Category: General

” …How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God follow him: but if Baal, then follow him … ” (1 Kings 18:21).

It looked like a great day for the followers of Baal as they gathered on Mount Carmel. There was no doubt in their minds that they were right and Elijah was wrong. Were there not four hundred and fifty of them and only one Elijah? Was not the vast majority of people on their side? Did not Queen Jezebel support their work and worship at their altars? Had not King Ahab accused Elijah of being the troubler of Israel? Was not the worship of Baal the accepted, popular religion? They would silence that fanatical fellow, Elijah, who refused to accept their god.

So the great contest was on! Baal’s prophets appeared in heathenish pomp and splendor. Elijah, without friends or followers, dared to stand alone.

If ever a man had an excuse to compromise, Elijah was that man. If ever a man had a right to cut comers and hedge to avoid enmity, Elijah had. If ever a case looked hopeless, this one did. If ever a man could claim a legitimate reason for not raising his voice against evil, Elijah could. Fear, compromise, despair, and the dodging of issues, however, failed to move Elijah.

None of these Satanic darts should make a coward of the true Christian today. Elijah stood firm and determined to tum the nation back to God. His faith was anchored in God. God had found a man on whom He could depend. How much easier it should be for Christians to stand for God in this day of grace!

Notice the boldness of Elijah and how quickly he took the initiative. Knowing that he was right and that God was with him, he hurled a stunning challenge into the faces of his enemies, “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. Secondly, Elijah s challenge was an analysis of the cause of their troubles. Ahab had called Elijah the troublemaker, but Elijah reversed the order and bluntly stated that the cause of their troubles was their failure to serve God.

Firstly, observe that this challenge was an accusation that they were not following God. The worship of Baal being the popular religion attracted the masses. It required neither repentance from sin nor deeds of righteousness. It appealed to the vanity of the proud. Dead religion has always been popular, but it has only helped to fill the bottomless pit.

The worst thing the prophet could have done was to question their religion. Such a man is never popular with the crowd. Naturally, he would not gain the support of the multitudes. It is the same today. The greatest need of our nation is for men like Elijah; men full of the Holy Spirit to declare the whole counsel of God.

Happy is the individual, the church, the nation that will frankly and honestly face the cause of any problem. No lasting correction can ever be made unless we are willing to face the fact that disobedience to God is the root of every trouble. ” … How long halt ye between two opinions? … ” he asked. The very word implies hesitation; failure to go forward. They halted. They feared the Lord to a certain point, and they could not totally abandon Him; yet they also feared King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and would not abandon the religion of the state. Their conscience forbade them to do the former; their fear of man persuaded them to do the latter, but in neither were they heartily engaged.

So there they stood “halt,” making not progress. They had four hundred and fifty prophets but no prophecies; an altar but no fire; long prayers but no answers; people but no power; much trying but no triumph.

God save us from such a condition! We cannot serve two masters. We cannot ” … halt … between two opinions … ” and be happy. The only joy and the only victory comes by definitely taking sides with God and standing there, even if we must stand alone.

Thirdly, Elijah s challenge was an argument in favour of action. What he actually said was, “Since you are not serving God as you ought to, and since your failure to serve Him has caused you trouble, the only reasonable thing to do is to repent and return to God and serve Him.”

The failure of the Christian church today to stand for God has caused much trouble. The “halting between two opinions” on the part of God’s people has led to the development of ecumenical apostasy. 0 what compromise there has been! Failure to obey God has resulted in backsliding and worldliness. We have lost the glory of His presence. The desire to follow the crowd and be a part of popular religious movements has brought in false movements. God’s message has been so watered down that thousands upon thousands of regular church goers never hear the Gospel. Modernism and liberalism are stronger than ever before while ordained ministers of the Gospel grow weaker. Isaiah said, ” … darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people … ” (Isaiah 60:2). This is true today. People on every side are in almost total darkness as far as the Word of God is concerned. Only here and there do we find a pulpit where the Gospel is preached, the new birth emphasized, salvation made plain, an invitation given, and God’s people instructed and warned concerning the issues of the day.

