Sunday, October 14, 2018 am
Qualities of a Good
Soldier of Christ
2 Timothy 2:3-4
In
our text, Paul is encouraging Timothy to endure.
He knows his life is coming to an end and knows Timothy needs the
encouragement. He uses 3
illustrations of endurance, the soldier, the athlete and the farmer.
Today, I want to talk about some of the qualities of being a
soldier of Christ.
a.
Something we must
continually remind ourselves of.
b.
1 Timothy 6:12 notes
that we are to “Fight the good fight of faith” – whether the fight be a
contest term or a battle, we are engaged in a struggle.
We are often called upon to
fight, implying a battle.
c.
Ephesians 6:12 describes
the nature of this battle.
d.
Satan is described as
our enemy, and the ruler of this world, as we have noted.
a.
Not everyone is a good
soldier –
we realize that in physical armies, as many are disqualified from
enlisting, and even after enlisting, many fail to complete the training
or pass the test.
Spiritually, there are many who are not good soldiers as well.
They are ill prepared or unwilling to fight the battles they are
in. Many have surrendered or
defected to the enemy.
Others approach this battle with a half-hearted attitude.
All such descriptions are displeasing to God and endanger the
soul.
BUT, whether or not we are good soldiers depends on us.
We are in control of our destiny.
We are all eligible in this army and can determine our standing
therein. But how do we do
that?
b.
He must enlist
– you are not part of this army unless you enlist.
We are not drafted, but voluntarily join.
No one is FORCED to become a part of the army of the Lord.
Our text in vs. 4 speaks of our
loyalty to Him who has been enlisted as a soldier.
The word, used only here, describes the gathering of an army,
either by drafting or enlisting members.
WE must “Put on the Lord Jesus
Christ and make no provisions for the flesh” (Romans 13:14).
We do that by obeying the gospel – Romans 6:3-4, 17-18 – baptized,
slaves of righteousness,
Galatians 3:26-27 – we are baptized into Christ and put on Christ.
c.
He must arm himself – the idea of being a soldier deals with taking up arms.
Truthfully, that is something
unpleasant to think about, but it is what an army is about.
Even the army of the Lord calls for us to take up arms - Ephesians
6:10-18- describes the armor of God (we will not discuss this here,
though we have extensively examined it in times past)..
We are told TWICE to put on the WHOLE armor of God.
To leave off part of your armament is to expose yourself.
1 Peter 4:1, Therefore, since
Christ suffered for us in the flesh,
arm yourselves also with the
same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
Our armor is spiritual –
2 Corinthians 10:3-6. We are
to put on Christ and make no provisions for the flesh (Romans 13:12-14
again). This passage
includes the challenge to “put on
the armor of light.”
d.
He must train
– you will not be effective in any conflict (athletic or militarily)
unless you know how to use the armament you have.
As Christians, we are not to sit by idly.
We need to be training.
Hebrews 5:12-14 noted how they ought to be teachers, but were not where
they ought to have been.
1 Corinthians 9:27 – Paul disciplined his body – he put it to the test
so that he would be prepared and NOT disqualified.
Our training consists of Bible study, prayers, preferring our brethren,
assembling with the saints, and working with one another (especially
those with experience (cf. 2 Timothy 2:2), etc.
This training also includes persistence – 1 Corinthians 15:58 – we need
to be steadfast, immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord.
e.
He must endure hardships
– the premise of our text.
Realize that one doesn’t become a soldier to become wealthy.
He is risking his life and health, and sometimes he has to do
with minimal sustenance. His work
will affect his family and other relationships. It’s a hard life that
often takes it toll.
But he does it. Why?
Because His service is NOT about material wealth, but something
deeper. We hear of love of
country, family and freedom.
Spiritually, we need that heart to serve God – Matthew 22:37 – we love
God with all our heart, soul and mind
2 Timothy 2:3-4 – notes we endure hardship as a good soldier (and as a
farmer and athlete).
Hebrews 10:36-39 - reminds us of our need for endurance and the
consequence if we fail.
f.
He must obey orders – we hear about the strict discipline in the military.
Sometimes they make you do things in a certain, that you may not
understand why. Truth be
known, they are teaching you to obey orders, without asking questions.
Split second decisions have to be made at times, with lives on
the line. A good soldier
will do what he is told to do to the very best of his ability.
AS Christians, we have to obey
God and His word. Jesus
became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (Hebrews
5:8-9)
Matthew 28:19-20 – when commissioning His apostles to go and make
disciples, they were teaching that we must “observe all things
commanded”.
2 John 9 notes that he does not ABIDE in the doctrine of Christ does not
have God.
g.
He makes his work his
priority
– again in our text (2 Tim.2:3-4) we note that he does not entangle
himself in the affairs of this life.
When you are a soldier, you are a soldier first.
Even the reserves need to understand this.
Some think the reserves are just playing army one weekend a
month, but it is not. When
your unit is called up, you drop everything and go wherever they send
you for as long as they need you.
A good solider realizes this and gladly serves making sure he can
do that job.
Spiritually, we are
Christians 24/7/365. It
needs to be at the very foundation of all that we do.
It governs every relationship we are in and how we do what we do.
Matthew 6:33 – we seek first the kingdom of God.
Luke 14:33 – Jesus said that whoever does not forsake all that he has
cannot be His disciple. See
also vs. 26-27
h.
He needs to fight
– remember what we began with, we are at war.
In physical armies, sometimes men enlist during “peacetime” and
they may never see combat.
(I did not see combat when I was in the army)
But we were trained to be ready to fight when needed and ready to
go at a moment’s notice.
That is not the case spiritually - it
would be nice if it were peacetime, but it is not.
Though many act as if we are at peace, we ARE NOT!
Satan is hard at work and at times, because we have put off our
armor, let down our guard and failed to train or take him seriously, he
seems to be winning. We need
to be militant and fight the good fight of faith - 1 Timothy 6:12.
Philippians 1:17 -speaks of being set for the defense of the gospel
2 Timothy 4:7-8 – at the conclusion of his life, Paul noted, I have
fought the good fight.
One
final point, it is possible to quit or become disqualified (1
Corinthians 9:27). When we
quit being a good soldier, we might be removed.
But again, that is up to us.
It is not a random process but determined by how we serve in His
army. IF we remain faithful,
He will too.
So what about you?
Are you a good soldier of Christ?
Are you seeking to please Him who enlisted you? OR are you
fighting with the enemy?
There is no middle ground.
Galatians 1:10 – who are you seeking to please?
If you have not yet enlisted in His army, how can we help you?