Spiritual Warfare
Good Morning,
We certainly live in days of spiritual warfare. Our New Testament gives us phrases such as: “fight the good fight,” “we wrestle not against flesh and blood,” and, “no man wareth entangled himself with the affairs of this life.” Many such statements make it clear that the Christian life is a battle, and we have a very serious enemy.
Satan is working on churches, families, and obviously on our country more than ever. Our schools, from elementary to the university level, are all under the incredible assault of the wicked one. Common sense is being thrown to the wind as it is attacked by Satan. This attack has been extreme; our very gender is under attack.
Let us begin with the first serious battle that Israel faced. From the east side of the Jordan river, Joshua found himself looking across at Jericho. It was there he met the captain of the Lord’s army (Jesus himself). The very clear advice God gave to Joshua regarding the battles to come was found in chapter 1.
Joshua 1:7 "Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.”
vs. 8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein:”
Joshua was told to be strong enough to do what God said to do. That’s it. Joshua did not need a brilliant strategy; he did not need a larger army or a more skilled fighting force. He needed to be strong enough to be obedient to God. God gave him a promise in chapter one verse eight.
Josh 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Good success followed when Joshua kept the Word of God on his mind and on his lips; this enabled him to determine to obey God in every situation. Prosperity was the natural byproduct of biblical obedience.
Be strong… that you will obey.
We need not be stronger than our enemies. We need to be strong enough to obey the Bible, and then God will care for the enemies.
An endless stream of “believers” tell what they think God wants done, yet they rarely read their Bibles. They could not find one verse to defend their ideals. We are surrounded by religion based on emotion and public opinion rather than on the Word of God. God said He would bless Joshua when he meditated on the Word and was strong enough to obey it. That would mean strong enough to obey the Bible when it did not agree with public opinion or the feelings of one’s own heart. This is where Joshua went wrong in regards to the battle at Ai and with the Gibeonites. Our own opinions matter nothing at all, not compared to the Bible!
Where is our nation today in regards to this simple truth? Our national leaders, as well as our religious leaders are making void the commands of God in hopes of gaining success in economy, education, and world politics. Our Bible colleges are teaching secular psychology. Nearly every Bible college in America has thrown out the authority of the Bible and adopted ancient manuscript or thousands of ancient manuscripts, and the authority has been passed from the Word of God to Greek and Hebrew teachers. Most of our churches have thrown out obedience to the great commission, as well as the countless commands to be separate from the world. Rarely does anyone in a pulpit mention adultery, liquor, or worldly amusements; a preacher basically picks and chooses what he can preach in a way that will not hurt attendance or offerings.
The spiritual battle rages, and that battle can be won by the people who will talk about the Bible, meditate on the Bible, and be strong enough to obey the Bible.
Pastor