Where do you stand pt. 3/4

Warriors, today as you go out from the safety of your homes into the fray, hold fast to the Lord and the power of His might. Inspect yourselves, know where you stand. Set yourself amongst the victorious. For this life is passing all too quickly, and with it the opportunities to free the captive are fewer and fewer. Know where you Stand.

Revelation 2:12-17

¹² And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

¹³ I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

¹⁴ But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

¹⁵ So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.

¹⁶ Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

¹⁷ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

  

What is the sharp two edged sword? We know it is the very word of God from Hebrews 4:12. First, Christ commends them for not denying the faith, for keeping His name, but then follows what they are guilty of. The rank represented here is the church and it's marriage to the world. Do you find yourself here? I know I have stood amongst this rank. We have the Lord and have received His awesome salvation, and the Spirit has come to dwell within us. But, we hold on to our dead flesh, wanting to taste of both His life and the pleasures this world has to offer. We cannot avoid being burned if we play with fire. The pursuits of flesh leave us hollow, out of communication, and confused as to what our true purpose is. It leaves us distracted on the battlefield, and when you are distracted people die. For years I struggled with my calling and where my place was in this war, because I held onto my dead flesh, rather than pursuing the life of the Spirit that was within me. I plead with you now relinquish your hold, that you may stand tall in battle, and claim victory this day through the power of our King.

Revelation 2:18-29

¹⁸ And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

¹⁹ I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

²⁰ Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

²¹ And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

²² Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

²³ And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

²⁴ But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

²⁵ But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

²⁶ And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

²⁷ And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

²⁸ And I will give him the morning star.

²⁹ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

The basic message in this letter from our King is this, that this church simply did not speak out against Jezebel. We don't know if this was in reference to a real person, or the Jezebel from the old testament to represent her deceit and wickedness. This is where we have to hold not only ourselves, but each other accountable. In war we are all responsible for the lives of our brothers and sisters. This is a war, make no mistake about it, and we are responsible for one another. It is not out of a sense of one being better than another, but out of love. The rank is only as strong as it's weakest. 

I call to you now Ecclesia, stand and shed this life from your bones! Envelope yourselves in the protection and life of our King! Let this not be a day of compromise and defeat. Hold each other up, chastening, training, and keeping each other accountable for our role on the battlefield. Face this skirmish head on and fly full force into the fray. The captive cannot be freed, if we allow ourselves to be held in bondage.  

Where do you stand pt.2/4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

Where do you stand amongst us? What place do you take within the Ecclesia? Every warrior, myself included, must ask themselves this. Do we hold fast when we come against adversity, trials, and temptations? We must, so that we can be entire and lacking nothing. At the end our desire should be to hear from our King, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

The persecuted church

Revelation 2:8-11 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;  

He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

This is one of two letters in which nothing bad is said of the church. We are not promised that we will be spared persecution. Quite the opposite in fact. Many times it is said the Body of Christ will be persecuted, even put to death for the name of our King. Notice that even though, to the outside world they appear low and lacking, Christ says they are rich. If you find yourself amongst this rank, I encourage you this day to hold fast. Lives will be changed, and the Spirit will move. Continue to sow seed, and free the captive. Your day of triumph is coming. Consider it pure joy, you will be made complete.

"If death is victory, How afraid of life can we be."-Oh sleeper

Where do you stand? pt.1/4

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this I will be confident. 

Where do you stand amongst us. Is the Captain of the Lord's hosts your light and salvation? Your strength? Are you confident in these things? How can you be? Know where you stand. 

Revelation 2:1-7 "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.  

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; 

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."

   

 This letter is to all churches, to all Christians, the Ecclesia. First, Christ has commended them, that they have stood against apostasy and false doctrines. He applauds them for testing false apostles and finding them to be liars, but at what cost? They have lost their first love. They were so busy with the work of the King, they did not have time for the King. 

Do you make time for Him? Is our King closer than a brother to you, or is He an aquaintance? You may be filled with knowledge about Him and the Word, but do you know Him?   Do you wake up speaking unto Him, with love, praise, request, and desire for fellowship? Our days should be filled with constant conversation. Not just reading, but full assimilation of His word. He desires devotion, not just doctrine. Is Christ your first love? Or is this the place you take on the battlefield?

