2 Timothy 2:1-4
In honor of Independence Day and the celebrations surrounding us, we give thanks for soldiers who gave their all in the fight for freedom from tyranny and oppression. But I am talking about more than American soldiers. We owe our American armed forces an awful lot to be sure, for the fact that we can stand here and with loud speakers proclaim the gospel out in the streets without fear of rebuke, arrest or persecution. But also, there have been Christian soldiers down through the ages, waging war in a spiritual battle against the forces of darkness. And to be sure, every Christian ought to consider himself or herself as enlisted in that army and called up for active duty. I mean, why else would you be here? So today I want to focus on the Bible’s call to arms. We just read it. “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
In addition, when Paul wrote to Philemon about a runaway slave he addressed his letter as follows, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Does it strike you as odd, to send a blessing of grace and peace to a fellow soldier? So is it war and peace, or war to make peace? Or is it peace that passes understanding in the midst of the battle? I’m just going to leave those thoughts there and move on.
When Paul wrote to the church at Philippi he said, in what we call Philippians 2:25, “But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.” There’s another soldier, and Paul has no problem calling them that. Though it may be distasteful to our modern ears. There are churches where they don’t want to sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” anymore because soldiering sounds so violent and aggressive and not peaceful enough.
And there were all these soldiers in the Bible and in the early church spreading the gospel! It is an interesting picture because in that day, in the Roman Empire, imperial soldiers were busy spreading their own version of a gospel, or good news. It was known around the world as the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome. And it was called the gospel of Rome too, because it was touted as good news that once the Romans take over things will get better. They even proclaimed, “Caesar is Lord.”
It is true that The Pax Romana, that protected the well-constructed, long lasting, smoothly paved Roman roads that are still being used in some parts of Europe. And it true that the Pax Romana led to everybody in the known world speaking a common Greek language that did help spread the gospel of the peace that proclaims, “Jesus is Lord!”
But really the Pax Romana was only good news for those who submitted to the Roman terms of peace, which included heavy taxation and domination. So there were probably many people, in Paul’s day who already would have found the images of soldier and fighting the good fight as distasteful and unbecoming a message of gospel peace. And so it interesting to me to think about why Paul chose this soldiering language for his work and ministry also.
There are many parallels. Good soldiers must be disciplined and devoted to the task. They call it training and there are several good verses in the Bible about good training. 1 Timothy 4:7 says, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.” 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” And finally, 1 Corinthians 9:25 works from a different metaphor of an athlete, but there it says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” There is a point to all this training. We get to participate in the victory of Jesus and earn a crown of glory!
Good soldiers must be well trained and obedient to the commander of the forces. Romans 16:26 says that the gospel was “revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith.” And 2 Corinthians 9:13 speaks of one of the rewards for obedience. “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” 2 John 1:6 puts a nice touch on the nature of our obedience when it says, “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.”
God’s primary strategy in winning the world for Christ is that we love our enemies, just as he loves his enemies. There is no need to participate in the culture wars with angry flag waving or insistence upon our rights. There is no need to respond with fear or resentment if we perceive persecution. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These attitudes of the heart go a long way to disarm other people’s anger and prevent any false accusations from lasting or being at all true of God’s people.
This strategy is outlined succinctly in 1 Peter 3:13-18, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”
You see there the importance of the fruits of the Spirit in dealing with enemy attacks. In addition, in that passage, we see the importance of intelligent study, and having the mind of Christ so that you are prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. Every Christian has the responsibility to be the best student of the Bible that you can.
Each good soldier must understand his or her specific role and how it fits in to the overall strategy of conquest. First and foremost, you must understand that the battle line is drawn right through the middle of each and every human heart. A non-believer is a slave to his sin. A believer is at war with his or her own sin.
In general, to win that battle, every soldier must first of all be filled with the Spirit, eager to serve, equipped by the Word of God and the mutual encouragement of the believers as we pray together and worship the God of Heaven together. Every soldier ought to show evidence of the fruit of the Spirit and demonstrate that he or she is an eager student of the Bible, learning how to give an answer to everyone one who asks.
