1

PRINCIPLES

of

WAR

Community Christian MinistriesMoscow, Idaho

J I M n W I L S O N

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Grateful acknowledgment is made to the publishers of theScripture versions, portions of which are quoted in this book,using the following abbreviations:NEB The New English Bible, Copyright© the delegates

of the Oxford University Press and the syndics ofthe Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970.Reprinted by permission.

NIV The Holy Bible, New International Version, © 1973,1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Usedby permission.

RSV Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted1946, 1952, © 1971, 1973 by the Division ofChristian Education of the National Council ofChurches, U.S.A. and are used by permission.

TEV Today's English Version (The Good News Bible), ©American Bible Society, 1976 Used by permission.

If no abbreviation follows verse, Scripture quotations are takenfrom the King James Version of the Bible.

Copyright© 1964 and 1983 (under title Principles of War:Thoughts on Strategic Evangelism), ©1980 (under title Againstthe Powers), this edition ©1991 by James I. Wilson, 8th Printing1994 Community Christian Ministries

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilson, James I.Principles of war : how to use proven military strategies in

spiritual warfare / Jim Wilson.p. cm.

Rev. ed. of: Against the powers. c1980.Includes bibliographical references.ISBN: 1-882840-05-41. Spiritual warfare. 2. Christian life 1960- I. Wilson,

JamesI. Against the powers. II. Title.BV4509.5.W5 1991248.4dc20 91-18690

CIP99 98 97 96 95 94 93 92 9110 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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To Bessie,my “companion in labor,

and fellow soldier”Philippians 2:25

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C O N T E N T S

Foreword ..................................................... 7

Preface ......................................................... 9

Acknowledgements ................................. 12

1 Objective .............................................. 13

2 Offensive .............................................. 22

3 Concentration ...................................... 34

4 Mobility ................................................ 49

5 Security ................................................ 62

6 Surprise ................................................ 74

7 Cooperation ......................................... 82

8 Communication .................................. 99

9 Economy of Force ............................. 110

10 Pursuit ................................................ 119

11 Obedience .......................................... 131

Notes .................................................. 145

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F O R E W O R D

In the study of warfare, great men haveconcluded that there are some overridingprinciples that, if followed, will alwaystend toward success in battle, and withequal positiveness, if neglected or ignored,will tend toward defeat or even destruc-tion. These principles have been entitledthe principles of war.

All except the most naive know that theChristian is engaged in a warfare.

All except the most foolish know that inwar it is imperative that those involvedapply the principles of war.

Just as these time-tried principles are ef-fective in waging secular warfare, the au-thor presents in quick succession thesesame principles as the key to assured vic-tory in our spiritual warfare.

In the true military style of being brief,perspicuous, and succinct, the author withpower plunges the reader point-blank intothe fight—a very present institution. Theenemy is Satan, the objective is the ac-knowledgment and fulfillment of the com-mandments of God, and the ammunition

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is the power of the Holy Spirit.The Christian, clothed in the whole ar-

mor of God and applying these pertinentguiding principles of warfare—is an army,a communication system, a weapon to beused and a soldier to participate forciblyin the battle, to the glory of our Lord.

Granville A. Sharpe Colonel, Infantry

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P R E F A C EIn the last twenty-seven years since this

little book first appeared, many changeshave taken place in the sophistication ofweaponry for physical war. We now have“smart” bombs and guided missiles thatare very accurate. If a cruise missile werefired from Boston it could be guidedthrough the goal posts at JFK Stadium inWashington D.C.

The principles of war have not changed.Superior weapons have always had an ef-fect on the outcome of a battle or war. How-ever, superior weapons have not guaran-teed the outcome. The morale of combat-ants, the reason for fighting, and most ofall, the implementation of the principles ofwar, are the main guarantees of victory.

The U.S. lost the war in Vietnam becauseof the practical disregard of these prin-ciples. We had no clear political or militaryobjective. We had clear superiority in weap-ons, training, and men. But morale was low,and the men did not know why they werefighting. If they did know, the people athome did not know. The Viet Cong, in con-trast, knew where they were going and

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observed the principles of war. I will men-tion other examples of violated principlesin the appropriate chapters.

In the war to liberate Kuwait from Iraq,we had clear superiority in weapons, train-ing, and morale. In addition, we observedthe principles. Ultimate and limited objec-tives were clearly stated. Even with multi-national forces, and with different servicesin the same theater of war, there was clearunity of command, and clear cooperationbetween units. The blockade of Iraq and theinterdiction of the lines of communication,and the encirclement of Iraq’s RepublicanGuard, showed clear understanding of theprinciple of lines of communication.

We as Christians may not have learnedas much in the last twenty years as the mili-tary has learned. Even so, there are somepositive signs in the prosecution of the warin world evangelism. The most positivesign is the aggressive translation,retranslation, publication, and distributionof the Scriptures in modern languages. Thenext most positive sign is prayer meetingsfor revival. Both of these are using the prin-ciple of the offensive . Other good signs arechanges in mission organizations so that

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the doctrine of operation is not fixed. Moreversatility and flexibility is allowed.

However, there are a few things that weare still doing wrong.

We are still using the challenge/volun-teer mode of recruiting instead of teachingobedience.

We are still teaching loyalty to organiza-tions and methods that hinder obedienceto God and cooperation with other units.

We have many individual Christians andmarried couples in Christian work who areemotionally and/or morally fouled up. Ifthese people are in leadership then this af-fects the morale of everyone and results ina consequent non-aggressiveness in evan-gelism.

Our hospitals for casualties are staffedby casualties, and by sympathetic but mis-guided people who accept the casualtiesas permanent casualties. People are notbeing healed so they may get back intobattle; they either become permanent in-valids or the cure is planned to take the restof their natural lives.

It would be too easy for this preface toturn into a book in itself; I will terminate itso you can read the book.

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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

Credit is hereby given to the following publica-tions from which quotations have been taken in thisbook:

Memoirs of Field Marshall Montgomery, by BernardLaw Montgomery, World Publishing Company, 1958.

The Military Classics series, The Stackpole Com-pany: Jomini’s Art of War by Lt. Col. J.D. Hittle,USMC; Principles of War by General Karl vonClausewitz, ed. Hans W. Gatzke; The Art of War bySun Tzu, ed. Thomas R. Phillips, trans. Lionel Giles;Surprise by General Waldemar Erfurth, trans. Dr.Stefan T. Possony and Daniel Vilfroy.

Way of a Fighter, by Maj. Gen. Claire Chennault,Putnam's and Coward-McCann. Copyright, 1949, byClaire Lee Chennault.

Allenby, A Study in Greatness, by Sir ArchibaldPercival Wavell, Oxford University Press.

Born to Reproduce, by Dawson Trotman, GoodNews Broadcasting Association, Inc.

Total Christian War, by Howard Guinness,Children’s Special Services Mission, London, En-gland.

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1

O B J E C T I V E

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In war then, let your greatobject be victory, notlengthy campaigns.

Sun Tzu,500 B.C.

But thanks be to God! Hegives us the victory

through our Lord JesusChrist.

The Apostle Paul,1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV )

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When war is declared by Congress theirobjective1 is victory. They pass this assign-ment over to the Commander-in-Chief. TheCommander-in-Chief with the Joint Chiefsof Staff makes an estimate of the situation,comes to a decision, and develops a plan.To oversimplify it, the decision might be toinvade and occupy specific nations in Eu-rope and Asia. The plan would be to as-sign Asia to Commander-in-Chief, Pacific;and Europe to Commander-in-Chief, At-lantic. These subordinate commandersmust then make an estimate of the situa-tion, come to a decision, and develop aplan. They, in turn, assign objectives to sub-ordinate commanders.

Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, orders theCommander of the Seventh Fleet to landcertain armies and Marine Divisions in theassigned country in Asia. This process ofestimating the situation, making a decision,and assigning objectives to subordinatecommanders continues right down to thecompany, platoon, and squad level. Everyman in the chain of command has his ob-jective assigned to him by higher author-ity.

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Now, suppose an individual infantry-man has as his objective the top of a sanddune on a beach in Asia. He is pinned downby enemy fire and he cannot make a move.While he is in this position he suddenly seesa paper floating across the beach.

So far, this is a very realistic situation;but suppose we make it unreal, even ludi-crous. The paper happens to be a page fromthe Joint Chiefs of Staff Operation Order.As the page lands in front of him, he readsthe assigned objective to the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific: Invade and occupy _____on the continent of Asia. This is too muchfor him. He cannot even get off the beachand they are telling him to occupy thewhole nation. To him it is unrealistic. Sincehe cannot understand how the whole canbe taken, he might even lose the will to getto the top of the sand dune.

