Scripture: 2 Timothy 2 v 1 - 4: "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."
Joshua 8 v 18 - 19: "And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.
19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire."
When we realise that becoming a born again Christian puts us smack into the middle of a live war zone, we will begin to understand that we must learn how to fight, and how to determine where our enemies are shooting from.
2 Corinthians 10 v 4 - 6: "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled."
Our security lies in being part of the Body of Christ, the Rock that shelters us. We are inside the Rock of Ages which is as safe as an Embassy in a foreign country. As long as we do not venture into foreign territory we are protected.
By foreign territory I mean spiritually dangerous areas called sin, disobedience, backsliding, unbelief, drugs, rebellion against authority, pride, false religion and false doctrines. These are all highly charged danger zones that make us very vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Our enemy is camouflaged by misinformation about his existence. He is a myth, a figment of overheated imagination, anyone who seriously believes he is real and dangerous is cuckoo.
Only when we become born again can we perceive the kingdom of Heaven, and are now eligible to enter therein. Our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and that is our only passport for eternal life. If we are sitting in mainline churches that do not preach the full gospel of salvation and make sure we are born again believers, we will be lost for eternity.
With the swing to Interfaith and the One World Church, the born again message has been severely diluted to the point that people in those assemblies never hear it. We need to fight against such lukewarm Christianity and be a soldier for Jesus Christ.
We cannot be passive spectators in this war zone. We must use our spiritual weapons plus the gifts of the Holy Spirit to full advantage. Our Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ, will warn us through prophecy and discerning of spirits and words of knowledge so as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9 v 26 - 27: "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
Paul knows exactly what he is warring against, and how to overcome it. He is not flailing ineffectively against an invisible foe! The gifts of the Spirit give us "night vision goggles" that highlight the presence of evil spirits for accurate destruction of same. We need this help just as much now, if not more than Paul did back then. The only weapon the enemy has is bluff, but he is a master at it.
The importance of being informed of the minefield around us can not be overstated. Our God expects us to be alert, ready and able to take care of ourselves and those around us. The Bible contains all the information we need, and Jesus will be with us as He was with Joshua, guiding him in the battle against Ai.
We must endure hardness as a soldier of Jesus Christ, and not be entangled in the affairs of the world, but rather please Him by our ability to fight in this spiritual war.
ISIS has been defeated in Syria and now the militants and their wives and babies want to be let back in to their home countries like Britain and USA, who are having none of it. They were warned before they left that to join ISIS is treason and if they joined that enemy group they will no longer be citizens of their home country.
They fought against Christians, Jews and moderate Moslems committing unbelievable atrocities. There are now thousands of these bloodthirsty psychopaths wanting to resume a normal life next door to normal people. How many of them have been primed to created mayhem and bloodshed as lone rangers for ISIS going forward? These people are bound by evil spirits which control them utterly to kill, maim and destroy innocent life.
Only if they truly repent and are completely delivered of these demons, can they be born again and join the army of God to defeat other onslaughts that will increase from now till the Battle of Armageddon. The enemy, Satan, knows he has but a short time before he is thrown into the lake of fire, and he will not surrender gracefully.
We need to be stirred by old hymns like "Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war, with the Cross of Jesus going on before." We must find our place in this army and fight to liberate the souls that are held captive in the enemy camp.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive us for complacency and passivity as the war rages around us. There is none so deaf and blind as those who don't want to hear or see. Father open our ears and eyes and give us spiritual understanding because Your people perish from lack of knowledge. We are ready O Lord to fight the good fight because we want to turn this world upside down and set it aflame with the love of Jesus.. In Jesus' name. Amen.