Making War Through Worship

Good morning, all. Thank you for joining us this morning onsite and online as we continue our time of worship on the Lord’s Day. I’m grateful for the opportunity to open God’s Word with all you this morning. Before we read and get into our observations this morning, I’d encourage you to open your Bibles and to keep your finger in the book of 2 Timothy. This is where we will spend most of our time today.

INTRO

This morning is the beginning of a 2 part study rooted in 2 Timothy, entitled “The Fight We Face.” When praying over the messages before today and considering the path I wanted us to take, I thought long and hard about areas the needs of our church locally and the needs of the Church nationally/globally. It was in that time that my heart was stirred to talk about our fight.

This book was written as a final instruction and a pastoral message to Timothy from the Apostle Paul. Paul was charging and reminding Timothy of his call to lead and love his church well. This charge is for us as well; not just for pastors or leaders, but for us as we walk with the Lord and lead in our homes, in our work, and in our neighborhood. The advice Paul gave is relevant to us today, even if the challenges have evolved over time.

Fighting and war language is uncomfortable for us, especially for us Christians who listen and read to the words of Jesus and see our identity rooted in concepts like love, compassion, humility, and meekness. These concepts are truly biblical and lay the foundation for who we ought to be before the Lord and our neighbor. This is best exemplified in Romans 12:18 where it says:

Romans 12:18 ESV

18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

However, our modern expression of faith runs the risk of ignoring much of the fight language of the New Testament. Just as a coin has 2 sides that are distinct yet similar, so too is the faith journey complemented by gentleness and strength. My favorite American President is famous for saying something akin to this - “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” I think President Theodore Roosevelt must have read Ephesians 6 where Paul charges the church wear armor and bear the Sword, ready to wrestle against the authorities and powers over this present darkness. It is this mindset that both grants the Christian a solid witness to his or her character and a solid defense for the faith to which he or she holds so dear.

Let’s jump into 2 Timothy together and look at our first observation:

2 Timothy 2:3–4 ESV

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.

The Battle belongs to the Lord; So should our worship

When we think of the Christian walk and the Christian life, we often focus on the more genteel characteristics of our life in Christ. I imagine even students in seminary or divinity school training to be a pastor has a picture in their mind of a life path filled with reading deep theological books for hours on end, drinking lots of coffee, and endlessly conversing about theology with their church. Those moments happen, they exist; but they are not the encapsulation of what it means to be a leader of God’s church. No, the humbling nature of the call to pastor, shepherd, lead God’s Church is about leading a group of God’s people into war through worship.

But what our worship is and what it does is to draw a line in the sand, as it were, for the world around us. When we sing, gather, pray, and confess Christ as Lord, we emulate the centuries of our Christian brothers and sisters who did the same and we echo the brave posture of someone like Martin Luther who said, “Here I stand, I cannot do other wise. God help me.”

This “line in the sand,” this battle lines that we draw are centered around who we say that we are and whose we say that we are. Our witness is about making war! We war against unrighteousness and agains the schemes of the devil. We fight for these things not with the purpose of political power or cultural domination. No, we fight for these things regardless of what our political situation is or where our culture stands.

As we fight and as we battle, we do so knowing that God has ensured our victory in Christ. What is our victory? Our victory is eternal life with Him and a reconciliation of God to His creation. But the surety of our victory does not excuse us from the battle. We are called to go to war. Our salvation is an opening salvo, our baptism is a flank attack, our regular spiritual discipline is a preponderance of overwhelming firepower to overwhelm the enemy and eliminate unholiness from our lives. It is with this fervor that we must move in the Spirit and seek first the kingdom of God and work towards the righteousness to be added unto us.

Let’s read together from Ephesians 6 and look at our next observation:

Ephesians 6:10–13 ESV

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. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

We Must Know What We are Fighting

As we observe in this passage in Ephesians, we see here language of violence and preparation for battle. Does one put on armor in preparation to appease or convince? No, they put on armor and pick up a Sword and Shield to prepare for a fight. But what are we fighting? We can look at this word in verse 11, “We wrestle not...” This is a violent word meant for violent action. Wrestling is not an act of appeasement, it is not an act conciliation.

We know now that our fight is not against our own flesh, as I am oft guilty of thinking. I operate often as if I am my own worst enemy - and this may be true at times as I walk through the path of sanctification, still struggling against my old nature. But there is an enemy who is agains the Lord and is therefore against his people. This enemy will use any and all means of warfare against us as a discouragement to us and as a deterrent for others in their hearing of the gospel. As followers of Christ we must look to the Scriptures to inform us of where we must “stand firm” as it says in Ephesians 6:13.

It is the duty of us to stand firm not just for our church but for that which God has called us to stand firm. Not for a culture war but a fight for us to see the words of Habakkuk fulfilled

Habakkuk 2:14 ESV

14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

So there are lines that we will draw, and we must draw them! We must put on the armor to defend those who cannot defend themselves and call for the ruthless killing of innocent children in the womb to end. We must put on armor to defend the imago Dei and the dignity of all people of all ethnicities and backgrounds, for they were made by God and are beautiful expressions of His character. We must embrace all people with the embrace of our Savior and fight alongside them for justice in all areas of life and society. We must put on the armor and declare that marriage and sexual activity are only for one man and one woman for life as ordained by God. We put on the armor saying that we must be a part of taking care of the poor, just as Jesus did in His eartlhly ministry. These are not fronts of a culture war but they are battles we are called to fight because God has called us to obedience to His Word and has invited all people to come unto him to repent and receive the joy of salvation in Christ.

Let’s take a look at 2 Timothy 1 as we dive into our final observation for today.

2 Timothy 1:6–8 ESV

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

We Fight in Faith, Not Fear

This verse has always been a comfort to me. It is statements like this that remind us who God is, how sovereign He is, and that the victory is ours in Him.

What creeps up in our hearts is a fear of rejection, either of those around us who may choose to reject a biblical worldview and then see us as something less than what they desire. But when we fight for the Lord in faith, we operate in that space that walks the line of compassion and conviction, sympathy and strength.

2 Timothy 2:14–15 ESV

14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

So much of what we have looked at this morning begins however with being rooted in the word of God. We must not amp up and arm ourselves with anger. We arm ourselves with worship. We do so with humility, recognizing that we are imperfect but filled with the Holy Spirit. When we are committed to rightly handling the word of truth, when we don’t get caught up in civilian pursuits, and when we do our best to present ourselves to God in worship as one approved, we contend for the faith in an effective way that makes war with our sin and fights for the souls of the lost around us.