2 Timothy 2:4, commentary and pictures

The verse teaches that the Christian is a soldier chosen and enlisted by Christ who must not entangle himself with the affairs of this life but live with undivided devotion to please the One who chose him. Pleasing that Commander requires entire consecration of being, affection, will and influence, with no divided service or neutral ground. The soldier's life is wartime with no promise of ease or exemption from conflict, so he must willingly expect and endure hardship, privation, trial and soul-rending conflict for Christ's sake. Not entangling himself means refusing to let secular business, politics, home cares and family attachments, or pleasure and frivolity divide the heart and draw the mind from saving souls. The good soldier renders prompt, unquestioning obedience to his Captain, moves in order and unity with fellow soldiers under one head, and directs his warfare against Satan and sin rather than against a comrade.

Setting and Plain Meaning

Paul's instruction to Timothy was a dying charge, dictated while shut in a dungeon in prison, pressed with infirmities, and fearing that Nero would cut his life short before he could see Timothy again. It charged Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ and to keep free from entanglement with the affairs of this life in order to please Christ who chose him to be a soldier.

The verse teaches that the Christian is a soldier chosen and enlisted by Christ who must not entangle, absorb, or burden himself with the affairs, concerns, and ordinary business of this life. His calling is to live with undivided devotion and disciplined, wholehearted service to please the One who chose him, rather than pursuing distracting interests, speculation, or frivolity that weakens spiritual strength and influence for righteousness. This applies especially to those who teach Scripture, whose work requires faithful commitment and obedience undivided from their calling.

In its setting the discipline of non-entanglement belongs with enduring hardship as a good soldier, remaining strong in grace, and faithfully guarding the gospel heard among many witnesses. That guarded trust is to be committed to faithful men who will be able to teach others also, pursued with sanctified zeal and a clear conscience rather than by erroneous opinions that counterwork God. It means striving lawfully in order to be crowned, first becoming a learner before attempting to teach, first partaking of the fruit of grace and then bearing good fruit that proves fitness for trust, walking humbly with God and in harmony with Him in justice and judgment, and studying to stand approved before God as a workman who rightly divides the word of truth.

The principle is always exacting, and the claims of God upon His soldiers are not lower than the claims of a country upon its soldiers, but higher. As earthly soldiers leave home for carnage and bloodshed to meet enemies who would destroy peace and bring disaster and ruin, and expect hardships and privations, coarse food and short rations, hunger, weariness and loneliness, long footsore and weary marches through summer heat and winter cold, exposure to rain and frost, peril and risk of health and life under enemy fire, and following their commander even to death, so soldiers of the cross face a vigilant enemy who never slumbers and is never off guard. They must still more willingly endure privation, self-denial, difficult work taxing every power, painful trials for Christ's sake, conflicts that rend the soul, and any cost or taxation to obtain the mastery. The Christian life is therefore the life of a soldier in wartime with no promise of ease, self-indulgence, temporal comfort, luxury, pleasure, or exemption from conflict, and enlisting with false ideas of pleasantness proves fatal when trials come, for the reward is given not to self-indulgence but to faithful endurance that pleases the commander who chose him.

Pleasing Christ by Consecration

Pleasing the One who chose him means the soldier belongs wholly to Him, with entire consecration and full surrender of the whole being, laying the wealth of affection at His feet and throwing the whole weight of influence on the Lord's side to advance His great work. It requires undivided heart-service, with no divided affection or interest and no human object placed where the Lord alone should rule, but a higher standard reached through being won to God and to heavenly reflection and making most earnest effort to be all that God has given power to be. It is voluntary enlistment with complete surrender of passions, will, and ways to the will of the Master and obedience to the orders of the mighty General, meeting the requirements of His Word as a loyal subject of the heavenly kingdom who appreciates the great warfare ahead. The aim is to please Him who enlisted him by fighting the good fight of faith over eternal interests, whether in prominent or humble place digging trenches, standing guard, or carrying messages, since the success of the whole army depends on the fidelity of each soldier. This calls for putting on the whole armor of righteousness and every piece of armor, resisting the devil until he flees, fighting manfully the battles of the Lord without letting opposing forces lessen courage or bring despondency, and joining the church in aggressive warfare to make conquests for Christ and rescue souls, and such entire letting go gives peace with God and ceaseless gratitude for His sacrifice.

