2 TIMOTHY 2:3-4
3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
I remember the TV show M*A*S*H* - and the characters of Benjamin “Hawkeye” Pierce and BJ Hunnicutt – army surgeons that were anything but Army! No discipline whatsoever, and their bunk tent showed it!
They routinely lay in lawn chairs under umbrellas, with glasses of iced tea in their hands, donning straw hats and sunglasses.
Though they had to deal with the harsh realities of war in Korea, they strove to obtain all the comforts of home. Yet true soldiers rid themselves of everything that will obstruct them in carrying out their military duties.
True soldiers aren’t interested in comfort, but combat; nor are they motivated by personal gain, but in commendation their commanding officer!
Check out Paul Washer’s 4 minute admonition, This Is War!
Soldiers are trained with the ingrained ability to endure horrific circumstances that they encounter on the battlefield; and yet even here, there are such horrors that no training will prepare a human being for.
But endurance in training, in combat duty, in following orders that are undesirable is an essential quality for soldiers.
In my youth I wanted to join the military (the Marines – I heard that’s where the psychos go! And I resemble that remark… j/k), but I was classified as 4-F, incapable of military duty.
But when I came to Jesus Christ for salvation, I learned sometime thereafter that I am not just a member of the church, the body of Christ, but also enlisted in the LORD’s army to engage in spiritual warfare against the kingdom of darkness!
The Christian warrior, being recruited by our GOD is trained, prepared, conditioned – stripping him of anything extraneous or superficial so that he isn’t entangled “with the affairs of this life”.
As soldiers, our orders from our heavenly headquarters are not an option – we don’t pick and choose the orders we like and dismiss those we don’t. We follow the chain of command that comes down to us from the Captain of our Salvation!
No saint can hear the command of their LORD and reply with, “No, LORD”. This is at least in part, what it means to “lay down our lives for the brethren”. If I can promote the kingdom of GOD, if I can provide for my brothers and sisters in Christ, if I can glorify the Name of JESUS by denying and dying to self, I am obligated as a soldier of Jesus Christ to do so, and without question.
We march resolutely in the charge, led by our LORD Who Himself died for our sins, even if it means our own deaths in doing so. This thought reminds me of the old poem, Charge of the Light Brigade.
We have the greatest of armor, the most powerful of weapons, the best weapons master to train us, the wisest and cunning General, the assured promise that we are “more than conquerors” (ROM 8:37); we are indeed KNYHTS In His Majesty’s Sacred Service! Now we move to the next analogy:
2 TIMOTHY 2:5-7
5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.
Athletes are disciplined much in the way that soldiers are: they want to hone their physical strength and skills to a level of supremacy that will ensure them victory, whether in the games or in battle.
Athletes are committed to their training and will often have to turn down social engagements and fun times so that they may increase their athletic abilities. They are careful about what they put into their bodies: they want the highest quality of food in order to build up their bodies and careful to exclude anything that will harm their bodies or diminish their abilities.
In the same way, we are to “agonize” that is “strive for masteries” in attaining to all the spiritual power (and life which is preceded by death) that GOD wants for us, just as athletes strive for power and ability:
PHILIPPIANS 3:10
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
A lot of the practices of athletes are repetitious; so much so, that they become monotonous, even boring. But they are willing to endure such things because they have their “eyes on the prize”. They are willing to go through whatever is necessary in order to obtain the reward that’s set before them:
PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
As spiritual athletes we want to consume the Word of GOD, the best spiritual nutrition that there is!
We want to exercise ourselves in godliness (1 TIM 4:7). Just as an athlete will engage in resistance training, we are to resist the god of this world (2 COR 4:4; 1 PET 5:9) ungodliness, resist the appetites of sinful flesh (ROM 6:6-11). Lifting weights is a stress against the law of gravity that wants to pull that iron down. Likewise we resist the pull of this world system of sin and instead, lift upwards – our hearts, our very lives to the LORD and seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 PET 3:18).
Lastly, no athlete can expect to win the prize if they don’t follow the rules.
In the same sense, we saints are committed to doing things GOD’s Way, according to His Word. Anything else would receive a disqualification, and no award at the conclusion of the event. The Bema Seat Judgment is not a judgment against sin like the Great White Throne will be – where people whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are condemned – but rather, a judgment seat for rewards (1 COR 3:11-15):
2 CORINTHIANS 5:9-11
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Then there is the farmer analogy that Paul employs:
“The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops.”
Farming is grueling, laborious, work that requires constant vigilance and maintenance; for all of their hard work, it’s only fitting that they should partake of the fruits of their labors first.
So much goes into farming, even before one sows the seed. There is the preparation of the land itself, which is actually quite the long process that includes fertilization. Then the seed and proper irrigation must be utilized; ensuring the protection of the crops from wildlife as well as various kinds of weeds.
Any number of factors will reduce the crop yield, but it’s always the desire for the farmer to reap the best crop that he can, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
In the same way, the Father is glorified when we bear much fruit (JN 15:8), while the enemy seeks to steal the seed of the Word from our lives; then there is our own heart to consider that can readily impede the progressive of production or even halt it altogether.
In such a fruitless state, the LORD must step in and make corrections (JN 15:2) so that we are once again enabled in fruit-bearing.
There are no exceptions to those that bear no fruit at all; they are thrown into the fire and burned. What qualifies as fruit?
There is the fruit acceptable in repentance (from sin; MT 3:8).
There is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (GAL 5:22-23).
Fruit can also be seen as the propagation of the same kind (apple trees produce more apples, whose seeds produce more apples), or in other words, bringing others to salvation (PS 126:6; DAN 12:3; MT 13:23).
An old term for farmer is husbandman, who is involved in the husbandry of the land. In this sense, our husband Who is Christ is intent on making our hearts prepared in goodly fashion for the reception of His seed that blossoms in us new life, bringing forth fruit that is “of a kind” with the nature of Christ. We can’t ask for a better husband Who tends to our cultivation to bring about the maximum blessing and fruitfulness!
In all three instances: the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer, there is a required patience and preparation that is absolutely necessary if they are to ever achieve their goals! The soldier understands upon enlisting and entering into boot camp that he won’t be ready the next day to enter the battlefield!
The athlete likewise takes it as granted that after their first work out, they still aren’t ready to enter into the Olympics!
The farmer realizes he’s not going to be harvesting immediately after sowing the seed in his fields!
All of them have the understanding that their endeavors are going to take time, and that such time is well spent because their goals are worthy ones!
How much more so are we as saints in need of patience:
HEBREWS 10:35-36
35 So do not give up your hope which will be greatly rewarded. 36 For, having done what was right in God's eyes, you have need of waiting before his word has effect for you (1 THESS 2:13).
And preparation for the time ahead in abundant fruit-bearing:
HOSEA 10:12
Put in the seed of righteousness, get in your grain in mercy, let your unplowed earth be turned up: for it is time to make search for the Lord, till he comes and sends righteousness on you like rain.
This is an excerpt from the CROSSING The T's STUDY in 2 TIMOTHY 2.
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