SOLDIERS
2 Tim. 2:3-4
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. At one Army base, the annual trip to the rifle range had been canceled for the second year in a row, but the semi-annual physical fitness test was still on as planned. One soldier mused, "Does it bother anyone else that the Army doesn't seem to care how well we can shoot, but they’re extremely interested in how fast we can run?"
2. As a group of soldiers stood in formation at an Army Base, the Drill Sergeant said, "All right! All you idiots fall out."
As the rest of the squad wandered away, one soldier remained at attention. The Drill Instructor walked over until he was eye-to-eye with him, and then raised a single eyebrow. The soldier smiled and said, "Sure was a lot of 'em, huh, sir?"
3. AIR FORCE RECRUITS
a. The Air Force was way undermanned so they did a special hiring effort. A pair of twin brothers who looked like they had just stepped off a Marine Corps recruiting poster walked up to them.
b. The Air Force recruiter asked, "Son, what skills can you bring to the Air Force?" The first brother said, "I'm a pilot!" The recruiter got all excited, turns to his aide and says, "Get him signed up today!"
c. The recruiter asked the 2nd brother, "What skills to you bring to the Air Force?" "I chop wood!" "We don't need wood choppers in the Air Force, what do you know how to do?" "I chop wood!" "You’re not listening to me, we don't need wood choppers, this is the 20th century!"
d. "Well," the young man said, "you hired my brother!" "Yes, but he's a pilot!" "So what! I have to chop it before he can pile it!"
B. TEXT
3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” 2 Tim. 2:3-4, NKJV. [Paul also referred to himself as a soldier in 1 Cor. 9:7 and to Epaphroditus (Phip. 2:25) and Archippus (Phm. 1:2) as “fellow soldiers” with him in the Gospel.]
C. THESIS
1. From time to time we list in the bulletin those young men and women who are currently serving as soldiers in the military.
2. But in the verse we just read, and other verses, we learn that we are ALL soldiers.
3. Since that is the case, let’s look at 1). what it means to be a soldier, 2). the 3 requirements of soldiers, and 3). 3 things you can expect as a soldier.
4. The title of tonight’s message is “Soldiers.”
I. WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SOLDIER
A. EVERY CHRISTIAN IS A SOLDIER
1. AUDIENCE QUIZ: “WHAT ARE SOME UNIQUE THINGS ABOUT SOLDIERS? (Uniforms, haircuts, new recruits don’t take much – the Gov’t meets all their needs, often deployed, given orders, bootcamp, etc.).
2. God reckons all of us as soldiers. We must be soldiers if we would stay free, and if we would free others.
3. Thomas Jefferson said, “Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.” So if we would be free, we must be soldiers.
B. WE’RE IN A WAR BTW 2 KGDMS
1. The N.T often speaks of the warfare we’re involved in; “War” Rom. 7:23; 2 Cor. 10:3; 1 Pet. 2:11; Rev. 12:7. We are to “fight” the good fight, and “wrestle” in prayer.
2. SOLDIER DEFINED: “In a war, soldiers are the people who do the fighting…A soldier is the man or woman who fights for their government and carries the weapons, risking their life in the process. (Vocabulary.com)
3. The “Church” is not a democracy. You either obey Jesus or you're wrong. Obedience is true freedom. Freedom to not have to submit to the carnal nature.
II. 3 THINGS REQUIRED OF SOLDIERS:
A. FAITHFULNESS. “2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” 1 Cor. 2:4.
1. The bottom line of faithfulness is commitment. We must be committed to something -- if we're not, there's no purpose in life. You belong to something; act like it.
2. God will never make you, as a robot, do his will. You, as everything else, must make a choice for God. There’s something (a cause) bigger than us.
3. If we commit ourselves to never put a cigarette in our mouth again (I will suffer the rest of my life rather than to disgrace You), God will rise to make us victorious.
4. You have to ‘will’ to be faithful. The mark of a mature Christian is that they can discern good and evil.
5. When we decide -- God stands for us. The power of God becomes available and comes to bear when we decide.
6. An uncommitted Christian is an unbeliever. If you believe in something, you'll commit. If you haven’t committed, it’s because you don’t believe.
