2 Samuel 23:8-39
The Bible describes the church as an army of soldiers with a general at the head, facing battles on a daily basis.
The General is our God, the soldiers are the Church, the battlefield is the world, satan and the flesh, every day as Christians we face problems that threaten to discourage and destroy us, but God tells us that as good soldiers, we must face each problem and conquer victory in Christ Jesus. Psalm 84:12 Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in you
Jesus Christ Man of War Rev. 19 comes mounted on a white horse, and the one who rode him was called Faithful and True, who judges and fights with justice, and that the heavenly armies, dressed in the finest linen, white and clean, followed him on horses whites.
God asks his children to be brave soldiers, to conquer the promises and that in his name we are conquerors of everything we set out to do.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD SOLDIER
Timothy 2:3-4 suffer hardships with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. no soldier on active duty gets involved in the business of daily life, in order to please the one who recruited him as a soldier.
Luke 7:8-9 For I also am a man placed under authority, and I have soldiers under me; and I say to him: “go”, and he goes; and to another: “come”, and it comes; and to my servant: “do this”, and he does it. 9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning, he said to the multitude that followed him: I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.
Ephesians 6:13-17 therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, stand firm.
Job 14:14 if a man dies, will he live again? all the days of my battle I will wait until my relief arrives.
ATTITUDES OF A SOLDIER
♦ The soldier who fights for the Lord must abstain from sin. (1Co 9:26-27)
♦ The good fight soldier must keep the faith regardless of the circumstances. (2Ti4:7)
♦ The soldier of this war must maintain a good conscience (1 Tim 1:19)
♦ The good soldier of Jesus Christ must suffer hardships. (2 Tim 2:3-4)
♦ The good soldier does not get entangled in the business of life (2 Tim 2:4)
♦ The good soldier does not fight according to the flesh. (2Co 10:4)
1. DISCIPLINE (obedience, subjection)
—-Discipline is doing what you really don’t want to do in order to do what you really want to do. Discipline is difficult, so we must exercise in it to get used to it.
Live within codes of conduct
character formation
Teachings of principles of good morals.
Disciplined = ability to follow instructions and good conduct.
Military discipline, Christian, family, school, work, etc.
RESULTS: disposition, obedience and fulfillment in all the ordinances.
2. HONOR (reliable, of good testimony)
Quality that leads a person to behave correctly
Integrity= straight quality
Good reputation (he recognizes himself and speaks well of him)
In women honesty and modesty (modesty and modesty)
Worthy of honor (recognition of a person’s virtues)
3. LOYALTY (permanence, availability)
absolute delivery
Courage to never turn your back on your government or authority
Devotion to a state or organization.
Obedience to authority (God, parents, shepherds, kings, bosses.
The opposite of loyalty is betrayal
4. FIDELITY (dedication and perseverance)
—-He is part of a team, collaborates, obeys and follows the vision of the leader, because he knows that he will not obtain victory alone.
—-One of the principles of the Kingdom is that he who has authority is under authority and obeys his authority. Orders are not discussed, they are simply carried out.
Fulfillment of promises
Virtue that is born from respect, recognition and trust in God, the couple, the church.
Loyalty is related to a person, while loyalty is to a cause or purpose.
5. PATRIOTISM (dedicated, passionate)
Thought that links an individual with his homeland
It is the feeling that the homeland or country has
It is the pride that a person feels for belonging to a family or nation.
It is feeling proud to be part of the kingdom of God, and of his church
POWER (SUBJECTION AND AUTHORITY)
If someone is not under authority, neither the demons nor the spirits nor even his family will submit to him.
One of the principles of the Kingdom is that he who has authority is under authority and obeys his authority. And that is why he also has the power so that when he commands they listen to him, otherwise there would be problems. He obeys the word and that makes them obey him. Let us be faithful and obedient to all our authorities: bosses, parents, husband, etc.
We see the effects of the reconciling work of Christ through his blood acting in two directions: a vertical reconciliation, this is God-man, and a horizontal reconciliation, this is men-men.
