“Onward
Christian Soldier”
Tomorrow as a nation we
will celebrate Memorial Day. So, before I begin this morning, I would
ask all of you to bow with me in a silent prayer of thanks to the men
and women who have died in defense of our country…. Amen.
Now I want to put some
numbers in to your mind so get your notebooks out. First, since the
Revolutionary War to today, which is a time period of 244 years, the
best estimate of soldiers killed in battle by U.S. soldiers is
1,498,000. The largest number of deaths in a single war belongs to the
Civil War with approximately 750,000 or just over half of all military
deaths in our country’s history. World War 2’s 400,000 deaths are the
next largest single statistic. When you add World War 1’s death toll of
117,000 you can see that more 83% of all military deaths come from just
these 3 conflicts. Each of these wars lasted about 4 years, or 2% of
our nation’s history. So as a nation we have lost just over 83% of our
total 1.5 million soldier’s deaths in just under 6% of our history.
Now for some numbers of
another nation’s soldiers, approximate total number of deaths 70,000,000
(70 million). In the first 16% of its history it had approximately 2
million deaths. In Nazi controlled Germany around 1 million which was a
time period of about 0.2% of its history. 700,000 were killed by
Communist China from 1950-1980 around 1.5% of its history. 300,000 were
killed by Idi Amin from 1971-1979 which is about 0.4% of history. And
in just the last year approximately 100,000 more have perished which
represents just 0.04% of the history of this nation. According to a
consensus of several sources casualties in this war have started to
slow, they peaked somewhere around 1 every 3.5 - 4 minutes in 2001. And
now have slowed to the rate of only 1 death every 5 – 5.5 minutes. You
have probably already guessed, but the name of this nation is the
Kingdom of God, and its soldiers are Christians.
Now there are 2 main
arguments with the comparison I am making here. The first is that the
United States is a nation and the Kingdom of God is not. I will address
that first. The second argument is that the U.S. armed forces are
soldiers and Christians are not. I will end with this, but suffice to
say that I have an answer, a biblical answer for both.
The first argument is
that the Kingdom of God is not a nation. Well let’s start off by
examining the definition of “nation” as defined by Webster. A Nation is
defined as a large body of people united by common descent, history,
culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory. I
am going to add another Webster definition right here because it will
also speed up the argument. By Webster, a Kingdom is a nation that is
ruled by a monarch (that is a king or queen). So, by definition by
being a large body of people united by our common descent (Children of
God), and ruled by a King (Christ) we would be a Nation equal at the
very least to the U.S.
First to say we are of a
common descent, does the bible support this view? Romans 8:14-16 says
this very thing.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are
sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of
bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom
we cry out, “Abba,[e]
Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if
children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed
we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Philippians 2:14-15 also refers to Christians as children
of God,
Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you
may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the
midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as
lights in the world
1 John 3:1-3 continues to prove that through the love of
our heavenly father we are his children.
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us,
that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not
know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of
God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that
when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He
is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He
is pure.
So, we can see the Bible
definitely views us as having a common descent despite our diverse
backgrounds, through the Holy Spirit we are all brothers and sisters in
Christianity.
Now let us look to see if
the Bible views the Kingdom of God as a Nation. For starters we will
read Christ’s own words in John 18: 33-37.
Here Christ is being
tried by Pilate, on the charge that He claims He is the King of the
Jews.
In John 18: 33-37:
Then Pilate entered the
Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of
the Jews?”
Jesus
answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others
tell you this concerning Me?”
Pilate
answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have
delivered You to me. What have You done?”
Jesus
answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this
world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the
Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
Pilate
therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus
answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born,
and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear
witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
Christ here acknowledges that he is indeed king of his kingdom of
another world and that it is separate from both the Jewish nation and
the Roman nation. That kind of wraps up the whole argument of “does the
Bible say the Kingdom of God is a nation?” But the Kingdom of God is
used to represent the realm of heaven ruled by God and his Son through
out the New Testament.
The first of Christ’s ministry recorded for us in Matthew 3 and 4, says
that first John “the Baptist,” and then Christ went through the land
declaring the “kingdom of God is near.”
First John
began in Matthew 3:1-2:
In those
days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and
saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Then Christ
also preached it in Matthew 4:17
From that
time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.”
The Kingdom
of God is a powerful and frequent reference throughout Christ’s
ministry. He uses it throughout the “Sermon on the Mount” Matthew 5,
and the “Lords Prayer” Matthew 6. As a matter of fact, it is mentioned
just in the gospel of Matthew 55 times! Throughout the New Testament it
is mentioned 100 more times.
So, if we
can say we are Children of God, and that we have a Kingdom for which we
are bound (heaven), which has a ruler (God and the Son). How can we
claim that those who die for that nation are soldiers? After all, we
are not capable of entering that kingdom while we yet live.
In the
acceptance of the death of the soldiers who died in the Revolutionary
War into our nation’s death tally we find the answer. We began tallying
the number of soldiers who died for our nation not from when the nation
began but from when they started fighting so that our nation might
exist.
Scripture says that we are indeed estranged citizens of
our heavenly nation, that we are of one descent, and have only one ruler
Christ. Now, all we have to show is that as citizens of this kingdom
that we are soldiers to make the comparison a fair one. Now there are
many examples of soldiers throughout the history of our world. From a
small group of medieval peasants armed with pitchforks, to a modern
soldier wearing bullet resistant armor armed with a submachinegun. This
morning I am going to point out that as a Christian we are called to be
far more like the latter than the former. The U.S. Military goes
through specialized and continuous training and are then specially armed
to match their training. As Christians we are told to be constantly
training and testing ourselves and then to take up spiritual weapons and
armor.
