Soldiers for Christ: 2 Timothy 1:4-18

He was Atticus Finch, lawyer, small southern town, when he was called upon to represent a falsely accused black man.

and he represented him despite opposition, despite being spat upon, despite his family being ostracized. He refused to cave in to the pressures around him and he continued to serve in what seemed like a hopeless cause. He is Sergeant Striker John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima charging into the ice. And even though the bullets are flying, you can count on Sergeant Striker to stand tall and stand strong. He is Maximus, father of a murdered child, husband of a murdered wife, soldier of Rome, standing in the arena against the emperor in all the might of Rome.

They are three young Jewish boys who when the strongest king on earth says you will bow down, they say no we won't. There's something about each of these characters that captures our imagination. There's something about them that makes us want to live life bigger and stronger than we often live. that captures our imagination. I submit to you they all possess an essential quality that we as Christians should have, and it's a quality about which we're going to turn to today as we go to the book of 2 Timothy.

But let's remember where we are as we're doing our study on soldiers for Christ, how to live in enemy-occupied territory. Here's a little quick review from last week. Who wrote 2 Timothy? The Apostle Paul. It's the last in time of the letters that he wrote.

He wrote 13 letters in the New Testament. They're collected from Romans to Philemon. 2 Timothy is the last letter that he pens before his death. where was Paul when he wrote?

What city? He was in Rome, and he was in prison while he was in Rome. Here's a picture, the map. Here's Rome right here, and he's going to write a letter that's going to go over here to this part of the world. But he's in Rome, imprisoned, in a prison called the Mamertinum Prison.

We know this from history. This was the death row for people before they were executed in Rome. And all people probably voted in a small prison here, which you see pictured. Who was the Roman temple at the time? Nero.

Do you remember the story after the fire of Rome? It was Nero that began to blame the Christians and persecute the Christians. Probably in the aftermath, I need to change mics.

I'm echoing to myself.

Is this better? Okay. And after the fire of Rome, he was imprisoned and suffered persecution, as did many Christians. And we read the account from the historian Tacitus where Christians were even burned at the stake during Roman festivals. And the emperor Nero was riding around in his chariot as the Christians burned to light the arena where they were.

To whom did Paul write? His dear son Timothy. You can see him imprisoned in that Mamertinum prison. he misses probably the person who was his closest associate, who he affectionately calls, as he begins the letter, his dear son, Timothy. And he writes to Timothy in the city of Ephesus, which you see right here.

It's part of where modern-day Turkey is. What was Ephesus like? It was a cosmopolitan harbor town But its central attraction Was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world The temple of Artemis The goddess of fertility And you see her image there She was a multi-breasted image The multi-breastedness indicating her being the goddess of fertility It was a place, it was a very difficult place to be a Christian So we're in an era persecution from Rome under Nero, and it's very difficult to be a Christian or to identify with Christian things. Paul is writing to a gentleman named Timothy who lives in a city where the worship and the business is all against Christian things because the temple of Artemis was a place not only of worship, but around that temple, the business enterprises developed and people even sold little small statues and artifacts related to Artemis. And when you started to preach Christ and that Artemis was not the goddess who they said she was, it began to hurt people in their pocketbooks. And we all know that often it is about the economy, isn't it? You hurt my pocketbook, you're going to have trouble for me. So it's Paul that writes to Timothy. In enemy-occupied territory, I'm going to argue that the essential trait in our text for today that we're going to turn to in a moment, the essential trait is the trait of courage. It's the trait that Atticus Finch had. It's the trait that Sergeant Stryker had. It's the trait of Maximus. It's the trait of the three young Jewish boys who would not bow down.

So read with me, 2 Timothy. We're going to start in chapter 1, verse 6.

I'm not sure I can read this. Virginia?

All right, I'm going to try. My print is so small. Yeah, give me that Bible. I left my glasses.

Oh, that's better. Okay, here we go. 2 Timothy, starting at verse 6, chapter 1. For this reason, I remind you to fan into the flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity.

