From His Heart

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Today on From His Heart, find out if you are prepared for the battle. Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve.

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The moment that you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, not only does he save you and take you out of darkness and move you into the kingdom of light, not only does he adopt you into his family, not only does he give you his holy spirit, but he enlists you in his army.

Every believer is in the Lord's Army. The Christian life is not a playground; it's a battleground for the Lord's Army.

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There is tremendous truth. There is hope that you always dream. Love. He can heal every scar with real truth, real love, real hope from his heart.

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In 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 3, we read, "Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus."

Hey, living in our deceptive world, do you grow weary from day to day? Battle fatigue brought on by the struggles you face? Well, there's encouragement from God's word.

Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, the message is from the powerful series We Are Soldiers. In today's lesson, titled "The Lord's Army," Pastor Jeff will give us a little hint about what we can learn from this series.

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Larry.

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The sermon series "We Are Soldiers" comes from 2nd Timothy chapter 2, where the apostle Paul says to Timothy, "suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." We need to start thinking like soldiers because in the last days, difficult times will come. That is clear.

A soldier knows when he is in battle that it's not a day at the beach. It's going to be hard, and it's going to be stressful and trying. But he's there on a mission, and we need to start. I believe we need to start as Christians, seeing that we're on a mission with God to be his witnesses.

This world is not our home. We're here for such a time as this to witness for the Lord, to point the way to Jesus, and to shine and share until he comes to get us or until he takes us home.

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Well, it's going to be inspiring for many and an eye-opening one for others who have never considered their responsibility to be involved in the battle as part of the Lord's Army.

And that's the title of the message today. Open your Bible to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and let's see what role you might play in the Lord's Army.

Here again is Pastor Jeff.

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When my kids were little, one of the things that Debbie and I did was we got cassette tapes. CDs weren't really out at that time, and everything was cassette tapes. We had felt pretty big time because we had graduated from eight-track tapes. We had cassettes, and it was all a bunch of kids' songs on these cassettes. We’d play them in the house and in the car, and the kids liked to sing along. Even though they were kids' songs, they were good songs because they taught the kids important truths.

Now, one of the songs that played, I had never heard before until we started playing the kids' songs. Debbie kind of looked at me like, "Really? You've never heard this song?" She said, "We always sang it in vacation Bible school." I said, "Well, I didn't go to vacation Bible school, so that's probably why I've never heard of it." But the song is very familiar to many of you: "I'm in the Lord's Army." I may never march in the infantry, and you know, with kids, you had motions, so you'd march. "I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. I may never zoom o'er the enemy, but I'm in the Lord's army."

Hey, that's a great song for kids and adults because it teaches a very important truth. The moment that you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, not only does he save you and take you out of darkness and move you into the kingdom, not only does he adopt you into his family, not only does he give you his Holy Spirit, but he enlists you in his army. Every believer is in the Lord's Army. The Christian life is not a playground; it's a battleground. It's a battleground for the Lord's Army.

We're beginning a new series today entitled "We Are Soldiers." It's based on the verse in 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 3, where Paul says to Timothy, "Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." We are soldiers. We're in the Lord's Army. We need to remember as we go through this life that, hey, I'm a soldier. I'm in the Lord's Army. I'm called out to remember the Lord, as Nehemiah said, who is great and awesome, and fight now in the Lord's Army.

It's not like the human army. It's not like our United States military. They fight on a physical plane. We don't fight on a physical plane; we fight on a spiritual plane. The scripture says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. It's a spiritual battle. Our weapons are the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, the shield of faith, and the power of prayer. That's what we bring to the table in this battle.

See, we don't fight the Muslims, we don't fight the atheists, we don't fight the agnostics, we don't fight the liberals, we don't fight the legalists, we don't fight the apostates. We're in a battle against the devil and his demonic horde. Now, the devil and his demonic horde, they use people, but the people aren't the enemy. The devil is the enemy. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, but resist him, the scripture says, firm in your faith. We are in a battle, and the enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy. He's like the original Terminator. He doesn't feel pity. He doesn't care about you and your family. He wants to destroy you and your family. And he never takes a break. He never takes time off. He never has a little R and R. He goes constantly to steal, kill, and destroy.

Now, Paul wrote to Timothy the last letter he ever wrote, 2 Timothy. It was written about 67 A.D., right at the same year that Paul was beheaded for his faith in Christ, for preaching the Gospel, for never backing down. Now he wrote to Timothy, who is not like Paul. Although Paul led him to the Lord and calls him my true child in the faith, he calls him his son in the faith. Timothy was not like Paul. You know, Paul is stronger than an acre of garlic. Sometimes you can read Paul and just think, man, I don't have the discipline that that guy has. I don't have the courage that that guy had. He's just amazing. I mean, five times he received 39 lashes from the Jews, three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, and a day and a night he spent in the deep. All the things that he says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, about the bad things that happened to him. Many of us would be like, good night, after one time getting 39 lashes from the Jews, I think I'd go back to Jerusalem and maybe teach at the school. I just wouldn't want to be on the front lines. He's such a frontline guy.

