Weapons and Tactics in Warfare*

In this modern era, we have seen through media and technology what war is really like. Beginning with the Vietnam War, right up to the present war in the Ukraine, the images of warfare are brought to us. What we see happening in the natural realm, however, is only a microcosm of what is going on in the spiritual realm. In both realms, poor tactics can cost lives. We, as believers, are in a war. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn refers to a "dark trinity war" in his new book, "The Return of the Gods". We need to know our weapons, and the correct tactics to use in this spiritual warfare. We are given powerful information from the apostle Paul: "...some...think of us as if we walk according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) 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; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. Do ye look on things after the outward appearance?..." (2 Cor. 10:1-7). Our weapons are not carnal. Our enemy is opposition against the knowledge of God, and disobedience to Christ. Our tactics involve casting down ungodly thoughts, and revenging disobedience through the fulness of our own obedience. Spiritual warfare begins in the mind, within us, and not with bombs, or bullets. All natural soldiers have weapons and some sort of body armor, but our armor in spiritual warfare, "...not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places", is the whole armor of God. (Eph. 6:10-13). It is this armor which enables us to stand against the wiles of the devil, and "the evil day". As we know, the days are very evil, and wicked powers of darkness are very real. The whole armor of God includes having our loins girded with truth. We are to procreate the Gospel of truth, bringing it to others. We are to have on the breastplate of righteousness. Our hearts, which are the "kill zone" to the enemy, are deceitful, but we cover them with Christ's righteousness, not our own. Our feet are prepared with the gospel of peace. Wherever we go, we go with the Gospel. This is the Great Commission given to us by Christ. Above all, we take up the shield of faith. This spiritual shield quenches the fiery darts of the wicked against us. We take the helmet of salvation, protecting our minds from those thoughts, reasonings, and imaginations that Paul warned of above. In our hand is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (v. 14-17). This is a two-edged sword, reminding us that judgment begins, not with an enemy, but with the house of God. We use the Word, especially 2 Chron. 7:14, to bring repentance to our hearts, to fulfill our obedience first. Always, Paul wrote here, praying for all the saints of God, and for the boldness to make known the Gospel even in the face of obstacles and persecution (v. 18-20). Regarding this, here in this country and across the world, we are seeing a growing intolerance to the Word and knowledge of God, and instead a demand, under penalty of law, that the people of God accept in silence ungodly and abominable practices. We can see in scripture how these spiritual weapons and tactics were used by God to fight Israel's enemies, even when they were outnumbered, ill-equipped and starving in their natural circumstances. In Exodus 17, the Israelites are in battle with the Amalekites. Moses gave this instruction to Joshua: "Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand." (Ex. 17:8-9). When Moses would hold up his hand, Israel prevailed, however, when he lowered his hand, the Amalekites prevailed. As the battle raged on, and Moses grew weary, Aaron and Hur put a stone in place for Moses to sit, and stood on either side of Moses to hold up his hands until the sun went down. "And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword." (v. 11-13). The LORD commanded Moses to write the battle against Amalek for a memorial in a book to remind Joshua of the vistory, and to insure the continual warfare of the LORD against the Amalekites. From this event, Moses worshipped the LORD by the name "Jehovah Nissi", meaning "The LORD our Banner" at an altar that he constructed (v. 14-16). The battle was won by the rod of God in the hand of His servant. This is the same rod that Moses used to part the Red Sea. In another example of the ways of God in warfare, Gideon had assembled an army of 32,000 to fight the Midianites. The LORD told Gideon that he had too many in his army: "...there are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, 'Mine own hand hath saved me." (Judges 7:1-2). The LORD told Gideon that the Israelite army was too big! So the LORD told Gideon to tell all who were afraid to go home. This reduced the army to 10,000. The LORD said that this was still too many, and the army was to number 300. Those 300 were to carry a trumpet in one hand, and a vessel containing a lamp in the other hand. To reassure Gideon of the coming victory, the LORD had Gideon sneak up to the enemy camp with his servant, Phurah (meaning "branch, bough, glory, glorify"), to spy. Gideon overheard one enemy soldier