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Soldiers of Christ

April 23rd, 2009 by Jeremy Sprouse

We often sing the song “Soldiers of Christ Arise,” but do not seem to understand what the song is about. It is a call to arms. It is call to be engaged as soldiers of Christ. We realize the fact that as Christians we are soldiers, but not seem to realize what it means or what we are supposed to do as soldiers. In 2 Timothy 2:3-4, Paul describes our service as soldiers of Christ in three ways.
First, we are soldiers in active duty. Too many Christians sit on the sidelines when they need to be engaged. We cannot be passive in our Christianity and still be an effective soldier for Christ. There is work to be done (2 Timothy 2:1-2, Matthew 28:18-20). We often talk about how many lost souls are out there, but we don’t reach out to them. We often talk about the Bible and it’s amazing depths, but we don’t study it in our day to day lives. We talk about the effectiveness of prayer, but we do not bring our problems to God. We must get off the sidelines and into the battle.
Second, we are soldiers who do not get entangled in the affairs of everyday life. It was not acceptable for a Roman soldier to have any major conflicts in his life. He needed to be dedicated and focused on his job. Many Christians lose their focus. When they are supposed to be worshipping, they are working for a paycheck. They spend their times on cars, houses, and lawns, but not for or with the church. These things are not evil, but they can be distracting. We need to make sure these concerns and goals do not get in the way of our service to God.
Third, we are soldiers who please the one who enlisted him. Remember we are soldiers for Jesus. We were enlisted by God when we obeyed the gospel. A soldier pleases by obeying commands and working hard (cf. John 14:6). We will never be pleasing to God as long as we choose to live our lives according to our thoughts, our feelings, and our desires. We have a higher authority to ourselves. He has given us instructions through His Word (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17) and we need to follow those instructions.
As soldiers, it is time for us to arise and prepare ourselves for service. We need to stop hanging back and press forward as active soldiers. We need to make sure we are focused on our service and not distracted by the things of this world. We need to make sure we are living our lives to please God.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 9:29 am and is filed under Bulletin Articles.

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