SPIRITUAL WARFARE
(continued)
“And
the armies which were in heaven
followed Him upon white horses, clothed
in fine linen, white and clean” (Rev. 19:14).
Bear
in mind — the
Revelation is not a re-viewing of history, nor is it a preview of future world
events. Rather, it is just what it
claims to be — THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST — signifying that it is a
super-view of the unfolding of the spiritual life of every son of God and of
every man! The book of Revelation is the
last book of the Bible, not because it is the end of any revelation from God,
but because it carries us into the revelation process as far as any outer
scripture can. After this, it becomes
one’s own unfoldment and one’s inner knowing and hearing of the Father’s voice
that becomes his scripture. The Bible is
actually a book about the inner scripture, it is like a schoolmaster to bring
us to the life and power of the Christ within, and this is as far as any book
or teacher can bring us: to the realization that the revelation of Jesus Christ
is a process taking place within us! Let
us then reverently take our places beside the astonished prophet and watch as
the Christ and His heavenly armies ride into the world of men!
No
interpretation of the white horses in this chapter can be correct which does
not recognize the connection between the similar vision in chapter six, though
the two are not identical. The
difference is that the white horse of chapter six portrays the beginning
or commencement of Christ’s warfare as He rides forth in the individual lives of His
called and chosen elect to subdue all things within our personal earth. He is both the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning of the
process and the ending of it! In chapter
six there is one horse and one Rider — He appears as “the Alpha,” that is, “the
first,” riding out of the inner sanctum of the spirit of each of us, conquering
and to conquer. In chapter nineteen, on
the other hand, the vision shows us the end or consummation of Christ’s
warfare, He appears as “the Omega,” completing His redemptive and restorative
work, as both He and all the perfected sons of God ride forth to subdue all
things everywhere to their reign; all those “firstfruits” whom He has conquered
now ride with Him, so we see the Rider on the white horse followed by armies of
heaven on white horses, going forth to subdue the nations and all things unto
God and His Christ. Isn’t it wonderful!
My
heart’s desire is that all who read these truths may be filled with the divine
conviction that God our Father is preparing a people to share the manifest
image of Christ and reign with Him in His kingdom. Herein is to be found the real meaning, yea, the vital difference between the Rider on
the white horse in chapter six and the Rider of the white horse in chapter
nineteen. The Rider on the white horse
in chapter six is a solitary Rider,
crowned with a single victor’s crown,
whereas the Rider of the white horse in chapter nineteen is crowned with many crowns and is accompanied by
immense and powerful armies astride a
host of horses out of the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It should not be difficult for any to
understand that the solitary Rider wearing the single crown is none other than
the forerunner, our Lord Jesus Christ, in His singular victory over sin, death,
and hell — riding forth as the glorious Captain of our salvation to extend that victory into the consciousness and
experience of each member of His elect body, the sons of God. He must complete His conquest within our mind, heart, and life before we, in
Him, can press the battle onward to the rest of creation!
When
the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in chapter nineteen
He does not come alone. Long millenniums
ago Enoch prophesied of this appearing of the promised One, saying, “Behold the
Lord cometh WITH TEN THOUSANDS OF HIS SAINTS (or, holy
myriads of Himself) to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all…” (Jude
14,15). John with wonder beheld the
scene and wrote, “The armies, the ones in heaven, were following Him upon white
horses.” Christ Jesus is the Head and
the Leader as He goes before; His holy ones follow in His train, for as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God; and these are
they which follow the Lamb whithersoever
He goeth. Can you not see the
mystery? They are represented as
armies! They come forth as a body of
Warriors! He has many under His
command! The armies of the heavenlies
are His, and He does battle with them, by them, through them, and as them, even “the called, the chosen,
and faithful.” There is no
infantry. There really is no cavalry,
for all the horses are white, signifying that every one who follows Him is of
exalted rank. It is an army of princes,
a host of mighty dignities, for He rides as “King of kings, and Lord of lords!” He is the Leader, yet as He is, so are we!
It is the corporate Christ!
It is one new man, one glorious Head and body! It is not Christ and us — it is simply Christ! “For as the body is one, and hath many
members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ” (I Cor. 12:12). Moreover, they have no weapons, except the
sharp two-edged sword that proceeds out of HIS MOUTH, which is the Living Word of
God! His Word is our Word, and we have
no Word except that which He is and
which we are! This is no earthly warfare, as the
carnal-minded literalists purport. Oh,
no! With the sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God, one can wage only SPIRITUAL WARFARE! Oh, the mystery of it!
