I WILL PUT ENMITY - Daily Devotional - Tuesday, February 28, 2012

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY, 26, 2012

Colossians 1:20  “...it shall bruise thy head…

Prophetic references to the cross will be our focus for the next several reflections.

SCRIPTURE READING: GENESIS:3:15

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

REFLECTION: Moments after he lured, deceived, and ensnared Eve, the serpent was sentenced—“the seed of a woman will crush your head!”  Too often we point to Eve’s tragic choice and fail to observe that it was a descendant of Eve’s—born of a virgin—without the involvement of any man, who would conquer that old serpent the devil. (Revelation 12:19; 20:2). 

That final conquest would not be painless.  Indeed the serpent would wound and kill his destroyer. But “death could not hold him prey, Jesus my Savior!  He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!” (He Arose, by Robert Lowry).

The enmity, or hostility that exists between Satan and the Savior can never be resolved by negotiation, accommodation, or compromise.  “What communion hath light with darkness? What agreement has Christ with beliel?” (2 Corinthians 6:15,16).  Some moderns have proposed that unity at any price is preferable to calling our enemy and his impish allies by name and engaging them in battle.   But there is an enmity between Satan’s seed and Christ’s that can never be resolved. Failure to acknowledge and accent that difference is the genesis of compromise.

John the Beloved tells us, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”  (1 John 3:8).  What Christ came to do, He did!  His sacrifice expunges the guilt of sin, defeats the authority of sin, delivers from the power of sin, sanctifies us from the nature of sin, protects us when enticed to sin, and saves us from the penalty of sin.

But there is more.  We who are born of God, having His seed within us (1 John 3:9), will like our Christ be bruised through persecution and temptation. Yet through it all, we can rejoice that the power to triumph over every solicitation of Satan is ours through our conquering Savior.  “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37). 

PRAYER: Our Gracious Heavenly Father, With the Apostle we say, “Thanks be unto God, for His unspeakable Gift!”  To know that from the very foundation of the world you were making provision for the redemption of fallen man is wonderful evidence of your great love for us.  Open our eyes to see our enemy, to recognize his subtle as well as his straight-on attacks, and to appreciate our conquering Savior.  Forgive us for yielding to the allure of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Our heart’s desire is to be wholly and holy on the Lord’s side.  Savior we are Thine!  May all that we say and do this day bring glory to the Savior in whose name we pray. Amen.  Our Father &c.

WAR A GOOD WARFARE

Nearly everyday I hear from Pastors and Christian leaders who are discouraged, disheartened, and disillusioned by the cultural and moral disintegration we are watching around us. Prophets and pundits agree--the Church of Jesus Christ and the civilization built upon the Christian ethic is under an all out assault by the world, the flesh, and devil. But what are we to do at a time like this?

It is our abiding conviction that as the Church has lost her confidence in the Truth of God's Word--written and incarnate, and as the Church has sought after the Spirit of the Age rather than the Spirit of the Ages—that Holy Spirit of the Living God, she has been rendered incompetent and incapable of meeting the challenge of this hour.

Some have suggested that the Church should surrender some or most of the territory she once claimed for Christ. Others have called for the Church to retreat into support groups. Most have been so intimidated by the onslaught that they have decided to do nothing.

There is a way forward! There is a way for the Church to regain her footing, engage the enemy, and prevail against the gates of hell.

Rather than thinking of the Church as a social club, or a support group, or a political organization, or the greatest show on earth, we must be THE CHURCH MILITANT! Ours is a holy Crusade for Christ. (Not a “CRU” but a CRUSADE FOR CHRIST).

Think of the hymns we sang when the Church was claiming territory for Christ:

ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS

A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD

AM I A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS?

I’LL BE A SOLDIER FOR JESUS

THE FIGHT IS ON

SOLDIERS OF IMMANUEL

STAND UP FOR JESUS

SOLDIERS OF CHRIST ARISE

How different from the hymns of this namby pamby, sissified, effete form of godliness that presents itself as the Church today. No fight. No blood. No victory.

The inspired Apostle Paul urged Timothy, “WAR A GOOD WARFARE!” Tragically the modern church has lost her fight—and that’s why we’re losing the battle.

IF THE CHURCH MILITANT IS TO ENGAGE AND PREVAIL in this battle for souls, we need enlistments who will 1) Accept the discipline, 2) Put on the uniform, 3) March to the distinct sound of heaven, 4) Engage the enemy together, and 5) Protect the flag, at any and all costs.

