For Nov 8

 

Sermon Notes: Soldiers of Christ

Intro: Although Wednesday is officially Veteran’s Day, we honor our veterans today. Originating as the commemoration of the end of WWI, Armistice Day was changed, by presidential proclamation in 1954, to Veteran’s Day, a Federal holiday to honor all veterans, those who served in our Armed Forces at any time. And today I will be using the term soldier to include all men and women of all branches of the service. All those who remind us of the human cost of preparing for, and serving in war against our enemies.

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I. Soldiers Make A Difference

A. Someone once wrote:

It is the soldier, not the preacher, who gives us freedom of religion.

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who gives us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who gives us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the protestor, who gives us freedom to assemble.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, not the politician, who gives us the right to vote.

It is the soldier, who not only salutes the Flag, but serves under the Flag, fighting for the country that Flag represents.

B. Ever since this nation was founded, soldiers have made a difference that should never be forgotten. Veterans Day is a day our nation sets aside to honor the difference a soldier makes. A difference for which you and I should always be grateful. It would then seem appropriate that the Bible uses a good soldier as a model for us on how to live for Jesus to make a difference. So, this morning I’m going to expand that concept of a good soldier to us serving as soldiers on active day in the Lord’s army, Soldiers of the cross, God’s veterans.

C. We face a strong enemy, Satan, a name that even means Adversary. Although the Commander of our Army, Jesus, defeated Him on the Cross, Satan still relentlessly attacks God’s Creation in the time he has left before his destruction. Enlistment in Christ’s Army is open to all. Those who enlist as soldiers become disciples, a word closely related to discipline. Both words trace back to the Latin verb ‘discere’ which means "to learn."  The dictionary thus defines a disciple as "a learner, pupil, or student." Discipline then becomes the  "instruction, teaching, training, or knowledge given to a disciple."  We also consider discipline as the enforced behavior to apply such instruction and training. 

D. We were called to active duty by our Call to Worship this morning. Saints, gathered under His banner as His Church, training to be His soldiers, awaiting the battle cry to be sounded. Then, as soldiers, we follow our King of Kings into battle, His Cross ever before us. As disciples, deployed into the world, we are armed with the Gospel, filled with His Spirit by whose power, all will kneel, all heads bow, and all tongues confess that Christ is Lord. And as veterans, our continuing duty is to gather new recruits to prepare and train to join in battle with Him, by which Christ’s Name will endure through all generations.

E. I realize that sounds easier than it really is. It takes a lifetime of commitment to become a fully experienced veteran. But then what does it take to become an experienced veteran? Those of us who have served in the Armed Forces will attest that basic training can be overwhelming. Few things are usually natural to our human nature. As a new Christian, although a saint, it takes changing from our old nature. The great veteran Paul wrote in 2 Cor 5:17, “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  But putting on the new uniform of a new creation is one thing, wearing it correctly is quite another. Any incorrect actions are called sins. As we become better soldiers, we may reduce the number and severity of those sins, and elimination of those sins is our lofty goal. John Wesley said we, His saints, are on the path of sanctification, set aside for His purposes, on the road to perfection. Only Jesus, our Commanding Officer, has ever accomplished such perfection.

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II. Proverbs 2:1-11

A. Our OT lesson was Solomon’s basic training for the young men recruited for duty in his royal court. They were young men who would face the variety of temptations and influences from the diversity of people coming to the king’s court, many with their own selfish, even evil agendas. Solomon wanted to prepare these young people for their royal duties as well as preparing them to stay faithful to God. Just as Solomon’s words are addressed to the recruits in his service, his words to them might also be the words of our King to us as He prepares us for service in His army. “Accept my words, store up my commands within You, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding.” 

B. These words offer wisdom, from which comes knowledge and understanding. They hold success in store for the upright, reminding us God is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, guarding the course of the just, and protecting the way of His faithful ones. He tells us to search for His insight and understanding as if a hidden treasure, for wisdom will enter our hearts, knowledge will be pleasant to our soul, discretion will protect us, and understanding will guard us.

C. Our basic training here prepares us spiritually to begin training for advanced combat roles. A fundamental lesson is to first identify the enemy. It’s difficult to wage war if you can’t identify the enemy,  In our previous wars, you could identify an enemy by the shape of a helmet, facial recognition, or even by whether they were carrying a weapon. Without such identification, Satan hides in plain sight.

D. Our experience in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan was that the enemy was not readily identifiable. The enemy dressed like regular citizens, acted like friendlies, and didn’t always show weapons. They knew how to use the landscape to their advantage. It’s the same way Satan hides in plain sight. His evil army doesn’t have horns from their heads, a pitchfork, and a tail, or even wear black hats of a villain. Our enemies disguise themselves, subtly appearing in the media, like TV programs and the internet, and as tempting pleasures disguised in lies and twisted truths.