May the Lord raise up Elijah’s today. He needs men who, realizing the responsibility of their Holy calling, will fearlessly proclaim the great fundamentals of the faith in these closing days of grace. No other message avails before the God of Elijah. Oh, for an awakening among the people of God. When are we going to get the burden and become conscious of our responsibilities? The Word of God challenges us to repentance and to take our stand for God in the old-fashioned way.

Like Ahab and the followers of Baal, religious leaders today cannot escape. We must either serve God or the devil. We are either right or wrong. We are either all out for God, or not out at all. There is no middle ground. There must be no compromise. No one can be neutral. We must choose. We must stand. Why” … halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him … “

Hudson Taylor was angered by the self-satisfied, hymn singing congregation in Brighton, England, in June 1865. He was so burdened for China that he could not tolerate the cold apathy among Christians. Biographer John Pollock wrote:

“Taylor looked around. Pew upon pew of prosperous, bearded merchants, shopkeepers, visitors, demure wives in bonnets and crinolines, and scrubbed children trained to hide their impatience; the atmosphere of smug sickened him. He seized his hat and left. ‘Unable to bear the sight of a congregation of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing for their own security while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony.

There on the beach Taylor prayed for “twenty-four willing, skilful labourers” that shared Christ’s burden for the lost in China.

After studying the underlying causes of revival for the past forty years, I have a strong conviction that tears flowing from the eyes of intercessors are the catalyst of revival.

Both the Old and New Testaments record significant incidents where the tears of praying people preceded outpourings of God’s grace and power in bringing about revival blessings.

The great spiritual awakening that took place under Ezra followed the tear-soaked intercession of the godly scribe. In Ezra 10:1 the record states, “Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and woman and children: for the people wept very sore.”

A revival of life-changing, transforming power followed the tears of Ezra.

The intercession of our Saviour is referred to in Hebrews 5:7, “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.”

There are those who scorn at the thought of a man weeping. They see it as a sign of weakness. Yet the strong Son of God wept as He prayed. God heard and sent His Holy Spirit in great power on the day of Pentecost.

The ministry of brokenness preceding revival is evident since Bible days as well.

D. L. Moody would weep in private prayer before standing to minister the Word with great soul-winning effectiveness.

General Booth admonished a young Salvation Army worker, whose work seemed doomed to failure, “Try tears.”

These wept because they loved, and their tears were expressed in their lives.

Is the same depth of love and passion to be found in our pews? We take our altar flowers to the sick following a service of worship, but there are no tear stains on the card. Is it enough to share the beauty of the flowers? Not if we love as our dear Lord loved. We must indeed share the beauty of our Christian experience. Dare we allow our compassion to become submerged in a whirling mechanics of organization?

Many of us can remember when our churches wept over the lost. Many of the finer, bigger churches of today have their roots watered in the tears of Spirit-filled people who “carried a burden” for unsaved society. (Some churches still carry that burden, Praise the Lord!)

Many a triumphant believer’s testimony might well end in the words of David, ” … the LORD hath heard … my weeping” (Psalm 6:8). The Lord hadn’t seen his weeping; He had heard it. David must have been weeping out loud!

Have you shed tears – tears for others? It is time you did. David wrote often of his tears, and David was not a weak man. In Psalm 42:3, David wrote, “My tears have been my meat day and night … ” In Psalm 126:5-6, we read that “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

Paul was not ashamed of his tears. He mentioned them again and again in his epistles. In his last talk with the Ephesian elders, he reminded them how he had served the Lord with ” … all humility of mind, and with many tears … ” (Acts 20: 19).

Pastors, evangelists, missionaries, Christian workers, if we are not shedding tears today, may God have pity on our dry eyes! How can we say we are followers of Jesus if we do not weep for others? “GOD, GIVE US TEARS!”