In
both cases the color of the horses is white, an emblem of Christ’s purity and
divine holiness. Every other place
throughout the visions of John it stands for righteousness and purity. And in Zechariah 14:20 this purity is
connected to horses. “In that day shall
the bells of the horses (that is the strength of all) ring out, HOLINESS UNTO
THE LORD.” White also bespeaks of light
— illumination. These are the qualities
that characterize, not only the firstborn Son of God, but also His many
brethren, the sons of God. In the
messages to the seven churches, the out-called, challenging them to overcome, we read, “I counsel thee to
buy of me…white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed” (Rev. 3:18). This is
naught but the transfiguring glory of
Christ, as it is written, “And He was transfigured before them: and His
face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light” (Mat.
17:2). The light is the robe of divine
majesty, the incorruptible life of God in the spirit emanating from the nature
of absolute holiness that illumines and quickens spirit, soul, and body. This is the Spirit by which Jesus was raised
from the dead, even the spirit of
holiness (Rom.
1:4). It shines out through these
vessels of clay and transforms us into the incorruptible nature of the indwelling spirit! In this very hour every one who is called to
sonship to God is beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and we are
being changed, transformed, transfigured,
metamorphosed into the same image, even as by the spirit of
the Lord! (II Cor. 4:18).
This
great army of perfected and mature sons of God in this new kingdom day who, in
the fullness of time, shall take the kingdom and rise up in the power and
demonstration of the Spirit to destroy the rule of the flesh, and the glory of
Babylon, and the power of sin, sorrow, and death, is even now, at the time of
this writing, being prepared to march forth and bring to pass this glorious
victory. That all who are to be in this
army may be awakened to the urgency
of the hour the prophet Joel calls upon those who see and hear this word of the
Lord to sound an alarm, saying, “Blow ye
the trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm in my holy mountain (kingdom): let
all the inhabitants of the land tremble:
for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and
gloominess (for the natural man), a day of clouds and of thick darkness (for
the carnal mind), as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not
ever been the like, neither shall there be any more after it, even to the
years of many generations. A fire
devoureth before them (God’s Word is a fire); and behind them a flame burneth: the land (of the flesh) is as a garden of Eden
before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape
them. AND THE LORD SHALL UTTER HIS VOICE BEFORE HIS ARMY: FOR HIS CAMP IS VERY GREAT: for He is strong that executeth His
word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible (for the systems of
man); and who can abide it?” (Joel
2:1-3,11).
God
is preparing such an army! We now want
to present this army. “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion,
and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain…and the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is very great…” The trumpet blows in Zion
— mount Zion. The army of the Lord is in Zion!
So much of the book of Revelation is rooted in the prophecies of the Old
Testament. The people who hear this
trumpet and are called to battle by
it are seen by John. “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on mount Zion,
and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand,
having His Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1).
This
company of 144,000 stands upon mount
Zion
in all the nature, glory, and majesty of their Redeemer. Mount
Zion,
the highest hill in Jerusalem,
represents the very highest position attainable in God’s kingdom. Such are the
ruling class in the capital city of the kingdom of our Lord, the New Jerusalem, prefigured by
king David of old who dwelt on the natural mount
Zion
in the earthly Jerusalem. It was upon mount Zion
that David built his citadel and royal
residence. From there he reigned. Mount
Zion
was thus the center of government for the whole nation of Israel! This company, standing on the heavenly and
spiritual mount Zion,
followers of the Lamb, can represent nothing other than those who have followed
Jesus all the way from mount Calvary to mount Zion,
who suffered with Him even unto death (to self), and shall now reign with Him
upon His throne forevermore! They are
overcomers. Before coming to the throne,
like king David, they have engaged in warfare, fought many battles, gained the
victory, and possessed the kingdom. They
are “the armies which are in heaven” which
follow Him who sits upon the white horse, and they too ride “upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
clean and white.”
What a scene!