There is no divided service and no neutral ground, for every person is a witness either for or against Christ, and those under His banner must engage in the conflict with Him as faithful soldiers. Those who claim to serve Christ while cooperating with Satan's cause become allies of the enemy and enemies of Christ, welcoming him into confidence instead of resisting him. Such halfhearted service betrays their sacred trust and makes them a link through which Satan works to draw away Christ's soldiers. The soldier's service means accepting the world's Redeemer and sharing His humiliation and suffering for the truth's sake as adopted sons and daughters of God, with His assured promise that such faithful soldiers will inherit the crown of life with great reward in the kingdom of heaven.

Service in God's army is a lifelong enlistment with no release, entered as life service under Christ's banner with great responsibilities and possibilities within the reach of all. Those enlisted must keep the armor on and serve until the Lord releases them at the close of the battle, wearing it till the end and laying it at the Lord's feet only when He releases them. To desert before then or to stand back indifferently disgraces the soldier, dishonors God, gives Satan opportunity to dishonor His cause, and forfeits the triumph that comes by staying loyal in God's love and upholding power without faintheartedness or discouragement, under the guard of an angel preserving again and again from self and from shipwreck of faith. There is no liberty to cease patient, prayerful labor for souls while any are still outside the ark of safety, but obligation to watch constantly lest the enemy gain advantage and secure for his own service souls that might have been won to Christ, glorifying God by using every capability as His, regarding His service as the chief end of existence, and working to the utmost of knowledge and power to carry out the purpose for which He has given life.

Loyalty to the Commander is shown in character and holy service now, especially by following His example of keeping the Father's commandments, honoring God's law, and depending on God for understanding and power to lead others to obey. It is proved during the time of testing by keeping God's commandments even when doing so brings consequences, reviling, or hatred, with present faithfulness reflecting what will be in the heavenly home. It requires watching and praying, speaking and acting at all times with a clear conscience, being cheerful yet guarded against stories that cause laughter, cherishing sobriety, refusing irreverent joking and other godless behavior, standing for principle, and keeping away from needless temptation that brings no benefit. It is proved by putting on the armor of light and studying God's Word, which Christ used as His weapon against every temptation. Enlisting means being co-workers with God through entire consecration of life to His service, striving daily for communion with God, overcoming inclination to worldliness and love of dress, living differently from worldlings, letting influence carry the fragrance of the righteousness of Christ, and letting life evidence belief in the Word so that faith means something, without which there is no meeting the Lord Jesus in peace and no entrance through the portals of the city of God.

Christians have been bought with a price and are not free to treat time or life as their own, but must remain at their post at home or abroad, watch for ways to help others, and live with sacrifice for God's cause. Idleness, self-indulgence, and love of ease must be overcome, and the sacred pledge under Christ the Captain binds to obey His orders even at the cost of life, with self-control overcoming whatever would hinder the high and holy purpose, since life is no longer one's own. A minister chosen for God's service is on duty constantly, devoted to his calling, following Christ and working with Him without giving way to discouragement, with labor not measured by hours. The soldier image applies to experienced ministers who carry the burdens of God's cause and give themselves to its service, and to young ministers called to labor as missionaries, all seeking to please the One who called them by giving themselves to the work entrusted to them and not becoming caught up in ordinary affairs.

