“David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave
of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went
down there to him. 2 And everyone who
was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented
gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four
hundred men with him.”
If you were looking to put together an army, the men David
chose would probably not have been most people’s selections. They were not the Elite fighting men of their
day, they were not what most people would consider the “A” Team of
soldiers. They were distressed, they
were discontent, and they were broke.
They were a motley crew of ever there was one. It was a gathering of the
worst that their society had to offer.
I know that some may get angry about what I am about to say,
offended even, but this gathering of malcontents reminds me of the Church. I know that most of us have been cleaned up
real nice, and on Sunday we’re all fancied up in our suits and dresses and when
we come to worship we smell all nice and clean.
But if all the dressings were removed, if someone were to do
a spiritual background check on us, somewhere in the back of our closet,
somewhere back down memory lane, there are some things we wished we had never
done. Somewhere back over our shoulders
there's a bottle, somewhere there’s a needle, somewhere there’s a pipe,
somewhere back down the road we’ve traveled there’s lust and sexual immorality
that we wished we had never tasted of.
Somewhere back down the by-ways of our past, we had no
friends, we had money, we had no hope, we had no peace, and we had no joy.
But praise God something happened: we came to Jesus with
all our problems. But we didn't come to him all cleaned up. We came bound,
we came oppressed, we came high, we came drunk, and we came bitter, angry,
and full of resentment. Because he saw
something of value in us, because Jesus saw something He loved in all of us. We came to Him and Jesus accepted us just like
we were, just like David did with these men.
He looked at the worst and he saw the best.
David looked at a bunch of rejects that nobody else wanted,
and he said I'll put them on my team and I'll turn them into the greatest army
the world has ever seen. And that's exactly
what David did with those four hundred men. They became an elite army of the
highest levels of courage, ability, and integrity.
And God can do the same thing with you and I, rejects of
society, rejected by the masses, dismissed by the religious elite, but chosen
and anointed by the risen King of Kings. And the Lord is using us to build His army.
Yes we have been cast out by many who are considered the “family
of God,” dismissed as losers and prodigals, we are still part of the family, even though we may be the black sheep, But there's a difference between a family and an army. A family is held together basically by the
bonds of blood and love. An army is held
together by commitment, by order, and by vision.
Luke 19:13
“And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten
pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.”
Jesus is not just speaking to the family of God, he is
speaking to the Army of God. He said
occupy till I come. Occupy is a military
term and it is not passive, it is active; full of force and energy, it is not
in the defensive it is in the offensive.
That means in order to fulfill this command one must be forcefully and
aggressively moving forward, engaging and overcoming resistance.
Luke 10:19
“Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and
scorpions (not hold down the fort) and over all the power of the enemy...”
Jesus is speaking to a group of people who are anointed and
are aggressively moving forward to advance the kingdom of God. His words here
are not for everyone in the church, He is not speaking to the pew warmers, He
is not speaking to those who worship Christ on Sunday and Satan on Monday: He
is speaking to an elite army of soldiers that are consumed with God’s mandate
to establish the kingdom of God in the earth and they are treading under their
feet anything that opposes this Kingdom mandate.
This elite group of people have chosen to serve on the front
line. They are an advancing army. They are not a “hold the fort” army, they are
not a “hang out” army, and they are not a beat up, bruised, head hanging, or barely
getting by army. They are the born
again, Holy Ghost filled, blood washed, battle ready, and devil stomping army
of the Living God!
II Corinthians 10:3-5
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to
the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing
that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into
captivity to the obedience of Christ,”
Listen to what I am trying to tell you! God did not give us
these mighty weapons just so that we could hold down the fort till Jesus comes. He has given us, the blood of Jesus,
authority in Jesus’ name, the word of God, prayer and fasting, and the gifts of
the Holy Spirit to lay hands on the sick, to release those on bondage, to
proclaim freedom to the captives, to cast out demons and to destroy the works
of the devil. He didn't give us these
weapons of power to us just to sit down somewhere and wait for our flight to
heaven, He gave us these weapons of power so we could advance the Kingdom of
God in the earth.
God told me to speak to His church and say: Now is not the hour
to become lukewarm, self-seeking, self-preserving, and self-centered like so
many in the church have. Now is the time
for the army of God to rise up and occupy, to advance His kingdom in the earth
and destroy the works of the enemy!
God is raising up His army!
The Church of Jesus Christ is not supposed to be a place where we hide
out from the Devil and pray for Jesus to come and deliver us, the Church is
supposed to be a military outpost. A
place where we are trained, equipped, and mobilized to take the world for
Jesus.
I know this message is not for everyone, it's a little too
sharp, a little too cutting, and a little too penetrating for a lot of
comfortable religious people, but there is a breed of people that know they
were bred for battle, that know God didn't just save you to fly away to heaven
but to advance the Kingdom of God in the earth.
We are not just the family of God - We are also the Army of
God!
As the Army of the Lord we are unified
first by our love for God, second by our love for each other, third by our love
for the lost, and we are bound together by our commitment to His call, to the
vision He has given each of us, and to the great commission.
Mainstream religion and the liberal media will label us
radicals, extremists, unorthodox, and out of control because we don't fit in
their traditional and politically correct boxes. It's difficult at times because the religious
church goers will avoid you, and even criticize you. Why?
Because radical devotion to Christ exposes, the lukewarm, the
half-hearted, and indifferent. That is
why true, unbridled passion, and devotion to Christ will always stir up
criticism and persecution from the religious and the unbelieving.
Remember the woman who broke her alabaster box and poured
the entire contents upon Jesus? Immediately she was questioned, “Why was this
waste of ointment made, it might have been sold for a great deal of money?”
Who would dare call anointing Jesus a waste? Stingy religious people that’s who!
But if God is for us, who can stand against us?
This woman, who was a woman of ill repute, risked the
ridicule of the religious elite so that she could bless the Lord with her most
valued treasure. She disregarded the
scorn of these men and gave her best to the Lord, allowing it to be broken and
spilled out for the Master. If we will
do the same, Jesus will take us as we are and raise us up in an anointing that
we never imagined: Broken and used up for His kingdom.
My purpose today for writing this is to stand as a prophetic
voice and to declare what I'm hearing God say, God is not looking for a
low-flying, don't rock the boat, or don't disturb anybody kind of church.
God is looking for soldiers to join His army.
No comments:
Post a Comment