The Gospel

I am going to take a short break from my spiritual warfare series of posts and talk about the most important aspect of living life as a Christian: The Gospel. This past Thursday evening, I gave a talk to the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Chapter at my Alma Matter about the Gospel. Inspired by Eric Ludy's presentation "The Gospel", which I have displayed below, I spoke about how the Gospel means so much more than just salvation from sin and hell. It helped me realize that every aspect of Christian living is what the Gospel is. I knew I could not cover everything in 30 minutes, just like Ludy states that his 11 minute video only scratches the surface. But here is a glimpse of what the Gospel is.

  In one paragraph, the Gospel is thus: God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. He made mankind to have a relationship with him. Man sinned and rebelled against God. Because God is pure, holy, and just, he has to punish sin. And he found a way to punish the sin without destroying the sinner. He sent Jesus Christ to pay the price so that we might live and have eternal life. Jesus died to pay the Penalty of Sin.

  There is a problem however. It's not with the Gospel itself but with what we do with it. Most people stop right there at the dealing with the Penalty of Sin. Jesus died for more than just forgiveness. Jesus also dealt with the Problem of Sin. We are no longer bound by sin. We no longer have to do it. I have heard this phrase many times. "I'm still a sinner. I'm just forgiven." NO! That is not the Gospel. That is not Bible. We are removed from sin as a Christian. We no longer have a sin nature. How does this happen? The Gospel is not just about the Penalty of Sin. It's not just about the Problem of Sin. It is about a new Identity.

  When we become a Christian we have a new identity. We have a Change in Nature. Our old nature is bound to sin and to self. Our new nature is focused on Christ. We are created to eat, sleep, breath, live, Jesus Christ. Our every inclination is designed to point towards Christ. We don't do a very good job at maintaining it. But that is our nature. I believe it is possible to live a sinless life from this point on. And I say this fully understanding what James said "If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves." And at the end of this, that idea on living sinless will be made clear. We have a new Nature.

  There is more. We are Adopted into the God's Family. This is not based on the American adoption system. It is based off the Roman system. In Rome, a father could expel a rebellious blood son from his house and from his will. But he could not do that with an adopted son. Because an adopted son was chosen. God adopts us into his family. We are joint heirs to the Throne of Heaven and we are made Citizens of his Kingdom. The Gospel is not just about the Penalty of Sin, the Problem of Sin, the New Creation, the New Identity, the Adoption. It is also about a Job, a Task we are called to do.

  God calls us on a Commission. A Job to do. We are to Represent Jesus Christ. Everything we say and do, every action we do, every word we speak, tells the world "this is what Jesus is like." If we are to associate ourselves with the name of Jesus, everything of who we are represents his name, his power, his authority. And we don't do a very good job at it. Jesus tells us, "Why do you call me 'Lord' if you do not do as I say?" We have a Job and that is to represent Jesus Christ. But there is more.

  A good manager always equips his employees to do a task that needs to be done. He equips them with all the tools they need, the personnel they need, and the authority they need to get the job done. Same here. God gives us all we need to get the job done we need to get done. And authority is a big part of that. Aside from Jesus, no one understood this more than the Roman Centurion. He understood Jesus was a man under authority by how he exercised it. The Centurion was under the authority of Rome and in doing so, when he spoke, it was as though the Caesar himself spoke. And the men under him obeyed. The same is true for us. In order to carry the authority of the Name of Jesus Christ, we must submit to the authority of Jesus Christ. And if we do not do that, we will not be able to get the job done we need to get done.

  But there is a challenge to our Commission. We are called to be Ambassadors from God to this world and this world we live in is enemy territory. God is not the only one who cares about the souls of men. So does Satan. God wants to save them and to dwell with them. Satan wants to destroy them and show them off as trophies. And we are called to Rescue the Lost and deliver them from sin by the power and authority of Jesus Christ. Satan will wage war on us for this and he does not fight fair. We must be ready for battle and this battle comes at a cost.

  We must be willing to count the cost if we are to claim to be associated with Christ. Your job, your name, your money, your reputation, your friends, your family, your life. You can lose it all for following Christ. But God has shown me that there is NOTHING that we can lose for following Christ that we are not going to lose by the time we die anyway. Your job and money? You can't keep it. You will quit, retire, get laid off, at some point. Your friends? Your Reputation? If they aren't willing to stand by you, are they really your friends? You need to be concerned about what God thinks of you, not what man thinks of you. If your family doesn't know Christ, they are going to hell. You will lose them. But what you gain for following Christ is something you can never lose. If you lose your life for the sake of Christ, you will find it. Your friends and family? If they know Christ, you will find them again. There is a Cost.

