Same Soldier--Different War

November 10, 2013
Same Soldier—Different War
2Timothy 2:3-4 (NIV)                    NOTES NOT EDITED

SIS – Whether you are an American veteran or not, if you are a believer you are a soldier for Christ.

As we contemplate the reason for this holiday let us read the Word together:

Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. (2Tim. 2:3-4)

Today is a day most Americans reflect on the debt we as a Nation owe to American Veterans.  Veterans’ Day was established  to mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect.  As with most holidays in the U.S., Veterans Day is mostly just a day off from work for many people.  For those who have served or are serving, or those who remember loved ones who paid the ultimate sacrifice, Veterans Day is a very special holiday.

The last living veteran of World War I  was Florence Green, a British citizen who served in the Allied armed forces, and who died 4 February 2012, aged 110. The last WWI combat veteran was Claude Choules who served in the British Royal Navy (and later the Royal Australian Navy) and died 5 May 2011, aged 110. The last veteran who served in the trenches of Europe was Harry Patch who died on 25 July 2009, aged 111. The last Central Powers veteran, Franz Künstler of Austria-Hungary, died on 27 May 2008 at the age of 107.

With the death of Florence Green in 2012, World War 1  officially ended, in so far as veterans are concerned.  All WWI human combatants are now officially “in the history books.”  Not so for WW2, Korea, Viet Nam, various conflicts of the modern era including the Cold War, Granada, the Gulf, Iraq, and our continuing war on terror with the front lines in Afghanistan. These warriors still walk among us. Old vets may not feel the press of field packs on their back or the smell of gunfire in the air, nor brave the seas, or scrape the skies, but the days of service still define American vets in many ways.  The contribution of living vets has been enduring and they deserve the recognition of a grateful nation.
Scholars debate whether or not Christians should serve in the military.  There is no definitive answer because the Bible only speaks of war and soldiers with indirect references or analogies.  There is, however, no Biblical injunction against serving in the military.  In passages dealing with the subject, the Bible places great honor on military service. Paul directly compares the Christian life to the life of a soldier as we read in our text earlier.
Also, some theologians and preachers are uncomfortable with displays of patriotism in the church.  Some even object to displaying an American flag.  Again, the Bible does not deal with this issue in a direct way.  Of course, turning patriotism into some type of civil religion would be wrong, in fact blasphemous.  I’ll have to save these arguments for another day. 
In regards to being patriotic and honoring American vets I’ll leave it with this quote, attributed to George Orwell, “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” That being true, it seems right to have a day honoring these “rough men and women.”

Today I want to spring from the holiday honoring American Veterans to deal with what the Bible says about Christian soldiers.  Whether you are an American veteran or not, if you are a believer you are a soldier for Christ.  We find ourselves engaged in a war with grave consequences.  We are human soldiers engaged in a spiritual war that is much different.

1.  First and foremost, The War Itself is Different

Paul describes this different war in which Christian soldiers are engaged:

^{Ephesians 6:12} For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,  against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil  in the heavens.

In a general sense, the Devil is involved in every conflict that has been or ever will be.  He flames the passions of hatred and animosity that leads to nations fighting nations, and even brothers fighting brothers as with the many civil wars.  The Devil delights in every human conflict, whether personal or national.  The Devil enjoys the human carnage that results from worldly wars.  He is in and behind human conflict, but he is not the target of human military response.  The targets, or the enemy, in the wars between nations is human, not demonic, even though the Devil will exploit every conflict for his own devious designs.

The Christian soldier’s war is different.  The Devil and his minions are the target, or the enemy.  As a soldier of the Lord, our enemy is not flesh and blood, but spiritual.  One scholar describes these spiritual enemies as an “innumerable supermundane  host of evil spirits: the devil himself and all the demons under his control.” This “supermundane host of evil spirits” is a very real and a very treacherous enemy.  Calling the battle “spiritual” does not mean it is “mythical” or a fantasy.   In a sense, this spiritual war is “more real,” not less.

The spiritual nature of this battle currently raging makes it impossible for military action to bring anything but a temporary peace.  The spiritual nature of this battle eliminates the possibility that peace talks could ever lead to a real, lasting peace.  Military campaigns and political peace talks focus on the “flesh and blood” aspects of conflicts and not the spiritual cause of these conflicts.  The real battle in life—the one that really counts—is a spiritual battle.  Only when that battle is ultimately won, will a lasting peace come.  Isaiah describes that peace (Isaiah 2:3-4):

For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ⁴ He will settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will turn their swords into plows

and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will never again train for war.

