Militant Evangelism! (33 page)

"My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my Commandments within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as hidden treasures then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."

When we understand the greatness, the integrity, the majesty, the power, the
preeminence
, the nobility, the
splendor
, the grandeur, the supremacy and the ability of our God, then we will begin to fear Him. I love storms with thunder and lightning. They display a tiny portion of the power of our God. We are witnesses to the fact that creation displays the genius of the Creator. Look at this quote from the
Reader's Digest
and remember that it is speaking of the handiwork of God:

"In the order of the universe, the sun is an ordinary, typical medium-sized star. Yet its energy and violence almost defy imagination. It is a dense mass of glowing matter, a million times the volume of the earth and in a permanent state of nuclear activity. Every second, millions of tons of hydrogen are destroyed in explosions which start somewhere near the core, where the temperature is 13 million degrees Celsius. More energy than man has used since the dawn of civilization is radiated by this normal star in a second! The earth's entire oil, coal and wood reserves would fuel the sun's energy output to the earth alone for only a few days. Tongues of hydrogen flame leap from the sun's surface with the force of 1,000 million hydrogen bombs! They are forced up by the enormous thermonuclear explosion at the core of the sun where 564 million tons of hydrogen
fuse
each second to form helium. Matter at the core of the sun is so hot that a pinhead of it would give off enough heat to kill a man 160 million km away!"

God is infinitely greater than any of us can imagine. No wonder the Psalmist says, "Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all His praise? Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable." The Prophet continues to give us light:

"All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing; and vanity. To whom then will you liken God or what likeness will you compare unto Him? To whom then will you liken
Me
, or shall I be equal?
saith
the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold what hath created these things, that
bringeth
out their host by number: He
calleth
them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power: not one
faileth
. Why
sayest
thou, O Jacob, and
speakest
, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known?
hast
thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth
not, neither is weary?
there
is no searching of His understanding" (Isaiah 40:17-28, KJV).

When we catch a glimpse of the greatness of God, we will never fear the enemy.

There are some thoughts about God which I have to dismiss from my mind because they are too mind-boggling for me to hold onto. Let me give you an example. When I look at you, I am limited to seeing you from the front. When you are facing me I can't see the back of your head. But the Bible tells us that the "eye of the Lord is in
every
place," so from what direction does God see you? You say, "From above, because He is in Heaven." But if His eye is omnipresent, He will not be limited to seeing you from one position. When God sees you, He sees you all at one time, from above, behind, in front, underneath, each side, inside and outside!
What then do you look like to God?
"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it." The

Bible says, "His ways are past finding."

While the unregenerate have the "understanding darkened," we can receive "spiritual understanding" (Colossians 1:9). This is why the Psalmist exhorts us to, "Sing praises
with understanding
.
"
 How can we give God praise if we don't understand His infinite greatness? We, even as Christians, are still partially blind to the greatness of His power. We take so much for granted even in nature. How is it that the same sod and water produces the sweetness of an orange and the bitterness of a lemon? How can soil and water produce a beet and onion alongside each other? The
substance of both come
directly from the same water and sod! How
can a brown cow
, eat green grass, which turns into white milk, becomes yellow butter and is eaten by a man who has red hair!

My prayer is, "Open my eyes that I might continually see the genius of
Your
mind displayed in creation!" If we could walk in such a spirit of illumination, we would walk around awestruck! We would continually worship God. We would be filled with such
faith,
we would see no problem too great for our God. We would say, "Ah, Lord God! (
as
the revelation of His greatness astounds us), Behold You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for
You
!"

Such knowledge of His power and ability would cause us to have faith that produces joy, even at the Red Sea, even in the Lion's den. We can look at the world with all its problems, sins and pains, and say, "One small breath of Almighty God's
Spirit,
and our nation can be saved. If the mere tip of the finger of God is for us, nothing can be against us. We can run toward the enemy saying, "Who are you that you should defy the armies of the Living God!" Be encouraged soldier, whatever trial you are going through at the present time, realize that it is God who is at work within you to will and do of His good pleasure. He is teaching your hands to war, so that a bow of bronze is broken by your arms. He has the ability and the wisdom to deliver you from it, or take you through it, so that when you have been tried you will come forth as gold.

