Dress for Battle
Introduction
Before we think on dressing for battle
we must firstly understand the “why, who and the how”. We must see “clearly
now” even if there are buckets of rain falling from the sky. We needn’t wait
for the “rains of life” to stop and then only at the time when we can sing “I see
clearly now” shall we be willing to dress for battle; on the contrary; the
harder the times the more the urgency. We are entering a very difficult time
for the Christian; therefore we need to take this instruction seriously, which
is this; remember to dress for battle!
Not all have the opportunity to dress
with battle fortitude that will keep the enemy at bay. God’s armoury is only
for His soldiers, believers in the finished work of Calvary, those who have
been born of the Spirit (God’s Spirit), and those who believe in their hearts
that God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, after they crucified Him on that mount
known to all, as the hill of the skull-Golgotha. And for those who are willing
to confess Him as lord, not silently but publically with their mouths; these then
are the ones who are entitled to enter the armoury at any given time and to
freely dress for battle…
There is a universal key that opens
this lock; He is the Lamb of God and His name is Jesus Christ the Lord; He is
the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the great “I AM” and every knee will
bow to Him and every tongue shall confess Him as Lord. If you are already
counted amongst God’s number, if your name is called at roll-call then you need
to get on with the business at hand, but for those who aren’t sure where they
fit, or if they think that their name is called but cannot be certain, It would
be far more prudent to err on the side of safety than chance. Which means, if
there is doubt to whether you will be saved or not, whether you will end up in
heaven or hell, if this thought eats at you, rather be safe than sorry.
Remember this that we are all guaranteed death (outside of those involved with
the rapture), but death in the flesh is only the first leg of our existence. It
is imperative we lockdown what is needed to hold us in good stead for our
second leg and this happens when we shed our flesh and blood bodies. Do not be
fooled into thinking that there is no afterlife; just because that may be your
opinion does not mean it is a fact. Opinions will never change the laws of
gravity, they are set in stone as it where, why? God has so ordained it. So too
will our Spiritual bodies live or die forever! Life for those found in Christ,
true believers in what God the Father did for us, sinners who obtained mercy
when we deserved no mercy. For those of us who found grace, not because of who
we are in ourselves, but because our God is a merciful God and somewhere along
life’s journey we encountered the living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
He opened our eyes to the truth of life and the life hereafter. He showed us
our pitiful states, sinners destined to a Godless eternity and all because of
our sin. Just imagine if He left us wallowing in the mire without any hope. The
expression, “you’ve made your bed now lie in it” rings true. As a sinner and a
hater of God, I was doomed to an eternal existence without God and yet God
chose to make a way… Praise the glorious name of Jesus Christ my Lord and
Saviour; He sent His only Son to die in my place. If I had not come to
understand this truth I would never believe it possible, and yet the only true
living God chose to give me hope and so to free me from what I deserve, hell
and all its filth, He chose rather to kill His Son so that I could go free.
What a gracious God we serve, if in fact we serve Him.
Here is the good news, no rather the
greatest news for now; if you still have breath and you still live in this
world, this means you still have an opportunity to embrace the hope of the
gospel, you can at this point in your life fall to your knees and cry out to
this merciful God and ask Him to open your eyes to His truths, to save your
soul, adding you to His rollcall pitch. Call then on the name of Jesus with
heart felt sincerity and I can assure you He will respond to that plea; on what
authority do I make such a brash statement? Most certainly not because of my
own personal experience which was and is obviously very real to me but rather
on the authority of God’s Word; “For "everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13)
You may say, I cannot
find it in my heart to fall to my knees and to call out asking to be saved; I
realise there must be more to life but I cannot be sure, then ask God to show
you His beloved Son, the one who died for the sins of the world, the One who paid
the price for a person just like you. Even now if you are reading and you know
you are being spoken too, I am on my knees praying for you, I might not know
your name but the ever knowing God most certainly does. Cry out to Him and your
gnawing questions shall miraculously be answered. Only be sincere with your
bellow and you shall be heard.
