WAR NOTES
“...the war was of
God...”
(I Chronicles 5:22)
Warfare study
notes by Prophet Jacob R. Blandford.
The Armour
of God:
·
Eph. 6:10-18; I Thess. 5:8; Rom. 13:12; II Cor.
6:7; Is. 59:17; Ps. 91:4
Note: “the armour
of light” (Rom 13:12)—Blinds our
enemies with the brightness of Christ’s righteousness, which is imputed to us
by faith. (see Romans 3:21-26)
Þ
“Lest Satan should get an
advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (II Cor. 2:11)
Þ
“For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh: (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” (II Cor. 10:3-5)
Þ
“Wisdom is better than weapons of
war...” (Ecclesiastes 9:18)
Þ
“No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment
thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the
servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith
the LORD.” (Is. 54:17)
The devil tries to intimidate us,
“...as a roaring lion...” (I Pet. 5:8), but he’s not really a lion. ‘You’re
not a lion, you’re lying.’ Satan has no true power of his own; he only
usurps men’s God-given dominion (cf. Gen. 1:26-28) through deception (cf. Gen.
3). He tries to make men yield their
authority to him by acting like he has some great power.
However to those whom Christ has
not quickened, the devil does exude tremendous power over them. He’s “the prince of the power of the air”
(Eph. 2:2) and “the god this world” (II Cor. 4:4),
who blinds the minds of millions: leading them into eternal hell. He enslaves multitudes in pride, foolishness,
wicked bondages, unspeakable sins, and horrendous iniquities. The devil also assaults us constantly; and if
it were not for Christ Jesus and His Truth, Victory, the Word of God, the power
of the Holy Spirit, and the Love of the Father; we would utterly succumb to
Satan’s deceit: even as we were lead before Christ redeemed us and we were
born-again (cf. John 3:3-7).
Þ
“Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:17)
Our response is humility, obedience, selflessness, trust,
and faith. See I
Chr. 5:20.
Þ
“And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11)
We must needs patience.
Þ
“...Here is the patience and the
faith of the saints.” (Revelation 13:10)
Circumspect vigilance.
Þ
“Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing
that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the
world.” (I Pet. 5:8-9)
Prayer.
Þ
“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.”
(Phil. 4:6-7) See also Eph. 6:18; I Thess. 5:17.
What’s so dainty about the devil
and evil wickedness anyway? Christ
whipped him on the Cross and has given us authority over that vile fiend. (cf. Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; Luke 10:19; Ps.
91:13; Prov. 10:2, 12:3)
This is the
preserved Canon of Scripture (The Protestant Canon of The A.V. 1611). Have you ever cocked the hammer on a
firearm? ‘When my gun click, all
ya’ll run quick.’ The Epistles are
the Christian’s pistols...
- “Who
hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm
of the LORD revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1; John 12:38;
Rom. 10:16)
- “Is not my word like as a
fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29) ‘Gotta bring that hamma cause the drama don’t quit.’
- “...and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17) [Note: St.
Paul is describing the sword that the Romans used
during his time. The Apostle Paul
wrote the Book of ‘Romans’. The
sword the Romans used to conqueror the world at that time was very similar
to Ehud’s sword described in Judges Chapter 3.]
- “...Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded...”
(Judges 3:15) “But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a
cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.”
(Judges 3:16)
- Did
you notice something else about Ephesians 6:17? The word “word” is contained within the
word “sword”! The Sword of the
Lord.
- “For
the word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 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)
- "Cursed
be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood." (Jeremiah
48:10)
- The
1611 is the “...sharp twoedged sword...” (Rev. 1:16) whereas the Almighty
hath forged and welded together His two Testaments into One Mighty,
Refined, Polished, Forged, Purified, Sword (cf. Heb. 4:12).
- Damascus
steel.
- “Therefore
have I hewed them by the
prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth
forth.” (Hosea 6:5)
- “Wherefore
thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye
speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this
people wood, and it shall devour them.” (Jer.
5:14)
- “I
indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me
is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize
you with the Holy Ghost, and with
fire” (Matthew 3:11)
- “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came
not to send peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)
- The
Sword of His Word. (cf. Rev. 1:16,
2:12, 16, 19:15, 21; Is. 11:4, 49:2; II Thess.
