There are thee pertinent Bible verses that come to mind:
Knowledge
Ignorance of the law in court is no excuse. Ignorance of how a piece of machinery works,
if we try to repair it can result in an injury or fatality. Yet why do people
think that ignorance of the word of God will still build a strong church or
ministry? Christian education in a
church is just as important as preaching the gospel and winning people to
God! Soldiers are given basic training, then
advanced training for their military occupation. If the Church is an Army, we should be
involved in spiritual combat training as well.
I’ve heard much talk from churches but little action!
I agree that a good portion of this combat is prayer.
After all, the above
mentioned scripture says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood (Ephesians
6:12)! The Bible doesn’t mince words
when Paul told Timothy to “Study to shew thyself approved” or Paul told the Thessalonian church to
“Study to be quiet” nor Solomon who
stated “A wise man studieth to answer”
our words and actions must be chosen both prayerfully and carefully!
A biblical church should be a church that teaches sound
doctrine. The doctrine should also be
backed up with actions to prove it as well! Moses commanded the Israelites to teach their
children the precepts of God. To this
day in Jewish tradition, they will read a specific passage from the Bible that
asks and narrates the reason behind the Passover that it may be learned and
remembered! There are other activities, but this one comes to mind the
most: Do this, and REMEMBER why you are
doing it!
Vision
Please note on the second point that, unlike many who quote
this verse (Proverbs 29:18) I have included the entire rendering. Mainly due to this reason: A vision of God and what he expects of us
requires knowing the word of God. God doesn’t
operate outside of his word (Bible). The
more we have on the inside through prayer and study, (once again humbly I say
this, and within reason, because God can do anything) the more God can use our
faculties. I say this very carefully,
because the Book of Numbers tells us that God used a Donkey to speak to an
unwilling prophet (Numbers 22:28). This
is a good lesson to remember on humility.
Even with this illustration, it does not mean a soldier can neglect his
training to be ready for battle!
Soldiers are given orders to “Take that hill” or “Hold this position” or
something else depending on the situation.
A church that supports missions, has a defined community outreach and
objectives to meet that end, is evidence that they are doing something!
Battle Gear
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| No matter what age, soldiers must be dressed and trained for battle! |
Lastly, if we are soldiers, we must wear all of our
spiritual armor. I call to your
attention the various photos of soldiers in Iraq, who wore their helmets, flack
vests and goggles. They were trained and
dressed for offensive combat and defensive protection. In the scripture, the allusion is to a Roman
soldier in battle gear. The first items
of armor (Verses 14-17) are concerned with having our vitals protected (breast
plate, loins, helmet, shield) . The
helmet of salvation is on our head – where our brain is, concerns mental
protection as well as the shield of faith.
Any firey darts (or arrows) can be deflected if our shielding is ready. The Fifth is having our feet shod with the
preparation of the Gospel. This goes
back to education and training! Armies
have always depended on marching on their feet.
How do we know the gospel if we only hear it once? The offensive weapons are prayer and the Word
of God. Many times, we hear the word of
God is likened to a sword, that cuts very fine.
My experience is that people want to use this sword like a club and
eventually become seriously injured. In
other words, they step on their tongue or are caught in hypocrisy or
scandal. This was all from using the
word of God as a bludgeon rather than a sword!
My point is simply this: Preparation and training does not
waste time or energy!
A Biblical church has a mission and
diversifies it’s resources to be effective on all fronts!
Sincerely
Your Brother in Christ
And Senpai in Karate
先輩