7. You’re faithful to those you love. The early disciples aligned themselves to Jesus in such a way that it was worth giving their lives for him.
B. COURAGE
1. Are soldiers afraid when they face battles or danger? Sure, but we have orders to go forward, to take new ground. Our feelings must be put aside to fulfill our commander’s orders.
2. Is the freedom we live in worthy of our life? Think of the American flag. It represents freedom. That freedom must be maintained. The cross represents a greater freedom. We must fight for that freedom! Death before dishonor. Courage is born of conviction.
C. DISCIPLINE
1. You can't have an army without discipline. An undisciplined person has to run in a pack. I act like I act because of my love for Christ (“the love of Christ constrains me”).
2. What's boot camp for? Discipline and training for battle. Discipline will save your life in a dire situation. The devil will only submit to us if our lives are submitted to God.
III. 3 THINGS YOU CAN EXPECT IF YOU’RE A SOLDIER:
A. HARDSHIPS
1. It's a part of our assignment. Somehow, many Christians think they’re exempt from hardships; but that’s the life of a soldier.
2. We’re not only King’s kids, but soldiers on the frontline. We’re not home yet; now we're still pilgrims involved in a war.
B. OPPORTUNITY TO FIGHT
1. Most soldiers, in wartime, hate to be stuck on a base somewhere and not see “action.” Most of them joined to fight and don’t want to miss all the action.
2. Christians should be like that. We should want to be in ministry, and feel deprived if we have to miss it.
3. All Christians will have to go through boot camp.
C. PART IN THE GREATEST VICTORY that the universe has ever seen.
1. It costs more to lose a war than to win one. Paul said, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” Rom. 8:18.
2. There will be many rewards for the Christian soldier. The word “soldier” is actually derived from the gold coin (‘solidus’) used to pay soldiers who fought in the Roman army.
3. Our final battle is described in Rev. 19, where we follow Christ down from heaven on His white horse and help do the mop-up exercises on the Anti-Christ and his forces.
4. There are 5 crowns, a new name, a sacred stone, mansions, etc., but our greatest reward will be to help put Jesus on the throne of the Universe!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: THE PERFECT MATCH
[From Daily Encounter comes this story by a Chaplain Robinson:]
1. “In 1949, my father had just returned from the war. On every highway you could see soldiers in uniform hitchhiking home to their families. The thrill of the reunion with his family was soon overshadowed by my grandmother’s illness.
2. She needed a blood transfusion immediately or she would not live through the night. Her blood type was AB negative, a very rare type. In those days there were no blood banks and no one in the family had that type blood. The Doctor gave our family little hope.
3. My Dad decided to head home to shower and change clothes and then return for the inevitable good-byes. Driving home he passed a soldier in uniform hitchhiking. Deep in grief, my father was not going to stop. But something compelled him to pull over.
4. The soldier could tell my father was upset and asked why. My father related that his mother was dying because they couldn’t find any AB negative blood. That’s when he noticed the soldier’s dog tags that read AB negative. The soldier told my father to turn the car around and head back to the hospital.
5. My grandmother lived until 1996, 47 more years. To this day my family doesn’t know the name of that soldier. My father wonders if that stranger really was a soldier or if he was an angel in uniform.”
6. This happened at the Cross of Jesus too. We were all dying. Only one blood-type would save us, but God has provided the blood of Jesus.
7. Lev. 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” and "without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
8. Thank God for the precious blood of Jesus!
B. THE CALL
1. Many veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg--or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul’s ally forged in the refinery of adversity.
2. "A wise man once said that when we appear before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, He will look at us very carefully and ask, “Where are your scars?” If we respond we have no scars, He will then reproach us and say, Why? Was there nothing worth fighting for?”
3. I believe, my dear friends, there is something worth fighting for. The cause of Christ is worth fighting for. Let us see to our duties with resolution, determination, and defiance; let’s go forward so that at the end, we can show to Christ our scars."
