From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today, on from his heart, discover if you are a good soldier of the cross willing to suffer for the faith.

Speaker 2

2nd Timothy 2, verse 3: "Suffer hardship with me."

Timothy, Paul said, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, we want to be good soldiers in the army.

We are soldiers as believers in the army. We want to be good soldiers, and we want to be disciplined soldiers.

Speaker 3

You always dream love. He can heal every scar.

Speaker 1

This is from his heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, and thank you for joining us today for the second message in his seven-message series, Soldiers of the Cross. As we'll be reminded today, there is a spiritual battle raging all around us, and there is a desperate need for disciplined soldiers to combat the enemy and to make a lasting impact on the world for Jesus.

The way to do that is to stand up for the truth, nourish ourselves with the word of God, and faithfully serve the Lord. Pastor Jeff's lesson today is entitled "The Discipline of a Good Soldier" from the series Soldiers of the Cross. It's also our gift of thanks to you for your support of From His Heart this month of any amount. I'll tell you more later, or you can go to fromhisheart.org for details.

Now, though, turn in your Bible to 2 Timothy chapter 4 as Pastor Jeff begins to explain that a disciplined soldier is a good soldier for the Lord.

Speaker 2

We're in a series called Soldiers of the Cross. The Bible uses that motif that we are soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The moment that we get saved, we are saved and put in the Lord's army. 2nd Timothy 2, verse 3 says, "Suffer hardship with me." Paul said to Timothy, "as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." We want to be good soldiers in the army. We are soldiers as believers in the army. We want to be good soldiers, and we want to be disciplined soldiers.

The Discipline of a Good Soldier is discussed in 1st Timothy chapter four. I'll begin reading in verse one: "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience, as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by means of the Word of God and prayer."

In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness, for bodily discipline is only of little profit. But godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe, command, and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. Show yourself an example of those who believe.

I want us to look at three questions and answer three questions with three discoveries from the text I just read. I want us to look at the question: what's going on? The second question is, what is the need for today? And the third question is, what difference does it make? What's going on? What is the need? And what difference does it make?

The first question we are going to answer from this passage is: What is going on? There is a spiritual battle raging all around us. That is the first discovery. A spiritual battle is raging all around us. Now, Paul, in Ephesians chapter 6, the famous passage about the armor of God, picks up again on the soldier motif. He says this: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." We're in a battle, and it's a spiritual battle.

Look at verse 1 again of 1st Timothy 4: "But the Spirit explicitly says that." The Spirit is clearly saying it is out in the open. This isn't a secret. This is being broadcast. He explicitly says that in later times, the times between the Lord's coming from his first coming to the second coming, you know, the Bible calls that the last days. In later times, some will fall away from the faith. Some will. We have that word apostatize, which means to cause to fall away. It is the Greek word from which we get the word apostatized. Some will fall away from the faith, paying attention and adhering to deceitful spirits, demon spirits, and doctrines of demons, teachings of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.

Men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be carefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. This is a spiritual battle. And Jesus said of the devil, he is a liar and the father of lies. Whenever he speaks, he speaks a lie because that is his nature. A liar and the father of lies. Now, the devil is the master liar. And as a master liar, he knows that the best lies to get you to believe a lie have to sound like the truth. We don't believe a lie that sounds like a lie; that's just so far out there that it's just like, "Well, that's a lie." He makes the lie sound so good and so much like the truth.

The devil attacks with subtle lies and deception. Now, subtle lies can turn into brazen, bold-faced lies, but they come out right out of the chute as subtle lies. Now, the beast in Genesis 3:1 says, "Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." He's sly, cunning, and crafty. He's not going to come at you with something that's just so out there that you say, "Well, that's got to be a lie." He's just going to come very subtly.

Do you remember when I told you about the rule in aviation? It's the 1 in 60 rule. The 1 in 60 rule in aviation says for every 1 degree you're off on your flight plan, as you travel 60 miles, every 60 miles, 1 degree off, you'll be a mile from your desired destination. The one in 60 rule means if you go from LaGuardia Airport to Los Angeles LAX and you're just one degree off your flight plan, when you get to Los Angeles, you're 47 miles off course, crashing in the Pacific. That's just one degree. That's how the devil works. He's a subtle liar, and he has deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons that are being pumped out into our world.

Well, how does he do that? I mean, do we have some demon around here that says, "Hey, you can go to the demon church, and a demon comes and speaks?" No. The devil uses people as his messengers to corrupt others. How does he share doctrines of demons? Verse 2 says, "By means of the hypocrisy of liars." People who are seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. Their conscience is so totally seared and destroyed that they don't know the difference between good and evil. The easy-to-read version puts it this way: "Those teachings come through people who tell lies and trick others. These evil people cannot see what is right and what is wrong. It's like their conscience has been destroyed with a hot iron."