Enough of the illustration. Jesus Christis our Commander-in-Chief, and he has as-signed the overall objective and put it inthe grasp of every one of his followers inthe directive of the Great Commission:

All power is given unto me inheaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore,

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and teach all nations...(Matthew 28:18-19).

To any individual Christian who thinkshe is fighting the war all by himself, thisobjective seems not only unrealistic, but im-possible. Like the soldier on the beach, it iseasy to adopt a What’s the use? attitude.

The problem is the same in both cases.The man at the bottom of the chain gets aview of the objective of the person at thetop. He is looking up the chain of commandwithout the benefit of intermediate objec-tives. He sees only the objective of the topand the resources of the bottom.

So it is for the Christian. He may see withhis Commander-in-Chief the complete ob-jective assigned to the whole church. Hemay also see the smaller parts of the church,groups of believers raised up to reach aspecial segment of the world’s population.God has raised up specialists with limitedobjectives in his church.

Rather than lament the multiplicity ofChristian organizations, we should rejoicethat an intensive effort to meet our objec-tive is being made. Of course, there is adanger that such groups will be filled with

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too great a sense of importance. If, how-ever, they seek to occupy their own limitedobjective with all faithfulness, then thewarfare of the church is advanced. Thesemany organizations may be in existence,not because of doctrinal differences, butbecause God has given them different ob-jectives under the Great Commission.

The first objective is one of sowing theseed. The second is reaping the harvestwhen the seed falls on good ground. If wesow the seed in every heart but do not reapwhere the seed prepares a harvest, then wehave not reached our objective. We have ineffect added to the condemnation of menwith the gospel. We have been a savor ofdeath unto death rather than life unto life(2 Corinthians 2:16).

If, on the other hand, we reap where wehave sown but we do not sow in every heartin our assigned mission fields, then we stillhave not reached our objective. This is se-rious. This objective is not a mere psycho-logical goal that makes us feel good whenwe get there. This is a mission assigned byour Commander-in-Chief. Not to get thereis failure to carry out the assigned mission:it is defeat. Even if people do not or will

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not respond to the message of good news,this has no bearing on the objective to com-municate the message to them. God assignsthe objective; the people do not choose theirown.

Sun Tzu said, In war then, let your greatobject be victory, not lengthy campaigns.This truth was violated partially in Korea,completely in Vietnam, and not at all in theGulf War in Kuwait. In the Korean and Viet-nam wars, we rotated men and units in andout of the theater of operations. That meanteveryone got ribbons and medals. It alsomeant lengthy campaigns, more casualties,and no victory. In Vietnam, our objectivedeteriorated to the counting of bodies ofthe enemy killed.

As I write this, it is March of 1991. ManyChristian missions have set certain measur-able objectives to be accomplished by theyear 2000. There are three problems withthis kind of thinking.

1.The objectives are too small.2.They are too far away.3.They should not be measurable.

(In the spiritual war God keepsthe records.)

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In other words, we are planning forlengthy campaigns, not victorious cam-paigns. The year 2000 is too far away.

In World War II, the Allies defeated thetwo most powerful industrialized, milita-ristic nations of the world, which alreadyhad a head start when the U.S. entered thewar. They were already off and running,while we had to start from nothing withour Pacific Fleet sunk. We defeated themin three and a half years. They were at theextreme end of our supply lines. Men whohad fought for two years in Africa and Eu-rope boarded ships in France and headeddirectly for the invasion of Japan. In otherwords, we had an objective of victory , nota lengthy campaign.

The Church has been counting on the vic-tory prophesied in the Second Coming,rather than seeking the victory commandedand mandated in Matthew 28:18-20 beforethe end of the age. This is a cop-out frompresent responsibility.

Unless we know where we are going, itis of little importance how we go about get-ting there. The objective is primary.

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Questions1. Study personally and/or in a group:

Matthew 28:16-20 and Colossians1:24-29.

2. Who assigns our objectives?3. How can I know what has been as-

signed to me?4. What are the objectives assigned to

us as a local body of believers?5. What are the objectives assigned to

my family?6. What are the objectives assigned to

me?7. Is there a time limit given in accom-

plishing the objective?

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2

O F F E N S I V E

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They want war toomethodical, too measured; Iwould make it brisk, bold,

impetuous, perhapssometimes even audacious.

Jomini

This is what is written: TheChrist will suffer and risefrom the dead on the thirdday, and repentance and

forgiveness of sins will bepreached in his name to all

nations beginning atJerusalem.

Jesus Christ,Luke 24:46-47 (NIV )

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In warfare the offensive is the means bywhich one takes the objective. It is an ag-gressive advance against an enemy to wrestthe objective from his possession.

An army on the offensive has a moraland physical advantage over the enemy atthe point of contact. The offensive is an at-titude as well as an action. The attackinggeneral has the advantage of making hisdecisions first, and then carrying them out.The defender must first wait to see whathis opponent does before he makes his de-cision. The decision he makes is usuallyforced upon him by the attacker. The ag-gressor has the advantage of the initiative.He can choose whether to attack and whenand where to attack. The defender mustwait for him. The aggressor is in the supe-rior position.

There are two general ways in which theoffensive can be directed.

1.It may be directed against thewhole front to take the whole frontsimultaneously. This is not ordinarilyfeasible in that it requires much morelogistic (weapons, food, ammunition)support, much more fighting, and

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will sustain many more casualties.2.The offensive may be directed

against one segment of the enemyarmy, the defeat of which will meana decisive victory. Decisive meansthat this defeat of the enemy maycause the rest of the army to capitu-late, or it may mean a breakthroughhas been made so that the rest of thearmy remains in a very weak posi-tion.

One of the major problems with a directattack against an enemy is that he wants toshoot back. An attacking force can sustainmany more casualties than a defendingforce (e.g., The Somme in World War I).

This is also true in evangelism; the en-emy does not like to be preached to, so heshoots back. Christians do not like to beshot at so they have opted not to preach.That is one solution, but not the right one.

In the Gulf War over Kuwait, there wassix weeks of air bombardment and 100hours of ground attack. The coalition forcessuffered very few casualties. I would liketo compare the six weeks of air bombard-ment to concentrated prayer. I can touch

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the enemy, but he cannot touch me. Thisconcentrated prayer softens up the objec-tive so that when I go in to preach I do notget shot at.

Whether the offensive is directed againstthe whole front or against one segment ofthe enemy army,

In either case it should be well un-derstood that there is in every battle-field a decisive point, the possessionof which, more than any other, helpsto secure the victory by enabling itsholder to make proper application ofthe Principles of War. Arrangementsshould therefore be made for strik-ing the Decisive blow upon this point(Jomini).

There are two things that determine a de-cisive point. The first is the relative impor-tance of that point compared to the rest ofthe front. The second is the feasibility oftaking that point. If it is not important, it isnot decisive. If it is important but not fea-sible to take, then it is not decisive. This isvery important. Be alert for teaching on thedecisive point in succeeding chapters.

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Whether the offense is made along thewhole front or at a decisive point, it hasseveral basic characteristics. In attitude itis bold; in direction it is forward towardthe enemy at the objective; as its means ituses effective weapons.

The offensive in the spiritual war is con-ducted in the same manner. It is directedagainst the enemy, not against the objec-tive. Satan is the enemy. We fight in orderto wrest from his possession those whothrough fear of death are subject to hisbondage (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Most of this spiritual war is already his-tory. Jesus Christ delivered the decisiveblow at the decisive point at the decisivetime. The blow was his death for sin andsinners. The point was a cross outside thecity of Jerusalem, and the time was the feastof the Passover about A.D. 30. The Bibletells us that this blow destroyed the enemyand set the prisoners free. When Jesus diedon the cross he cried with a loud voice, “Itis finished.” What was finished? The de-feat and ultimate destruction of Satan! Thiswas the emancipation proclamation thatsets us free from Satan. “If the Son there-fore shall make you free, ye shall be free

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indeed” (John 8:36).What remains if the decisive blow has

been struck? We must occupy the land. Wemust proclaim the emancipation to Satan’scaptives. We must declare the means offreedom, the gospel, the defeat of Satan,and the victory of Christ in his death andresurrection. We participate in that ancientvictory, for its proclamation is still unfin-ished. It is still news that many captiveshave not heard. The offensive in the spiri-tual war is to be carried out by two verybasic means: preaching and prayer. Preach-ing, when done in the power of the HolySpirit, is an engagement on the spiritualplane. Other powers are in conflict besidesthe speaker and the listeners. In 2 Timothy2 we can see four participants in the con-flict: the Lord’s servant, the opponent, God,and the devil.

