At War
“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” (Phil 1:29-30)
Prophetic Context
Yesterday at Perth Prayer a brother read from Psalm 84, which has repeated references to the “Lord of armies/hosts/angel armies” (vv. 1,3,12; 230+ times in the Bible as a whole). I sensed the Lord saying he had declared war in our city and that the masses of Christians who daily come into Perth for work must “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light” (Rom 13:12) realising they are called as warriors for a fight to the End. This is a message most of us refuse to hear.
Introduction
Conflict is an essential ingredient of the kingdom of God (Matt 11:12), as Jesus prophesied, ““Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”” (Matt 10:34). To see the Church as a demilitarised zone is to deny an essential part of her identity. The Bride is a warrior (Rev 19:7-16), and the more intimate she becomes with her warring Husband (2 Cor 11:2) the more combative she becomes. This has nothing to do with “waging war according to the flesh” (2 Cor 10:3) but engaging in a spiritual struggle whose intensity far exceeds worldly warfare because the stakes are eternal. The Spirit of the Lord is speaking intensely to the churches about taking up arms, but with so few preachers today sounding the bugle’s alarm few are throwing themselves into the battle (1 Cor 14:8).
To worship “the lord of Hosts” is to be one with that great angelic throng whose purpose it is to (Dan 10: 13, 20-21; Rev 12:7) attack the forces of evil in the heavenly places. Raised with Christ and seated in the heavenlies (Eph 2:6 cf. 3:10, 14-15) Christians are one with this army in it relentless struggle to defeat wickedness in high places. When Christ returns to “judge and make war” we will ride with them as part of “the armies of heaven” (Rev 19:11-14) issuing in the close of this present evil age (Gal 1:4 cf. 1 Cor 6:2-3). But scanning the horizon of the Church there’s little evidence such profound biblical truths are accepted.
Asleep at the Post
The penalty for a sentry being asleep at his post during Roman times was death; but how many saints are sleeping whilst the battle rages around them? Keith Green’s song, “Asleep in the Light”, is about our times. “That the church just can’t fight, ’cause it’s asleep in the light! how can you be so dead?! When you’ve been so well fed Jesus rose from the grave, And you! You can’t even get out of bed! Oh, Jesus rose from the dead! Come on, get out of your bed!” Those who fail to watch will certainly fall into temptation and prove useless in the day of battle (Matt 26:40-41). Disciplines like constant prayer (Rom 12:12) and Bible reading, designed to sharpen the sword of the Lord in our mouths (Jer 1:9), are treated as options rather than necessities for spiritual survival. Laziness amongst the saints is the new norm. This is a disaster for the kingdom of God.
Enemies
Jesus declared anyone not with him was against him (Matt 12:30), and no wonder, because the psalmist had said about him, “The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”” (Ps 110:1; Luke 20:43; Acts 2:35; Heb 1:13; 10:13). The war of the Lord is ceaseless until the final battle when, at “the end…he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” (1 Cor 15:24-25). Satan will never be your friend and you must be hated for Christ’s sake (Matt 10:22; 24:9). Enemies have been chosen for you! Tragic and grievous this may be, but fallen reality is like that. The majority middle-class Church is way too polite, nice, “friendly” and aversive to the sort of conflict that spiritual warfare subsists in. The average worker is more controlled by the fear of their human boss than the fear of the one Boss before whose judgement seat we must all stand (2 Cor 5:10). Submission to human control, inside and outside the Church, is a near pandemic. The symptoms of our passivity must be faced up to.
Demons? What Demons?
One of the outstanding features of the ministry of Jesus (Mark 1:27), and later the apostles (Acts 8:7; 16:18), was their irresistible authority in delivering people from demons. This remains true of Third World Church growth. When I started attending a Pentecostal church in 1972 this was a part of that movement’s spiritual DNA. Today they, just like the rest of us, act as if pleasant singing intimidates evil spirits. Our churches have been emptied of “exorcists” because we have submitted to psychological reductionism. Having witnessed the demise of deliverance ministry it’s time for a radical rethink of the clash of the kingdoms (Col 1:13). Do we really believe there’s spiritual world between heaven and earth?
Sword of the Spirit
In this time of peril for his Bride, Jesus is essentially a warrior from whose mouth comes “a sharp two-edged sword” (Rev 1:16; 19:15). This is “the sword of the Spirit…the word of God” (Eph 6:17; cf. Heb 4:12) through whose utterance the devil is disempowered (Matt 4:1-11). I am not referring to a mere quoting of scripture, but an abiding in the Word which emanates the complete authority of Christ. In Jesus we have weapons with “divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Cor 10:3-5), authority over “serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19) and to prevail against “the gates of hell” (Matt 16:18). When Christ’s word is re-issued through our mouths, we will witness real manifestations of God’s kingdom. The crucial issues of our time are decided only in the Court of God (Dan 7:22).
Conclusion
A generation that refuses to war for the Lord (Josh 5:6) will perish spiritually in the wilderness. But a generation that takes up arms in Christ’s name will see the glory of the crucified and risen Lord (Luke 24:26). “Epaphras…is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” (Col 4:12). This must be our stand if the Church would be all Christ desires and deserves.