“Fight the Lord's battles” (1 Samuel 18:17)

Christ fights our battles with us. He said, “Observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). That’s a command with a promise. He knew His disciples would need His presence when they faced persecution and death. His ultimate promise was, “You will be hated by all for My name's sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls” (Luke 21:17-19). 

 1) You will be hated because you belong to Christ.“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19). 

 2) “Not one hair on your head will be lost” is an idiomatic expression which means, “nothing can touch you”. In the context of “possess your souls”, it’s obvious Christ was saying, if you don’t deny Christ, you’ll save your soul. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). When you unconditionally submitted to Christ as Your Lord, there was no exclusion that allowed you to deny Christ if you were persecuted and killed for His sake.  

 3) The Greek word translated “patience” is “hupomeno”, a compound word made up of “hupo”, which means “under”, and “meno”, which means “stay”. Hupo + Meno = “Stay Under”. The saint stays under the Lordship of Christ when trials come, because he knows by faith, God has a purpose in the trial, even if the purpose, as the church father Turtulian observed, is “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”. You save your soul by remaining under the Lordship of Christ unto death. “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26).