Endurance, Hardship, and Self-Denial

The Christian life is the life of a soldier in wartime, with no promise of ease, self-indulgence, temporal comfort, luxury, or exemption from conflict. Like an enlisted soldier who expects hardships and privations, the soldier of the cross must expect a battle and a march calling for endurance, difficult and demanding work taxing every power, painful trials for Christ's sake, and conflicts that rend the soul, and must endure them willingly. Enlisting with false ideas of pleasantness and ease proves fatal when trials come, for the reward is not given to a life of self-indulgence and pleasure, but to faithful endurance that pleases the commander who chose him. The church is an army and every Christian is a soldier whose life is one of toil, hardship, and danger, facing vigilant foes on every hand led by the prince of the powers of darkness, who never slumbers, never deserts his post, is never off guard for a moment, and makes sudden and violent attack whenever a Christian is off guard. If half the soldiers in an army were idling or asleep on duty the result would be defeat, captivity, or death, with no reward for escape but sentence of death, and unfaithfulness brings far more important consequences; a sleeping army of Christian soldiers is terrible and can make no advance against a world under his control, and those who stand back indifferently in the day of battle as though they had no interest and felt no responsibility should change their course or leave the ranks at once. The soldier's warfare calls for perseverance and endurance through self-denial and cross-bearing, and victory comes through simple obedience to God the supreme Leader rather than ceremony or display, freeing from sin's control and enabling overcoming of impulse and evil powers.

As earthly soldiers are given up by fathers and mothers to leave home for carnage and bloodshed to meet and resist enemies who would destroy peace and bring disaster and ruin, and must follow their commander even to death, so soldiers of the cross must still more willingly endure privation, self-denial, and any taxation and cost for Christ's sake to obtain the mastery. They must expect what the enlisted soldier expects: hunger, weariness, loneliness, long footsore and weary marches through summer heat and winter cold, coarse food and short rations, exposure to rain and frost, heat, peril and risk of health and life under enemy fire, sometimes going without time to eat because sin has brought an enemy that must be driven back. A soldier must submit to required drill and exercise essential to soldier service even when the call comes at an inconvenient time for regular work, must not neglect that discipline, must be trustworthy and faithful in work so as to receive tokens of honor, and must go from duty under law rather than from choice; to please Him who chose him, the Christian must be a true soldier of the cross in the same way, joining faithfulness in daily work with endurance of imposed service while needing prayer that angels will go with him and guard him from every temptation. Their motto is conquer in the name of Jesus or be conquered, following the Captain of salvation who was made perfect through suffering to bring many sons and daughters to God, standing under the blood-stained banner of the cross in real warfare against Satan and his host, with God's claim higher than any country's claim.

Growth in Christian experience and fitness for service do not come by indulging every whim, by selfish gratification which is a snare and curse that misapplies abilities, by love of amusement for its own sake, or by showy dress for match games. Being sustained and educated and spending money supplied by parents, friends, and guardians to gratify desire for selfish indulgence blocks the way, encourages selfish indulgence, and prevents entering the narrow heavenward path, leaving one unstable like a reed in the wind; by the characters formed in this life destiny for eternity is decided. God-entrusted capital of means is to be used to arm and equip men for this warfare and to advance God's work in new places by bringing the word of truth to souls in darkness of error, instead of being diverted to garments to make a pleasing show in match games and to games and their expenses; youth must be taught this with anointed eyes to see it. The soldier must use God-given time and every physical, mental, and moral faculty to prepare for service under Christ's banner and to work together with God, training to fight His battles and gain spiritual victories rather than becoming absorbed in games. Those enlisted must keep themselves in fit condition for service as volunteers in His army, with sickly men and women becoming health reformers by eating fewer kinds at one meal, discarding pastries, cakes, and dishes prepared to tempt appetite, and eating simple wholesome food with thanksgiving and care not to burden the stomach, since God cooperates with careful eating to preserve health, having made nature's path sure and safe and wide enough for all and having given the earth's wholesome productions for sustenance. Everyone enlisted is accountable to serve with self-denial and self-sacrifice following Christ's example and to accept a soldier's fare, for giving donations is not enough if believers withhold themselves from the work, and to be a Christian is to be Christlike, who lived not to please Himself.

