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Teaching -
Foundations of Faith
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Written by Mark Dommel
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Sunday, 29 November 2009 03:42 |
The Battle for Disciples
Battles are won or lost, not by the clash of swords in battle, but by the preparation or lack of preparation before the battle. Without adequate preparation the battle is lost before it has even begun.
A. W. Tozer says that preparation is vital;
"The whole Bible and all past history unite to teach us that battles are always won before the armies take the field. The critical moment for any army is not the day it engages the foe in actual combat; it is the day before or the month before or the year before. . . ."
We must understand that to make disciple will inevitably bring about battle with Satan. The act of making disciples is the act of building up, preparing and equipping the Body of Jesus, the Christ to advance His Kingdom. Satan has no problem with ineffective converts, but he will not just sit back and allow us to be the instruments by which Jesus transforms these converts into maturing, committed, credible, fruitful followers of Christ --capable of repeating this process in others. He will engage us in battle and we must be prepared.
Again -- A. W. Tozer speaks to the irreconcilable hostility between the follower/disciple of Jesus and Satan.
"In the early days, when Christianity exercised a dominant influence over American thinking, men and women perceived the world to be a battleground. Our fathers believed in sin and the devil and hell as constituting one force, and they believed in God and righteousness and heaven as the other. By their very nature, these forces were opposed to each other in deep, grave, and irreconcilable hostility. Humans, our fathers held, had to choose sides-they could not be neutral. For them it must be life or death, heaven or hell, and if they chose to come out on God's side they could expect open war with God's enemies. The fight would be real and deadly and would last as long as life continued here below. People looked forward to heaven as a return from the wars, a laying down of the sword to enjoy in peace the home prepared for them. . . "
This irreconcilable hostility will grow when we begin to obey Jesus by making disciples.
So how do we prepare ourselves and others to be the overcoming victors in the battles ahead?
Matthew 11:11-14 
We must accept that the advancement of God's Kingdom on earth is serious business. When speaking of this the New International version use the words forcefully and forceful -- the King James Version uses the words violence and violent. Satan is serious about his opposition to God and His Kingdom. We must be serious about our opposition to him and his kingdom.
Luke 10:17-20
We have been given all authority {Matthew 28:17-20 } to overcome and defeat all the power of of our mortal enemy -- Satan. But -- we must realize that the authority we have comes because our "names are written in Heaven."
2 Cor. 10:3-6
We are warriors in a war that has eternal consequences.
We must use all the weapons God has given us that have the power to demolish all the strongholds Satan has set up within the Body of Christ and all that he brings in opposition to God and His Kingdom.
Ephesians 6:10-19
The Armour of God is given to us for our use in the daily battles we are to wage against Satan and his armies. In order to be successful -- victorious in this warfare we need to put this armour on daily -- at the very beginning of every day.
1 Peter 3:13-16
We are to be able to answer any and all questions in regard to our relationship with Christ and the hope we have in Him. We are able to do this if we fit our "feet with the readiness that comes form the Gospel of Truth" {Ephesians 6:15 }, and if we "pray in the Spirit on all occasions and with all kinds of prayers and requests," and that whenever we open our mouths, words may be given us that we may "fearlessly make know the mystery of the Gospel" {Ephesians 6:18-19 }.
While this is not everything we need to to know and do -- I believe that these are basic -- essential -- foundational building blocks upon which we can build our knowledge and the Spiritual Strongholds we need in order to be "more than conquerors through Him who loved us" {Romans 8:36-37 }.
For More on Discipleship visit www.RelayMinistries.org
Mark Dommel lives in Omaha, NE with his wife of 32 years. He has participated in advancing God's Kingdom over the past 34 years through ministry to youth, young adults, and adults. He has also been a small group coordinator at Faith Bible Church in Omaha.
At present, he is assisting with the organization of a Men's Discipleship Group at the Vineyard Church of Omaha. He has a passion for being a disciple of Christ and a disciple maker for Christ and believes that the Body of Christ must return to being obedient to God's concept of discipleship as spoken of in Matthew 28:16-20 and 2 Timothy 2:1-2 It is his desire to obey the Lord by training, equipping, and enabling men and women of God in the art of disciple making (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ).
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