Thy will be Done...the Wayfarer 3/15/19

I’m on the Battlefield

1 Thessalonians 5:3-8 King James Version (KJV)

³ For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

⁴ But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

⁵ Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

⁶ Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

⁷ For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

⁸ But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Once more peace and safety are on the lips and minds of many, as both are shattered with the reign of tumult, turmoil, and trial, of not only a nation that has slumbered too long in a drunkenness intended to deny the coming day, but also of its people blinded by the drunkenness of their denial of all reason that could if allowed return that very peace and safety sought, but never to be found in the vile and violent substitutions they would so willingly choose instead of the only means of attainment of that peace and safety.

Cries go out for “law and order”, cries go out for justice, cries go out for equality, but those cries apply only to the side making that cry, thereby justifying in the minds of those making them the denial of the TRUTH, and, moreover, the need to suppress that TRUTH that alone may supply the succor of both safety and peace for all willing to accept it.

Another old hymn in the hymnal I carry from assemblage to assemblage that contains so many wonderfully familiar songs, arranged by Otis McCoy and copyrighted in 1951 is a reminder that peace comes only after the battle, all other seeming lulls are mere precursors for action yet to come.

I Am On The Battlefield

Chorus:
I am on the battlefield for my Lord.
I am on the battlefield for my Lord,
and I promised Him that I
would serve Him 'til I die;
I am on the battlefield for my Lord.

I was alone and idle, I was a sinner too.
I heard a voice from heaven say there is work to do.
I took the Master's hand, and I joined the Christian band;
I am on the battlefield for my Lord.

Chorus

I left my friends and kindred, I'm bound for the Promised Land,
the grace of God's upon me, the Bible's in my hands.
In distant lands I trod, crying sinner come to God;
I am on the battlefield for my Lord.

Chorus

Now when I met my Savior, I met Him with a smile,
He healed my wounded spirit, and owned me as Hs child.
Around the throne of grace, He appoints my soul a place;
I am on the battlefield for my Lord.

Chorus

If peace and safety are to be found, the battlefield must first be traversed.

The furor and fury of that battlefield must by its very nature increase, as must the fervor and commitment of those called upon to enjoin the fight against an enraged enemy who has already been defeated, but who will wreak as much havoc as possible before the preordained final surrender when his knee too is forced to bow in subjection and surrender to Christ Jesus as Lord of Lord and King of Kings.

That enemy will, of necessity, continually attempt to return to the past as a means of attack, whether to remind how great things may have been in another time, or how badly treated and miserable that past was that necessitates current actions in some form of recompense, yet refusing to see the need to pay the price demanded by that same King of kings and Lord of lords… redemption in return for repentance.

As a prestidigitator misdirects attention, so does that enemy attempt to misdirect attention from the reality of the present and the totality of the future that is preordained for himself and all who choose to follow him and his misdirection.

Attention may never be taken off the place upon the battlefield, once the fight has been enjoined: focus MUST remain on the victory already won, and on the Victor, to whom the spoils of this battle have always belonged, from the outset of that battle.

The warm fuzzy of peace and safety are attainable, at the end of the battle, and should be major part of the focus of attention, with the understanding that it exists only after the defeat of the enemy who steals it from as many as possible, both during the battle, and, forever, for any believing the lies spewed by that enemy.

Philippians 4:4-8 King James Version (KJV)

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

⁵ Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

⁶ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

⁷ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Thought, action, intent, all in unified control, left to the complete direction of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus dictate the focus of each battle, on each battlefield. No prisoners are taken on the side of Christ Jesus, as each is freed once surrender has been given.

No quarter will be given those refusing that surrender.

Safety and peace, security and sustenance await only the victorious.

Revelation 22King James Version (KJV)

22 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

² In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

³ And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

⁴ And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

⁵ And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

⁶ And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

⁷ Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

⁸ And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

⁹ Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

¹⁰ And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

¹¹ He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

¹² And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

¹³ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

¹⁴ Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

¹⁵ For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

¹⁶ I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

¹⁷ And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

¹⁸ For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

¹⁹ And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

²⁰ He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

 Grace and peace, safety and security, all eternal, but only through Christ Jesus.

Amen and Amen

CMc