Advancing the Kingdom

"...I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me" Acts 26:17-18.

Spiritual warfare is about retaking Enemy-controlled territory for God. Victories are measured by lives reclaimed. Therefore evangelism is the front-line of spiritual warfare.

Every army has its "centre of gravity", which is a major target of enemy attack. The Church's centre of gravity is evangelism. Each time a new life is born into the Kindom of God, a major victory has been accomplished in spiritual warfare. All other spiritual warfare is incidental to this.

"For he has resuced us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" Colossians 1:13.

Our Mandate

"I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world...As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" John 17:14-18 (see also 1 John 4:17).

We have been given a commission to reach the world for God (Matt. 28:18-20). But notice that this commission is defined by the mandate of Christ Himself. Philippians 2:6-7 reveals how the Lord Jesus willingly:

Came down from the Throne

"Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing...(verse 6-8)

Became a servant to others

"...taking the very nature of a servant..." (verse 7).

Identified Himself with others

"... being made in human likeness" (verse 7).

Took up His cross

"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!"(verse 8).

Soldiers of the Cross
Philippians 2:5 tells us:

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."

As Jesus was sent, we've been sent. And the three elements in Christ's attitude remain vital elements in the attitude of each soldier of God's Kingdom - a willingness to:

Forsake all privilege and personal comfort
Become a servant of others
Identify ourselves with the needs of others
Take up our cross

We have been raised with Christ and are now seated in the heavenlies with Him, far above all principalities and powers (Ephesians 2:6; 1:20-23). But like Christ, we have the privilege of voluntarily "leaving" that position. Like Christ, we never leave our authority behind, nor our status as a child of God, but instead we leave the comfort of our position in order to reach a lost world.

This "emptying" of ourselves can only happen if we have a total security in our relationship to and position with God. There can be no hidden motive of "grasping" after something that God may give us. Instead, like Christ, our whole motivation is to reach out to others. This motivation is described by Jesus as "taking up our cross".

"...If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me..." Luke 9:23.

Integrated Warfare
We often have a tendency to split ministry up into independent segments: prayer, witness, work, family, etc. But God wants to see our Christian lives as a whole, with each part mutually dependent. This applies particularly to spiritual warfare.

Prayer and evangelism should be two parts of the same strategy. If we pray without following it up with a practical expression - "putting legs to our prayers" - then our warfare is ineffective.

Prayer is like the artillery in natural warfare. Artillery sits back some distance from the front line and pounds enemy positions with great volumes of high-explosive shells - what is called "softening up enemy territory". This causes some damage, but generally just sends the enemy for cover. If the infantry do not move on the enemy in one-to-one combat, no ground is actually taken. In spiritual warfare, prayer "softens up the ground" in preparation for the evangelistic thrust of the Church.

The Enemy Situation

"...as water shapes its flow in accordance with the ground, so an army manages its victory in accordance with the situation of the enemy." (Sun Tzu)

The Enemy's dominion hinges on a blinding of people's eyes (2 Cor. 4:4). God's target, however, is to bypass the mind and reach the heart. This, therefore, is the foundation of all evangelism.

It is actually psychologically distressing for people to have their most basic concepts challenged. In order to protect themselves from the challenge to change, people have different "coping tactics":

Hearing but not listening - glassy eyes.
Agreeing but not receiving - empty nods.
Reactive thinking - "Yes, but...".
Sidetracking - "What about...".
Returning the challenge - "If... then...".

The Gospel is about communication, and God's method of communication has always been incarnation - "The Word become flesh" (John 1:14). You - your life, not only your words - are God's means of communication to the unbeliever.

The Greek word for "witness" in Acts 1:8 is the word martus, from which we get the word "martyr" - to lay down your life. It can also mean "a record" (2 Cor. 3:2-3). God requires us to be a witness of His love and power to others - nothing more, nothing less. But to be an effective witness, there are certain barriers to communication that must be overcome:

Stereotypes

People tend to see Christians in terms of stereotypes. If you look like the stereotype (clothes, mannerisms, carrying a Bible, etc), then the average person will close their mind to the stereotype. They have not rejected the Gospel; they have rejected the stereotype. In short, be real. Jargon
Don't use words that they don't understand, and be particularly careful of religious jargon and pat clichés. Remember: communication is what it is all about. If the hearer doesn't understand, then there is no communication. Pre-set formulas
Every person is different, even though all have the same need of Christ. Don't work according to pre-digested formulas and speeches. Be sensitive to the wisdom of God's Spriit and go for the heart. Psychological distance
To enable real communication, the psychological distance between the witness and the hearer must be broken down. We must identify with people. The Credibility Gap
The ultimate turn-off to the Gospel is a discrepancy between what a Christian says and what he does. People look behind the words at your life. You must literally become as Jesus to them.

In order to communicate effectively, you must be hearer-oriented. The Gospel must become personalised for them.

Swordcraft

"A sword slash rarely kills..." (ancient Roman Army training manual).

Our main weapon is God's Word (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12). But this does not mean just quoting scripture verses at people. It means the rhema (Matt. 4:4) - the Word of God for that person at that time, digested by you and paraphrased for them. Roman training emphasised that "sword slashing" was the most ineffective way of swordfighting. Instead, the stab in toward the vital organs was the aim of swordcraft. In the same way, as witnesses for Jesus, God wants us to learn not just to slash away at the sides of the issue, but to penetrate the heart of each person's real need.

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