Becoming a Soldier for Jesus Christ
International Day 2009
INTRO:
• ILLUS: Years ago there was a man named Saddam Hussein who invaded the nation of Kuwait.
• With all of his military power, he descended on that nation and brought death, and disease, and destruction
• Saudi Arabia, recognizing that they would be next on his hit list, made a call to Washington D.C.
• The call went to President Bush calling for help.
• Regardless of your political persuasion, you would have to agree that on that day President H.W. Bush was at his best.
• He picked up his telephone and on that day he called England, and Canada, and Turkey, Italy, France, and many other nations of the world and said, “Let’s have a coalition…let’s all get together and draw a line in the sand…and serve notice on this madman that not only can he go no farther…he must give up territory that he has already conquered.”
• The next thing that Saddam Hussein knew was that 500,000 men and women in desert storm had come upon the beach to serve notice on him that he could no longer have the territory.
• There’s another madman on the loose—we call him the devil.
• And he has come onto territory in Miami that he did not create and does not own
• And he has brought with him death, and disease, and destruction
• He has sought to take away our families, take away our morality, he has sought to take away our future, and destroy our city
• But God has called together a Coalition known as Wayside – it’s made up of black men, and white men, and yellow men, and red men—to draw a spiritual line in the sand
• And to serve notice on this madman – that not only can he not take any more – he must now GIVE UP what he has already laid claim to.
• It is high time that the men and women who serve God under the umbrella of Wayside – serve notice on this man that the party is over.
• Jesus said that upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
• We are in the business of amassing an army of Christian soldiers who are willing to count the cost and pay the price in following after Jesus Christ
• That was the idea that entered Paul's mind when, at the end of his own ministry, having been imprisoned by the emperor Nero, he wrote to encourage a young pastor named Timothy.
• Timothy was facing severe conflict in his ministry at Ephesus, and the relentless opposition from heretics, apostates, and persecutors was weakening him.
• And just like any Christian who experiences difficulty because of following Christ, he needed to be reminded again of his task--to suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
• READ 2 Timothy 2:1-4, “1You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
3Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”
• When Paul wrote these words he was chained to a Roman soldier.
• He was in a Roman jail, in fact, everywhere he looked there were soldiers.
• And so Paul, in communicating to Timothy, makes a comparison of a Christian to that of being a good soldier.
• Now, you may not have realized it – but when you accepted Jesus Christ – when you said “I DO” to Jesus – you were saying, “I enlist in the army of the Lord.”
• He doesn’t force anybody to be a soldier – the army of the Lord is not a draft – he doesn’t force anybody to follow him, but once you do take up your cross, you cannot look back.
• Stuart Briscoe once said, “You cannot be reconciled TO God without being recruited FOR God.
• Paul’s words to Timothy are also our marching orders as a church – we are teaming together as an army striving to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
• LISTEN TO ME: If black homosexuals can join up with white homosexuals who join up with Hispanic homosexuals to take over our nation for immorality… SURELY black Christians and white Christians and Hispanic Christians can join together to get our culture back!
Let me show you 5 marks of a good soldier in Christ Jesus.
I. A GOOD SOLDIER IS WILLING SUFFER HARDSHIP
• Vs. 3, “Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
• “Suffer Hardship” = literally means to suffer evil or pain along with someone else.
• And by adding “with me” Paul is letting Timothy know that he wasn’t asking him to do anything that he himself wasn’t willing to do.
• What does it mean to “suffer hardship”?
• The more faithful you are as a Christ Follower – the more Satan will put roadblocks, hardships, and rejection in your way.
• The stronger you grow in your walk with the Lord, the more evident spiritual warfare will become and the more frequent and obvious the hardship will become.
• That is why you have been called to endure hardship
• C.H. Spurgeon once said, “The Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction and sorrow.”
• ILLUS: Suppose when Michael Jordan was playing for Chicago and he would go over to his coach and say, “Coach, please do me a favor. Will you please go over to the opposing team and tell them to please leave me alone…every time I try to dribble the ball they keep trying to steal it…every time I try to throw a pass, they keep trying to block it…and every time I go up for a shot, they put their hands in front of my face so I can’t see…please tell them that’s not nice and to leave poor Michael alone!”
• The coach would say, “Mike, we don’t pay you $5 million dollars a year for them to leave you alone!” “We don’t pay you all this money so that they don’t bother you….The reason why we pay you so much money is because having bothered you – you can demonstrate to them what a superstar looks like.”