He uses people. God uses people. How does God get his message across? Through his messengers, through his servants, through his soldiers. How does the devil get his doctrines of demons across? Through his messengers, through his servants, through his soldiers. Now, our struggle is not against people. People are the mission field. But the devil uses people to corrupt other people. Evil men and imposters, the scripture says in 2nd Timothy, "But evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."

We do have lots of people who have a lot of learning behind their name, lots of degrees that follow their name, but they are teaching doctrines of demons and leading people astray. That's how the devil works. Now, Paul, on his first missionary journey with Barnabas, encapsulates in one verse what the devil is up to and how the devil works. So Paul and Barnabas go to the island of Cyprus, and they're witnessing on their missionary journey. They run into this guy who is a muckity muck. His name was Sergius Paulus. There was a man attached to Sergius Paulus who was a Jewish false prophet. His name was Bar Jesus. He also went by the name Elymas.

As Paul and Barnabas were witnessing to Sergius Paulus, Elymas was telling Sergius Paulus, "Don't believe what they're saying. They're telling you lies, blah blah, blah." This is what Paul said to Elymas: "You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?" That's what the devil does. He uses people as his messengers, as his soldiers, as his pawns. To do what? To make crooked the straight ways of the Lord. And he always does it through a lie, through deception.

We have people on the radio, people on television, and they're emissaries from hell. Now, they don't tell you that. They stand up and they open the Bible and they say, "Thus says the Lord." But they're not speaking for the Lord, and they're not speaking from the Lord. They're giving doctrines of demons because their message doesn't line up with the Scripture. What is the devil doing? How does he make crooked the straight paths of the Lord? What is his kind of first step on that one degree off the flight? What does he want to get you to do?

The devil wants you and me to think negatively about God. In this passage in 1st Timothy 4, he talks about those who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods. They may come across like, "You know, God's standard is here, but our standard is even higher than God's." They can come across as if they are really with it, really all in. But what are they doing? They're deceiving you. They're tricking you. They're making God out to be a negative God because it says that God has created these things to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.

God wants us to get married. Now, for some people, his plan is to not be married, but that's not for very many. For most of us, God wants us to be married. He wants us to have children, be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. He wants us to enjoy the things that he has made. They're sanctified, he says, by means of the word of God in prayer, and they're created to be enjoyed.

Now, the devil, in his very first conversation with a human being, very familiar with it, is in Genesis chapter three. Such a key, key chapter. The serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?'" The first thing out of his mouth, he takes the word of God, twists it, and adds a question mark to it. That hit Eve cold. He's sly, he's crafty, so he knows how to twist things. You might say, "Well, I guess God said that." No, he didn't say that.

This is what God said. In Genesis 2:16, the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden, you may eat freely." You see the difference? The devil says, "Eve, is it true that God made all these trees and then says, 'You can't eat from every tree?'" That's not what he did. God made all these trees and said to Adam, "From any tree, you may freely eat." But there is one tree, the tree in the midst of the garden. You shall not eat from it, lest you die. It's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So it's not that God says, "You see all this? You can't have it." It's God saying, "You see all this? Have at it. Enjoy yourself. Just don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." The devil works overtime to make you, to make me, to try and get us to think negatively about God. To think God is some kind of cosmic killjoy, that he sits athletically upon a throne of condemnation, with a billy club in one hand and a bag of thunderbolts in the other hand. The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that he might find somebody having fun and break it up, hurl a thunderbolt down upon you.

Because God is mean, and God is cruel, and God is a God you can't trust. That's how the devil works, always making crooked the straight paths of the Lord. Hey, we're in a battle for the souls of men and women and boys and girls. It is a serious, serious battle. And it's a battle for truth—truth against the lies of the enemy. And they are coming at one another. Why is truth so important? Because Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The truth shall set you free. If you lose the truth, you lose.

So there's a spiritual battle that's raging all around us. That's what is going on today.

The second question, considering what is going on today, is: What is the need today? What do we need to combat the battle that is raging? Discovery number two: There is a desperate need for disciplined soldiers. For disciplined soldiers. Now, he tells Timothy, remember, Timothy is not like Paul. He is not so naturally bold as Paul is. He has to tell Timothy, "Listen, Timothy, God hasn't given you a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." Timothy is more timid just by nature than Paul is.

He says in verse six, "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you need to tell them about these things, that there are doctrines of demons." He says, "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus," a good diakonos. We get deacon from that word, servant. You know, when you hear at funerals, "Well done, my good and faithful servant," it's not what it says; it's "Well done, my good and faithful slave."

