Moral Soldiership
W. Harris. 2 Timothy 2:3 You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I. LET US UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF THE INJUNCTION, "ENDURE HARDNESS." The reference is to the life of privation and suffering which a soldier, far more in those times than now, had to undergo, and which in all times he is expected to bear without murmuring, to endure willingly, as a part of that profession which he has voluntarily embraced. Endurance is not merely bearing suffering, but bearing it manfully. To bear hardship with the spirit of a hero is to "endure hardness as a good soldier." Samuel Rutherford, when in prison, used to date his letters from "Christ's Palace, Aberdeen," and when Madam Guyon was confined in the castle of Vincennes, she said, "It seems as if I were a little bird whom the Lord has placed in u cage, and that I have nothing now to do but sing." Paul, too, did not tell his son in the faith to do more than he had done himself. II. The Christian's profession, as a soldier, IMPLIES A. VOLUNTARY CHANGE OF POSITION IN LIFE. III. It is now nearly universally allowed that AN INTELLIGENT ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE PLANS OF THE GENERAL, AND WITH THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH THE BATTLE IS FOUGHT, OR THE CAMPAIGN UNDERTAKEN, BY BEGETTING CONFIDENCE IN HIS LEADER, ENABLES THE SOLDIER TO RENDER MORE EFFICIENT SERVICE. So in proportion as a Christian grows in the knowledge of God and of His plans for the redemption of our world as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, in that proportion he throws his whole soul into the fight. Four special conditions in which a soldier is called upon to "endure hardness." 1. In standing his ground. Wellington brought peace to Europe by his stand at Waterloo. To retire would have been disgrace, to advance would have been destruction. Holding his position brought victory. The battle of Inkermann was won by an eight hours' resistance of six thousand men to sixty thousand. So a Christian soldier often finds himself so hotly assaulted by the world, the flesh, and the devil, that he is unable to advance a foot. But a firm, resisting stand is conquest. 2. A soldier must endure hardness in marching. The chief care of one who has a long march before him is to be well shod. If this be not attended to, even things so insignificant as thorns and briars will occasion suffering, and may unfit the soldier for the fight. So the lesser vexations and petty cares and trials of patience in everyday life, if not guarded against, will weary and wound the "feet of the soul," as Bishop Home calls the affections, and, footsore and wearied, he will be ill-prepared for those special encounters with the enemy to which he is always liable. 3. The soldier must endure hardness in action. 4. Although many an earthly soldier endures who is never crowned, no soldier of Christ is overlooked in the day of victory. The only condition is endurance. (W. Harris.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. WEB: You therefore must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.