Early in 1993, in Auckland, New Zealand, a small group of people moved into an old
jewelry
factory to conduct their church services. After cleaning the building they were left with a pile of dust, which someone had the good sense to take to a gold
refinery.
It yielded $8,500 in gold dust!
When the refinery asked if they could burn the carpet, the church group gave them a piece which was 12 feet square. It produced $3,500 worth of gold. They also vacuumed $350 worth of gold dust from the ceiling.

God is allowing the heat of trials only to produce in you that which is precious in His sight. Charles Spurgeon said, "Let
satan
do what he may, he only
speeds on the cause which he desires to hinder."

There is no way the enemy can defeat those soldiers who trust in God, their victory is their faith in Him. The soldier truly stands in a victorious spirit, who can say "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies."

Think of that for a moment. Most of us need to have peace of mind while we are eating, and yet the Psalmist said that God furnished a table for him right in the midst of the enemy. That victory, that level of triumph, comes directly proportionate to the amount of faith we have in God.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: STANDARD BATTLE PROCEDURE

"Blessed be the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for
war,
and my fingers for battle" (Psalm 144:1).

G
od is calling for each soldier in His army to become personally involved in the battle, to win this world for Christ. No longer can we rely solely upon great preachers to do our fighting for us. Billy Graham said, "Mass crusades, to which I have committed my life will never finish the job; but one to one will."

Great financial risks are involved in holding large crusades. To speak of hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars is not uncommon.

Another major hurdle is how to get the sinner away from his television set on a cold Sunday night. If I was a non-Christian, I would far rather stay at
home with my family in the warmth and comfort of my own home, in front of the T.V., than go and hear some preacher.

The answer is for each of us to be
laborers
right in our workplace, to rub shoulders with those in the harvest field. Listen to these wise words from a man with much experience, Dr. R. A. Torrey:

"I can give a prescription that will bring revival to any Church, community or city on earth:

1.    Let a few Christians get thoroughly right with God. This is a prime essential. If it is not done, the plan will fail.

2.    Let them give themselves to prayer for revival until God opens the heavens and comes down.

3.    Let them put themselves to prayer for revival until God opens the Heavens. That is all. This is sure to bring revival. I have given it all around the world. It has been taken in many Churches and communities and in no instances has it ever failed."

I would add only one thing that may not have needed saying in R.A. Torrey's day. Once we have prayed, we need to put legs to our prayers and in obedience, take the Gospel to every creature.

God
Honors
Desire

I am often asked if I was specifically "called" to preach the Gospel. I was, and so has every other

Christian been called. If we are following Jesus, it should be because He has called us to be "fishers of men." If we are not, it is probably because we are following at too great a distance and can neither see His example nor hear His voice. Those who follow close to the Master will know His voice, obey it, and witness of the salvation of God.

The first day I went to the local square to speak, a Christian came up to me and began to chat. He had no idea what I was about to do, and casually, "Hardly worth preaching the Gospel to this bunch!" How subtle the enemy is.

If you are going to do anything for the Kingdom of God, be ready for a sly attack which so often comes through a Christian brother or sister, the place least expected. Satan spoke directly through Peter in an attempt to stop Jesus doing the will of the Father, and it was David's elder brother who tried to discourage him from slaying Goliath.

A zealous Christian told me of a conversation he had with his own mother which totally discouraged him from seeking the lost. She was his own flesh and blood, and he listened to her speak nothing but discouragement for over an hour. She told him of his foolishness in wanting to preach when he hadn't even been through a seminary. Who was he to go around telling people about their need of Christ, when he wasn't even trained to be a minister! Those words of death went right into his heart and discouraged him to a point where he lost his zeal, his direction, and his desire to do anything for the Kingdom of God. It was only when he gave himself to prayer that he realized
satan's
subtlety. He will stop at nothing to get you back into the barracks of your local church building,
superglued
to the pew worshiping Jesus and ignoring His will. He will use any mouthpiece available, and believe me, there are plenty of willing ones. Jesus said, "Watch!" He said, "What I say to you, I say to all, watch."

Satan will often withhold an attack until you are in a place of vulnerability. He will not strike when you are full of faith and power, but when you are tired, fasting, or carrying a problem on your shoulders.

He has no mercy. He will stomp on you when you are down, and dig his grimy heel into the back of your neck. He is the hater of your soul. Your downfall is his delight. Keep your shield held high and "watch!"

I love the word
encouragement.
Just seeing my friend boldly preach on the train in the Bronx filled my heart with courage. If you see the soldier in front of you firing his weapon and the enemy fleeing before his face, fear will flee from your face.