The Wounded soldier
2 Timothy 2:3-4 Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.
Introduction: I welcome you to another time of refreshing by the word of God. I do hope we meditate on these words that are shared, and use it to mirror our lives thereby we target measuring up to the standard of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This week, I want to share with you what ministered to me in the course of family fellowship. “The wounded soldier”.
Who is a soldier? What does it mean to be wounded as a soldier? Is it possible for a soldier who battles always not to be wounded? What can bring about healing of a wounded soldier?
Who is a soldier? A soldier fights battle and must be prepared for war at all times. Scriptures clearly stated that we are soldiers of Christ. Our battle is not physical, but spiritual which makes it more difficult than physical battle. Ours is a battle against unseen forces.
Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
A Christian soldier who gets tied up in civilian matters can never please Jesus Christ our commander who has enlisted us as His soldiers.
Any Christian soldier who fights through human nature instead of through the Spirit is bound to die (death can be physical, spiritual and eternal).
Rom.8:6(GNS) To be controlled by human nature results in death; to be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace.
A Christian soldier therefore fights spiritual battles against unseen forces. The spiritual controls the physical. Once a Christian soldier wins spiritual battles, physical battle is automatically won.
What does it mean to be wounded as a soldier?
To be wounded as a Christian soldier is to be wounded in the spirit, it is a feeling of despondency; whereby there is a strong feeling of unhappiness caused by difficulties which you feel cannot be overcome.
Let’s see examples of wounded spirit in the lives of some old soldiers of God from the Scriptures.
1️⃣ Moses.
When children of Israel began to complain about hardship on the way to promised land, and also complained about Manna that God gave them, and longed for Egyptians delicacies, the Lord’s anger rose against them leading to death of many. Moses was wounded in the spirit, and became despondent.
Hear what he told God; Numbers 11:14-15 I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!”
As soldier of Christ, the people you are leading can wound you by their comments and actions. They can get you angry to the extent of putting away Breastplate of righteousness in the battle field.
James 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Like Moses, anger makes way for enemy to fire shots at Christian soldier in battle. Anger denied Moses of getting to the promised land as initially planned by God.
Psalm 106:32 They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:
Remember, God who chose you as leader has equipped you with Breastplate of righteousness. Inability to put on the whole armour of God makes Christian soldier to be wounded in the battle front.
2️⃣ Joshua
Israelites spied the land of Ai and evaluated that only 3000 soldiers will crush that country. They told Joshua that there was no need to fight Ai with full military force of Israel. Unknown to Joshua, Achan had defiled the land of Israel. The soldiers of Israel went confidently to battle Ai but they lost woefully because God was not with them. Joshua was wounded in the spirit. Hear him talking to God;
Joshua 7:7-8 Then Joshua cried out, “Oh, Sovereign lord, why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side! Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies?
As soldier of Christ, have you noticed defeat in your Christian journey and you are wounded in the spirit, and then questioning God in your heart? Find out may be like Samson, you went into battle as usual without knowing that the commander, Lord Jesus has departed.
Judges 16:20 Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you! ”When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the lord had left him.
Inability to check where there is a broken wall of Defence will cause more damage as the enemy takes advantage.
Ecclesiastes 10:8b….whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
It was when Joshua dealt with Achan in the camp that victory came to Israel. Let there be sincere self-examination in case the wound is caused by sin. Don’t conclude that there’s no sin, you may be looking for big sins such as adultery, stealing etcetera. Are you aware that ….whatsoever is not of faith is sin? Romans 14:23
You probably are not taking the shield of faith during your battle, therefore fiery darts of the wicked could not be quenched.
Ephesians 6:16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
3️⃣ Job
Job was an upright man who feared God and God was happy with him to the extent that He showcased Job to Satan.
Job 1:8 Then the lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
Satan then went into battle with Job. Job’s spirit was wounded especially when Satan descended on his health. Who is the soldier that will loose all his investments and properties including children in one day and will not be devastated?
Hear lamentation of Job;Job 10:1-3 “I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely. My bitter soul must complain. I will say to God, ‘Don’t simply condemn me— tell me the charge you are bringing against me. What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands, while smiling on the schemes of the wicked?
