A GOOD SOLDIER 2 Timothy 2:3-4
Intro: Three things in these verses
1. His Endurance - withstand temptation
2. His Entanglement – Avoid being entangled by the affairs of this life.
3. His Enlistment - to please God - God's way
I. We must know the Wiles of Satan
1. He disrupts the saints
a. With discouragement - like Elijah
b. With denial - like Peter
c. With defilement - like David = 2Samuel 11
2. He disables the saints
He accuses us with old sins
3. He divides the saints
He must divide before he can destroy
II. We must know the Warfare of Soldiers
1. Warfare is Intangible - must take sides. There is no way to avoid the fight.
2. Warfare of Imagination - "As a man thinketh"...Proverbs 23:6-7 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
3. Warfare thru Infiltration - Matt. 13 Satan sows tares and sets snares. Matthew 13:24-25 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
III. We must know the Weapons of Success
1. The Spirit
a. Not mechanical - with organization
b. Not methods - thru techniques
Carnal methods produce carnal results = Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
2. The Scriptures
a. Needed to discover Satan's plan
b. Needed to diminish Satan's purpose
3. The Submissiveness - James 4:7-8 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
a. A plan to be carried our - Submit
b. A person to be conquered - resist_
Morristown, TN