2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
When joining the Army in St. Louis, Missouri, all of us gathered there lifted our hands and pledged and oath to serve and protect our country. We became soldiers and the property of the U.S. Army at that moment. We were far from fighting men, at that time. We had no training, uniforms, weapons training or discipline. We were, however, pledge as soldiers of the Army. If we were sent into battle at that time, then we would surely have been easy prey for a trained enemy army.
The Church is the Army of God and I find it has much in common with the Army I served. As Christians, we made a pledge of honor, to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. We became the "property" of Christ Jesus and were bought and paid for by His Own Blood. We entered warfare against an unscrupulous enemy, who is holding millions captive under his own unlawful reign. Like the new soldiers I pledged with, we had no training, uniforms, understanding of what was expected of us and no unity, in order to operate like a disciplined soldier of Christ.
When I first got saved, I went around like a recruiter trying to bring more soldiers into God's Army. They had no training or knowledge of weapons or spiritual warfare. We began building camps or forts, where we could all gather.
Our drill instructors were the five-fold ministry and they didn't have much more training than the new recruits. Our instructors in God's Army began teaching us to submit to sickness and disease, poverty and to "just hang on until we get to Heaven," which for them meant we would die and then go to Heaven. We weren't taught what how weapons were or how to use them. This effort became a futile assault on a stronger army.
This isn't the victorious Army and family of God, my brethren. The Word says, "Greater is He Who is in us, than he tat is in the world" and "All power was given to our General and Commander-in-Chief. With the victory of Jesus, He delegated His Own power and authority over to the hands of His Army, in order to trample underfoot the strongholds of the enemy. Even the Gates of Hell, were no longer able to hold back this invading Army.
Boot camp would be where we were taught and trained to overcome. The only way to bring peace sometimes, is to defeat the oppressor. In WWII, we had an oppressor that was determined to ruled the entire world and bring it under his rule. America didn't join the other Armies in fighting this enemy initially, and many died and much was destroyed. Finally, we relinquished after Pearl Harbor, and decided we must engage in this war. We weren't prepared with equipment or weaponry to fight at that time, but we began building up our forces. This resulted in hardship for our citizenry as a Nation, as well as the sacrifice of many fighting men. But, the result was that we helped release says, many more from captivity, than were lost.
There are many people in the world, who are still in captivity of the enemy and will not be released from that captivity, until we rise up from our own comfort zone and take this warfare to the enemy. We have witnessed the enemy arrive at our shores, with ungodly laws and restraints against God's Church. Our children have been taken into the captivity of drugs and lawlessness, while we build bigger buildings for our Army to sit quietly and be safe in.
When will our spiritual leaders rise up and teach our Army how to conduct a war against an outlaw spirit who refuses to stop, until he is overrun. The "weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but might through God to the pulling down of strongholds." The carnal teachings and training in the world, won't defeat a spiritual enemy. We must fight a spiritual battle against a spiritual enemy, with spiritual weapons and knowledge. We have a mighty Army in Christ Jesus, but we lack the wisdom and spiritual understanding to do what's necessary to "set the captives free."
We've been taught that the way to overcome, is to hope in and for Heaven when we die. Even though this is a True hope, it doesn't take the place of "taking the Land," that has been delivered to our hands. Joshua and Caleb saw the giants, saw the walled cities, and saw the enemy armies, but they still believed God would do like He said and "Bring the Land into their hands." Their faith in a Mighty God and His Spiritual weaponry, was greater than the enemy.
Marching around a walled city, while blowing trumpets and shouting doesn't make sense in carnal thinking, but this is spiritual wisdom for spiritual warfare. This is foolishness to a natural Army, but it was victory for God's Army. The weapons of warfare we use, might look foolish to the world, but in God's eyes, they are the ability to overcome all other armies. God's Word, the Blood, the armor, the right standing and the Promise of our God, all make prayer and wisdom weapons that are invincible.
I was officially a soldier, when I raised my hand and pledged in St. Louis. I found out when I got to Fort Leonard Wood, though, that I had no idea what a soldier really was or what that truly meant. They trained us how to protect ourselves and fellow soldier first, using our weapons and equipment. We were all trained to do this, despite what our service in the Army was.
We have different callings in the Body of Christ, but we must all still go through the basic training of how to use our weapons. Romans 12:2 (Amplified) says that, "The renewing of our minds" is a mighty weapon and one that hasn't been taught much, in God's Army. As new soldiers, we were trained to get our minds off from who we were and concentrate on who we now were. In the Church, we seem to be reminded more of who we were, instead of who Christ made us to be.
We were reminded that when we entered the Army, we were new creatures (not like the Word teaches, but in the eyes of the Army). We were never anything other than a soldier. We had no post to hold onto, but were to serve the one who enlisted us, with singleness of mind.
In Ephesians 6:10-18 (Amplified), God explains the fight we have entered and how we are to conduct this warfare. He first tells us about the Armor of God we are to wear, in Verses 13-16 and then He shows us that His Word is an offensive weapon against the enemy. Jesus used the Sword of the Spirit with skill and in victory for His deliverance, when He was tempted by the enemy in Luke. Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) says, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents) but against the powers, against (the master spirits who are) the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (super-natural) sphere."
Renewing our minds means learning to think in the super-natural spirit world and realizing that our warfare is spiritual. We've thought so much about the comfort of our troops in the Church, that we haven't been taught the hardships of battle and how to defeat them. Everything I learned in the Army, was essential. Paul says in 2Timothy 2:3-4 (Amplified), "Take (with me) your share of the hardships and suffering (which you are called to endure) as a good (first class) soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of (civilian) life; his aim is to satisfy and please the One Who enlisted him."
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