Becoming a Mighty Army of the Lord

Becoming a Mighty Army of the Lord

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

2 Timothy 2: 1-3

“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”.

Remember this old Sunday School song?

“God's got an army that's marching through the land
With deliverance in our souls and healing in our hands
Everlasting joy and gladness in our hearts
And in this army, I've got a part.”

Our times are perilous, but God has an army and our Commander-in-Chief has issued a call for us to join Him.  Yet, many Christians are sitting on their blessed assurance, fearfully complaining as they await the coming rapture.  The rapture is coming. It is coming in God’s timing. Jesus told His followers in Acts 1:7:  "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.”   

This is not a season to wrap ourselves in the rapture.  It is a time to go to war. It is the mission of the Church, the earthly army of the Lord, to be about our Father’s business until our Lord returns.  Our mission is to preach the good news of deliverance, healing and everlasting joy that comes through a covenant relationship with God that has been purchased and sealed by Calvary.

It is a time to decree Psalm 144:1-2: “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle, my lovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the One in whom I take refuge.” 

Paul describes the battle we are facing in Ephesians 5:12-13: “for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”   This is an evil day. Are you ready and willing to stand?

Soldiers in obedience to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords are issued the spiritual armor of truth, righteousness, peace, faith and a salvation which includes deliverance, healing and victory (Ephesians 5).

God is training His army today just as He has done in the past.  In the wilderness of Sinai, He changed a generation that had been born of fearful people operating in a slave mentality. He changed the children of those people who often desired to be dependent upon their oppressors. He changed that new generation into a conquering powerhouse.

 When David fled from Saul, outlaws and other outcasts of society joined him as he hid in the caves of the En Gedi wilderness.  With the Holy Spirit to anoint, guide and empower him, David became a warrior king, a man after God’s own heart and the sweet singer of Israel.  Members of his army have been immortalized in Scripture as the “mighty men of Israel.”   

“Israel” means “one who is triumphant with God” or “one who prevails with God.”  Are you willing to be trained for the spiritual warfare of today, to find safety in the promises of the armor of God and to be a mighty warrior who prevails because of a relationship with our Lord Who will, in the fullness of time, return leading the army of heaven?

In God’s army, all believers have a part. 

Yom Kippur--the Day of Atonement--2016

Yom Kippur--the Day of Atonement

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

  Religious Jews believe Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year. It is the day they feel the closest to God. It is the Day of Atonement--"For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you so you may be clean from all your sins before God" (Leviticus 16:30).

This is the day when the Jews hope that their sins have been covered and that their names are written in the Book of Life for the coming Year.

As Christians, we have just spent the past 10 days meditating on the atoning work of Jesus Christ. We know that if we have received the His blood’s atoning, our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, not just for the coming year, but for all eternity. On Yom Kippur, we can say in Hebrew, "Baruch HaShem Ha Maschiach Yeshua, blessings in the Name of Messiah Jesus."

Yom Kippur figures in End-Times prophecy as a picture of the final day of atonement when the books are closed. Revelation 21:11-15, "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."

We receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior when we acknowledge to Him that we have sinned and that our sin has separated us from God. We must confess that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, both man and God, paid the price for our sin with His death on the Cross and testify that He was buried and rose again in triumph over sin and death. We wait in eagerness for His soon return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV)

"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. 

Celebrate Yom Kippur. Receive The Lord's Supper in communion with Him.  Praise Him for making it possible for your name to be written in the Lamb's Book of Life. He is our "kippur", our atonement.  His sacrifice on Calvary makes it possible for us to live victoriously during our sojourn of earth and to dwell with Him for all eternity.

"Oh, the blood of Jesus,
Oh, the blood of Jesus,
Oh, the blood of Jesus,
That washes white as snow."

10 Days of Awe: Meditating on the Atonement of Jesus Christ

10 Days of Awe:  Meditating on the Atonement of Jesus Christ

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are called The Days of Awe.  During those ten days, religious Jews spend time in repentance believing that if they confess all their sins, their names will be written in the Book of Life for another year. 

Because Jesus suffered and died, was buried and rose again, the price of the believer’s atonement has been paid in full.  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our names are written in the Book of Life for all eternity. Revelation 20:15 (NKJV) 

Our God is an awesome God.  Let’s spend time each day during The Days of Awe, mediating on the atoning work of the Cross.

1, The death of Jesus on the cross allows us to enter into a new covenant relationship with God.  Our covenant in Jesus is greater than the covenant God made with Adam because the Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us.   Because of God's new covenant with us, we can come boldly to the throne of grace.  (Hebrews 10: 19-23)

2.  Sin broke the covenant that the Lord had made with Adam and allowed unrighteousness, despair, disease and death to enter in.  When Adam ate the fruit of the tree of worldly wisdom and knowledge, he entered into a covenant with satan. In the Old Testament economy, when two parties entered into a covenant, they exchanged possessions.  Adam ceded his dominion of the earth in that covenant and received all that the enemy had.  Nothing of which was good.  Good things come from God. (James 1:17)

3.  Because God is holy, His holiness prevents Him from coming into covenant with anything unholy.   His holiness within us should prevent us from doing the same thing.  We are not to be unequally yoked. (2 Corinthians 6:14)

4.  God is also love.  He created us out of His love.  It is His nature to desire relationship with His creation.  Sin separates us from HIs love.  The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Romans 6:23) Jesus paid the wage of sin for us.  His atoning death allows us to enter into God's covenant.  When we accept His atonement, nothing in creation can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 8:38-39)

5.  Jesus received our guilt and sin upon Himself.  (Isaiah 53:4-6)  It was our sin that sent Jesus to the Cross.  When I think about this, I am overcome with His love for me, not only as a part of mankind, but as an individual.

6.  Jesus is the only acceptable sacrifice for sin.  In the covenant God made in Christ, His life is given in the place of our death and eternal separation from God; His righteousness is given in exchange for our sin. (John 3:16) (John 14:6)

7.  Jesus' blood had to be shed because in the blood is life. (Leviticus 17:11)  His blood sanctifies our lives.

8.  We must understand fully what we have received in our salvation.  Not only have we been saved from the wages of sin, but we also have received the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), healing both physically and emotionally (Isaiah 53:4-6), and a plan and purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11).

9.  Jesus' resurrection is the most significant event in history.  Jesus' resurrection signifies Father God's acceptance of His sacrifice.  He is the first fruits of those who are raised from the dead.  (1 Corinthians 15:20)  Because He lives, we, too, shall live. (John 14:19)

10.  Jesus is coming again to receive us unto Himself.  He is the Bridegroom eagerly awaiting the time when He will receive His bride.