2:8; Ps. 55:21; Matthew 10:34; Hosea 6:5; Eph. 6:17)
- A
promise of being feed in famine (cf. Amos 8:11;
Matt. 4:4) and invincibility in warfare from the enemy’s sword (see Job 5:20; Joel 2:8; Is. 54:17).
- Rations
promised in Phil. 4:19.
- Proverbs
1:6 & Ecclesiastes 10:10 (Here “the words of the wise” are likened to
a sharp iron edge—like a blade.)
- Read
Matthew 11:12, 16:18.
- Comparing
the companion passages of Matthew 10:34 and Luke 12:51, we see the sword
is likened to a dividing instrument.
Well, that’s exactly what a sword does—divides. And that’s what Apostle Paul intimates
by comparing Hebrews 4:12 with 2 Timothy 2:15.
Þ
“Lest Satan should get an
advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (II Cor. 2:11)
The devil employs intimidation
techniques (cf. II Kings 9:30) and
mocking (cf. II Peter 3:3; Jude 18) as last ditch attempts to frustrate the
Gospel. These tactics reveal the devil’s
baseness, and the baseness in which he operates. These devices are intended to make people
afraid, (cf. Heb. 2:15) and thus
subdue them and make them succumb to his evil ways. But as for us...
“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?” (Ps. 27:1) “...be not afraid of their terror, neither be
troubled” (I Peter 3:14) “Ye are of
God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in
you, than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4) See also I John 2:13, 14, 4:4, 5:4, 5. “He
is near that justifieth me; who will contend
with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let
him come near to me.” (Is. 50:8) “Fury is
not in me: who would set the briers and
thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them
together.” (Is. 27:4) See also Heb.
13:5-6; Ps. 118:6; Eph. 6:12.
We must remember that we cannot
fight the devil in our own strength. Our
strength is in Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 4:13;
II Cor. 12:9). "Then he answered and spake unto
me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my
spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." (Zech. 4:6) In our own strength we cannot fight the
devil; before Christ saved us the devil had his way with us and tossed us around
in our degenerate state. The devil has
destroyed most of mankind because he is depraved and cannot do anything with
Jesus Christ. (see John 15:4-8) But now that Christ
has regenerated us, and saved us, we must remember to be grateful that He has
redeemed us from such a horrific enemy of our soul. (see
Ps. 107:2, 20) And in this remembrance, yea the faith of Christ through the
power of the Holy Ghost is how we stand against the enemy and speak with the
foes at the gates. (cf. Matthew 16:18; Ps. 127:5, 149:6)
Christ has called us to be
Christian soldiers (cf. II Tim. 2:3-4; Philippians 2:25; Philemon 2). And to call Him “...the captain of their
salvation...” (Heb. 2:10). Read also Joshua
5:13-15. The word ‘sermon’ has a Latin
origin. It means to ‘thrust’ or
‘stab’. We are to put on the Spiritual
armour of Christ (see Ephesians 6:10-18)
and to stand “...set for the defence of the gospel.”
(Phil. 1:17) And, “...war a good warfare” (I Tim.1:18) Again, “Fight the good
fight of faith...” (I Tim. 6:12) and, "I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7) and, “Every
purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.” (Proverbs
20:18) and again, “For by wise counsel thou shalt
make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there
is safety.” (Prov. 24:6).
Do you know why the Book of Numbers
is called “Numbers”? Because
the Israelites are being numbered.
Do you know what they’re being numbered for? War.
Moses and Aaron are numbering the people of God for war. (see Num. 1:1-3)
The phrase “be strong” is found
numerous times throughout the Holy Bible.
Including 3 times in the New Testament. (see I Cor. 16:13; Eph. 6:10; II
Tim. 2:1) And 3 times in Haggai 2:4.
There’s also the lesson from the
unsaved Philistines in 1st Samuel to: “Be strong, and quit
yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not
servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men,
and fight.” (1 Sam. 4:9)
By the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, I also have a hymn in the front of my Gideon’s New Testament titled
‘Onward, Christian Soldiers’.