  But The Gospel is not just about getting hit. God sends us out as sheep amongst wolves but he did not send us out to get run over. The Gospel works completely against how this world thinks and turns it upside down. How? The weak are the strong. The poor are the rich. The foolish things of the world will shame the wise. And though God sends us as sheep amongst wolves, it is the lambs of God that will rise up and BEAT the wolf pack. We are not called to lose the battle. We are sent out to win.

  Everything that I just described is absolutely impossible. We can't do it. We don't have the strength, the intellect, the endurance, the skills. We cannot do it. But Jesus can. And this is how it all works. Let Jesus be your eyes, your ears, your hands, your feet, your mouth, your tongue, your mind, and your everything. When God looks at me, I don't want him to see Charlie Wolcott. I want him to see Jesus Christ. We are being conformed to the image of Christ and when we let Jesus live his life through us, that is when it all works. Many of us will fail and stumble, but that is what the Gospel is all about. It is about Christian living and being who God made us to be: the Image of God himself. We are heading that way as we grow in our faith and in our relationship to Christ, but this is just the short roughly 30 minute version of the Gospel.

For reference on where this came from and what inspired it, see the video below.

Who are our Allies in Spiritual Warfare?

In my last blog post, I talked about how spiritual warfare should not be fought individually but in unity with other warriors in the Kingdom of Heaven. And amazingly enough, my pastor's sermon last week tied in perfectly to the next stage in this series I am working on. While we do need to fight together in unity, we need to know who our allies are, and just as importantly who are not allies.

  To be able to function in the spiritual realm, on thing that must be understood is authority. The subject of authority is worthy of it's own post but for the purpose of this post, I'll simply say to be able to exercise authority, you must be under the authority you wish to exercise. This works in every arena from the spiritual side to business or even to family. And one group of people that are critical allies to spiritual warfare are spiritual mentors, the spiritual authorities in our life. It is important to have someone over you, someone you trust, someone you can rely upon to hold you accountable. Many people think they can get along fine without such a person. They have their pastor and they have friends but do they have that one person who is older, wiser, and will get to know them personally? The spiritual authorities in your life are among your strongest allies because they know you the best. They know your weaknesses and your strengths and they know how to build you up and how to cover your breaches.

  Another group of allies are your Christian peers. Your fellow soldiers in the battle. The ones that are even with you on an authority basis. This is the group most people turn to when in a battle. They will help you fight, but are they close enough to stick with you through it? You may have allies that will help you for a time, but not all will stick around to see the battle through. How do you know? Know who your peers are. Know who you can rely on to cover your back. One area where you can find your best peers from this group is in a small group. Get involved in a small group. Many times, the closest friendships are found in these groups.

  Another group of allies you have is your church leadership. Your pastor, your elders, your deacons. The key to understand here is that though these people will gladly fight at your side, they are often fighting at the side of many others in the congregation. They are human and have limited time, resources, and energy. I am not saying do not go to them and defer the resources they have to others, nor am I saying that they will not have time for you. I am simply pointing out to keep that fact in mind. But one of the jobs of the pastor, elders, and deacons is to aid you in your battles. Do not neglect them.

  A very surprising ally that you can have are those you are mentoring. Those under you. It is not enough to get mentored, to get someone over you. You need someone under you. A key purpose of a Christian is not get fed, but to get spent for the Kingdom. What we are learning is not meant to feed us for for us to pay it forward and feed the next generation. And while the mentors you have know you very well, those you are mentoring also know you very well. And in mentoring them, you know their strengths and weaknesses. And what greater chance to gain experience for one you are mentoring than to enlist him/her to aid you in the battles you are facing?

  Now, I don't want to forget the ultimate ally we have: Jesus Christ himself. Let's not forget that Christ is our Commander-in-Chief. He goes before us and he follows behind. He leads us in the battle, directs us in the battle, and he is the ultimate one fighting through us. One should never enter battle without first getting your orders. 