As soldier of Christ, have you felt the same way? Have you wondered why God allows you to be wounded despite your commitments to Him? As committed Christian, have you found yourself questioning God for unpleasant things happening to you in your journey of life?
Do you know how satanic arrows penetrated Job’s life?
Job 3:25 What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come true. Job had been entertaining fear in his life. He probably had been thinking on evil occurrence heard or seen in the life of others he knew.
Satan entered into his life through fear, tormented and put him in bondage. As soldier of Christ, Have you allowed fear to dominate your life?
I was told of the story of a Christian couple. The wife was always afraid of thieves and would disturb her husband at night that she heard footsteps in the kitchen. The husband would reluctantly stand up and several times there was nothing except movement of rats. One day, they slept and the husband saw movement in the sitting room, behold the robbers were there. The husband then woke his wife and told her, “the thieves you were expecting have come”.
Fear can expose a Christian soldier to attack thereby causing wounds. Satan knows mankind very well, he asked for permission to deal with Job’s health after Job was victorious during the first battle.
Satan told God in Job 2:4 Satan replied to the lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life.
Are you preparing to compromise your faith in God just because you are disappointed that God allows certain sicknesses in your life? All the enemy needed is to attack your faith and make you fearful so as to miss eternal life.
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
4️⃣ Elijah
Remember how Elijah dealt with 850 prophets of Baal under Jezebel? After he displayed God’s power by calling down fire, he commanded all the prophets of Baal to be slaughtered and none escaped. Jezebel heard and sent threats to Elijah
1 Kings 19:2 So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”
Elijah who at the battle front at mount Carmel had victory over evil power, now ran away from Jezebel
1 Kings 19:3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.
Elijah’s spirit was wounded and couldn’t finish that battle. Hear what he said to God;
1 Kings 19:4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
God did not expect Elijah His soldier to run away. The word of God that came to him in his hiding place and asked a vital question;
1 Kings 19:9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
As soldier of Christ, what has made you to leave the battle front? Are you afraid of the threat of mere men? Why have you surrendered to the wicked after much talk about your God? What are you doing where you are? Was it fear of the unknown that made you leave where God has placed you to demonstrate His power?
A wounded soldier will want to leave his/her post.
Is it possible for a soldier who battles always not to be wounded?
I don’t think a soldier who all his lifetime fights battle will leave the battle field unscratched. There will always be a time of despondency; whereby there is a strong feeling of unhappiness caused by difficulties that seem insurmountable.
Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 24:9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.
Christian soldier battles with Satan, the world and flesh. There is no way a true Christian soldier will not be attacked and suffer in the battle field of this world.
Paul told Timothy; Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12
All the apostles of old were attacked and wounded but they fought to the end. In the secular army, there is tough training for combatants. Some run away from training to show how hard it is to train in the army. This is to prepare them for battle.
For Christians soldiers, messages from our pulpits this end time do not prepare Christians for battle but we hear messages of splendour; motivational words of prosperity and good things of life. This trend has made Christians to judge eternity with Jesus by beautiful things acquired on earth.
Jesus said in Luke 12:15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”
Many Christians fall and die in the battle front, Christians that are wounded deny Christ to join the enemy.
Paul told Timothy about a Christian soldier who returned to the world;
Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. 2 Timothy 4:10
A good soldier of Christ endures hardness.
What can bring about healing of a wounded soldier?
Now that we know that the world is a battle field and we are to live our entire lives in the battle, how can we finish strong like others before us?
They were also wounded but victorious. Hear some wounds experienced by apostle Paul
2 Corinthians 11:24-26 (NLT) Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have travelled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.
At a time, Paul was wounded with an infirmity. He prayed but it refused to go, he found out the cause of the infirmity;
2 Corinthians 12:6-10 (NLT) If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Apostle Paul finished strong. Hear him; I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 2 Timothy 4:7
Finally my brethren, all that is needed as we put on the whole armour of God is the Grace of our Commander, the Balm of Gilead, the Shepherd of our souls, Jesus Christ. No matter how hot the battle is, His Grace is enough to finish strong. Jesus told Paul; “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”
✋Maranatha
