In order for us to engage in spiritual warfare, we first need to see the vision that unveils Christ as the Captain of Jehovah’s army, even as Joshua did in Josh. 5:13-14.
If we mean business with the Lord and He is merciful to us to show us His heart’s desire that we would enjoy and experience the all-inclusive Christ, we will realize that spiritual warfare is necessary.
The good land, the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, has been prepared and given to us by God; God has qualified us for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light (Col. 1:12).
However, between us and the good land, there’s a layer of devilish forces that try their best to frustrate us, hinder us, and cause us to not enjoy our allotted portion of the land.
So spiritual warfare is necessary; there’s an exceedingly real warfare going on in the spiritual realm, and we as believers in Christ and as the church must engage in this.
This doesn’t mean that we should be super-giants in faith or great spiritual warriors; the armour of God, which is needed for warfare, is on the Body of Christ, so we fight the battle in the Body.
It was not Joshua by himself that went forth to conquer the land of Canaan but rather, it was Joshua together with the people of Israel, the entire people.
Similarly in the spiritual realm, we all as believers in Christ are needed to take the good land.
We all must stand in the Body and as the Body, and we must fight the battle to gain the all-inclusive Christ for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ and as the bride of Christ.
When the bride of Christ is prepared, the Lord can return; if we stand in the Body, one with the saints and one with the Lord, we will be built up as the bride of Christ to be a corporate warrior to bring the Lord back.
The bride of Christ is the corporate counterpart of Christ, constituted with the all-inclusive Christ whom she has been experiencing and enjoying day by day.
One characteristic of the prepared bride is that she is experienced in warfare; we need to grow in life, be perfected by the Lord, and be equipped and trained to be the army prepared for battle in the Lord.
We should not presume we are part of the bride but rather, we need to be normal according to our age and position in the Lord, and we should aspire to be part of the overcoming ones who constitute the bride who brings the Lord back.
When the bride is ready, she will become a corporate warrior three and a half years after her wedding to Christ, and together they are going on a journey to Armageddon.
Her wedding dress will be her uniform for battle, for she has been prepared, constituted, and equipped and trained to fight the spiritual warfare in the Lord and for the Lord.
May we all advance in our experience and enjoyment of Christ to take possession of Christ for our enjoyment, so that we may be part of the corporate warrior, the church as the Body of Christ!
Amen, may the Lord gain in us and with us the fighting unit He desires to fight against and defeat the satanic forces so that we can gain more of Christ for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!
For us to Engage in Spiritual Warfare, we need to see Christ as the Captain of Jehovah’s Army
![Now once, when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked; and behold, there was a man standing opposite him, and His sword was drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, Are You for us or for our adversaries? And He said, Neither, but [as] the Captain of Jehovah's army have I now come. Then Joshua fell to the ground upon his face and worshipped. And he said to Him, What does my Lord speak to His servant? Josh. 5:13-14](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Now-once-when-Joshua-was-by-Jericho-he-lifted-up-his-eyes-and-looked-683x1024.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "Now once, when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked; and behold, there was a man standing opposite him, and His sword was drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, Are You for us or for our adversaries? And He said, Neither, but [as] the Captain of Jehovah's army have I now come. Then Joshua fell to the ground upon his face and worshipped. And he said to Him, What does my Lord speak to His servant? Josh. 5:13-14")
Before Joshua and the people of Israel engaged in warfare to conquer the land, Joshua received a vision of Christ as the Captain of Jehovah’s army (Josh. 5:13-14).
It might have been that Joshua was exceedingly burdened for the battle before him, so he went to spend time with the Lord.
At that time, there was a man standing opposite him, and His sword was drawn in His hand; Joshua, therefore, went to Him and asked Him if He is for them or for their adversaries.
The Lord’s answer was, Neither, but as the Captain of Jehovah’s army has I now come. Joshua was the visible captain of Jehovah’s army, but actually, Christ was the invisible Captain; therefore, Joshua fell to the ground upon his face and worshipped, and he asked the Lord to speak to him, for he is the Lord’s servant.
Before we can engage in spiritual warfare, we need to see a vision that unveils Christ as the Captain of Jehovah’s army.
We are not the captain; we are not the leader or the general – Christ is the Captain! The Lord Jesus Christ is the Prince, the glorious Captain of Jehovah’s army, and we are soldiers in the heavenly army.
The Lord as the Captain of Jehovah’s army takes the lead in the army, goes before us, and fights the battle for us.
We need to see such a vision and realize that Christ is the victorious Captain of the army, He has already won the victory, He goes before us, He fights the battle for us, and He gives us the victory.
The children of Israel entered into the land, the manna stopped, and they started to enjoy the produce of the land; then, the first thing was that Joshua saw a vision of the real, spiritual Captain of Jehovah’s army.
He was burdened for battle, he went to the Lord in prayer, and the Lord revealed Himself to Joshua as the Captain of Jehovah’s army.
By faith, therefore, Joshua received such a vision and was assured that the Lord was with him.
He knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord Himself was the Captain of the army of Jehovah, and He was going before him.
We also need to have such an assurance, realizing that Christ is the Captain, we are soldiers in the army, and it is He who leads us, fights the battle for us, and gives us the victory.
Everyone thought that Joshua was the captain and the leader, but the real captain is the Lord.
The leaders need to realize that they are not the leaders – it is Christ who is the Leader and the Captain.
It is not that He’s on our side and others are not; it is that we are on His side, for He is the Captain, and we are His army. We are on God’s side.
When we see a vision of Christ as the Captain of Jehovah’s army, we will realize that we are on God’s side. Our focus will shift from merely fighting the battle to focusing on the person of Christ, the One who is leading us.