telling another of a dream that he had in which Gideon had crushed their tent. This telling of the dream in the enemy camp caused the Midianites to believe that it was inevitable that God was going to deliver them into Gideon's hands. When Gideon overheard this talk within the enemy camp, he sent his 300-man army in three divisions against the Midianites, who were as numerous as grasshoppers. As they blew their trumpets and threw down their lamps, crying 'The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon', the Midianites panicked and ran (v. 9-21). The fleeing Midianites turned their swords upon each other in their fear, and the Israelites pursued them. As we can see, this is not warfare as usual as practiced in the world by generals and armies. God has already told us that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and neither are His ways like our ways. We see the contrast again between natural warfare and spiritual warfare in the account of David and Goliath. The armey of Israel was confronting the army of the Philistines. David had gone to the army camp to bring provisions of bread to his older brothers, who were soldiers. Then the Philistines' champion warrior, a man of giant proportions, Goliath, began to threaten and taunt them. When the Israelite army saw him, they all ran, including young David. However, when David heard the rewards that King Saul had promised to the man who would go forth and answer Goliath's challenge, David verified the reward offered three times, and then said of Goliath, "...for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Sam. 17:24-26). One of David's older brothers became angry at him, and belittled him, that David, a lad who watched sheep, would speak up and involve himself in army business. However, King Saul heard of David's talk, and asked him to come to his tent, telling David, "Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." (v. 28-33). David told Saul that as a shepherd of his father's sheep, he had already killed both a lion and a bear, even taking one of the captured lambs out of the predator's mouth. David told the king that this uncircumcised Philistine, Goliath "shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God", adding, "...the LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion,...and the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." (v. 32-37). Saul agreed, and offered David the use of the king's own armor. However, the armor did not fit David, and David did not feel confident in it because he had not "proved it". So David went forth to meet the Philistine with his shepherd's staff, his slingshot, and five smooth stones that he had gathered from the stream and placed in his shepherd's bag. (v. 38-40). We know that David ended up killing Goliath with one of those stones in his slingshot, even though Goliath was armed with a huge sword, spear, and shield. In another example from scripture, God made four Israelite lepers with nothing left to lose sound like "...a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host" as they approached the enemy Syrian camp looking for food because the rest of Israel was starving. The Syrian army fled thinking that they were coming under attack from two great armies. (2 Kings 7:1-7). When the Syrians fled, they left all of their food and possessions behind them, and the four lepers began to gather all they could. Then the lepers reconsidered, and reported the bounty, and the empty Syrian camp to the king's household. (v. 9). The king's army then chased after the Syrians, picking up spoil as they went. God's spiritual warfare can make four shuffling lepers sound like two mighty armies to the enemy, causing them to flee! Another king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, believing the word of prophecy that had come from the LORD through His prophet, went into battle against the Ammonites and the Moabites by commanding the Levitical singers to go before his army praising "the beauty of holiness", and singing, "Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever." (2 Chron. 20:14-21). Jehoshaphat had told the people, "O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." (v. 20). Not many generals of the world would send singers in front of their army to face a large enemy, but by this tactic the LORD made the enemy armies destroy each other (v. 22-23). It is very important for the church to be aware of the weapons and tactics available to us in spiritual warfare, because so many believers are becoming caught up in natural, or worldly, methods and ways. Neither politicians nor natural armies can defeat the spiritual enemies that hold nations in darkness. Paul wrote to his son in the Gospel, Timothy: "Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 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. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 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." (2 Tim. 2:1-4). *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 11/20/2022 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook.

