NOTES ON THE LAST DAYS SPIRITUAL WAR IN THE AGE OF DECEPTION: WARRIORS FOR CHRIST VS. CONCUBINES TO ANTICHRIST – (WITH VIDEO)

THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “Blessed be the Lord, my Rock and my keen and firm Strength, Who teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight—My Steadfast Love and my Fortress, my High Tower and my Deliverer, my Shield and He in Whom I trust and take refuge, Who subdues my people under me.” – PSALM 144:1-2, AMPC

KEY TERMS:

“WAR.” ‘Qerab’ [לַקְרָ֑ב]: “Derived from several associate and root terms meaning, essentially: ‘To approach or draw near for [hostile] contact;’ to encounter in battle;most often refers to fully entering into a fight [armed or spiritual].” WEBSTER (1828): “A contest between nations or states, carried on by force, either for defense, or for revenging insults and redressing wrongs, for the extension of commerce or acquisition of territory, or for obtaining and establishing the superiority and dominion of one over the other.”

“FIGHT.” ‘Milchamah’ [לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃]: “From a primitive root meaning, ‘To feed on, consume, to devour as in a battle to destruction;’to utterly overcome or prevail; an hostile engagement fought between warriors.” WEBSTER (1828): “To strive or contend for victory, in battle or in single combat; to attempt to defeat, subdue or destroy an enemy, either by blows or weapons; to contend in arms [or spiritual warfare].”

QUOTATION. “‘Spiritual Warfare is simple. Our Ultimate Goal is to win the lost to Christ.’ The Devil’s Endgame is to frustrate that Mission.” ― DENVER CHEDDIE, Spiritual Warfare without the Spiritual Weirdness: A Bible Study on Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God, 2019; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Blessed be the Lord my strength.’ – The Author and Giver of His natural strength of body, and of the fortitude of His mind, and of all the spiritual strength he had, to exercise grace, to bear up under afflictions and trials, to perform duty, and withstand enemies. It may be applied to Christ, the Antitype of David, the man of God’s right hand, he has made strong for Himself. It may be rendered, ‘my Rock,’ to whom the Psalmist fled for shelter, when in distress and overwhelmed; and on whom he built his faith, and hope of eternal salvation, as well as depended on him for all supplies of grace and strength, and for help and succour in all times of need …

‘Which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.’– He took him from being a shepherd, and made him a soldier; and from being the leader of a flock of sheep, to be a General of Armies; and all his military skill in marshalling of troops, in leading them on to battle, and bringing them off as well as all his courage and success, were from the Lord: He whose hands and fingers had been used to the shepherd’s crook, and to the handling of the harp and lyre, were taught how to handle the sword, the bow, the shield, and spear. God is a Man of War Himself! And He teaches the art of war, as he does husbandry and other things; see Exodus 15:3. And so the Lord furnishes His people, who are here in a militant state, with Spiritual Armour, to fight against their Spiritual Enemies. He teaches them how to put it on, and directs them how to make use of every piece of it; as well as gives them boldness to face their enemies, and victory over them!” – JOHN GILL, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 9 vols., 1746-1763; edited

II. TEACHING

I have been forcefully arguing for the American Church to take up her Spiritual Arms and do what the Apostle Paul charged some 2,000 years ago: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” – EPHESIANS 6:13, NKJV

Woefully, nearly incomprehensively – ‘She simply will not or cannot do it, beloved!’

AMERICA’S FIRST CHURCH OF TIMIDITY. Some of us have been metaphorically tearing out our hair and hearts to grasp this unspeakable Retreat from the Battle that the Christian Community in America has been in for some ten years running now. At a time when she is more desperately needed than ever before!

Yet we remember that both Christ and the Apostles said this would occur at a certain point in human history.

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. ‘Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.’” – 2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-3, NKJV

We are there, my friends, right smack dab in the middle of the Historic Intersection of: (1) ‘The Great Falling Away in the American Church;’ and (2) ‘The Rise of the Antichrist,’ the Lawless One, the Man of Sin, the Arch Foe of Jesus Christ. And crucially, the Two Events are tied together as tightly as Siamese twins, as a seditiously timid Church permits Antichrist to easily seduce her into his Dark Ranks.

