If we see that we are in the day of Christ’s warfare, we will offer ourselves willingly to the Lord for His purpose, being a voluntary offering to Him to be part of the new man as the corporate warrior to deal with God’s enemy and bring His kingdom in.
The Lord is not after our emotion being touched and stirred up or after our promises out of our heart for Him; He simply wants our consecration, our voluntary offering, so that He may have a way to dispense Himself into us to the uttermost and deal with us to the extent that He will gain us as part of the one new man as the corporate warrior.
There is a spiritual warfare in this universe because Satan has risen against God and is constantly opposing Him; therefore, God created us in His image and according to His likeness that we may join Him to defeat His enemy.
God could “squash” Satan just like that, since He’s the Creator, but He is too great to do this; He wants His creature man to deal with His creature Satan.
The purpose of spiritual warfare is to bring in the kingdom of God. Spiritual warfare is the warfare between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.
Satan has illegally usurped the earth, deceiving man – the head of creation – and sneakily entering into man as sin, and now he usurps the entire earth, both men and the creation, for his purpose.
However, Jesus Christ came as the first God-man, and in His living on earth He defeated Satan and brought in the kingdom of God.
Through His death He destroyed the devil, and in resurrection He has regenerated us, the many believers in Christ, to be the members of His Body to express God and represent Him.
Now Christ as our Head is ascended in the heavens as the victorious One, and we as His Body are on earth continuing the warfare and applying the victory of Christ to the enemy.
The kingdom of God doesn’t come automatically; in order for the kingdom of God to come, there’s the need of spiritual fighting. If we are passive, the enemy will advance his kingdom; if we don’t pray prayers of authority and spiritual warfare, the kingdom of God is not coming.
But if we offer ourselves willingly to the Lord in the day of His warfare, if we are a voluntary offering to Him, He will have a way in our being to produce as part of the church as the new man to be the corporate warrior fighting the spiritual warfare.
The responsibility of the church is to continue the warfare that Christ fought on earth; the church must continue the victorious work that Christ has carried out against Satan. Christ has overcome, and now we as His Body, the church, need to continue His victorious work on earth.
When the Devil has been Cast Out and his work Displaced by God’s Power, the Kingdom of God is There
Our responsibility as the church is spiritual warfare, for Satan’s power fights against God’s authority, and we as the church have the responsibility to bring in the kingdom of God.
Some think that the kingdom of God is a matter of reward from the Lord, and it is true, but there’s also a higher view of the kingdom.
The Lord Jesus once said, But if I, by the Spirit of God, cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you (Matt. 12:28). This shows us that the kingdom of God is the overthrowing of the power of Satan by the power of God.
When the Lord defeats the devil and overthrows his power, the kingdom of God is there. When the devil can’t remain in a certain place, the kingdom has come there. Wherever the work of the enemy has been displaced by God’s power, the kingdom of God is there.
We see this in Rev. 12:9-10 where there’s joy in heaven after Satan, the great dragon, was cast down from heaven to earth, for the kingdom of God has come. When Satan is cast down, the kingdom is there.
When this happened in Rev. 12, there was a loud voice in heaven saying, Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ.
When the church cooperates with the Lord cast out Satan from a certain place or situation, the kingdom of God is there. Wherever the kingdom of God is, Satan cannot be there.
The Lord taught us to pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth (Matt. 6:10).
On the one hand the church has the commission to preach the gospel to the whole inhabited earth and to disciple the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Triune God, and teaching them all that Christ has taught us (Matt. 28:19); on the other hand, the church needs to pray to bring in the kingdom of God.
We should not think that the kingdom of God will come automatically, whether we pray or not; the principle of God’s work is to wait on us, His people, to move, and then He will move.
If we on earth join ourselves to the Lord in heaven and offer ourselves willingly to Him as a voluntary offering, He will have a way to apply His victory to the enemy and cast him out, thus bringing in the kingdom of God.
Wherever the devil has been cast out and wherever the work of the enemy has been displaced by God’s power, the kingdom of God is there.
The evil one does terrible works, but the God of resurrection is moving wonderfully, and as the new man as the corporate warrior prays, the Lord has a way.
As we pray one with the Lord to release what He has already released in heaven and bind His enemy, the gospel of the kingdom will advance, the church will be built up, and the kingdom of God will come in.
Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth! Lord, we join ourselves to You and are one with You right now as the church to release what You have already released in heaven, and to bind Your enemy Satan. Amen, Lord, undo the works of Your enemy, and displace him and his works in our life, in the church life, in the lives of the saints, and all over the earth! Amen, Lord, may Your kingdom come and Your will be done!
