As believers in Christ, we are members of the Body of Christ, the church, and we are both the loving bride of Christ and the warring church, the church who fights the battle against the enemy to defeat him and stand in the victory of Christ.
The church as the bride of Christ must be a warrior to defeat God’s enemy; on one hand the church is the bride of Christ loving Christ and pursuing Christ, and on the other, the church is a warring church, a church that fights against God’s enemy to apply the victory of Christ to him.
When people speak of love nowadays they rarely put love and war together, but in the spiritual realm, whatever and whomever we love, that’s what / for whom we fight for.
True lovers are fighters; when we love the Lord with all our heart, when we pursue Him out of love and are being transformed inwardly and conformed outwardly to His image, we will care for what He cares, and we will fight for His interest on the earth.
But if we love the world and the things in the world, the things of Christ will not be real to us but rather, they will be something that we enjoy and later forget about.
Love for the world is enmity with God, and loving God causes us to stand against the world and the things in the world. If we love the Lord, we will not love the world and the things in the world; rather, we will be one spirit with the Lord to fight for His interest on the earth.
Fighting for the Lord’s interest is not something we do individually; this is a corporate matter, and only in the Body can we experience putting on the whole armor of God to stand against the attacks of the enemy.
What the Lord is after is not individual super-Christians and prayer warriors; He wants the whole church to rise up and be built up together, put on the whole armor of God, and stand to defeat the enemy with all his attacks.
Spiritual warfare is a matter of the Body, not an individual matter; the church is a corporate entity to fight the battle against God’s enemy – the church is a warring church, a corporate people standing for God on earth.
And at the end of this age, Christ will come as a fighting General with His bride as His army to fight against the man of lawlessness, Antichrist with his armies, at Armageddon; at that time, the overcomers will return with Christ to defeat this evil one and bring in the kingdom of God.
Our aspiration today is to be part of the bride of Christ, the warring church, to defeat the enemy of God while we love Christ, pursue Christ, are transformed in His image, and are built up together in Him!
The Built-up Church is Both Lovely to the Lord and a Warring Church to Terrify and Defeat the Enemy
On one hand we as believers in Christ possess the heavenly life and nature of Christ; on the other hand, we also possess a warring nature to fight against God’s enemy.
Therefore, on one hand we need to enjoy the Lord, love Him, and grow in the divine life, and on the other hand, we need to be a warring church to terrify and defeat the enemy in the Lord.
On one hand we need to be lovely to the Lord, beautiful and lovely before Him as a holy city, and on the other, we need to be terrible to the enemy. However, many believers today have lost both their loveliness before the Lord and their terribleness before the enemy.
The Lord Himself is lovely and wonderful to those who love Him and pursue Him, but at the same time He is terrible in His holiness to His enemies.
If we remain in our mingled spirit and maintain our holiness and victory, we will see the enemy retreating and the world standing back; at the same time, the Lord becomes more near and lovely, and the enemy is retreating.
As the bride of Christ, the church has a future that is full of hope and a life that is absolutely heavenly; at the same time, the church is a victor who constantly triumphs in her victory (Song of Songs 3:7-8).
When we as the church are built up together and stand in the Lord’s victory, we are as terrible as an army with banners before the enemy; this means that the overcomers built up in the church and as the church terrify God’s enemy, Satan, and become terrible in the eyes of the enemy.
The Lord wants to gain such an army, a warring church to terrify the enemy and defeat him, putting him to shame. May we be those who answer the Lord’s call today to overcome the degradation of the church and be the overcomers of today.
Are we filled with this hope for such a heavenly life, hoping to be victorious and triumphant in Him, with Him, through Him, and along with Him? Do we hope to be in that army and be part of that bride?
Do we have such a longing and desire to be part of the church that is lovely to the Lord and terrible to the enemy? Do we see that Christ has a need for such a bridal army to crush the Antichrist and bring in a new age – the age of the kingdom?
Are we looking forward to such a future with our Husband?
The enemy is frightened by the church that is built up as the city of God (Neh. 6:15-16; Psa. 102:12-16). However, Satan is not afraid of individualistic Christians – even if they number by the thousands; he is terrified of the church as the Body of Christ, the corporate warrior fighting against him and his kingdom (Eph. 6:10-20).
Praise the Lord for the church, the Body of Christ, the corporate warrior! Such a one, such a warring church, will send the dragon, the Antichrist, and the false prophet, to the lake of fire!