The soldier's life brings perplexity and worry to all, opposition contesting every inch of the way, and often being hard pushed, but he must keep moving forward without losing courage, hope, or faith, look to Christ the Captain and Leader for direction, and refuse discouraging words even when Satan seeks to destroy, annoy, and hinder. Because Jesus lives there is no cause to faint or be discouraged, only to hold fast His hand with ceaseless gratitude and wholehearted, heavenly-minded service in return for His infinite sacrifice. Human courage will not suffice; strength and courage must be gained from the source of all power, from God's all-sufficiency and the omnipotence of His might, putting on the prepared armor and using all proper means of defense to resist temptation, cultivate Christian virtues, and remain strong, constant, and decided for service, for trust in the Lord brings triumph over unseen foes while trust in self brings sure defeat. To be a soldier of Jesus is to be bold, successful, and valiant as an overcomer, which requires keeping humble with meekness when hopes and plans fail, complying with God's stated conditions and living in harmony with His laws to receive blessing, and bearing trial rightly like gold in the fire so the soul is greatly benefited even more than by desired prosperity, pressing on without discouragement to win the crown of life.

Freedom From Worldly Entanglement

To please the One who chose him the soldier must not burden his mind with secular business, commercial interests, speculation, side enterprises, or settling difficulties in board meetings and councils. Ministers, physicians, missionaries and other gospel workers who take up such pursuits divide their interests, tarnish Christlike character, bring coarseness, injure influence, hinder spiritual advancement, and are drawn away from their ordained work of saving souls and leading people to the Saviour and the realities of eternal life. They are to give themselves without divided interests wholly to their calling, devote all their powers to it, make God's cause first, remain constantly on duty, and keep as free as possible from competing concerns so they are ready to go where directed and serve in any capacity wherever the work requires. Economy and a family life that supports rather than diverts from the work help this freedom, and a devoted wife who is free to assist can share in the work.

Taking sides in politics, identifying with party interests, and linking up with worldlings are entanglements with the affairs of this life. God's soldiers are called out of the world to be separate as citizens of heaven under His rule and one in Christ, and their work is to serve on Christ's side and advance the interests of His kingdom united in sentiment, action, spirit, and fellowship.

Not entangling himself means not letting home matters, family business, serving tables, human love and attachments, or hasty marriage and bringing children into mission fields divide affection and draw the mind from devotion. Fidelity to God and the salvation of the soul must be supreme with everything else secondary, so that when a husband's requirements come between wife and God she obeys God's law while respecting his wishes in all she can without dishonoring her Creator, remaining gentle in counsel, wise in advice, unwearying in winning him, and assembling with God's people whenever consistent. A minister must not treat something at home demanding attention and presence as first consideration nor leave a place of awakened interest to be drawn away by home duties, for doing so loses precious opportunities, leaves greater good undone, and makes his labors next to nothing until there is discreet management, push, and daily faithful labor with a full account of days actively engaged. Marrying without thoroughly considering the situation and bringing children into distant fields greatly increases cares and burdens, exhausts strength, prevents improvement of powers, forces leaving children here and there for others to care for or leaving the field to do duty to the family, and cuts the work to one-half or one-third, so that once children are brought into the world caring for the family must become the greatest care.

Pleasures that turn affections from Christ, frivolity that weakens spiritual strength and influence for righteousness, games and their expenses, irreverent joking and godless behavior, needless temptation such as fairs, and love of dress entangle the soldier and must be refused in order to please the One who chose him. The soldier must live a disciplined, wholehearted service, watching and praying, speaking and acting with a clear conscience, cheerful yet guarded against stories that cause laughter, cherishing sobriety, and standing for principle in school and elsewhere rather than welcoming the enemy into confidence and betraying sacred trust. Money spent on showy garments for match games diverts resources that could arm men and advance the work, and the Lord gives opportunities to grow in character and become fit for His work, with failure to gain that fitness resting on the one who neglects it.

