A Call to Arms
Art Nelson
One of our enemy's
strategies to to keep us distracted from the plans and purposes of God. This has
happened to the Church, at least to our version of it in America. We have
diverted our efforts into side issues and ignored the primary functions of God's
purpose for the Church. Maybe, we are even ignorant of God's plans for His
Church.
The Scriptures are
clear about one of the primary purposes for the manifestation of Jesus and His
work as the Christ.
1 John 3:8 NASB
the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the
beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
Colossians 2:15 NASB
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of
them, having triumphed over them through Him.
Hebrews 2:14-15
NASB
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also
partook of the same,
that through
death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the
devil,
(15)
and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their
lives.
Jesus disarmed our
spiritual enemies; He triumphed over them. He rendered the devil powerless who
had the power of death previously. However, our enemies have not been
eliminated, just disarmed. The only weapons left to them are deception,
trickery, and the manipulation of our own fleshly desires.
The Lord continues
His work now through His Body in the earth. He, as the Head, is seated in the
Heavens while we, His Body and Bride, carry out His will in the earth through
the power of His Spirit. There is an organic connection between the Head and the
Body that we must see by revelation. The Head is the life source for the Body
and provides direction and function. The Body is the expression of the Head in
the earth to do His will, to reveal His finished work, to bring His government,
to set the captives free.
We know that God
could have simply slapped the devil out of existence when he rebelled but He
didn't do that. A display of power simply shows that God is more powerful but
that is a given because God is God. For His own reasons, He desires to reveal
His manifold wisdom to the Heavenlies through His Church. As a result, He has
left the devil around for the time being so that we would show forth His wisdom
in its many facets.
War
was declared when our Enemy rose in rebellion toward God. It ends when he and
his angels are thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10) which has been
prepared for them (Matt.25:41). We live our lives between these two
events. The war is raging now even though the final outcome has already been
determined.
We are
combatants whether we like it or not. We are in the Lord's army. All through the
Old Testament, God is referred to in the King James version as “the Lord of
hosts”. “Hosts” is an old English word for “armies”. Our Lord has saved us and
made us to be in His army.
2 Timothy 2:3-4
NASB
Suffer hardship
with
me,
as a good soldier of Christ
Jesus.
(4)
No soldier in
active service
entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one
who enlisted him as a soldier.
Paul recognized
that he was in the Lord's army and told Timothy that to be a good soldier he
would suffer hardship with him too. He was in “active service”; therefore, he
was not to get entangled (distracted) by the affairs of everyday life but
concentrate on pleasing the Commander-in-Chief.
Our problem, at
least the American Church, is that we have become comfortable in the barracks
and don't want to leave our bunks. We have ignored discipline, training,
function and the purpose for which we were drafted. We have pretended that we
are not at war! As a result, many captives are still in captivity.
Jesus gave
authority to His disciples and sent them forth to do certain things.
Luke 9:1-2 NASB
And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and
authority over
all the demons
and to
heal diseases.
(2)
And He sent them out
to proclaim the
kingdom of God
and to
perform healing.
Jesus linked
authority to the proclaiming of the Kingdom of God, dealing with demons and
healing diseases. The authority that He gave to His disciples and to us is the
governmental authority of the Kingdom of God issued from the King.
We proclaim the Kingdom of God which is a governmental conflict with our
enemies. This is manifested by healing and casting out of demons.
Luke 11:20 NASB
"But
if I cast out
demons
by the finger of God,
then the kingdom
of God has come upon you.
Jesus has been
given all authority in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28:18). He has
now given us authority over all demons. There is no demon, no matter how
seemingly powerful, that is not subject to us by the authority of the Name of
Jesus. When we encounter demonic activity as we proclaim the Kingdom we exercise
the authority that has been given to us and remove the demon from the situation.
The problem that we
have is that we don't act like an army. An army operates as a unit not as
individuals. We act like individual soldiers doing our own thing according to
our own ideas.
As a result, we have deliverance ministries but we have little governmental
occupation of territory.
This is what Jesus
said happens to a demon that is cast out of a person:
Luke 11:24-26 NASB
"When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes
through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, 'I will
return to my house from which I came.' (25)
"And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.
(26) "Then it goes and takes
along
seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and
the last state of that man becomes worse than the first."
So, what had
happened after the demon left. The house or territory previously occupied by the
unclean spirit was cleaned up but it was not under the control of a new
government. It was empty and waiting for another occupant to claim the
territory.
How many war movies
have you watched where the goal was to take the next hill and hold it? The goal
of a marching army is not just to remove the enemy but to also take control of
the territory, to put it under new government and set those who were oppressed
by the old government free so that they can now operate in the new government.
Jesus has finished
His work. He has done all that He needed to do. He has provided every resource
needed and made every provision that is necessary for the perfect, complete and
total fulfillment of the will of the Father. We are His workers who apply His
work in situations and lives. We are conduits from which flow His living waters
as He said (John 7:38). He has given us the authority to do this because
He has already completed it and provided it to us in His finished work..
Matthew 16:19 NASB
"I will give
you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and
whatever you
bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
shall have been loosed in heaven."
John 20:23 NASB
"If you forgive the sins of any,
their sins
have been forgiven them; if you retain the
sins
of any, they have been retained."
From these Matthew
and John scriptures we have four statements that make use of perfect tense
verbs. They indicate that when you do a certain work, at any present time, it
shall already have been perfected. Whatever you bind on earth shall have already
been bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall have already been loosed
in heaven. Whose sins you forgive have already been forgiven. Whose sins you
retain shall have already been retained. This is true because of the finished
work of Jesus.
Simply
put, we are a channel, a flow, an agent of the finished work of Christ and its
release into a life or a situation. With the authority given to us we become the
executor of His finished work in the earth. We should never move away from this
finished work of Jesus, because it is the basis for all our living and victory.
It is the source to which we look continually to find the resource for every
demand, the strength for every kind of weakness, and the provision for every
kind of need. In it is the foundation of His Government and is the basis for His
Church and His Kingdom.
We as
His ambassadors only have authority for His work not our own work. We can't
decide what to bind or loose or whose sins to forgive or retain.
We can only reveal what has already been done in Heaven by the
finished work of Jesus.
This
is where we are failing. Sure, we can cast out a demon; but we are not bringing
in new government to replace the control of the demon. We are not extending the
Kingdom of God. We have become distracted by blessings and our own desires. We
want to use the authority of the Lord for our own benefit. However, true
authority only benefits the purposes of the King and His Kingdom. The Church is
failing to operate in its God given authority to take ground from the enemy, to
bring release to those held captive, proclaiming a new government—the Kingdom of
God.
©
2003-2009 by Art Nelson and
Lifestream Teaching
Ministries
Previous issues of Present Truth are on the website: www.Lifestreamteaching.com
For comments or questions contact Art Nelson at this address:
artnelson@lifestreamteaching.com
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