A Good Soldier of Jesus Christ

Intro:

Good morning.

I want to give a shout out to my MSOP classmate and fellow podcaster Tagiilima Esene for this sermon idea.

Lima (as we call him for short) is a good brother who preaches for the Honolulu Church of Christ in Honolulu, HI.

His podcast is aptly named the Ohana Podcast, which means “Family” in Hawaiian, and he talks about the Family of God.

He had an episode recently called “The Christian Soldier,” which gave me the idea for this sermon.

We’re going to be looking at 2 Tim. 2:1-4 this morning — “A Good Soldier of Jesus Christ.”

I want to impress something on our hearts and minds this morning, and that is that …

There is a militant aspect of the Christian life.

We don’t say that very often anymore.

I think the reason is that the word “militant” carries negative connotations this day and age.

And the negative connotation of the word is not what we mean — The “Westboro Baptist Church”-types you may have heard of that go out and militantly ATTACK certain groups; that’s not what we need.

But the word “militant” originally meant “war-like.”

And the church IS IN a great SPIRITUAL BATTLE/WAR — Ephesians 6:10ff.

2 Tim. 2:1-4 says ...

2 Timothy 2:1–4 NKJV

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 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.

Verses 1-2 are all about Timothy’s task as a preacher, as a LEADER — Be STRONG in the grace that is in Jesus Christ, and commit His truth to OTHER faithful men who will step up and lead as well!

Verses 3-4 tell how to go about doing that! And that is — Be a good soldier for Jesus Christ in this spiritual BATTLE, this daily GRIND that is the Christian life!

This morning we are going to notice 4 aspects of being that good soldier of Jesus Christ.

ENDURE HARDSHIP:

“You therefore must ENDURE HARDSHIP as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

I have a footnote in my Bible that says for “endure hardship” — “You must share”— in hardships as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

So that’s the first point.

We all have a share in the hardships that “come with the territory” of being a Christian!

Matt. 16:24, did Jesus say:

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let Him … Hop on the gravy train and get ready for the good life” (?!)

No.

“Get ready to never experience difficulty ever again in this life?” (No, He didn’t say that either!)

He said: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let Him DENY HIMSELF, and take up his … CROSS, and follow Me!”

Christianity is NOT a selfish endeavor! In fact, the word “self” (as is usually OVER-emphasized by many) needs to be replaced with self-LESS-ness when you become a Christian!

Every temptation to focus on one’s SELF needs to be combatted with retraining our minds to focus on OTHERS (serving them, loving them, teaching them), and especially focusing on JESUS CHRIST, Who incidentally left us the perfect example of how to do that!

And when we do that, then we find ourselves taking attention away from our PET SINS that we all have, and placing our devotion rather on the things of Christ!

Heb. 12:1-2 -

Hebrews 12:1–2 NKJV

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus goes on to say in verses 25-26: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Christianity has no guarantees of EASE in this life! In fact, sometimes it’s just the opposite!

But when comes the NEXT life, Christianity guarantees a wonderful inheritance in heaven!

(I remember when I went to field training for Air Force ROTC for 4 weeks — It was HARD! But when it was all over, there was a tremendous sense of accomplishment!)

Look a few verses down here in 2 Tim. 2 at verses 11-13 - 2 Tim. 2:11-13

2 Timothy 2:11–13 NKJV

This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

So that’s the first point — We must be willing to endure hardship — to SHARE in hardship as as soldier of Jesus Christ!

Next, when you are a Christian, you actually have to …

ENGAGE IN THE WAR:

If you want to win a war, every soldier, every airman, every sailor, every marine has to play his part!

When our country is at war, it takes ALL SIX BRANCHES of the military working together as a cohesive unit to win the war!

Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, and the newest branch, the Space Force!

Within each of those branches, they are broken down into different units, right?

And what happens if you have ONE WEAK UNIT?

That one weak unit affects all the other units, doesn’t it?!

(Let’s say it’s a weakness in supply chain management for ammunition, for food to feed the troops, for medicine, etc. — Uh oh! All the sudden, everybody’s in trouble!)

(Or maybe it’s a weakness in aircraft maintenance or refueling — and the planes and helicopters can’t do what they have to do!)

It’s the same way in the church!

We all have a part to play!

Now, there aren’t “branches” in the church — There’s just ONE!

But there ARE individual MEMBERS!

