Building Strong Soldiers
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As Adrian Rogers said
"We are at spiritual war! Therefore, the church is not a cruise ship with the pastor as the master of ceremonies. Indeed it is not a showboat, but a battleship. We're called to see Satan's strongholds crumble under the power of heaven's artillery. We do not have the luxury of neutrality. We must engage in the fight. A truce will never be called. God's will for his saints is not that we merely survive, but that we thrive in total victory. General Douglas MacArthur spoke rightly when he said, "In war there is no substitute for victory." We must be aware of our enemy if we would have this victory. We need to learn of our infernal foe."
Talk about Prayer meeting on Wednesday - Battles - Spiritual Warfare
1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
We are not passengers to be served, but we are soldier to serve..
Now if we are soldiers, and for whatever reason only known by God, who is above all and beyond all, has chosen me to be the captain of this ship at Milton.
Therefore, I have to obey my calling and my clear command to build us up together into strong soldiers, because the battle is so fierce.
So how do we raise up strong soldiers?
Well that is a multi faceted answer, because there are many aspects of building people up depending on where they are at. For some it may be body issues, it may be soul issues, it may be spiritual issues.. All things we should care for one another in.
But this morning I want to focus in on three core components that we want to foster and encourage all of us.
That said, I want to take us to a portion of old Testament scripture to look a three Soldiers who displayed qualities of Good Soldiers, and I believe if we where to all show these qualities, our walk with the Lord and our witness for the Lord would be in much better shape
turn then with me to
8 These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. 9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: 10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil. 11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory.
When David was on the run from Saul, David gathered around him an group of six-hundred men who were willing to fight with and for David. We dont know the names of all of those men, but we know the names of some of them.
David had been on the run for his life from King Saul and David needed warriors, champions, men who would fight with him and fight for him; men who were bold and strong; men who would go the extra mile and engage in extraordinary feats of heroism and valour against overwhelming odds.
David needed mighty those who weren’t afraid to wade into the battle, take a stand, and fight.
Among his six hundred men, these three are called out and named as mighty men,
The words mighty men are from one word in the Hebrew, gibbor, which means powerful, or a mighty man of valour, they where warriors!! his fearless warriors who fought by his side, and scripture records their valiant qualities as soldiers
so what are the qualities of a good soldier? well firstly
Courage
These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.
First there was Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time
Here was a man who was not intimidated by the odds.
Scripture doesn’t give us much by way of details of the battle, but the fact that one man would be willing to face and defeat eight hundred men at one time tells you a lot about this man.
He was fearless, he was a fighter, and earned the name Adino the Eznite. Adino means slender, and Eznite sharp or strong.
Some say that these two words refer to his spear or his sword, meaning that it was slender but sharp and strong. Others think it refers to Josheb himself.
In other words, he wasn't a big man but he was full of courage
I want you to know that you can be a warrior for God.
You may not have a big name, and you may not have big degrees on your wall, and you may not know anyone with a big name.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.
Adino may have been a slender man, but he was fierce in battle and he was willing to go against the odds to gain the victory.
“one man with courage makes a majority,”
Warren W. Wiersbe
You may feel like you are out-numbered.
Everyone around you may be compromising and going back and it may feel like it is an uphill battle.
You may feel like you are swimming against the current.
But if you are pursuing the plans and purposes of God for your life, then you need to be strong and courageous for the Lord thy God is with thee, and He will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
With God on your side you can do all things and you are more than a conqueror.
With God on your side the odds are always in your favour.
Josheb faced down and defeated eight hundred Philistine soldiers because he wasn’t intimidated the by odds, he was confident in God, and a great victory was won.
He was a good soldier because he showed courage
Secondly then a have consistency
Consistency
And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.
The next mighty man was Eleazar the son of Dodo
Here was a man who defied the enemy and who knew never to let go of his weapon.
He was with David on a day when the Philistines were attacking Israel and when it looked like the Philistines were going to prevail the men of Israel retreated, but Eleazar was a man who didn’t have any quit in him.
He didn’t retreat, he advanced against the enemy with nothing but a sword as he fought and slashed and stabbed and cut and sliced until his muscles cramped and his grip on his sword was frozen in place.
he wasn't letting go he wouldn't give up
illustration - fella from Ballyclare fighting- beat, that 3 hours later back knocking on the door for another fight
He knew that whatever happened, he wasn’t going to put down his sword.
Of course our sword is the word of God
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The Word of God is the sword that we must have a firm grasp on as we engage in this spiritual warfare.