Andrew Murray says of the precious blood, “I know of no word in the Bible or in human speech that contains such mysteries! In it are concentrated the mysteries of the incarnation, in which our God took flesh and blood; of the obedience unto death, in which the blood was shed: of the love that passeth knowledge that purchased us with His own blood; of the victory over every enemy and the everlasting redemption; of the resurrection and the entrance into Heaven; of the atonement and the reconciliation and the justification that came through it; of the cleansing and perfecting of the conscience; of the sprinkling of the heart and the sanctifying of the people.”

There is no limit to the power of the blood of the Lamb. The church has a right to claim all the fruits of’ the victory which Christ has won for her on Calvary. Is there any limit His victory? If there is, it is altogether on our side and is due to unbelief and to our unwillingness to ” … follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth… ” (Revelation 14:4).

The great enemy of the church has so paralyzed her will and deadened her sense of responsibility, that ripening harvest fields are still waiting for labourers and funds, and the means required for the ingathering of precious souls are refused by the members of the church. Such is the work the devil is accomplishing, and yet the eyes of many are closed to the fact.

If the church will enter into possession of what the Lord Jesus has won through His sacrifice on the cross, she will be able to claim that all the powers of the enemy directed against her shall be utterly broken. Also, by virtue of the precious blood, there shall be loosed, for the glory of God and the need of the world, men and money and all else that is required for the prosecution of victorious missionary enterprise. Calvary is the Lord’s call to the church to be loosed from her graveclothes and to enter into the most aggressive warfare possible against the strongholds of evil. Calvary is II is cull to her to receive the fullest supply of the Holy Spirit and to put on her beautiful garments in anticipation of the coming of her Lord and the dawning of the day of victory.

PURCHASED BY THE BLOOD

” … thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9). This will be the song of the translated church as she looks back on her earthly journey. It is now the song of every believer who knows his debt of sin is paid.

CLEANSED BY THE BLOOD

” … they … have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7: 14). What the blood purchases, it possesses in order to keep it safe. ” … the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Thank God the cleansing is a continuous act, for that is what we need. ” … Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments … ” (Revelation 16:15).

CONQUERING THROUGH THE BLOOD

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb … ” (Revelation 12:11). The Greek word for overcome means to conquer. In a court of law, it is to win the case; in conflict, to knock the weapon out of the adversary’s hand.

By that blood the accuser is silenced and put out of court (Revelation 12:10). Victory over him, at every point, is grounded on and is a consequence of the blood which has been shed.

The Holy Spirit has come to teach us all that it means and to lead us into personal experience of its powers, so that in every conflict with evil it is the weapon with which we meet the enemy and find victory and perfect peace. The Holy Spirit has an ample supply for us in the struggle. What He requires is that we shall be yielded to Him, receptive of what He offers, obedient to His orders, and active in daily service for the hour of the Victor of Calvary, to the glory of God the Father.

A MAN AND HIS SOUL

“I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir” (Isaiah 13: 12).

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

THE REDEEMING BLOOD OF CHRIST

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD

” … the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold … ” (Psalm 19:9-10).

WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold” (Proverbs 3: 13-14).

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

“Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold” (Proverbs 8: 10).

A GOOD NAME

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold” (Proverbs 22:1).

How can a young person know God’s will? The Bible has the answer! It is found in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The first step in any acceptable service for God is to yield yourself to the Lord. This means to be governed by His Word, to be obedient, and not to be controlled by the world or its ways. The evidence that you have really submitted yourself to God will be seen in what you do with your body. Your body will be absent from worldly places and functions, and it will be found serving God. Your hands will be dedicated to God’s service, and your time will be at His disposal.

Have you actually decided to please God and not yourself? It is astonishing how Christians deceive themselves into thinking they are serving God when it is evident, to others, that they are actually serving their own comfort, convenience, and choices. This Scripture means that we are to ignore self and the world and tum our bodies and  minds over to God, saying, “Lord, here I am. What wilt Thou have me to do?” This is, in fact, our only reasonable and intelligent service. God’s plan for you is far better than any of your own because it has eternal realities in view.