Let us first study the horizontal reconciliation, as we have already mentioned, the Jews and Gentiles were abysmally separated for the Jews the Gentiles were dogs and for the Gentiles the Jews were enemies of the human race a kind of plague, under this condition writes the apostle Paul that in Christ who is the very incarnation of peace they see that he does not say that Christ made peace, but that he is peace, peace between God and men and peace between Jews and Gentiles, that of both towns he made one, demolishing the intermediate wall of separation. The barriers that separated Jew and Gentile were broken down now believers of Jewish origin and believers of Gentile origin can meet as one in Christ.
This separation was such that in the temple of Jerusalem there was a sign that said “No foreigner can pass this barricade that surrounds the sanctuary and its contents.
Anyone caught doing so will be solely responsible for their consequent death.” But that physical division was only a small repercussion of the great division of hate and contempt that divided both groups.
But that barrier was knocked down, Christ made an unbreakable spiritual unity in both peoples, the text continues, abolishing in his flesh the enmities, the law of the commandments expressed in ordinances, to create in himself from the two a single and new man. , making peace. We see then that that dividing wall was the law, but we must not understand this law in any way as the ten commandments or the moral law of God really here points to the ceremonial law since the Jews went astray and made the ceremonial law a requirement essential to have communion with God and added to it commandments established by themselves, becoming a practitioner of traditional commandments and not the true precepts that God had established.
Jesus referred harshly to this condition of the Jews when he said Mat 15:7 Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8. This people honors me with their lips; But, his heart is away from me. 9 For in vain they honor me, Teaching as doctrines, commandments of men. Jesus lived a life totally attached to the laws established by Moses, including the ceremonial and ritual laws, but once he died on the cross of Calvary, he carried within himself the main objective of those laws, which were a shadow of what was to come. this is Christ, that is why the apostle says that he abolished in his flesh the enmities that existed between Jews and Gentiles, he achieved the union where disunity had always reigned, one of the characteristic features of his body, which is the church, is unity in fact we have seen it as evidence of a genuine conversion, you cannot have unity with Christ if you do not have unity with your brother for whom Christ died well it is true that we are different and that we have differences but we are part of the same body and that must be more than a conceptual unit a practical unit.
Christ made two antagonistic parts a unity of two made a new man says MacArthur “Spiritually in Christ there are no longer Jews or Gentiles but only Christians”
Any barrier that before could separate us brothers has been knocked down in the Lord we are all equal he does not distinguish between people that is why there is no such thing as churches for blacks or for whites for Chinese or for Americans for rich or for poor there is only the church of Christ made up of men who, despite their differences, strive to show the love of Christ to co-heirs with that of God’s grace.
Christ made peace, Christ is peace, the achievement of a total reconciliation of man with man in him.
Secondly, we see in the text a reconciliation in a vertical sense says text 16. and through the cross to reconcile both with God in one body, killing in it the enmities. That unity created in Christ that is all men and women redeemed by his blood his body, his church, was reconciled by him with God through the sacrifice on the cross of Calvary where he paid the price of his transgressions and in that way fulfilled God’s justice.
Ironically, that cross, which for the Jews is a stumbling block and for the Gentiles foolishness, became for those who are saved, both Jews and Gentiles, the means of reconciliation between them and for both with God. Christ ended with his death on the cross the enmities that kept Jews and Gentiles apart, with his death he managed to unite what was separated.
Text continues 17. And he came and announced the good news of peace to you who were far away, and to those who were near; 18. Because through him we both have access by the same Spirit to the Father. Both Gentiles who were far away and Jews who were close were made participants in the glorious truth of the gospel, the good news of peace, that message of salvation that transforms the lives of people and unites them with each other and in turn with Christ.
Once the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary is completed and his assent to the presence of the father, the holy spirit would descend and dwell in his church as a pledge of our inheritance. Thus, the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life and in mine guarantees us free and continuous access to the presence of the heavenly throne, something that nothing in the world could achieve, neither religions nor the efforts of the human will, Christ achieved on the Cross. and his work becomes evident with the presence of the holy spirit in our ways.
conclusion
After having presented these glorious truths in them we see the condition in which we Gentiles found ourselves without Christ and see how God took us out of there forming an unbreakable unity that is his church of both Jews and Gentiles as now we have been reconciled with God and we have continuous and free access to the presence of the father. I invite you to enjoy all those privileges that Christ won for you and learn to enjoy being at the feet of your heavenly father.
If you notice in the passage the goal of our growth and development is holiness without which no one will see God.
That’s why brother I want you to ask yourself…