To Wit: 80-90 percent of all White Evangelicals, Pentecostals and Charismatics are prepped to vote for Donald Trump this November 5, 2024. That very Man of Lawlessness who Hates God! ‘The Church, beloved, stands with Antichrist.’ Selah.

WHY THE CHURCH WON’T FIGHT. I came across a lucid little piece from a young and courageous Pastor who answers this Question straight on. DERRICK SHIPLEY penned a Blog titled, “Why the Church Doesn’t Talk About Spiritual Warfare” (Shipley Norway, June 30, 2021; edited). Listen to his no-nonsense analysis.

UNAWARE OF THE TRUE ENEMY. I often refer this passage from The Art of War (5^th Century BC) by Sun Tzu: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Our inarguably Lukewarm Church has become willfully blind, no longer capable of discerning the Evil of Donald Trump, nor the Goodness of God’s Requirements for leaders (1 Timothy 3:1-13). We have settled for the sick Narrative incubated by Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Franklin Graham in 2016: “We are not electing a Pastor-in-Chief, but a Commander-in-Chief.” The Flaw here is described by our young Pastor: “It is easy to be aware of the Seen World that we interact with every day, but difficult to be aware of the Unseen World that we also interact with every day.” In this our Pulpits have become purveyors of an insipid, de facto Naturalism, or Atheism!

NO TEACHING ON SPIRITUAL WARFARE. Pastor Shipley puts it this way. “In my life thus far I have encountered Church Leadership that simply chooses not to teach on the topic of Spiritual Warfare. I believe there to be a several reasons tied to why this is, but for me it is rather concerning when a church leadership takes this stance. The Bible is clear that believers should not consider human beings to be our enemies. Instead, the opposition that we face comes from the unseen world of Spiritual Evil. Thankfully, Christ Jesus has Authority over that realm.” I have written of those reasons in great detail and will not rehearse them here, except to say: The Church Leaders have chosen to ignore and avoid ‘The harder issues’ in order to solidify their own positional (and financial) security, by keeping membership steady. I cannot recall where the Calling of God’s Shepherds remotely supports such horrendous motives.

THE ISSUE IS UNCOMFORTABLE. As I alluded to above and many times before, Dr. George Barna and many other surveys have confirmed that our American Pastors desperately want to “Keep it safe” when they preach. Say nothing about painful or controversial issues. By all means insure that the members feel good about themselves and their ever-gracious God who, by their surmise, loves everyone all the time no matter what. ‘It’s all grace!’

And very little, if any, about obedience since we are all “Under the Blood, not the Law.” Though our young Pastor takes a much more congenial approach than I do here, his insights are vital to our breaking out of a sort of ‘Spiritual Haze’ that is built upon the soft tissue of the culturally degraded “American Gospel” of Peace and Prosperity with no expectation of hardship or, God forbid, sacrificing our very lives for the King we claim to follow.

GOD AS A WARRIOR. There is an extraordinary Song sung by the Israelites following the Lord’s drowning of the Egyptian Armies at the Red Sea thousands of years ago. It is a rendering of our King as Someone very different than the American Version of Him.

“Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord, saying, ‘I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider or its chariot has He thrown into the sea. The Lord is my Strength and my Song, and He has become my Salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a Man of War; the Lord is His name.’” – EXODUS 15:1-3, AMPC

JESUS CHRIST AS WARRIOR. This entire Theological Narrative of God as a “Man of War” has become completely foreign to the Postmodern American Christian for the most part. Excepting those extremist Right-Wing Zealots who wish to commandeer a New Army of Patriots to “Make American Great Again” by force of arms and even Civil War, the Church is peopled by legions of Spiritual Pacifists.

By stunning contrast to this American God of Peace and Love (viz. human redefinitions), Other Bible references to God include such characterizations as: “Dread Champion” [One to be greatly feared]; “Mighty Terrible One;” or “Violent Warrior” (Jeremiah 20:11). Much earlier at Sinai, Yahweh described Himself as ‘El Qanna,’ a fiercely Zealous or Jealous God Who shall not tolerate the worship of anything or anyone else! (Exodus 20:5).

