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readingbank-blog · 5 years

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The Business of War Is to Take New Territories to Take Things by Force and to Defend Yourself

Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: BEGIN TO POSSESS IT, AND CONTEND WITH HIM IN BATTLE.

Deuteronomy 2:24

1. The business of war is to take new territories.

Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; NOW THEREFORE ARISE, GO OVER THIS JORDAN, THOU, AND ALL THIS PEOPLE, UNTO THE LAND WHICH I DO GIVE TO THEM, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

Joshua 1:1-4

After the death of Moses, Joshua was commanded to take new territories for God. God is always telling His people to take new territories and advance into new areas. On many occasions, I have sensed the Lord leading me into new territories. It has always been a fight to take new territories. It is more difficult to take new territories than to simply enjoy the territories you already occupy.

If you want to have new territories, you have to fight a good fight! The lands on the earth are heavily guarded. No one gives up his land easily. The devil does not give up territory without a fight. Any form of expansion in your ministry will involve fighting a good fight. God has called us to take territories for Him.

We are to invade the enemy’s kingdom and claim territories and cities for Him. This will not be done by calm, sleepy, sing-song Christians who just want to stay in one place and have nice worship times. It is nice to worship and sing songs of praise. But taking new territories is a completely different business. The business of war is the business of taking new territories.

Once the anointing for expansion is on your life, you will be taking new territories and you will always be in one battle or another. That is the meaning of war! It is the fight to take new territories!

2. The business of war is to take things by force.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven SUFFERETH VIOLENCE, and the violent take it by force.

Matthew 11:12

We must fight because some things are not given to us unless we take them by force. You must fight to overcome the resistance and the opposition to your goals. “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” (1 Peter 5:8-9). The devil is called an adversary. This means he opposes your vision.

There are evil spirits as well as human beings who are intent on preventing you from accomplishing your aims. If your aims are fulfilled it may be harmful or detrimental to them. If you have an aim to win the lost, it will harm the devil. Satan will be negatively affected by your goal and he will decide to oppose you and make things difficult for you.

David wanted a headquarters for his ministry. He identified Jerusalem as a good place but the Jebusites who lived there decided to oppose David’s new idea. King David launched a new war and crushed them, taking Jebus by force. That very spot which David took by force is called Jerusalem today. Jerusalem was not handed to David on a silver platter. David had to fight for every inch of Jerusalem. Your ministry will not be handed to you on a silver platter. You are going to have to fight for every inch of it. There are Jebusites who are going to say to you, “Thou shalt not come hither.” You will not come here. We will fight you if you try to come!

And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.

And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, THOU SHALT NOT COME HITHER. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David.

And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief. And David dwelt in the castle; therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city round about, even from Millo round about: and Joab repaired the rest of the city.

1 Chronicles 11:4-8

3. The business of war is to defend yourself.

The thief cometh not, but for TO STEAL, and TO KILL, and TO DESTROY…

John 10:10

There is a thief readying himself to steal, to kill and to destroy all that God has given you. We must fight to defend ourselves from aggressors who surprise us by launching attacks and wars against us. An enemy has come up against us to destroy all that we are and all that we have. We must fight because evil aggressors will come against us without any good cause. There are always aggressive people who attack good people for no good reason.

When Adolf Hitler decided to invade Europe, many countries simply succumbed to his wishes, but there were some who refused to allow Hitler to have his way. Winston Churchill was one of those people.

Winston Churchill Vows to Defend His Island

He said, “We shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. That is the resolve of his majesty’s government – every man of them. That is the will of parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous states have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender. And even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry on the struggle until, in God’s good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

Defend the Church

We, as ministers of the gospel, must defend the churches we are building. The enemy will rise up to destroy what God has used you to do. If you sit down calmly thinking that nothing bad can happen to the good work you have done, you are but a child. You will be attacked! The church will be attacked! Satan will fight to destroy all your fruits! He will come against the church using distinguished men in suits! Satan has no gentle plans for God’s church. He is a wicked, merciless, heartless being!

You will have to put on your army uniform and fight hard to defend what God is doing. Once you build the church you must rise up and defend it against those who leave you, those who forget, those who pretend, those who are disloyal, those who are dangerous sons, those who are ignorant and those who accuse you.

When it is time for war, gentle, friendly, childlike attitudes will not help. It is time to mature and understand that Christians do have to fight to defend God’s church. Today, homosexuality is invading the church. A strong stand is necessary to reject the perversion and destruction of the entire body of Christ. Today, a new attitude of prosperity, instead of salvation and soul winning is invading the church and weakening it. It is time to rise and defend the church against secularism and unspiritual teachings. It is time to defend the church from turning into an unspiritual “centre for motivational speeches”.

The main mission of the Holy Spirit is to inspire us for soul winning. “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). That is why the Holy Spirit has been given! The main mission of the church is to win souls under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Today, the main mission of the church is to be happy, to be prosperous, to be excited and to stay in the safest, nicest cities of the world. Churches do not care much about the lost and dying people in this world. There is an invasion of an evil secular spirit. The church is under attack. It is time to defend the church against the spirit of the world. The spirit of the world is intent on destroying the mission of the Holy Spirit. It is time to rebuke the false, lukewarm spirit of the world that is destroying the church.

by Dag Heward-Mills

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