1. ACCEPT THE DISCIPLINE!

“Oh Sergeant, that’s so legalistic!” One can only imagine the fate of a Marine enlistment who blurted out such a complaint to his drill sergeant. Yet today most of those in the Church refuse to accept the disciplines of Christ. Some are so adroit at explaining away their lack of discipline they have made a virtue out of lawlessness. “Sin boldly that grace may abound.” How tragic.
It’s no wonder the world refuses righteousness—the professing Church herself absolutely will not yield to the law, the disciplines of Godliness. We’re not calling for legalism, we’re calling for legality! All who love God love God’s law. If we do not love God’s law, we do not love God.

We simply cannot prevail so long as everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes. WE NEED DISCIPLINE.

2. PUT ON THE UNIFORM!

“Commander, do I have to wear that? I feel more comfortable in my street clothes," the recruit complains.

Refusing to wear the uniform is grounds for expulsion from the armed forces. Inattention to the details of the uniform is grounds for discipline.
Just as soldiers wear the uniform that is proper and appropriate for their unit, we who are a part of the CHURCH MILITANT must wear what God’s Word directs. It must be gender specific ( “A man shall not wear that which pertains unto a woman, and a woman shall not wear that which pertains to a man”), it must be modest (“with modest apparel”), and it must not engender pride (“not with gold, or pearls, or costly array”).

One of the great joys of God’s people is to wear the uniform that God Himself has prescribed! I love to be identified as a soldier of the Cross. God’s people look different, smell different, act different, and sound different from the world. HALLELUJAH! WE ARE DIFFERENT!

3. MARCH TO THE BEAT OF ANOTHER DRUMMER

The Church Militant will never prevail so long as we are marching to the sensual, carnal, beat of the night-club. Our music should be as distinct from the world as the light is from night. We are children of the Light!

Why is it that Churches don’t want to look like churches, sound like churches, or act like churches? Maybe it’s because their cushioned chairs are filled with people who aren’t churches.

My father used to tell the story of the little guy who gave his heart to Jesus on Sunday and went to school the next week. When his friends tried to get him to join them in doing something wrong he stood up and said, “Oh I can’t do that, I’m a church!

You know the word “Church” means “called out ones.” The reason so many don’t want to look, and sound, and act “called out,” is because they have not been “called out!”

Whoever it was that convinced us that to gain adherents, and to advance the cause of holiness and righteousness, we needed to look and sound like the world, has surely made a mockery of the professing Church. Compromise with the world and the flesh and the devil never has, and never will grow the Church.

4. ENGAGE THE ENEMY TOGETHER!

In his soon to be released book, WHAT IS IT LIKE TO GO TO WAR,” award winning Marine Karl Marlantes writes of the transcendent force of “WE” on the battlefield. He wrote of a key battle fought on a hill in Vietnam. Under fierce assault from the North Vietnamese, Lieutenant Marlantes and his forces called for a helicopter to assist. The chopper crashed in a hail of enemy fire. He writes,

“Knowing for sure that the chopper crew were dead for sure if we didn’t break through to them, we simply rushed forward to reach them before the NVA [North Vietnamese Army] killed them. No one gave an order. We, the group, just rushed forward all at once. We couldn’t be stopped. Just individuals among us were stopped. Many forever. But we couldn’t be. This too, is a form of transcendence. I was we, no longer me.”

As I read the account a rush of emotion flooded my heart. I couldn’t help but think how great it would be if the Church Militant could act so today. In His High Priestly prayer Jesus prayed for us, “Sanctify them…I in them, and thou in me that they, that they may be made perfect in one.” (John 17:17ff).
If the “I” of self-interest, self-promotion, and self-will, would be sanctified out of our hearts—If we would abandon our plans, our ambitions, our wishes, for the cause of Christ—then we would unleash a purifying, and sanctifying force like no other known to man.

5. FINALLY, PROTECT THE FLAG AT ANY AND ALL COSTS

For generations Americans have been inspired by the photograph of American marines raising Old Glory at Iwo Jima. Warriors know that when the flag is raised, it is a declaration of victory for all to see. This territory has been won.

Too often the only flag the professing Church has been raising is the white flag of surrender. We have surrendered our faith in the infallible inspired Word of God. We have surrendered our Lord’s teaching on the permanence of marriage—“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife,…what therefore God has joined together let not man put asunder.” (Mark 10:7ff). We have surrendered up heart holiness. We have surrendered up the holy life.

Surrender has left us powerless, purposeless, and people-less!

It is high time that the Church Militant rise up to champion the cause of Christ! It is time that the Church militant face the enemy squarely, and boldly stand for righteousness and holiness.