Will we do that? Are we ready to do this? Do we have the love in us to do that?
When we say, Lord Jesus, we love You! – we need to have such a hope and be such a warring church, one with the church, built up with the church, never leaving the church, but always remaining in the church and being built up in the church so that we can win this battle and be triumphant!
Lord Jesus, we love You! We are filled with hope, Lord, that You will transform us and make us the same as You are, even one with You as Your bride, so that we may be the warring church fighting for Your interest on earth! Amen, Lord Jesus, we believe that You will bring us into a life and living that is absolutely heavenly and You will make us a corporate victor who constantly triumphs in Your victory alongside with You! This is our hope, our longing, and our desire, that You will gain us and many others as Your bridal army who is lovely to You and terrible to the enemy!
The Warring Christ needs a Warring Church to Match Him and Defeat His Enemy to bring in God’s Kingdom
A very good type of Christ and the church fighting the spiritual warfare together is with David and Abigail in 1 Sam. 25; David typifies the warring Christ in the midst of sufferings, and Abigail typifies the warring church in the midst of sufferings.
From 1 Sam. 25 and onward, Abigail was always at the side of David the warrior and she followed him in his wars. Abigail’s marriage to David typifies the church enlisted as an army for warfare (see Eph. 6:10-20).
Abigail typifies the warring church, the church fighting for God’s kingdom in the midst of sufferings (see Rev. 1:9; 11:15; 12:10). The type of Abigail in the Old Testament portrays the church’s participation with the Lord Jesus in spiritual warfare.
God created man in His image and according to His likeness for man corporately to fulfill His purpose and defeat His enemy.
On one hand, God’s eternal purpose must be fulfilled and the desire of His heart must be satisfied; for this, the church needs to have the element of Christ increased and expressed. On the other hand, God’s enemy must be defeated; for this, the church must be a warrior.
Spiritual warfare is not an option; we cannot “choose to express God but refuse to fight”, because spiritual warfare is a must. Spiritual warfare is necessary because Satan’s will is set against God’s will (see Matt. 6:10; 7:21; Isa. 14:12-14).
In this universe there are three wills: the divine uncreated will, the satanic will (which rises up against God’s will), and the human will.
We have a free will, but we are many times deceived or coerced to choose the satanic will. God is too great to force us to do anything; He only comes to us to reveal His heart to us, and He regenerates us to make us the church.
As the church, we need to align our will with God’s will. Spiritual warfare has its source in the conflict between the divine will and the satanic will; Satan rebelled against God and has a will to be like God, and we as men made in the image of God have a will to choose God and be one with God.
However, we need to willingly choose God and His will. As the church, our fighting is to subdue the satanic will and to defeat God’s enemy (Rev. 12:11).
The purpose of spiritual warfare is to bring in the kingdom of God, and as the church we need to choose God’s will and stand with His will on earth.
As the Lord Jesus instructed us, our prayer should be, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.
As we seek the Lord, enjoy Him, follow Him, pursue Him, and remain in His presence, there’s a fighting going on.
On one hand we need to walk according to truth and by grace, we need to live in love and light, and we need to be the warring church fighting to subdue the satanic will.
Lord Jesus, may Your kingdom come and may Your will be done on earth as it is in the heaven! May You gain us as a warring church who chooses Your will and agrees with Your will to be done on earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, we love You and we love Your economy. We stand with You on earth for Your will to be done. Even in sufferings, Lord, we want to be one with You to fight for Your kingdom, even as You are fighting to subdue Your enemy. May You gain the church as a corporate warrior to fight one with You for Your kingdom to come and Your enemy to be defeated!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 213-215, 218 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 4, The Lord’s Jealousy over the Church as His Wife.
- Hymns on this topic:
# An army terrible with banners / Christ’s lovers overcome to be. / Those attracted by His beauty, / Fully trusting in His power. / Her romance is now the dances of two camps. (Song on, Lovers of Christ)
# As a member of the Body, / With the brethren stand for God; / Praying always in the Spirit, / Claim the vict’ry through the Blood. / In the heav’nlies more than conqu’ror, / In the power of His might, / As a soldier in the army, / In the Lord the battle fight. (Hymns #885)
# Who then will forward go / Strong in His mighty power? / Who then will firmly trust the Lord / Until the vict’ry hour; / Till with the conqu’rors blest, / The triumph song’s begun? / That man will then rejoice to hear, / Behold, I quickly come! (Hymns #893)
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