  Now, all that being said, there are people you need to be wary of. People that you think will aid you in battle but will actually harm you in battle. I don't need to cover those that are obviously opposed to you and to anything that resembles or represents God Almighty. We know they are not our allies. But we must remember that our battles are not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces behind them. So we must not just know who our allies are, we must also know who our enemy is.

  I said above that some of our peers are a valuable resource and ally that we have. But some of these peers are not actual allies. Some of our peers that we ask to aid us in battle actually don't. In this spiritual battle, there are two challenges the Christian faces in these battles. One challenge is dealing with allies that don't fight. The other challenge is those who claim to be our allies but actually fight against us. If you have a peer that won't fight along side you, don't depend upon that person to aid you. Don't stand next to a soldier that won't raise his shield along yours or another's. Stand next to one who will.

  One must be very careful about the proverbial "wolf in sheep's clothing". The tares planted amongst the wheat. God won't remove them until it is time for the harvest. We must be careful with who we trust to rely on in battle because some of them will reveal key intel to the enemy about you. Ever wonder how some people you know are your enemies know things about you that you never told them? It's because you told a wolf, a spy. Sometimes these wolves will fight along side you to gain your trust but in a critical battle, they will back off, exposing you to the enemy, or outright turn against you. These people are not to be trusted because they are puppets and plants of the enemy. And here is the most disturbing part of it. Some of these wolves do not hide in sheep's clothing but in shepherd's clothing. Some of these false allies are the pastors, the elders, the deacons, in our church. How can we tell them apart? Don't rely on their charisma. Don't rely on their personality. They may be very good and "moral" people. Do they know Christ? Do they preach Christ? Is he Lord of their lives? 1 Corinthians 12:3 tells us that no one who has the Holy Spirit (who is born-again) can curse the name of Jesus, but no one, except by the Holy Spirit, can call Jesus their personal Lord and Savior. Is Jesus their Lord? That is a big clue if they are to be someone you can trust in battle or someone you need to mark as untrustworthy.

  I could go on but that is a simple description of what we can expect from potential allies or enemies. Always keep your guard up. The enemy is like a roaring lion seeking whomever he can devour. Who can he devour? Those who let up their guard. Those who won't fight. And those who isolate themselves and fight alone. But do not fear, do not tremble. Jesus Christ is our Commander and he has overcome Satan and his schemes. He has overcome the world and its system. He has conquered sin and death. We are more than conquerors because of Christ who lives and fights in us. And you do not fight alone. If you are in a battle, get help. Seek allies who are taking their battle orders from Christ. Seek allies who need your skills in battle. It is not just about them helping you. It is also about you helping them. And there are people who will not get victory if you do not join them in battle. And there are battles you will not win if you do not get help. Rise up and fight. You have the victory in Christ. Go out and claim it.

Unity in Spiritual Warfare

  Those who have gotten to know me pretty well know I am writing a fiction series with a major theme of Spiritual Warfare. I self-published my first novel and in the meantime, I have met a publisher that wants to take it and the sequel I am working on. I'm going to end up with a trilogy but to make a long story short, one of the comments I have received from my early beta-readers on my sequel is that they were impressed with how I address the spiritual battle from a perspective of fighting together. I've read a few books on spiritual warfare both fiction and non-fiction and while the idea of fighting together with your allies is never shunned or denied, the general emphasis is on the individual battles, that is what our job and role is individually in the battle. But many of us do not consider what our role in the battle does in conjunction with others doing their roles.

  I want to make clear that the battles we face in the spiritual realms are not meant to be fought alone. We MUST be ready to be in position to fight alone, but we are not meant to fight alone. There are some epic battles that were one by an individual in the Old Testament. Look at 2 Samuel 23:11-12. Shammah, one of David's Mighty Men, defended a field when the rest of the army fled the Philistines. Shammah stood firm and would not relinquish the field. He stood his ground and defeated the Philistines alone. That's a great story, but why should Shammah have been put in that position? Should he have been alone? The answer is no.

  The Spartans are often deemed as among the greatest warriors who ever lived. The Spartans, unlike many other soldiers in other armies, grew up eating, sleeping, living, breathing battle. And they had a tactic that no army was ever able to match: the Phalanx. In the Phalanx position, a group of Spartans would gather together and interlock their shields to form a solid wall of shield. Volleys of volleys of arrows could not penetrate it. Thrown spears would bounce off the bronze plating. And swords were too close range which would easily put them in range of a Spartan spear. And advancing Phalanx could not be stopped and through it a select few could take on armies of thousands. The famous Battle of Thermopylae pitted a few hundred Spartans against the Persian Army of hundreds of thousands and the Spartans halted the invasion.