The horse is an animal that men ride. It is like a car — it’s a vehicle. The horse in scripture is a symbol of speed
and strength in war. In its spiritual meaning
it speaks of the Word of God coming through His sons with STRENGTH AND
SWIFTNESS IN BATTLE. It stands for THE
BRINGING OF GOD’S PRESENCE AND POWER IN WARFARE. The Lord is described as the Word of God
emblematically riding on a white horse; it is the image of aggressive action,
of a prosperous conquest over all His foes.
It means victory!
On
the negative side, whenever the word horse is used in relationship with fleshly
humanity it signifies human
strength. Isaiah 31:1-3 informs us,
“Woe to them that go down to Egypt
for help; and stay on horses and
trust in chariots (that is, human
strength and human ability), because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very
strong…they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!.” Again, “Now the Egyptians are men, and not
God; and their horses are fleshly (strength), and not spirit.” “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of
Israel;
in returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall
be your strength: and ye would not. But
ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses (human
strength) and confound the riders on the horses (those who trust in human
ability)” (Hag. 2:22; Zech. 10:5).
On
the positive side, whenever the word horse is used with righteousness, or
divinity, or the Lord, or things heavenly, it means heavenly, divine, or spiritual
strength. In Habakkuh 3:14-15 the
prophet, reminiscing about Israel’s
deliverance from Egypt, extols the triumph of
Yahweh, exclaiming, “You pierced with his own arrows the head of the enemy’s
hordes…You have trodden the sea (masses
of humanity, warriors) with Your horses, beside the heap of great and
surging waters.” The meaning is clear —
You have trodden the sea IN YOUR DIVINE
STRENGTH! Egypt
had abundance of horses, swift and strong, but God had horses out of the spirit
world! Not literal horses, of
course; they represented the STRENGTH AND MIGHT OF GOD IN BATTLE! They signify the almighty POWER
OF THE SPIRIT in all His manifestations.
With what simple words does the Holy Spirit teach us that the strength
of the Spirit always exceeds and
excels over the strength of the flesh!
Thus, horses are symbols given to us that denote the nature and work of
the anointing that rests upon the
sons of God. Horses are figures of
overcoming, invincible strength and power, signifying that wherever these
horses go, WHATEVER IS IN THEIR WAY IS OVERCOME BY THEM! That is the power of God in spiritual
warfare!
I
do not wonder sometimes that those who only read my writing think that I am a
hard and vindictive man, especially as I warn men of the error and abominable
apostasy of the nominal church systems.
But if you only knew, I am one of the most peaceable and gentle men in
the world. I am a very quiet man (except
in the pulpit), and believe that I am merciful and compassionate toward every
sinner. I have only been a fighter
because I have had to fight. Was Jesus Christ not a great fighter? Is He not a great fighter still? And is He not the Prince of Peace? Sometimes the greatest fighters win the
greatest peace! Is Christ not God’s
Lion, the Lion of the tribe of Judah? And is He not the Lamb of God? God’s Lion is a Lamb! God’s Lamb is a Lion! I call God to witness and you to witness that
when I have been called upon to fight — for whom have I fought? I fought for God. I fought for Truth. I fought for Reality. I fought against the false shepherds who were
taking away the key of knowledge, who entered not into the kingdom themselves,
and them that were entering in they hindered.
I fought them who withstood the right ways of the Lord, deceiving the
people and holding them in bondage to slavish forms of empty religion and
superstitious conceptions of God.
Stephen
fought the devils in the Jewish system to their very faces although he knew he
would die for it. He saw his Master in
the heavens. Do you see your Master in
the heavens? Do you see that the only
Reality is that which emanates from the Christ-Spirit? Do you know Him within, in the depths of your
being? Do you hear His voice? Have you proven His power within
yourself? Do you know what He wants you to
do? He wants you to follow in His steps,
to become
His salvation unto the ends of the earth! He wants you to be a warrior, to learn the
powers of spiritual warfare; He wants you to grasp hold of Life, to experience it fully within yourself, and then go forth to deliver His creation
from sin, sorrow, death, and hell and the demonic power which curses this
world. The peace of God means war with
sin and death! War with the carnal mind! War with the insipid platitudes of
religion! War with fear, unbelief,
selfishness, rebellion, pride, lust, ignorance, bigotry, and deceptions of
every kind! War with sickness, disease,
sorrow, pain, and death! He that is a
friend of evil is the enemy of God. This
is the kind of peace Jesus left. He made
warriors of men. They went forth to
fight the world and the devil, in Greece
and Rome, with
thirty thousand gods. They marched up the acropolis; they marched upon the Parthenon; they marched up
the steps of Caesar’s palace; they threw down the altars of the boni dei; they threw down the altars of
Venus; they destroyed the altars of Jove; they demolished the altars of Mercury
and Zeus and Diana and a thousand more.