Have nothing to do with stupid,senseless controversies; you knowthat they breed quarrels. And theLord’s servant must not be quarrel-some but kindly to every one, an aptteacher, forbearing, correcting his op-ponents with gentleness. God may

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perhaps grant that they will repentand come to know the truth, and theymay escape from the snare of thedevil, after being captured by him todo his will (2 Timothy 2:23-26, RSV ).

When the Christian teaches in the powerof the Holy Spirit, he does it without quar-reling. The strife is on the spiritual plane.He teaches with gentleness.

The offensive in preaching is com-manded in many places in the New Testa-ment. One of the more dynamic expres-sions is the word of the angel who openedthe prison doors in Acts 5:20 and said, “Goand stand in the temple and speak to thepeople all the words of this Life” (RSV ).

Praying in the Holy Spirit is also com-manded in the New Testament. Two ofthese examples are:

First of all, then, I urge that suppli-cations, prayers, intercessions, andthanksgivings be made for all men,for kings and all who are in high po-sitions, that we may lead a quiet andpeaceable life, godly and respectfulin every way. This is good, and it is

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acceptable in the sight of God ourSavior, who desires all men to besaved and to come to the knowledgeof the truth. For there is one God, andthere is one mediator between Godand men, the man Christ Jesus, whogave himself as a ransom for all, thetestimony to which was borne at theproper time (1 Timothy 2:1-5, RSV ).

Pray at all times in the Spirit, withall prayer and supplication. To thatend keep alert with all perseverance,making supplication for all the saints,and also for me, that utterance maybe given me in opening my mouthboldly to proclaim the mystery of thegospel, for which I am an ambassa-dor in chains; that I may declare itboldly, as I ought to speak (Ephesians6:18-20, RSV ).

Notice this. The first text says “First ofall,” and the last is the concluding thoughtof the paragraph that starts “Finally” (v. 10).“First” and “finally,” that is the order ofprayer. Then notice that both of these para-graphs on prayer have to do with evange-

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lism. When we pray in the Spirit, we andothers will preach in the Spirit boldly.Ephesians 6:10-20 is very clear teaching onspiritual warfare, and prayer is the finalpart of it. What Paul teaches in these threeverses he practices in the earlier chapterswhere his own prayers are recorded inEphesians 1:16-21 and 3:14-19.

These prayers are for Christians. Hisprayer requests are also for Christians. Wehave few passages in the New Testamenton prayer for unbelievers; four that I havefound are: Jesus’ prayer on the cross (Luke23:34), Stephen’s dying prayer (Acts 7:60),Paul’s prayer for his countrymen (“Breth-ren, my heart’s desire and prayer to Godfor them is that they may be saved”—Ro-mans 10:1, RSV ), and the 1 Timothy pas-sage quoted earlier. All of these are evan-gelistic prayers. The prayers for Christiansand prayer requests for Christians are morenumerous and they also have to do withthe proclamation of the gospel, as inEphesians 6:20: “that I may declare itboldly, as I ought to speak” (RSV ).

Jesus, in Matthew 9, when he saw themultitudes and had compassion on them,commanded:

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The harvest is plentiful, but the la-borers are few; pray therefore theLord of the harvest to send out labor-ers into his harvest (Matthew 9:37-38,RSV ).

Again, it is evangelism. We take the of-fensive under orders, praying and preach-ing in the Holy Spirit. Our objective ispeople: individuals, cities, and nations. Theenemy holds them captive at his own will.Then let us move out; let us advance to-ward the objective, praying and preaching.

Questions1. Who is the enemy? Name him.2. Who is the objective? Name him or

them.3. How should we pray for unbelievers?4. How should we pray for believers?

Study:Colossians 1:9-14 ; Philippians1:9-11; Ephesians 6:18-20; Ephesians3:14-19; 1:15-23; and Colossians 4:2-4. Look carefully at every phrase inthe texts. What do the texts say aboutpower? What do they say about wis-dom? What do they say about speak-

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ing the gospel? What else do theysay?

5. Make an agreement with each otherto pray for one another with the con-tent found in these biblical prayersand prayer requests.

6. Name other believers for whom youwill pray.

7. Continue the discussion on preaching,using 1 Thessalonians 1:4-2:9. Gointo this text in detail, noticing ev-ery positive characteristic about theproclamation of the gospel. Also listthe ways the gospel is not to bepreached.

8. Is there a “decisive point” in your cityor state where you can concentrateprayer and witness?

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3

CONCENTRATION

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I git thar fustest with themostest.

Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest,War Between the States

For where two or threecome together in my name,

there am I with them. Jesus Christ,

Matthew 18:20 (NIV )

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General Forrest was neither a WestPointer nor a War College graduate, but heknew the principles of war and he knewhow to apply them. Although it is doubt-ful that he used the double superlatives inthe above quotation, the statement doesemphasize several truths. In this one shortsentence we find four principles of war, andothers are implied.1 The one word“mostest” leads us to the subject of thischapter: Concentration.

Neither Alexander the Great nor JuliusCaesar could have conquered the thenknown world if he had neglected concen-tration.

Occasionally in the history of warfare anew method comes to light that seems soeffective or is such a surprise to the enemythat its users are strongly tempted to de-pend upon the new method (which is tem-porary) and forget the principles of war,such as concentration.

This tendency was evident when the air-plane made its advent on the Western Frontin World War I. It glamorized the war; menbecame air aces and heroes. The use of theairplane did not, however, have much ef-fect on the final outcome, for no one used

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it in concentration.Major General Claire Chennault, when

a young Army Air Corps aviator, noted thislack of application of principle. In his Wayof a Fighter , he wrote:

For four months we flew andfought all over the Texas sky in thefashion of the Western Front flyinglong patrols in formation, looking fora fight, and then scattering in a diveon the enemy into individual dog-fights. As sport it was superb, but aswar, even then, it seemed all wrongto me. There was too much of an airof medieval jousting in the dogfightsand not enough of the calculatedmassing of overwhelming force sonecessary in the cold, cruel businessof war. There were no sound militaryprecepts that encouraged the disper-sion of forces and firepower that oc-curred in dogfighting. 2

This failure to apply the principle of con-centration continued through the SpanishCivil War and into World War II. Chennaulthimself put an end to these individual tac-

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tics with his American Volunteer Group,better known as the Flying Tigers. Whenhe went to Burma and China, his pilotsstuck together. Outnumbered in the air andon the ground, in planes, pilots, and parts,they destroyed 217 enemy planes and prob-ably forty-three more with a maximum oftwenty operational P-40’s in thirty-one en-counters. Chennault’s losses were six pilotsand sixteen planes. In order to accomplishthis, Chennault used concentration. Hesimply had two aircraft firing at one en-emy aircraft. Even if outnumbered in theair ten to one, Chennault’s two always out-numbered the enemy’s one. If each FlyingTiger had taken on ten of the enemy, prob-ably we would not remember the FlyingTigers today.

In 1956 while on the staff of CommanderCarrier Division Five aboard the aircraftcarrier Shangri-la in the western Pacific, Iwatched the Carrier Air Group in practicemaneuvers. The F9F Cougars came downfrom the sky low over the waves, firingmachine guns or rockets at the target simul-taneously, then pulled up together to dis-appear into the blue. One evening I askedone of the pilots how he could fly wing on

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his leader and still aim at the target. It waseasy, he said. He did not aim; he just flewwing. “When he shoots, I shoot.” This isconcentration.

Now let us see how the principle of con-centration applies to spiritual warfare.

After these things the Lord ap-pointed other seventy also, and sentthem two and two before his face intoevery city and place, whither he him-self would come. Therefore said heunto them, The harvest truly is greatbut the laborers are few: pray yetherefore the Lord of the harvest, thathe would send forth labourers intohis harvest (Luke 10:1-2).

In the chapter on the “Offensive” we con-cluded that the offense in winning men toJesus Christ is carried out by preaching andprayer. In the Luke passage we see thatJesus sent his disciples out to preach in con-centration. He also told them to pray inconcentration:

Again I say unto you, That if twoof you shall agree on earth as touch-

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ing any thing that they shall ask, itshall be done for them of my Fatherwhich is in heaven. For where two orthree are gathered together in myname, there am I in the midst of them(Matthew 18:19-20).

This is effective warfare.Paul, one of the greatest of preachers, had

a “wing man” with him in most cases, andwhen alone he does not seem to have beennearly as effective. For instance, in Acts 17we find Paul going to Athens alone but ask-ing that Silas and Timothy join him with“all speed” (17:15).

Now while Paul waited for themat Athens, his spirit was stirred inhim, when he saw the city whollygiven to idolatry. Therefore disputedhe in the synagogue with the Jews,and with the devout persons, and inthe market daily (17:16-17).