Entanglement also includes avarice excused as working for God's cause, for money gained through overreaching or dishonesty is not acceptable to God. It includes ambitious worldly projects that confuse the mind and perplex the soul, professing much while clinging to old sins, and refusing to be converted through sanctifying grace and to regard church privileges in a high sacred sense. It includes twining about earthly rubbish and leaning weight on human beings while craving pity and sympathy that can give no help and no sustenance, instead of entwining about God, taking little matters and large matters directly to Him, and believing He imparts strength immediately from Himself. It includes devoting talents to criticism, self-exaltation, and faultfinding with brethren instead of examining the heart, standing in right relation to God as Enoch did, and doing aggressive work against the powers of darkness and warning those without God within reach.

Unity Obedience and Order

Enlistment means surrender of the will to the Commander and prompt, unquestioning obedience to the Captain's orders and marching orders, looking to Him for direction, keeping close to Him, following Him, and advancing in the conflict by faith while He directs the warfare. The soldier does not act as a rule to himself, follow caprice and human plans, mix his own ways with the work, or work as he chooses, but seeks his orders from God, seeks counsel from God and from one another, does assigned duties even when their necessity is not seen, and works willingly and heartily in harmony with others for the designed plan without division. Those who insist on their own way and refuse direction work at cross-purposes, bring confusion and entanglement with which there can be no co-operation, and by taking a stand as a rule to themselves place themselves under a banner opposed to Christ. This service requires commitment rather than an indifferent or neutral position, with diligent and faithful labor, bravery, loyalty and truth, fearlessness under opposition, counting suffering for Christ an honor, and doing nothing that dishonors the cause served.

No one can be a good, successful and wise soldier while acting independently, however good his qualities, sincere his motives, strong his love for truth, or earnest and energetic his work. The good soldier moves in order with concentrated action, in concert and step in concert with those joined with him under one head, part acting with part, drawing together with brethren instead of pulling apart, staying in rank and preserving unity, for union is strength. He exercises self-restraint and caution, submits personal judgment, ideas, plans, interpretations, wishes, preferences, wisdom and methods, submits all plans to careful, cautious minds with special weight to the voice of age, discernment and caution, refuses hasty, independent, uncertain and strange movements, does not take offense if every other mind does not run in the same channel as his own, and does not assume his interpretation of Scripture or sense of duty cannot be mistaken. Independent action springing from hasty temperament, unwillingness to brook delay, failure to consider future consequences, too high an appreciation of one's own wisdom and powers, self-will, and firmness in personal plans and notions is not Christian character but wastes strength in aimless effort, pulls like horses in opposite directions, makes movements at the wrong time and in the wrong direction counter to others, and brings defeat, disorder, confusion, and a spot and stain upon the cause, so that zeal and activity without wisest knowledge are worse than wasted. The noblest leaders therefore consult together and plan, devise, pray and watch unto prayer for the common good, lest through one not consecrated a plan be introduced that brings defeat instead of victory, for only well-directed, concentrated effort glorifies God, and meekness and lowliness lead to the unity that gives strength for shared action.

What is wanted is well-disciplined soldiers, and no others, who submit to training, drill, exercise and discipline essential to soldier service even when the call comes at an inconvenient time for regular work, who place themselves where they can receive faithful training, and who learn to obey before they are fitted to lead or command. The soldier submits to be disciplined and reproved and keeps doing duty when corrected for a mismove or misdemeanor, while a spirit that holds itself ready to be tried, makes a man an offender for a word, rises in rebellion against all reproof, rebels because it is drilled, and will not do duty because corrected is wholly unbecoming, is dismissed as worthless, and leaves the cause far better off without its influence. Preparation must be earnest, careful and thorough, like training for emergencies, joining faithfulness in daily work with endurance of imposed service from duty under law rather than from choice, in trustworthiness that receives tokens of honor, with prayer for guard against every temptation. Soldier-service is practical, not mere good impressions; the direct teachings of the Word must be brought to bear on practical life until fruit is seen in personal labor, and when the Word as a sharp two-edged sword cuts to the heart and arouses the conscience the work is only begun, for the plowshare of truth must go deeper by thorough education that directs thoughts, establishes principles, and deepens impressions by careful and prayerful effort, with the work finished and not left in companies of new believers in an unfinished state exposed to buffeting and opposition, so that sheaves are gathered.

