The Bible Doctrine Hour
presents
Assistant Pastor Dave Cosimini

The Christian Soldier - Part 4

1JO 1:9 If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and righteous, with the result that He forgives us our sins and purifies us from all unrighteousness.

2CO 2:11 says in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

And nothing is more necessary for spiritual soldiers than wisdom and power from God especially when we are faced with internal adversaries.

Remember that our adversary the devil is compared to a serpent because he is sly and deceitful!

If Satan could overcome man and woman when they were in a perfect state without an OSN, just think of how easy he can do it now!

Satan is a master at choosing the proper time and the most advantageous season for tempting and attacking the believer.

1. He will attack when the believer first gets into doctrine.

2. He also attacks when the believer is plagued by some great affliction.

3. He will attack the Christian soldier when he is about to enter some significant venture for God's glory.

As GEN 49:17 says he'll be "Like a serpent in the way, A horned snake in the path, That bites the horse's heels, So that his rider falls backward."

He stood at Joshua's right hand, to resist him, ZEC 3:1-3.

Satan also attacks when the believer is ignorant of doctrine and out of God's geographical location as he took Eve, when she was near the tree.

Satan will attack after a great manifestation of God's love.

2CO 12:7  And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me ‑ to keep me from exalting myself!

He hangs out false colors and comes to the believer in the disguise of a friend, or an angel of light communicating false doctrine, or he tries to get the believer to feel sorry for himself.

Paul said in GAL 2:4  But it was because of the false brethren who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.

In 2CO 11:26 Paul wrote, I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;

Satan also has an intelligence committee to find out what those who have PVTD or the Christian soldiers are doing, EPH 6:12 ("spiritual forces of wickedness").

He has demons to find out the sin which so easily entangles us or the one we are most prone to, HEB 12:1.

Here is an important principle concerning the king who attacks your soul and his subtlety, he gradually approaches the soul as he makes his attack.

This is why Paul warned us in GAL 5:9  "A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough."

Our Lord said in MAR 8:15  And He was giving orders to them, saying, "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

The leaven of the Pharisees is legalism and hypocrisy!
 
The leaven of Herod is worldliness or carnality.

SOL 2:15 we read  "Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom."

ECC 10:1 says "Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor."

And after the thought is allowed to stay in the mind for a while and is free to wander, it goes from the mind to the tongue and then to someone's ear and then to their mind etc.

This is why 2CO 10:5-6, says We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

Satan, like a shrewd warrior, also has his reserves; he always has some fresh troops at hand because he's a user!

The majority do have problems but the problems are not from Satan but from 1CO 16:22  If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha.

Another strategy the king of this earth has is to make the Christian soldier think that he [Satan] is retreating and that he has been defeated when in reality he is trying to deceive us into thinking that we have a victory in an area that we really don't have.

Or as our Lord said in MAT 12:44  "Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order."

A soldier ought to know the distinct beats of the drum, the sound of the trumpet; the alarm and the call so a Christian soldier must understand the distinct different sounds of the Word of God taught by the pastor-teacher.

The communicator of doctrine is told in ISA 58:1 "Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet,"

As Paul said in 1CO 14:8  For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?

The Christian soldier may need an alarm sounded in his ears when danger is near or an enemy is coming upon him and therefore he needs to recognize the distinct sound of the bugle or the proper doctrine needed at the time!

A soldier also ought to be a man of courage, bold and determined, not easily discourage nor dismayed by the threats, malice, or strength of an enemy so the Christian soldier ought to be a courageous, not unassertive or emotional when the pressure gets to great.

As God said to Joshua, his courageous soldier who was getting ready to go into the promise land, JOS 1:7 "Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.

The Christian soldier ought to be courageous and have the attitude that David had in PSA 23:4  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me;

PSA 56:4  In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can {mere} man do to me?

Solomon wrote in PRO 28:1 The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion.

First, the virtue of his calling.

For example, we read concerning the early church in ACT 5:41, "So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name."

Our Lord said in MAT 12:30 "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters."

A second principle which will impart boldness and increase courage in the Christian soldier is understanding the power and the strength of God who has promised to stand by him and help him in all his conflicts even with the worst of his enemies.

As the apostle John said in 1JO 4:4  You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

A third principle which will impart boldness and increase courage in the Christian soldier is understanding his call from God.

Every Christian must take the time to learn how to use his talent to glorify God as well as to learn what his spiritual gift is!

A fourth principle which will impart boldness and increase courage in the Christian soldier is a good conscience.

ACT 23:1  And Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, "Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day."

And then the fifth principle which will impart boldness and increase courage in the Christian soldier is the assurance that he has of victory.

REV 2:10  'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

A soldier must also expect to endure hardness and therefore he prepares himself for it so the Christian soldier must concede to a life attended with many hardships and difficulties if he desires to bring glory to Christ.

First, we must learn to endure the hardship that comes from our personal sins.

As the Lord said through Jeremiah in JER 2:17  "Have you not done this to yourself, By your forsaking the Lord your God, When He led you in the way?

JER 2:19  "Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will reprove you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to forsake the Lord your God, And the dread of Me is not in you," declares the Lord God of hosts.

The Christian soldier must also learn to endure the hardship that comes from self-denial.

A third principle that the Christian soldier must also learn to endure is the hardship from people.

Jeremiah said, JER 9:8 "Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him."

David wrote in PSA 42:10  As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"

We are told that the great believers of the Old Testament endured many of these things in HEB 11:36  and others experienced mocking and scourging, yes, also chains and imprisonment.

In ACT 24:5, of Paul they said "For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes."

This is why the Lord said to the religious leaders in JOH 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own {nature;} for he is a liar, and the father of lies.

Paul said it like this in GAL 4:29  But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.

A fourth principle that the Christian soldier must also learn to endure which we do not really see at this time in our nation but may see it some day is the hardness from wicked men.

Now, here's a difficult one at first to understand, However it is true, the Christian soldier must learn to endure the hardship that comes from God withdrawing from the believer.

God speaks through His word and the highest compliment ever given to a member of the royal family is to have God withdraw from him as the believer uses the greatest power in the world, Bible doctrine!

The Christian soldier must also learn to endure the hardship that comes from their particular calling and place in the body of Christ.

And although some endure more hardness than others, all must take what happens to them in the place and station where they are set from the hand of God.

And by the way the Christian soldier exposes himself to endure hardness voluntarily, patiently, courageously, constantly, and sincerely.

A good soldier will keep with his colors [his uniform on] so a good soldier of Christ will keep and abide with the banner of truth.

Remember, in Eph 6, among all the armor that Christians should take upon themselves, we read of no back-piece; for if they turn their back, they are unprotected.

HEB 10:38  But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

Now, here's another interesting principle that a lot of people think is wrong which is not, a soldier is greatly encouraged in all his encounters and sharp conflicts with the enemy by considering the reward and honor he shall receive if he holds out and gets the victory.

REV 2:10 'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

This is what happened to Stephen in Act 7 and Antipas in REV 2:13.

Another analogy is the fact that no soldier knows what the final outcome will be in any battle he is called to fight so the Christian soldier needs to operate in faith and trust in the sovereignty of God.

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