• So that having bothered you when they try to steal the ball – you can dribble it under your legs and around your back
• So that having bothered you when they try to steal it, you can take it over your shoulder
• And when you go up to shoot and they try to block it you can go around the basket back on the backboard, come out on the other side and dunk it in their face – because that’s why we pay you!
• WAYSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH – LISTEN TO ME: Jesus Christ didn’t save you so that the devil would leave you alone!
• He saved you so that you could dribble the gospel ball in a sinful world
• And when Satan tries to steal it, you can deliver it under your legs and around your back
• And when he tries to block it you can go up and around and dunk it in his face
• Because we have been called to take the gospel to our culture!
• And in order to do that we must become the people of God!
• Paul is sitting in prison, writing to Timothy and says, “Timothy, endure hardness as a good soldier in Christ Jesus.” (Endure persecution)
• He’s not saying, “Oh poor Timothy, bless your little heart for being picked on.”
• Paul is saying buck up and suck it up – endure hardness, you are a soldier and this is your job!
II. A GOOD SOLDIER IS SEPARATED FROM THE “NORMAL” LIFE
• A soldier in “active service” does not have a 9 to 5 job – He is a soldier 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
• His body, his health, his skills, his time – all that he is – belongs to the military.
• Even when he is on leave – he is subject to recall at any time – without notice and without reason.
• And when he is ordered into dangerous duty – he is expected to put his very life on the line without question or hesitation.
• When a man or woman joins the army – that drill sergeant tells them, “You may think you belong to Mama, but now your so-and-so belongs to me!”
• And God says, “You belong to me…you were bought with a price…you’ve been paid for by the blood of Jesus and now you belong to me.”
• That’s why Paul says in vs. 4 that a good soldier of Christ does not “entangle himself in the affairs of everyday life.”
• He’s not talking about things that are bad in and of themselves
• He’s not saying you shouldn’t have any contact with your former friends or surroundings
• He’s saying you should never be caught up and enmeshed in them.
• You should never allow earthly matters to interfere with the fulfillment of your duty to the Lord.
• God may call on you to make sacrifices in your schedule or sacrifices in what you want to do – because your life is no longer your own.
• We are in a battle over SIN, we are in a battle over SATAN, and we are in a battle over SOULS.
• And I’m here to tell you that many churches are not even showing up for this battle!
• They are doing many fine things and many good things – they are ministering – I can’t say anything bad about what they are doing except they are not keeping the main thing the main thing!
• They are not attacking the gates of hell – they are not winning souls to Jesus Christ.
• And that is what the church is here to do.
• And church – Wayside will be in the sweet spot of God’s blessing when we choose to adhere to the mission of this church and to keep the main thing the main thing.
• If you remember – Saddam Hussein looked out and he saw weapons he had never seen before.
• Helicopters that could fly at night
• Bombs that could go through front doors
• He faced weapons that he never knew existed
• In fact, we were using weapons that we had never tried before
• Because they worked on the practice field but now the question is “will they work on the battle field?”
• We all participate in Bible Studies and Bible Fellowship Groups, and Discipleship Classes where we have learned spiritual weapons.
• We’ve picked up our Bibles and we’ve gotten on our knees.
• But the real question in battle is not how well things work in practice – it is do they work in warfare?
• When you go to the Dolphin Stadium – seating capacity for 76,000 people
• Those 76,000 people don’t come to that stadium to watch their team huddle.
• What they want to know is—what difference does the huddle make?
• They want to know – having huddled, can you now score?
• What they want to know is what are you going to do with the 11 men daring you to do in public the play you called in private
• What are you going to do about 11 other men who are defying you at the line of scrimmage?
• And the test of a football team is when it breaks huddle, not when it has huddled.
• We have an impressive huddle here on this International Day – but there’s no competition on this field!
• It’s easy to be a Christian in here today.
• It’s easy to love your brother and be cross-cultural
• But the issue that we face is how are we going to make out when we break huddle and go back to our communities and our workplaces.
• Are we going to go back as winners for the kingdom of God?
• I know its rough out there
• I know that if you go back to your schools, and to your workplaces, and to your families—it’s going to be tough out there.
• The media is going to resist you The educational system is going to resist you The political system is going to resist you.
• But it’s only when its tough that you know just how good your team really is.
III. A GOOD SOLDIER FINDS HIS STRENGTH THROUGH THE TEAM
• The Christian life is not a one-man army.
• Not only do you need others, but others need you.
• That’s why Paul says in vs. 2, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
• When it comes to the church of Jesus Christ, there is strength in numbers!
• The Bible says that Satan is a roaring lion seeking who he may devour.
• But I have discovered that most Christians don’t know when lions roar.
