A Good Soldier
2 Tim.2:3-4
A good soldier makes a difference in the world. Someone has written:
IT IS THE SOLDIER
It is the soldier, not the preacher, who gives us freedom of religion.
It is the soldier, not the reporter, who gives us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who gives us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the protestor, who gives us freedom to assemble.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier, not the politician, who gives us the right to vote.
It is the soldier, who not only salutes the Flag, but serves under the Flag, fighting for the country that Flag represents.
Veterans Day is a time our nation sets aside to honor the difference a soldier makes.
Ever since this nation was founded, soldiers have made a difference that should never be forgotten. George Washington’s men crossing the Delaware, Old Hickory General Andrew Jackson leading the cavalry charge, Generals Lee and Grant and their men fighting for all they’re worth in the War Between the States, Dwight Eisenhower’s army storming the beach at Normandy, all the way down to today, where our brave men and women of the US armed forces fight the war on terror a long way from home. Soldiers make a difference in this world-a difference for which you and I should always be grateful. It shouldn’t surprise us that the Bible uses a good soldier as a model for you and I about how to live for Christ. This morning I want us to look in 2 Tim. 2:3-4 where the Bible tells us 3 ways we can be good soldiers for Christ.
I. BE A FIGHTER (v. 3)
When Dwight D. Eisenhower was President from 1953 to 1961, he received a letter from eight-year-old Keith Aiken of Trumbull, CT. Kevin wrote, “After listening to the news about the cold war, I am worried about the people in the world. In thinking it over, I have a plan. Get all the leaders together who want war, put them in a ring and let them fight it out.”
I’m sure there have been many soldiers and sailors who’ve been tempted to agree with Kevin Aiken. Just let those who want to fight, do the fighting! Don’t involve everybody else in it!
But the reality is that soldiers must do the fighting in a war. Even if you never go into combat, the military always trains you to be ready to fight when necessary. Even chaplains are trained to fight, though Bro. Boyd quoted one chaplain as saying If I go in with a gun, you guys are getting desperate!
When Paul urges Timothy to be …a good soldier of Christ Jesus…in vs. 3, one thing he is reminding him about is that we are in a war. This world is at war, not just in Iraq, but in the spiritual realm, between the forces of God and the forces of evil.
Ephesians 6:12-13 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Paul is not just using flowery language here---the war he writes about is real. It’s going on right now, in the lives of every one of us here. Some of us are fighting against temptations that try to defeat us and drag us down with guilt. Some of us are warring against discouragement and depression. Others of us are fighting to hold on to our faith in Christ, praying and doing all we can not to give in to doubt and unbelief. Some of us are fighting for our loved ones in prayer, pleading for their salvation, pleading for them to come to Christ. Thee battles will not be won by faint hearts, but by brave soldiers who are ready to fight for the Lord and for those they love. This fight will not be won by the strongest arms, or the best missiles—it will be won by those who keep praying, keep believing, and never give up the fight until God gives the victory.
You are but a poor soldier of Christ if you think you can overcome without fighting, and suppose you can have the crown without the conflict.- Saint John Chrysostom
God is looking for good soldiers. Can He count on you? Can He depend on you to be faithful in prayer, to fight and keep fighting until the battle is won?
On February 19, 1945, Marines landed on the beaches of Iwo Jima, fighting by inches to secure a beachhead. After four days of knock-down-drag-out battle, they finally cleared the southern end of the island, climbed Mount Suribachi, and planted a US flag. The commander wanted a larger presence on Suribachi to encourage the Marines still fighting at the northern end of the island, so he ordered a larger flag raised. It was the raising of that larger flag that Joe Rosenthal caught in a famous photograph honoring the good soldiers who were fighting for victory in the Pacific.
A good soldier is a fighter that you can depend on to keep fighting until the victory is won. Are you that good soldier? Can Christ depend on you to keep fighting, even when you feel weak, even when you’re tempted to give up? Can you family, your friends, your church, depend on you to be a good soldier who is willing to get on your knees and fight until God gives the victory? The Lord is looking for good soldiers who are fighters, not quitters. He is looking for you to be a good soldier for Jesus Christ.
But Paul also reminds us a good soldier for Christ
II. BE FOCUSED (v. 4a)
Being a good soldier involves being focused.
During the Civil War, Major Sullivan Ballou wrote a letter to his wife to whom he had been married only six years.
My Very Dear Sarah: The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days -- perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more ...I know…how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing, perfectly willing, to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this Government and to pay that debt...Sarah, my love for you is deathless…yet my love for country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on, with all these chains to the battle-field…If I do not (return), my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battle-field, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have often-times been...Sarah, do not mourn me dead: think I am gone, and wait for me, for we shall meet again...