Paul could not wait to concentrate hisforces; so he took the city on alone and hadneither an awakening nor a riot. Silas andTimothy did not join him until some weeks

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after Paul had arrived in Corinth. Here alsohe preached alone with no recorded results.

And he reasoned in the synagogueevery sabbath, and persuaded theJews and the Greeks (Acts 18:4).

When Silas and Timothy arrived, therewas a marked difference in the power, thecontent, and the results of Paul’s preach-ing.

And when Silas and Timotheuswere come from Macedonia, Paulwas pressed in the spirit, and testi-fied to the Jews that Jesus was Christ(Acts 18:5).

That was the power and the content; theresults are recorded in succeeding sen-tences. There was opposition, blasphemy,and many conversions.

And Crispus, the chief ruler of thesynagogue, believed on the Lord withall his house; and many of the Corin-thians hearing believed, and werebaptized. Then spake the Lord to

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Paul in the night by a vision, Be notafraid, but speak, and hold not thypeace: For I am with thee, and no manshall set on thee to hurt thee: for Ihave much people in this city (Acts18:8-10, italics added).

Paul remained in Corinth among thesemany believers for another eighteenmonths teaching the Word of God amongthem.

Concentration was so important to Paulthat he wrote on one occasion:

When I came to Troas to preachChrist’s gospel, and a door wasopened unto me of the Lord, I hadno rest in my spirit, because I foundnot Titus my brother: but taking myleave of them, I went from thence intoMacedonia (2 Corinthians 2:12-13).

Paul passed by an open door for lack ofhelp.

Many of us wish we had an Apostle Paulto travel with, not realizing how much theleader also needs the close follower. With-out his helpers, Paul was not greatly used

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in Athens or Troas. When the earthquakeoccurred at midnight in Philippi, it was notPaul alone who prayed, but Paul and Silas.There are many other instances in the Biblewhere concentration proved important tothe gospel ministry.

If you find that you are scattering yourwitness in “dogfights” or if the enemy isusing concentration on you because you in-sist on taking the whole ship or base or cityalone, then you need a partner. You maybe partly effective in your lone witness, andyou may think you have no need for a wingman. Perhaps you do not, but maybe thewing man needs a leader. Remember thatin warfare it is not enough to be faithfulbut only partly effective. We are after theobjective.

You may wonder where you are goingto find a partner. Start by asking God tosend him or her along. You may have tolead the person to the Lord. Once you meethim and before you minister together, youneed to be one in purpose and as comple-mentary as possible. Study together, praytogether, talk together, and reprove one an-other in the Lord. There should be open-ness and honesty between the two of you

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and no unconfessed sin to hide. Then youcan meet the enemy with combined fire-power.

A few years ago aboard a carrier in thePacific, two junior officers met every after-noon to offer concentrated prayer for theship. Soon one other officer received Christ;this increased the concentration 50 percent.In two months ten officers and over thirtyenlisted men were reached for Christthrough this concentrated prayer and wit-ness. The witness continued.

Concentration also plays a vital part inmass evangelism. In the chapter “Offen-sive” it was brought out that when thearmy on the offense does not possess anoverwhelming superiority it is not feasibleto launch an attack along the whole frontto take the objective. In such a case a deci-sive point must be selected against whichto strike a decisive blow. An overwhelm-ing superiority must be gained at the cho-sen point. This superiority is obtained bytransferring forces from the rest of the lineto the decisive point. This weakens the restof the line, but enough should be left inorder to keep the enemy occupied. Even ifminor defeats occur along the weakened

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portion, this is not crucial, because in themeantime you have served the decisiveblow at the decisive point that defeats theenemy.

An excellent example of this is found inMontgomery’s preparations for the firstbattle of El Alamein. In his own words:

Then from the bits and pieces inEgypt I was going to form a newcorps, the 10th Corps, strong inarmour; this would never hold theline but would be to us what theAfrika Korps was to Rommel; the for-mation of this new 10th Corps hadalready begun.

Montgomery concluded that Rommelwould make his main effort on the southor inland flank. This was the Alam HalfaRidge. Since Montgomery weakened hisnorthern flank in order to concentrate onAlam Halfa, he strengthened it with minefields and wire so it could be held with aminimum of troops. At Alam Halfa, thedecisive point, he concentrated two mobilearmored divisions, the 44th Infantry Divi-sion, and his newly formed armored divi-

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sion of 400 tanks dug in behind a screen ofsix-pounder anti-tank guns. From August31 to September 6, 1942, the Afrika Korpspounded against this line, all the while be-ing hit hard by the mobile and dug-in tanksand by the British Desert Air Force.Rommel retreated on the 6th with a deci-mated Afrika Korps. He had been defeated,and Montgomery had won a decisive vic-tory. Thus, concentration achieved the turn-ing point of the war in Africa.

Non-Christians and the powers of dark-ness outnumber us along the whole frontin the spiritual warfare. We can make ad-vances along this front by using two-by-two concentration. This is necessary; how-ever, it may not bring a decisive victory. Inorder to win a decisive victory we mustseek the will of God to determine the deci-sive points. Then Christians along thewhole front will:

1.Concentrate on prayer for thedecisive points.

2.Transfer temporarily orpermanently to the decisivepoint for concentrated preachingand testifying.

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The physical transfer could be made bytaking time off and traveling to the deci-sive point. This would weaken portions ofthe front temporarily, but no more so thanwhen Christians take leave under ordinarycircumstances.

When Jesus gave the Great Commissionthe apostles were not sent immediately tothe uttermost parts of the earth. They weretold to remain together in Jerusalem untilthey were “endued with power from onhigh” (Luke 24:49). Notice the elements ofconcentration:

1.They were all together.2.They all continued together in prayer.3.They were all in agreement.4.They all preached the wonderful works

of God (Acts 2:11).

As a result of concentrated prayer andpreaching, 3,000 were won to Christ in oneday.

The same sort of concentration is prac-ticed in the Billy Graham campaigns. Thou-sands of Christian people pray for him, theteam, and the city for weeks and months

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in advance of the crusade. Hundreds moreconcentrate in the city as counselors, choirmembers, and assistant missioners weeksin advance and during the crusade.

Pray ye therefore the Lord of theharvest, that he would send forthlabourers into his harvest (Luke10:2).

Questions1. Study Acts 16:11-40.2.Do you have a partner with whom you

can pray? Who is he?3. Do you have a partner with whom you

can witness? Who is he?4.What can you do to be involved in a

larger group in prayer?5. What can you do to be involved in a

larger group in proclaiming the gos-pel?

I recommend Behind the Ranges (now outof print, but your local library should carryit) by Mrs. Howard Taylor (Moody Press)and Mountain Rain, two biographies ofJames Fraser (Overseas Missionary Fellow-ship). These are stories of concentratedprayer.

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4

M O B I L I T Y

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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 inhaste: it is the LORD ‘s

passover.Exodus 12:11

But God’s word is notchained.

The Apostle Paul,2 Timothy 2:9 (NIV )

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After 400 years, some of which had beenspent in slavery, 600,000 men of Israel, be-sides women, children, and possessions,moved out of the land of Egypt in onenight. That is mobility! If we undertook thesame feat today we would use trains,planes, trucks, and ships. We would havebetter equipment but might not prove asmobile.

Mobility as a principle of war is not ab-solute. It must not be measured againsthow fast we could move yesterday; ratherit must be compared with the enemy’s mo-bility. We must move more quickly, farther,and for a greater period of time than theenemy. Mobility was defined in the state-ment of General Nathan Bedford Forrest,“I git thar fustest with the mostest.”

The French of World War II could movetheir armies, but they were not as mobileas the armies of Hitler. Hitler’s LightningWarfare (Blitzkrieg) was mobility in action.The early successes of the Japanese in thesame war were largely dependent upon themobility of their striking and invasionforces. The political and military surprisesof both Germany and Japan could not havebeen effected without military mobility.

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The opposite of mobility is immobility.To be immobilized is to be at the mercy ofthe enemy. An army or any other unit thatis immobilized is incapable of attacking,evading, or retreating. It can only defenduntil surrender or to the end. The Ameri-can defense of Corregidor is an example ofimmobility.

In the Gulf War in Kuwait, the Iraqi armywas effectively immobilized for three rea-sons:

1.They were dug in.2.They were fearful.3.They were finally surrounded.

In Christian evangelism the greatestcause of immobility is fear. Fear is not aprinciple of war or it would get a long chap-ter in this book. Fear is not bad, if we arefearing the right one. “And do not fearthose who kill the body but cannot kill thesoul; rather fear him who can destroy bothsoul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28,RSV), and “Woe to me if I do not preachthe gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16, RSV ). It isfear of those who can kill only the body thatimmobilizes Christians.

