There are a lot of people who look at the world and fear the possibility of war. There are people praying that, unlike our parents and grand parents, we are spared more war. But it looks like Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea and others may not care much for those prayers. Even if conflict with Korea is averted, there are still be a variety of wars, coups, skirmishes, incursions, hostilities and battles – large and small – all over the world. But isn’t it true that most of the prayers to which I referred are self-centered and self-indulging. Most people don’t care if there is war, or even genocide, in Central Africa or in the Indian Ocean. What they care about is any war which might touch them, their loved ones, or their economy. According to the Bible, true peace is at least seven years away, and perhaps farther than that. We can pray and live in hope for presence of the King of Peace, but we have no guarantee that He will return during our earthly life-time. And without Him, if there is an absence of war before the Second Coming, it will be tenuous at best and probably wicked at its heart. Peace means either the absence of an enemy – or at least his disarmament. Disarmament is the only kind of peace we can expect from Kim Jong-un. It is hard to imagine that he will ever change from being an enemy to a friend.
And even if he and every human being in the world loved and befriended every other human, there would still be one enemy awaiting arrest, trial and incarceration in chains at the bottom of the bottomless pit. There is a spiritual war raging around us, and in us, of which most people are totally ignorant. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” Each one of us are one of three things in regard to this spiritual war. We are either soldiers of Christ, or enemies of Christ, because we’re soldiers for Satan, or we are casualties and unproductive as soldiers of the Lord. We need to realize exactly who we are in this fight. If we have genuine love for Christ, love for His Word, loyalty to God and heavenly patriotism, then there is evidence that are we citizens of Heaven and we are enlisted as soldiers for God. “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare” – I Timothy 1:18. “Fight the good fight of faith.” If there ISN’T any practical love for the Saviour, or for His Word, or His church, then there is serious doubt about our citizenship and our spiritual loyalties.
Paul touches on this warfare here in Colossians 2. He was not a general in the army of God, standing on the hillside beyond the range of the cannons. Paul was more like Pastor John Gano – right in the thick of the fight. Usually the work of the chaplain was behind the lines with the medics. But in the battle on Chatterton’s Hill, this man found himself at the front of the regiment. He could see that if he retreated to the recommended position, it would dishearten the men. When he saw half the army running from the English cannons, he joined 600 other brave men and fought back the British onslaught. Like Paul, he chose the hottest part of the fight and led the charge. There were many occasions when Paul would have taken a bullet for the Lord. In these verses we have Paul’s report of the battle for Colosse.
First, he describes THE FIELDS where the blood was spilt.
“For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.” In a physical way, the neighboring cities of Colosse and Laodicea, were the site of this particular battle. But this was not really the primary place. Like the great Battle of Midway in World War II, the battle wasn’t ON the Island of Midway. And just as the Battle of Britain was little fought in Britain – there was no German army in England. Midway was fought between naval fleets vying for the control of tiny Midway Island. And the Battle of Britain was fought in the air primarily over the English Channel. This battle was not so much as on Colossian soil, as it was in Colossian hearts. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” And the strongholds aren’t bunkers, pill-boxes and armories.
Not necessarily in order, but one of the battle sites was in UNCOMFORTED HEARTS. Verse 2 – “That their hearts might be comforted.” There is an element in war far more important than weaponry, intelligence, numbers or training. The strongest, or the weakest part, of any soldier is that man’s heart. If he has no confidence in his leaders, in the cause for which he’s fighting, or in his ability to actually win, then there is little sense in throwing him into the fray. Nothing is so sad as an already defeated attitude – pessimism. But what a blessing to know that no matter how long the war may rage, we are on the winning side. What comfort there is in the realization that even if Satan enlists 98% of the world into his army … And even if he arms them with public education, every form of media, and two dozen corrupt Bibles… And even if the kings of the earth are a part of his team, trying their best to exterminate the truth and eliminate the followers of God … There will always be at least “seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” There will always be a powerful remnant of the army of God, lead by the Lord Himself. He will never leave Himself without a witness. And what comfort there is in the realization that though we dwell in the den of lions, they cannot open their mouths against us without the permission of the Lord. We even have the assurance our “redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after our skin the enemy destroy this body, yet in the flesh shall we see God: Whom we shall see for ourselves, and our eyes shall behold, and not another; though our reins be consumed within us.” And when we see Him, He “shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.”
Another field of battle in Colossian hearts was in the area of UNIFYING LOVE. “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love.” The story can be told again and again, by different armies in different uniforms and different battles. So very important to the entire company is the love and trust that the team has for each other. They have to be sure that each team member is looking out for the welfare of everyone else. The Greeks and other ancient armies fought in highly compact phalanx formations. Each man’s shield overlapped the next man’s shield with only a small area for a protruding spear. Alexander of Macedonia conquered the world with that kind of formation.