The Great Apostle referred to Him as an “All Consuming Fire” (Romans 12:9), brilliantly rendered by MATTHEW POOLE this way: “He that was so respecting the transgression of the legal, will much more be so as to this Gospel Covenant. God Almighty, the most gracious, and yet the most just Being, their own God by Covenant obtestation; yet will be to them, if they break His Covenant, and do not, through Christ, acceptably serve Him with reverence and godly fear, ‘as Fire consuming them!’ His Gospel Law, in the contempt of it, will be as the Fiery Law at Sinai, adjudging such sinners unto Fire Unquenchable” (English Annotations on the Holy Bible, 1685; edited).

ARE WE LISTENING? To what I often refer to as ‘The Other Side of God,’ Who demands both Obedience and Holiness from His people? That part of our King about which we rarely, if ever, hear preached anymore. Thus, are we become a softened mush of easy prey for Antichrist, who laughs derisively at such willing, useful tools for his Menagerie of Fools.

Who are about to Return him to become the most powerful man in the entire world. Twice fooled, twice self-condemned, as Almighty God withdraws what little Divine Cover was still there.

III. THE WAY FORWARD

I have made the point by brief allusion to the need for The Prayer Militant in these Last Days, since we are up against nothing less than the Forces of Satan’s Antichrist, and they don’t play nice, beloved. This section will therefore deep dive into the kind or prayer that will be necessary to ‘Fight the Good Fight’ in the Days ahead.

IMPRECATION. “The word ‘Imprecate’ means: ‘To pray evil against’ or ‘to invoke disaster upon.’ Michael Grisanti helpfully clarifies: ‘Imprecatory language, then, signifies calling down divine judgment on an enemy of the Psalmist.” The existence of such imprecatory language is the first indicator of an Imprecatory Psalm. A Psalm becomes an Imprecatory Psalm when “the imprecation is a major element or leading feature of the Psalm.”

This Definition is borrowed from the work of Bible scholar KEVIN WELCH, Chief Administrative Officer and an elder at The Shepherd’s Church in Cary, North Carolina. He has Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in accounting from Wake Forest University, and a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry degree from Shepherds Theological Seminary.

Most of us have been taught to recoil at the use of such prayers; I do not, I cannot, given the ruthless savagery of our Enemy. I cannot use a feather duster to combat The Beast, nor a candle to battle against an Inferno. I love the way BARRY YORK, Professor of Pastoral Theology and Dean of Faculty at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, put it quoting JAMES ADAMS’ book, War Psalms of the Prince of Peace (2016).

“James Adams warns about what he calls ‘Evangelical Plastic Surgeons.’ According to Adams, these surgeons are ministers and churches that are afraid to pray for Judgment against the Enemies of God, and especially to use such prayers like these that are expressed in the Psalms. Adams cites several references of Evangelical authors who have what should be considered less than Orthodox views regarding such prayers.” – “Why the Church Needs to Pray Imprecatory Psalms,” Gentle Reformation, Jan. 14, 2019; edited

Finally, DR. JOHN W. TWEEEDALE holds forth in this regard as Academic Dean and Professor of Theology at Reformation Bible College in his article titled, “Can I Pray Imprecatory Prayers?” (Table Talk Magazine, Mar. 2019; edited). He gives us the ‘HOW’ of necessary Imprecation, beloved, and I want us to take a few pages from his manual.

LAMENTATION. “An Imprecatory Psalm is a type of ‘Lament.’ In Hebrew Wisdom Literature, Lament Psalms are the individual and corporate cries of God’s people. The Imprecatory Psalms in particular vocalize Israel’s tears in the face of injustice and suffering. By praying down the Curse of God on His Enemies, Israel sought to hold up the goodness of God’s Law for His people.”

AUTHORITY. “At root, an Imprecatory Psalm is an invocation of ‘Divine Cursing.’ Examples of these imprecations include Psalms 5, 6, 35, 69, and 109, all of which are cited in the New Testament. Curse Pronouncements are interspersed throughout the Biblical Canon. For example, Jesus calls down Woes of Judgment on Religious Leaders in Matthew 23 [“Hypocrites! Blind guides! Whitewashed tombs! Serpents, brood of vipers!”]. Paul pronounces an ‘anathema’ on anyone who preaches ‘Another Gospel’ in Galatians 1:8–9. And the Martyrs in Heaven petition God to avenge their blood in Revelation 6:10.”