CONCLUSION:

The Apostle Paul gave his son in the Gospel “A Charge to Keep!” “War a good warfare!” he urged. Let the Church be the Church! If we will, We have Christ’s promise, “The gates of Hell will not prevail against us.”

A charge to keep I have,

A God to glorify,

A never-dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.


To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill:
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master’s will!


Arm me with jealous care,
As in Thy sight to live;
And O Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!


Help me to watch and pray,

And on Thyself rely,

Assured, if I my trust betray,

I shall for ever die.

Charles Wesley

FROM COMPROMISE TO TRAGEDY

On the outskirts of a midwestern college town near a settlement of needy souls there once was a Gospel Mission. Their white clapboard building had no indoor plumbing. Their piano was out of tune. Yet every Sunday about 25 children would walk to the Mission to hear the dear Salvationist (She was an officer in the Salvation Army) tell the story of the cross. Though her husband had unexpectedly died many years before, she was a Mother to the scores of children she loved and brought to the Savior. Usually 5 or 10 people would stay after Sunday School for a worship service.

The year John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, a young Nazarene pastor and his family were led by God to move from Kansas and lead the fledgling mission. Though the young pastor’s stamina was diminished by heart disease, he prayerfully and faithfully set out to knock on every door in the settlement.

Those who came to the mission heard the Word of God, were touched by the presence of God’s Spirit, and they were changed by the power of God’s love. Many were saved. Within a year the mission grew to a record attendance of 100.

It was by divine appointment that the young pastor found himself calling along a nearby country road inviting a retired farmer and his wife to attend the mission. “No” they said, “we are moving.” Seizing the moment, the young pastor asked, “Have you sold your house and acreage?” Within a few hours a contract was written and signed. The four acres were located only a mile from the Mission.

The Pastor gave the house and the land to the Mission. The hardworking craftsmen of the Mission set out to build a new church. Clarence, Dave, Russ, Bob, and Ken were all there, along with their sons, and other volunteers. The new church would be called Faith Church. In less than a year the congregation moved into their new building. And God’s presence hallowed that first service.

As the congregation continued to grow, the young Pastor and his people were tested and tried—but their allegiance to God’s Word, and their determination to be holy and wholly God’s did not wane. Time after time God blessed! God supplied their needs! Souls were saved. Young people were called into the ministry.

Within 7 years the church outgrew their building. A new auditorium was planned and built, debt-free! The lovely colonial style building would seat 500. The first Sunday in the new building was thrilling. God again met with His people. Shouts of victory rang out in the services.

But only weeks after moving into the new auditorium the Pastor and his people were confronted with a life changing choice. Should they follow the lead of their denomination and compromise their stand against divorce and remarriage? Or should they lovingly insist that “what God has joined together let not man put asunder.” (Matthew 19:6). Unwilling to change, the 40 year old Pastor resigned from the church and moved out of the parsonage.

The Church remained connected with the denomination and over the next twenty years called several pastors. The congregation struggled. Anxious to separate themselves from their former Pastor someone sawed his name off the cornerstone.

Some suggested that more contemporary music might help so the church brought in drums and electric guitars to replace the organ.

Others thought that the church could better attract young people with more entertainment. It was decided that the 500 seat auditorium should be transformed into a giant game room. The lovely colonial pews were taken up and stacked in the back of the building. Pool tables were moved onto the platform area. Air hockey tables and basketball hoops were added. A speaker system that would accommodate a heavy beat was added. And a snack bar window was added next to what had been the baptistry.

But programs and entertainments were no substitute for the presence of God that had once hallowed that place. Compromise led only to more compromise. There was no difference between the sacred and the secular. Finally the church was closed.

If only that were the end of this sad story: The vacant church was offered for sale. For months the building sat empty until recently the Church of Nazarene sold it to a Muslim group to be used as an Islamic center.

Now compromise has turned defeat into tragedy.

…Where once Christ was praised as King, today He is acknowledged as merely a prophet.
…Where once the Word of God was preached with clarity and power, today the dangerous and deceptive words of the Koran are honored.
…Where once the Holy Spirit moved with convicting, converting, and sanctifying power, today the spirit of anti-Christ prevails.
…Where once the Love of God was evident, today the hatred of Mohammed is praised.

Christians, let us never forget the lessons of this true account. Let us never compromise in the slightest way with the world, the flesh, or with the devil. Let us resolve to walk in holiness and righteousness. Let us pray that God will forgive us for the error of our ways, for making the slightest accommodations for sin, and for being more seeker-sensitive than Spirit-sensitive!

O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years
make known; in wrath remember mercy. O Habakkuk 3:2