The Lamb’s War
A Presentation to the General Gathering of Conservative
Friends
6/17/2006, Barnesville OH
Click on these links to navigate to the sections of the
presentation:
Biblical Background
Early Friends
A Sea Change
The Liberal Idea of Progress by
Mankind
Preparing for a Future that May Quickly Become
the Present
Click on the footnote numbers to go to the note itself; click on
the "return to text" link at the end of the footnote to return to
your place in the text.
All quotations from the Holy Bible are from the King James
Version.
Biblical Background
In the Old Testament we find the origins of the lamb as a symbol for the people of God. In Exodus 12:1-131
we see the lamb standing for the children of
Israel escaping bondage and becoming as a people unto God. In
the story of Abraham and Isaac we find the beginnings of the willingness of
the father to sacrifice his son. However, because the time was not
yet ready for this, a ram was provided as a substitute.2
Note the prophetic statement, “God will provide
Himself a lamb.” John the Baptist announced the fulfillment of this
prophecy in John 1:29:
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. and
again in 1:36: And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he
saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
In Isaiah chapter 53 there is further prophecy of the Lamb being
sacrificed. Verse 7 reads: He was oppressed, and
he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
so he openeth not his mouth. This theme is picked up in the New Testament in Acts 8:32-3:
. . . He was led as a sheep
to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened
he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away:
and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken
from the earth. and in 1 Peter 1:18-19: Forasmuch as ye
know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from
your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot.
In the book of Revelation, the use of the figure of the Lamb of God
for Jesus Christ reaches its fullest development, as for example: Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every
creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth,
and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
[Revelation 5:12-13 KJV] In Revelation 6:15-173
we see the struggle of the forces of this
world with the Lamb. The word “wrath” conveys intense anger with
elements of rejection for an unacceptable offense. Revelation
12:10-114
tells of the struggle between the
Lamb and the accuser. Later5
Satan, called "the dragon," gives the beast (the
force of evil) power to make war with the saints and the Lamb, but
eventually [Revelation 14:8 KJV] Babylon, the place of the
anti-Christ falls. In Revelation 7:9-176
salvation comes to those which come out of
great tribulation and have washed their robes, and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb.
There is a song of praise to God and the Lamb in Revelation 15:3-47
The marriage supper of the Lamb and the bride (the church) is
announced.8
The kingdom of God or the city of God,
also called New Jerusalem, has no need of an outward temple or
outward light, for the Lamb is both the temple and the light.9
Revelation 22:1-510
celebrates the glory of the new life in Christ.
1. And the Lord spake
unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall
be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of
the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel,
saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every
man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an
house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and
his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of
the souls: every man according to his eating shall make your count
for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of
the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the
goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same
month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall
kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and
strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the
houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh
in that ngiht, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with
bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden
at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and
with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it
remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the
morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it;
with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in
your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's
passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this
night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both
man and beats; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute
judgment: I am theLord.
And the blood shall be to you a token upon the houses where ye are:
and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall
not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
[Exodus 12:1-13 KJV] [return to text]
2.
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt
Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there
for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell
thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled
his ass, and took two of his young me with him, and Isaac his son,
and clave the wood for a burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto
the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and the place afar off. And
Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I
and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon
Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and
they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son.
And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for
a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them
together. And they came to the place which God had told him
of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order,
and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his
son. And the angel of the Lord
called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham:
and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon
the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that
thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and
behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and
Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt
offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name
of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount
of the Lord it shall
be seen. And the angel of the Lord
called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time. And said,
By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord,
for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and
as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess
the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. [Genesis
22:1-18, KJV] [return to text]
3.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men,
and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and
every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide
us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the
wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who
shall be able to stand? [Revelation 6:15-17 KJV] [return
to text]
4.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power
of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down,
which accused them before our God day and night. And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
[Revelation 12:10-11 KJV] [return
to text]
5.
And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast,
saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war
with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue
forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy
against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them
that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war
with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over
all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
[Revelation 13:4-8 KJV] [return to text]
6.
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man
could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,
stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto
the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and
about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on
their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory,
and wisdom, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for
ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes?
and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
And he said to me, These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of
God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth
on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no
more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them,
nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of
waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
[Revelation 7:9-17 KJV] [return to text]
7.
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song
of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God
Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who
shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thous
only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee;
for thy judgments are made manifest. [Revelation 15:3-4 KJV]
[return to text]
8.