Christ is our real Joshua, leading us into battle to win the victory. God’s desire is to give us the good land; He ordained and prepared the all-inclusive Christ to be our portion, and He qualified us for a share.
Even more, Christ Himself comes to lead us personally and corporately into the enjoyment of Himself.
He is the Captain of Jehovah’s army, the Captain of our salvation, and He leads us into battle, He gives us the victory, and He leads us into the enjoyment of Himself. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, grant us to see a vision that unveils Christ as the Captain of Jehovah’s army. We come to You, dear Lord, to spend time with You and be unveiled to see who You are and what You are to us. You called us into the fellowship and participation of the all-inclusive Christ, and You have generously given us the good land. Oh Lord, even as we realize that there’s spiritual warfare before us, we come to You and we realize that You are the Captain, the Leader, the General. We follow You into battle, and it is You who fights for us, and it is You who gives us the victory! Hallelujah for the real Joshua, Jesus Christ as the Captain of Jehovah’s army, who leads us into victory and into the enjoyment of Himself as the all-inclusive good land!
We follow Christ as the Captain of Jehovah’s army to Fight the Battle and Take the Land
![Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, for our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of evil in the heavenlies. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph. 6:11-13](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Put-on-the-whole-armor-of-God-that-you-may-be-able-to-stand-against-the-stratagems-of-the-devil-683x1024.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, for our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of evil in the heavenlies. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph. 6:11-13")
The experience of Joshua as the visible captain of Jehovah’s army in Josh. 5:13-15 is our experience today.
We can testify from our experience that, immediately after tasting the all-inclusive Christ, immediately after enjoying something of the all-inclusiveness of Christ, we realize the need for spiritual warfare.
We do want to enter into the enjoyment and experience of the all-inclusive Christ, but there are opposing forces that frustrate us, hinder us, and just won’t let us enjoy Christ.
It is not flesh and blood that we’re dealing with, and it is not merely the environment, things, matters, and situations; it is Satan and his kingdom of darkness.
When we see this, when we see this opposition to our enjoyment and experience of Christ as the all-inclusive land allotted to us by God, we realize our need to spend time with the Lord, and it is then that the Lord unveils Himself to us as the Captain of Jehovah’s army.
We realize that the enemy and his evil powers in the heavenlies are usurping the good land of the all-inclusive Christ and are veiling it from the Lord’s children, so spiritual warfare is necessary.
However, who will fight the battle to uncover the land, to take the land, and to bring others into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the good land?
When we see this, when we have this realization, the Lord will give us a burden for the battle; it is then that He will give us a vision of Himself as the Captain of Jehovah’s army.
He is the One leading us, His people, into the enjoyment of Himself; He is the One who fights the battle for us, and He gives us the victory.
And our enemies are not the people around us who frustrate us from enjoying Christ by opposing us, persecuting us, and reviling us; our enemies are in the heavenly places.
We do not fight against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces, the principalities, the powers in the heavenlies. We fight not with people or things or situations but with the evil forces that are behind those people, those things, and those situations.
If we are faithful to the Lord and take the ground of resurrection to be formed into an army to fight the battle for Him in the Body, we will be reviled, opposed, and persecuted.
Evil reports will be spread about us, opposition will be raised up, and others will persecute us.
This should not discourage us, for whenever we are reviled because of Christ, we are on the right path – all the persecution, opposition, and reviling are signs that we will win.
They are signs that the enemy is in fear, and his defeat is inevitable. Hallelujah!
The more Satan opposes us, the more we stand one with Christ as the Captain of Jehovah’s army, and He leads us into battle to give us the victory and bring us in the enjoyment of Himself as the good land!
We battle in the Lord and not with people; we don’t use weapons of flesh by arguing with people, nor do we come down to their level to engage in their tactics. Our weapons are spiritual – they are “the ram’s horns”, the declaration of the victory of Christ.
We fight the battle by standing with Christ, our Captain, and by declaring and proclaiming Him, His victory, and His riches.
In this way we possess the land, we defeat the enemy, and we also help others enter into the enjoyment of the good land. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, we stand one with You as the Captain of Jehovah’s army. We follow You into battle, for You fight the battle for us, You give us the victory, and You bring us into the enjoyment of Yourself as the good land! Hallelujah, Christ has won the victory on the cross, and we fight the battle by standing in His victory and declaring His victory! Hallelujah, Christ is Victor – we declare wherever we go, for the Lord is still the Conqueror over every foe! We stand in Christ’s victory and we do not look at the opposition, persecution, and evil reports – we set our eyes on our Captain, who leads us into battle, gives us the victory, and brings us into the enjoyment of Himself as the all-inclusive, good land! Hallelujah!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” ch. 14, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 2, Possessing the Land of Canaan by Defeating the Satanic Forces.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Hallelujah! Christ is Victor, / Tell where’er you go, / That the Lord is still the conqu’ror, / Over every foe. / Hallelujah! Christ is Victor, / Pain and sickness flee, / When we plead the mighty victory / Won on Calvary. (Hymns #890)
– Praise Him! praise Him! Christ is Victor! / He has won the victory! / Sin is judged, old Adam finished, / Full redemption now we see! / Vanquished all the evil powers / Thru the Cross triumphantly! (Hymns #124)
– Trials more bitter grow, / The fighting doth enlarge; / Hell’s forces rally all their pow’rs / And gather for the charge. / Yet while we wait and watch / And feel the war severe, / We hear the joyful song ring out, / Jesus, the Lord is near! (Hymns #893)
