[0:00] due to the weight of the medal for a bowler on his dress code. The most decorated American soldier ever, Audie Murphy received nearly every combat award America had to offer in World War II.
[0:15] These included the Distinguished Service Cross, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Legion of Mary. Wounded three times, he also received the Purple Park, two oak leaf clusters, but his defining moment occurred in January 1945, near the small village of Oldsweir, France. There, Second Lieutenant Murphy and his men were attacked by six German Tiger tanks and approximately 250 German infantry, which quickly knocked out the two tank destroyers attached to Murphy's unit. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw while he directed artillery fire.
[0:56] But the Germans kept coming as though nothing would stop them. So Murphy scrambled up with a machine gun mounted atop one of his disabled tank destroyers, not knowing if the gun was even operational, but not having any other options. Miraculously, the machine gun worked, so he began going down the German soldiers, figuring that if the German Tiger tanks had no infantry to accompany their advance. Perhaps they were withdraw. An eyewitness later said, he killed them in the draws, in the meadows, in the woods, wherever he saw them. At one point, the tank's artillery phone rang, and when Murphy answered it, still firing a machine gun. He was asked, how close are they to your position?
[1:51] Murphy replied, just hold the phone, I'll let you talk to one of them. When it was all over, Murphy had single-handedly stopped the German advance, for which he was awarded a congressional level of honor.
[2:11] Murphy's post-war life centered around a mediocre movie career, starting to play himself in the movie Dale Packer, based on his life. Although he was cast in some 45 films, his box office appeal steadily waned.
[2:29] Also, he was an inveterate gambler, mounting financial difficulties. When he died, this week, May 28th, in 1971, in a plane crash in Virginia. Murphy was only 45 years old. Wow. His post-war life also marked by recurring nightmares, shattered nerves, bouts of panic, and the profound sadness that in hindsight always was caused by PTSD. Like many soldiers, Murphy might have gone to hell and back, but he just didn't get back all in one piece.
[3:14] Thank you for sharing that with me. I haven't seen it in the paper. I haven't seen it in the paper. And there is just no telling how many stories there are of men who just gave it all and were really shattered in return. And if you look down the way there, my mom was about the fourth, which was on the other end, his name is Gilbert Starr. He was in the German war in Europe.
[3:43] Our first, Uncle Gilbert was a teenager. He was still not even 20. And one time, he was in a battle.
[3:58] When it was all over and the Germans thought they'd killed everybody and backed off, he stood up and he was the only survivor that was the only survivor. And he was the only survivor that survived.
[4:11] And another battle was he and one other that survived. I was back home with a boy watching his mother break into that war. And on that occasion, when he stood up and looked at his buddy and picked him on to survive, he said, my mother and my neighbor, Mr. Anderson, are praying for us right now. God just told me.
[4:37] Uncle Gilbert came home. It was all my uncles. My dad did, but he was never the same. He didn't know what to call it back then. They called it shell child. I was a little boy of fine. I loved my Uncle Gilbert.
[4:55] And he loved me. He never married. He kind of adopted me. Came home in a big old long-maker car. He'd asked them if he could take Larry right. He would be afraid. They didn't know. They just didn't know what mental condition he was in.
[5:13] And I'd always begged, I want to go there and go. I remember many times sitting in his mouth, steering your old big car. Of course, he was, he didn't take his hand off the wheel.
[5:24] I remember him. Less than a year later, I went to my grandparents' house. There was a sandwich there.
[5:38] I asked where's Uncle Gilbert. I want to see Uncle Gilbert. Grandma began to cry. She said, honey, you won't ever see him again. Until you get to heaven.
[5:49] The giver went out to the shed, took a gun, and killed himself. I just told that to say this again.
[6:00] We have no idea at what cost these soldiers bought our freedoms. There's so many, many stories that we never hear.
[6:12] People who were shattered by war. I get back in one scripture I read about being Memorial Day weekend and thinking about this holiday that's bringing my favor.