And I heard as it were the voice of a great
multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of
mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him:
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself
ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in
fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which
are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith
unto me, These are the true sayings of God. [Revelation 19:6-9
KJV] [return to text]
9.
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the
sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. [Revelation
21:22-23 KJV] [return to text]
10.
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 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 he fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for
the healing of the nations. 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: And they shall see his face; and his
name shall be in their foreheads. 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.
[Revelation 22:1-5 KJV] [return to text]
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Early Friends
The first generation of Friends developed the term
"Lamb’s War" to portray the struggle of Christ with the forces
of Satan or evil. For early Friends this was not an abstract
theological concept but a reality that they experienced themselves,
immersed in this epic struggle that was occurring on a
cosmic, national and individual level. As Wilmer Cooper (in
A Living Faith, pg 115) wrote, “Fox used the language of
Revelation to detail his interpretation of history. For example, the
whore of Babylon11
symbolized alienation from God
caused by the Antichrist. The dragon12
represented
Satan. The beast in Revelation 13 continued the dragon image of
evil, and Fox linked this to the false church of persecution,
swearing, oaths, tithes and false teaching. The woman in Revelation
12 was the image of the true church, which had been forced into the
wilderness by Satan, thus marking the apostasy of the church from
the time of Christ to the seventeenth century.”
This struggle touched all areas of early Friends’ lives - personal relationships,
economic relationships, political relationships, religious
relationships, etc. Friends came into conflict with the state
when they were obedient to Christ’s injunction not to take oaths and
to swear not. They refused military service and the payment of
tithes. They avoided the vain social customs of their day.
They held forth for honest dealings and forthrightness in speech.
They avoided the vain amusements, diversions and fashions of the
day, choosing clothing that was simple, modest and a witness for
their faith. They took seriously scriptural injunctions13
in
their moral behavior.
For first-generation Friends, the Lamb's War was a struggle of an absolute nature,
with no room for compromise and lukewarm commitment. Early
Friends did not see themselves as initiating this struggle.
They
understood that it was led by Jesus Christ and that they were His
followers being led into this great and epic spiritual battle.14
It was a holy war. The weapons provided by God were spiritual in
nature, as opposed to the carnal weapons used by the Lamb’s
opponents.15
Early Friends felt sustained in absolute obedience to Jesus
Christ by the power of His cross. In Fox’s Epistle 222 (1662), Fox urges “you must bow at the cross of Christ, which is the
power of God…for who bends, and submits, and yields, and bows to the
power of God within…which power of God keeps the mind over all
outward things, in the everlasting power of God above them.”
However, at the end of his lifetime, Fox began to sense that a sea
change was occurring among Friends.
11. And upon her forehead
was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF
HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. [Revelation 17:5 KJV]
[return to text]
12. And the great dragon
was cast out, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
worl: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out
with him. [Revelation 12:9 KJV] [return
to text]
13. For example:
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these:
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:
of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance:
against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be
desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
[Galatians 5:19-26 KJV] [return to text]
14.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that
sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he
doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and
on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man
knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped
in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the
armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed
in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. [Revelation 19:11-15 KJV]
[return to text]
15.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of
his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with
truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking
the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
[Ephesians 6:10-18 KJV] [return to text]
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Sea Change
A sea
change occurred in 1689 in the UK when William and
Mary replaced James II on the throne. The new monarchs
believed in religious toleration, and with the passage of the Acts
of Toleration, Friends found permanent relief from the great
suffering that they had endured. The last of the leadership of
the first generation of Friends were passing on at this time and a
new outlook now spread among Friends.