The Good Fight*

For many years now, I have been bringing forth a 2 Chron. 7:14 message: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." However, all we are seeing instead is division, fighting and strife. The people of God do not understand their warfare. The root of our warfare was shown to us from the beginning, in the Garden: "Now the serpent (meaning sprouts, spreads, separation, cut-off, destruction) was more subtil (meaning door or path that adds chaos) than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Gen. 3:1). The serpent, who was questioning the woman, was a created being. The woman answered the serpent incorrectly that although they could eat of all the other trees, God had commanded not to eat of nor touch the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, "lest ye die". "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." (v. 2-4). As we see the meaning of the word "serpent" above, we can't help but to notice that Christians are divided and fight with one another. What should our good fight be instead? King Jehoshaphat faced a battle with all of the armies of both Moab, and Ammon, which had come against Judah: "And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the LORD...". (2 Chron. 20:1-5). Jehoshaphat immediately went to the promise and remedy of 2 Chron. 7:14, as stated above. Jehoshaphat stood in the house of the LORD, and began to pray and remind himself of the power of God, as David once did when he faced Goliath. Jehoshaphat said: "...in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God...?" (v. 5-7). Jehoshaphat then directly brought the words of 2 Chron. 7 before the LORD: "If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help...And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children." (v. 9-13). Then the Spirit of the LORD then came upon one of the Leviites, Jahaziel ("beheld of God"), and he began to prophesy: "...Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God's...Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you...fear not nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you." (v. 17). Jehoshaphat and all of Judah bowed before the LORD and worshipped Him, and the Levites began to praise the LORD with a loud voice. Jehoshaphat declared, "...Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." (v. 18-20). As they went out before the enemy armies the next day, Jehoshaphat told the singers to lead the army out with the praise of the LORD's beauty and holiness, singing: "Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever." (v. 20-21). The enemy armies began turning against each other as the LORD set spiritual ambushments against them. Judah saw the destruction of the enemy, and the king, and his people came to take away the great spoil from the dead enemies that took three days to gather. On the fourth day, Judah assembled in the Valley of Berachah ("Blessing"), and blessed the LORD there. (v. 22-26). Our good fight, in the same manner, includes praise, cleansing of self, and seeking His face. Paul wrote of the things necessary to fight the good fight also. He wrote that our weapons and our enemies are spiritul rather than natural: "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) 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.; And having in readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Cor. 10:4-6). The good fight begins with our own thoughts and obedience. As we saw the beginning of our warfare in Genesis 3 with the destructive ways of the serpent, Paul wrote about the good fight that we wage against the devil: "...be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (methodeia - methods, cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery, lying in wait) of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph. 6:10-12). Because the whole armor of God is to be used against wicked spiritual powers rather than flesh and blood, the components of this armor are special in meaning and power. First is to have our loins girded with TRUTH. Let God be true and every man a liar (Rom. 3:4), and lies are all around us today and increasing in number. We put on the breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS - not our righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ by faith. Our feet must be shod with the preparation of the GOSPEL of peace, for we are not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation wherever we walk, for all who will receive it. The Gospel says that there is a sacrifice that has been provided for sin, and we have all sinned. The shield that protects us against every fiery dart of the enemy is made of FAITH. Like the Levites who went out before Jehoshaphat's army, we praise Him as we believe Him. We wear the helmet of SALVATION upon our heads to protect our minds, and to cast down reasonings and imaginations. We take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD OF GOD. In this armor, we pray for all of the saints, regardless of denomination, and for our spiritual leaders, so they may have utterance to boldly make known the Gospel (v. 14-19). These things are our warfare tools to withstand the evil day (v. 13). One additional thing that we need to fight the good fight is contentment (1 Tim. 6:6). We see now how men's love of money and wealth is the root of all evil, and has led many to fall into a trap of destruction. The love of money has even led some into error in the faith (v. 7-10). We are to follow instead after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness, and fight the good fight of faith, laying hold onto eternal life, to which we have been called (v. 11-12). Faith requires a fight - not on the streets, or in the political arenas, but in the Spirit, and in the power of God. We need to contend in this good fight for the faith that has been delivered to us, because there are those who will creep in, in order to turn the grace of God into the denial of Him (Jude 3-4). Instead, "...let the peace of God rule in your hearts...and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." (Col. 3:16-17). *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 6/12/2022 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and endtimeschool.com.

Thanksgiving Everyday and in Every Way*

 

Historically, we have an image of Thanksgiving that involves Pilgrims and Native Americans, who offered the first settlers help to survive in an unfamiliar land. To Native Americans now, Thanksgiving is associated with the beginning of a campaign of genocide against them.

In scripture, however, thanksgiving is often taught, not as a one-day holiday, but as a spiritual principle and way of life that should permeate our relationship with God. The Psalms make multiple references to the importance of giving thanks to God. Our thanksgiving relationship with God begins even before we are fully formed in the womb (Ps. 139). The apostles also taught the importance of thanksgiving as a daily part of our worship and prayers:

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice...The Lord is at hand. Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Phil. 4:4-7

The apostle does not say that we are thankful for everything, but in everything. Our prayers should never be without thanksgiving. In return, that thanksgiving keeps us in the peace of God, and keeps us in Christ Jesus. Thanksgiving to God is so vital in scripture, that it is described as "the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thess. 5:18). The practice of thanksgiving to God then, spiritually impacts each of us personally.

However, not only does thanksgiving affect our personal spiritual growth, but thanksgiving in the mouth of a believer affects our state of peace and our pursuit of godliness in our society, and also the salvation of all people:

"I exhort therefore that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."  1 Tim. 2:1-4

We certainly need our society today, which is hostile to all mention and belief in God and Christ, to allow us to live in peace to worship God as we are commanded to do by His word. Regardless of how we may think about the political representatives and bodies in our land, we are commanded to pray for them with thanksgiving for our own benefit.

Do we want to see men saved and coming to the knowledge of the truth of God? This starts in our thanksgiving to God for all men, according to the scriptures. Paul continues, "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." (v.8).

David wrote many psalms of thanksgiving, including this one following the miraculous defeat of the Philistines, and the joyful return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem among songs of praise:

"Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people...Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually...Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth...O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise."  1 Chron. 16 (excerpt)

A later king, Jehoshaphat, also used praise and thanksgiving to worship the LORD, who then brought about a miraculous victory against surrounding and outnumbering enemy armies:

"...Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper...he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they begin to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten."  2 Chron. 20:20-22

Not only were the armies of the three enemy nations defeated, but Israel spent three days gathering spoil, because it was so abundant (v. 25). The spoil was so great, it was more than they could carry away.

We should use this time at our Thanksgiving holiday as a "life review", and a "miracle review". Are we incorporating thanksgiving in our lives everyday and in everything? The Word says that we would see great and mighty changes, personally and on a large scale,  if we do so.

 

*The above is based upon the 12/1/19 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson. 

To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH-White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling", and to help us get out the message:

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Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

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