They overthrew them without arrows or swords or guns or bombs; riding
the white horse of God’s righteousness and strength they smashed them by the Spirit’s power, with the sword of
Truth they trampled upon them; they triumphed and brought in a new
dimension of the kingdom
of God!
Oh,
that is such a sublime verse where Jesus said, “ALL AUTHORITY is given unto me in heaven and
in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations…and, lo, I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the age” (Mat. 28:18-19). Do you see that? There is a tremendous power in that
“Therefore,” I am with you. I will back
you. Every angel in the heavens if needful
will come forth and surround you.
Fight! What does it matter, the
puny governments and armies and courts of THIS WORLD? All
authority is given to the Christ of God, and we are the members of God’s Christ!
That is the great and eternal truth the Holy Spirit would burn indelibly
into your mind and heart and will this day.
God is calling you, apprehending you, teaching you, training you to ride
with Christ the Warrior out of the heavens of God’s Spirit! Oh, yes!
The hosts of God will troop over all the skies, ten thousand times ten
thousand millions, if need be. Embrace TRUTH! Speak TRUTH!
Live TRUTH! “I command…Go ye
therefore, you poor fishermen, and tax-gatherers and discredited rabbis, go, I
am with you!” If only we realized what
power there is behind us!
God
is raising up a sonship company of warriors that will go for the devil’s
fortresses, to batter him, shatter him, and break up his kingdom. God is even now preparing an army of
overcoming ones, transformed in the spirit of their mind, triumphing within
themselves over sin, error, limitation, and death, who shall go forth in the
power of the Spirit to pull down the strongholds of creed and ritual and
religious foolishness and ignorance and set the captives free; who will beat
down the prison-houses of mis-conceptions, mis-information, mis-understanding,
and of sin and death, and let the prisoners go free! Satan is not a God like unto the Lord my God. He does not
interfere with God’s purposes nor frustrate God’s plans. ALL
AUTHORIITY is given to the Christ of God — in heaven and in earth! How much authority is “ALL” authority? Oh, how men patronize and glorify the devil
by attributing to him at least some of
that “ALL”
authority! Those who fear the devil,
struggle with the devil, warn men about the devil’s power are devil worshippers. They give reverence and homage before the
altar of his supposed power! They thus
deny that ALL
AUTHORITY is now given to God’s Christ! ALL of it! ALL
of it in the heavens! ALL of it in the earth! And in that authority
He is with us always, even unto the end of the age! Is He not with us today in His authority and
power! That is what He is teaching every
son, and demanding we experience and prove the truth of it within ourselves in
every situation of our lives, as we train in His army to judge and make war and
smite the nations with the sword of our mouth and rule them with a rod of iron!
I
shall fight that battle against the lies of religion and for the supremacy of
the Christ while there is a drop of blood in my body. I shall claim that every foot of this earth
and every man upon this earth and under the earth belongs to Christ, for He
made the earth and He made every man for
His pleasure — to rejoice in! He tasted death for every man, and therefore,
every foot of the earth, and every man on the earth and under the earth belongs
to Christ my Lord. They are His by right
of creation and they are His by right of redemption. No devil anywhere has any claim on even one
of them, and no devil anywhere can gainsay that fact. I claim for my God this great and eternal
kingdom! The church has forgotten that
Christ came to establish a kingdom and that it must break in pieces and consume (take into
itself) every other kingdom including the devil’s kingdom. The church has forgotten that God has given
His Christ the keys of death and
hell; and with the veil of tradition and carnal-minded reasoning over their
darkened minds they are unable to comprehend even the simplest of truths — that
the Saviour of men will never use
those keys to lock men up in either sin or death or hell, but He will use them to lead all men out of the
prison-house! Aren’t you glad!
The
gospel which Christ preached was the gospel of the kingdom of God. The hope and aim of all His work was the establishment of the kingdom of God
in the earth and in all realms everywhere.
