We need to realize the necessity of spiritual warfare for us as God’s people to possess Christ as the good land for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
This week we come to the last great crystal in the book of Numbers, The Necessity of Spiritual Warfare and God’s People being Formed into an Army Ready for Battle, as seen in Num. 21, 27, and 31.
The history of the children of Israel in their being delivered out of Egypt, crossing the Red Sea, passing through the wilderness, building the tabernacle and having God’s leading, arriving at the Jordan River, crossing the River, fighting the battle to gain the good land, dividing the good land, living and dwelling in the land, and building up the temple of God and the city of God in the good land, all these are a type of our spiritual experience as the church.
And in particular as we come to the book of Numbers, we see a lot of important principles in our spiritual life and church life, including the fact that God has allotted us – the believers in Christ – a portion of the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land.
Hallelujah, Christ as the good land is in front of us, we all have a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light, and we need to go up at once and possess the land!
However, as we are on our journey to possess the good land, there are many obstacles, problems, issues, and things that hinder us and therefore have to be dealt with.
First we need to deal with our personal choice and preference and put it to death, allowing God to have His choice and give us the portion He wants to give us of the good land.
We need to know authority, deal with rebellion, and learn to be a proper representative of God, learning from the lesson of Moses how not to fail to represent God.
Our earnest desire as God’s people should be that both us and all of God’s people would prophesy, that is, speak for God and speak forth God for the building up of the church. We need to find, follow, and gain Christ as the Star out of Jacob; this will produce us to be the living stars in this dark age today.
And as we have seen last week, we need to see the vision of the All-sufficient One – the divine view of God’s people.
When we see that the All-sufficient One is the One who called us and brought us on the path of the Christian life and the church life, our eyes will be enlightened to view our fellow believers the same way that He views the, as people full of life and light living a heavenly life on earth.
This week we want to focus on seeing the necessity of spiritual warfare and God’s people being formed into an army ready for battle, so that we may enter into the good land take possession of it.
Realising the Necessity of Spiritual Warfare and Standing with God’s Will on Earth today
In this universe there is a spiritual warfare going on, which has its source in the conflict between the two great wills – the divine will and the satanic will.
In this universe there are three wills: the divine will (the uncreated, self-existing, creating will), the satanic will (the selfish will, the evil will, the rebellious will), and the human will.
The book of Numbers shows us how God is preparing and forming an army to enter into the good land and possess it; there is the necessity of spiritual warfare in order for us as the church to enter into the possession of Christ as the good land.
For us to know how the church can be God’s warrior to engage in spiritual warfare, we need to realize that there are three wills, three intentions in this universe. God’s will is the self-existing, eternal, uncreated will; His will is perfect, and according to His will all things were and were created.
The angels, as created beings, also have a will; one of these angels rebelled against God.
Satan is an archangel created by God and appointed by Him to rule the universe that existed before the creation of Adam. However, because of his high position and his beauty, this archangel became proud, and this gave rise to an evil intention, which became the satanic will.
Now in the universe there is not only God’s will but also Satan’s will, the satanic intention, which rebels against God and His will, being set against God’s will.
This is the main reason there are conflicts, wars, and contradictions in this world – it is because the satanic will rose up to contradict the divine will. The controversy in the universe began with the rebellion of the archangel against God and therefore became the satanic will.
Because God is great, when He created man He gave him free choice so that man would choose God’s will or the satanic will. Yes, God did warn man that if he eats of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he will die, but God allowed man to choose freely.
The crucial matter in the garden of Eden and today is the same: would man choose the divine will or the satanic will?
In the garden of Eden man chose the satanic will, and so man fell; man’s will took sides with the satanic will, and Satan’s will is being carried out temporarily. Man chose – and still is choosing – to follow Satan, siding with the satanic will, and so Satan is victorious temporarily.
But praise the Lord, through repentance man can turn from Satan’s side to God’s side.
When man repents, believes into the Lord Jesus, and is baptised in water, he turns from the satanic will to the divine will. This ushers man into a new realm, the realm of cooperating with God’s will for the defeat and casting out of the enemy.
From the day that we were saved, our Christian life has been a life of warfare. Just as the children of Israel in the wilderness going toward the good land to gain it, so we are on a journey filled with spiritual warfare to gain Christ as the good land.
Our will needs to be on God’s side, choosing God’s will, even praying as the Lord has taught us, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10).