E. Paul even writes in Ephesians 6:12-13  “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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.”  Paul isn’t just using creative language here---the war he writes about is real. It’s going on right now, affecting the lives of every one of us.. Some are fighting against strong temptations trying to drag us down with guilt. Some are warring against discouragement and depression, despairing over a  world spiraling out of control. Our past election may have even fueled such feelings for them. Sunday activities are luring our children away from church.

F. More than ever, we find it difficult to hold on to our faith in Christ without the Church, without praying and doing all we can not to give in to doubt and unbelief. Where His soldiers prepare and train, because these battles will not be won by faint hearts, but by brave soldiers who are ready to fight for the Lord and for those they love. This fight will not even be won by the strongest army, or the best missiles—it’ll be won by those who keep praying, keep believing, and never give up the fight until God gives the victory. We must never think we, as soldiers, can overcome evil without fighting, winning a crown without conflict.

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III. II Corinthians 10:1-6

A. In our Epistle Lesson,  Paul exemplifies being a good soldier. Paul was facing Satan’s attacks within the Corinthian church. Having founded the congregation during his extended ministry in Corinth, Paul bore the responsibility of protecting its faith, unity, and witness in a city marked by idolatry and sexual immorality. Certain opponents continued to question Paul’s authority, influencing the Corinthians against him.

B. They judged by outward appearances, commended themselves and measured their  ministry by worldly standards. In his epistle, Paul anticipates confronting their rebellion, and urges the church to separate itself from their destructive influence before his visit required public discipline. Although Paul lived in a mortal body and faced ordinary human weakness, he did not wage war with weapons of the world. not conducting his ministry by sinful ambition, manipulation, or worldly power. His warfare and authority came from God and were directed toward obedience to Christ.

C. Just as Paul’s conflict with false teachers and opposition in Corinth could not be won through manipulation, intimidation, rhetoric, or worldly power, today’s church’s true struggle reaches beyond human adversaries, to spiritual rebellion opposing God’s Truth. God’s soldiers therefore fight through prayer, faithful proclamation of Scripture, through the Holy Spirit, and dependence on the power of Christ. His saints serve in a real conflict against sin, deception, and spiritual opposition. God supplies truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, and His Word for this battle. His battle tested disciples, veterans, advance the gospel and preserve Christ’s people in obedience. Paul knew that weapons of the flesh -  human force, manipulation, worldly wisdom, and self-exalting leadership cannot bring spiritual victory, and refused to rely on outward impressiveness or rhetorical power, so that faith would rest in God rather than human ability.

D. Paul portrays the mind as a battlefield in which ideas, desires, motives, and imaginations must not be allowed to rule unchecked. Just as victorious armies led captives away in triumph, Christ’s soldiers bring rebellious thinking under His authority. demolishing arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,  with divine power, taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Such vigilance requires rejecting wordily standards, instead focusing on all that is true, honorable, pure, and worthy of praise.

E. So we must keep our guard up, let the Holy Spirit guide us, watching for the enemy, protected by Christ sanctioned weapons. Protecting our minds

with the helmet of salvation, with the sword of the Spirit in one hand, the shield of faith warding off Satan’s fiery arrows, with the other, tying the breastplate of righteousness with the belt of truth.

F. We don’t fight a winning war by having individual soldiers fight individual battles against an enemy, but as a united force meeting the enemy where it is. Another reason for coming together as His Church, fighting the enemy instead of fighting among ourselves. We might think of Waltz Church as a training ground to prepare us as a small combat unit to fight against Satan. As such, we need to regularly to come together as a unit, learning from Scripture what our battle tested Commanding Officer expects of us, teaching us how to combat the enemy, developing our strengths and overcoming our weaknesses. But it takes regular, continuing training, and practice to become an effective church, not just on occasional Sundays. We need to take the rest of the week to practice those individual skills, so that our Sundays are learning to further develop and apply our individual skills. Championship sports teams come to practice as a team, with the expectation that individuals work on individual skills, like strength training, study, working on the details of their positions, so that team practices can focus on team development.

G.  Applying this to a church, we should spend time in prayer, study, and evangelizing recruitment, so that Sunday worship can be a far more in depth time of worship, rather than going through the same cycles of wash, rinse, and repeat. In the larger sense, we are a combat unit within the Global Methodist Church. When churches come together at Annual Conference, the power of praise singing, praying together, and the depth of Bible studies makes the worship an awesome experience that has to shake Satan’s kingdom. But it starts at the individual church level, developing delegates and leaders that can use Scripture and faith practices, and combine resources to make  a global impact.

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Conclusion: Jesus envisioned His Church as a victorious force, able to defeat Satan. He told His disciples that He would build His Church on the confession of faith that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that the very gates of hell could not stand against it. We are His Church, His army being gathered to prepare, train, and fight against Satan, attacking those very gates of Satan’s kingdom. Each of us must develop as a veteran soldier. May God grant us the wisdom, faith, and spiritual power to be strong soldiers in His army of saints. Amen