More specifically, every soldier ought to discern his or her particular gift or gifts from the Holy Spirit and how to employ that in the service of the king. Are you a teacher, prophet or evangelist? Are you a willing servant, ready to do whatever is asked of you? Are you a worker, builder, cook, or cleaner? Book keeper, treasurer, child care worker, or prayer warrior? As it says in Colossians 3:17, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
But Here’s the thing. I have outlined for you some appropriate rules and regulations for Christian living. If you really want to be part of the Kingdom of God and accept his call to action, you will sometimes read the Bible like a soldier’s training manual. But we are saved by grace and not law. I can’t make you fulfill this. I have no power to motivate you. Only the Spirit of God can do that.
The Bible offers warnings that no one should be idle, as in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-8, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.”
But even that is not enough to motivate a person to change the way they live, only the Spirit of God taking that word and applying it to your heart can change you. You have to judge for yourself whether you see yourself as a good soldier doing all you can to support the Kingdom of God or whether you are just a “saved-by-the-skin-of-your-teeth” believer hoping that forgiveness is all you need from Jesus. What you really need from Jesus is ALL he has to offer, repentance, forgiveness, new life, the Holy Spirit and a place of service as a good soldier in the Lord’s army.
How would it look in the military barracks if the soldiers were all sitting on their beds listening to the commander giving marching orders and then they responded saying, “That was a good message.” But then they laid back down and didn’t act on it! How effective would that army be if the commander couldn’t get his soldiers to do their duty? And don’t get any ideas that I think I am the commander! I’m just a fellow soldier like you. But I fully believe in the mission and I wonder why so many of my fellow soldiers are gong AWOL.
This would be a good place for me to remember that when I became a spirit filled born again believer and I started serving the Lord, I started doing whatever I could find to do. Before the Lord and the Church encouraged me to become a pastor, I was a janitor, Sunday School teacher, on the deacon board, volunteering willingly at all kinds of activities. Then when I went to seminary, I met up with a whole bunch more people who were just as excited as me and Kathy about serving the Lord. It was a very encouraging environment. Everybody was working hard to improve themselves and be improved upon by God working in them. They were open to the challenges of training and discipline.
So naturally I assumed that the churches where all the seminary students came from are also all full of people who are similarly motivated by the Holy Spirit and eager to serve the Lord. Then I was called to my first church, and I actually met a real congregation. Do you I really have to tell you how disappointed I was? Now this is my second congregation to serve. And I really do love you all. And I think everyone in this room knows how many of you are actually giving a lot to serve the Lord, and how many are hanging back. Maybe it’s because they are not sure that the leaders really know what they’re doing. But I think there are deeper reasons than that.
There is a lot of discouragement in the world around us. Satan has been hard at work in our culture and has really done a lot to undermine the work of the church. That devil has made it harder for the church to succeed. You’ve taken a beating too. This congregation has suffered some heavy blows when earlier pastors failed to live with integrity, and it may have looked like the rest of the leaders didn’t handle it right. In addition, I think a lot of people suffer from fear that the church can’t succeed. The end is near so what’s the point of trying? Then there are those who have tried and failed and are burdened with guilt for not doing better than they have already, or not doing as well as they think they should have.
But I say to you, our work is not done until the Lord comes back or calls us home. Forgiveness and grace is not just a one-time deal that only applies when you first accept the Lord and Savior through faith in Jesus. Mercy and Grace are designed to keep you going, offered as a healing balm that heals the emotional wounds and pain of guilt so that you can get back on your knees and get back in the battle as victor, fully dressed in the protective armor of God. Get up soldier, as a resurrected child of God your spirit can’t die. You can’t really be stopped unless you just give up in defeat. But there is no reason to give up.
Apply the grace and mercy of God to your heart again and be filled with the Spirit! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is your King! You owe him everything! The good news is not just that you get to go to heaven. The real depth of the good news is that God, the King of the Universe, is conquering evil. He is making the world a beautiful place again and you are invited to have a share in that work by caring about people and loving them so that they get a chance to believe the gospel that will save them too.
We are WINNERS! Christ is victor! On the back of satan’s neck is a nail scarred foot print! Knowing Jesus is key to being victorious! And he tells the church, you don’t have to sit in your little congregations and put up walls of defense and cringe in fear, hoping that the devil doesn’t get in here. Jesus puts his church on the offense. He said, “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.”
Do you see the picture there? The army of God is up against the gates of hell. The realm of darkness is inside a fortress of lies. We are besieging a small city that will fall, just like Jericho did, as we act on faith in God’s promises. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 we read, “Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
So stand up soldier, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Amen.
