Being a True Soldier for Christ

Text: Judges 7:1-2

Judges 7:1  Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

2  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

In our text, we see that the Lord is about to do something miraculous.

a.  Sometimes things must fall apart in order for the Lord to truly show His strength.

         i.    Israel was in shambles. As a result of that, there were things that happened in their lives to bring them back into a right relationship with God.

        ii.    Judges 6:6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

1.   Many times when we turn our back on God, things happen.

2.   The bible says you reap what you sow.

a.   God doesn't punish us nearly enough as we deserve, but that still doesn't give us the right to turn our back on Him.

    iii.    Verse 2, 7-8

2  And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

7  And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,

8  That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage.

1.   God had to make Israel uncomfortable enough that we turn back around to Him.

2.   A lot of times we turn our back on God because He begins to turn the heat up on us. Thank God He loves us enough to keep us.

      iv.        Jonah turned his back on God and found himself in the belly of a bad situation. Interesting that the whale spat him out right on the shores of where he was supposed to go.

                   1.        Israel was put in such a bad situation that they really didn't have a choice BUT to turn back to God. Sometimes God lets us get so low that we don't have any choice but to look UP.

       v.        A broken Christian is a great soldier.

     vi.        Judges 6:8-10

8  That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

9  And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;

10  And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

1.   God basically said the reason that you are in the predicament that you are in, is because you didn't obey my voice.

2.   The Israelites had to get to the point where they said whatever you say, I'll do. Once they got to that point, God send His prophet.

   vii.        Judges 6:11  And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

                   1.        God generally picks a person who is “unexpected” to do His work.

                   2.        Isn't it something that God doesn't go to the mighty? There was nothing special about Gideon. God calls those things which are not as though they are.

 viii.        Judges 6:24  Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

                   1.        “Jehovahshalom” means “The Lord brings peace.”

                   2.        The Bible says the angel of the Lord, which by the way is the pre-incarnate Christ, touched the rock and then consumed the food that Gideon put on there.

                   3.        He wasn't called to be famous, to make money, to be respected, to be liked, to make friends, or to be great. Gideon had one calling on his life; he was called to be a soldier. 

                                     i.        That same calling is on your life, and on mine. God called us to be soldiers.

      ix.        The truth of the matter is, the real you doesn't even show up until things start falling apart.

       x.        Trials are difficult for all of us, but hard times are very essential, because they allow you to deal with yourself, to see things that you wouldn't even examine if that situation hadn't come across your path.

                   1.        There's a fundamental difference between giving God praise and living a life that praises God.

                   2.        Everyone wants to give a shout-out to God, but the true shout-out is living a life that pleases Him.

b.   One thing we need in Christianity today is soldiers, not people who claim to be soldiers, but real bona fide soldiers.

         i.    Like Paulo, Peter, Philip, Esther, Naomi, etc.

c.   I'm gonna take my proverbial heart and put it on the pulpit. Everything I say to you is coming from a heart of love. My heart beats and bleeds for Norristown Baptist Church.

1. The reason I'm here is because of you. God sent me here to help you. Everything I'm about to tell you today is coming from nothing but love.

1.  A good soldier of Jesus Christ has to be fearless.

a.   One thing that causes people to turn their back and run is being challenged to do things they don't think they can do, being challenged to stop being the person they used to be, and become a soldier for Christ.

             i.        You can't be a soldier and a runner at the same time.

            ii.        A soldier will run toward the fight, not away from it. Civilians run away from the fight.

b.   Even when life seems it's hardest, you have to learn to stand still and wait for the next instruction.

c.   Confusion is not of the Lord. When in doubt, don't. That means when you get in doubt, don't do anything.

            ii.        Sometimes we have to leave a situation alone and wait for God's instruction, and then follow it, no matter what it is.

c.   2 Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

            ii.        Fear can lock and paralyze you. Have you ever been paralyzed with fear?

          iii.        In a spiritual battle the real enemy is not easy to see.

1.   The real enemy is inside of you, it's the "enemy in-a-me" that can really destroy you.

2.   The enemy can't do nothing to you that you don't allow him to.

d.   The heart of every problem is a problem with the heart.

e.   You have to persevere through hardships.

             i.        Sometimes God says, “I don't want to take this from you, I want you to live through it. I want you to serve me in spite of what's going on.”

            ii.        It's never the will of God for us to run from our enemies.

f.    Anybody that serves God for any amount of time will have to endure some stuff.

             i.        Another reason why the Lord allows you to go through certain things is so that you will not be able to steal His glory.

g.   Judges 7:3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

             i.        The Lord said whoever is afraid go home, and 22,000 soldiers went home. Put this into today's language, and you can see how people won't do what the Lord wants them to do because they're afraid.

h.   If you do what the Lord wants you to do, you will have to face all of those. You will lose friends, have people walking out of your life, and you will still have to keep marching.

             i.        Soldiers have to keep marching. There is a war going on, Jesus is coming back! You have to put on your war boots and get them strapped up.

2.  A good soldier cannot get distracted by what's going on in their life.

a.   Judges 7:4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.

             i.        After fear sent most of the soldiers home, the Lord said you still have too many.

b.   Vs 5-6

5  So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.

6  And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

             i.        They were more concerned with their own need than they were with the purpose that God had for them.

            ii.        A good soldier cannot be so concerned with themselves that they forget the reason that God called them.

          iii.        There were 9700 people not paying attention because they were so concerned with their own need.

c.   A good soldier needs to be more concerned with his brethren than he is for himself.

            ii.    Jesus said as I have loved you, so must you love your brethren. In order to do that you have to become selfless. You have to forget about your feelings. We all get hurt.

          iii.    The Lord is quick to remind, you are a soldier, you can't allow yourself to get caught up like that.

d.   True love is not determined by "your" actions. Christ's love isn't determined by mine. He will love us regardless of what goes on.

             i.    You have to be more concerned with the mission than you are with your own needs, even sometimes you have to be more concerned with the mission than with being understood.

            ii.    A good soldier will be a soldier regardless of how people around him treat him.

e.   As good soldiers we stand on the shoulders of a giant. We have to please Him who has chosen us to be a soldier.

             i.    He paid the ultimate sacrifice, and one day we will stand before Him. He is going to say what did you do with the gift? I gave you a gift, what did you do with it?

            ii.    It's too easy for us to get caught up in the affairs of this life. The people who followed Jesus never walked away.

f.    The greatest thing I can do as a parent is to keep my kids in church, to instill principles in them that, just maybe, when they get old enough to choose, they will say, this is the way I was taught.

3.  A good soldier to Jesus Christ must adhere to God's Word.

a.   You can't live in disobedience to the Word of God and call yourself a soldier.

b.   Gideon was left with 300 men, to fight an army. God doesn't need a whole lot of people to do His work.

             i.        He doesn’t' need a mega-church, just somebody with a mega-heart who trusts his life to Him. He just needs one person ho's willing to yield himself to Him.

            ii.        The Lord told the Israelites to blow trumpets and bang pitchers together. When they did what God told them to do, the Midianites became confused and began to kill each other. Why did they do this? Because 300 people decided to do what God wanted them to do.

c.   This is not about anything but your obedience to the Word of God.

             i.        If you want God to do something in your life, you have to yield yourself totally to Him.

d.   2 Timothy 3: And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

             i.        Do what God wants you to do, and He will give the increase. Because He always blesses a willing heart.

            ii.        It takes soldiers to make a ministry work. If you are involved in any kind of ministry today, then you are a soldier, and the devil will do anything he can to stop you, to oppose you, to make you quit.