SullivanMajor Ballou was killed one week later in the first battle of Bull Run.
For a good soldier to say yes to his duty, he must often say no to many other things.
Paul reminds Timothy that a good soldier of Jesus Christ must be focused, that is, he must not allow himself to be distracted by other things as he fights this spiritual war. He must ..endure hardship… and not allow himself to become entangled …with the affairs of this life…
He’s not saying other things don’t matter. He’s not implying that good soldiers forget about everything earthly. What he is saying is that a good soldier of Christ keeps always keeps his eyes on what is eternally important. He is focused on how things truly are, not as they sometimes seem to be.
This is a habit that has to be intentionally developed. You can’t always look at how things appear, you have to focus on seeing them as they are.
There are times when it may seem as if you are a failure, a loser, a person who will never make any difference in this big world. But the truth is failure is never final, that everybody loses a battle now and then, that God can use you—no matter who you are—to make a big difference in this world.
1 Corinthians 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
There will be times when it may seem God is far away, that He really doesn’t care about you or your problems, that there is no rhyme or reason to your life.
But the truth is that God is always near us. He always cares about what’s important to us, and He always has a plan for your life.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
There are days when you might think it doesn’t matter how you live, whether you do right or do wrong, when you are tempted to believe that your sin won’t really affect your relationship with God or with other people. The truth is sin always carries consequences.
Galatians 6:8-9 8For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
You see it’s all on where you focus your mind and heart. Yes, you have to go to school, you have to work for a living, the kids have to have shoes, the check book has to be balanced—you have to live in this world. But don’t keep your focus on this world—keep your focus on what is eternal, not just on what will be important tomorrow, or ten years from now, but on what will be important 10,000 years from now.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. - C. S. Lewis
That is the attitude of a good soldier of Jesus Christ—living on earth, but focused on heaven. But one more thing, Paul says, about a good soldier is that he/she must
III. BE FAITHFUL (v. 4b)
A young second lieutenant at Fort Bragg discovered that he had no change when he was about to buy a soft drink from a vending machine. He flagged down a passing private and asked him, "Do you have change for a dollar?" The private said cheerfully, "I think so, let me take a look." The lieutenant drew himself up stiffly and said, "Soldier, that’s no way to address an officer. We’ll start all over again. Do you have change for a dollar?" The private came to attention, saluted smartly, and said, "No, sir!"
One of the most important lessons you learn in the military is how to take orders. But the good soldier learns an even more important lesson: always be faithful to your commanding officer. Paul describes this attitude to Timothy when he says a good soldier of Jesus Christ is committed to pleasing the One who enlisted him as a soldier.
Who enlists us as soldiers in this spiritual war? Christ Himself. He calls us to follow Him, to lay down our lives for Him and for one another, to obey Him not just out of duty, but from a heart of love.
He died not just to give you a ticket to heaven, but to enlist you as a good soldier in His army, to mold you and empower you to be a soldier who lives to please Him. He enlisted you to be a faithful soldier.
Are you a faithful soldier? Can Christ depend on you to obey orders---even when you don’t feel like it? Even when you don’t understand? Can He count on you to march in step with Him, even when everybody else is taking a detour?
Or are you an unfaithful soldier---one day doing what He says, the next day acting like a deserter. Do you follow Him only when it’s convenient, only when it’s comfortable, only when you want to?
A good soldier of Christ is always faithful to His Lord. That is the difference between victory and defeat in your life and my life. Where is Christ calling you to be more faithful—to be a good soldier?
A university professor tells of being invited to speak at a military base one December and there meeting an unforgettable soldier named Ralph. Ralph had been sent to meet him at the airport. After they had introduced themselves, they headed toward the baggage claim.
As they walked down the concourse, Ralph kept disappearing. Once to help an older woman whose suitcase had fallen open. Once to lift two toddlers up to where they could see Santa Claus, again to give directions to someone who was lost. Each time he came back with a smile on his face.
"Where did you learn that?" the professor asked.
"What?" Ralph said.
"Where did you learn to live like that?"
"Oh," Ralph said, "during the war, I guess." He then told the professor about his tour of duty in Vietnam, how it was his job to clear mine fields, how he watched his friends blow up before his eyes, one after another.
"I learned to live between steps," he said. "I never knew whether the next one would be my last, so I learned to get everything I could out of the moment between when I picked up my foot and when I put it down again. Every step I took was a whole new world, and I guess I’ve been that way ever since."
We owe a lot to the Ralphs of this world---the good soldiers who teach us how to get everything we can out of the moments we have in life. The good soldiers who teach us what it means to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ—someone willing to fight, willing to be focused, and willing to be faithful. This is the challenge for you and I this morning—to commit our lives to be good soldiers for the Lord Jesus Christ.