The weapons of warfare are to be directed against foes, never turned against a fellow soldier whom God recognizes and has sent to bear a special message and do a special work under marching orders from the King of kings in the battles of the Lord of lords. Soldiers may not always reveal perfection in their step, but their mistakes should call out from comrades not words that weaken but words that strengthen and help them recover lost ground. Fellow soldiers must not be severe, unreasonable judges of comrades, making the most of every defect and manifesting satanic attributes as accusers of the brethren. To make public a mistake, especially when it is seen and corrected, to lay open a brother's corrected blunder before comrades and the warring enemy and make it appear as grave as possible, is a sin of far greater magnitude than the misstep, gives advantage to the bitterest foes, turns the glory of God into dishonor, dishonors the cause, aids its enemies, and counts as criticism and condemnation of Christ Himself.

Ministry and Missionary Service

Ministers engaged in God's cause must not divide interests between themselves and their work but must devote themselves wholly to their calling, giving themselves without divided interests and entirely to it in order to please the One who chose them as soldiers. Like a soldier chosen for service, the minister must refuse to become caught up in ordinary worldly business, commercial speculation, or pursuits for earthly gain that would hinder the sacred calling, keeping business for gain out of the ministry so that all powers are devoted to leading people to the Saviour and the realities of eternal life. God's ministers are on duty constantly and their labor is not measured by hours, for they must not treat time or life as their own but remain devoted to the calling, follow Christ and work with Him without giving way to discouragement. The soldier image applies both to experienced ministers who carry the burdens of the cause and give themselves to its service and to young ministers called to labor as missionaries, with experienced soldiers of the message chosen to meet great needs. He must make God's cause first and present a full account of days actively engaged, refusing to entangle himself with home matters, family business, or serving tables, and refusing to treat something at home demanding attention and presence as first consideration or to leave a place where interest demands his presence and most earnest attention to be drawn away by home duties, since doing so loses precious opportunities, leaves greater good undone, makes labors next to nothing, and calls for decided change to discreet management, push, and daily faithful labor as faithful as workmen in business.

Every member of Christ's body, young and old, rich and poor, new believer and old, is enlisted for faithful, willing, personal service in the closing conflict between good and evil, with God giving each person work and expecting each enlisted person, laypeople as well as ministers, to take an active part and not leave soul-winning to ministers alone. When a special effort is being made to proclaim the truth every church member must serve as an armed and equipped soldier of Christ rather than remaining self-satisfied, indifferent, and backslidden, staying ready and equipped while others labor and letting the chapter shape practical life through prayer and work and support of evangelistic efforts with strength drawn from Christ. The soldier pleases his Captain by searching the heart, confessing sin, drawing near to God, praying daily and while about daily duties, drawing strength from Christ with gratitude, clearing the way, helping with means, living in perfect harmony, being present at meetings ready to talk with any who are interested, and working and praying together for the lost sheep to sustain the work being done. Those chosen as soldiers standing steadfastly under Christ's banner gain missionary success only by consecrated, devoted, persevering effort through God's ordained means, meeting and surmounting obstacles and refusing to fail or become discouraged, for relaxing that effort causes prosperity to decline, opens the door to Satan's temptations, and grieves God's Spirit, while pride of heart and self-exaltation entangle and make the church weak and strengthless. Their lives must show that they seek to win people to the truth and please God rather than to gain honor or earthly wealth, with attention and affections fixed on heavenly things and the promised inheritance, giving practical help to the hungry, neglected, and suffering and persevering without relaxing into indifference and backsliding.