Offering Ourselves Willingly to the Lord in the Day of His Warfare to Bring in His Kingdom
What can we do and what should we do as we see that there’s a spiritual warfare and that God needs our cooperation?
We may be touched in our emotion, our mind may agree with God, and our will may be strong to promise God that we will join Him and do great works for Him to cast out Satan…but is this what God is after?
In. Psa. 110 we see that the Lord is fighting a warfare to put His enemy under His feet, and we as His people simply offer ourselves willingly to Him in the day of His warfare, in the splendor of our consecration.
As the Lord is fighting the spiritual warfare, He needs to be refreshed; our willing offering is something that refreshes Him like the dew from the womb of the dawn.
We need to consider the matter of the spiritual warfare and our responsibility for the church, we need to count the cost, and make the choice: we need to make a decision to simply offer ourselves willingly to the Lord for His purpose.
Only the sovereign Lord knows what kind of experiences we need, and once we are a freewill offering He will be able to touch in us what He needs to touch. It is not too late to offer ourselves willingly to the Lord; we are not too young, too new, too old, too weak, and our history does not matter.
God has covenanted to forget all our trespasses, and our entire history is under the blood of the Lamb. It is never too late. Once we offer ourselves willingly to the Lord, the sevenfold intensified Spirit will operate in us, and He can do many things in us in a short period of time.
We need to make a decision – not have an emotional response, but exercise our spirit, be full of consideration, and honor our relationship with the Lord. The Lord is fighting the warfare, and we offer ourselves to Him in the splendor of our consecration; this willing offering is a splendor to God.
There’s no glory for us here – as we are faithfully fighting the spiritual warfare, the crown of glory and the crown of righteousness will be ours when the Lord comes. We can simply make a decision for ourselves – not for anyone else.
In a spiritual sense, we are now in the day of Christ’s warfare, and for this we need to be a voluntary offering, a freewill offering (Lev. 22:18; Deut. 12:6).
In order to engage in spiritual warfare to defeat God’s enemy and bring in the kingdom of God, we need an absolute and thorough consecration to the Lord; in the eyes of God, such a consecration is a matter of splendor (Psa. 110:3a).
We may be very young, but we can consider offering our whole life to the Lord – everything, including our future, our life, our whole being, our possessions, our relationships, our plans, our hopes, our dreams, and everything about us.
We want to offer ourselves willingly to the Lord to live a life for the fulfillment of His purpose, we want to participate int he new man as the corporate expression of the Triune God, and we want to participate as part of the new man to do the work of God.
We shouldn’t “promise the Lord” to do this or that; we should simply love Him, enjoy Him, and consider the matter of the spiritual warfare, and then offer ourselves willingly to the Lord.
When we make such a decision, the Lord will flood us with grace upon grace, He will constrain us with a love that is irresistible, He will shepherd us, He will dispense Himself into us, and He will also discipline us and deal with us.
His discipline is not a punishment but a training – He will train us to be His warriors, to be the church as the new man engaging in spiritual warfare to subdue the enemy and bring in the kingdom of God.
Lord Jesus, we offer ourselves willingly to You in the day of Your warfare, in the splendor of our consecration. We want to be Your young men who refresh You as You fight to defeat Your enemies. Lord, we have nothing to offer to You, but we give ourselves to You for the fulfillment of Your purpose. Give us the experiences and the training we need that we may be a part of Your corporate warrior that fights against the enemy, defeats him, and brings in the kingdom of God on earth. Amen, Lord, may Your kingdom come and may Your will be done!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 34, pp. 60-66, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Spiritual Warfare of the Church as the New Man (2018 Memorial Day Conference), week 1, The Church as the New Man Engaging in Spiritual Warfare to Defeat God’s Enemy and to Bring In the Kingdom of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Your people will offer themselves willingly / In the day of Your warfare; / Your people will offer themselves willingly / In the day of Your warfare, / In the splendor of their consecration. (Song on, Your People Will Offer Themselves Willingly)
# Raise up some to meet Your need, some Nazarites, / Voluntary consecrated ones, / Who through Your word are joined to Your desire; / Your living testimony on the earth. (Song on, In this godless age)
# For Christ the Lord we then would stand, / He is the Conqueror! / For Him we would endure the pain / Until the fight is o’er. / The hour of triumph soon we’ll see- / The Lord will come again; / If now we suffer for His sake, / Then we with Him shall reign. (Hymns #887)