The next step in true service tor God is a sound appraisal of your gifts. Romans 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

This means to have a correct idea of your abilities and your limitations. If you over estimate your gifts, you may undertake what you cannot do, and therefore fail and be discouraged. If you under estimate them, you may be idle when you should be active for the Lord.

There are various ways of determining your gift. You know what your natural abilities are, and these abilities are useful to God when consecrated to His service. Can you talk convincingly? Then you should be able to talk to people of their need of salvation. Can you teach? Then you should be able to teach a Sunday school class.

On every hand the need is evident. If you walk with God, these needs will become burdens on your heart. Souls are perishing for lack of Christ. Lives are being ruined by sin. Your vision of the need is God’s call to you for service.

“But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

We note that the devil is branded in Scripture as being an evil character. He is called’ the wicked one (1 John 2:13). He is subtle (Genesis 3:1; 2 Corinthians 11:3). He is deceitful (2 Corinthians 11:14; Ephesians 6:11). He is cruel (1 Peter 5:8).

We observe that the devil is the enemy of God and the truth, and, therefore, the great hinderer of every good word and work. He opposes God’s work (Zechariah 3:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:18). He perverts the Scriptures (Matthew 4:6). He hinders the Gospel by snatching away the Word and blinding the minds of the unbelieving (Matthew 13:19; 2 Corinthians 4:4). He ensnares men by pride, dishonesty, and error (1 Timothy 3:7; 1 Timothy 6:9; 2 Timothy 2:24-26).

God keeps His own from the evil one and from all evil. This is the assurance of the Holy Spirit through the apostle in the passage before us, ” … who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” He keeps from the evil one by His Word as the Holy Spirit operates in and through it. He keeps from the evil one by directing providence to restrain the enemy, or to protect His own, or to overrule the evil intent and acts of the enemy to carry out His own will and purposes. He keeps from the evil one by His own blessed presence and by His mighty power. “The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul” (Psalm 121:7).

We observe further that the Lord’s keeping is assured on the ground of His faithfulness. The apostle has just been saying, ” … for all men have not faith” (2 Thessalonians 3 :2). The reference, of course, is to Christian faith. Some of these unbelievers are unreasonable and wicked; that is, they are perverse and evil minded. Such characters are the instruments of the wicked one and will hinder the truth and people of God all they possibly can. On the other hand, though many will not believe, the Lord is still to be believed. “But the Lord is faithful … “

The Possibilities of Faith

” … If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).

The Immediateness of Help

” … before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65 :24).

The Unlimited Supply of Grace

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 19).

The Power of Abiding in Jesus Christ

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).

The Perfect Peace of Prayer

“Be careful 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” (Philippians 4:6-7).

The Abundant Ability of God

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3 :20).

“And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no” (Deuteronomy 8:2).

Israel was a stubborn, stiffnecked people who were constantly in rebellion against God. They longed for the fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic which they ” … did eat in Egypt freely … ” (Numbers 11 :5). Every time they faced a new difficulty, they forgot their former Egyptian slavery and remembered with avidity the smell of Egypt’s onions and garlic.

You might say, “What else can you expect? That was Israel,” but we, in the closing days of the church age, have nothing in ourselves whereof we can boast. When God permits some trial or some difficulty, what are we most apt to do – praise Him or doubt Him? Let each one answer for himself.

Could it be that we have not made a full surrender to God? True, some of the most devout Christians are sometimes led through deep water and fiery trials, but far too many are in difficulties because they have not surrendered completely to God’s will.

We remember a good friend who got into a difficult situation one time and burst out, “Why in the world do these things happen to me? Ever since I became a Christian, it has been this way.”

His remark left the impression that he had made a mistake that his troubles multiplied as soon as he gave his heart to the Lord. It was not so, of course, and he perhaps did not mean it that way, but had there been any unsaved people around, they would probably have decided that the devil was not such a bad taskmaster after all.