• Lions do not roar when they are getting ready to kill their prey – lions sneak up on their pray.
• Lions only roar AFTER they have killed their pray – and the reason why lions roar after they kill their pray is because lions are afraid of jackals.
• Jackals travel in schools of 5-10 at a time, and they are scavengers of animals that have already been killed.
• So when the jackals smell the blood of something a lion has already killed – they begin to make their way to the carcass to take it over.
• The lion, knowing that it cannot handle the needle like teeth and fangs of the school of 5-10 Jackals, seeks to rule the jungle by intimidation.
• He opens up his big mouth and scares off the Jackals by the ferociousness of his sound.
• If those Jackals only knew that all they had to do was show up All they had to do was stop being intimidated and keep coming toward the carcass
• When the lion sees the 5-10 Jackals, it would gladly give up the carcass because he knows he can’t handle it.
• LISTEN TO ME: Satan has a big mouth! But he ain’t crazy! He knows that if we ever get together and show up – he knows he’s going to have to back up from the territory that he’s laid claim to.
• There is no time left to play games any longer.
• There is no time left for racism, culturalism, and elitism
• When you’re fighting in a war -- you don’t care about the color, class, or culture of the person fighting next to you as long as he is shooting in the same direction that you are.
• And we are in a war!
• We may have all come to this country on different ships – but we’re all in the same boat now!
• And that is trying to save our children, our families, our schools, and our government systems by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ
• I cannot tell you how honored and grateful I am to be the pastor of this church – a church that is full of the greatest people I’ve ever met.
• One of the things that I love about Wayside is our racial and cultural diversity.
• I am told that we have people from 40 different nationalities that make up the church called Wayside.
• Preaching here is like speaking to the United Nations.
• When I look out from this pulpit – it’s like Baskin Robbins 31 flavors!
• One of our greatest strengths is our diversity – but let me digress here for a moment and talk about the dangers of racism, culturalism, and elitism.
• LISTEN: This problem of racism is not that hard.
• So permit me in 5 minutes to what has taken over 250 years of discussion not to solve.
• You see, when you believe the Bible is the Word of God – you don’t need sensitivity sessions
• When you believe that the Bible is the Word of God – you believe that God has spoken and He has not stuttered.
• When you believe that the Bible is the Word of God – you believe that there are 2 answers to every question: God’s Answer AND Everybody else’s (and every body else is wrong).
• When you have an absolute standard by which you operate – then it doesn’t take a long time.
• The Bible declares that God made a revelation to Peter
• Peter one day, in Acts chapter 10 was looking up and God poured down all kinds of animals in a sheet.
• Peter had been a kosher Jew – he had never known what it was like to eat pork – and yet pork was in the sheet.
• He said, “God, never will I eat that!”
• God said, “Don’t call unclean, what I call clean.”
• He then sent Peter to a home of a Gentile to lead him to Christ
• And then we find that Peter, later on, goes to eat regularly with the Gentiles
• He’s seen that eating those pig feet from the Haitian church really wasn’t all that bad
• He begins to go eat with the Gentiles and I can imagine him now, eating pork chops, baby back ribs, chitlins – he’s enjoying himself!
• And according to Galatians chapter 2 – some of the boys from the hood showed up.
• It says that some Jews sent from Antioch showed up and began to chide Peter because he was eating with the Gentiles
• And as they began to chide him they said, “Don’t you remember – we don’t do this back where we live.”
• Don’t you know that those people stay over there and we stay over here –
• Those people with a different language, and a different culture, and a different skin tone stay over there and we stay over here.
• Peter got so intimidated by the Jews that Galatians 2 says he got up and left the Gentiles in order not to offend the Jews.
• But not only did he get up – the Bible says that all the Jews got up with him and left (including Barnabas)
• Not my boy Barney!
• You see Barnabas was raised in Cyprus.
• Cyprus was like Miami – a cultural melting pot – and he was raised with Gentiles
• But he was so intimidated by his own race – that he forsook everything he had grown up to know and went over with the Jews.
• The only problem was – Paul showed up to the party with some chitlins too!
• And when Paul showed up—he saw that they were not acting in the truth of the gospel.
• LISTEN: He didn’t say, “Let’s meet on it.” He didn’t say, “Let’s discuss it.” He didn’t say, “Let’s have a special class in seminary concerning it.”
• He says in vs. 11, “I saw what Peter did and I opposed him to his face in front of them all and told him that’s not the truth of the gospel.”
• If we are going to deal with racism – we’re going to have to eyeball each other – call it what it is – and face it like it ought to be faced.