PURPOSE. “The consistent witness of Scripture affirms the legitimacy of God’s people making use of Imprecatory Prayers in their individual, family, and corporate prayers. Underlying this assertion is a basic assumption that the prayers of God’s people should be rooted in all of Scripture. The Psalter is God’s Divinely inspired Prayer Book and Hymnal. It gives us the Language of Petition and Praise. The Imprecatory Psalms help give shape to the ‘Hurt and Outrage’ that the people of God at times experience in a world desecrated by sin.”

CHRISTOCENTRISM. “‘To pray the Imprecatory Psalms is ultimately to pray as Jesus taught us to pray.’ As Christians, we long for God’s Kingdom to come. We yearn for His Will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Praying the Imprecatory Psalms is not a call to arms but a Call to Faith! We lift our voices, not our swords, as we pray for God either to Convert or Curse the Enemies of Christ and His Kingdom.”

FIRST CHURCH OF POLITENESS. I have unapologetically labored to make hash of the insipidity of today’s Christian obsession with what I consider to be a ‘Suffocating, Surface Niceness.’ “Suffocating” because it splashes cold, cowardly water all over the real Fire of Gospel Truth. “Surface” because of its timorous safeness, taking all measure to not challenge the congregation with anything uncomfortable.

On that note I conclude with a few comments from Reform Presbyterian pastor and theologian TODD PRUITT who takes direct aim at the False Teachers who the Church either ignores or vastly worse, dares to welcome many of them into their Pulpits!

“Many Christians today are greatly concerned about the rising influences of Communism, Humanism, Secularism, and Social Injustice [c. 2011]. ‘Yet those evils, great as they are, do not together pose the threat to Christianity that False Shepherds and Pastors do.’ Throughout the History of Redemption, the greatest threat to God’s truth and God’s work has been False Prophets and Teachers, because they propose to speak in His Name. That is why the Lord’s most scathing denunciations were reserved for the False Teachers of Israel, ‘who claimed to speak and act for God but were Liars!’

Yet for [several dark] reasons, Evangelical Christianity is often hesitant to confront False Teachers with the seriousness and severity that Jesus and the Apostles did, and that the godly Prophets before them had done. Today, more than at any time in modern history and perhaps more than at any time in the history of the Church, Pagan Religions and Cults are seriously encroaching on societies that for centuries have been nominally Christian. Even within the Church, many ideas, teachings, and philosophies that are little more than thinly veiled Paganism have become popular and influential.

As in ancient Israel, the further God’s people move away from the Foundation of His Word, the more False Religion flourishes in the world and even in their own midst. At no time have Christians had greater need to be discerning. ‘They need to recognize and respect true Godly Shepherds who feed them God’s Word and build them up in the [unabridged] Faith, and they also must recognize and denounce those who twist and undermine God’s Word, who corrupt the church and who lead lost people still further away from God’s truth and from salvation.’” – “Jesus Was Not Polite to False Teachers,” Reformation 21, July 1, 2011; edited

CODA. I would be unforgivably remiss if I did not close with our Spiritual Template, JOHN THE BAPTIST, who came in the Spirit of Elijah to preach to his generation, as we must begin to preach to this tragically lost generation of the Last Times.

In those days there appeared John the Baptist, preaching in the Wilderness (Desert) of Judea, and saying, ‘REPENT (think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness (shouting in the desert), Prepare the road for the Lord, make His highways straight (level, direct).’” – MATTHEW 3:1-3, AMPC

We desperately need such Godly Shepherds, beloved, for God to “Raise them up, Lord, raise them up!” as the dear Miss Clara prayed it in the movie, War Room (2015). And the Last Days Confessing Remnant Church shouted at the very top of their Imprecatory Lungs:

‘Yes, Lord! Raise them up, Lord! Lest we perish from the face of the whole Earth in abject shame!’

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/3XhenRkdzsM