The children of Israel acted that way. They had come out of Egypt- but Egypt was still more or less in them. We talk easily of being ” … crucified with Christ … ” (Galatians 2:20), and that is true if we have believed on Him; for as believers, we are identified with him in His death on the cross. lt is also true that we have not always brought our stubbornness and willfulness to His cross for crucifixion. We are still creatures of choice. We choose to have our own way, and thereupon hangs a tale of difficulties in the lives of many Christians.

This matter of an all-out-surrender to the will of God is something of tremendous importance. Moody was an all-out, surrendered man, and we see what the Lord did through him.

YIELD TO HIM

It is not hard to discover our lack of surrender to the whole will of God, for our willfulness or stubbornness manifests itself in so many different ways. The difficulty is in bringing that lack of surrender, that willfulness, that stubbornness to God, saying, “Lord, I am willing to quit the whole business; Lord, I want to make an unreserved consecration; Lord, I surrender all!”

If we did this, we would not be so apt to look back on the children of Israel with contempt because of their wilderness wanderings. We would probably discover that we too are more or less wandering around in today’s wilderness because of lack of all-out surrender to the will of God.

I can look back over the years of wilderness wanderings that preceded my surrender to the Lord. Reverting to the text, ” … remember all the way which the LORD thy God led … to humble … to prove … to know … ” what was in my heart.

Was I a Christian? I wasn’t a heathen. I was like millions of other church Christians who are in the visible church, yet not in the body of Christ as surrendered believers.

Was I stubborn? I’ll say I was! Did the Lord humble me? He did! The Lord brought me to a place of humility where I was willing to chuck into a literal furnace some things that stood between me and full surrender.

Most of the children of Israel never made the all-out surrender to God. Because they did not, their carcasses were left in the wilderness. We repeat, they had come out of Egypt, but Egypt was still more or less in them. Have we, in these closing days of the church age, made the all-out surrender? If not, we should, lest our “carcasses” be left in this present wilderness when ” … the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God …” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). – – by Manford Evans

“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 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” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

Discouragement, despair, defeat, and many other similar shattering experiences often occur, not because of what we remember, but because of what we forget. Straight away in this passage we are reminded that we are in a fight; we are battling against the current of the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is no easy course which God has chosen for us. The whole world lieth in the wicked one, and ” … the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Paul writes in 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.” If we are to avoid defeat and the disquieting experiences which accompany it, we must ever have in mind that we are at war every day (even on vacation!). ” … the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). There can be no letup. The struggle will go on until Jesus rends the heavens and comes down. Paul, writing to Timothy, says, “Fight the good fight of faith … ” (1 Timothy 6:12).

WEAPONS IN OUR HANDS

However, not only have we a warfare on our hands, but we have weapons in our hands. These weapons are not carnal, but they are mighty. How inspiring is the contrast given to us in these few words, ” … not carnal, but mighty … ” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Not only the natural man, but the carnal Christian also is utterly helpless in such a warfare. The hymn writer wrote these words, The arm of flesh will fail you; Ye dare not trust your own.

Here we are told distinctly that we have weapons which are ” … mighty through God … ” (2 Corinthians 10:4) or “mighty to God.” These weapons are given to us by God; they are used only in His power; and one of them at least, the weapon of prayer, is directed to God. We are not told in this passage what the weapons are, but we are left in no doubt as we read the Scriptures. Two of our most powerful weapons are the weapons of prayer and the Word of God. ” … take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6: 17) says the apostle, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit… ” (Ephesians 6: 18). Here are the weapons which are given to us in this tremendous fight; weapons which are not useless because they are carnal, but are mighty through God. When the tempter came to the Lord in the wilderness, and said to Him, ” … If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread,” He replied, ” … It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:3-4). What a clear testimony this is both to the authority and to the strength of the Scriptures! Fellow Christian, we have, or should have, a sword in our hand – it is the Word of God. We may have something in our heart prayer- that is potentially more effective than anything else. ” … The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

Why are these weapons so powerful, so that if used in the right way they must always conquer? The answer simply is that they are God-given and ordained. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4: 12). God Himself prepared the Word and placed the sword in our hand. Prayer, too, is God-given, and is so tremendously powerful when used aright, that it can produce and accomplish more than we ask or even think. It is because prayer is offered in the authoritative Name of the Lord Jesus which is not only sweet and precious to God the Father, but is a Name which is above every name.

