On the Battlefield for My Lord – Part III

I got your back...

Part III: The Brotherhood (part a)

The last few weeks of Bible Study have been great and one of the reasons is that the guys are growing together and are truly becoming a brotherhood.  When I started writing about being a Warrior of the Lord three weeks ago I intended to write about this particular topic.  I got a little sidetracked but I feel Parts I and II were a necessary starting point for a discussion on being a Warrior.

In Part I we discussed how a warrior of the Lord does not rely on his own strength.  The need for God is clear, but what is often ignored is the need for other people.  Some might even make fun of a man who admits that he needs other people.  Our modern American culture tells us that, “The only thing a real man needs is himself!”, but this is far from the biblical model for how we should live our lives.  In the book of Genesis the Lord says of his newly created man, “It is not good that the man should be alone”, and so he created woman.  While this was good, men need more than a woman by their side.

Men need someone who can understand the deepest core of their being and offer encouragement that can only come from another man.  Men innately understand the weaknesses and struggles of other men and are uniquely qualified to come alongside us and help us through our struggles.  This brings me to an important point.  Warriors need to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity against their enemies and watch each others backs to guard from a surprise attack.  As Warriors for the Lord, we need to be like the Spartans at Thermopylae, standing shoulder to shoulder, shields overlapped, or like the soldiers pictured above, covering each others backs.

This can be accomplished in a number of ways.  First, we can stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight by praying for, encouraging, and building up one another.  When our brothers are struggling, we must come alongside them and help them through their struggles.  When we see our brother down, we must pick them up and help them continue the fight.  Secondly, we can hold each other accountable.  Accountability is very important.  Ask each other the hard questions and be willing to hear the answers.  This is something that will be discussed in more detail later but its important to think about.  Do you have someone that you can trust enough to open up to them about your struggles?  I would encourage you all to find someone to meet with regularly to discuss the things that you struggle with and that cause you to stumble.

By standing shoulder to shoulder and watching each others backs as brothers, we can help prevent stumbling, and even if someone stumbles, we will be able to build them back up again.

On The Battlefield for My Lord – Part II

Part II:  The Character of God’s Warriors

2 Timothy 2:3,4  “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.”

In the last two posts, we’ve discussed what God has done for us.  In the Purity post we discussed how God creates in us a new heart and renews our spirit.  In the last post on being a Warrior we discussed how the battle belongs to our Lord.  This week we will begin a discussion on our response to all that God has done for us.  Since we know that Christ has taken our punishment and we receive the righteousness he earned in exchange, how then shall we live?  What does it mean to be a soldier of Christ?

Before discussing what life as a soldier for Christ looks like, I do need to say a few things about legalism and moralism.  There are many people who deny that Christians live under any sort of obligation, claiming that rules or standards for living are meaningless because we live under grace, not under the law.  While it is true that we live under the covenant of grace, and not under the law anymore, we still strive to do good things in an attempt, not to gain God’s favor, but to show our love for God and our gratitude for what he has done for us.  Legalism is about people attempting to earn their own righteousness in order to get something back from God.  A life of service to God is about people who know they could never live up to his standards, and yet have been given a gift they don’t deserve and every action and thought is devoted to pleasing our heavenly Father.  We must live a life of service as a soldier of Christ, a warrior for the Lord.

We no longer live under the law since Christ has fulfilled the law and given us the righteousness he earned, but because of what he did, we must strive to please God.  But how do we do that?  What kind of Warrior pleases God?  While there are many character traits that could be mentioned (Galatians 5:22,23 for example), I do believe that three very important traits are Purity, Humility, and Discipline.  The need for these can be seen in 2 Timothy 2:14-26.  Purity is important if you are going to be a useful tool in the hands of your redeemer (vs 20-22).  Humility is necessary if you are going to avoid quarrels, show kindness to all and correct opponents with gentleness, which presents a good witness to all (vs 24,25).  Discipline is required to “rightly handle the word of truth” (vs 15), and to have the ability to teach (vs 24).

These traits should not be surprising or unfamiliar.  Throughout history great warriors have been defined by these traits.  All great warriors have been defined by a pure heart, a humble spirit and discipline in their training.  King Arthur, Robin Hood, Batman, the list goes on.  While many people may model their lives after their heroes, as Warriors for God, we are called to follow Christ’s example.  If purity is defined by nothing short of Holiness, Jesus the only son of God surely was pure.  Today in church Pastor Ted explained how Jesus was meek and humble.  He was also very disciplined in his prayer and work (which will be discussed in a future post).  A good soldier of Christ will follow his example and pursue these traits as well.

Purity, Humility, Discipline: PHD.  A warrior with these characteristics is ready and able to serve his master and carry out his mission.

On The Battlefield for My Lord – Part I

Part I: The Battle Belongs to the Lord

Last Friday we talked a little bit about being warriors in a specific sense, and Jay brought it up again in his comment on the purity post.  So for this weeks post I decided that I wanted to expand on that idea a little bit and really talk about what it means to be a warrior for God.

Throughout the Old Testament there are many references to the Lord being a Warrior.  There are also many stories of other great warriors and battles, but one common theme that can be found is that these great warriors of old relied on the Lord’s strength for their victories.  One warrior in particular can be found in Judges 6.  The people of Israel were once again being oppressed because of their disobedience and unfaithfulness, this time by the Midianites and Amalekites, when Gideon was called to deliver God’s people.  In verse 12, an Angel of the Lord comes to Gideon and greets him saying, “The Lord is with you, mighty man of valor.”  Gideon’s immediate reaction was to question God for allowing the Israelites to be oppressed, but the Angel of the Lord simply responds with, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”  Once again, Gideon questions the angel, this time with doubts of his own ability, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”  The Lord’s response is such a wonderful illustration of what I mentioned before about God giving us the will and the ability to do good.  The Lord responds to Gideon’s doubts about himself by saying, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”  God doesn’t build up Gideon’s self esteem or give him a pep talk.  He simply says, “I will be with you” and that is all that Gideon needs to overcome his enemies.

Gideon’s story continues in Judges 7 where he gathers an army of 32,000 men to go against nearly 135,000 enemy soldiers.  Despite the imbalance, God says to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’”  After sending all but 300 men home, God then tells Gideon, “Arise, go down against the camp [of the Midianites], for I have given it into your hand.”  And the Lord surely did.  In verses 21 and 22 we see God clearly working, fighting the battle for Gideon and delivering the Midianites into his hands.  All Gideon had to do was a mop up campaign, as Pastor Ted so often says.

While this may have been a rather lengthy introduction to the topic of being a warrior of the Lord, it is important for us to remember that we cannot rely on our own strength.  I know this isn’t new or revolutionary for many of you and I’ve talked about it in every single post so far but this is a reality that everything relies on.  If we don’t keep in mind that we are not fighting our battles alone, and that we cannot rely on our own strength, then we become proud, thinking that our own hands have saved us.

Be sure to watch out for part 2 where I discuss the character of a warrior of the Lord.  Also, if you want to get emails when I post a new topic, be sure to subscribe at the top right of the blog.