We have a library at our constant disposal for training,
the Word of God. 66 books, books of history for education, books of
poetry to inspire, books of law that we would know how to live, and
books of prophecy to give hope. We are told to use this library as
Christians.
2 Timothy 3:14-17 says:
But you must continue in the things which you have
learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are
able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Romans 15:4
For whatever things were written before were written for
our learning, that we through the patience (perseverance) and comfort of
the Scriptures might have hope.
Not only are we to study the Word of God, we are to test
all things using it as our ultimate measure.
1
Thessalonians 5:20-22
“Do not
treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; and hold on to the
good, rejecting every kind of evil.”
1 John
4:1-2
Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of
God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this
you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is of God
Through our study we are also supposed to move forward
from basic lessons to more advanced skills.
Hebrews 6:1
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary
principles
of Christ, let us go on to perfection (maturation), not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God
You see the library that was left to us, our Bibles,
provide us not just with a basic training program, and an advanced
individualized training program, it also comes with a continuing
education program second to none. Like the U.S. Armed Forces, we are
not sent to face an enemy unprepared. And like them we are not sent
out without specialized defenses and powerful weaponry.
We are
going to Ephesians 6:10-17. These are my favorite verses of the bible.
At the time of the Roman Empire their soldiers were armed better than
any other military force of the era, and here Paul likens the equipment
of Christian soldier to that of a Roman Centurion. The imagery is so
graphic, I just love it. Lets read the scripture… then I am going to
modernize it!
Ephesians
6:10-17
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the
power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to stand against the (schemes) wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual
hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore
take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,
having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your
feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the
shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
Now that is a cool scripture. But the image
of a Roman Centurion is not that impressive compared to todays soldier
so let me take a second to draw a comparison to a modern-day warrior.
Scripture says, “Having girded your waist
with truth.” The Centurion wore a kilt of boiled leather with over
lapping plates of bronze about their waist providing armor from their
knees to their waist. We will say this is our uniform covering us and
giving us basic protection in all environments.
“The breastplate of righteousness.” A
Centurion wore a boiled leather vest that fastened down the sides the
front of the vest was plated with a piece of bronze. This is our flak or
bullet resistant vest.
“Having shod your feet with the preparation
of the gospel of peace.” Doesn’t sound like much but armed with sandals
that could allow the centurion to walk over ground that a bare footed
opponent couldn’t gave centurions quite a tactical advantage. That
these sandals were also made in such a way that a plate of bronze could
lay on the top of the foot and another against the shin meant that even
shod opponents would have a hard time matching the resilience of a
centurion. For the modern soldier this is no surprise, a set of
properly fitted combat boots make a big difference.
“Taking
the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked one.” A Roman centurion was armed with a Bronze
shield roughly 3 feet in diameter for the purpose of blocking incoming
arrows and stones. While it was sometimes employed during hand to hand
combat it was rare especially in formal combat. Here we run into two
possible modern uses. The riot shield, while a nice visual parallel is
not really used in the same way. A riot shield is designed to allow a
soldier/officer to deflect small and light debris away from the body,
while some are bullet resistant, they also restrict the weaponry of the
modern soldier. I think a better modern example here would be the
trauma plate. It is used in conjunction with a flak or bullet resistant
vest. They grant a much higher level of protection than can be achieved
with just the vest alone.
“the helmet of salvation,” a centurion wore a
bronze helmet to protect their noggin. Modern soldiers wear Kevlar
helmets for much the same reason!
“and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
A centurion carried a short bronze sword. They were trained rigorously
with this weapon, they were the best in the world! Meet the H&K MP5
Submachine gun. No, seriously, by modern standards this would be a
particularly good comparison. Light with a maximum versatility.
You see we are called to be at least as well prepared for
battle as U.S. Serviceman. There are many scriptures that tell us that
we are soldiers in a spiritual battle here a just a few of my
favorites.
2 Timothy 2:1-4
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many
witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others
also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the
affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as
a soldier.
1 Timothy 1:18
This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to
the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage
the good warfare
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according
to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but
mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
You see my friends as Christians we are indeed soldiers
fighting for the Kingdom of God. You are all uniformed, armored, and
armed in a spiritual battle, one which many times becomes a physical
battle. One that Christians all over the world are fighting daily just
by acknowledging aloud and with the way they live that they are
followers of Christ. And one that many all over the world are dying so
that we can continue to walk acknowledging that Christ is the son of the
living God. Peter made the confession in Matthew 16:16. Now as then,
that confession is the Rock on which the Kingdom of God is built.
The West Union church of Christ has a phrase carved
between the sanctuary and the foyer. It is a poignant reminder, it says
simply, “You are now entering the mission field.” In Matthew 28:19-20
Christ commands us all “Go
therefore
and
make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am
with you
always, even to the end of the age.”
So, Soldiers mount up, your general has issued his
orders.
As a nation we will stop tomorrow to mourn the 1.498
million soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Perhaps as
Christians, we should also stop and remember the more than 70 million
soldiers who died to defend our faith.
If today you have decided that you want to join the army
of the Lord. If you have decided that you wish to step forward and make
the declaration that is the cornerstone of faith. And put on the uniform
of a soldier of Christ in baptism. Or if you have a concern that needs
the prayers of the church, come forward as we stand and sing.
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