This then is my
testimony; I sat in my living room at home with many unanswered questions and
it wasn’t until I found myself accepting what the bible taught on face value
that I was able to see; in other words only after I confessed my sin and
thanked God for dying in my place was my understanding quicken to believe in
the finished work of Calvary, my prayer went something like this; “Father God I
have many doubts and unanswered question, people tell me I am saved yet I am
not fully persuaded, however the one thing I am thankful for, I believe that Jesus
is the way the truth and the life and that He paid the price for my sin.” I
most certainly hadn’t understood the measure of what that meant but I at least
had now caught a glimpse of that truth. The floodgates then opened as tears of
joy flowed freely down my cheeks and I cried uncontrollably with tears of joy.
I was blind to the purposes of life but now could see. It was such a tangible
experience that I was compelled by this new unmerited favour to share it with
someone else. I ran into the study and flipped through the Teledex, found
Greg’s number and dialled him; we had travelled Europe together and almost lost
our lives in Greece, I had to give him the good news, No! The greatest news I
had every come to know; “Sledge (Greg) I have found the answer to life”, I
bellowed into the phone, expecting a similar response from him, but to no avail
but instead I only to hear, huh! What are you on about was the tone of his
sigh. Not the same response to the glorious news of the Gospel, but Greg still
lives, so there is yet hope. Be merciful to Greg Father I pray, save His soul,
not because he deserves it but because you have it in your power to be
merciful.
Now
to the believer the only reason we have not been consumed by the trial of life
or the pigs pens we at times so often wallow in, is because of God’s mercy,
never forget this truth. If we ever begin to believe that by our own merits we have
somehow deserved salvation we most certainly fool ourselves. The “Arminian”
(those who believe in free-will) may say we chose God but when you closely
examine what they say it is obvious they say one thing but believe another, how
can a dead man ever respond to anything, he is dead! It is the mercy of God who
quickens a man’s soul to understand the depths of salvation and without Jehovah
God’s grace and mercy prominent in someone’s life they shall remain dead in
their trespasses and sins.
Here
is a wonderful example to illustrate the point; “Then Jesus, deeply moved
again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said,
"Take away the stone." Martha, the
sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor,
for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see
the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up
his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you
have heard me. I knew that you always hear me,
but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe
that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with
a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The
man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his
face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind
him, and let him go." (John 11:38-44)
– This act left no confusing from the onlookers about the original state of
Lazarus, he was dead! It took a miraculous act from God (the Lord Jesus) to
bring him back to life. This is exactly how we are brought into the kingdom of
God, He is merciful and gracious, it has nothing to do with our own merits or
self-worth, it has nothing to do with God looking down the tunnel of time and
seeing our brilliant works for it has nothing to do with us and our merits. No!
God choses to be merciful just as the Lord Jesus chose to be merciful to Lazarus
and the onlookers witnessed that He has it in His power to save those who were
once dead. It has nothing to do with the dead person. Once we have been
quickened and our eyes have been opened to heavenly things, once we have been
born again, only then are we able to call out to Him; “Jesus
answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless
one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3) – Therefore without this new birth experience one
remains blind and oblivious to God’s kingdom. Many will be opinionated about the
life hereafter but it will be false conjecture. Just as we were born through
the womb of a woman commonly known as a natural birth and subject to all those
laws that govern our natural bodies; food, water and the like is needed to
sustain our bodies or else we will die! So too for us to understand spiritual
things correctly we must first be born again spiritually. This is exactly what
the Lord Jesus taught us by this verse; "Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of
God." Without God intervening just as your father
needed to intervene and impregnate your mother, without God the Fathers work in
a sinners life he will remain blind to the kingdom of God even if he thinks he
can see. Man-made religion has blinded the world to this truth.
What
then is our responsibility, why are some saved and not others? “But
who are you, O man, to question God? Will what is moulded say to its creator,
"Why have you made me like this?"” (Romans 9:20) – This truth in itself is hard to
comprehend from the perspective of a natural mind, in fact it is impossible.