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The British Army was defeated in Francein 1940. If it had reached the coast andfound that it was immobilized, it would nothave suffered defeat only; it would havebeen annihilated. It was the British mobil-ity at sea that saved the Army at Dunkirk.If the Germans had been as mobile at seaas they were on land, they could have fol-lowed the British across the Channel. In thiscase the defenders were mobile and thevictors became immobile.

In World War II mobility was demon-strated in the existence and actions of theU.S. Third and Fifth Fleets. One componentof the Third/Fifth Fleet 1 particularly ex-emplified mobility. This was the Fast Car-rier Striking Force, Task Force 38 (or 58,under the Fifth Fleet) under the commandof Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher. This forcecould move hundreds of miles overnightin any direction and strike hundreds ofmiles farther with the Air Groups. It con-sisted of fifteen or sixteen carriers andscores of screening ships.

The nuclear submarine and the Strate-gic Air Command are probably the mostmobile of present-day combat units. In theinfantry the Army’s Airborne Divisions and

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the FMF of the Marine Corps are probablythe most mobile. One of their characteris-tics is their ability to strike a decisive blowany place of their own choosing. The of-fense could never be mounted in concen-tration without the ability to move. Anarmy must be mobile.

Jesus Christ said, “Go ye into all theworld, and preach the gospel to every crea-ture” (Mark 16:15). From this commandand other texts in the New Testament we,in previous chapters, drew the conclusionthat “every creature” is the objective andthat preaching and prayer were our twomain means of offense. From the same textwe see that mobility is a requirement if weare to carry out Christ’s command to“ Go.”

Within the church there must be an abil-ity to move to the place or to the peoplewhere the offense will take place. We mustconvey our firepower where it will be used.Securing this mobility is simply a matterof obedience to the command “Go.”

We can move our firepower in many ofthe ways that physical weapons of war aremoved. We can walk. Philip left Samariaand was, in obedience to God, crossing thedesert when he encountered the Ethiopian

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eunuch. Philip taught Christ to him fromIsaiah 53, and the man believed. DavidBrainerd moved on horseback and led hun-dreds of American Indians to Jesus Christ.In Jungle Camp the Wycliffe Bible Transla-tors are trained to move by foot, raft, anddugout canoe. The Missionary AviationFellowship provides mobility superior tothat of the enemy in territory that is other-wise inaccessible.

There are other ways of delivering theWord of God besides taking the messen-ger to the physical location. One is that ofcorrespondence. God put his stamp of ap-proval on this means of mobility whenmuch of the New Testament was given tous in letters, this being necessitated in partbecause the messengers, Paul and John,were immobilized as prisoners. Praise God,his Word is not bound (2 Timothy 2:9).

Another important means is the mobil-ity gained through Christian books and lit-erature sent via mail or passed from handto hand. The ministry of moving Christianbooks, magazines, booklets, and Bibles ishardly being used at all. The Christian maybe physically immobilized because of hisprofession or state of health. Yet if he used

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Christian literature he would not find theWord of God limited just because he him-self was immobilized. The objective wouldbe taken in near or distant places, thoughthe Christian was absent.

The giving and sending of books is justthe beginning of fast mobile communica-tion of the gospel. Records and tape record-ings can bring to anyone’s living room themost powerful preaching and teaching thatis available today. Christian leaders arebroadcasting the gospel of Jesus Christ onhundreds of radio stations weekly. But thisdoes not guarantee that people will haveradio receivers tuned on at the time or tothe right station. A telephone call to eachof our friends immediately before the pro-gram would greatly increase the listeningaudience.

Then too, we should consider mobilitywith the use of the weapon itself. If aweapon has a 360-degree field and the sol-dier keeps it trained in one direction only,then he is not using the weapon’s inherentmobility.

Our weapon, the Word of God,

. . . is living and active, sharper than

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any two-edged sword, piercing to thedivision of soul and spirit, of jointsand marrow, and discerning thethoughts and intentions of the heart(Hebrews 4:12, RSV ).

We must use it to the maximum of ourcapability. It has no limitations. The limita-tions are in us. Let us learn to use the Wordas a defensive-offensive weapon. It is atragedy to see Christians immobilized in aspecific witnessing situation because theydo not know how to use a very powerfuland effective weapon. If we are versatile inthe Scriptures, we can strike an effectiveblow at the place of our choosing. Con-tinual personal study of the Bible is the onlyadequate preparation for use of the Word.

All of this so far has had to do with themobility of our firepower, or, in otherwords, our witnessing. But from the chap-ter on the offense we recall that our offenseis directed with prayer in addition topreaching. We must be mobile here, also.

Like the Word of God, prayer has no limi-tations. The limitations are in us. Prayer ofintercession has greater range, accuracy,speed, and power than the greatest inter-

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continental ballistic missile we will everproduce. The prayer of intercession is onethat agrees with God in his desire and pur-pose to win men to himself. We can use asour guide the prayers of Jesus and of theapostles, both for Christian brethren andfor those who are still under the commandof the enemy.

Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and Iwill answer thee, and shew thee great andmighty things, which thou knowest not.”Let us ask for big things, things that wehave never previously experienced.

Mobility serves no purpose if we haveno intention of going anywhere. Do notstay at home in your intercession. Be mo-bile. It costs nothing to go to Africa viaGod’s throne in prayer, except time and aconcern for people in Africa.

Dawson Trotman recounts a personal ex-perience in the booklet Born to Reproduce.He and a fellow worker in the Navigators,when that organization was still veryyoung, decided to pray for the develop-ment of their work in every state of theunion:

So we made a list of forty-eight

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states, and we prayed. Morning aftermorning in these little prayer meet-ings we would look at our list andask God to use us and other youngfellows in Washington, in Oregon, inCalifornia, and in all other states ofthe Union. Five weeks went by, andwe did not miss a morning. We metat four o’clock on Sunday morningand spent three hours in prayer. Dur-ing the sixth week the Lord put it onour hearts to get a map of the world,and we took it up to our little cave inthe hill. We began to put our fingerson Germany, France, and Italy. Weput them on Turkey and Greece. I re-member looking at one little islandnear China you had to look closelyto see what it was and we prayed thatGod would use us in the lives of themen in Formosa.

If you know of the worldwide ministryof the Navigators today, you know that thisprayer has been answered.

The united witness of which we are apart is also the result of the prayers of manyChristians. Let us not stop now; let us indi-

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vidually and together pray to take the ob-jective for Jesus Christ. Pray that we willbe used in the lives of others.

The effectiveness of our ministry in thespiritual war largely depends upon the in-dividual mobility in the use of our capa-bilities: the Word and prayer. We mustknow something of the range and depth ofthe word of God, and we must experiencethe range and accuracy of intercessoryprayer.

And it shall come to pass, that be-fore they call, I will answer, andwhile they are yet speaking, I willhear (Isaiah 65:24).

Questions1. Study the Book of Acts and how it

shows the mobility of the scatteredsaints; Philip in Chapter 8, Peter inChapters 9-10, Barnabas in Chapter11, and Paul in Chapters 13-28.

2. Are you immobilized in your witnessbecause of your lack of knowledgeof the Bible?

3. Are you immobilized because of not

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praying?4. Think of ways that you as an indi-

vidual can and will increase yourmobility with the gospel.

5. How will you implement these newways?

A suggestion: Each of you reading thisbook has at least one extra Bible. Give it tosomeone you know (or don’t know), orsend it to me and I will send it to Africa orChina or to a university student in theUnited States.

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5

S E C U R I T Y

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The art of retrenchment... shallserve the defender NOT to

defend himself more securelybehind a rampart, but to attackthe enemy more successfully.

Clausewitz

Finally, my brethren, be strongin the Lord, and in the power of

his might. Put on the wholearmour of God, that ye may be

able to stand against the wiles ofthe devil. For we wrestle notagainst flesh and blood, but

against principalities, againstpowers, against the rulers of thedarkness of this world, against

spiritual wickedness in highplaces.

The Apostle Paul,Ephesians 6:10-12

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Security may be divided into three parts:

1.Intelligence of (knowledge about) theenemy;

2.Continual protection against theenemy;

3.Final stand against the enemy.

Before we can be secure from attacks byan enemy we must know there is an en-emy. The nation that has no enemy is verysecure. The nation that has an enemy butdoes not think so is very insecure. Thatnation could be surprised, completely un-protected.