   This idea is what some of our spiritual battles are to look like. The key that made the Phalanx work so well was the unity of the Spartans. Each individual Spartan's survival depended on the location and position of his allies. And their survival depended upon that one Spartan. If one of them was out of place, the whole Phalanx could be defeated. As Christians, we are a body. Paul talks about this several places in the New Testament. If one part of the body is out of the place, the whole body suffers. The same is true in spiritual battle.

  One of the biggest problems we have as Christians is we still struggle with sin. We don't have it all together. If we had walls around our lives, every one of us would have some massive holes in those walls. And we cannot fight because we are so focused on fighting the forces of evil that have easy access to our lives because of those breaches in our lives' walls. If we are to repair those breaches, we need an intercessor, someone who will stand in the gap and take on the battle we face in our stead. We need someone who will fend off the enemy to allow up to recover and repair their walls. Once their walls are repaired, they can then go and cover the walls of someone else. But notice this: those that are standing in the gap, ALSO have their own breaches. It is perfectly fine to go get help and support from our pastors and elders in our church. That is one of their jobs. But because of their job to not just lead us as Christians, but to fight with us and beside us, they have a big target on their backs. And they are not perfect. They need us to stand in their gaps, to fight in their stead so they can get a breather. We need them and they need us.

  But the concept of the Phalanx works in the spiritual battle. Scripture tells us that a thousand will fall on our left and ten-thousand will fall on our right. We will get surrounded and we will be heavily outnumbered...or so we think. But one praying man is more dangerous than an army. Queen Elizabeth I of England, during the height of the Spanish Empire, said she feared the prayers of the preacher Edmund Burke than she did the whole of the Spanish Armada. And she was right to do so. The Spartans could drive out massive armies with just a few by working as unit. And that is just a picture of what we can do as Christians.

  I am delving into this concept deeply in my second and third books of my spiritual warfare series that is waiting on a pending contract with a publisher. My first book "Call to Arms" introduces the concept of spiritual warfare and the battle against Satan and his minions. My second book "War Cry" (current working title) will address issues we face with our own sinful self as well as unity in the spiritual battle. My third book "The Mighty Gibborim" (working title) will add to all that addressing the battles we face against the worldly system and will continue the message of unity. But it will also deal with compromise and false doctrine in the church and how unity at the expense of sound doctrine leads to failure. We must be unified, but we must be VERY careful in whom we are unified with. There are a lot of wolves dressing up in both sheep's and shepherd's clothing and we must mark them, identify them, and have no intimate relationship with such people. We need to be unified that are completely sold and committed to the Gospel, the word of God, and the mission God has called out to do. We cannot be wishy washy and we must stand only for the truth. And if that means standing alone, then do so. The field that Shammah defended is being attacked. I am going to take up my sword, my hand claiving to it, and will defend it. Who will join me?

Defending the Faith

  "Here is my simple offering of loaves and fishes--just plain diet, lacking the ice and spice of the wedding cake. Like a sailor I once saw pounding a solider "because," said the sailor, "he insulted my mother," so my Lord is insulted and His Church slighted. And, believe me, under this double injury, I smart. The Church has many adversaries. Can my sword sleep, then, in my hand? Never!"
~ Leonard Ravenhill: "Why Revival Tarries"

  It is no imaginary thing that the Church is under attack. That which represents and paints an image of God is anathema to the world that we live in. This has been seen throughout world history. The one group of people, starting with the Hebrews and now with the Church, have been hounded, harassed, humiliated, persecuted, tortured, and killed just for identifying themselves with God Almighty. While the severe persecution has not hit America...yet...it is fast approaching. Society used to tolerate Christian opinions and the Christian worldview. But not any more. Today, American society "tolerates" Christians only if we stay in our little circles and feed our own flocks. They don't want us in the public squares or preaching to the masses. And they think they can push us around. Why? Because we as a Church are letting them.