When the end of His great work is come, He shall deliver
up the kingdom of
God,
even the Father, and in it will be everything God created, for God will be ALL-IN-ALL! We who
preach this gospel of the all-inclusive
and all-victorious redemption of Christ preach not a gospel of limited
atonement, nor of a partially victorious kingdom, nor of a Christ who was a
failure — dying for men He was unable to save, nor of an almost all-powerful
devil who wins the battle for souls and possesses the souls of untold
billions throughout an endless
eternity. Oh, no! Such a doctrine would be blasphemy! We preach the
gospel of the kingdom
of God,
of the supremacy and omnipotence of Christ its King, and of the triumph of that
kingdom in all the earth and unto the unbounded heavens. We command every man upon this God’s earth,
and under the earth, and in heaven and hell and throughout the universe
wherever they may be, to bow the knee and glorify God by calling Jesus Lord and
serving and obeying Him with a willing heart, as it is written: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth; and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER”
(Phil. 2:10-11). God shall grant
it. If it takes ages upon ages, God
shall grant it!
We
must have it! We shall fight it out to
the end, and we will win. The omnipotent
Christ within us shall win. Sin shall be
abolished. Disease, pain, sorrow, death,
and hell shall pass away. This victory
must be fully accomplished in the firstfruits
of His redemption first. The Day is
at hand. Then, O Christ, and then alone,
wilt Thou see the travail of Thy soul, and be satisfied. Then, O Christ, and then alone, can we be
satisfied; when the last rebel has bowed at Thy feet, and the last blasphemer
has confessed Thy lovely name, and there is no more fight; for there is no more
devil anywhere. Hallelujah!
God shall reign forever, the reality of creation! It is a living hope; this hope, that at last,
every poor sinner will have heard the glad sound, and that at last every proud
spirit in earth and heaven and hell will humbly bow before the Christ, and will
own His sway, and there shall be harmony and peace and unity and unbounded joy
and rejoicing everywhere, for God shall be ALL-IN-ALL! That is my hope.
The
spirit of might ((Isa. 11:2) that rests upon the Rider on the white horse, and
which shall rest upon all of God’s sons who ride with Him, is not the same kind
of might known by the people of this world; it is not the might of force, of
marching armies, of clanging swords, of tanks and guns and bursting bombs, for
these exist only in the realm of carnal
might. The might of God and of God’s
Christ is spiritual might! If our eyes have been opened by the
Spirit of God we will see that the nature of all our
work in the army of the Lord is spiritual!
The power of the kingdom is spiritual
power, its citizens are a spiritual people, its ministry is a spiritual
ministry, its authority is spiritual authority, its conquests are spiritual
conquests, its dominion is spiritual dominion, its laws are spiritual laws, it
weapons are spiritual weapons, its priesthood is a spiritual priesthood, its
sovereignty is spiritual sovereignty. If
you understand the truths I have just written, you understand things that have
been hidden from the eyes of nearly all the religionists of the whole
world! Many of the Lord’s precious
people are no further advanced in their
understanding than were the fleshly-minded Jews of Jesus’ day who looked for
the Messiah to come and deliver them from Rome — as if being free from Rome would make them free from their real enemies
— carnality, selfhood, sin, and death!
The work of the kingdom is the work of rescuing men out of the power of
darkness and the bondage of the flesh and the carnal mind that they may be
gained for God. It is the work of
imparting unto men the very life, mind, nature, and spirit of the Lord that men
may be gained even more and more by God until He truly becomes ALL-IN-ALL. Thus shall the whole
creation be delivered
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God!
The
cry of the hour is that we become that
for which we have been apprehended. We
are giving notice to heaven and earth that this is not just another teaching or
beautiful revelation given to thrill our
hearts, but this message is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as a
witness to God’s elect that we are a “chosen generation,” a “royal
priesthood,” “kings to reign,” and we
are also called to form the “army of the Lord” in the earth. We are not just passing through this world,
but are sent by God at a specific time, at the very hour of the very day of the
very month of
the very year of the very century when the army of God is destined to arise in
the earth to fight the final battles for the possession of our inheritance in
the kingdom of God! We shall bring to
this world the unveiled glory of the Son, in an open display of a manifestation
in the sons of God. For this we cry,
that we would be the forthshinning of the Son, His express image, the
demonstration and power of His sonship glory and dominion, upon which the
nations will gaze, upon which all the philosophies and religions of the world
will stare in astonishment, and be confounded, and be changed by the glory of
His countenance. Oh, yes, the army of
the Lord shall “shine forth as the
morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners!”
