Onward Christian Soldier
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Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
Throughout the scriptures we find a favorite image used by the apostle Paul to describe Christianity, which is that of a soldier.
This isn’t necessarily surprising considering we are in a spiritual war.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ
This war is between not between the flesh and blood but…
12 …against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Even in the book of Revelation, which we are studying in our Sunday morning bible class, we see Jesus on his white horse leading his Christian army, his soldiers into battle.
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
With all this imagery concerning Christians as soldiers fighting a war, what can we learn about ourselves in this, as Christians today?
One of the things we must keep in mind is that as soldiers, we must seek to…
Please Our Commander
Please Our Commander
We Were Enlisted
We Were Enlisted
Since the fall of mankind into sinful chaos, God has sought to enlist faithful men and women to stand by him in this fight against Satan and his ministers.
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him…
6 I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me.
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
God seeks the heart of the one that will enlist in his army that will be look to him.
In other words, God is seeking soldiers that understand…
We Obey Our Commanding Officer
We Obey Our Commanding Officer
Paul would right to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3-4…
3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the commanding officer.
God is seeking soldiers that will obey his voice so as to defeat his enemy.
22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”
21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”
Summary
Summary
The reality is a soldier doesn’t always have to understand why God is asking him to do the thing he is asking him to do.
A Christian soldier is no different, he or she doesn’t have to understand why God is commanding what he is commanding, but rather know that God has his best interest at heart and will not lead us away from him but to him.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Abraham didn’t understand why God asked him to sacrifice his son, but knowing God is faithful and cannot sin, simply obeyed and it was counted to him as righteousness.
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
We also learn that a good soldier of Christ is willing to…
Fight To Hold Eternal Life
Fight To Hold Eternal Life
To Hold On To It With All Our Strength
To Hold On To It With All Our Strength
When we obey the gospel we are given eternal life.
This means we have accepted the free gift given us by God in salvation.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This means we have accepted Jesus, who is the very essence of eternal life.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us
This means we have eternal life right now as Christians.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
However, though we are given eternal life when we obey the gospel, we must hold on tight to it in this life so that we can enjoy the ultimate benefit of it, which is living with our God.
12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Summary
Summary
As soldiers of Christ we seek to obey our commanding officer because he is eternal life.
And we are to hold on tight to our loving Commanding Officer, draw near to him, and seek the promised prize of the upward call.
To do this, means in this life we will need to actively…
Defend Against The Enemy
Defend Against The Enemy
Stand Strong Against Satan
Stand Strong Against Satan
Satan, the red dragon and roaring lion, is going to come at us with everything he has.
He and his ministers have one goal, to seduce Christians to commit treason against their commander and chief, him who rides on the white horse and has written on his thigh, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Satan will strive to seduce us through schemes at first.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
He will try and deceive us, manipulate us, and ultimate trick us to following him.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
If that doesn’t work the will send flaming darts or arrows our way to try and destroy us.
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one
Satan doesn’t care how we give up on God, just as long as we give up on God.
God calls his children “Soldiers” for a reason.
We must be willing to fight and stand strong against Satan and his minsters.
However, because the flesh is weak, we must be aware that our enemy isn’t always Satan and his ministers.
Sometimes it is our own selves and thus, we must…
Stand Strong Against Our Fleshly Desires
Stand Strong Against Our Fleshly Desires
A Christian soldiers fighting in this spiritual war, we sometimes can lose our focus and get caught up in our own desires for worldliness and sinfulness.
The great apostle Paul talked about his struggle with this when he wrote to the church at Rome.
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
The good news is that we don’t have to face this struggle alone, because our God, our Commanding Officer, is there to help us over come these struggles.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Summary
Summary
Fighting the good fight of faith means we must defend ourselves against Satan, his ministers, and our own desires for the flesh.
But this is when the strength of God’s might makes us strong in the Lord, if we rely on God’s strength more than our own.
Conclusion
Conclusion
When we enlist in the Lord’s army as good soldiers of Christ we must…
Seek to please our commanding officer.
Hold tight the eternal life that has been given to us.
Defend our spiritual lives against Satan, his ministers, and our own fleshly desires.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
32 Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
