II Timothy 2:3 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
Among His many names and titles, in prophecy, our Lord Jesus Christ is referred to as our “leader and commander” (Isaiah 55:4)! Paul uses this military analogy because there were Roman soldiers stationed throughout that part of the world. Everyone was familiar with military order and discipline. The commanders would issue commands, and their good soldiers would immediately obey their orders. Good soldiers know and obey their commanders, they know and carry out their assigned duties, they are well trained to meet their mission objectives, they are well equipped with necessary weapons and supplies, and they understand their rules of engagement. Every “good soldier” (military member) well knows that they are subject to be sent into places and put in situations from which they will not return, or they may be severely injured; yet, they faithfully obey their “commander”. Furthermore, good soldiers know that they are imperiling themselves to secure and maintain the well-being and safety of their countrymen. So, it is with “a good soldier of Jesus Christ”; they are “throughly furnished unto all good works” (II Timothy 3:17) and faithfully committed to our Lord and the spiritual nourishment and care of His people. The Lord’s ministers must set the example for the Lord’s Church and people by faithfully enduring “hardness”. In this context, to “endure hardness” is to willingly deprive oneself of many carnal joys in order to give proper attention to their obedient service to the Lord and His Church. Oftentimes, our Lord’s good soldiers are faced with deprivations of life’s comforts and provisions, and they often carry out their duties while quietly enduring afflictions and ailments of their own; and in times past, they had to endure physical abuse, imprisonments, loss of property, and some even lost their lives in our Lord’s service. Even in the midst of their hardnesses, the Lord’s ministers are to faithfully stand up and encourage the Lord’s Church, for they are similarly suffering “hardness” for the cause of Christ. Paul even summarized his life in military terms; he wrote, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” (II Timothy 4:7). We can all joyfully “endure hardness” in the course of our service; “because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4)!