We're going to talk about that word in just a minute. The NIV translates it timidity. but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord or ashamed of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus destroyed death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel, I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am, yet I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. What you have heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day. You know very well in how many ways he helped me.

in Ephesus. Let's pray. Lord, this day as we turn to your word, help us to understand the essential qualities that we need to have in our lives if we're going to be in your army. Help us to be people who desire these qualities, who are honestly willing to examine ourselves to see where we fall short. But I pray that we won't just beat ourselves on the back when we see where we fall short, but instead we will take positive steps to be all that you want us to be.

We ask this in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen. In enemy-occupied territory, we must have courage. There's no doubt that Timothy and Paul lived in enemy-occupied territory. their enemies were seen to a certain extent through Nero and his forces.

But the enemy in our series, the enemy is behind the scenes. It's Satan and all of those spiritual foes that oppose the things of Christ. It's a real dimension to life. It's a dimension that we see with our own eyes when we see people like Nero. who were certainly Satan's servants, carrying out Satan's causes to persecute the church.

But let's remember that we're talking primarily when we're talking about the enemy, about those spiritual forces that oppose the things of Christ. What was true in Paul's day is true today. There are spiritual forces today that oppose the things of Christ. So we live in enemy-occupied territory, at least for now. already invaded and the rightful king says he's coming back to take complete control someday but until that day we are his soldiers in his army living in enemy occupied territory and we need courage to live here what are the essential qualities of courage having courage means first that we must, as soldiers of Christ, serve Christ with passion.

With passion. You see that in the text where Paul says in verse 6, fan into the flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Paul has already recounted how Timothy has a heritage of faith through his grandmother and his mother. He's recounted how Timothy has a genuine faith. But he says to Timothy, since you are a person of faith, you've got a gift from God, and it's important that you fan that gift into a flame.

In other words, that gift must be used with an intensity in the service of Christ. And it's the picture of a coal that has fire already, but it's fanning that cold so that it burns with a fierce and intense heat. That's the kind of service that we're supposed to provide to our Savior. We're supposed to serve Him with intensity. It is not to be a halfway sort of service that we provide to Christ.

When the battle is raging, we're not to shrink back. We're not to hide in our corners. We're not to timidly turn from the enemy. we should serve Christ with a more intense passion than we ever have. Jesus is not interested in lukewarm service. And lukewarm service will not stand in the heat of battle. If you're only lukewarm when you go into the battle, if you're only halfway about the things of Christ, persecution will bring that out. Persecution has a great effect on the church. It weeds out the true from the false, the committed from the uncommitted, those who burn with passion from Christ as opposed to those who don't. So I think that Paul is telling Timothy in the midst of this persecution that we're facing from Rome, in the midst of the persecution that you face as a pastor in Ephesus, to have a passionate intensity about what you do. You've got to fan into flame that gift that you already have from God. There must be passion. Do you see much passion in the service of Christ?

Unfortunately, I think we often don't see passion. We see sort of the lukewarm stuff. one day Christ tells us he will spew the lukewarm from his mouth so make no mistake I think Christ wants intensity in service and that's what Paul called upon Timothy to give that takes some courage doesn't it particularly in the midst of a world that often opposes the things of Christ to serve Christ with passion, to flame for Christ, to burn for Christ, is not easy. Secondly, if we're going to serve Christ with courage, it means we are not to be cowardly. In other words, as Paul says in verse 7, the Spirit does not give us a spirit of cowardly fear, but instead the Spirit gives us a spirit of power, of love, and of self-control.

the NIV. The NIV says, for God has not given us a spirit of timidity. That's the way it's translated, isn't it, in verse 7 in your translation? It's a Greek word that's only used one time in the New Testament, delia, delia. And that word has more than the notion that you're a timid person.