By
this army shall creation be set free from the prison of corruption, to see a
new heaven and a new earth, to see sin and unrighteousness banished from the
hearts of men, to see death destroyed from off God’s creation, to see the end
of all sickness, sorrow, and pain, to see safety, peace, and happiness come to
every man, woman, and child, to see (New) Jerusalem established as a praise in
all the earth, to see kings reigning gloriously from mount Zion, to see every
man and every nation walking in the Light of the City of God. If you don’t believe or don’t understand this
testimony, then just consider — following this great battle in chapter nineteen
of the Revelation — read the next and final three chapters of the book and see
if the very conditions I have just described are not precisely what you see! Taken
in context and sequence it cannot be denied that the glory of the Lord filling
the earth as the waters cover the sea, with righteousness abounding everywhere,
is the blessed and glorious result of the conquests of THE ARMY
OF THE LORD! Oh, the wonder of it!
Praise
God for the exalted road that leads to Zion,
no ravenous beast shall tread the path that the vultures
eye hath not seen. These are glorious
days indeed
for the army of God, a great people, there has not even been the like thereof
unto the years of many generations. We
have for many years been struggling in God’s great “boot camp” training for
this spiritual warfare, but there is now a mighty stirring in the spirit as the
army of the Lord musters for battle. Truly
the white horse has been galloping triumphantly through our land, conquering every enemy within, and announcing to us that
He reigns in a voice of thunder from His throne on high. May He reign and speak through us even as He reigns and speaks within us in the great Day of the Lord! The weapon of Him who rides through our land is the bow of His word sending
Truth into our minds and hearts; the weapon of the army of God, however, is the
sword of the Spirit, the sharp two-edged sword of the Living Word of God — a
sword to smite the nations, not with the carnal force of merciless slaughter,
but with the life-changing properties of TRUTH AND LIFE. The battle fought by the Christ of God is a
spiritual warfare, combat between light and darkness, between spirit and flesh,
between truth and error, between righteousness and evil, between life and
death, between the customs and ways of this world and the principles of the kingdom
of God. Ride on, O Horseman! Ride on, O Horsemen!
In
the midst of all the confusion and darkness of this hour the Spirit of God is
calling out a people for His name. He is
training them in the school of obedience and refining them in the furnace of
affliction. He is stripping them of
self-interest, draining them of self-will, plucking from their hearts all the deceptive ways of Babylon, causing them to
abhor the vain efforts of the flesh.
These are putting on the whole armor of God, these are dwelling in
heavenly places, seated with Christ; these are the armies from heaven that follow the Word of God into battle. To understand what I say you will have to come out of all former tradition. Many think of the
“armies from heaven” as being those saints who have passed on to the other side
of the veil, who are then joined with those sons on earth, the armies from both
sides fighting as one. The truth is,
however, that there is no mention of “armies which were on earth,” — all
those who ride with Jesus constitute “the armies which were in heaven.” It is not that these are dead saints
returning, but all who make up this company, be they alive in the flesh or on the
other side in the spirit, all are out of those “heavenly
places in Christ Jesus” where we are seated with Him! It is not a matter of being dead or alive, it
is a matter of finding our life, our position, our very reality in the exalted
sphere of HIS LIFE! From within, out of
the innermost being, is arising a strong and mighty Word, the absolute truth about God and all things, beyond
the superstitions, myths, folklore, fairy tales, and traditions of religion,
and by which every adversary shall be silenced.
“He cast out the spirits WITH
HIS WORD” (Mat. 8:16). God’s Christ
shall ultimately cast out all the spirits
that plague and dominate the whole world of mankind! He shall do it this time just as He did when
He was here in the flesh — He shall cast out all the spirits WITH HIS WORD!
That’s what this “battle” is all about!
This sin-weary world shall yet be governed by a glorious company of sons
of God, every one in the image of Christ, every one a brother of Jesus Christ,
every one infused with His life and invested with His authority, every one a
son given “power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of
the enemy!” The whole earth, as Eden
was, shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters
cover the sea. The mouth of the Lord
hath spoken it!
