And there is no discharge in that war
Ecclesiastes 8:8 “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.”
We are in the battle of the ages….the battle between God’s rule in obedience….and the devil’s rule in rebellion.
To see this clearly we must first consider two things:
The first being the Everlasting Covenant. (Hallelujah! Before anything was that has been or is….God saw all that was to be, and made full provision for it….in Christ Jesus!)
The Everlasting Covenant
(Hebrews 13:20 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,”)
This covenant was between God the Father….who agreed to draw all the elect to God the Son (John 6:37)….
….God the Son agreed to come in the fullness of time, and become the Man, Christ Jesus and die for all the elect…shedding His blood for the atoning of their sin, the seal of the covenant.…and be raised the third day…returning to Heaven…(Matthew 17:22-23)
….and sending God the Holy Spirit to live in and fill those that recieve Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior…being in fact their Comforter. (John 14:16-17)
This is first, for God is Almighty, and All-seeing. He is never taken by surprise…never unprepared.
The second thing is the warfare…and how it happened:
So when God did create the beautiful earth (Genesis 1:1 “And God created the heavens and the earth.)
….and when there was the rebellion of Lucifer…He was not surprised or unable.
Isaiah 14:12-14 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
Lucifer who became the devil, rebelled against God…and took one third of the angels with him.
(Matthew 25:41 this is his prepared end…and I believe he fights to attain a better one. He thinks that if he can defeat God’s plans enough, he will have things different than spoken of.)
In this first battle, the earth became “without form and void”….under darkness, till God spoke, “Let there be light”….and recreated the earth.
This, was the beginning of the Warfare of the Ages.
For the devil, full of hatred for God, sought to destroy God’s plans for man….to enslave him under the principle of rebellion….which is sin.
And this he did, darkening man’s spirit…making him dead to God (Ephesians 2:1-3, Romans 8:7)
Till,….God speaks “let there be light” in our lives…
2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
This is the warfare of obedience vs rebellion, if we belong to Christ….and just what is our part in it, in these days?
Revelation 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.”
To him that overcometh…even as I also overcame.
Now just what did the Lord Jesus overcome? Every obstacle that stood in the Way of accomplishing His Father’s Will for His life.
He bowed before the Father to every limitation and to all restrictions. Accepting as from the hand of the Father, all that came to Him.
And that is the same for us….we must overcome every obstacle that stands in the way of our accomplishing the Lord’s Will for our lives.
[And remember we overcome in three ways:
First, by “He that is in you” ( 1 John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”)
We overcome those in the world, under the Adversary’s influence (called here, the spirit of the antichrist)….by the Holy Spirit who lifts up to us, Christ Jesus in our hearts.
Second, by faith ( 1 John 5:4 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”)
We overcome the world’s influence…it’s greed, anger, and seeking it’s own way…by the exercise of our faith, we received at new birth.
Third, by Christ’s blood (Revelation 5:6, Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
We can plead the blood of the Lamb over us…and have protection against the Adversary.]
We must overcome! The letters to the churches all end with “to him that overcometh”….which means that each Christian must overcome all the obstacles the world, the flesh, and the devil places in front of us….
….not in our own strength, or our own devotion….but through His Presence, His faith, HIs blood. (Stop quenching the Spirit!….for it is He Who will comfort us in all our trials)
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
This is one of God’s eternal degrees….HIs Purpose from eternity past.
The Way of Salvation clearly stressed:
By grace
Through faith
And that not of yourselves
Not of works.
This is the way it is.
Yet the rest of this eternal degree is in the tenth verse.
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His Workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
We are His workmanship….and He doeth all things well.
Created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Our warfare is in the accomplishing of those good works which God has before ordained, for us to walk therein.
All provision has been made, we have but to walk in them….overcoming by the Holy Spirit, faith, and His Blood.
And our walk with God is in our everyday things….simple obediences that we do by faith in Him and HIs Word.
These honor HIm most….just a simple walk with the Lord Jesus everyday….becoming His Will wherever we are.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 