Dear Christian, it’s time to fight back using the very powerful weapons of righteousness. It’s time to fight back, but not with the weapons of this world. The weapons of this world, used by the carnal Christian, has nearly destroyed the beautiful message of the Cross. It has turned the pagan against us, unwilling to listen to our message. The hateful rhetoric on social media, the memes, and the sharing of demeaning messages about the other side has caused the unbeliever to hate us that much more. As the walls go up, the dividing lines are drawn, and communication ceases, then hostilities toward the Christian community increases exponentially. I think everyone will admit that the weapons of this world don’t work in winning the hearts and minds of the unbeliever. We have closed the door to heaven for people and nations that are steeped in their sins or worship an unknown god. We simply cannot damn them to hell. Although the Bible is clear that we should not cast our pearls before the swine, with the warning that they can turn on us, we must admit that not all people should be classified as the unreachable swine ready to rip us apart (See Matthew 7:6). So, what can be done for the rest?
We need to raise up a righteous army of light to overcome the powers of darkness and to make the people’s hearts and minds ready to hear the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before we can do that, we need to catch the vision from heaven. What would it look like, if the powers of darkness were overcome and people were made ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Picture with me, if you will, if the vilest sinner, the Muslim, the Hindu, the backsliding carnal Christian, the atheist, and all the other world religions could hear the whole truth without the world’s wrong perception of the Christian and his beliefs it would be a beautiful thing. If they could hear the Gospel without the years of indoctrination, misinformation, godless teaching, and bad theology, then it would truly turn the world upside down. Not everyone would believe but very many could believe and be changed into a new creation by the power of the Gospel. If this happened in the pagan world of the First Century, who had very many different gods, then it can also happen now, just as gloriously. It can happen now if we are successful in removing their perception of hate and mistrust projected upon them by the Christian community as a whole. So, how do we do that?
The Bible says, that the great Apostle Paul became all things to all people for the purpose of winning them to the Gospel of Christ (See I Corinthians 9:19-23). To do this we must honor and respect their customs without participating in their sins or agreeing with their false theology. We must not be seen as the enemy but seen as a good neighbor. And for those who accept our sincere friendship then the walls will start to come down so that we can present the Gospel unashamedly with great power and excitement from the Holy Spirit. If this is not coupled with good works and walking as children of light, then our preaching will fall on deaf ears and be seen as hypocritical. If they don’t see the promise of Jesus Christ, we are proclaiming, being fulfilled in our lives, then our preaching will be in vain. If they don’t see the love, the joy, and the peace in our lives they will have little interest in what we are saying. Let’s be clear, we are not talking about just the pastors and evangelists but every believer in Christ. We are talking about raising up an army of light to overcome the powers of darkness that has this world in its death grip. Furthermore, as children of light, we will use our weapons of righteousness to overcome the evil in our day. Although these weapons will be very effective to opening the door to the Gospel for the common man, it could cause us to also suffer persecution from those in religious authority that disagree with our teachings thus directing those in secular power to come against us. (See II Corinthians 6:4-5). Stand firm and keep preaching the truth.
So what are these weapons of righteousness? The Bible says, “By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned” (II Corinthians 6:6). Unlike the world, the believers’ new life in Christ should be bright and pure who has separated himself from every manner of sin, not to judge others, but to set them an example of purity which is a strong arrow in our arsenal. Secondly, unlike a world of confusion, the Christian is filled with heavenly knowledge. He easily confounds the knowledge in the fallen world by showing them that they cannot cure emotional and psychological problems apart from the new life in Christ, which causes old things to pass away. He demonstrates longsuffering as he allows the Gospel message to overcome every obstacle thrown at it. Unlike the fake smiles and meaningless gestures in the world, his genuine kindness breaks down every barrier. He does not judge their appearance or color but looks deep within their heart with a sincere desire to meet their every need. Everything is done in full confidence that the Holy Spirit is speaking through us and directing our every action to overcome the evil in the world. Our most effective weapon is to demonstrate true agape love, that gives without expecting anything in return. Finally, once the wall is completely down and we have their attention, we must proceed with the power of God to deliver the entire word of truth, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. (See II Corinthians 6:7) To wield these powerful weapons of righteousness will bring down the wall of hostility between us and the unbeliever.
Dear friends, instead of complaining and growing hysterical about all the influx of new religions, the vagabond, the refugees, and the worst of sinners, let us see this as the great Providence of God bringing the mission field to us. No longer do we need to travel great distances to find the unbeliever, for he now resides on our own shores. Instead of joining with the godless religions, let us raise up an army of light to let them feel the conviction from the Almighty God. Let them witness His great power flowing through us as we learn to walk as children of light every moment of every day wielding our weapons of righteousness to overcome the darkness. Never let them catch us walking in the ways of this fallen world. Let them never catch us sinning or speaking forth words of hate and damnation to the other side. To do so my friend, will allow the darkness to spread and the Church to become inept in its duty. Let us uncover our crosses and loudly ring our church bells to the glory of God, so everyone can see that our God reigns. We pray that they will not see this as an act of hateful opposition, but as true children of light ready to give them the words of life.
Before we give them the words of life, we need to heed the infinite wisdom from our Holy and Righteous Lord. Tragically many believers ignore His words of wisdom thinking that they know better. Although we are called to preach the Gospel message to all nations, which would include every race and religion, the Lord’s wisdom cautions us to wait until we have an open door. Wisdom says to wait until an opportunity presents itself through the use of our weapons of righteousness, where we can detect that our gracious loving behavior is not spurned, or arrogantly ignored. As believers, we have learned the hard way that if we proceed with the blessed doctrines of the Gospel while people are still unreceptive and hatefully rejecting us, then we have felt the brunt of their open hostility. On the other hand, once the walls come down and we are received as a good neighbor then we have the grace and power to proceed with the precious Gospel message, to boldly preach the Cross, which still possesses the power of salvation (See Matthew 7:6). Dear children, let me encourage you to step out on faith and become a part of this army of light to overcome the powers of darkness in our day. May God be praised.
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