[6:28] I've been thinking about what causes people to give the ultimate devotion. What causes a man to to give the ultimate devotion to the enemy?
[6:39] Lordy Murphy took his unit back. Going to the teeth of death, knowing that he wouldn't come out. Jump up on the tank and grab a machine gun, 250 Germans bearing down on him.
[6:56] What is that? What is that quality? You look at that little shrimp of a fellow, fly in nature, you'd never know that was in him. Butch O'Hare this morning.
[7:10] You'd never know that was in him. To attack a squadron of bombers with one little fighter plane and come out the winter and save a ship. What is it that causes disquality?
[7:26] I have to think God puts it in there. And he puts people in the right place at the right time. And there are, oh, I love to read about war in the World War II especially.
[7:37] About book after book after book. And there are miraculous things. There's things that you cannot explain any other way except divine intervention. So God had to put the right person in the right place at the right time.
[7:52] I haven't told you the story of that moment. Coast Guard that won the Medal of Honor. Only one that won the Medal of Honor. He won the Coast Guard.
[8:03] What a remarkable and unusual thing they did. They were trying to, I don't have time to tell a whole story, but they were trying to evacuate off the water canal.
[8:16] And they found that wounded soldiers. And the Japanese were picking them off. Blowing up their boats with the wounded soldiers. And this Coast Guard was trying to do it.
[8:27] Trying to do the rescue. and something came over him. He just grabbed the cheese behind him and started mowing down the enemy and just single-handed paved the way for those wounded soldiers to get off that island.
[8:45] He gave his own life just so they could evacuate. Just a one-man army. Just possessed. What makes a person do that?
[9:00] Why did that one person who had that quality, why did he happen to be in the right place at the right time? I don't know the answer to that.
[9:16] But I've got to think that Chris, you might help me. I've got to think that somehow when we forge our soldier teams that these men kind of love each other.
[9:34] I think that many, many times, more than we would believe, some guy would give himself his buddies because there's a bond that's been forged.
[9:46] He would die for his brother. The Lord said to you that laying down and your life and your friends may have two meanings, but certainly it means to die for your friends.
[9:58] We've read over and over of men who threw themselves on grenades and the whole room of their goodies were saved because they sacrificed themselves. I believe love is the basis of something.
[10:14] Chris, didn't you feel a bond that has to be called love? That's amazing. I don't know any other explanation. And I've seen your life story and you've read some terrible situations, fearless in the face of death.
[10:32] In one part of your testimony, you said, I will gladly have laid down my life for my buddies because I felt that they were worthy to be.
[10:43] folks, you can't get away with the old beauty. God put us on this earth in his image and God is love.
[10:55] And somewhere deep down inside each of us there's got to be some of that love of God. Now the devil gets after you, Pastor, rooted all out.
[11:06] We see these fiendish people that seem to have no love or anybody. But they're abnormal. It's normal for you to love.
[11:19] Now here's my little point. One point. Jesus, and I feel his heart throb as he goes out to call Peter back into the ministry. What did they ask you?
[11:35] Do you love me? Do you love me? Yeah. Yeah. it's a wonderful, wonderful thing to love.
[11:46] And you'll get no closer to God than when you love even your enemies. God so loved the world. But let me tell you something.
[11:57] there is something in the heart of God that wants that love returned. Jesus said, you know I love you.
[12:10] I have died for you. But do you love me? Do you know why you're on this earth? God makes them angels. But as I understand angels, they're incapable of love.
[12:26] They're all like robots. They just do what they're told without emotion. And God, the great God of love and his son and his spirit were missing something.
[12:42] That's why they said, let us make man in our image. What is the image of God? God is love.
[12:54] Let us make somebody who can love us back. We're dissatisfied like we are. Wonderful to have the angels. They're everything you want an angel to be.
[13:07] We got two of the bad ones. But I'm not satisfied. I want to be loved. love. Something in you that wants to be loved. That proves more than anything else that you're making image of God.