• If we’re going to deal with this problem – we’re going to have to understand that black is only beautiful when it is Biblical and white is only right when it agrees with Holy writ
• There has to be a standard that governs us all.
• There must be a standard and that standard is truth.
• You say, “But I’m sure Peter was raised a Jew.”
• Well, if he would have argued that – Paul would have said “I far more!”
• Paul would have said, “I was circumcised the 8th day, I’m born from the tribe of Benjamin.”
• Paul could have said, “When it comes to being raised – I was the Hebrew of the Hebrews – a super Jew.”
• “Of all the Jews, I was a Pharisee. And of all the Pharisee’s, I was the one selected to kill Christians.
• So Peter don’t talk to me about how you were raised – I was raised the same way – but when I found Jesus Christ I counted everything I had dung for the knowledge of knowing Him.
• Listen to me Americans, Hispanics, Haitians, Brazilians, African Americans – God has not called you to give up your culture
• He has not called white people to be black or black people to be white, or red people to be yellow – but He has called us all to be CHRISTIAN.
• He has called us all to submit to the authority of God’s Word and to be the one people of God
• And we’re not going to apologize for our faith in this secular culture.
• We are all brothers and sisters in Christ
• Listen to me: That man or that woman that is sitting next to you of a different color – is closer to you than your own brother in the flesh if your own brother in the flesh doesn’t know Jesus.
• Because if he doesn’t know Jesus – you won’t live with him forever.
• So if we are going to come to grips with winning back our culture – we’re going to have to do it together!
• Because if a man is poor – that’s bad – but he can recover from that
• If a man doesn’t have a home – that’s bad – but he can recover from that
• If a man doesn’t have a job – that’s bad – but he can recover from that
• But if a man dies without faith in Jesus Christ – he’s just been dealt a blow that he can never recover from.
• We don’t have time to divide from each other!
• We’ve let everything divide us – but its time to let Christ unite us.
• A lot of people in here are Republicans – you believe the kingdom of God is going to arrive on Air Force One
• There may be some here who are Democrats –
• No matter what your social sensitivity -- I want to remind you that God doesn’t ride on the backs of Donkeys or Elephants!
• That’s not God’s agenda!
• It reminds me of a story in Joshua 5 – Joshua was getting ready to go into battle. This huge man shows up in all his battle array. He’s an enormous man. And Joshua prostrated himself and said, “Whose side are you on? Because if you’re on our side, then Israel is going to win. But if you’re on the enemy’s side then they’re going to win. So before I make a fool of myself, whose side are you on?” This man looked at Joshua and said, “You are thoroughly confused—I am neither on your side, nor am I on their side – I am captain of the Lord’s army. I did not come to take sides, I came to take over!”
• And that’s what God has done – He has come to take over!
• The church must not be either Democrat or Republican because we’ve got to be free to preach the Word of God to both of them when they are in error!
• And so this means that we must march out of this place as an army of men and women who are not going to be intimidated by the world any more.
• Who are not going to be scared by what the neighbors are going to say and what they’re going to say at work.
• Nobody else is afraid today!
• Nobody else is intimidated to say what they believe and to march where they want to march…
• Then why are we afraid to step out as the corporate people of God.
IV. A GOOD SOLDIER IS SUBMISSIVE TO THE COMMANDING OFFICER
• Paul says that a good soldier has a genuine desire to “please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”
• Jesus Christ deserves your honor, your affection, and your obedience for all He has done for you.
• He stayed the course and went before you to win your freedom and eternal life – and now he seeks your loyal service in His army.
• He gave His all to win your all.
• All I have to do is please Him – I don’t have to please 50 other people; all I have to do is please Him.
• Because if you do please God, it doesn’t matter who you DON’T please; But if you don’t please God, it doesn’t matter who you DO please.
• My job is to wake up every morning and pray, “General Jesus, this is Private Brandon reporting for duty…what would you have me to do today?”
• That’s what I love about Paul, you could never intimidate him.
• They said, “Paul we’re going to kill you” – He said, “That’s cool, to die is gain.”
• So they came in another day and said, “We’re not going to kill you, we’re going to let you live” – He said, “That’s cool – to live is Christ.”
• So they came in a third time and said, “We’re not going to let you live or die – we’re going to make you suffer!” He said, “That’s cool – ‘I reckon that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed unto me.”
• Now what he was saying was basically this –
• If you kill me – I’m going to live WITH Christ
• If you let me live, I’m going to stay here and SERVE Christ
• If you make me suffer – I’m going to get more reward FROM Christ
• So it don’t matter to me—bring it all home – it’s all Christ!