Intelligence of an enemy insures know-ing who he is, his intentions, and his meth-ods of operating. This prevents deceptionand surprise. In physical warfare this in-telligence is gained by listening to every-thing the enemy says and reading every-thing he writes. Since the enemy does notwant his opponent listening in on every-thing he says, he establishes safeguards:fences, guards, soundproof rooms, securitychecks to expose spies or traitors, and en-cryption of his radio and telephone com-munications. In order to gain this intelli-

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gence, the opponent sends in spies, breaksdown fences, steals safes, bribes or killsguards, taps telephone wires, and practicescryptanalysis.

Thus, to be secure from the enemy, onemust gain access to his communicationswhile safeguarding all of one’s own com-munications.

In the early months after Pearl Harbor,our carriers were operating in the South-west Pacific, our battleships were out ofaction, and the Japanese were moving athree-pronged strike and invasion fleet to-ward Midway Islands and the AleutianChain. There would have been no stoppingthis force if it had not been for our intelli-gence of the enemy. Through cryptanalysis,the U.S. Navy cracked the Japanese codeand moved more planes and submarinesand carriers to Midway. The Japanese lostfour carriers to air action while we lost onecarrier and one destroyer. This, the turn-ing point of the war in the Pacific, illustratesthe absolute necessity of intelligence of theenemy to insure security.

So it is in spiritual war. Our enemy is Sa-tan. We must know who he is, what hedoes, his intentions and methods. We can

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read his history in the Bible and observehis victories and his defeats in his actionwith men. We can also read of his contactwith the Son of God, his failure in the Temp-tation in the Wilderness, and his defeat atCalvary.

At present there seems to be amongChristians an inordinate, almost insatiabledesire to be informed about the cults, theoccult, and new age movements. Althoughwe are not to be ignorant of Satan or hisdevices, we are not to fill up our heads andhearts with foul, evil untruths.

I would have you wise as to whatis good and guileless as to what isevil; then the God of peace will sooncrush Satan under your feet (Romans16:19-20, RSV ).

We find that Satan is neither omnipotentnor omniscient and that he has very defi-nite limitations. Apparently through igno-rance of God’s “plan of attack,” Satan per-petrated the crucifixion of the Lord JesusChrist by blinding the religious and politi-cal leaders of 2,000 years ago. The Biblesays: “. . . none of the princes of this world

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knew [the wisdom of God]: for had theyknown it, they would not have crucified theLord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8). Thisfailure of Satan to discern God’s plan wasa factor in his defeat, for through the crossGod wrests men from Satan’s grasp andenlists them into God’s eternal kingdom.

Neither are we omnipotent and omni-scient, but we have access to power andknowledge of which Satan knows nothing.Christ has revealed to us the wisdom ofGod, though it is “hidden” from the world.He also endows us with his power. Christsaid to the apostles: “All power is givenunto me. Therefore go” (Matthew 28:18-19).

There are many things Satan does notknow and cannot do. Let us find out hisstrength and weakness factors, “Lest,” asPaul says in 2 Corinthians 2:11, “Satanshould get an advantage of us: for we arenot ignorant of his devices.” Let us discoverthe information that is the key to our spiri-tual security.

Our intelligence of Satan permits us toset up defenses. Ephesians 6:10-17 de-scribes this defense, with the reasons foreach part of our “armor.” Before we put onthe armor we must be strong in the Lord’s

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strength and power (v. 10). Verses 11-13 putthe emphasis upon the whole of the armor,and 14-18 speak of the separate parts of thearmor and their uses.

Our combatants are not flesh and bloodbut “principalities,” “powers,” “rulers ofthe darkness of this world,” “spiritualwickedness in high places” (v. 12), and theyare masterminded by the devil himself (v.11). Like any wise general, Satan will notattack a strong point if weak points areavailable for a breakthrough. He is a goodstrategist. We need not fear his strength somuch as his “wiles” (v. 11). The Scripturetells us twice to put on the whole armor ofGod so there will be no weak points.

A wall around a city may be strictly de-fensive, but armor by definition is not.Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary says of ar-mor: “that conceived of as an offensive ordefensive weapon.” A soldier does notcover himself with armor because he in-tends to read a good book in front of hisfireplace. He is going off to battle. He hasevery intention of going into harm’s way.He is looking for and expecting a fight.

Sun Tzu said:

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The good fighters of old first putthemselves beyond the possibility ofdefeat and then waited for an oppor-tunity of defeating the enemy.

The Christian warrior who obeysEphesians 6 has done just this. This soldieremploys the various parts of the armor toput himself beyond the possibility of de-feat. He surrounds himself with truth, heputs on the breastplate of righteousness, hetakes the shield of faith and dons his hel-met of salvation. Then with the power ofthe Lord, the preparation of the gospel ofpeace, and the sword of the Spirit, he de-feats the enemy.

The Coalition forces were very well pro-tected in the war with Iraq. Each soldierhad a gas mask and effective protectiveclothing.

We Christians have been issued protec-tive clothing, but we do not put it on. Weare hurt and harmed by weapons thatshould bounce off or be quenched by ourdefensive clothing. Not only are we walk-ing wounded, we think that this is normaland wonder about Christians who are un-der attack and not wounded. But it is not

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normal to go into battle half naked. It is notnormal to be wounded all of the time.

If the great objective assigned to us byJesus Christ is to “preach the gospel to ev-ery creature,” then the smallest whole num-ber of that objective is one single person.Each individual, like the rest of his fellows,is an enemy of God in his mind by wickedworks (Colossians 1:21). We are sur-rounded by these enemies. We read theirliterature, hear their conversation, and par-ticipate in their community. In effect, theprince of this world and his servants aretaking the offensive against the saints con-tinually. One way to keep from being at-tacked would be to keep no company withthe wicked. But 1 Corinthians 5:10 tells usthat “then must ye needs go out of theworld.” Jesus prayed to the Father, “notthat thou shouldest take them out of theworld, but that thou shouldest keep themfrom the evil” (John 17:15). It is his will thatwe be exposed to attack but not defeated.Our divinely ordered armor provides ef-fective security.

Lt. General William K. Harrison, Jr., in amessage given in Yokosuka, Japan, drewattention to Romans 13:12-14, which says,

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“let us put on the armor of light,” and “putye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make notprovision for the flesh, to fulfill the luststhereof.” This indicates, General Harrisonsaid, that putting on the armor of Ephesians6 we are putting on Jesus Christ. He is thetruth (John 14:6). He is our righteousness(1 Corinthians 1:30). He is the author andfinisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He isthe gospel (Mark 1:1). He is our salvation(Exodus 15:2), and he is the Word (John 1:1).

In physical war, if a nation were continu-ally under attack and on the defensive wecould prophesy ultimate defeat, surrender,or destruction. To prevent this there mustbe a final stand. The initiative and the of-fensive must change hands before victorycould come to the defenders. This stand iscalled the defensive-offensive.

In World War II there were four mainturning points that gave the offensive to theAllies. All of these were great defensive-offensive battles where the defenders wonand afterward took the initiative. Two ofthem have already been described in brief.The first battle of Alamein at the AlamHalfa ridge turned the tide in North Africa.It is briefly described in Chapter Three,

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“Concentration.” The Battle of Midwaymentioned earlier was the defensive-offen-sive battle that reversed the positions in theCentral Pacific. In Europe the crown fordefensive-offensive strategy goes to theRussians in the Battle of Stalingrad. Whenit became clear that the city would not fall,the Germans should have called a retreat.This was not done, and the German SixthArmy was annihilated. The fourth exampleis the defense of Port Moresby in NewGuinea that resulted in the annihilation ofthe Japanese Detachment at Buna.

If there is no turning point, the defenderwill be defeated. There will be no turningunless a stand is made in a defensive-of-fensive battle. Yet, seemingly, in the mindsof many Christians, a defensive position inthe spiritual life is considered a virtue andan offensive position a sin. Defense is as-sociated with the innocent party, as thoughwe expect only the wicked to take up theoffense. For this reason the virtuous pridethemselves on being defenders, instead oftaking up the offensive for truth, justice,holiness, and a powerful personal witness.This sometimes results in the pathetic situ-ation of the virtuous enjoying defeat. Let

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us never forget that without an eventualoffensive, defense only anticipates ultimatedefeat.

The defensive-offensive applies to bothindividuals and groups of believers. Haveyou been only a defender against sin andsinners? Perhaps it is time for a stand, adefensive-offensive.

“Therefore stand,” and thus make yoursecurity sure.

Questions1. Study Ephesians 6:10-20.2.Do you have the power of God?3. Do you have the complete armor?4.Are you willing to make a stand at

work on moral and ethical issues?5. Are you willing to make a stand for

Jesus Christ at work?

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6

S U R P R I S E

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One belligerent mustsurprise, the other must besurprised. Only and whenthe two Commanders playthese respective roles will

a battle lead to theannihilation of one Army.