Wars and rumors of wars will characterize the interaction between nations until Jesus Christ, Himself, comes to reign again on earth.  No amount of military might or diplomatic skill will end war between men on this earth—because, ultimately the real battle is spiritual.

Understanding the spiritual combat that is taking place in the spiritual realm is essential to understanding our ultimate calling as soldiers of Christ.  Now, this spiritual combat is one that we as humans can engage in—indeed must engage in and are engaged in whether we choose to be or not—otherwise, Paul wouldn’t tell us to put on the armor to fight this fight.  The spiritual conflict lies at the root of all human conflicts.  The spiritual battle impacts our world and manifests itself in flesh and blood conflicts.  But, it is a “Different kind of War.”

Here’s how the idea of this “Different War” impacts our lives as Christians.  Oftentimes we have been, are and will be called on to engage in socio-political battles.  When Hitler raised his ugly head, good men and women were called to the battlefield and had to fight over real estate.  When communism raised it’s head in Korea, the same call to arms was given—and American vets answered as we always do.  Once again we fought in the jungle territory of Viet Nam.  Since the Gulf War attention has turned to another brand of tyranny in the Middle East.  The geo-political arena  of war changes often, changed, but the need for a military respond will never end this side of eternity.  The spiritual world impacts our material world.

Yet, for all of America’s military superiority in every conflict war has not been eradicted.  Communism is not dead, but only sleeping.  Tyranny has not died but only moved to the Middle East at present.  My point is:  we cannot eliminate evil with a gun because the real war is “spiritual.”  We may effectively,  and we must dutifully, hold evil aggressors at bay—as we have done and will continue to do with military force—but we cannot eliminate evil with geo-political conflicts because the real war is a “Different Kind of War.”  The real war is a spiritual war.

While we must continue to participate in the military battles of our time we do not trust any military action to bring lasting change for good.  The Christian’s War is a “Different War.”  It is a spiritual war.

The real war is different, which means it must be fought with:

2.  Different Weapons

^{2Cor 10   3} For though we live in the body,  we do not wage war in an unspiritual way,  ⁴ since the weapons of our warfare  are not worldly,  but are powerful  through God for the demolition of strongholds.

There is a great error in believing that we can overcome a spiritual enemy with human efforts.  There is no hope in bigger bombs or better diplomats.  Governments offer no lasting solutions.  Politicians cannot save our nation with political, social, or military solutions. because ultimately the battle is spiritual and spiritual weapons are required to fight this battle. 

I am not saying we should lay down our guns, cease campaigning, lobbying, and voting.  Christians have “dual citizenship.”  We have a national identity, as well as a heavenly destiny.  We live with a foot in the fleshly world and a foot in the heavenly realm. 

The issue of being a Christian soldier is not a neat either/or kind of proposition.  Too often Christians become, as someone once said, “so spiritually minded we are no earthly good.” The Christian battle has a material component.  If the essence of the Christian life, however, is to win a “spiritual war,” we must do so with “spiritual” weapons, not worldly weapons.

When I arrived in boot camp, the first thing they did after we got off the bus was “march us” (if you call moving in a crowd in the same general direction, marching) into a room where they gave us a seabag in put us in an assembly line.  As we walked along the line on the floor, different articles were placed in that sea bag until it was full—shoes, shirts, hat, scivies (military underwear), towels and so on.  Then, we marched into a room with small cardboard boxes.  We stripped down to our birthday suits.  Everything we had went into a box and was mailed back home.   Everything we needed was dropped into our sea bag.  I remember a strange thing our Company Commander said to us in a not-so-polite manner:  “Everything you need the U.S. Navy will provide.  Do not ask to call your mother.  If the U.S. Navy thought you needed a mother, she would be in that sea bag.”  That was the first night.

Well, let’s go back to Ephesians 6 and see what “spiritual weapons” God has issued to us as a Christian soldier.

¹³ This is why you must take up the full armor  of God, so that you may be able to resist  in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. ¹⁴ Stand, therefore, with truth  like a belt around your waist, righteousness  like armor on your chest,

¹⁵ and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

¹⁶ In every situation take the shield  of faith,and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷ Take the helmet  of salvation, and the sword  of the Spirit,

which is God’s word. ¹⁸ Pray  at all times in the Spirit  with every prayer and request, and stay alert  in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness  the mystery of the gospel. ²⁰ For this I am an ambassador  in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should.

God left only one part of the Christian soldier exposed:  the backside!  God made no provision for your retreat.  He made no allowance that a Christian soldier would cease moving forward and taking ground.