But the Bible likens us to a slave, a servant, and a soldier. Those are all different motifs that the Bible uses. He tells Timothy, "Hey, you're going to serve the Lord. You'll be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit for old women." You say, "Why is he going after the old women?" He's just talking about old wives' tales. They had their old wives' tales just like we do today. Most of those were Gnostic stories or Jewish myths and fables that had gotten in there. Don't even waste your time on those.

On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. For bodily discipline is only of little profit. But godliness is profitable for all things since it holds promise—the promise of God for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. Take that to the bank. You can count on that.

Hey, we need, in this battle that's raging, disciplined soldiers—those who are trained, those who are fit, and those who are ready to enter into the warfare and to be ready in the toughest part of the battle. See, this isn't a minor battle. This is a major battle. The stakes couldn't be higher because the souls of people, the eternal souls of people, weigh in the balance.

I was thinking about a major battle versus a minor battle in the book of Joshua. Remember, they come right out of the chute. When they cross the Jordan River, what do they do? They're going to go fight Jericho. Jericho, that great walled city, is like, "There's no way anybody's getting in here." But God brought about a great victory. They knew they couldn't defeat Jericho; they needed God to defeat Jericho. But then the next battle is AI. They spy out AI and say, "AI is the JV. AI is nothing. We only need to send two or three thousand people to AI. We'll wipe them out."

They got beat at AI because they took things under the ban at Jericho, and God wasn't going to bless them. But here's the thing: This battle is Jericho; it's not AI. This battle is huge. And so we need disciplined soldiers. Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.

Now, all of us know about physical discipline, and we know that's hard. Spiritual discipline is hard, too. Spiritual discipline is hard work to spend time growing in your faith. It doesn't just happen by osmosis. It doesn't just happen because once or twice a week you just kind of open the Bible for a lucky dip. You need to be disciplined in how you study, just like you would be disciplined with diet and exercise, bodily discipline.

Are you taking time? We have the New Testament challenge for the first 90 days. Are you participating in that? To read through the New Testament in 90 days? I hope so. Are you taking time to nourish yourself on the word of God? It's our bread, it's our milk, it's our meat. We have to nourish ourselves and grow ourselves up in the Word and grow ourselves in prayer. It's hard work.

I had a friend of mine, my discipleship leader when I was in college, and he would pray for about 100 people every day. He would take about an hour every day to pray through his prayer list. I asked him one time, "Everett, do you ever feel like you don't want to do that? Like you just don't feel like praying?" He said, "Yes." I said, "What do you do then?" He said, "I pray more." He was just disciplining himself for the purpose of godliness.

Hey, it's hard work. Let me tell you something that I have found that's a help. You can listen to things now. There are sermons online. You can listen to almost anybody you want for free. So when you're doing chores, when you're on the treadmill, when you're on the elliptical, when you're working out, when you're walking in the neighborhood, you can listen to sermons. You can listen to things that will help you grow. Take advantage of those times to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. It's hard work. And secondly, it's heart work.

Speaker 1

How is your heart today? Is it spiritually fit to receive and absorb and manifest the truths of God, putting them into action for the kingdom's sake? You're listening to part one of the lesson called the Discipline of a Good Soldier from Pastor Jeff's seven-lesson series, Soldiers of the Cross, emphasizing the suffering that followers of Christ should be willing to take and frankly expect in this life. The Apostle Paul told Timothy, "Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." That's in 2 Timothy 2:3.

Now, suffering comes in many forms. There's physical suffering, for example. But also being ostracized is another form of suffering. Being excluded, being berated, laughed at, ignored, and denied are all ways that Christians experience suffering. Are you ready for that battle for Christ? Pastor Jeff Shreve's series will help you. It's also one of our gifts of thanks to you for your support from His Heart this month of any amount. With that gift, we will not only send you the series but also the companion booklet, The Lord's Army.

To get the series and the booklet, call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhisheart.org and request the seven-lesson series Soldiers of the Cross and the booklet The Lord's Army. Again, call 866-40-BIBLE or go to fromhisheart.org. Thank you for praying for and joining with us in this kingdom effort.

Thank you for being with us today on From His Heart. I'm Larry Nobles, inviting you to return at the same time, same station as we present part two of Pastor Jeff's inspiring and practical lesson called the Discipline of a Good Soldier. That's on Thursday when we'll again open God's Word and share real truth, real love, and real hope. From His Heart.

Speaker 3

There is treasure is true there is love there is hope that you always dream love he can heal me every scars of truth will love you all from his heart.

Speaker 1

From his is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember that no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more go to fromisheart.org.