What it's saying is, it's talking about being a coward. God has not given us a spirit of cowardice cowardly fear. If you are indwelt by God's spirit with a big S, with a capital S, he has not indwelt you with a spirit of cowardly fear, the kind of fear that turns and runs in the battle, the kind of fear that makes you shrink back when it's time to stand firm. Instead, this spirit with a big S has given you a spirit of power the kind of power that helps you to stand firm in the battle, to overcome to not shrink back but always recognize that it's a power that is to be expressed in love so when we act as soldiers for Christ, let's be careful we don't use human weapons of battle when we think about other people. We win them with love. We go into the battle armed with the tools Christ gives us, but it's the kind of, the spirit we have is the spirit that gives us the spirit to love even those who are shooting at us. And it's a spirit of, the NIV says, self-discipline. It's really the picture of self-control. The person who's in the middle of the battle needs to be able to exercise self-control, control of the mind. In other words, when you get in the midst of the battle, it's easy to let your mind run away with you, for you to become fearful, for you to do the wrong thing when you should be doing the right thing. We need a spirit of a sound mind or the spirit of self-control that allows us to stand firm, to live for Christ, even when others are opposing us or fighting against us.

It's not an easy thing to do. Throughout the Scriptures, we are commanded by both word and example to take courage. And I really get this essential quality of courage from the notion that we don't have spirits of cowardice. And the opposite of being cowardly is being courageous. Do you remember Joshua who took over after Moses?

leading the children of Israel? Three times as he begins his leadership, the Lord says to him, and this is in Joshua 1, verses 6-9, three times the Lord says to him,

To be sure it's a courage that is not something we just muster on our own. It's a courage we have by the power of God's Spirit. But Joshua was told he had to be courageous as he began to lead the people and to take them into the promised land where the enemies of Christ were abundant. Is it not the essential trait of those three Jewish boys when they stood firm, that they had the courage of their convictions, that they would not bow down even when Nebuchadnezzar said to bow down? Is it not an essential trait of that little shepherd boy named David when he goes out to meet the giant while everybody else is trembling in fear.

He says, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God? Give me a slingshot. I'm going to go fight him. And he goes and he looks at that giant who laughs at him as he walks out and he points his finger at him and he says, by the power of God, I'm going to cut your head off. And he does, ultimately.

is it not the power of a or the trait of a guy named Peter who before the Sanhedrin stands and speaks with such conviction and when he's told he will be imprisoned or punishment if he doesn't shut up he stands up and he says we will obey God rather than men is it not the trait of the apostle Paul for 30 years now most people believe about A.D. 33 to 35. We're now in the A.D. 60s. Paul is probably about 60 years old.

For nearly 30 years, he has suffered floggings on repeated occasions, imprisonment, shipwreck, opposition, but he has not quit. It's courage, courage that continues him, to continue in the battle. It's the trait of a guy named John Wesley. When he goes out and preaches in the fields of England, he's initially met with stones as people hate his message. And yet after being stoned, he gets up and he goes out and he preaches again.

It's the trait of a woman named Liddell Bones.

[Personal prayer concern omitted.]

But Liddell was the first missionary in recent times to the Andes Mountains of Venezuela. She went into a little town called La Puerta. And when she got there, she's a little short lady. She's about this tall, dark hair. She arrives with no support other than she was by herself, a single woman.

And she begins to walk around the town to tell people about Christ. She's stoned. and folks this is within the last 10 years or so she's stoned her house is looted and robbed but Liddell Bones does not quit she stays and she continues to teach and to preach and to walk around the village telling people about Christ and today you have a core it's not a big core but you've got a core of Christian believers there I tell you Liddell Bones when she passes from this life to the next is going to get a great reward because of the courage that she showed and going into a place like La Puerta.

It's not easy to serve Christ, but we need this conviction to have courage. Time and again, not only do the Scriptures say we should have courage, but the Scriptures say we should not be afraid. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life.

Of whom shall I be afraid? I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I fear no evil, for thou art with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Do not fear, says the Lord, for I am with you.

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. And the writer of Hebrews writes, We say with confidence, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

one author has said that fear is unbelief parading in disguise. And I think there is a real truth that if we have firm convictions about who God is and we truly believe that, we can live much more fearless lives than we often lead. Lives of courage.

