A Solider In God's Army

Am I a soldier of the cross,
a follower of the Lamb,
and shall I fear to own his cause,
or blush to speak his name?
2. Must I be carried to the skies
on flowery beds of ease,
while others fought to win the prize,
and sailed through bloody seas?
3. Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
to help me on to God?
4. Sure I must fight, if I would reign;
increase my courage, Lord.
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
supported by thy word.
Four hundred years ago Issac Watts penned this hymn. You see, they really believed we were in a battle for the souls of a lost world. A cesspool of a world where the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they can't see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. They understood what Scripture says. They Believed the words of the Holy Prophets and Apostles of the Old and New Testaments. There is warfare going on. Evil desires to destroy good. And evil comes mostly through what appears to be good.
"I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."(2 cor 11)
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. (2 Tim2)
Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier,(phil 2)
Paul, the Apostle sees all believers as soldiers in a battle. Against an evil wicked world. Against those who want to silent the "Good News." For they love darkness rather than light. (18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.) Against truth. That all have sinned. There is NONE righteous. (Romans 3:10) That if you FOLLOW YOUR HEART you will follow it straight to Hell. (Is. 64:6) 20 And Jesus said, “What comes out of a man, (mankind) that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
God's people are in a battle everyday against the world, the flesh and the devil. BUT if you don't believe these things exist, as taught by many churches today, how can you be victorious. It's Ray Stevens theology. That everything is beautiful in it's own way. The Oprah" we are all god's children" theology. (read Eph 2: 1-10 without Christ you are a child of God's wrath) Then you really don't have any weapons of spiritual warfare. You are in a word defenseless.
But to all God's chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people brought from darkness to light and death to light. Grab your Weapons of Warfare. That breastplate (bullet proof vest) of righteousness. YOU ARE NOT RIGHTEOUS. JESUS CHRIST IS YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Trust Him. Obey Him. Walk as he walked. Take up your cross and follow Him.
Shod your feet with the Gospel of peace, (for you will be walking every day into a mind field of evil, explosive thoughts to try and side track God's truth).
Take up the shield of faith...It's not just a one time event in your life. At that moment of salvation. YOU MUST TAKE IT EVERYDAY OF YOUR LIFE. In order to shoot down the Fiery Missles of the evil one and His evil world system. We do this by taking the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God.
Remember Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps. who committed no sin. Who committed Himself to him who judges righteously. God's people WILL suffer tribulation. If you do not prehaps you are not God's people. Prehaps you have heard a false gospel. That you're okay. You just need a little jesus. That there is something in you that made you worthy. Evil? No. You're not evil. (11 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children...."Jesus own words to the people in matt 7:10)
It's only by God's grace. He saves through faith and NOT OF YOURSELVES. It's a GIFT of God. Even that FAITH is from God. It's called MERCY.
The self righteous.....those who say I thank God that I'm not those other people. I never did this or that. That's dangeous ground on which to tread. But those who cry out "have mercy on me, a sinner." Those who have been brought to their knees in humble contrition. These are the sons of God.
Before you can be made right with God. You have to know that's there something wrong with who you are before a Holy and Righteous God. The God who said 'Let there be. And there was...CREATION. No little "g" this God be.
Then and there the battle begins. The warfare commences. The missles fly. Where once you were enemies of God, you are His soldier. And now the enemy is the world, flesh and the Devil. He is NOT your friend. He hates Christ. He hates you and will do everything in his power to water down the Gospel. To take you away from speaking the truth. Don't listen to him. For YOUR ENEMY the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (Peter5:8)
I'm not strong enough, you say. I can't do this everyday. No you can't. Without the only name under heaven given by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12) But if you have confessed your own sin and repented to God. And want to trust and obey. You're a solider of the cross. A follower of the lamb.
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10)
as the Old Hymn seldom sung says "
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
forward into battle see his banners go!
2. At the sign of triumph Satan's host doth flee;
on then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell's foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.
Refrain:
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.