This passage represents the Christian soldier’s arsenal in the battle against evil.  I want to point out, however, something many church-going people miss.  Paul lists each weapon in our arsenal:  truth, righteousness, the gospel message, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.  The Christian soldier has all he or she needs to win the spiritual war, but there is another weapon that is more important than all the rest:  prayer!  Paul lists each weapon one time, but prayer hementioned three times!  Without prayer the other weapons become useless. Through prayer we learn when and how to use the armor of God.  Without effectual, fervent prayer the armor is useless.

On preacher said, "You can do more than pray after you have prayed; but you can never do more than pray until you have prayed."  (A.J. Gordon).   I have a little book in my library that I cherish.  It is titled, The Kneeling Christian by an Unknown Author. It contains this quote on prayer:  “The secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer."

There is a third difference for the Christian soldier.  This war involves

3.  a Different Cost

The human cost from wars throughout the ages numbers in the multiple millions—the loss of life from war is barely comprehensible.   Many of the veterans in this room witnessed up close and shockingly personal the human cost of war.  The experiences of a battle field are so grotesque and horrible that they cannot even be depicted on T.V. without an “X” rating.  These images are a terrible burden every battlefield veteran bears for life. 

You hear a good deal of talk these days about “post-traumatic stress disorder.”  In WW1 and 2 they called it being, “shell-shocked.”  Battlefield images leave huge, lasting emotional scars.  Battlefields are brutal, bloody places and the sights and sounds of war remind us of the horrible cost of war paid for with human blood.

Ronald Reagan once pointed out in a speech on Veterans’ Day that a vet who has died in battle has given “two lives”—the life he or she was living at the time they went to war, and the life they would have lived had their lives not been cut short in battle.  Physical life is the awful cost extracted from human military conflict.

But, I want to make it very clear that the Cost of our Spiritual Battle is infinitely—eternally—greater.  Jesus gives us this solemn reminder

^{Matthew 10    28} Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul;  rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

As horrible as the temporal costs of war are—and they are great,  make no mistake about it—the eternal cost for casualties in the spiritual war totally eclipse all the casualties from all earthly wars.

Someone has said, “War is hell.”  I can imagine—and, I can only imagine—what a hellish place a battlefield must be with blood and body parts lying all over, and with screams of the dying nearly drowning out the explosions of ordinance.  It is a picture in my head I thank God I never had to experience.  War IS hell!  A terrible hell.  Yet—and you must get this—the hell that awaits casualties in the spiritual war—those who fail to accept the salvation Jesus provides—is an eternal hell that will make a day on the battlefield look like a walk in the park.

Eternal hell is worse than any battle.  Hell is a battlefield in which the battle never ends.  The screaming never subsides and reinforcements never come.  This horrible hell is the reason we must fight as Christian soldiers.  We fight on behalf of others so they can be rescued from the Devil who is dragging them down as a prisoner to an eternal death camp.  An Auschwitz with no exit!

Every war has casualties.  Every veteran makes sacrifices.  There is a quote that reminds us of this cost:  “All gave some—some give all!”  There is no war that does not have a cost.  The cost of casualties in the spiritual war is different because the cost is “infinite.”  The cost extracted in hell is different in both intensity and quantity.  Hell is more intense than any war and lasts longer than any war—hell is horrible and forever!  A soul lost in the spiritual war is lost in hell forever.

This “difference in the cost of spiritual warfare” must motivate us as Christian soldiers to give our all—not just in lip service but in real sacrifice.  There is no apathy on a battlefield with guns blazing and bombs bursting.  You fight because you MUST fight because the cost of losing is just too great.

In a Veterans’ Day speech Ronald Reagan mentioned an unknown American hero of WW1 by the name of Martin Treptow.  He died on the front serving his country but it wasn’t how he died that brought him to the attention of the world.  It was something he had written in a diary they found on his body.  In his speech Reagan said,

Under [a] marker lies a young man, Martin Treptow, who left his job in a small town barbershop in 1917 to go France with the famed Rainbow Divsion.  There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.  We're told that on his body was found a diary.  On the flyleaf under the heading "My Pledge," he had written these words: "America must win this war.  Therefore I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone." 

Today, we honor millions of American vets who lived by that pledge, and many who died by it.  May we as Christian soldiers be ever so more dutiful in our service to Jesus Christ in a battle, not for territory or ideals, but for the very souls of lost men, women and children.

We must win this war.  Therefore I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.

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