General Waldemar Erfurth

And they were filled withwonder and amazement atwhat had happened to him.

Acts 3:10(NIV )

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The Old Testament hero Gideon learnedthe principles of war by revelation fromGod, and one of them was “surprise.” Theaccount in Judges tells us that the amassedarmies of the “Midianites and theAmalekites and all the children of the eastlay along in the valley like grasshoppers”(7:12). This force consisted of 135,000.Fewer than 15,000 got away. We can saythat Gideon with 300 men surprised theenemy and won a battle of annihilation.

There are only a few elements withwhich surprise can be effected: time, place,and method, or any combination of thethree.

However, surprise also depends upontwo additional and essential factors,namely, ignorance on the part of one com-mander, and intelligence on the part of theother. This ignorance may be natural (e.g.,incompetence or inadequate security) or itmay be induced (deception).

Gideon’s victory, Hannibal’s victory atCannae, the German invasion through theArdennes in 1940, and the Japanese attackon Pearl Harbor were all aided by the ig-norance of the surprised nation. In the firsttwo cases deception helped immensely in

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the execution of the surprise, and in all fourcases the surprising belligerent kept hisintentions and plans secret.

The surprise of Gideon was one of time(night) and method (lamps, torches, voices,trumpets) and place (three sides of thecamp). The attack on Pearl Harbor was asurprise of time and place; the weapon wasnot unusual. The United States’ surprise atHiroshima and Nagasaki was primarilyone of weapon, although the time and placewere a part of the surprise.

In the spiritual warfare we may use anyor all of these elements of surprise. Surprisecan be very effectively used in evangelism,whether mass evangelism (strategic sur-prise) or in personal evangelism (tacticalsurprise).

In the spiritual war there are two com-manders, God and the devil. One of themis the Creator, the other a created being.God is omniscient; Satan is not. Since sur-prise depends upon the ignorance (natu-ral or induced) of one of the commanders,it becomes obvious that God cannot be sur-prised. God is omniscient. He has no limi-tations in his intelligence, nor can he bedeceived.

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This is not true of the devil. He has beensurprised before. God did not deceive Sa-tan. He just withheld information fromhim. The Bible speaks of it over and overas a mystery (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:7-8).

For when we were yet withoutstrength, in due time Christ died forthe ungodly. For scarcely for a righ-teous man will one die: yetperadventure for a good man somewould even dare to die. But Godcommendeth his love toward us, inthat, while we were yet sinners,Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).

Surprise in warfare means more than “tocause wonder or astonishment or amaze-ment because of something unexpected.”It means “to attack or capture suddenly andwithout warning.” The passage from Ro-mans 5 clearly tells us that the love of Christexpressed in his death for us is unexpected.If the message is used with people who aredependent on their own effort or relativegoodness, they will be “amazed.” If themessenger catches that man with his de-fense down, he will be “amazed” and sur-

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prised. In other words, he will be capturedsuddenly and without warning.

Surprise may be increased even more ifwe combine the message with a surprisein time and place. To hear the gospel in aSunday evening evangelistic church serviceis no surprise. It is even possible that themessage itself will surprise no one in theaudience. On the other hand, a personaltestimony of the saving grace of JesusChrist backed up with the Word of God willbe an effective surprise when it comes froma line officer. It will surprise tellingly whenthis occurs in a bar, at a cocktail party, inthe office, in the field, aboard ship, or incombat.

It is much easier to be vocal in an evan-gelical church than it is in the above places.It is always easier to train for combat thanit is to engage the enemy in a fire fight. Thereason is simple: in the evangelical church,as in military training, there is no enemy.The presence of an enemy means fear andknots in the stomach, even though we havethe opportunity to take the initiative andcatch him by surprise.

On the defensive we have no choice butto fight. But when we have the opportu-

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nity to surprise the enemy, the decision tofight is ours. We would hardly pass up suchan opportunity in physical combat, thoughit means fear and the possibility of death.Likewise let us press our advantages inspiritual warfare, despite the problems andfears. Do not reject surprise in time andplace.

To forewarn the enemy is to ask forstrong resistance to any attack. The prin-ciple of surprise is one of the prime meansof thwarting such resistance. This principleapplies equally in personal evangelism. Ifwe give men the chance, they will hide,cover up, and defend sin. They will do thesame with their ignorance. They will makea last stand defending sin even if it is onlybluff. Let us catch men with their guardsdown. Give them as little opportunity aspossible to hide or defend sin.

Above all, use the Word of God:

For the word of God is living andactive, sharper than any two-edgedsword, piercing to the division of souland spirit, of joints and marrow, anddiscerning the thoughts and inten-tions of the heart. And before him no

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creature is hidden, but all are openand laid bare to the eyes of him withwhom we have to do (Hebrews 4:12-13, RSV ).

This is our surprise. It is devastating. Re-member our objective is not to win an ar-gument, but to win people to Jesus Christ.

Questions1. Study the temptations of Eve (Genesis

3:1-6) and Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11,and also study 1 John 2:15-17.

2. Are you ignorant of Satan’s devices?3. Have you ever been caught by surprise

by the enemy?4.Can you think of ways that will catch

the enemy by surprise in witness-ing?

Plan on using the expression “The LordJesus Christ” in a normal serious conver-sation at a cocktail party or another eventwith your friends in the world. Most likely,his name will already have been used sev-eral times during the evening.

This will be “Surprise.”

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7

COOPERATION

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Fellowship is the keynote ofthis belief; such a deep

fellowship with God throughChrist as shall inevitably lead

to a deep fellowship withothers of His children. The

revival of the ChristianChurch will surely come onlythrough the disciplined and

creative fellowship ofsurrendered Christians; for

such a fellowship in Christ isGod’s supreme weapon for

the evangelization of theworld (1 John 1:5-7 and John

17:22-23). The isolatedChristian is an anomaly.

Howard Guinnessin Total Christian War

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That which we have seen andheard declare we unto you,

that ye also may havefellowship with us: and truly

our fellowship is with theFather, and with his SonJesus Christ. And these

things write we unto you,that your joy may be full.

The Apostle John,1 John 1:3-4

And the multitude of themthat believed were of one

heart and of one soul: neithersaid any of them that ought

of the things which hepossessed was his own: butthey had all things common.

Acts 4:32

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In World War II the United States nar-rowly escaped a crushing defeat becauseof neglect of a principle of war: the prin-ciple of cooperation.

Until the invasion of the Philippines, Oc-tober 20-23, 1944, we had fought two sepa-rate wars in the Pacific: the advancethrough the Central Pacific, Gilbert,Marshall, and Mariana Islands, and the warin the Southwest Pacific via the Solomonsand New Guinea. The forces of the formerwere commanded by Admiral ChesterNimitz in Hawaii and the latter by Gen-eral Douglas MacArthur in Australia.When these advances met in the Philip-pines, the two leaders had no superior shortof the Commander-in-Chief, the Presidentof the United States.

The invasion was the responsibility ofGeneral MacArthur, with Central PacificForces filling a supporting role. The Sev-enth Fleet under the command of Vice Ad-miral Kincaid was given to GeneralMacArthur for the invasion and includedunits of escort carriers and old battleships,some of which had been raised from PearlHarbor. The ammunition of these units wasnon-armor-piercing, high explosives, as

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they were for support of the troops ashoreand not for an engagement at sea.

Protecting the invasion from attack bysea was the Third Fleet, commanded byAdmiral Halsey under Admiral Nimitz.The main striking force consisted of fourcarrier air groups of four fast-attack carri-ers each, and a surface striking force of newfast battleships.

The Japanese sent a two-pronged surfaceattack against the invasion fleet in LeyteGulf and a decoy carrier group from Japaninto the Philippine Sea. The old battleshipsunder Rear Admiral Oldendorf sank all butone cruiser in Surigao Strait, which tookcare of the southern prong. The fast-attackcarriers turned back the northern prong inthe Sibuyan sea and then proceeded afterthe decoy group away from the invasionfleet.

Because of poor communication betweenthe commanders of the Third and SeventhFleets, Admiral Kincaid thought that Ad-miral Halsey had detached his surfacestriking group of seven fast battleships tocover the northern prong of the Japanesesurface force at San Bernardino Straits. Inreality, Admiral Halsey took the battleships

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with him after the decoy air group. He hadnot let the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, orCommander, Seventh Fleet know of hisdecision.

The Japanese northern arm returned tothe attack, coming through San BernardinoStraits with four battleships and ten heavycruisers. No one was there to meet them.They caught our escort carriers in LeyteGulf. After sinking the Gambier Bay, forsome unknown reason the Japanese admi-ral retreated. His only opposition consistedof torpedo attacks and smoke from destroy-ers and destroyer escorts.