Well, Timothy is in Ephesus. Ephesus is a tough place. In Ephesus, they worship Artemis, the great goddess of the Ephesians, and there is much opposition to the Gospel in Ephesus. But the Lord is working in Ephesus, and Timothy is the pastor there. He's a young guy, and Paul tells him, "Don't let people look down on your youthfulness." He speaks to him because he's timid. He says, "God hasn't given you a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." He tells Timothy, "Hey, Timothy, you might be tempted to quit. You might be tempted to leave your post. But don't do it, Timothy, because you're in the Lord's army."

He says in 2 Timothy, chapter 2, "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. For no soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier."

Hey, here's our question to ponder: Are you a good soldier of Christ Jesus? How are you doing in this thing called being a soldier? How are you doing in this thing called being faithful in the Lord's army? I want to share with you three characteristics of a good soldier of Jesus Christ. When the scripture says a good soldier, that word good means valuable, virtuous, worthy—a worthy soldier, a soldier used as a metaphor of a champion of the cause of Christ.

The first characteristic: a good soldier of Christ Jesus suffers hardship. Verse 3: "Timothy, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." A good soldier is willing to suffer hardship. Paul was in prison in Rome, and he knew that the end was near for him. He said in chapter 4, "The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I've finished the course. I've run the race." He knew that it was over.

Now, when you read in the Book of Acts, you read about Paul being imprisoned in Rome, and he's in his own rented quarters, welcoming people into his own rented quarters. He's under house arrest. This is not the first Roman imprisonment. This is his second Roman imprisonment. In the Book of Acts, Paul was eventually released from Rome and went on to minister some more, but then he was rearrested, taken to Rome, and it was a totally different ball game. He was put in chains and put in a dungeon. It was difficult and hard, and there were afflictions and problems. He tells Timothy, "Hey, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier in Christ Jesus." He said in chapter 1, verse 8, "Join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God."

You mark it down: the true Christian life comes with adversity and suffering. This is part of the deal; it's part of the ball game. Just like a soldier, if we send a soldier off to Syria or Afghanistan or Iraq, those men and women know they're not going for a day at the beach. This is a day in battle. They're not going to Disney World; they're going to war. It's going to be tough, and there's going to be suffering associated with that warfare. The true Christian life comes with adversity and suffering.

The scripture says in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 12, "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted." You will be pursued in a hostile manner. People will come after you in a hostile manner if you're living godly in Christ Jesus. You say, "Well, why is that?" Well, it's because the true Christian life comes with hatred from the world. That's what Jesus said. If you're going to really live for him, if you're going to do the two things that we talk about all the time in our church—to shine for Christ and to share what the great things the Lord has done for you—if you're going to shine and share, then the world is going to come after you.

Jesus said in John, chapter 15, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also." Jesus said, "Hey, don't be surprised if the world doesn't stand up and clap and say, 'Oh, we're so excited for you. You've come to know Christ and you're walking with the Lord. That is great.'" No, the world doesn't like that. They don't want people to come to know Christ. The devil owns the world system. He has infiltrated the world and controls it. He's a deceiver, and he deceives the whole world. People don't like when you start to shine the light on their sins.

If you're going to live for Jesus Christ, you're going to be a good soldier, a worthy soldier, a virtuous soldier, and really shine for Christ and share the gospel and share what the Lord has done in your life. There will be people who will not be your friend anymore. Emily Satterfield, she's married now, so that's not her name, but she stood here with me some years ago and shared how she had lived a lesbian lifestyle for seven years, from the time she was 15 until she was 22. Then she was saved—marvelously saved, radically saved. She began to witness constantly. She is such a strong witness, letting people know that you have to repent and believe the gospel and that if you continue on in sin, all that's left for you is a Christless hell.

She said that all her friends in the lifestyle of lesbianism that she was in dropped her like a hot rock. They didn't want to have anything to do with her. Why? Because she destroys the narrative that "I was born this way." If Emily was born this way, then how come she's not this way anymore? How come she is happily married? She attacks their whole narrative, and so they do not like her and they come after her. If you want to live godly in Christ Jesus, you're going to suffer persecution.

It can cost you friends; it can cost you your job. We have heard about the bakers in Oregon. They wouldn't violate their conscience and wouldn't bake a wedding cake for a homosexual wedding. The hounds of hell were released upon them, and they ended up losing their business as a result of that and having all these fines put upon them—a little mom-and-pop bakery shop. It can cost you your job. I have a friend of mine who's in corporate America. He's a very strong Christian, very outspoken on Facebook and social media. He's told me before, "Jeff, I just know that it's just a matter of time before my company comes down and tells me to shut it off, to quit presenting Christ to the world like I'm doing." He said, "I believe that one day it's gonna cost me my job."

