Peace Is Won Through Warfare

“Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ.” Jude 1. When we think about all the situations a person can encounter in a long life, it is a tremendous thing to be preserved for Christ throughout your life. Therefore, older God-fearing friends are a great testi­mony among us. If someone preaches the Word of God, but there is no death over his self in his ministry, then his preach­ing brings condemnation upon him. Many have become un­godly in the midst of being a Christian—they pervert the grace of God into shamelessness. A sword is needed to build the church, a sword that can separate the noble from the vile and the holy from the unholy. A sword and war are not popular topics. If you want to become great in this world, you must join the peace effort. People talk about alliances and toler­ance, but that wasn’t the way Jesus spoke. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” Matt. 10:34. This sword is absolutely necessary. Without it, the church will perish. Everything that is not noble must be removed. Everything impure must be cleansed away.

“Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase which is from God.” Col. 2:18-19.

Some people appear to be very holy and pure. However, if you scratch through that refined, “Christian” façade, you soon touch raw flesh, and then you see that they are only white­washed graves. They are false, and they hide behind a reli­gious form that seems genuine, but they have nothing that strengthens the fear of God. They are a burden, and they de­ceive people’s hearts. False prophets must have a sheep-skin—they have to hide their true nature. That is why each individual must learn to discern for himself what is genuine and what is false.

“These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” Col. 2:23. In this “self-imposed religion” they pick the works that are advantageous for their own way and their own life. Many of these false prophets have an appearance or a way of con­ducting themselves that draws people who are new in the church to them. They are so good and caring! Why are they so highly esteemed? Because they have words of wisdom. They become great in the eyes of foolish people. It is all flesh, and there must be a judgment and a sword over it, otherwise it will go badly. The sword must pierce until it judges the hidden thoughts and intents of the heart. Without this zeal, leprosy will break out. You will err in your judgment, and you will not be able to give true and good counsel. You will be false, and you will be a deceiver instead of a guide.

Even among us we hear some messages that would fit just as well in a Lutheran or a Pentecostal church. Those who preach these messages lack a sword in their preaching. Such people are not servants of God. They have not sat in the coun­sel of God. It is amazing that so many of the friends have so little ability to discern this. Many accept virtually everything as being good, as long as it is in the right form. These people have not had their senses exercised to discern between good and evil. They have not used the Word of righteousness in their own circumstances of life, and therefore they are not able to discern between right and wrong, between left and right. This is a tremendous deception of Satan. If they had faithfully eaten from the Lord’s table and had allowed them­selves to be broken by the circumstances of life, they would have discerned the difference.

“But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on them­selves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy.” Josh. 9:3-5.

Joshua could not lead the people to rest, and he lost his victor’s prize. He was deceived by the Gibeonites and broke the covenant with the Lord to destroy everything that drew breath, even the infants. In the church, there must be a sword over all flesh that draws breath. This includes “nice” flesh, which is appealing, humanly speaking, but can lead you away from God. The sword must do its work here. Then there will be peace. Then your ministry does not have the effect of gath­ering people to yourself; instead you gather to Christ, who is the Head of the church. In his ministry, Johan O. Smith always sought to lead the friends into a personal relationship with the Head, Christ. He has become great for an eternity of eterni­ties. We will become great to the degree we have the same mind—the mind that knows the promptings of God in the moment, in the circumstances of life, and that carries out what He wants done without murmuring or complaining. Never live before the face of man! Be free from all hypoc-risy—free to act according to God’s promptings. Serve the liv­ing God so that you grow up unto Him who is the Head and grow in fellowship with Him. Don’t fall into the trap of taking consideration for flesh so that you are not free to do the will of God. Here we can learn from Johan O. Smith. Just listen to what he writes to his brother Aksel on December 15, 1911.

“You quoted something from the sermon given by the mis­sion priest J. to the meeting of ‘The Elite Club’—a fitting place for darkness to gather. It was sickening. They have to come up with something when they refuse to believe the truth in all simplicity. There was to be a discussion afterwards, which there presumably was, since he met with opposition. But you said his abundant hospitality kept you from letting him know what you really thought about his ideas.

“I understand this to mean that his abundant hospitality hindered a perfect victory over folly. But is that right? Shouldn’t we, in faithfulness to Christ, refuse to admire all that is highly esteemed and honored in this world, even if it costs us our honor? In this way we can win a crushing victory in these dark societies where they imagine themselves to be so refined. When we have an opportunity to tear down and destroy the things that cannot tolerate the light, it would be unfaithfulness to Christ to draw back from doing so. It would be a form of preserving our own life. Our body must, in prac­tice, be presented as a sacrifice. Then we can attack the forces of darkness, with full assurance that no one can harm us. God will give us grace for this by stripping us of our own honor and reputation.

“What right do we have to pity the flesh? Or to draw back from speaking out against it? None at all! True men of valor in God’s kingdom have been saved from the respect of persons. Thus they become unfettered (liberated) workers who, in the power of God, by faith crush these satanic strongholds that rise up in opposition to the knowledge God gives. This is the arena where God’s invincible warriors have been battling throughout the ages. Partial victory gives partial satisfaction—but partial satisfaction is dissatisfaction. The conditions which must be fulfilled in order to get victory are hard for the flesh; but if our body is presented as a sacrifice to God in the midst of the battle, then victory is certain. But if we make pro­vision for the flesh, we may as well quit—the sooner the bet­ter.”