, yes, Lord. She said, Uncle Jim, I don't care what it costs. Be the Lord of my life. As long as my money and the other members of the family are saved and brought into the assembly, I'll go through anything.

I've already been killed by a motor car accident since about two years before. What happened? The next day she was in the hospital, and Mariah arrived down there and we went to see her, and that beautiful, charming young girl had been absolutely blown off, and the doctors couldn't find out what the matter was.

Her throat had been paralyzed. I then overnight kissed that girl, and she looked up and said, Uncle Jim, in a very weak voice, it's still Lord. It's still Lord. They visited her every day, and they couldn't find out what was wrong.

They brought her back to Detroit, and they found the hospital there. Now, having meetings at that particular time in Dearborn, I arrived down one night to see her, and there she was lying there near the skeleton.

At ten o 'clock this particular night, I got a phone call. Would I go down? And then we found her in the intensive care. She was unconscious. She was lying like a great big doll, and I knew I'd never see her again here.

We went out to the mother waiting in another room. We wouldn't allow the mother to see her, and the result was this. I told her of the desire in Sheila's heart, and Sheila was willing to go through all that the mother might be saved, and the family might come to the Lord Jesus.

The mother broke down, and she trusted Jesus Christ. Today, the mother and the whole family are in the assembly at Redford. May I pause here, beloved? It's almost crossing me about Lord, Lord. Lord, I surrender all, and you hold back part.

I often think of the Lord, too, because at the summit of the Sermon on the Hymns, we sing, and too, there's a word like Ananias and Sapphira. When the professor gives all to the Lord, for the held-back part, then remember, Peter says, why have you sinned against God?

What is the light of the Holy Ghost? What does the professor give you all while you're holding back part? Oh, friend, no holding back. If you're a true soldier of Jesus Christ, that means absolutely everything upon the altar for Him.

No reserve, no condition. Young Baldwin, the Baldwin thing, an honored student from Yale University, when his father said he wanted to come into the business, said, Dad, it's impossible. When I was there in the classroom at Yale, the Lord spoke to me, and I've given my life without any reserve, and, Dad, I'm going all the way.

So why don't we sing here at this North American concert? Why do you want to bring a student body to the village university? Why must you go to debate? Dad, I've given my life without reserve. I've realized I'm no longer my old.

I've been purchased by the blood of Christ, and I hear the voice saying, you're not your old, you're bought with a price, and, Dad, if I hold back, I'm robbing him. I must hand over the purchased goods to the rightful owner.

Lord, Father, I've done that. I've done that, and, Dad, I'm going all the way. A senator from the house in Washington was asked for his impressions of the greatest impression ever made on his life as a senator.

So, one day, I visited Yale, and I was taken to the mission in New Haven, and I saw there an honored student, a young man heir to millions upon millions. I saw that young man down on his knees with his arms around the bum, and a tear rolling down his face, leading that bum to Christ.

He said, that was the greatest impression ever made in my life. Who was the young man? Gordon. He's on his way to bed, as you know the story. He turned very ill on board. They called in at Malta, and he was dying.

None of them came, and probably got there just in time, and they heard him saying, I gave my life without reserve. I gave my life without retreat. I've given my life without regret, and, beloved, I look round this group here, and none of you, my friend, I take to be under 40.

Let me ask you, lovingly, and I'm over 40 myself, your heart was my heart. Let me ask you, have you surrendered it all to Him? Have you? Can you look up and say to my heart, Lord, you have selected me by thy immense grace, have chosen me to be a soldier, and I have no right to be warring around the things entangling and hindering me from a life well pleasing to Thee.

Lord, I come, and in prompt obedience thy great desire for my life, and out of a heart of true loyalty for Thee I'll call. O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee, for Thou in Thine atonement didst give Thyself to me.

I own no other master. My heart shall be Thy throne. My life I give henceforth to live, O Christ, and for Thee alone. Yes, my friend, the call selected, the call of obedience, and the call to true-hearted, whole-hearted, one-hearted loyalty unto Himself.

Wholehearted Consecration Without Reserve

Which was Livingston from Vancouver. He and I were having lunch together with a doctor in Vancouver. Now, as I was about to conduct his surgery, Wick said to me, Jim, come let us talk together. We went to Stanley Park, that young man in Burleigh Park.

Some of you know him as Dimitri now in Peru. He was then the sales manager for British Columbia for the Heinz 57 variety. He'd been called to Ontario, to Toronto, to the head office, and he offered him the managership for the whole of Canada, with that very fine company.

He asked for one week to consider it. Flying home, a boy says to Wick, when you were in Northern Ireland, you promised you were going to South America, and you've never gone. He tried to shelve it, tied with these issues.

He tried to quieten the boy, but it kept coming. You promised me, in that little gospel chapel in Northern Ireland, you're going to go to South America, and you've never gone. When he got home, his wife and the two children met him at the plane.

They drove home, jovial kind of spirit, having daddy home. Children were tucked in for the night. He sat down to see his wife lying down to his knees, looking straight into his eye, and she said, Wick, I've always loved you.

I love you with all my heart, more to the night, probably than ever before, but while you've been in Toronto, God's been laying South America upon my heart. Pardon? You never discussed it. While you've been in Toronto, oh, I know you've got a wonderful promotion.

I know you've got a wonderful slump on your salary, but God's been laying South America upon my heart, Wick. And, he said these words, three of the elder brethren in 16th and McDonald Street in Vancouver, I know the assembly well, had gone to him, all the men now over 70 years of age, now saying to him, Wick, when I was a young man back in Scotland called Mommy, God laid China upon my heart, and I promised him I was going to China, but Wick, I married a woman who didn't want to go to foreign land.

We've had children, I've preached the gospel, I've given money to the missionary, all these years I've had God's second best. I've had his permissive will, but not his revealed will. A young man, the southern parish said, when I was a young man back in Ireland, God laid Africa upon my heart, I promised to go, but I've never gone.