A Soldier of Christ

2 Timothy 2:3-5 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.”

Paul herein our text, speaks of the Christian life in terms of a military figure. I find this illustration true as well as powerful. I am captivated by the words, “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

As I performed my research on our text, Paul makes it quite obvious, the Christian life, from a spiritual point of view, is simply a warfare.

We need to see and be aware that there has never been a war raging on this planet, such as we endure today.

Let me share this with you, some wars that have taken place on earth, have lasted some thirty years, but this war has been and still being fought for some six centuries, it is highly possible, it may have begun before that.

Some wars have covered several nations, before ending. those who fought in the wars never exceeded two hundred thousand, but this war, that we, the people of God, as well as every angel in the skies or in hell, every being born in this world, has to take a part, and though some of you admit it or not, all men are fighting, on one side, or the other.

If you are not fighting with God, then you are fighting against God, ither you are on the Lord’s side or you are on the devil side, my brothers and sisters, there is no such thing, as straddling the fence.

The issue here is life or death, salvation or damnation, eternal happiness or everlasting misery, heaven or hell.

to enter this combat, one must be a volunteer. it must be your call, your decision, your willingness, this war is not one where you are drafted into service, you cannot be forced against your will, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will never compel a man to follow Him, God is not in the business of driving people into heaven. it is totally your choice, you got to volunteer, you must have a desire to follow the Lord, choose Him and His side, above all others!

Where ever you may find yourself in eternity, if you make up your bed in heaven or hell, you must prepare yourself, nobody gon drive you to neither of those places, it is a volunteer system and it is inclusive of both the saved and unsaved.

There are no substitutes in this war. back in the civil war era, some men paid another man, to go to the front, in their place. He was a substitute and he stood, marched and sometime was shot down, in his employer’s place.

There are a whole lot of people, who would make their wives a substitute, we give our money to the church, but ask to be excused from the worship service.

Let me remind you, we are to be judged and rewarded, for what we do! we are told to present our own bodies, not someone else. A substitute can do only for himself and not for another.Whatever you do, you do for yourself, what you do, can only benefit you, if anybody told you, you can make it into heaven on what your parents done, they lied!

The husband, must stand for himself alone. The wife must stand for herself alone. The son’s and daughters must stand for themselves alone. I believe you have heard for yourself, at one time or another, you got to work out, your own soul salvation. you will be examined on your own merits.

There is no such thing as transferring from one person account to another. The word of God dictate to us, that we all, must pick up our weapons of warfare, and march to the front line. It was said of Gideon’s band, and so it must be with us, that “every man stood in his own place.” we got to stand in the place that God has assigned to us, I got to stand my position, stand my ground, that’s what a soldier of Christ do!

There is no free time time, no vacation time, no taking off time, no leave of absent, if you vacate your position, it’s nothing short of desertion. Every soldier of Christ must be at the front, not a one of Christ soldiers can be spared. But if we take a moment to look around, we can’t help but notice, the Christians and even preachers, all in perfect health, have left the battle, gone on vacation.

i recall seeing a placard on the door of a church, stating “closed for the summer”, somebody took it down and replaced it with a picture of the devil saying, “I take no vacation!” that’s what the true soldier of Christ do, he takes no vacation.

This war, that we the people of God is engaged in, has no discharge until death. It is a life time enlistment. There are a lot of people in the church, who entered the war for six months, some twelve months, some for three years, however, they get tired, discouraged and discharge themselves, they become a deserter. As a soldier of Christ, we must be like Paul, he did not give up when He was in the Mediterranean storm; Peter did not give up because of the treatment he had in prison, I stopped by to let you know, I am not giving up, because somebody lied on me, I am not giving up, because somebody turned their nose up at me, I am not giving up, because I can’t have my way, I am not giving up, because somebody want speak to me, I am not giving up, because you don’t like me. I am not giving up, because when I was lonely, Jesus was my friend, when I was in trouble, Jesus brought me out; when I was hungry, Jesus kept bread on my table, when I was on my way to hell, Jesus hung on Calvary cross, that I might live and have the rights, to the tree of life. I am not giving up, as long as I am in my right mind, I am not giving up, as long as the blood, is running through my veins, I am a soldier of Christ, God called me in and death alone will muster me out! I have heard, the voice of Jesus saying, “Be thou faithful, unto death, Be faithful, in your service, unto death; be thou faithful, in your worship, unto death; be thou faithful, in your praise, unto death, and God will, He said He would, give thee, a crown of life, I don’t know about you, but I want my crown.

We get our discharge when we are struck by the last enemy, when we have taken our last breath, when the sword falls from our hands. Yes there will be some deserters, but there is a great different between a deserter an a soldier honorably discharged from service. (Somebody talk back to me if you can)

In this war, you can expect some hardness, some self denial, some cross bearing, some loneliness. some persecution. As a soldier of Christ, you are in a war, not a dress parade, you are marching, not marking time. My brothers and sisters, if you really want to know what war is, then follow Christ, as He prayed all night, Follow Christ, as He preached all day, follow Christ, surrounded by the hating Pharisees, who tried to entrap Him, in His word. Follow Christ, sweating blood in the garden, forsaken by His followers, follow Jesus, casting out devils, follow Jesus, as He is assaulted by all the powers of hell, follow Jesus, as He presses on the way to duty, dis pied and rejected, this is war.

And in this war, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is bound to win. I am a soldier of Christ, because my God, has all power, hell trembles before Him. I am a soldier of Christ, because its nothing for Him, to cast out a thousand demons with a word.I am a soldier of Christ, because sickness cannot abide, in His presence, I am a soldier of Christ, the grave itself, had to obey Him, and yield of the dead; I am a soldier of Christ, for when He was bound, men fell down before Him: I am a soldier of Christ. I am on the battle field, for my Lord, and I promised Him that I, would serve Him til I die, I am a soldier of Christ!

That’s why, “ I will bless the Lord, at all times, His praise, shall continually, be in my mouth. My soul, shall make her boast in the Lord, the humble shall hear thereof and be glad, O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!”