In honor of Independence Day and the celebrations surrounding us, we give thanks for soldiers who gave their all in the fight for freedom from tyranny and oppression. But I am talking about more than American soldiers. We owe our American armed forces an awful lot to be sure, for the fact that we can stand here and with loud speakers proclaim the gospel out in the streets without fear of rebuke, arrest or persecution. But also, there have been Christian soldiers down through the ages, waging war in a spiritual battle against the forces of darkness. And to be sure, every Christian ought to consider himself or herself as enlisted in that army and called up for active duty. I mean, why else would you be here? So today I want to focus on the Bible’s call to arms. We just read it. “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
In addition, when Paul wrote to Philemon about a runaway slave he addressed his letter as follows, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Does it strike you as odd, to send a blessing of grace and peace to a fellow soldier? So is it war and peace, or war to make peace? Or is it peace that passes understanding in the midst of the battle? I’m just going to leave those thoughts there and move on.
When Paul wrote to the church at Philippi he said, in what we call Philippians 2:25, “But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.” There’s another soldier, and Paul has no problem calling them that. Though it may be distasteful to our modern ears. There are churches where they don’t want to sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” anymore because soldiering sounds so violent and aggressive and not peaceful enough.
And there were all these soldiers in the Bible and in the early church spreading the gospel! It is an interesting picture because in that day, in the Roman Empire, imperial soldiers were busy spreading their own version of a gospel, or good news. It was known around the world as the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome. And it was called the gospel of Rome too, because it was touted as good news that once the Romans take over things will get better. They even proclaimed, “Caesar is Lord.”
It is true that The Pax Romana, that protected the well-constructed, long lasting, smoothly paved Roman roads that are still being used in some parts of Europe. And it true that the Pax Romana led to everybody in the known world speaking a common Greek language that did help spread the gospel of the peace that proclaims, “Jesus is Lord!”
But really the Pax Romana was only good news for those who submitted to the Roman terms of peace, which included heavy taxation and domination. So there were probably many people, in Paul’s day who already would have found the images of soldier and fighting the good fight as distasteful and unbecoming a message of gospel peace. And so it interesting to me to think about why Paul chose this soldiering language for his work and ministry also.
There are many parallels. Good soldiers must be disciplined and devoted to the task. They call it training and there are several good verses in the Bible about good training. 1 Timothy 4:7 says, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.” 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” And finally, 1 Corinthians 9:25 works from a different metaphor of an athlete, but there it says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” There is a point to all this training. We get to participate in the victory of Jesus and earn a crown of glory!
Good soldiers must be well trained and obedient to the commander of the forces. Romans 16:26 says that the gospel was “revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith.” And 2 Corinthians 9:13 speaks of one of the rewards for obedience. “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” 2 John 1:6 puts a nice touch on the nature of our obedience when it says, “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.”
God’s primary strategy in winning the world for Christ is that we love our enemies, just as he loves his enemies. There is no need to participate in the culture wars with angry flag waving or insistence upon our rights. There is no need to respond with fear or resentment if we perceive persecution. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These attitudes of the heart go a long way to disarm other people’s anger and prevent any false accusations from lasting or being at all true of God’s people.
This strategy is outlined succinctly in 1 Peter 3:13-18, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”
You see there the importance of the fruits of the Spirit in dealing with enemy attacks. In addition, in that passage, we see the importance of intelligent study, and having the mind of Christ so that you are prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. Every Christian has the responsibility to be the best student of the Bible that you can.
Each good soldier must understand his or her specific role and how it fits in to the overall strategy of conquest. First and foremost, you must understand that the battle line is drawn right through the middle of each and every human heart. A non-believer is a slave to his sin. A believer is at war with his or her own sin.
In general, to win that battle, every soldier must first of all be filled with the Spirit, eager to serve, equipped by the Word of God and the mutual encouragement of the believers as we pray together and worship the God of Heaven together. Every soldier ought to show evidence of the fruit of the Spirit and demonstrate that he or she is an eager student of the Bible, learning how to give an answer to everyone one who asks.
