The Art of War and The Army of God Part 4

First read the Introduction (click here)

In Part 4 I will conclude this series and cover: The Army on the March, Classification of Terrain, Nine Situations, Nine situations, Attack by Fire and the Use of Spies.

9. The Army on the March

New Situations

Often times in the past, when I pray, I apply a somewhat shotgun approach to my prayers. I think under some circumstances they may work but being specific often gives better results. I feel this is especially true when engaging in Warfare. This type of Warfare is not just praying. It is a new position in the Christians life and it keeps changing.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful.” (1 Peter 5:8)

Let there be no mistaking.

An attack against His anointed and the Church is an attack against our Lord. And, an attack against our Lord is an attack against us.

“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

“…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm 2: 2-8)

New Terrain

The location of our Warfare changes. We fight the principalities of the air and demons of darkness wherever we may be and for whomever has need and protection. We fight for: our selves, our families, our neighborhood, our County, our State, our Country, other Nations and more. Many of these are battles. Combined they are War and collectively, we are the Army.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Isaiah 61:1)

“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” (Psalm 34: 17-20)

10. Classification of Terrain

Your battleground is where you stand! God fights with us. He fights from His throne in the Heavens and wages war with us against His enemies and ours on the earth. There is no terrain that is too rough and there is no distance that is too great. His arm is long, His wrath is great and His Word is true.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

“You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand.” (Psalm 89:13)

Distance

“GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:19)

“As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you.” (Ezekiel 20:23)

Dangers

“Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.” (2 John 1-8)

“Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.” (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:6-13)

Barriers

Discouragement

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

“but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

Fatigue

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

“At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.” Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.” (Jeremiah 31: 1-4)

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)

11. Nine Situations

We are well acquainted with these situations of Warfare. I will therefore only review them briefly. They are: Health, Family, Friends, Acquaintances, Neighbors, Local Magistrates, America, Jerusalem and The End Times.

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Revelation 12:9)

12. Attack by Fire

You have heard the adage “Fight fire with fire”. There is only one way to successfully fight this warfare and that is by the Fire of the Holy Spirit.

“For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29)

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2: 1-4)

“In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (Thessalonians 1:8)

“Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29)

Weapons

This is an easy one.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (2 Chronicles 10:3-5

But also consider Time as a weapon. To understand this read my Blog on Time (click here)

13. Use of Spies

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel.” (Numbers 13:1-3)

Who are our Spies? They are the Prophets of our Lord and dedicated men who are in the Word and continuously see the Way of the Lord day and night. They know the signs if the times as the men of Issachar.

“Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do,” (1 Chronicles 12:32)

Seek knowledge and listen to these Spies but Beware

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. …” (1 John 4: 1-6)

There are many False Prophets on TV and in the Media. You must have discernment. Use your knowledge of the Word and the Spiritual Sense that was given to you at the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” (2 Corinthians 11: 13-15)

This concludes our series on The Art of War and The Army of God. Your comments and critique are always welcome. We are in this War together. If I can; add to, take away from, or in any way improve this article, let me know. This Warfare is great. We fight side by side, as Paraclete’s. When I am down, pick me up; if I am wounded, dress my wounds; stand over me and protect me. When I am healed, show me to the front lines so we can fight again, side by side.

Enough said

“Thy Words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)