Description

Dr. Marty Herron draws from Martin Dugard's book "The Training Ground" about West Point's beginnings and the four famous men who trained there together before becoming key figures in American history. He emphasizes how God has His own training ground for believers, using the process of endurance as a path of education to prepare us for His purposes.

Scripture Text

2 Timothy 2:3-4; Psalm 105:17-22

Main Points or Ideas

Using Joseph's life as outlined in Psalm 105:17-22, Herron presents God's four-fold process for training His people:

1. Discovered - God identifies and calls His people, as He did with Joseph whom He "sent before them"
2. Detached - God separates them from familiar surroundings, family, and comfort zones, as Joseph was sold into slavery and taken to Egypt
3. Developed - God allows intense training through trials and isolation, as Joseph experienced in prison where "his feet they hurt with fetters" and "he was laid in iron until the time that his word came"
4. Displayed - God elevates and uses them for His purposes, as Joseph became "lord of his house and ruler of all his substance"

Dr. Herron illustrates this pattern through the example of Adoniram Judson, the missionary who went through similar stages of discovery, detachment, development through hardship, and ultimate display in Burma where he served for 40 years.

Conclusion

God's process of endurance is your path of education, and believers should be encouraged to endure hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, realizing the ultimate aim is to please Christ, our commanding officer.