  We live in enemy territory. While God is ruler over all and is sovereign over everything that takes place, God gave the authority of this world to man when he created Adam and Eve. When they sinned, they stepped out from being under the authority of God, and under the authority they gave to the Devil. The issue of authority is very critical to understand faith and how this world works. The Centurion understood it. He had the very authority of Rome itself because he submitted himself to the authority of Rome. And Jesus associated that understanding with Faith. When we live under the authority of Jesus Christ, we are commissioned to represent him with his very authority. We need to understand that as ambassadors from the Kingdom of God, we carry the same authority that rose Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus lived to be an example for us. Everything that Jesus did (with the only exception of paying the penalty of our sin), he expects us to do and more. We can perform the miracles he did and more. We can confront the leaders of the world like he did and speak with power and authority that the world has not seen in many generations. But we don't. Why? Because we are not living fully submitted to the authority of Christ.

  God's church is under attack and we are mocked and ridiculed not just because the Gospel we preach is foolishness to those that are perishing, but because we are living a very poor example of the message we carry. We preach living a life of holiness and we do not strive for it. We preach living a life transformed and having not just life, but abundant life, and the world cannot tell us apart from themselves. The church is being insulted and mocked. The Bride of Christ is being assaulted violently. And too many in the church are just standing to the side, watching this taking place and not acting because they think it does not affect them. When a man's wife is assaulted, the husband will not just go after the perpetrators. He will go after any who just stood to the side and watched, hoping to not get hit in the process, instead of making a stand and placing themselves between the wife and the attackers and taking the hit. That is what Intercession is all about. It is about standing in the Gap, taking the hit for another. We wear the Armor of God and that Armor can withstand the attacks of the enemy as long as we put it on and wield it. We can take the hit for another who can't. Where are the Intercessors? Where are the praying men and women? While the walls are being built, where are those who are willing to stand in the gap, gripping their weapons with the Chazak and Amats that sends them fearless into battle against ANY that would put themselves against the Bride of Christ? Chazak and Amats is the literal Hebrew of "Be Strong and Courageous" in Joshua 1.

  I am not saying here that God cannot defend his own name or defend his own Bride. But remember how authority works. God chooses to work THROUGH mankind, and often in spite of mankind. He wants us involved in his work. God wants to heal this land more than we want it healed. But God gave us, the Church, the authority to do his work and do his will. And God will abide by his word and work through the authority he gave man. God does not submit to man's authority; I will make that clear. But God is searching to and fro for intercessors. For those that will take up their sword and defend his Bride. We cannot do this on our own. We MUST submit ourselves to the authority of Christ. If we do not, we are actually placing ourselves under the authority of the enemy. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, you are under authority. You cannot and you will not be the ruler of your life. And you cannot serve two masters, especially two masters that are diabolically opposed to each other. James tells us plainly: "to be friends with the world is to be at enmity with God." We are in the battle whether we want to be or not. And we only have three positions to be in. 1). Be in God's army. That means taking fire from the enemy who seemingly outnumber us. But one praying man in God's army is worth more than legions of the enemy as demonstrated in 1 Kings 18 and 2 Kings 6. Option 2) is be on the opposing side. Join any side other than God's. You won't take much fire from Muslims, Hindus, atheists, or general society, but you WILL take fire from God's word. The Holy Spirit does a very good job at conviction and as long as we live in sin, the Holy Spirit will hound us, pursue us to get us to repent lest we fall into the doom our sin leads us into. The last position is #3, being "neutral". That is, standing in the middle of the battlefield either trying to make "peace" or not fight. You aren't on the sidelines. You are in the middle of the battle and you will take fire from both sides. Pick a side. God wants you hot or cold, but if you are lukewarm, he will spit you out.

  If you desire to be identified as a follower of Jesus Christ, will you make a stand? Will you submit yourself to the authority of the name you claim to follow? Are you willing to don the Armor of God, take up your sword, and go to battle for those who cannot defend themselves? If what you believe just something to believe in, or is it your lifeblood line? If you are not interesting in seeking after God with all you have, if you are not going to pursue following the commands of Jesus Christ (which includes denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following him), why do you bother trying to associate yourself with him? Because Jesus will not associate himself with those who only speak his name on Sunday morning and live a life on their own. If you don't work for the boss, you don't get the boss' benefits. Which side are you on? I strive to live a life where those around me KNOW that I am a follower of Christ by my lifestyle. And when those who come against my King or my brothers and sisters in the Lord show themselves, I will take up my sword, get my battle orders from my King and Commander-in-Chief, and I will go to battle. Will you?