Missionaries as Christ's soldiers must avoid entanglements that distract from the calling, keeping themselves as free as possible from competing concerns, putting God's cause before selfish interests, and remaining ready to go where God directs and serve in any capacity wherever the work requires. Economy and a family life that supports rather than diverts from the work help missionaries give themselves to their calling, and a devoted wife who is free to assist can share in the work. To please Him they must study how best to serve Him and devote all powers He has given to saving precious souls without entangling themselves with the affairs of this life. Marrying without thoroughly considering the situation and bringing children into the world while laboring in distant fields entangles them, increasing cares and burdens in large degree, exhausting strength, preventing improvement of powers, and forcing them either to leave children here and there for others to care for or to leave the field to do duty to the family brought into the world, so that such entanglement cuts work to one-half or one-third of what it might have been, and once children are brought into the world caring for the family must become the greatest care.

Those who serve Christ as soldiers must prepare earnestly, thoroughly, and carefully for spiritual warfare rather than be less diligent than soldiers training for military service or for emergencies, for their work is a battle against tradition, superstition, and error with the aim of serving Prince Immanuel faithfully. Those who offer themselves as soldiers in Christ's army should place themselves where they can receive faithful training for service and learn to obey before they are fitted to lead or command. The soldier avoids entanglement in ordinary affairs to please the one who chose him, and applies that single-hearted devotion to God's glory in preparing for spiritual conflict against error. The Christian as a soldier of Christ prepares for battle against error by being God-fearing, honest, single-hearted, and steadfastly focused on God's glory, holding the standard high and meeting the sword of the Spirit under God's shield.

Warfare Against Spiritual Enemies

The church is an army and every Christian is a soldier whose life is one of toil, hardship, and danger. Vigilant foes on every hand are led by the prince of the powers of darkness, who never slumbers and never deserts his post, and who makes sudden and violent attack whenever a Christian is off guard, so members must be active and vigilant or they will be overcome by his devices. If half the soldiers in an army were idling or asleep on duty the result would be defeat, captivity, or death, and unfaithfulness in the church brings far more important consequences. A sleeping army of Christian soldiers can make no advance against a world under the control of the prince of darkness, and those who stand back indifferently in the day of battle as though they had no interest and felt no responsibility for the issue of the contest should change their course or leave the ranks at once. Believers are combatants on earth, living in an enemy's country amid conflict and determined opposition, so this is no time or place for negligence, indifference, or carelessness, because they have a heaven to win and a hell to shun.

Temporal losses are small beside eternal concerns, and believers must not arrange their lives around temporal affairs in ways that bind them or force them to desert their service. Those who serve Christ as soldiers must resist the enemy rather than welcome him into their confidence and betray their sacred trust, avoiding entanglement with worldly concerns so they can please the One who chose them. The Lord gives them opportunities to grow in character and become fit for His work, and failing to gain that fitness is their own responsibility. They must keep moving forward without losing courage, hope, or faith, and look to Christ for direction, for Satan seeks to destroy, annoy, and hinder them, but they must not dishonor their Leader with discouraging words.

Soldiers under the Captain of salvation are to fight Satan's forces, not their fellow believers, keeping His interests in view, devoting themselves to faithful service, following their Captain's example, and having no time for faultfinding. They serve to advance His kingdom, wearing His armor and working under His banner, fighting spiritual enemies rather than trying to subdue fellow believers, with each faithfully doing the duty God gives. Each Christian soldier must do his part in the contest against Satan and for Christ, and others must not hinder the people or means through whom God works merely because their work does not follow regular lines. A soldier is to direct the weapons of warfare against foes and never turn them against a fellow soldier whom God recognizes and has sent. Mistakes in comrades should call out from fellow soldiers not words that weaken but words that strengthen and help them recover lost ground, not severe unreasonable judgment, not making the most of every defect, not manifesting satanic attributes as accusers of the brethren, and not dishonoring God's cause by making public a mistake especially when it is seen and corrected, for to lay open a brother's corrected blunder before comrades and the warring enemy and make it appear as grave as possible is a sin of far greater magnitude than the misstep, gives advantage to the bitterest foes of the King, turns the glory of God into dishonor, and counts as criticism and condemnation of Christ Himself.

