NEW WEAPONS ARE COMING
By Ron Wood
I saw in a dream a great battleship that flew through the air, a new breed of airborne fighting machine. It was awesome in its power and maneuverability. From my vantage point high in a tower, I observed it flying at great speed, then dramatically slowing to a stop and hovering nearby as it chose its landing spot. It had a cockpit arrangement so that the pilot could see clearly in every direction. It had, in addition to its central fuselage that generated great forward power and lift, two outriggers, each as long as the plane’s entire body, one on the right and one on the left. These were its massive weapons systems.
I awoke thinking of the Scripture in 2 Corinthians 6:7- "by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left." This means weapons in both of our hands, a doubled-up anointing, new works of faith and power now being released to God’s leaders in Jesus’ kingdom.
Most of us recall the verses in Ephesians about spiritual warfare that describe a soldier’s armor, including the only offensive weapon listed, "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." And how is this sword utilized? "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit…" (Ephesians 6:17-18) We use our weapons primarily by praying.
How is prayer related to righteousness? How is righteousness a weapon? That’s easy…. If our hearts don’t condemn us, then we have genuine confidence. Faith functions best in an un-condemned, un-divided heart. "The effective (fervent) prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." (James 5:16) Prayer is meant to have an effect. Prayer releases God’s energy into our situation. It does things! Focus on Jesus, hear what He is saying, do what He says, and then you can boldly ask for miracles!
Obeying God’s word by hearing the Lord’s voice is the key to signs and wonders. The faith of the apostles was never only an intellectual assent to certain truths. That is a deficient Greek-Roman kind of faith, based on knowledge. The patristic faith of the biblical fathers from our Hebrew roots was interested only in faith that produced results. James said faith should have works! The apostolic mandate isn’t interested only in education, but in transformation. We come to liberate captives and subdue the land for the glory of God. Our lord requires that our faith produce something tangible, measurable, observable. The evidence of our activity should be apparent.
Listen to what Paul said: "Through whom (Jesus resurrected) we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His names’ sake." (Romans 1:5) Paul said he fully accomplished this goal. "For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders…" (Romans 15:18) Paul was a good soldier in the army of Jesus Christ.
Soldiers must have weapons in order to be effective, to be good soldiers. It was a surprise to me to see that from heaven’s viewpoint, righteousness can be a strategic weapon. For example, the Bible says that when Noah built an ark, he condemned the world. His act of obedience saved his family and also permitted judgment to come on the wicked.
Likewise, when we completely obey God, the Lord is able to release on earth the heavenly forces (angelic harvesters) that can thresh the nations without also destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Righteousness is our rearguard during times of judgment. In another motif, when we are righteous while enduring unjust affliction or persecution, the Lord is just to reward us while at the same judging Satan and plundering his goods.
God even deals fairly with the devil. God waits for wickedness to show all its true colors, for evil to ripen before He gathers it out and lays the ax to the root of the tree. Sometimes God allows Satan to vex the saints more severely, so the payback can be even steeper. The thief is always true to his nature. The devil always overplays his hand.
Remember how Satan attacked Job? This is a lesson for us in these last days. "the farmer waits for the precious produce… be patient… strengthen your hearts…the Judge is standing right at the door…We count those blessed who have endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful." (James 5:7-11)
None of these blessings (abundant rewards and battlefield promotions) happen to mere civilians, but to soldiers, men and women trained in Christ’s faith who can withstand the pressures of combat with unseen forces and unexplained opposition.
"Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense?" (1 Corinthians 9:7 NASB 95)
"Suffer hardship with me, as a good (effective) soldier of Jesus Christ." (2 Timothy 2:3)
Of the many terms the apostle Paul used to describe his co-workers, perhaps the one we least understand is "fellow soldier." In Colossians, Paul referenced other members of his team with these words: "fellow bond-servant," "fellow prisoner," and "fellow workers."
The Greek term for this latter usage (sum-ergos) is the same origin as our modern word synergy. Synergy is what happens when things or people work together to create a greater effect than when they operate independently. It is a multiplication of energy. By teaming up, we become greater than the sum of our parts. That’s the power of covenant, of being yoked together.