Although
God “so loved the world,” still there
is a special sense in which Christ “loved us”
and gave Himself for us — those
He is making kings and priests unto God, that we might reign over the
earth. “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His
own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His
Father” (Rev. 1:5-6). The book of
Revelation is written to kings and priests!
“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation; and hast made us unto
our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev.
5:9-10).
Some
time ago, in Bill and Elaine Cook’s paper, Monty Williamson shared the following beautiful
testimony which speaks so powerfully of Christ’s love for His called and
separated elect. “A while ago I had an
experience with the Lord Jesus Christ that I would like to share. As I was waiting on the Lord in prayer, I was
part of a scene that I will try to describe.
I was with the Lord’s army traveling across the sky, headed for
earth. We were all riding on beautiful
white horses flying towards the Lord’s enemies to do battle. As I took in the scene, I realized I was in
the front line of the Lord’s army. I
took in the view and felt honored that I was allowed to be at the front where I
could see the vistas of the earth beneath and know that I would be one of the first to join in this great battle.
“As
my eyes moved to the left, I realized that I was riding beside Jesus. He smiled at
me and I felt so loved and understood. I
was overwhelmed that I was at His right hand as He rode into battle. I felt so loved and honored! I was shocked that I was beside Him, and
questioned in my mind why I was allowed to ride there. In return, He just loved me and let me know
that it was right that I was beside
Him. I felt humbled and greatly
loved. I savored the moment and it was
one of the greatest feelings I have ever had — to be riding on a white horse
with Jesus heading into battle! After a
bit I began to wonder about the others who were riding with us and I felt a
little sad that I was at the front with Jesus and that others were not. I was thinking that maybe I should rotate my
place with others so that my brothers and sisters could share the joy of riding
beside Jesus. I felt Him whisper that it
was “Okay” and that I should look around.
“As
I looked back, I saw the most incredible picture. I saw the rest of the army — as I looked at
each one, I noted that they were all looking to the person on their left. On
their left was Jesus riding beside them!
As I looked closer, I realized that from each person’s perspective,
each one was riding beside Jesus and saw themselves at the front of the army,
riding on His right side. The same
picture that I had at the first, where I saw myself at the front of the army
and at His right hand, was the same vision that everyone else had. We all thought that we were riding at the
front of the army beside Jesus! For
everyone, Jesus was beside them having intimate fellowship with each one at the
same time. My love and awe for Jesus
soared! It is just like Him to be able
to make each one of us feel the most
loved at the same time. He is the
Head and we are the body. Does any part
of the body feel neglected by the head?
It is the same with Jesus, our Head.
He is able to make each of us feel intimately loved all at the same
time. It is something very hard for the
finite mind to wrap around, but it is
possible with God. His love for us knows no bounds!” — end quote.
The
army of the Lord is at this very moment in careful preparation. The mountains are full of horses and chariots
of fire, which the King mustereth for the battle. His great command is, “FOLLOW ME!” He rides the white horse of universal
conquest. He goes on from conquering to
conquer. Follow the King from victory to
victory, from triumph to triumph in your own life; then you, who constitute the
King’s hosts, will move forward to press the same victory everywhere. During World War II, due to the urgency
of the times, officers were trained in a ninety-day course. These were called “ninety-day wonders” by the
enlisted men, who resented them because they were ruling, but had never
been ruled over. There will be no “ninety-day” wonders in
the army of the Lord! He is presently
preparing “officers” to participate with Him in the closing out of the church
age and the establishment of the new age of the kingdom of God. There are no short cuts — God will deal and
deal with each member of His army until each stands
tall and strong and swift in the wisdom
and might of Jesus Christ!
You
who have not yet surrendered all to Him as King of kings, you who know Him as
Saviour but have not crowned Him Lord of all within, don’t you hear His trumpet
pealing in your ears, sounding down through all the chambers of your soul’s
castle? You who have tried to be a good
Christian, involved in the religious activities of the man-made church systems,
but have not hitherto heard the call to “come out of her” and come up higher
into the high calling of God in Christ Jesus — why do you stand out
longer? Why not draw in your colors this
day, and invite HIM to the supreme place in your heart and life, and enroll
yourself among His followers from henceforth, to follow Him to the heights of
mount Zion; and
then, when He celebrates His last victory, be among those who come with songs
and everlasting joy to share the
fruits of His victory and chant His praises forevermore. Amen!
To
be continued… J. PRESTON EBY