Faith then is divinely appointed to those who believe and through it we receive
the blessings of grace. The Gospel has a watchman that cries out; “Truly, truly, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life and he that believes…shall be saved” If
we look at creation it should be clear to all that God has created the heavens
and the earth, He has revealed it to us and wants us to believe it. Look at how
the Apostle John puts it; “Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have believed." Now Jesus did many
other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this
book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:29-31)
Faith is the proof of our new birth…Our victory
in the Lord is linked to us believing; believing what? In the finished work of
Calvary, in what He was able to accomplish while here on earth, faith in Him!
So we will stumble and fall at times, but our faith does not hinge on our own
accomplishments but rather in what Christ consummated. He conquered the devil
by defeating Him at His own game. The devil introduced sin to mankind in the
Garden of Eden when he tempted Eve and she yielded to that temptation and
sinned for the very first time and then Adam also took of what was forbidden
and he also embraced sin and from then on the consequences of sin viciously
still plague us today. Look at our jails, the crime stats and our court rooms
overflowing with cases linked to sin. But God sent his Son to rectify the
damage done by Satan; the Lord Jesus overcame sin as a man, He lived on earth
for some 33 years without ever yielding to the power of sin. Not to say that
His life was not filled with many playing their part trying to overthrow Him,
by luring Him to sin and yet He remained blameless; a phenomenal achievement! Praise
God for His accomplishments, without it we (the entire world population from
start to finish) would be doomed for eternity in a place of torment where pain
would never cease and darkness would engulf our pitiful spiritual existence.
But nay, our God has made a way, praise the beloved name of Jesus Christ my
beloved Lord and Saviour.
Some often cry what about the tolerance for other
religions? “What of it”? No other man paid the price for our sins, no other
apparent God even claims to have done what Jesus did. He rose from the dead to
bring all those that believe understanding to the purposes of life here on
earth as well as the life hereafter. Faith is the key ingredient to our
relationship with this merciful and gracious God, without it we will always
clutch at straws when there are barns of hay to be had. Without a correct
understanding of the need for faith in our lives we will live on the opposite
side of the fence, unbelief will fill our being.
So
many of us have not understood the importance of this verse; “Now faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) – This is where God wants us to
live, it proves that we believe and trust in Him. It proves that regardless of
our current situation in this life, whether we are just above the bread-line or
not our dependency should be on Him and not to place our security in riches. Have
you ever seen a hearse towing a safe? Our hope is in something we know to be
true; we cannot physical see what it is but we are convicted by the Lord Jesus
and His glorious victory on our behalf. Life is there to teach us these
valuable lessons, we may struggle from time to time with money which forces us
to make a choices, “to make a plan”, which often involves desperate measures
but almost always at the expense of our faith. When we hope in something
outside of God’s provision, or we lie to ourselves to accommodate certain
choices we make; we hanker after another type of hope which is very sinful and
all it proves is that we now walk in unbelief; in South African the National
Lottery has this slogan, which reads something like this, “Tata my chance”; the
whole nation and especially those below the bread-line, queue and spend a
portion of the little they have on a notion that it just might be me winning
the empty promise. Their hope in uncertain riches evident! It is fear that
drives so many to the other side and the devil uses fear with majestic skill,
but God has conquered the devil and all his deceitful plights. Our eyes must
shift from our problems to the Lord Jesus’ victories, when we can learn to live
here faith will be our companion.