Courage means not only that we are to have passion in serving Christ, that we are not to be cowardly, but we should never be ashamed of Christ or his servants. Paul says this in verse 8, So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord or ashamed of me, his prisoner. It may be a little hard for us to understand how could somebody be ashamed about Christ or his prisoner. remember the message of the cross? Jesus is a convicted felon. He died the most shameful death a person can die, crucifixion, a punishment reserved for slaves and traitors of the Roman Empire. The apostle Paul is now an enemy of the state, opposed to Nero, convicted felon awaiting execution. And unfortunately, unfortunately, many, both when Jesus was undergoing his persecution and when Paul undergoes his persecution, many turn and run and desert. They turn in shame away from those to whom they should be loyal. There are two examples of that in our text. If If you look at verse 13, is that right?

15, you know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phigalus and Hermogenes. Everybody see that? When the battle came, they ran. May we be like Onesiphorus, who instead of running and hiding from Paul, sought him out. The Mamertinum prison is not an easy thing to find if you don't know where it is.

It's just a little tiny prison, but apparently Onesiphorus found Paul and refreshed him and helped him. That's the kind of thing that we are to be doing. We're not to be ashamed, but to identify with the things of Christ and with his servants.

Have you ever been ashamed of the gospel in your own experience? Have you ever been at that moment was ridiculing the faith or some aspect of the faith and you should have said something and you just sat there.

I have. I can remember vividly one time sitting at lunch with a bunch of lawyers and someone sat at a table next to us and their whole family bowed their head to pray.

And they didn't pray like seized me? They prayed a long prayer. And the lawyers began to laugh and make fun. And I didn't say anything.

You've been there. You know what I mean. Don't shrink back. Do not be ashamed of the gospel. Speak up for Christ and his servants.

Fourthly,

Well, I said to make these points. We're to openly identify with and testify about Christ. We're to encourage and support Christ's servants, particularly those who are suffering for Him. And then fourthly, we are to join in suffering for the gospel. That's what Paul says in verse 8.

We are to join in suffering for the gospel. Now, note what he doesn't say. He doesn't say we are to be willing to suffer. That's not the command to Timothy. be willing to suffer. I know all of us are willing to give of our money and our houses if Jesus asks us to. We're willing. We're just thankful he doesn't ask us, right? And I might be willing verbally to say, I'm willing to suffer for Jesus. This isn't what Paul commands. He doesn't ask us to be willing. He doesn't ask Timothy to be willing to suffer. He says, join in suffering for Christ.

It is a positive, affirmative command that Timothy is to join in the suffering.

One of my favorite characters in the Chronicles of Narnia. How many of you have read the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis? Great stuff. You ought to be reading that stuff.

You ought to read it to your children. Great stuff. If you start when they're five, you'll be done by the time they're 18. I mean, there are about six books. a little bit every night. It doesn't take that long, actually. You can actually get through those books pretty quickly if you start reading a little bit every night to your children.

One of my favorite characters besides Aslan, the great lion who represents Christ, one of my favorite characters is that little tiny mouse in the story named Reepacheep. Little one-foot-tall gray mouse, the smallest of the followers of Aslan, the great lion. But what I love about Reepacheep is when the battle is joined, Reepacheep pulls out little tiny sword and he charges in the battle. He does not shrink back. He joins in the battle, joins in the suffering. I always have admired Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who opposed Adolf Hitler. One reason that I've so admired him is that he had the opportunity to avoid it all. He was in this country in the late 30s and instead of remaining out of Germany, He decided to go back into Germany to be there with the church, to live through the reign and terror of Hitler.

He said the shepherd must be with the sheep. And Bonhoeffer chose to join in the suffering rather than to avoid the suffering. And it would cost him his life.

Physical life. But not eternal life. We are to join in suffering for the gospel. Paul makes it clear in the text that we do this by the power of God. There's something about our humanity that shrinks from suffering.