[13:24] Why marriage is such a satisfying, wonderful thing is because out of all those millions and billions of people out there, that woman chose you and return your love.
[13:42] There's something about return to love that satisfies the virgin need inside us. And when you get that feeling, you feel that satisfaction, you're touching the heart of God.
[13:59] That's what he wants to be. Now go ahead and serve him. Work yourself to the bone. Do all you can for him.
[14:10] Ladies and gentlemen, that's not going to satisfy him. He's looking for you to pull yourself away from the crowd somewhere. Get on and look up and say, I love you.
[14:26] you're the greatest thing in my life. And I want you to know I don't love anything like I love you.
[14:38] If you work on that part of yours until you can say that and you will have you be fulfilled in your purpose.
[14:51] Everything else is just a science of it's all necessary it's all good it's all needed. But if you don't return his love you fail.
[15:07] You fail. Now why don't we practice at home? Why don't you kids practice returning the love of your parents?
[15:18] We have an epidemic of kids that don't have love. We have an epidemic of parents that didn't show them that love. We're raising generations of kids that don't know what it means to give up themselves to somebody else.
[15:36] I wonder what marriage is going to look like in the 25 years that Jesus has come out. Kids don't know how to love. Kids are being raised to be selfish.
[15:48] It's the day of the child. Give him everything he wants. Never want to return love. He went forward for it. Brothers and sisters love each other.
[16:05] Love each other. Husband and wife. Fall in love on those again. See how much you can do for each other.
[16:18] Jesus said you love me. Oh, I want you to serve me. I need a leader of the apostles and I trained you. I'm not going to let you quit on me.
[16:30] That's not my great need. I need your love personally. But Lord, I don't think I can love you deeply that night as I want to.
[16:44] I've got this brotherly love. Jesus said I'll take that. that's the best you have. I wonder how many of us are giving him that promise and he's taking it to bless him.
[17:02] That's all we're having. Let me challenge you to go for it. Here's your Greek lesson tonight. from to Agape. He challenged him.
[17:16] Learned it deeply up. That is what I think all he had for those guys that would have a love for them to get his life.
[17:31] That's what that fellow in that little fighter plane had. When you looked down and saw his ship with all his buddies and he said if I don't stop these bombers they're going to kill my friends.
[17:43] There's got to be love at the basis of these sacrifices and these men. There's not that kind of love at the basis of our Christianity that we're faithful.
[17:58] If our church does not create any desire to get closer to him we have a personal relationship. How many times have you heard us preachers say that? That's what our youth is all about too.
[18:11] Each of a personal relationship with God. If you can get that you can cure any act. Any act. Without that you won't cure it. We've got to get that point where we know in our heart it's in the dark nobody sees.
[18:31] My heart is throbbing with love my words. There's a special blessing for us who've never seen him. Who have not seen him yet we love him.
[18:45] Special blessing. I know how I am and I'm not a great example. I cannot wait.
[18:56] I cannot wait to get in the dark get along through the phone hall that shades of light fall around me. Just be alone.
[19:10] Seek him out. And draw near and say you know you said that I thought that you were talking out to you. So I want you to meet me halfway.
[19:23] in my heart of hearts when I can speak the way and walk into his presence he that dwells in the secret place of the Lord shall abide and shatter the almighty.
[19:43] There is not a secret place in all of this world and shatter the almighty. And I don't say give me give me give you.
[19:54] I say you didn't have to pick me out. All the billions of people you chose me. You came and let me get part of your work.
[20:06] You let me find found by your spirit to be before again. You didn't have to do better. And I just love you. I wish I could do more work better.
[20:20] But I want you to have that. I want you I want to have a church where people come together after having spent five or six nights just in loving the Lord.
[20:35] I want you to remember one thing for tonight. Jesus was going out there to secure the family that he loved him not to get his service to see that he loved him.
[20:52] The Lord is knocking on your heart's door and he has the same question. Do you not him? Do you not? See next break.