And each individual member needs to get ENGAGED in the battle, and do his part!

Eph. 4:15-16

Ephesians 4:15–16 NKJV

but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

What is the mission of the church of Jesus Christ?

What are our marching orders?

Mark 16:15-16 -

Mark 16:15–16 NKJV

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

So in short, everything we do in the church has to come back to that mission …

In the US military, the mission is ultimately to protect this nation from all its enemies, foreign and domestic!

If something doesn’t support that overall mission, then the military isn’t interested in it (or at least it shouldn’t be).

When we talk about things we are ENGAGED in as a congregation and as individual Christians — things that involve fellowship, benevolence, edification — Do they support the overall mission of SAVING SOULS?

That should be the determining factor when it comes to whether or not we are going to implement a program, or participate in such and such event, etc.

And not only that, but “How can we get AS MANY MEMBERS AS POSSIBLE on board and ENGAGED in those things that support that overarching mission of evangelism!

Next, Paul writes that we …

DO NOT BECOME ENTANGLED:

“NO ONE engaged in warfare (as we just saw) ENTANGLES himself with the affairs of this life!”

Can you imagine our brave men and women of our military in the middle of a FIGHT against the ENEMY, and here they are bickering back and forth and complaining and nit picking ONE ANOTHER instead of fighting the enemy?!

No way! Beside the fact that it’s counter-productive to fight EACH OTHER instead of the ENEMY … There’s no TIME to get caught up in that stuff when you’re on mission!

This is just my experience — You’re experience may vary — But in my experience, the people who complain the most, who cause the most division, who find something to nit pick on every issue … … … also happen to be the people are contributing the least to the work of the church!

Why is that the case?

Because when you’re not WORKING, it gives more time for the Devil to creep in and whisper in your ear: “Hey, why don’t you complain about this!”

“Hey, let’s interfere with that.”

“You know what, you need to divide people up in this camp over here from those over there.”

THAT’S the work of the Devil! That’s the work of someone who is entangled in the affairs of this world!

That’s not the work of a Christian!

Prov. 6:19 - God HATES “one who sows discord among brethren!”

God’s Word FORBIDS airing out the church’s perceived “dirty laundry” for all the public to hear - 1 Cor. 6:1ff.

God’s Word forbids COMPLAINING as well:

1 Cor. 10:10-12 - “Nor complain, as some of them (Israelites in the wilderness) also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

Php. 2:14-16 - “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

God’s Word condemns nit-picking:

Matt. 23:24 Jesus talks about “blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel!”

1 Tim.6:4-5 talks about proud people who really don’t know what they think they know, who are “obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.” And it goes on to say, “From such withdraw yourself.”

Faithful Christians have no time for becoming ENTANGLED by the base things of this world, such as envy, strife, complaining, etc.

Why? Because we’re too busy doing the work of the Lord!

But finally this morning we have the word …

ENLISTED:

Paul writes “that he may PLEASE HIM who ENLISTED him as a soldier.”

As the saying goes, on the day you sign on that dotted line (for the military), “you just signed your life away,” “you belong to the army now!”

(Well, you didn’t REALLY sign your LIFE away, but they do OWN you, at least for a time!) :)

But let’s make the application for the One Who enlisted us as a soldier in the Lord’s army!

When we are baptized into Christ, we are making a COMMITMENT.

And that word COMMITMENT means something! It means we’re in it for the long haul!

(Not the fake version of the word “commitment” that is used by college football players these days!)

What must we do before we obey the Gospel?

We must COUNT THE COST, right?

Listen to how serious it is when one decides to become a follower of Christ:

Luke 14:26-33 -

Luke 14:26–33 NKJV

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

Jesus goes on to describe the principle of a person FAILING to keep his commitment to him with the metaphor of salt losing its flavor - “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!””

We ENLIST in the Lord’s army when we become Christians!

The intention is that we remain faithfully in it till the end! And that we put JESUS CHRIST and His church FIRST no matter what!

And we MUST if we are going to make it to heaven!

Conclusion:

But how many Christians go AWOL?

Absent without leave?!

If that’s you this morning because you realize that you really aren’t COMMITTED as a soldier of Christ that you need to be, then you can make a change this morning!

4 E’s we have seen in this passage in 2 Tim. 2:1-4 - Endure Hardship, Engaged, Not Entangled, & Enlisted!

Are you enlisted in the Lord’s army?