And Paul makes it clear in the text there in verse 8. We are able to join in the suffering only by the power of God. But he goes on to make several points here that I think are important if we're going to join in the suffering.

number one we should suffer out of gratitude to christ who has saved us and called us paul says in verse nine he saved us and called us not only has he saved us and called us he called us for a purpose he called us to live a holy life for his purpose we are here as part of the big story folks Before the beginning of time, God set his plan in motion. And you were part of the plan. He called you and saved you to be his servant, but he did it for his purposes. You have a role to play in this great story. You are not here for no purpose.

God has you here for a reason. you were saved and called to this holy life as the text says according to his purpose and his grace

so your lives are not meaningless lives full of sound and fury signifying nothing as Shakespeare said it's just the opposite if you are Christ's servant your life has meaning and purpose but part of the purpose is to join in the battle where they're suffering. Where they're suffering. The foundation for this courageous suffering is in verses 10 and 12.

And I'll sort of summarize because I'm having trouble reading that little tiny print. How is it that believers can be so courageous in the battle? How is it?

death has been abolished

that doesn't mean physical death folks in all likelihood short of Jesus coming back real soon most of us will experience physical death but death in the sense of eternal death has been abolished if you are in Christ you have life and immortality in the battle and know that if you get killed, it doesn't matter in an ultimate sense. One early Christian writer knew that so well that even while the church was undergoing persecution, he wrote a letter to a Roman emperor. And in that letter, he writes to the Roman emperor, you can kill us, but you can do us no real harm. Not even the emperor of Rome can defeat an army of soldiers who know that even if they physically die, they suffer no real harm.

Paul goes on to say, I know whom I have believed. The emphasis is on the whom. He doesn't say, I know what I have believed. He says, I know whom I have believed. The one he has believed is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who holds life and death in his hands.

And because he knows whom he has believed, he is persuaded that that one can guard what he has entrusted to him. Now, Paul doesn't say what he has entrusted to the one in whom he has believed, but I think Paul is saying I've entrusted my life, my salvation, my hope to him, because he holds it in his hands. So I think one real secret to Paul's courage is his absolute belief and knowledge that the one in whom he had believed had conquered death.

And that because he had conquered death, Paul would one day experience eternity with him.

I think Timothy heard Paul Paul commanded him join with me in suffering turn over to Hebrews 13 23

Hebrews 13, 23.

I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. I think Timothy ultimately was imprisoned, at least for a period of time. So he clearly joined in the suffering, not only by continuing to preach and teach in Ephesus, by identifying with Christ and with Paul, but apparently Timothy was himself imprisoned. the fifth point and I'm going to just hit this briefly because we're going to talk about this more later is that part of the courage that we are to have is that we are not to compromise the message of the gospel that's what Paul says in verses 13 and 14 when you're in the battle and people are shooting at the things of Christ it's easy to compromise the message we're not to do that and I'll talk more about that later in our study of Timothy let me close Life lesson number one.

I encourage all of us to identify publicly with Jesus Christ. I'm not talking about being obnoxious.

But I'm talking about standing up and identifying with Christ. I love those little symbols on the back of cars. I love people openly acknowledging they identify with Christ. I wish we Baptists had something in the form of an open expression that we identify with Christ. When I got serious about the things of Christ about ten years ago, I went and bought myself, I'm not much of a chain guy, but I went and bought myself a chain.

And I wear it all the time, a little cross. It was my way of symbolically saying, I'm yours. Do with me what you wish. Identify with Christ. Secondly, speak up for Christ.

Folks, it's harder and harder. Our children are going to face it much more difficulty than we have faced, in my opinion.

Again, I'm not talking about being rude. I'm not talking about being obnoxious. But I'm talking about being firm. I'm talking about not shrinking back. When Christ and the gospel are at stake, speak up.

Speak up. You may be laughed at. You may be ostracized as a little too fanatical. That's okay. That's part of suffering.

Let's join in by speaking up for Christ. Thirdly, ask, what sacrifices have I made for Christ? Look for ways to live more sacrificially with your money, time, and effort. I've thought about this much over the last couple of weeks as I've been out of the country working with missionaries and others who have sacrificed so much for Christ. What sacrifices have we made for Christ?