Prepare Yourselves

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 Timothy 2:3-4

Hold fast church. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. Do not misunderstand, you cannot sow into the lives of the lost unless you are with them. Relationships and friendships are key as they set the grounds for us to be examples of Christ, and the Word to be spoken out of an intimate Phileo love for our friends.

With this though I challenge you, where do you stand? Where do you fall in the ranks. No man goes to into battle without fully inspecting himself. In the military it is called a Pre-Combat Check/Pre-Combat Inspection(PCC/PCI). It must be carried out every time we will be stepping onto the battlefield, and it must be conducted thoroughly. Lives depend on the fact that we have all necessary equipment, armor, and we all know the plan. One more thing, always have a buddy check you.

The next few days we will be focusing on Revelation 2-3 to discover the different ranks we as Christians stand amongst. As we do this, I urge you to inspect yourself, your life (Mathew 5:13-16), your actions (Ephesians 4), the words you speak (Luke 6:45-from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks), your armor (Ephesians 6:10-17), your support and courage for each other (Ephesians 6:18-20), your weapon (Hebrews 4:12), and where you stand amongst this family of warriors (Revelation 2-3). 

Revive Your Liberation

Psalm 78:42 "They remembered not His hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the Enemy."

How often we try to resurrect the flesh of our past. We stand in the presence of our Deliverer, yet try to keep the world within our hands. To hold on to our earthly pleasures that bring forth destruction and emptiness, dragging us beneath the surface of the sea where we are furthest from our King. Have we forgotten Galations 2:20? "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Ecclesia, do you remember the day you released from bondage? When the shackles of our earth-born nature fell off and we were given life anew? I implore you to think on that time. Not the life past that was spent in darkness, but rebirth into light. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 says that we are all the children of the light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Bring to remembrance the vindication given you by our King. Focus not on your failures or the dead flesh you were, it keeps the thought and temptation before you. Keep Christ our Captain before you, His redemption always before your mind. When our eyes are upon Him, His word and praises in our tongue, and His Spirit constantly moving within us, there is power and freedom from all that comes against us. So that we may stand tall in the day of affliction, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Zechariah 4:6

Behold our Captain

"And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beast, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain" Revelation 5:6 The scars of His sacrifice are still upon His body.

 Isaiah 52:14 "His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men" The torture was so severe He did no even appear human. 

Isaiah 50:6 " I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that pluck off the hair, I hid not my face from shame and spitting." They ripped his beard off. 

Isaiah 53 "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with his stripes we are healed. " OUR sin and death was upon Him so that we can have life eternal.

Rise now and behold our Captain!

Our Captain and King stands bearing the marks of the price paid for the ultimate victory in this war, the price He paid for us. You have called on Him, you have joined the ranks of the sanctified. We are so satisfied of the fact we have found the Truth. But, I say to you "MAKE YOUR SPINE, JUST LIKE YOUR PRIDE!" The Spirit is moving within us, urging us to take up this fight. I implore you to look upon the captives of the enemy as Christ did the day he sacrificed His life for them and for you, bring them the Word of Life and freedom this day.

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:15-16

Welcome to the War

There is no other way to say it. Too long we have stood by as this world turns to a wasteland. Those of us with living water choose to hide in our caves and horde the truth. We scurry away from the battlefield, in fear. Our time on this earth is short, this conflict is coming to a head. How can we continue to ignore the carnage taking place right outside our doorstep? Our streets are filling to the brim with blood of children, widows, the thirsty, the hungry, the damaged, the lost, the sick, the abandoned, and the despairing. As Oh Sleeper said I ask of you now. 

"What keeps this family of fighters from facing the war that we were bred for"?

Ephesians 6:12, "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."

This is my cry to the Kingdom, to you the Ecclesia, the called out ones. I plead with you to take up your armor, wield your sword. Let not another day pass with our heads hung in defeated shame.  Let us take it in victory. We have life on our lips, speak it to the world. Breath the name of Christ into their hearts.  No longer will we be silent. "We are the children of fire! We are the lions! We stand when all else deserted, because we were born to fight, and fight and FIGHT!!!"

 Into the fray!!!

Blessed be the Lord my Strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight Ps 144:1