With a
softening of the effort of the state to use governmental powers to
enforce a religion and to stamp out religious dissent, came a
softening of the stridency, absoluteness and seeming radicalism of
the first generation of Friends, ushering in an era that is now
called Quietism. In response to the Act of Toleration, London
Yearly Meeting in 1689 issued the following advice: “Walk wisely and
circumspectly toward all men, in the peaceable Spirit of Jesus
Christ, giving no offense nor occasions to those in outward
government, nor way to any controversies, heats, or distractions of
this world, about kingdoms thereof. But pray for the good of
all; and submit all to that Divine power and wisdom which rules over
the kingdoms of men.” (quoted in Walter Williams, The Rich
Heritage of Quakerism, pg. 119) The leadership three
years later advised “Let all study to be quiet and mind their own
business, in God’s holy fear, and none be meddling or exercising
themselves in things too high for them.” (Williams, pg. 120)
In Let your Words Be Few, Richard Bauman contrasts the early period
of Quakerism and Quietism, with
“a realization that Friends might have purchased their survival at
the sacrifice of the energy and power of the direct inward spiritual
experience that had energized the first publishers of Truth.” (pgs. 51-2) As a prelude to this, Bauman cites the epistle of
London Yearly Meeting of 1672 that cautions ministers to “take heed
of aggravating reflections and forward clashing at persons or
people, with unreasonably and rashly using names of distinctions;
which will be resented as reproachful to them, and not only stumble
and prepossess their minds with prejudice, but also hinder their
convincement.” Bauman observes that “this is not war but
diplomacy. One need only try to imagine James Parnal or
Richard Farnsworth in the mid-1650s moderating his preaching out of
a concern for provoking resentment or appearing reproachful to see
how enormous a change is represented here.” (pgs 145-6) With
the onset of Quietism, Friends abandoned the Lamb’s War and accepted
their place as a sect free to pursue its peculiarities and internal
needs. Many of the witnesses and ways that were
essential to Friends continued among them, but Quietist Friends no longer
expected the world to be converted to Christ’s way as early Friends
had.
Ohio Yearly Meeting is the last remaining yearly
meeting that retains significant attitudes and practices from its
Quietist heritage. I believe that God has preserved this
remnant for a purpose that is unfolding and will soon unfold, for us
to be instruments for His work here on earth under dramatically
different conditions. Is the era of toleration slipping away,
to be replaced by new challenges that have not been encountered by
Friends for more than three centuries? In the evolution of Quietism
there has been a slow but steady accommodation to the world.
However, important, basic components of Christian unprogrammed faith
remain among us that again are becoming
important and attractive to people all over the world. One of
these components is our
understanding that Jesus Christ is the Word of God to be experienced
as present here with us and to be sought and found
within ourselves. Another component is that the Scriptures were inspired by the Word and
have been preserved by God for our use for doctrine, reproof, for
correction and for instruction. A third component is our retained
understanding of and mechanisms for recognizing and nurturing God’s gifts
among us. In addition, we affirm that all of life is under the care of our
Lord. Are we at the threshold of and being called to a new
work in God’s Kingdom? Its impact on us individually and as a
people could be enormous and far-reaching.
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The Liberal Idea of “Progress”
The
liberal idea of "progress" by mankind has
increasingly been a force in our world, including in Quakerism
in general. This understanding has its roots in the
Enlightenment of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries that
emphasized the power of human thought to understand all
truth. Anything that cannot be understood by the rational use
of our minds is denied as invalid and not worth being encumbered
with. This mindset continues with us and tends now to question
everything, to disdain faith and to abhor authority of any sort.
It has evolved into liberalism and modernism with their “politically
correct” attitudes. It fosters a materialistic secularism that functions in
many ways like a religion. It views scientific process as the
means to come to knowledge about all reality. It has, to quote
Wilmer Cooper, “a one-story or one-dimensional world-view, which
means that basic distinctions between the holy and profane, the
sacred and the secular - even between good and evil - are ignored,
if not erased. Taken to its logical conclusion, this denies
the presence of evil in the world, or sees it as simply the absence
of the good.” (A Living Faith, p. 29)
Quaker liberalism's outlook
was summarized by That Of God In Everyone, though in many places now a discomfort
with the use of “God,” has led to replacement of that word with “good.”
Again quoting Wilmer Cooper, “Insofar as ‘that of God in
everyone’ has theological meaning today, its association with Christ
has been largely abandoned, whereas for George Fox this
identification was essential. It has also come to mean that
God as they understand the deity, has been parceled out among all
persons so that everyone has ’a piece of God’ within, and that it is
this that gives worth and dignity to human beings. This
suggests a humanistic view of life devoid of a sense of God
transcending creation, history, and humanity, which can easily
revert to a form of pantheism antithetical to Fox’s sense of the
greatness and goodness of God and the supreme presence and
transforming power of God at work in the world. Thus, the net
effect is a denigration of God and an exaltation of humanity.
Somehow, this belies Fox’s overwhelming sense that ‘the power of the
Lord is over all.’” (A Living Faith, p. 30)
This
tendency in the western world to elevate humans and the hoped for
march to a freer and more decent world have` led to a secular force
that especially dominates in western Europe and increasingly also in
the United States. It has been especially opposed in the U.S. by
Evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics, with resultant deep
divisions that have polarized American society. This secular
force, with its attendant globalization, expects to dominate the
world, and is being challenged by an increasingly militant Islam.
