Battle Ready

The Reverend John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was a famous Patriot Pastor.
In January of 1776, he preached a sermon using a portion of text from Ecclesiastes.
To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Pastor Muhlenberg stepped down from his pulpit that day and began to speak.
In the language of the Holy Writ, there is a time for all things.
There is a time to preach and a time to fight.
And now is the time to fight.

Pastor Muhlenberg removed his clerical robe.
He revealed the uniform of a Colonial Army officer.
That afternoon he rode off and led 300 men from his congregation.
They joined General Washington and were known as the 8th Virginia Cavalry.

Before the war ended, Pastor Muhlenberg rose to the rank of Major General.

In those days to separate church and state was ludicrous.
God was not pulled off the shelf on Sunday and put back the other days of the week.
Christians did not stay within the four walls of their church.
Christians engaged the culture, impacted the culture, and changed the culture.

What has happened to our courage?
We serve the God of the Bible just as Pastor Muhlenberg did.
We read and study the same Holy Word and take it to heart.
God is unchangeable so the change must be in us!

The unalienable rights that the Declaration of Independence speaks of are still the same.
Our Creator endows us with these unalienable rights.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The purpose of government is to protect those rights.

The Founding Fathers believed that their authority was granted to them.
Granted to them by laws of nature and nature’s God.
Laws of nature is a defined legal term.
It is: the will of God for His creation revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures.

We have shifted so far from this foundation.
We disregard God and wonder why our culture is falling apart.
We are content with God on the shelf and wonder where we can go to find truth.
We argue that truth may not even exist at all and if it does exist, it is unknowable.

That is not the way it was.
Unfortunately, that is the way it is.
For now, until God’s people begin to make a difference again.
Until God’s people begin to engage the culture, impact the culture, and change the culture.

I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

We are Spirit-filled if we have come to faith in Jesus alone for our salvation.
The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is inside us.
The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, the Helper, and the Counselor.

When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me. And you must also testify, for you have been with Me from the beginning. (John 15:26,27)

Truth does exist.
Truth is knowable.
Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.

Since Truth is knowable, why don’t we know it?
Since Truth exists, why do we act as if man’s laws supersede God’s law?

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:26,27)

The enemy tries to make us afraid.
If he can make us afraid, then we will take our eyes off God.
If we take our eyes off God, we put our eyes on other things.
Those other things will often cause us to drift away from our moorings.

We must have the courage to stand up for what is right even if we stand alone.
We must have the certainty that we will be given the words to speak when we need them.
We must know that the Holy Spirit will give us everything we need for battle.
We must remember that the battle is the Lord’s but we may be called on to fight.

Fight in the public square.
Fight in our schools.
Fight in the courts, if need be.
Fight for Truth.

It may be a lonely battle.
We may never feel more alone.
God’s Word says that we are not alone; we are never forsaken.
We need to repeat God’s Truth over and over to our hearts as we stand.

Pastor Muhlenberg was right that day.
In the language of the Holy Writ, there is a time for all things.
There is a time to preach and a time to fight.
And now is the time to fight.