SPIRITUAL AR-15's

Isaiah 54 is a very reassuring chapter for Israel.  God admits that He has been angry with the Israelites, but He also promises them that He is for them.  God is aware that they are suffering under constant persecution from the Assyrians.  He announces that this will soon end. 

God makes a promise to them, reminding them of the promise He made with Noah!  Essentially God says that He will protect her when bad things happen and will never walk away from her again!  God invokes images of heaven as He envisions her future!

In the midst of all this, God makes an interesting statement: 

No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper… [NASB]

I found myself searching for II Corinthians 10:4,

…for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses…  [NASB]

To be fair, you always need to check out the context of these verses!

I had never connected these verses before. 

God seems – in both contexts – to be reassuring His people [the Israelites AND the NT Christians] that He has provided us with powerful weapons that will enable us to be victorious! 

The Holy Spirit is clear as He speaks through Paul (to the Corinthian Church) that these weapons are not of the flesh.  We’re not talking about automatic rifles here!  But we are talking about divinely powerful weapons that are capable of destroying the fortresses of our enemy! 

Now, I’m thinking that if we’re destroying fortresses, then we’re not on the defense, but rather, we are on the offense!  We’re the aggressors!  We’re assaulting the strongholds of our opponent! 

In Matthew 16, Jesus affirms Peter for having the spiritual insight to see that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God!  Then, Jesus makes a curious statement:  I will build My church;  and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it  [16:18 NASB]. 

Many have observed that “gates” don’t attack;  they defend!  The implication of our Lord is that we will be the attackers!  We will assault the gates of Hell – or the enemy of our souls! 

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

We – as the Church – are to use the powerful, spiritual weapons that God has created for us to assault our enemy and his strongholds with courage and confidence in victory as promised by our Lord! 

Friends, this is happening in many parts of our world!  True believers are banding together and meeting in spite of resistance.  Attending church for many of these dear saints [biblically, saints = believers] is RISKY!  They could lose their lives for doing so!  Some DO lose their lives for doing so!  L

Check out Voice of the Martyrs for more details:  The Voice of the Martyrs (persecution.com)

SO – WHAT ARE THESE POWERFUL WEAPONS?

So much could be said here, but let’s keep it brief for now:  [You know these anyway!]

1.       Prayer! 

This can be done alone or with other believers.  When it is done with other believers, it is far more powerful  [Matthew 18:20]!  It can be done anytime, anywhere and under any circumstances!  When Jesus faced His deepest trial, He spent a whole night in prayer and asked His disciples to join Him!  What does that tell us?    

2.       God’s Word!

Psalm 119:11 talks about hiding God’s Word in our hearts!  How well off would you be if suddenly someone confiscated all of our Bibles?  How much of it do you have hidden in your heart.  This hints at treasuring the Bible and it’s content!  Do you treasure it?  Do you know where your Bible is right now?

Do you read it?  Do you love it?  Do you apply it?  

Do you recall when Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted?  After forty days of fasting, His enemy came with three specific temptations.  Do you remember how Jesus overcame these temptations?  Sure, you do!  He quoted scriptures [Matthew 4:1-11]!!!!!

3.       Community!

Not enough can be said about this!  Take note:  Community does NOT equal church!  Most churches fail to provide genuine community!  The New Testament word is koinonia, for which there is no English equivalent.  The best we can do is ‘fellowship’, which connotes many wrong concepts (such as pot-luck dinners or game nights). 

Koinonia is communion by intimate participation!  It is a genuine connecting and sharing that is rarely found in our culture.  The strength that can be gained through koinonia is phenomenal!  It’s characteristic is:  when one suffers – all suffer;  when one rejoices – all rejoice  [I Corinthians 12:26]! 

Our world is desperately in need of KOINONIA!!!!!!!

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There are others, of course, but maybe we shouldn’t move on until we’ve mastered these basic ones?  Most of us have a ways to go to do that….