Ready For Battle

Call to Battle

New Hope Community Pastor Bob Briggs July 9, 2004

Stumbling in lethargy, the trumpet is sounding, it is time for the church to awaken to the cry of battle, the sound of distant thunder is on the horizon, there is a battle brewing, and the church had better prepare herself. The spiritual battle is pouring itself forth into the physical realm and the devil is seeking to take as many captive as possible. Awake! Awake! Is the cry to the church in slumber for the church is fast being overtaken and does not want to hear the message of truth rather seeking to lie down and think herself not to be vulnerable, yet vulnerable she stands without the power of God flowing through her.

I had read a message from Francis Frangipane about the state of the church and we have but to look around to see the reality, the church has lost her sense of discernment and without it becomes open pry to a crouching enemy, the serpent, Satan, who crawls in the dust seeking every possible advantage to strike his deadly blow and he is not going to slide away in the night, he circles and prods until he finds that weakness, that opening where the soldier of God has laid down his weapon and left him or herself exposed.

The voice of the prophets are calling, speaking forth the warnings of God but much like times past, no one is listening, the prefer to hear something pleasant rather than the truth of their plight. In the midst of this God is raising up an army of faith, people who will stand guard through the long nights and hot days, who will continue to raise the banner of Christ high, even while others have let it droop or dropped it all together. The greatest day of the church stands before us if we listen to the call of our Lord and Commander, Jesus Christ. Get ready to experience what the young man with Elisha experienced in 2 Kings 6.

Do you remember the story? Elisha had continually warned the king of Israel of impending danger and the king listened to what Elisha was saying and responded, infuriating the king of Aram who was trying to defeat the people of God. In verse 11 we read, He summoned his officers and demanded of them, "Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?"

Before any spy satellite was launched in space, there was a spy in the sky, God watches over all his creation. Too often we forget we have the greatest power in the universe working for us if we are but on His side.

So the King of Aram got word from one of his soldiers, "None of us, my lord the king," said one of his officers, "but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom."

You don’t need electronic bugging when you have prophetic eavesdropping. God was tuned into what the king was doing, Elisha was tuned into what God was saying to him, and the King of Israel was listening to the voice of the prophet.

Then the King of Aram sent soldiers to find Elisha, to seek a point of weakness in his defense so he could be taken captive. The same plan the devil uses to day, Satan is not original, only recycled.

We read in verses 15, 16: When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.

"Don’t be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

If you don’t know God, if you don’t have a personal relationship, or if you know God but have fallen asleep in your relationship, you have something to worry about. The enemy has surrounded the city. Can you imagine this young servant of God rising in the morning and seeing how suddenly things have changed. When he went to bed, everything was okay, the city was not under siege, then things took a rapid change.

How many Christians have gone to bed with everything alright, only to awaken to find themselves under attack, surrounded with no possible means of escape? They say if you snooze you lose, we need to be constantly awake to the things of God. That’s why you need to know the authority you have in Christ so you can respond to the situations of life like Elisha, “Don’t be afraid, those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”