Title: Good Soldier
Title: Good Soldier (2 Timothy 2:1-4)
In the Hope Box, The Two-Written History of the French Revolution, Thomas Carlyle was the first to show his friend John Stuart Mill the manuscript he had worked hard for several years. But while my friend went for a short walk, Mill's housekeeper, who considered the manuscripts as useless wads of paper, put them all in the fireplace and burned them. Carlyle was in shock when years of painstaking work turned into a handful of ashes. One day, as the gloomy days continued, Carlyle saw a bricklayer laying bricks on her morning walk. As Carlyle watched the scene, a thought came to mind. “The bricklayer lays one brick at a time, yes, so I can. Let's write one page a day! Carlyle began rewriting the content line by line like building bricks, and the result was a better manuscript than the first. That book is The History of the French Revolution that made Thomas Carlyle a famous historian.
The text is talking about the good soldier of Christ.
So, what should we do to become a good soldier of Christ?
1) You must suffer.
3 I tell you to suffer with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. A good soldier is one who suffers with the Lord.
A soldier refers to an evangelist, but there are several instances in the Bible that express an evangelist as a soldier.
1 Corinthians 9:7 “Who will do military service at his own expense? Who will plant grapes and not eat their fruit? Who will raise sheep and drink their milk?”
2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Ephesians 6:10-17,
The soldier must suffer with Christ.
why? Since a life is more precious than the world, it is a great blessing to save this precious life and send it to heaven. Saving parents is the most precious filial piety in the world. Saving children is the best parent. (Lincoln) The one who saves the neighbor is the one who loves the neighbor.
But how jealous would the devil be if he wanted to do such a thing? So a good soldier has no choice but to suffer.
How many hardships did Jesus suffer while evangelizing? Paul also suffered countless times. Stephen was also stoned to death.
Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Nina
Therefore, please believe that good soldiers will suffer.
2) A good soldier is not bound by his own life.
4 “No one serving as a soldier gets caught up in his life,” he says.
That's right. A good soldier is not bound by his own life. This means not getting caught up in “the things for life.” It is a principle that was applied not only to the evangelist but also to the general believers (1 Corinthians 7:26-34).
Therefore, a good soldier should not be bound by life.
When our children go to the military, don't we leave behind all our jobs, our wives and parents? Therefore, I hope you believe that good soldiers should do the work of evangelism without being bound by life.
3) A good soldier pleases God.
4 “To please those who recruited him as soldiers”
God has chosen us from among many people, one out of a thousand.
And he gives us a mission.
2 Timothy 4:5 “But be careful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.”
1 Corinthians 4:1 Man ought to consider us workers of Christ and entrusters of the mysteries of God.
2 And of those who are entrusted with it, fidelity is to be sought.
Therefore, please believe that a good soldier must be faithful to God's work and please God.
Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” A good soldier must have faith to please God.
No one who serves as a soldier gets entangled in his life, so that he may please those who recruited him as a soldier.
We must be good soldiers.
A good soldier suffers with the Lord. He is not bound by life. It pleases God who recruited soldiers.