Lord, may Your kingdom come and may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We stand on earth one with Your will, and our will chooses Your will. We repent for living in rebellion toward You, we repudiate any rebellion and satanic will in us, and we choose You and Your will. Amen, Lord, as the church we stand one with You, one with the divine will, so that the kingdom of God may come and increase on earth, and the will of God may be carried out on earth in us and through us as the church!
For us to Possess and Enjoy Christ as the Good Land we must Fight and Defeat the Satanic Forces
Spiritual warfare has its source in the conflict between the satanic will (the created will, the rebellious will) and the divine will (God’s will, the uncreated and eternal will).
Today there is the necessity of spiritual warfare between the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God (see Matt. 6:10; 7:21; 12:26, 28; Isa. 14:12-14).
And we as believers cannot be neutral; our will has to be gained by the Lord to be strong yet flexible, so that we may stand with Him and also stand against the enemy, no matter what he hurls at us.
In the book of Numbers warfare has a specific objective: to deal with the enemy who has usurped the land of Canaan, to make it possible for God’s people to receive their inheritance and begin to enjoy the riches of the land.
There’s a necessity of spiritual warfare so that we as God’s people would deal with Satan, the enemy of God, who has usurped the good land, and to make it possible for us to receive our inheritance and enjoy the riches of the all-inclusive Christ.
The battle today is for the experience and enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land.
Today in the church life we are being prepared by the Lord and formed to be an army to fight for His interest, so that we and all the seeking saints would enter into the experience and enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.
The book of Joshua gives us a clear picture of the spiritual warfare mentioned in Eph. 6. There is a spiritual warfare in the invisible scene behind the visible scene.
Outwardly on earth we see wars, we hear rumors of wars, and we see fighting, struggling, arguing, and debating; behind the scene, however, there is a spiritual war going on, and this war is for us as God’s people to enter into the enjoyment of Christ as the good land.
The heavenlies are full of Satan’s forces, and for us as God’s people to enter into the good land so that we may enjoy the all-inclusive Christ, we must fight and defeat the satanic forces.
This is why today we are fighting the spiritual warfare in the church life, so that we may take possession of the all-inclusive Christ for our enjoyment; for this, we need to defeat the satanic forces.
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery today we are on a battlefield, and we should like today’s Joshua and Caleb, those fighting against Satan’s aerial forces so that we can gain more of Christ for the building up of the church.
It is not so easy to enter into the possession of the all-inclusive Christ as the good land – there’s the necessity of spiritual warfare to enter into our spiritual inheritance.
May the Lord make us today’s Joshua and Caleb, those who fight against Satan’s evil powers to set up and spread the kingdom of God so that Christ can come back and inherit the earth! Amen!
May we learn from Joshua and Caleb to represent God’s interest in this age and fight down the enemies so that Christ can be gained by the people and Christ can be increased by His pursuers (Josh. 5:2 – 6:16)!
Lord Jesus, we want to enter into the enjoyment and experience of the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land. Make us today’s Joshua and Caleb, those who together with the saints fight against Satan’s aerial forces so that we can gain more of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ, setting up and spreading the kingdom of God so that Christ can come back to inherit the earth! Amen, Lord, we fight for ourselves and for all the saints to enter into the enjoyment and experience of the all-inclusive Christ! We want to learn to represent God’s interest in this age to fight down the enemies that Christ can be gained by people and that Christ can be increased by His pursuers! Amen!
Read this article in the Romanian language / citiți acest articol și în limba română la următorul link, Necesitatea războiului spiritual pentru a intra în savurarea lui Cristos.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 63-65 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 12, The Necessity of Spiritual Warfare and God’s People Formed into an Army Ready for Battle.
- Hymns on this topic:
# O Lord, we’ve seen Your purpose to bring the many sons / To share in Your full glory and see Your kingdom come. / We praise You, Lord, this glory is You, Yourself within, / Spread out in all Your people to shine in all of them…. / Then, Lord, at last the fighting and battle cry will cease, / And we’ll appear in glory, Your kingdom and increase. (Hymns #1290)
# Jesus, the all-inclusive land, / Is everything to me: / A Christ of brooks, of depths and streams, / And fountains bubbling free. / Springing from valleys and from hills, / Flowing till every part He fills, / He waters us—how glorious— / By His life! (Hymns #1164)
# O the riches of my Savior, / So unsearchable, immense; / All the fulness of the Godhead / I may now experience. / O the riches of my Savior, / All-embracing: life and light, / Wisdom, power, healing, comfort, / Treasures rich of God’s delight. (Hymns #542)
About aGodMan