Pleasing the Commander requires fighting the good fight of faith over eternal interests, putting on the whole armor of righteousness, resisting the devil until he flees, and joining the church in aggressive warfare to make conquests for Christ and rescue souls from the enemy, in a conflict where God and holy angels are engaged. Every enlisted Christian has hard, faithful service to do, whether prominent or humble, digging trenches, standing guard, or carrying messages, because the success of the whole army depends on the fidelity of each soldier. Christ's servants are enlisted for active service and must not seek the easiest place or let personal discomfort keep them from their work, but must press forward despite infirmities, wear God's armor, fight actively under their Captain's orders, and carry the standard toward victory. Victory comes through simple obedience to God the supreme Leader rather than ceremony or display, and obedience frees people from sin's control and enables them to overcome their own impulses and the powers of evil. Service under Christ's banner can require heroic effort and patient endurance in the forefront of spiritual battle, with the servant turning to God for aid and drawing strength for present duties from the promises of Scripture, and victories leading not to pride but to greater dependence on God whose power enables effective proclamation of salvation.

To enlist is to become a faithful soldier of Jesus Christ and hold His standard high, meeting the sword of the Spirit under God's protective shield. All who carry responsibilities in God's work are Christian soldiers in an individual warfare against Satan and the powers of darkness, fighting even to the gates for Christ as Captain under His banner and governed by rules of warfare, pressing forward when determined opposition contests every inch of the way, resisting temptation, cultivating Christian virtues, and remaining strong for service with courage, constancy, and decision. Human courage will not suffice, and the strength and courage for the conflict must be gained from the source of all power, from God's all-sufficiency and the omnipotence of His might. Trust in the Lord brings triumph over unseen foes, while trust in self brings sure defeat, so the soldier makes use of all proper means of defense, puts on the prepared armor, and fights bravely for the Lord.

God's servants as soldiers must stand at their post of duty and venture into the fight against sin and Satan when called, and those who avoid the battle, wait for others to win, or turn against faithful workers fail in their service to Christ. There is no neutral ground and every person is a witness either for or against Christ, and those who stand under His banner must engage in the conflict with Him as faithful soldiers, accepting the world's Redeemer and sharing His humiliation and suffering for the truth's sake as adopted sons and daughters of God, with His assured promise that such faithful soldiers will inherit the crown of life with great reward in the kingdom of heaven. Accepting Christ is enlisting by faith as a soldier in the army of the Prince of Life under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel. Believers enlisted in Christ's warfare should be ready to serve wherever needed, with self-denial and self-sacrifice in working for the conversion of those Satan seeks to destroy, each convert taking up a post of duty and all pressing the battle forward as they advance the message. Servants of God must act like disciplined soldiers, preserve their strength, and give themselves to the work so they can make their strongest effort at the decisive moment, for their struggle is to help people leave Satan's side and join the Lord's, and wasting strength through poorly directed zeal can prevent victory and make earlier labor fruitless.

The work of the Christian soldier is to stand in defense of truth and right and duty at any loss to self, warning and entreating and showing faith by works like Noah, firm in heaven-inspired purpose like Daniel, unswerved from conviction of duty by agents of Satan, by flattery, or by enticement to sin and pleasure. He stands as God's agent with moral character untarnished, unmoved on the Rock at his chosen post, rebuking sin and pleasure lovers by moral rectitude and circumspect conversation, saving men like his Master though exposed to hatred, reproach, enmity, and false accusations. Even without preaching in the desk he is a heroic minister of righteousness, constantly ministering, loyal to God's claims upon him, jealous over himself lest he dishonor the Lord, and hears Well Done from His lips.