A Good Soldier

Good morning, so glad you are joining us this morning, hit like, hit share, and please go to our Love Christian Center, Douglasville YouTube channel and subscribe.

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

This is your call to worship.

This Thursday is Veterans Day. It was not always called Veteran’s Day. President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11, 1919, Armistice Day to commemorate the ending of WWI. Which occurred on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. Amidst the celebrations, parades and speeches, when the eleventh hour came, there was a moment of silence. Armistice Day became a Federal holiday in 1938.

Then the veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, created a whole new generation of war veterans who felt deserving of recognition for a job well done.

So, in 1951, the veterans of those wars lobbied Congress to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day, in order to honor veterans of every war. Congress and President Eisenhower agreed, thus Veteran’s Day began.

In 1968, Congress decided to set specific days rather than dates for certain holidays to create 3-day weekends, Veteran’s Day was one of those days, moving it to the last Monday in October. This completely took away the significance of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month and was rejected by many states.

In 1975, President Ford changed the observance of Veteran’s Day back to November 11th, where it remains today and is observed on whatever day of the week it falls.

Unlike Memorial Day, which only honors those who died serving their country, Veteran’s Day celebrates all those who have served. There are still celebrations, parades and speeches, flags are flown at half staff and many businesses and restaurants give special discounts, sales, and free meals on that day.

In my message today, I want to talk about someone who served in a war long before any of these wars happened. This man’s life was taken by what we would now term friendly fire. Although he was not killed by his own men, he was intentionally put on the front lines and left there to die; by order of his king.

This man is typically mentioned in passing because he is merely an innocent third party to a web of deception, involving abuse of power, an unexpected pregnancy, a failed cover up attempt and a murder. It sounds like a Lifetime movie, doesn’t it?

Now, some of you may be wondering, “Why is she talking about soldiers and war, I’ve never been in the military, this message doesn’t apply to me. But wait! Before you change the channel, before you click over to watch some other video, if you have ever professed Christ as Lord of your life, you are a soldier in the Army of the Lord and your fight is for the souls of those who are still lost. So you are a soldier and you need to recognize you are in a war.

Turn with me to 2 Sam 11:6-13 and we see these words. Reading from the NRSV…

2 Sam 11:6-13 - 6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, 13 David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

The title of today’s message is, “A Good Soldier”.

It was spring and the nation of Israel was at war with the Ammonites. David sent Joab, his officers and all the soldiers of Israel with him. Note the Bible says David sent, which means he stayed home, while his men went out to fight. Mistake #1 - leaders lead from the front, not from home.

In other wars, David was on the battlefield leading his men, in fact they sang songs about his great conquests. When you’re in the position you’re supposed to be in, in the place you’re supposed to be, doing what you’re supposed to be doing, you stay out of trouble.

You remember as children when you asked to go to a party at a certain place, but there was another party and as it always seemed, the other party was where the real fun was happening, so you went. Then something happened and the question came what were you doing over there? You were supposed to be over here.

I’m going to give you the cliff notes version of the next thing that happened in this chapter of 2 Samuel, because you need to know the back story to understand the character of Uriah.

David is at home chilin’ on his sofa after waking from his afternoon nap. He was bored so he gets up and takes a stroll on his roof top terrace. Idleness, an idle mind is the devil’s playground and David proves that to be so, because while he’s strolling on his rooftop all of a sudden he spots this fine woman bathing.

At this moment he has two choices, he can turn away and pray or continue to look at her and now begin to lust after her. He choose poorly. He sends one of his servants to find out who she is. Mistake #2.

He learns her name, Bathsheba; her father’s name, Eliam and her husband’s name, Uriah. He knows she’s married, but he sends his boys to get her anyway. Mistake #3.

Now you know three strikes you’re out, right? But neither the story nor does David stop there.

Since she was fertile at the time, she conceived and sent this message to king David, I’m pregnant.

