Be A Good Soldier
2 Timothy 2:3&4
Intro: On Monday we will celebrate what we as Americans call Memorial Day. We will have parades and speeches, family outings and picnics. There will be flags and flowers placed on graves and our president will place a wreath on the grave of the Unknown Soldier.
. The first observance of this day was on May 30, 1868. The purpose was to decorate the graves of the civil war dead. It has evolved onto a day where we honor all those who have died in our nations wars.
. The wars that have been fought for the privilege that you and I have this morning to meet freely and worship God.
. All of these heroes would be called good soldiers.
. They gave their life for what they believed in.
. Being a good soldier carries with it some characteristics.
. A good soldier would be a fighter, he would be faithful to his mission, he would be familiar with all that was expected of him and finally he would be a follower. All soldiers must be followers.
. As I thought about Memorial Day and what it means I realized that we as Christians are called to be good soldiers, just like the ones we honor today.
. In our scripture this morning the apostle Paul is encouraging his protégé Timothy and us to be good soldiers of Jesus.
. 2 Timothy 2:3-4
. 3Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.
. Paul is encouraging timothy to persevere even through hardships.
. He uses the analogy of being a good soldier for Jesus and warns him to not get caught up in the world.
. He warns him that if he does get sidetracked that he cannot please God.
. Just how does a good soldier of Jesus keep from getting sidetracked?
. I believe that the four characteristics that we used to describe a good secular soldier will also apply to a soldier of Christ.
. A good soldier of Christ will be a Fighter.
. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul tells Timothy:
. 12Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.
. A man was sitting on the back porch of the parsonage talking to the pastor and said, "Pastor, I’ve got something to tell you. I’ve never told this to a soul, it’s extremely difficult to tell you this now, but my wife and I have had a fight almost every day for the past 30 years of our marriage."
The pastor was taken back. He looked away. He nervously took a sip of his coffee. He didn’t know what to say. The young Pastor said, "Everyday?" "Yes, just about every day." "Did you fight today before you came to church?" "Yes." "Well, how did it end up?" "She came crawling to me on her hands and knees." "MY Goodness what did she say?" "Come out from under that bed you coward and fight like a man!"
. While we are not called to fight with our wives, we are called to be fighters.
. We are to fight the good fight.
. We are called to defend our faith.
. I don’t throw a lot of Greek words or translations at you but this one is important.
. The verb fight in the New Testament is present tense and it is in what they call the imperative mode. What all that means is that this verse could be read like this.
. I command you Timothy, to keep on fighting, no matter what because what we fight a good fight that we have been called to.
. A fighter never gives up. No matter what.
. That imperative mode means that this is a command, not a suggestion.
. Folks we can’t tire of telling others about Jesus.
. Paul told Timothy to fight the good fight for the true faith.
. Folks a good Christian soldier will fight the good fight for the faith.
. Just like the good soldiers that we remember and honor on Memorial Day, a good Christian soldier must be a fighter.
. Next we see that a good soldier must be Faithful.
. Look back at our scripture. Verse 3 says this:
. 3Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
. Folks if we are to be good soldiers we must be faithful no matter what is going on in our lives.
. One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey So he invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was
doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed
as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!
Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!
. A good soldier will never give up. He is faithful to what God has called him to do. Even in the midst of suffering or trials.
. The soldiers that we honor this week were faithful to their cause.
. A good soldier of Jesus will be faithful all the time. Even during trials and suffering.
. Next we see that a good soldier is Familiar.
. We must be Familiar with the adversary.
. Look at Ephesians 6:12
. 12For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
. While the good soldiers we are honoring this week fought against human aggression, this scripture tells us that we are not at war with each other.
. We are fighting an unseen enemy and we must familiarize ourselves with who we are fighting.
. Folks we must be familiar with our enemy. We must recognize that Satan is walking to and fro across the earth looking for anyone he can devour.
. We must realize that as good soldiers of Jesus that we have a formidable enemy.