Unity is mostly a theory to us, a mystery, because we thought it could be achieved on a playground. No, it only comes on a battlefield.
Unity in Christ is a form of empowerment to defeat the devil. But we think too often of unity as a "sweetness and light" kind of mutual non-offensive pact. Churches act like unity is conforming to the lowest common denominator of truth. Actually, unity is more important than intellectual agreement. Harmony is for the sake of achieving the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18), not just so we will like each other better. Oxen yoked together to pull a plow may not like each other, but will they pull in the same direction. Two horses teamed together can pull much more than two single horses pulling alone.
Jesus didn’t send out solitary workers. He sent them out by pairs and He first trained them in a covenantal community known as The Twelve, an apostolic company. Jesus showed us a model of what a team should be like. This same model was also demonstrated in Paul’s ministry in the Book of Acts. The dynamic of Team Jesus is needed now. Unfortunately, to get there, you have to die a thousand deaths: to ego, ambition, impatience, reputation, religious approval, your own success, and rejection.
Teams accomplish tasks. Classes inform doctrine. Cells nurture saints. Without connection to Headship (the Ascension Ministries of Eph. 4:11; the Foundation Offices of Eph. 2:20; the Appointed Leaders of 1 Cor. 12:28), the body is disjointed, paralyzed or spastic. As the light of revelation increases, the Body of Christ is beginning to see into how its internal systems and organs are supposed to operate. We thought for years that the church could be healthy if it was run our way, with deacons and pastors and church boards. Now we are discovering that you can’t replace organic life with artificial limbs or organs and expect it to be viable or to reproduce. No one has a better idea than God’s.
New leadership graces are being deployed in mature servants of God. One of the great mysteries the Lord is about to open up (or re-introduce) to the Church of Jesus Christ is how an apostolic company works. Mysteries in God are not unknowable, but are merely concealed until revealed. Presently, we have few working models of apostolic companies to point to as examples for us to emulate.
Teams are task oriented. The goal is to accomplish the task, not build a mutual admiration society. Presently, too many teams serve only to inflate the ego of their leader. The sons sitting at the table are never deployed into the field. The Father keeps adding rooms on to own his house rather than sending sons into their own place.
The composition of teams over time will change based on their assignment from God. A term the Lord highlighted for me from a business environment in which I was studying was "measurable accountability." If we "measure ourselves by ourselves," we are not wise. If we use objective standards as measuring tools, we can see if we are achieving results.
In our churches, we have settled for being good, when the Lord wanted us to be effective. We have thought that we were to be good in the same way a mother tells her son, "be a good little boy." That’s immature and naïve thinking. No, we need to be dangerous to the devil, not nice to God’s enemies. Jesus came to bring a war of liberation, to destroy the works of the devil (Acts 10:38). Jesus was the "good shepherd." Paul said to Timothy, be a "good soldier." The word "good" in this context doesn’t mean "morally good," although that is a given. Instead it means, "effective," as in efficient, productive, doing the work that is expected of you.
If the Church were held accountable for producing a product in line with the Owner’s wishes, we would be presently judged a failure. Anemic saints, feuding members, an oppressed population, a powerless professional clergy, fatherless families, idolatry and greed, a famine of God’s word, violent cities, a groaning earth. It’s all connected.
We think the end product of the gospel is the local church. We get together and feel good and think we have done the work. Wrong. Where’s our fruit? The end product ought to be producing more sons (and daughters) brought to glory through the grace of God’s Son and sent out to transform the world, starting with one heart at a time, but not ending there. If we end there, we have failed the next generation. From the Faith Factory of the Church should come the Next Generation of governors, mayors, university professors, presidents and senators, scientists, broadcasters, businessmen and women, inventors, financiers, and fathers and mothers, all keeping the covenant, honoring God, and raising the children.
© 2003 Touched by Grace, P. O. Box 12749, Wilmington, NC 28405 USA.
