WARRIORS FOR CHRIST
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. THESIS & TITLE
1. We Christians must know that we’re combatants in a universal War. This knowledge will prepare our minds with the alertness and toughness to get through this life victoriously.
2. The title of this message is “Warriors for Christ.”
I. WARFARE: A FOREIGN CONCEPT TO THE N.T.?
A. WARFARE IN O.T. TIMES
1. Throughout the O.T., warrior terminology was used because Israel was actively engaged in warfare with their surrounding neighbor-nations.
2. David said, “He [God] trains my hands for battle” 2 Sam. 22:35. David saw his physical battles as spiritual battles, because his nation alone had the knowledge of God, while all other nations were idolaters. If the other nations won, their gods won.
3. So they really were in a spiritual, as well as physical battle. David said that God trained him to win those battles. So we understand the use of O.T. warfare/ military terminology.
B. WARFARE IN THE N.T.? CAN’T BE!
1. But when we get to the N.T., we’re surprised to Paul and the Apostles also using military terminology in reference to our spiritual lives. They tell us that Christians are in a war. We are to fight because we’re soldiers in Christ’s army. We have weapons and armor.
2. “Wait a minute!” you say. “I thought we’re supposed to love our enemies, not fight them!”
3. Well, the Bible does say that some humans are used as tools of the devil. Certainly the Jewish leaders were, Ananias & Sapphira, the Antichrist, Bar-Jesus, Judas, Alexander the Silversmith, and even Peter were named as people through whom satan operated to accomplish some aim (and he still uses people today!)
4. Satan is also said to cause some natural events (wind that killed Job’s children) and physical illnesses (woman bent over for 18 years, etc.).
5. But Paul makes it clear that it’s ultimately NOT humans our warfare is against. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Eph. 6:12.
C. ANOTHER ENEMY CLOSER TO HOME
1. Another enemy we battle against is ourselves -- our carnal natures. James 4:1 & 1 Pet. 2:11 talk about “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.”
2. Our worst enemies are the ones in our blind spots – that are a part of us, and we are prone not to see. It’s so easy for pride or a critical spirit to creep into our lives.
3. The Pharisees were some of the most godly people on the planet in Jesus’ day. They knew the Word and prayed daily, but they couldn’t see their own hypocrisy and judgmentalism.
4. So we have numerous spiritual enemies: in the heavenlies, on earth, and even within ourselves. This knowledge should cause us to be alert at all times.
II. WHY DOES ALL THIS MATTER?
A. ATTITUDE
1. We haven’t been called to a Tea Party or to be part of a social club; we’ve been called to be soldiers in a cosmic struggle between God & evil. This is a life and death struggle. This is no time for playing games!
2. Being a Warrior is a MENTAL STATE, an attitude in which you prepare yourself for struggle & expect opposition. Peter told us (1 Pet. 4:1) to “arm yourselves with the same attitude” to face suffering. The Greek word “arm” (oplidzo) is the Greek word for equipping with a weapon.
3. 2 Cor. 11:3 uses a Greek word (strateuomai) that says we serve in a military CAMPAIGN (an extended battle)! Another word Paul used (stratologeo) in 2 Tim. 2:4 says we were “chosen (by Jesus) to be soldiers!”
4. KEY VERSE: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 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.
B. PREPARATION
a. We’re very familiar with the idea that soldiers need preparation for war. That’s why there’s the time-honored tradition of “boot-camp.”
b. In Boot Camps soldiers are trained to do: Hand-to-hand combat. They’re trained who and what their enemy is like. They learn his tactics. They learn where and what are their enemies’ strongholds like. They learn how to attack and overcome their foe. They become proficient in all forms of combat. They study and practice.
3. We are told to make many kinds of preparations:
a. Hide the Word in our hearts;
b. Pray so we don’t fall into temptation;
c. Be filled with & Pray in the Spirit;
d. Put on the whole armor (Christian virtues);
e. Bind & loose, cast out, take authority over, put the enemy under our feet.
C. IGNORANCE OF YOUR ENEMY MAKES YOU VULNERABLE
1. A man or woman who knows there’s a predator around, is much more vigilant. If we don’t know, then we’re easily caught off guard. If you know, then you’re alert!
2. When you know there’s a predator nearby, you take precautions. You constantly check out your surroundings. You let others know your schedule and your whereabouts.
3. You arm yourself with pepper-spray or a Taser. You make a contingency plan so that if you see someone approaching, you have a plan ready that will foil their attack.
D. NO CHOICE BUT TO ENGAGE THE ENEMY
1. Lastly, you realize you have no choice but to engage the enemy. The best defense is a good offence. The sooner you take the battle to the enemy, the better.
2. As soon as you determine the enemy is trying to:
a. Deceive you,
b. Tempt you,
c. Get you complacent (distract),
d. Get you to be hypocritical (form but no substance to your faith),
e. Cut off your food supply (Word, Prayer),
You immediately set about to defeat him by all possible means.
3. SOLDIERS OR CIVILIANS? Paul is telling us we’re not supposed to be acting like civilians, but soldiers!
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."