More specifically, every soldier ought to discern his or her particular gift or gifts from the Holy Spirit and how to employ that in the service of the king. Are you a teacher, prophet or evangelist? Are you a willing servant, ready to do whatever is asked of you? Are you a worker, builder, cook, or cleaner? Book keeper, treasurer, child care worker, or prayer warrior? As it says in Colossians 3:17, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
But Here’s the thing. I have outlined for you some appropriate rules and regulations for Christian living. If you really want to be part of the Kingdom of God and accept his call to action, you will sometimes read the Bible like a soldier’s training manual. But we are saved by grace and not law. I can’t make you fulfill this. I have no power to motivate you. Only the Spirit of God can do that.
The Bible offers warnings that no one should be idle, as in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-8, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.”
But even that is not enough to motivate a person to change the way they live, only the Spirit of God taking that word and applying it to your heart can change you. You have to judge for yourself whether you see yourself as a good soldier doing all you can to support the Kingdom of God or whether you are just a “saved-by-the-skin-of-your-teeth” believer hoping that forgiveness is all you need from Jesus. What you really need from Jesus is ALL he has to offer, repentance, forgiveness, new life, the Holy Spirit and a place of service as a good soldier in the Lord’s army.
How would it look in the military barracks if the soldiers were all sitting on their beds listening to the commander giving marching orders and then they responded saying, “That was a good message.” But then they laid back down and didn’t act on it! How effective would that army be if the commander couldn’t get his soldiers to do their duty? And don’t get any ideas that I think I am the commander! I’m just a fellow soldier like you. But I fully believe in the mission and I wonder why so many of my fellow soldiers are gong AWOL.
This would be a good place for me to remember that when I became a spirit filled born again believer and I started serving the Lord, I started doing whatever I could find to do. Before the Lord and the Church encouraged me to become a pastor, I was a janitor, Sunday School teacher, on the deacon board, volunteering willingly at all kinds of activities. Then when I went to seminary, I met up with a whole bunch more people who were just as excited as me and Kathy about serving the Lord. It was a very encouraging environment. Everybody was working hard to improve themselves and be improved upon by God working in them. They were open to the challenges of training and discipline.
So naturally I assumed that the churches where all the seminary students came from are also all full of people who are similarly motivated by the Holy Spirit and eager to serve the Lord. Then I was called to my first church, and I actually met a real congregation. Do you I really have to tell you how disappointed I was? Now this is my second congregation to serve. And I really do love you all. And I think everyone in this room knows how many of you are actually giving a lot to serve the Lord, and how many are hanging back. Maybe it’s because they are not sure that the leaders really know what they’re doing. But I think there are deeper reasons than that.
There is a lot of discouragement in the world around us. Satan has been hard at work in our culture and has really done a lot to undermine the work of the church. That devil has made it harder for the church to succeed. You’ve taken a beating too. This congregation has suffered some heavy blows when earlier pastors failed to live with integrity, and it may have looked like the rest of the leaders didn’t handle it right. In addition, I think a lot of people suffer from fear that the church can’t succeed. The end is near so what’s the point of trying? Then there are those who have tried and failed and are burdened with guilt for not doing better than they have already, or not doing as well as they think they should have.
But I say to you, our work is not done until the Lord comes back or calls us home. Forgiveness and grace is not just a one-time deal that only applies when you first accept the Lord and Savior through faith in Jesus. Mercy and Grace are designed to keep you going, offered as a healing balm that heals the emotional wounds and pain of guilt so that you can get back on your knees and get back in the battle as victor, fully dressed in the protective armor of God. Get up soldier, as a resurrected child of God your spirit can’t die. You can’t really be stopped unless you just give up in defeat. But there is no reason to give up.
Apply the grace and mercy of God to your heart again and be filled with the Spirit! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is your King! You owe him everything! The good news is not just that you get to go to heaven. The real depth of the good news is that God, the King of the Universe, is conquering evil. He is making the world a beautiful place again and you are invited to have a share in that work by caring about people and loving them so that they get a chance to believe the gospel that will save them too.
We are WINNERS! Christ is victor! On the back of satan’s neck is a nail scarred foot print! Knowing Jesus is key to being victorious! And he tells the church, you don’t have to sit in your little congregations and put up walls of defense and cringe in fear, hoping that the devil doesn’t get in here. Jesus puts his church on the offense. He said, “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.”
Do you see the picture there? The army of God is up against the gates of hell. The realm of darkness is inside a fortress of lies. We are besieging a small city that will fall, just like Jericho did, as we act on faith in God’s promises. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 we read, “Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
So stand up soldier, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Amen.
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