We see other dividing forces at work, such as an increasingly
polarization in this country between the rich and the poor.
The media and the entertainment industry - which are allied to a mass,
materialistic, consumer society - increasingly dominate our culture,
even its religious aspects, and Christian services regretfully become
a type of superficial entertainment. The physical
environment is being plundered and irretrievably
changed, with mass extinctions of many species and alteration of the
physical environment on which we depend on for ecological services. We expect to have
a wide variety of food available to us,
sometimes grown 6,000 miles away. Our federal government has
taken on a debt of unimaginable size that depends for financing on
people in other parts of the world, especially Asia. Should
something panic the holders of the U.S. debt, the meltdown of our economy and the society
built upon it would be catastrophic.
The sustainability of all
this is being increasingly questioned. What will happen when
we reach the breaking point? How far off is this? Will
we be prepared should an even more cataclysmic event occur than has
already occurred? We saw how 9/11 (Ninth Month 11, 2001;
September 11, 2001) was deeply upsetting for so many people.
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Preparing for a
Future that May Quickly
Become the Present.
We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6: But of the times and the
seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a
thief in the night. 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. But ye brethren are not
in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all
children of light and the children of the day; we are not of the
night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do
others but let us watch and be sober. Individually
and collectively, we Westerners have enjoyed many blessings over the
years that have come to seem normal and expected: lights that turn
on with the flick of a switch, safe water that pours from our
faucets, dependable transportation, an abundance of consumer
goods, and personal safety as we walk, travel, work, and worship. I am sure that you can add many more.
Can we assume that these blessings will continue? Can they
continue? Do we require these blessings to continue to feel
blessed? Could we feel blessed of the Lord under adversity or
do we depend on the outwardly good times to feel blessed?
Since World War II, 60 years and three generations ago, Westerners have not
experienced large-scale adversity. The great majority of
people on earth today are not strangers to adversity. Over three billion people
today live on the equivalent of $2 a day or less. If we should
come to experience adversity like so many others, would we be
prepared? What do we need to do to prepare ourselves should
this come to pass? Jesus spoke about preparation in the
parable of the wise and foolish virgins.16
We need to take our eyes off the things and
allures of this world and look to God and His kingdom. On 9/11 did thee feel that thy world had
altered greatly? Or did we feel our feet on the Rock and have
that steady place to stand?
Early Friends lived under adversity- they were beaten, imprisoned,
and even
killed. They were hailed before judges and had their goods
taken. They were social outcasts, yet they thrived and the
movement grew and flourished. They saw themselves in the midst
of the Lamb’s War, an epic struggle between the Lamb Jesus Christ
and Satan with his forces of evil.
In this struggle there is
no place for lukewarmness. In the Lamb’s War, Christians are
called upon to follow Christ into battle as citizens of His kingdom, prepared and equipped by
Him. Paul described that equipment: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins
girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God. [Ephesians 6:10-17 KJV]
The foundation of the Lamb’s War seems foolish to the world, for
following Christ into that battle requires following the way of the Cross. In the Cross, Jesus
yielded Himself to His Father’s will. In this submitted,
yielded state Christ suffered. He allowed the forces of evil to
destroy His life as the ultimate sacrifice of the Lamb of God,
shedding His blood as a once-for-all-time offering for the sins of
everyone. And in His resurrection, which we experience through His
continuing presence among us, we come to know the ultimate victory
of God. As His followers, we need to take up our crosses daily
and follow Him. This entails our yieldedness and submission to
God, that God’s will might be manifest in all things. George
Fox wrote in his epistle #9 of 1652 “That which is set up by the
sword is held up by the sword. That which is set up by
spiritual weapons is held up by spiritual weapons, and not by carnal
weapons.”
As we yield ourselves to Christ, accept suffering, and put into use
the whole armor of God, we will find ourselves changed. The
struggle in the world between good and evil that we call the Lamb's
War is paralleled within each of us individuals. Both Jesus
and Paul described the possible outcomes of that inner battle in
terms of fruits:
Ye shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so
every good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast
into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven. [Matthew 7:16-21 KJV]
Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have
also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. [Galatians
5:19-23 KJV]
By our fruits we, too, shall be known.
16.
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins,
which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that
were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the
wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the
bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at
midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye
out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed
their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of
your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered,
saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye
rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while
they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went
in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward
came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein
the Son of Man cometh. [Matthew 25:1-13 KJV] [return
to text]
- Jack Smith
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