We are at War!

We are at War! Terry Dashner www.ffcba.com Bevin Alexander titles his book, How Wars Are Won--The 13 Rules Of War From Ancient Greece To The War On Terror, (Three Rivers Press, New York, 2002). On the back cover it reads in part, "Both timely and timeless, How Wars Are Won illuminates the thirteen essential rules for success on the battlefield that have evolved from ancient times until the present day. Acclaimed military historian Bevin Alexander's incisive and vivid analyses of famous battles throughout the ages show how the greatest commanders--from Alexander the Great to Douglas MacArthur--have applied these rules." As I read this book, I couldn't help but see the parallels of the natural to the supernatural. If--and I believe this is true--there are parallels of the natural to the supernatural then the wars being waged presently in the unseen realm (supernatural warfare of demonic and angelic beings) do, at times, manifest as physical warfare, especially when the Light of the glorious Gospel breaks into the kingdoms of darkness. If these are the latter days--and I believe they are--then the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 are coming true before our very eyes. Jesus said that before the end of the age comes, certain things would intensify on the face of the earth. Nation would rise against nation--kingdoms against kingdoms. Why? Because as the end of the age approaches, God is pouring out His Holy Spirit to provide refuge for those enslaved in darkness. As His glorious Light breaks into the earth's darkness, the earth and everything physical that can be shaken, will reel under the stress and duress of darkness being exposed for what it is--a defeated entity. When Christians pray in the Spirit and address the spiritual darkness around them, they are doing spiritual warfare in the unseen realm. Over a period of time, the darkness can be cast down to the earth and manifest into physical warfare over nations (Revelation 12:7-9). For example, through the decade of the 1990s, the church took a posture of spiritual warfare over specific areas in the world that has shut out the Gospel for centuries. After years of prayer many of these dark regions began to open up to the Gospel but at great costs--physical war such as the USA's war on terror in Asia. The very key to overcoming darkness in these last days is persevering in spiritual warfare against darkness by the authority of Jesus Christ. Bevin Alexander opens chapter one of his book with these words, "Two unrelated developments have fused to produce a true revolution in warfare. The first is highly accurate and extremely powerful weapons. The second is the discovery that modern conventional armies can be defeated by guerrilla methods." Bevin continues with these words, "The traditional battlefield will disappear, and combat will take on more the nature of sudden, surprise blows on unsuspecting targets, and equally surprise counterstrikes by defending forces." That's interesting. But what Bevin calls a revolution in warfare has been the devil's way of conducting war on God's saints since the beginning of time. It was the subtlety of Satan that succeeded against Adam and Eve. Satan continues to this day trying to overwhelm us by his big guns and surprise blows. If warfare is changing as Bevin claims, it is because more darkness is being attacked in prayer. And the principalities of darkness are retaliating with everything they have to try and overcome the Light. I have news for you. The Light wins. Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon, and until He does keep fighting the good fight of faith! PRAY with all your might... Pastor T