It is our weapon against the attack of the enemy, but too often we are going into battle without the sword.
Instead we go into battle with our arguments, with our agendas, and with our anger, but what we need is a good grip on the Word of God.
We need to hide it in our heart that we might not sin against God.
We need to abide in the Word and let the Word abide in us so that our prayers become powerful and effective in the battle.
We need truth....
“truth” (alētheia) is one of the major Johannine themes and is rooted in the Hebrew ʾĕmet, which carries the ideas of “faithfulness,” “steadfastness,” and “consistency.
Gerald L. Borchert
What did Eleazar do?
He advanced when everyone else was retreating, and he kept fighting with his sword firmly in his grasp.
Other people, other ministries, other churches are retreating from what thus saith the Word of God, but we need to stand up and be counted for, we need to keep our grasp and our grip on the Word and we need to be consistent in that
We live during a time when churches, preachers and politicians are retreating from the Word of God.
They are afraid to say that homosexuality is a sin, even thought this is declared repeatedly throughout the Bible.
They are backing off and retreating from the fact that having sexual relations outside of marriage is a sin, but this is what the Word of God says.
We live in a world when the church, those who should be maintaining the standard, are not consistent with holding onto the word of God
Eleazer held on to the sword and wouldn’t let go
and we need to do the same
a good soldier is consistent
Without consistency there is no moral strength.
Anonymous
So a good soldier is Courageous, a good soldier should also be committed, then finally then a strong soldier shows commitment
Commitment
And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory.
What did Shammah do?
Shammah took a stand.
The enemy had come to take the lentils, which are a nutrient rich type of bean.
The enemy had come to claim the harvest, but Shammah said, Over my dead body!
Shammah stood in the middle of the field and refused to let the enemy steal the harvest.
It takes courage to stand up and be counted, but it takes more courage to keep standing up after you have been counted.
Anonymous
God help us to find some Shammahs who will not concede the ground to the enemy.
A little old pea patch, not worth the battle, not worth the fight!
but that land was given by the Lord and it was worth fighting over
you see many are willing to give up ground, saying the battle isn’t worth it
no need to fight for that or this
doesn't matter what Bible translation you use
doesn't matter about Gods views on marriage, sexuality
no need to fight
but a good soldier shows commitment and if we are committed to the word of God we need to fight for the things of the Lord
it may look a like little lentil field, but if its the Lords it worth the fight
May God give us some Shammahs who will not yield and who will not allow the enemy to gain the ground
someone who will say, Not on my watch. Not in my town. Not as long as I have breath in my body.
Shamah was committed to the cause and so should we be if we are to be good Soldiers.
Be much with the solid teachings of God’s word, and you will become solid and substantial men and women: drink them in, and feed upon them, and they shall produce in you a Christ-likeness, at which the world shall stand astonished.
Charles Spurgeon
Conclusion
So there we have three mighty men of David, and three qualities of a strong Soldier
Adino the Eznite - The Courageous Soldier, who fought against 8-1 odds
Eleazar the son of Dodo - The Consistent Soldier, who would not let go of the sword
Shamah - The committed soldier, who fought for that patch of lentils
These men showed tremendous qualities, qualities of a good soldier
What about you ?
Are you courageous? in facing down the enemy
Are you consistent? in you walk with the Lord? in your Church attendance? in your prayer and devotional life?
Are you Committed? To Christ, his Church and his cause?
Folks, no matter where we are at, we have more to learn, apply and practice. Our training never stops
Our reach for God should always extend past our grasp of God
We have what we need - the spirit of God and the word of God
We just need to wake up to the war and get about fighting it in His strength and leading..
As we grow in strength we grow closer to him and the more we know Him the stronger we get..
Simply put… if we want to building strong soldiers at this Church then we need more of Jesus, and not the Jesus we have formed in our own minds, but the Logos, The Word.. Jesus as he has revealed himself to us!
We want of that Jesus, just as the old hym goes..
More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.
More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me.
More about Jesus in His Word,
Holding communion with my Lord;
Hearing His voice in ev'ry line,
Making each faithful saying mine.
More about Jesus on His throne,
Riches in glory all His own;
More of His kingdom's sure increase;
More of His coming, Prince of peace.
Refrain:
More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.
Let’s live our ives in the battle for the Lord, let’s build and be strong soldiers
There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run.
J. C. Ryle
courageous, consistent and committed. Lets get at it!!