What sacrifices have we made for Christ? Some of you have been to Honduras, and you have sacrificed by going on that mission trip. Some of you have been on other mission trips. How many of you have, don't raise your hands, You have given till it hurts of your money. Usually we give out of everything that's extra, right?

If we've got a little left over, we'll give it to Jesus. If we've got a little time left over, we'll try to squeeze Jesus in. How many of us are willing to sacrifice for Christ? How about our children? You know the Mormons send their children for two years to serve Christ on the mission field?

If we today said for two years each of us will commit to send our children, we'd be up in arms. How dare you ask so much of my children? Jesus has called us to sacrifice. And that means even sending our children. When we were in Bolivia, you know what they were advertising for with the young people?

They wouldn't do this with adults because they know they wouldn't have much of a prayer with older adults. They were asking all men ages 21 to 29 to join extreme team Bolivia. It's a Southern Baptist effort to reach unreached peoples in Bolivia. They want young men to give two years of their lives to go get a crash course in Spanish, a crash course in living off the land of Bolivia, and then they're going to send them into the mountains of Bolivia at 16,000 feet elevation to find people who don't know Jesus.

are going to start it for women.

I'll tell you, young people want to hear that stuff. There are many young people today who are tired of halfway stuff. They've seen it in us and they don't like it. They want that kind of challenge. May we be models for our children of sacrifice.

Fourthly, in planning your week, your month, your year, and your life, plan your service to Christ first.

Most of us plan this way. I've got to work this week, and then I've got to get my children to this event or that event, and then I've got this civic club organization. And yet, while I'm doing those things, I'm going to be honest and kind and loving and a good Christian.

But I tell you what happens when we plan that way is we never really do the things of Christ, it seems. I think we ought to plan our weeks by saying, this week, this is what I'm going to do for Christ. And anything that gets in the way of that is going to come second.

But most of us don't plan how we're going to serve Christ first. With our time, studying scriptures, praying, by going and helping people who are poor or in need, by going and sharing the gospel, service to Christ first and then let the other things come second. It's a whole new way of thinking about how we live our lives. It will change the way you live your life if you do it that way. Most don't do it because it means you got to change. It may mean if you're going to really serve Christ first, you need to be living more simply, not just living for entertaining yourself. Do you realize how much time we just spend entertaining ourselves? What am I going to do this weekend, next weekend, and we spend so much time, money, and effort just entertaining ourselves, never giving the first thought to how we serve Christ. E, teach your children and grandchildren stories about people who have suffered for Christ. Some of the most important teachable moments are those times and moments before they go to bed at night. Those of you who have children, do you remember telling your children stories at night?

Talking with them. What a great time. You have got a captive audience and they want to hear some great stories and there are great stories about people who have served Jesus Christ. We need to be telling our children these stories. Why?

We tell them stories about people we want them to emulate. We tell them stories about people that have qualities that we want them to follow. So let's pick people who are following Christ. There are great stories about people who have given for Christ that will fascinate children and inspire them as they grow older. Don't waste those precious moments of teaching.

F, stand firm, do not yield on the essential truths of the Christian faith, no matter how unpopular.

Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.

Ask Franklin Graham how popular that is.

Abortion is wrong.

Homosexual behavior is sinful. I mentioned those three. There are a lot of other sins in life, folks. But now even in the church, even in the church, the visible church, people are shrinking from the truth.

Again, I'm not calling us to be ugly or mean-spirited, but I'm calling us to stand firm. Do not yield on the true scripture. And lastly, think more about heaven and less about earth.

Think more about heaven and less about earth. We are so tied to earth. our stuff our ease, our comfort, our luxury I want to think more about heaven so I'll keep the right perspective on earth if you would read chapter 2 for next week and we will continue our study of the book of Timothy let's pray Lord give us courage courage to stand for you courage to stand with those who stand with you courage of conviction courage not to shrink back.

Give us fortitude, steadfastness. May we stand firm in the battle. For it is in Christ's name we pray. Amen.