It costs to serve Jesus. It can cost you friends, it can cost you your job, it might cost you your freedom. John Bunyan, who lived in the 1600s, spent 12 years incarcerated. Why? Because he committed the crime of preaching the gospel. He spent 12 years in prison. God used that time; it wasn't wasted time. He wrote "Pilgrim's Progress" while he was in prison, and that book has been used for centuries to help people in the Christian life. It may cost you your freedom.

Hey, it may cost your life. Paul's getting ready to get his head cut off. It cost him his life. Peter was crucified upside down. All the disciples, save John, were killed for their faith. Hey, suffer hardship as a good soldier in Christ Jesus. You say, "Well, Jeff, what is the way that I could get out of the hardship thing? Because I don't really like suffering. I don't really like hardship. I kind of like to be in the Lord's army, but I'd like to be a reservist. I'd like other people to go out there, and maybe I could..." What's a way that I can get away from the hardship aspect of this?

Let me tell you how to do it. This is really cool: go AWOL. If you go AWOL, you leave your post, you bail out. You say, "It's too tough." You do like John Mark did on the first missionary journey. You say, "Hey, Paul, Barnabas, this is too hard. I'm out of here." You take the next boat back home. Do that. Don't shine, don't share. Hide your light under a bushel. Zip your lip. When people start talking about morality and they talk about that God is dead, just don't say anything, and you won't experience the suffering that comes from living godly in Christ Jesus.

But you know what you will experience? Jesus said this in Mark, chapter 8, verse 38: "For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." Can you imagine what that would be like for the Lord to return, and you've been ashamed of him, and he comes and now he is ashamed of you?

Listen, going AWOL is not an option for a good soldier. A good soldier is willing to suffer hardship. The second characteristic: a good soldier of Christ Jesus stays focused. Verse 4: "No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." He doesn't entangle himself. That word means to entwine, to get consumed and distracted with everyday life.

Listen, the good soldier is on a mission, and he realizes that he is here for a purpose. We send our soldiers today, if we send them to Syria, if we send them to Afghanistan, if we send them to Iraq, they are on a tour of duty. They're not moving to that country to live like, "This is my new home." They know they're going away to a place that's not their home. They're there for a purpose. They're there for a mission, and they are going to complete the mission and then come home because that's not their home. They're just there on a mission.

You know, the Bible says that we are citizens of heaven, and we're on a mission with the Lord. Philippians, chapter 3: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's going to transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory through the power that he has even to subject all things to Himself." We're citizens of heaven, and we're on a mission. The mission is given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

In Matthew, chapter 28, we call that the Great Commission. Our mission is the Great Commission, where Jesus said, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." That's our mission—to make disciples.

We've kind of boiled it down to our mission: to shine for Christ and to share. When we shine for Christ, when we share the Gospel and share how the Lord has saved us, then we make disciples that way because they have to hear the message. We're citizens of heaven on a mission with the Lord. And see, on our mission, we have to stay focused, just like the soldiers overseas. They have to stay focused on what they're there for. We have to stay focused.

The Scripture says in Hebrews, chapter 12: "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses encompassing us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith." That word fixing means to look away from everything else and put your eyes on Him. We're staying focused on him, the one who enlisted us in the Lord's army, the one who has given us the mission in the Great Commission, to fix your eyes on him and see we're to live for the approval of one—the approval of one, and that is Jesus Christ.

It doesn't matter who approves you in this life. What matters is the approval of the one in whom you serve, for whom you serve. Paul says, "So that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." Well, who enlisted you as a soldier? Jesus. Jesus is the one who saves us. He's the one who enlists us as a soldier. We live the Christian life to please him. And listen, when all is said and done, the only thing that matters in the end is when you stand before the Lord and you hear him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." That's the only thing that matters. That's the commendation and the approval from the one who matters.

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Are you struggling today at being a faithful soldier in our increasingly secular and anti-Christian world? Is your faith being attacked? Well, to help you this month, we're in Pastor Jeff's practical five-message series. We are soldiers, and the message is inspired from Second Timothy, chapter two, verse three, which says, "Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus."

If you're struggling in your life, you need to get this entire series. When you go online to fromhisheart.org, click the listen link. This month, we're also offering you a special series called "Discernment in the Days of Deception." God wants us all to be good soldiers in our Christian walk, and that requires spiritual discernment against the schemes of the devil and knowing the truth and what's not the truth. This series will help you. It's our gift to you for your support this month of any amount.

From His Heart is offering "Discernment in the Days of Deception" on a USB flash drive, digital download, CDs, or DVDs—your choice. Call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhisheart.org and request them.

So thank you for standing and speaking the truth in love with us. I'm Larry Nobles, inviting you to be with Pastor Jeff next time for part two of this empowering first message in the series and the lesson entitled "The Lord's Army." As we again open God's word to share real truth, real love, and real hope, remember: From His Heart, there is tremendous truth.

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There is blessing there is hope that you always dream love he can heal every scars of your truth. We will love you from his heart.

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From his heart is the listener supported broadcast.

Welcome to the Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more at fromhisheart.org.