Today’s modern army may deliberately avoid the phalanx, but they have other ways of interlocking their attack. They have highly sophisticated communication equipment. They have night vision equipment in order to see one another even in the dark. They have global positioning equipment, so that they can know exactly where they are at all times. They have satellite real-time observations. And they have weapons that reach a lot farther than a spear or a sword. For the church of God part of their interconnection has to be their knitting together in love. First, of course, is their mutual love for the Lord. Then comes their love for the Word of God and the resulting doctrines of Truth. Permeating them both must be a love for one another. And that is in spite the known differences and weaknesses that we all possess. No church can stand against the wiles of the Devil where there isn’t a knitting together in love.
And of course there must be a certain degree of UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE. “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.” The soldier who is not familiar with his weapon and how to use that weapon is a useless soldier. I understand that he is trained to dismantle, clean, repair and rebuild his equipment in within a certain number of minutes or seconds. He has to be able to protect and preserve his weapon, so that it will be available when the fight begins. Christians need to engage their minds as well as their hearts and souls in this war. Paul was able to say that he was “not ignorant of the Devil’s devices.” I wish that we were as familiar with them as we ought to be. It’s obvious that we aren’t because we are so easily sucked into his traps. And we need to know the “Sword of the Spirit” better than we do – the Word of God. Not only do we need to know it, but we need to be experienced in its use. The swordsman cannot afford NOT to constantly train in the use of his weapon. Disuse and lack of practice permits our muscles to weaken and our eye to grow dull. We need to exercise our hearts and our minds for the work which the Lord had commissioned us. We need to read doctrinal books, historical books, Biblical devotional books. I wonder how many Colossians could recite the names of the winners of last ten Super Bowl games? How many knew the birth-dates of all of their children and grandchildren? But how many of them knew how to combat the attack of the Jehovah’s Witness at their doorstep? How many of them could prove from the scriptures the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ?
We are surrounded by the enemy, and we need to be prepared for battle.
We need to realize that we’re not in the battle alone, WE HAVE ALLIES.
Of course, there is the Lord Jesus Christ “in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.“ In the Book of Joshua Christ calls himself “the Captain of the Host of the Lord.” The Book of Psalms quite often refers to the Lord as the God of battle or the God of armies. And the Lord knows how to use the power that he has. It might be said that when the Lord created Satan, he put a collar around his neck. For centuries now, whenever Satan has begun to think too highly of himself, the Lord has yanked on that collar. The Lord put Job just outside the limits of the chain that was tied to that collar. And one day the Lord is going to grab that collar once again and cast Satan into the bottomless pit. There is certain victory in Jesus. “We can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us.”
We also have the Holy Spirit indwelling and potentially infilling us. We have the promise of great power “after that the Holy Ghost is come upon us.” And then there is the seed of faith that is found in every believer. There is only one way to become a part of this army – and that is by faith. Possessing that faith we have a weapon of incredible strength. The Lord said that it has the ability to remove mountains and pluck up trees. And it is capable of deflecting and swallowing up the all the fiery darts of the enemy.
Something else that we enjoy as a part of the great army of God is order. Verse 5 – “For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.” We have a foundation and a standard operating procedure for doing the work of the Lord. We have doctrines taken straight out of the Word of God. We have patterns for worship and plenty of instruction on how to pray
Lastly, Paul reminds us HOW the battle should be FOUGHT.
First, we should be in the business of helping our comrades to fight the same good fight of faith. “Building up their most noble faith,” their confidence in Christ and their hope of the great victory. It is my job to take you to God’s Word, where you can see what the Lord has done in other times and other places. It is a part of my job, to show you that God still blesses His people, like the Waldensians and Anabaptist. Then we need to share with one another the testimony of our own salvation. We need to display the excitement that only the child of God can possess.
How did Paul fight the battle? Like his great Commander, he fought it with prayer. What was the greatest battle that the Lord Jesus ever fought? It had to have been on the cross itself. And knowing that the cross was just hours away, Jesus spent the night in prayer. Jacob wrestled all night in prayer.
Then of course, part of the artillery is the preaching and teaching of the Word. This is how the beguiling words of the wicked one are defeated. We need to hear strong preaching and you need to encourage me to preach more boldly. We need reproof, rebuke and exhortation.
And we fight by enlisting new recruits. I don’t suppose that any of you have ever visited the Alamo, down in San Antonio, Texas. It’s not really very much to look at, but it was the rallying point for the freedom of Texas. If there had been more men at the Alamo, it would not have fallen. But after it fell it drew many more Texans into the fray. We need to be concerned about souls.
We’re in a battle, and the Lord is going to win. The question is whether or not we are going to be at the Saviour’s side throughout the conflict. We have much to say about the answer. We can determine if we are going to be casualties or victors. There is a sense in which, with the Lord’s blessings we might even be both – casualties and victors.