This is a Spiritual Battle, We Must Not Trust in Man
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Without a doubt, we are engaged in a strong spiritual battle for a righteous and holy Church, that knows who their God is, and for the advancement of the gospel.
Cancel culture is coming against the Church and all Christians who seek to speak truth.
If you speak out against LGBTQ+, you will be canceled.
If you speak out against abortion, you will be canceled.
If you speak out against immorality, fornication, and abstinence until marriage, you will be laughed off of every platform and then canceled.
If you speak out against the unbliblical doctrine of critical race theory, liberation theology, and intersectionality, you will be labeled and then canceled.
If you speak out against the anti-biblical practice of ecumenism and the exclusivity of the gospel, you will be mocked and then canceled.
If you speak out about the church being essential and the need to keep our churches open and operational, you will be the recipient of an onslaught of words and then canceled.
The fact is, even much of the Church right now doesn’t want truth because many have not received a love for the truth, and therefore God has sent to them strong delusion. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
So how do we fight this battle?
I write this post, knowing that my readership reaches around the world, because this is a battle that is not exclusive to America.
Though oftentimes as Americans we think that these issues are unique to us, they are not.
All of the above issues facing the American Church are being waged in nearly every culture on earth right now, and global church is facing a spiritual battle that must be taken seriously.
In Isaiah chapters 11-16, we see Judah facing an equally formidable opponent.
Assyria.
The Assyrians were the terror of the known world in that day. They were cruel to demonic proportions.
In fact, whole cities were known to commit suicide upon learning that the Assyrian army was marching against them, because they knew what the Assyrians did to their captors.
And now, Judah is on their radar.
We read this story in 2 Kings 18-20. Not only was Assyria advancing against Judah, they blasphemed God in the process…mocking King Hezekiah for trusting in God.
And in Isaiah 16-20, we read God’s warning to Judah not form alliances with the surrounding nations, because God’s judgment was coming upon them all.
Judah was not to trust in the strength of the added human force and weaponry alliances would bring in their opposition to the Assyrian army.
God was going to fight on their behalf.
This was a spiritual battle that God would wage against Assyria.
Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
Isaiah 17:12-14
In 2nd Kings 19, the prophet Isaiah encourages Hezekiah to stand in his faith in God, and not trust in the arm of man to save him.
God was going to defeat the Assyrian army overnight.
And in 2 Kings 19:35-37 we read how an angel of the Lord wiped out the Assyrian army of 185,000 men in one night.
Dear sisters, we must not fight this battle with the arm of flesh.
The battle for an authentic, righteous church and the advancement of the gospel will not be won in political arenas.
It will be not be won with better education and awareness.
It will not be won with arguments and intellectualizing.
It certainly won’t be won by the Church forming alliances with unbelievers to increase our voice.
There is only one way spiritual battles are fought, and that is on our knees in prayer and intercession.
We don’t fight our battles the way the world fights its battles.
We fight our battles on our knees, in faith believing that God has already gone before us and will win this battle on our behalf.
Dear sister, may I encourage you today to stand strong on what you know to be true.
God’s Word – every word, every letter, every “jot and tittle” is true and literal.
Don’t be discouraged in this war of cancellation being waged against Christians right now. God is on our side.
The enemy wants to intimidate us into fear and silence.
Don’t let him win!
But don’t become self-assured either. Don’t trust in your own wit and strength; in your own words and the tactics of the world – because that is not how we fight this battle.
Hezekiah didn’t go out with his army and slay the Assyrians.
An angel of the Lord did that.
Hezekiah took the letter blaspheming and mocking Almighty God and spread it before God and went to prayer.
This is how we fight our battles.
This post is part of the Blogging Through the Bible series with Good Morning Girls
Other posts on Isaiah:
because they knew what the Assyrians did to their captors ….I think you mean captives.
Another way to fight is to free the captives in the churches. Recently I have been studying deliverance like this bit http://www.freebibledownload.net/Deliverance/MassDeliveranceManual-WatchmanRadio.pdf and have been greatly freed and encouraged. It is still for today, but we need to do confessing, repenting, renouncing, then bind and release.
Sometimes we as Christians forget the strongest weapon is the simplest; Keep calm and show trust in our Almighty Father (Isaiah 30:15)
Since you all have studied Hezekiah, I think you would enjoy this film version – you can either stream it or download it a no charge:
https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODMoviesBibleTimes/pub-tiy_x_VIDEO