He has declared, ” … All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28: 18). Through the power of His blood, which He shed on Calvary’s cross, and the completeness of that victory, He has been exalted highly” … and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11 ).

THREE MIGHTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Now let us notice in the context of this passage what the weapons can do. These accomplishments come not only as a challenge to take heed that we are using the weapons aright, but as an inspiration to attempt more for God in the field of evangelism.

First, through God these weapons can pull down strongholds. There are satanic strongholds today which so subject millions of people to bondage that the light of the Gospel does not reach them. These strongholds must fall, even as the walls of Jericho fell.

Second, ” …imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God … ” (2 Corinthians 1 0:5) can be cast down. Think for a moment of the cults, the false religions, and all the man-built schemes of philosophy in which people put their trust today, and flounder in the quick sands of men’s reasoning. However clever man may be, God has given to us weapons which can cast down these imaginations, and bring light and salvation to any soul, for Christ tasted death for every man (Hebrews 2:9).

Third, these weapons are so powerful that they can bring ” … into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How this is needed among Christians everywhere! Think what would take place if every thought in the minds of believers throughout the world were brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ! Young men would offer their lives for service, there would be no financial or material lack, and pastors would be placing new emphasis on the neglected mission fields.

” … the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty … ” Let us reach out now for the weapons of the Bible and prayer, holding forth the Word of life that we ” … may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (Philippians 2: 16).

Jesus must have radiated joy during His public ministry. This may be one reason why, when trying to comfort his disciples, in the upper room, He made such pointed references to his joy remaining with them, and their joy being full. We read in John’s Gospel, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (15:11); again, “your heart  shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (16:22); and later, when praying to the Father on their behalf: He said, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name· … And now come I to thee; and these I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (17:12-13).

To His disciples, His presence meant joy and His absence meant sadness. After His resurrection, when Jesus appeared to His disciples again, their joy knew no bounds. On the occasion of one of these appearances, we are told, ” … they yet believed not for joy … ” (Luke 24:41). From Pentecost onward, throughout the early history of the church, it is evident that the joy of the Lord was one of its most prominent and attractive characteristics, and probably contributed greatly to her rapid increase in influence and growth.

In those early days, the church had to pass through times of trial and persecution, and yet the glad note of joy was ever present with them. The secret of this experience of joy was not dependent on circumstances, but on a life lived in fellowship with our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. This holy fellowship and joy is the birthright of every truly born again child of God, it is not only for the select few.

The radiant joy of many Christians is frequently used by the Holy Spirit to reveal the poverty and miserable plight of one living the self-centered life, and to bring conviction of sin. Often has the admission been made that the first seeds of discontent and conviction of sin have been sown at the sight of the manifest joy in the lives of others.

Unhappily, the church which Christ commissioned to be His witness and to proclaim His Gospel has lost, to a large extent, its winsome and attractive note of joy. A Christian worker without the joy of the Lord in his heart makes a poor appeal to the sinner he is seeking to win, equally so will the church of Christ, without the joy of her Lord radiating through her members, fail to make an attractive appeal to this generation.

The condition of the church of Christ surely is a challenge to examine our hearts to find whether there is any evil way in us. We may seek the cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ and our restoration to His fellowship and His joy, that our witness may be more attractive and our influence more effective in all our contacts with men and women, if perchance the Lord will graciously use us as channels of His joy and blessing to sad and troubled hearts in these days; which may, in the mercy of God, be heralding the Lord’s glorious return.