Soldiers Called to War: God Wants YOU! - Altoona

GOD WANTS YOU!!!

Today’s lesson title ”GOD WANTS YOU” gets its inspiration from good old Uncle Sam.

Uncle Sam (initials U.S.) is a common national personification of the American government or the United States in general that, according to legend, came into use during the War of 1812. Whenever we think of Uncle Sam today, what we usually think about is a poster created by J.M. Flagg in 1917 that has Uncle Sam pointing at you, and the poster reads, “I WANT YOU FOR THE U.S. ARMY” He is calling people to serve as soldiers…

God makes this same call to you and I to become a soldier… He desires to have a people who will serve as a soldier and fight for His cause.

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But the fact that God calls men and women to be soldiers fighting for His cause implies that there is a war that we are a part of - a war that we are choosing a side to fight for… We will talk more about this on Sunday, but whether we like it or not, we are part of a great war. Probably the greatest war that mankind has ever faced.

Whenever we think of great wars, there are many terrible and difficult wars that mankind has been in since creation. As Americans, two big wars come to mind for us:

WW1; WW2 Great wars that mankind has been a part of that have led to a great loss of life.

But these are not the greatest war that mankind has ever been involved in.

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There is a much greater war - a war for souls… (READ ). The war for souls.

God calls people to join his army to fight for His cause. To join the side that is going to win the war.

The question each one of us must ask is, Are we fit to be a soldier fighting for the cause of Jesus Christ? Can we look at ourselves and say, I am the type of person who God can use in this battle?

Can I be a good soldier of Jesus Christ? This is the question we will begin with today and close with in our final lesson on Sunday, Lord willing.

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The Person God Desires

God calls a special type of person to be part of his army. He doesn’t just let anyone be part of His army, or in other words, one of his chosen people…

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FIRST He desires that A person who is humble

humble enough to see their condition without the grace of God – before & after becoming a Christian

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One of the most important things that each one of us must see before we can become a soldier of Christ is that none of us are on God’s side because of our sin… Once we reach the point in our lives when God holds us accountable for our sin against Him, we are all hopelessly lost and on the wrong side of the battle.

This is difficult for many to see. We as humans like to look at ourselves as good, moral people. We like to think that on our own merits that we are right with God and are one of His people. But this is not the case!

We are not in God’s camp/army, but the devil’s (; – Children/servants of Satan)

Jesus shows us that when one does not believe in Him or love Him, they are not in God’s camp and they do not have God as their father… ()

All have sinned… all of disobeyed God’s law… (; )

· Lie

· Stolen

· Blasphemed

We will be judged even for the things that we think also… Not just our actions, but our thoughts… and our motivations for doing what we do…

- Adultery, murder, coveting

- Idolatry

Because of our sin, we are not in God’s camp, but Satan’s camp. We are on the losing side of the battle.

The consequence that we deserve for our sin is death ().

Three types of death – Physical (because of Adam’s sin), spiritual (because of our own sin against God), and the second death - the final judgment (separation from God for eternity in Hell)

We must see that this is the condition that we are in without God’s mercy. We are desperately lost. We are enemies of God (). We need to see this before we can become a soldier…

BUT

This is not only the case to become a soldier, but also to remain a soldier. We need to continue to be humbled by the commandments of Jesus - to see our sin - to see how bankrupt we are without his grace.

We need to humbly agree that what God says is right about us and how we can best serve Him in this life…

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SECOND, God desires the person who will see that the cross is the only way to victory

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TURN TO

READ 2:1-9

Paul talks about the terrible state we are in as a servant of the prince of the power of the air (Satan)… We are dead. We are deserving of wrath for our sin… But then, there is verse 4. BUT GOD!!! We were in this helpless state, and God got involved. He gave us a way to be saved. He did this by His grace. He gave us a way to be saved by faith in Jesus Christ - through what Jesus did on the cross for us…

Jesus made it possible for us to serve God and to be forgiven of our sin. He made it possible for us to join God’s army.

Not good works – there is no way to bribe the judge of all the earth. This is believed by many people. They believe if they just do enough good works, give enough money, etc., that they are right with God, are one of His people, and part of His great army.

But this is not the case… Our good works cannot make up for what we have done wrong. No good works can cancel out our sin against God. Not one…

The only one who can give the standard as to what makes us right with God and what process one goes through to become a Christian and soldier of Jesus Christ is God Himself. This is what justice entails. We cannot go to a judge after we received a speeding ticket and say, “well, judge, yesterday I helped an old lady with her groceries. I carried them from her car into her home for her. I shouldn’t have to pay the fine.” This doesn’t work in a human courtroom, but we think this will work with God. It doesn’t. The penalty must be paid. The fine that accompanies the speeding ticket must be paid. That is what is just.

The “fine” that God has given for our crimes against Him is death. “The wages of sin is death.” We cannot get out of this on our own, and the only way that we can have our “fine” taken away or removed from our account is if God has given a way for this to happen. And thankfully, He has.

God gives us a way to get the sentence of death removed from us – And he takes even farther than this – He provides a way to have our crimes themselves removed from our account so that our sentence is no longer even necessary. Our sins against Him can be forgiven and we can no longer be objects of His wrath!

In , we see that the only way our sins can be forgiven is through the shedding of blood. A death must happen for us to be saved. The Hebrews writer says, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

The only payment for sin God will accept is a life being taken, and the only death that is able to pay the price for sin is the death of Jesus.

: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John the baptist is saying in this passage about Jesus, “Look, here is the sacrifice that God is going to give for the forgiveness of sin.” He is not just a lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is THE lamb of God. It is only through Jesus that salvation can be attained. Peter says that no other name under heaven can be given for men to be saved ().

You cannot become a soldier of God and of Jesus Christ unless you see that Jesus is the ONLY reason you can become a soldier, and He is the only reason you can have the hope of heaven.

And this does not change once someone becomes a Christian - once someone becomes a soldier. It is still by the grace of God that we are able to receive his forgiveness on a daily basis. As God’s children, we do not have to earn his love and favor… We have it already. All of the good works we do in our service to Him as soldiers is to show our gratitude for what He has done for us. Even if we did everything we have been commanded to do as Christians, we don’t do this in order to earn our eternal life. Jesus says to His disciples, “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.” Our service to Christ is merely the reasonable thing for us to do after He has forgiven us and gave us the ability to serve in His army.

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THIRD, The person who will devote themselves to obeying the commander - to be committed to Him and His laws

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If we have the humility to see the state we are in without the grace of God and are willing to see that the only way to be saved is through Jesus, then the next step should be to trust Him… To trust that His ways are the right ways and to do what we must do to commit our lives to Him so we can serve Him…

This begins by obeying the call to join Jesus’ army

Believing the Gospel message Repentance – a key part of the process Being baptized into Christ

We commit our live to Him by obeying the Gospel, then we continue to show our devotion to Him in our lives as soldiers of Christ. We will talk more about this in our final sermon on the Lord’s Day, Lord willing. We must continue to serve the Lord as soldiers and fight for His cause… We must continue to humble ourselves before Him by getting into His word and submitting to it.

Jesus does not call us to “try out” being a soldier. He calls us to life-time commitment - a commitment that begins when we become a Christian and continues how ever long God gives us to live in this life… This is what God is calling you to…

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Are you “soldier material. Do you fit the guidelines that we have talked about today? Are you the type of person that God wants?