• You see there are some of God’s soldiers here who aren’t submissive – they’re insubordinate.
• There are those who have gone AWOL – those who do not show up for duty.
• Some of you God has called to be TEACHERS, God has called to be CHILDREN’S WORKERS, God has called to be CHOIR MEMBERS, God has called to be WITNESSES…God has called you to be this and that and yet you haven’t showed up to your post.
• You know only 5% of believers ever tell anybody else about Jesus – that means that the other 95% of us are insubordinate to our Commander-in-Chief!
• Revival starts with each man and woman in this audience
• Because if you’re a messed up man and you have a family – you’re going to help make a messed up family.
• And you’re a messed up man contributing to a messed up family and your family goes to church – you’re going to help make a messed up church.
• And if you’re a messed up man contributing to a messed up family resulting in a messed up church and your church is supposed to be the light to your city – you’re going to have a messed up city!
• And if you’re a messed up man contributing to a messed up family resulting in a messed up church leading to a messed up city and your city’s in a state – then you’re going to have a messed up state
• And if you’re a messed up man contributing to a messed up family resulting in a messed up church leading to a messed up city leading to a messed up state and your state’s in a country – then you’re going to have a messed up country.
• And if you’re a messed up individual contributing to a messed up family resulting in a messed up church leading to a messed up city leading to a messed up state, causing a messed up country and your country’s in the world – you’re going to have a messed up world.
• So if you want a better world, made up of better countries, composed of better states, made up of better cities, comprised of better neighborhoods, led by better churches, made up by better families – you had better become a better man starting right where you are!!
• We don’t have any more time for excuses – it’s time that we take a stand.
• God wants to build up a mighty army of people who are submissive to His will—people who will show up at their posts.
V. A Good Soldier is SINGLE-MINDED in His Mission
• A soldier’s job isn’t finished until his mission is accomplished.
• Vs. 10, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.”
• I love how G. Christian Weiss put it, “God never called me to preach sermons. He sent me to deliver His message.”
• What is our mission? Put simply – it is to be a missionary.
• I’ve got news for you Wayside – if you’re a partner of this church, every one of you have already been enlisted to the mission field!
• What is a missionary? Webster’s dictionary defines a missionary as “a person sent on a mission, especially a religious mission.”
• And by that definition – every Christian is a missionary – because every Christian is here on a mission.
• And that mission has been defined for us in 2 Corinthians 5, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation…therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”
• It has been well said that every person on earth is either a missionary or a mission field.
• The last words that Jesus ever uttered while he was on this earth were these: “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
• When Jesus left this earth – He had missions on His mind.
• Jesus came as a missionary FROM heaven that He might make us missionaries FOR heaven.
• Let me say this and I’ll be finished
• ILLUS: On radio and television they show you previews of coming attractions.
• They show you the clips from the upcoming programs
• It’s always the love scene, the fight scene, or the chase scene.
• Because they want you to tune in next week and they want to show you the hot clips
• Now you may tune in and the show be terrible—but you’d never know it from the clips because the clips are always exciting.
• LISTEN TO ME: One day, men and women, there is a big show coming to town.
• God is the producer, the Holy Spirit is the director, Jesus is the superstar – and it will be a world-wide production – it’s called the coming of Christ and the Kingdom of God
• But in the meantime—He has left here previews of coming attractions
• And that’s YOU, and YOU, and YOU, and YOU – that’s the Haitian, Spanish, Brazilian, and American people who make up Wayside
• You’re supposed to be a Hot Clip of the Kingdom that is to come
• People are supposed to see how you and I relate to one another and say, “That clip is hot.”
• So that when they want to know about the whole program – we can tell them that there’s a bigger show coming to town.
• And when they ask how much does it cost to buy a ticket – we can tell them – they don’t have to buy a ticket – the price has already been paid.
• And that is what God has called us to – be previews of coming attractions.
• And I believe there are men and women here today who are willing to take it to the wall and take it to the street
• Who are not going to be satisfied with huddling on Sunday and going back to business as usual on Monday
• I believe there are people here who are willing to deal with the racism and culturalism and elitism and classism that is in their heart…
• And are willing to put that mess behind them and start running to the cross and say, “I fall on my face before a holy God and I give you my culturalism and elitism and I throw it down at the cross and from now on the only color that will really matter is the color RED – the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
INVITATION:
There are some of you who need to enlist in His army and join in His recruit.
• Baptism
Some of you have been AWOL – you’ve wondered away from God
For others of you—you are a soldier of the Lord but you’re not partnering in active service with any army of the church. Will you enlist today?