Now what happens next is where the text begins. David sends for Joab, in today’s context he was probably a general. He sends for Joab and tells him to send Uriah to him.

David has hatched a plan in his mind, first to cover his sin and second to protect Bathsheba because the punishment for an adulteress was death, which is what Bathsheba would be labeled. It wouldn’t matter that the king sent for her, laid with her, and got her pregnant. Today she would be a part of the “Me Too” movement.

But king David has sent for her husband, brought him out of the battle for a chat. It must have been strange for Uriah, a soldier, to be summoned to the palace and asked the questions he was asked by the king.

Then David tells him to go home and wash his feet, the NLT says David told him to go home and relax. He thinks Uriah will go home and sleep with his wife, then it could be thought the baby was her husband’s, David and Bathsheba knowing it wasn’t. David even sent dinner for he and his wife. Wow, dinner from the king’s table, what an honor. Or was it?

If discovered, as any man would, Uriah would be furious at the fact that his wife had not only slept with another man, forget that it was the king, but she was also pregnant with another man’s baby. It would take a whole lot of love to overcome that.

By law, Uriah could have her stoned to death, and while he couldn’t touch the king, he could lead an insurrection against him and David knew this.

Even though David urged Uriah to go home, Uriah, being the good soldier, he was and possessing the character he did, didn’t go home. Instead, he slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the king’s servants.

That wasn’t a part of the plan, that wasn’t supposed to happen. You see when you’re doing dirt, you believe that everyone else thinks the same way you do. Not so. Uriah was a man of integrity, he was not selfish or self-centered, he was a good soldier. Of course, he would want to go home to see his wife, but he knew that it would be unfair to those he served with. I’m sure Uriah is still wondering why he was really there.

Then the servants, who undoubtedly knew what was happening, told David Uriah didn’t go home. Now what was David to do? His scheme is not going according to plan.

He brings him back to the palace for another talk, trying to figure out why he didn’t go home to his wife he hadn’t seen in months.

David’s sense of honor and decency was now gone, at this point in time he was no longer the great king and leader of the people. He was a man who had abused his power, taken advantage of a woman, gotten her pregnant, and was now trying to cover up his sin.

Trying to hide sin will make you do things you might otherwise never think about doing. You will lie, cheat, steal, plot, plan, scheme and maybe even kill. The wages of sin is death, yours and sometimes others.

David wants to know why Uriah didn’t go see his wife, he’s trying to figure out why his plan isn’t working. Uriah, the good soldier, responds, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths[or tents], and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife?”

Ouch! David was doing just that. He should have been out with his men fighting for the land he was the leader of, yet he was at home eating and drinking and laying with Uriah’s wife.

God will lay your sin out before you through someone who doesn’t even fully know what it is you’re doing.

What Uriah did know, was that the brothers in arms he served with were still sleeping in the open field, which means they were sleeping on the ground with no cover. Of particular note, he called Joab his lord, not once but twice. It should have been David he was referring to, but David was not on the battlefield where he belonged.

When you’re supposed to be leading and you’re absent from the people, those who are serving will place their allegiance with the one they see leading them, counseling them, visiting them, teaching them, and calling them, despite what title you may hold.

Uriah continues, “As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” Uriah can’t speak for David, but by now David is truly feeling the heat and pressure of his sin. Yet he still doesn’t stop. He tells Uriah stay here today and I’ll send you back to the field tomorrow.

Meanwhile David gets him drunk, thinking surely that will make him go home and lay with his wife. But again, Uriah’s character and integrity are unshakeable. Instead of going home, he goes out and sleeps with the guards yet again. He is truly a good soldier.

The real character and integrity of a dedicated servant will always prevail, even in and especially during times of stress and pressure. In the heat of the moment heroes are made. It’s not something that’s planned and it’s usually not even a thought, it’s a reaction.

If you ever had the opportunity to speak to those who have received honors for their bravery, what they typically have in common is they will say, it’s not something I planned, I saw they needed help and I helped them. It’s what anyone would do.