. The good soldier of Jesus will also be Familiar with the strategy of his enemy.
. Have you ever seen the war movies where the pilots are in the briefing room learning all they can about the enemy. They are briefed about where the enemy guns are placed and how to avoid them. They are briefed about the enemy’s inventory of planes and other assets that will impede their mission.
. Like the secular soldiers that we honor, Jesus soldiers will be familiar with the strategy of their enemy.
. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 Paul writes:
. 11so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
. Satan will use our pride and our ambitions and our arrogance against us.
. He will use lies and deception
. In order to be good soldiers of Jesus we must be ready for the schemes that he will throw against us.
. A good soldier will also be Familiar with his weapons
. How many of you were in the military. I don’t know about the other branches of the military but in the Army they drilled into us a familiarity of our weapon or rifle you would call it.
. We took that weapon apart so many times and cleaned it. We were timed on how fast we could disassemble and assemble the weapon. We even had to do this in the dark. Almost every day we were at the firing range honing our skills at using this weapon.
. Good soldiers of Jesus are familiar with their weapons also.
.Look at Ephesians 6 with me again. Verses 13-17
. 13Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
14Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.
15For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.
16In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
17Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
. Folks our weapons are Truth and Righteousness.
. Our weapons are the peace that comes from knowing that the war has already been won. We just need to be good soldiers.
. Our faith will keep Satan’s attacks from harming us.
. The Spirit of God that dwells within us upon salvation will help us fight Satan and all his schemes.
. We must also be Familiar with our fellow soldiers.
. If you have never been in the military it may be hard to understand the camaraderie that is developed between soldiers. They will literally die for each other. That’s how close these soldiers get with each other.
. Soldiers of Jesus must develop this same camaraderie if they are to fight the good fight together.
. We must look out for each other as our enemy tries to destroy us.
. How do we do that? Look at Hebrews 10:24-25 with me.
. 24Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.25And let us not neglect our meeting together,
…
. The KJV says, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.
. Folks we familiarize ourselves with each other by meeting together for a common goal.
. To worship and honor and draw strength form each other and God.
. We do that when we go to church.
.It is here that we get to know each other.
. It is here that we develop this closeness and camaraderie with each other.
. It is here that we learn to watch each other’s back.
. It is here that we learn the skills necessary to wield the weapons that God has provided for us.
. It is here that we get our marching orders from God.
. Folks, in order to be a good soldier of Jesus, we must be familiar with each other and learn to depend upon each other.
. Lastly a good soldier is a Follower.
. Look with me at John 12:26
. 26Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me,…
.Back when I was in the army we had guard duty every so often. We would report for duty the afternoon that we were to have guard duty and they would select what they called a supernumary . This guy would be the one who looked the best and could answer various questions they would ask. Questions like what is the third general order or who was the sec. of defense. One question would always be who was the commander in chief. We all had to know who the commander in chief was. He was the one we had to ultimately follow the orders of.
. To be a good Christian soldier, we must know who we follow.
. Folks we are followers of Jesus Christ.
. No one else.
. We don’t follow a preacher or a denomination or a religion.
. To be a good Christian soldier is to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
. We must know who we follow folks.
. Jesus is our commander in chief.
.A good Christian soldier will be a follower of Jesus Christ.
. As we honor our soldiers this memorial day, lets honor our God by committing ourselves to being a Good Christian Soldier.
. Christian, maybe you’re here and have been a little AWOL as they call it in the military.
. Maybe your have left your post and haven’t been the soldier that you should have been.
. In the military, you are punished for being AWOL.
. In God’s army, there is no punishment. God welcomes you back into the ranks. All you need to is ask Him to forgive you and He opens his arms and brings you back into the fold.
. Non Christian, God is waiting for you to enlist and allow him to show you how to become a good soldier of Christ.
Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
A Good Soldier ( Thoughts For Memorial Day ), Tom Walker, ( sermon central )