Why
does God conceal certain realities from us? Life’s journey has taught me that
He does to test and teach me to trust Him. Our dependence on our God in spite
of what we cannot fully understand proves our faith in Him. Take food and
raiment as a prime example as it is often high up on the list of worries. God take
care of the birds of the air, “they neither toil nor spin and yet God feeds
them”. He uses what we see to teach us to trust in Him; let me expound further,
It is in creation that we see the hand of God at work, God uses the very
creatures that Adam (man) had the privilege to name as a witness of His
faithfulness; “Look at
the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet
your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26) –Note: God proves to those
who would dare to believe that all we need do is look at the birds and it will
be clear to see that they are taken care of; there are no ifs and buts! And
then the Lord Jesus poses a rhetorical question, “are you not of more value
than they?” This is where we have been called to live, faith must be our sister
and she must be kept close at all times. We cannot have it both ways; God will
not tolerate any other mentality and why would He. "No
one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and money.” (Matthew 6:24) –
Unfortunately we have had much to do about the topic of blessings and money as
a measure of our faith toward God and most of what is preach is nothing but
heresy; our faith is not measure by what we have materially but rather how we
live especially with our apparent lack. When the pressure is on, what do we
produce in our lives, thorns and thistles? Or do we radiate the fruits of the
spirit when the walls seem to be crashing down around us? True application to
faith will leave those who live in fear questioning the hope that is in us,
which in turn will strengthen the hope of the gospels plight. Fear will feed
nothing but the doubts of the world and that beast is so fat is needs no help
from us. Let us therefore imitate those that the bible gives eulogy too; those
who all died in faith, even if the modern false gospel message ridicules true faith
let the true believers seek out the grace to live by faith. Here then is our
example; “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but
having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they
were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear
that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from
which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it
is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a
city.” (Hebrews 11:13-16)
There is a day coming in the not too distant
future where our hope will materialize. How I long for that day to arrive, but
until then let us be faithful to the call upon our lives come what may. Even so
come quickly Lord Jesus! Amen and Amen!
Chapter 1
Society teaches us that to get ahead we need to
be focused and for us to set goals is a must. Just as an avalanche begins to
gain momentum when the snow gathers on the mountain tops unable to hold its
weight and then shifts, it then begins its downward spiral gathering speed
collecting volume whilst engulfing all in its way, so too will this world with
all its lies begin to follow suite. It has begun to shift like I have not seen
and before long it will be full steam ahead looking to bury all of its
unsuspecting victims. Therefore it is imperative that we as Christians begin to
understand the signs of the times, which our Lord and Saviour warned us to be
on the lookout for. This is a drum that has been played for millenniums now,
but in my opinion we are now entering a steady drum roll and before long those
sleeping will be caught off guard.
Today is a day for reckoning, it is a day for us
to all trim our sails and to pull out our compasses and to make sure we are on
the right path without any interference hoodwinking us into believing the
world’s opinions and their lies. It is time for us to stand up as men and to be
counted. Regardless of the cost! Yes we shall be persecuted for our faith and
the wolves will look to attach and confer they shall, so be it! We know in whom
we believe, our Saviour has cried that victorious war cry, “it is finished”! He
has conquered hell, death and the grave. We know in whom we believe and that it
will end well for all who are faithful even unto death if that is required. Our
goal is an eternal one and we must not be swayed by any other voice.
As
I watched Carte Blanche last night I was saddened to see how this world is so
hoodwinked with apparent worthy causes that will lead them astray. In fact I was
tearful thinking about how severe it really is. So much energy for God’s
creation and the efforts people place upon serving the creature and yet not
giving due benevolence to their creator. This is where the initial downward
spiral all began way back when; “For although
they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they
became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became
fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling
mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them
up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies
among themselves, because
they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the
creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 1:21-25) -
It is imperative for us as Christians to stand upon the truth of God’s Word and
declare our allegiance to Him. We must not accommodate any wiggle room when it
comes to His rightful place in this universe, we must all make our voices
clearly heard in this dying and perverse generation. God will never share His
glory with another and why would He? There is no one greater than Him, “He is a
jealous God”! And He is jealous for us and He has proved His loyalty to all who
profess Him as their god and Father by sending His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ
to die in our stead. Praise His name now and forever more.
The
time is short for us all but I can promise you on the authority of God’s Word
that it will end well for all the faithful; “But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear
heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love
him"—“ (1Corinthians 2:9) – We must wrestle to find a resolve like
never before to find wisdom and keep her close as we see that day approaching.
If we have erred from the truth and the call that God has placed upon our lives
let us repent and ask, no, rather plead with our God and Father to restore a
right spirit within us. He will respond to our cries.
You
see judgement must begin with the household of God: “For it is time for judgment
to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the
outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And "If the righteous
is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" Therefore
let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful
Creator while doing good.” (1Peter 4:17-19)
With these thoughts now captivating our souls let us
run our race with patience.
