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A Call To Arms
3/5/2009
Romans 13:12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Romans 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
So many Christians today have been so beaten down by the cares of this world that they are struggling to just keep on breathing. Completely overwhelmed with financial, domestic, work, and health problems they’re just doing their best to make it from day to day without completely losing their faith. I’m not talking about “church goers” or people who call themselves a “Christian” or (more fashionably) a “Christ follower” but have never come to repentance or denied themselves and taken up their cross. I’m talking about people who actually know Jesus as their Lord and have been born of the Spirit.
Last month I wrote asking you to STAND but now I believe the Lord has shown me that simply “standing” (i.e., maintaining our ground) is inadequate. Certainly we must hold tightly to the truth that God has revealed to us through His Word. And we must not allow ourselves to compromise with the world in an attempt to make our burdens a little lighter.
But I believe that God is calling us to go on the offensive! Aren’t you tired of being Satan’s whipping boy? Aren’t you fed up with allowing the Enemy and circumstances to beat you into submission? I know I am.
As a young man, I didn’t often get into fights but I did get into a few. Inevitably, at the start of the fight my heart wasn’t really in it. It was more a matter of fighting because my foolish pride demanded it. But once I was truly injured by my opponent, then that seemed to get my complete attention and a steely determination to win would rise in my heart and I gave it my all.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I am NOT glorifying fisticuffs or the fleshly response of wounded teenage egos. But pain can focus the mind and bring us to the point of decision. At some point you have to decide if you are going to simply lay there and bleed or get up and do something about it.
Satan has tricked us into thinking that we have no power to contend with him so we simply roll up into a ball and whimper. In fact, we have all the resources of the God of the Universe at our disposal!
2 Corinthians 10:3,4 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
So here is the challenge that God sets before us: Instead of sinking into depression and despair because of the overwhelming attack you feel you are under, go on the offensive! Instead of waiting for the next attack, take the battle to the Enemy! You can’t fight the Enemy with your back to him! Instead turn and strike him on every hand! How?
If you have a godly church, instead of cutting back your giving due to your financial straits, give more! If you’re unable to give money, then give of your time and effort! Encourage your brothers and sisters more by getting together with them, sharing the Word with them, exhorting them, praying for them, and helping them with their burdens and needs! Preach the gospel more by taking advantage of every opportunity to tell others of Jesus and make a point of setting aside time to go out and witness on a regular basis! Pray more! Read His Word more! Worship with your whole heart! Trust God more!
Do these things not as some sort of attempt to bribe God but because you have chosen to truly trust and obey Him through the trials of your life. The particular trials that you’re going through may not resolve in this lifetime. In fact, you are almost certainly going to run into entirely new trials. But the question is whether you will allow them to drive you into stagnation or whether you will in faith and godly wrath take even more ground from the Enemy.
1 Peter 2:6 For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
However, I have decided to draw closer to God both in my private relationship with Him and in my reaching out to my brothers and sisters and the world. By God’s grace and in His strength I will continue to ramp up the fight against the Enemy both within and without. I will not sit back and allow myself to be intimated into submission but as long as my Lord gives me strength and breath I will seek to serve Him with all my heart. And when I fail I will plead the blood of Christ and get back up and into the fray again.
I encourage you...get up! Take the battle to the Enemy. Shed the sins and compromises and unbelief which have weighed you down! As David did, declare “who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?” And go to war!
2 Samuel 22:38,35,36 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, and I did not turn back until they were consumed. He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your help makes me great.
It has often been said that the best defense is a good offense. It has never been truer than today.
Luke 10:19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.”
Again, don’t misunderstand me. I am not advocating the “name it and claim it” doctrine of the “prosperity gospel” where you can get anything you want by invoking the name of Jesus. What I AM saying is that God has given us unlimited resources to accomplish what HE calls us to do...not what WE want to do. And God does not want His children to be so choked by the cares of this world that they are incapable functioning much less being of use to His Kingdom.
1 Peter 1:6,7 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ
What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for everything to settle out in your personal life before adding anything more to your plate? What if it never does? What if things just get worse? We know that the world will grow darker and more evil right up until the day of Christ’s return. What will you tell your Master? “I’m sorry...I was just too stressed out to trust and obey You?” The time is growing short. Let’s work while we still can.
John 9:4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.”
The only security to be had in this world is through trusting and obeying Jesus Christ. Jobs and houses and money come and go and economies rise and fall. Health waxes and wanes. And even families sometimes fail. But those who trust in Jesus will never be disappointed.
John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”
Just so you know that I’m not sitting back on some lofty mountain top spouting such things with no skin in the game, I need to hear these things as much as you do. At this writing my wife and I have only been able to find part-time work and we are unsure whether we’ll be able to keep our house. Like many of you, our house is probably worth less than what we owe on it even if we could sell it. We have some health insurance (but it is very limited) and we are paying an exorbitant amount for it. We have family members who are in even worse straits. And, of course, we are suffering the same plethora of modern problems most of you are.