A good airman, soldier, sailor or marine does not regard their own lives above that of their comrades in arms. The military creeds all focus on the importance of never leaving your brother or sister behind.

As soldiers in the Army of the Lord, we also have a creed, we have been given the mandate to go ye therefore and make disciples. A true disciple is prepared to give their lives in the performance of their duty.

Here in the United States, one of the reasons we have the armed services is to protect our right to worship as we desire. To not be beaten, chastised, ostracized, jailed, or killed for our religious beliefs. Unlike some other countries where to profess the name of Jesus is a death sentence.

As good soldiers, we must be ready to give an account of our faith to anyone who may ask the question, “Why do you believe, what you believe?”

Uriah was a good soldier and ultimately because of the sins of another, he was sent back to the war, with a letter sealed by the king, calling for his death in battle.

Over 2000 years ago, Jesus saw we needed help and he helped us. He came through a virgin girl as a baby, grew into a man, facing and dealing with all of the same temptations, challenges, pains, and feelings we have, yet he was without sin.

Jesus knew we would be in a battle; this battle is one for our very souls. It’s not fought with carnal weapons, it’s a spiritual battle and the joy of it all is we already know who wins.

As hard and as much as he may try, no matter what you see, no matter what you do, there is no sin Jesus hasn’t covered. Jesus paid it all, and all to him we owe.

There is much discussion and debate today about the way to heaven and there being more than one, but in John 14:6 Jesus is very clear when he says, “… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

How could he make such a statement? Well, he could make that statement because

• he was the one who descended from heaven

• he was the one who took off glory and put on humanity

• he was the one who humbled himself to become a man and suffer the things mankind suffers

• he was the one who endured the lies and accusations of people

• he was the one who heard the people chanting for him, Hosanna to the King, Hosanna in the highest one week and...

• Crucify him the next week

How could Jesus say, “I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.”? He can say it because

• Jesus was the one betrayed by one of the men who had walked with him for three years

• He was the one who would be denied not once, not twice, but three times by one of his inner circle.

• He was the one who suffered through the scourging and beating and pain that lasted all night long

• He was the one who was nailed to a cross where he hung naked, while his mother and John and Mary watched in horror.

• He was the one whose humanity came through as he cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!

• It was because of what he was going through that the sun refused to shine in the middle of the day.

• He was the one who hung as they casts lots for his cloak.

• He was the one who laid down his life for our sins.

• He was the one who when he said, it is finished, it meant there was no longer a need to sacrifice animals, the ultimate and final sacrifice had been made.

• Jesus was the one they put in a borrowed tomb; he wouldn’t need it for long.

Who was this man of whom it was said, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”?

• He was the only one who after three days rose again from the dead

• He was the only one who again walked this earth for 40 days

• And He was the only one who ascended back to the Father where he now sits at His right hand of God interceding on our behalf.

God himself, in the person of the Son is praying for you and me.

• Praying we will understand who we are in him

• Praying we will understand, without him we can do nothing and with him we can do all things as he gives us strength

• Praying we will understand that he loves us and only wants what’s best for us

• Praying that we will make that all important decision to accept him as our Lord and Savior

And now, if you’ve never made that decision, today is a good day to do so. All it takes is a prayer.

God, I know that I am a sinner, I believe that Jesus is your son and my Savior. Please forgive me, Jesus I give you my heart and my life. In your name I pray. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer for the first time, congratulations and welcome to the family. Now find a Bible believing, Bible teaching church where you can learn to be a good disciple making soldier.

If you would like Love Christian Center to be that place, respond on whatever platform you may be watching, or you can send an email to [e-mail] and we will connect with you.

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Finally, our goal is to reach the world with the message of the Kingdom of God and we need you for that to happen. It’s fast, it’s free, and it’s easy all you have to do is hit like and hit share.

And now, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.