Our forces had intelligence of the enemy.We had an overwhelming superiority insurface and air power. But we did not ob-tain a decisive victory because of poor com-munication between cooperating forces. Ifit had not been for the decision of the Japa-nese admiral to retire, we might have suf-fered a decisive defeat.

When we fail to uphold the principle ofcooperation, we cannot count on the enemymaking mistakes or poor decisions. Norcan we bank on scaring him with smokeand mock torpedo runs.

We must determine to have an over-

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whelming superiority to meet the enemyin a decisive battle at the right time, whichcannot be achieved without cooperation.

Cooperation is dependent upon two pre-requisites:

1.Cooperating forces are allies, notbelligerents.

2.The cooperating forces come under onecommander.

Cooperation with an enemy is not coop-eration; it is treason. Failure to cooperatewith an ally is a violation of an essentialprinciple of war and a gross error.

Unity of command is necessary for co-operation. The closer the commander is tothe cooperating forces, the closer the coop-eration. The farther removed the unity ofcommand, the weaker the cooperation.

In the invasion of the Philippines the su-preme commander was very distant, thePresident of the United States. AdmiralNimitz had a unified command. So didGeneral MacArthur. But this was a meet-ing of two distinct commands. They hadno common superior close enough to thesituation to provide good cooperation.

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The principle of cooperation is very im-portant in the spiritual war. First, it appliesto each one of us individually. Most Chris-tians are used to fighting (win or lose) theirown spiritual battles. We are so used tofighting the spiritual war alone that whenwe come into contact with a fellow Chris-tian in the same war at the same time orplace, we find it difficult to cooperate andcommunicate. Cooperation is a prelude toconcentration and concentration is one ofthe keys to victory.

It should be immediately apparent thatthe Christians have the advantage of a uni-fied command. Furthermore, their Com-mander is not too far removed from thesituation to provide effective cooperation.Jesus Christ himself experienced the temp-tations and difficulties encountered in thisworld, so he is close to our situation in thesense of personal experience.

More important, he presently occupies aposition close to all Christians from whichto direct their cooperative efforts—that is,he dwells in their hearts. From there he canguide us as individuals or as part of agroup: “Where two or three are gatheredtogether in my name, there am I in the

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midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). “I am withyou alway, even unto the end of the world”(Matthew 28:20).

If there is any breakdown in the principleof cooperation, it is not on the part of thespiritual Commander; rather, it must betraced to the individual combatants.

The greatest deterrent to cooperation ispride. Pride says I can handle my problemsalone; I don’t need any help. Or perhaps itwill allow me to accept help, but not fromhim! Sometimes pride keeps us from ad-mitting our needs even to ourselves, letalone to anyone else.

Other Christians could help us in ourweakness, but we will not let them knowwhat it is. A proud man wishes to win astruggle alone so he may take all the glory.When he loses no one else knows about it,or so he believes. James 5:16 says: “Con-fess your faults one to another, and prayone for another.” This cooperation in thespiritual war is essential if we do not wishto be continually defeated at the pointwhere pride hides the fault.

God’s attitude toward pride is explicit inthe Scriptures. Proverbs 6:16 says, “Thesesix things doth the Lord hate . . . a proud

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look . . . .” 1 John 2:15-16 states, “Love notthe world . . . For all that is in the world . .. the pride of life, is not of the Father, but isof the world.”

The Bible also describes the results ofpride. Daniel 5:20 explains the downfall ofNebuchadnezzar in these words: “Butwhen his heart was lifted up, and his mindhardened in pride, he was deposed fromhis kingly throne, and they took his gloryfrom him.” King Uzziah suffered leprosyuntil the day of his death, “because whenhe was strong, his heart was lifted up” (2Chronicles 26:16).

Proverbs 16:18 states the principle in thisway: “Pride goeth before destruction, andan haughty spirit before a fall.”

In the military services pride is deliber-ately generated in order to encourage obe-dience and high quality in performance ofduties. Rivalry and competition in trainingbring the units to the peak of readiness.

Yet platoons should cease to competewhen they act as a company. They are heldtogether by the company commander.Companies should cease to compete whenacting as a battalion and so on up the lineuntil the Commander-in-Chief unites the

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Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.But a problem exists. Whereas the high-

est sense of loyalty should be to the high-est commander, the greatest pride some-how frequently is generated in the smallerunits and the greatest loyalty is given tosubordinate commanders. There may befierce loyalty to the skipper and indiffer-ence, antagonism, or at best a lesser loy-alty to the squadron commander. (This isno great difficulty as long as the skipperinsures no deviation from orders by thesquadron commander.)

Another way that pride is fostered isthrough the function of the unit. Themethod of warfare used in the particularunit becomes, so far as the men involvedare concerned, the primary means of win-ning wars. For instance the armor historianwill tell of the heroic part that that unitplayed in winning World War II. In turn,we can find out how destroyers, subma-rines, the Navy, the Air Force, Coast Guard,Marine Corps, and the Army each won thelast war.

The pride and loyalty that is encouraged,the rivalry and competition that keep unitssharp and on their toes, can and do back-

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fire. After a few years in the service, thenaval officer has been indoctrinated to suchan extent that it is difficult to cooperate withthe Army, even though aims are in agree-ment. We then find that the individualthinks his loyalty to the Navy is synony-mous with loyalty to the United States. Un-fortunately, the Army feels the same way.Strained cooperation results. Thus the func-tion of one’s branch can become more im-portant to an officer than the overall objec-tive of the Armed Forces. This is a result ofinstilling pride in subordinate units to theneglect of emphasizing higher loyalties.

In the Army of the Lord the same errormay occur. The different units (denomina-tions, mission societies, and nondenomina-tional groups) may develop a pride in thedistinctives of their church or fellowship.The doctrines, liturgy, or methods thatmake a group distinctive are the points thatare emphasized.

Many denominations and other groupsare primarily the result of the ministry ofindividual men raised up by God: JohnWesley, Martin Luther, John Calvin,Hudson Taylor, as well as living leaders.These are the “subordinate commanders”

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who may get the fierce loyalty and obedi-ence that belong only to the Supreme Com-mander, Jesus Christ.

This would be strongly denied by mostof us. Yet we betray our loyalties when ourconversations frequently begin with our-selves or our group and its leader. Is JesusChrist as often the subject of our openingsentences? If anyone draws this matter toour attention, we explain that our groupand Christianity are synonymous, or thatour leader is the most devoted follower ofJesus Christ, or that we meant Christian-ity, even if we did not say so. Thus eachgroup feels it is most representative of JesusChrist.

Strangely enough, if we were to applythe mathematical axiom, “Things equal tothe same thing are equal to each other,” wewould conclude that all the groups werevery nearly identical to each other andwould enjoy great freedom in cooperation.This is not true. It is true that people whohave a genuinely close fellowship and con-tact with the Supreme Commander haveno trouble with each other, regardless of thegroups with which they are associated.

We must guard our loyalty and keep it

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for the Lord Jesus Christ.

You shall love the Lord your Godwith all your heart, and with all yoursoul, and with all your mind. This isthe great and first commandment.And a second is like it, You shall loveyour neighbor as yourself (Matthew22:37-39, RSV ).

Sometimes we will encounter anotherChristian or Christian group on the samebattlefield. Will we oppose his presence,tolerate his presence, ignore it, or unite withhim to win the battle?

The question never really centers aroundthe method of our group versus the methodof the other group. The question is loyaltyto our group versus loyalty to Jesus Christ.He commands both groups. For infantry-men not to accept the cooperation of tanksis not only stupid, it is disobedience to theone commander of both tanks and infan-try. Our controversy is not with the othergroup—it is with Jesus Christ:

John said to him, “Teacher, we sawa man casting out demons in your

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name, and we forbade him becausehe was not following us.” But Jesussaid, “Do not forbid him; for no onewho does a mighty work in my namewill be able soon after to speak evilof me. For he that is not against us isfor us” (Mark 9:38-40, RSV ).

Our determining factor is the personJesus Christ. The man may not be with ourgroup and we may disapprove of his meth-ods. But if we agree with his loyalty to JesusChrist and with his message, we shouldcooperate.

Paul saw this very clearly when he wrote:

Some indeed preach Christ fromenvy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, know-ing that I am put here for the defenseof the gospel; the former proclaimChrist out of partisanship, not sincerelybut thinking to afflict me in my impris-onment. What then? Only that in ev-ery way, whether in pretense or intruth, Christ is proclaimed; and in thatI rejoice (Philippians 1:15-18, RSV ).

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The other fellow’s motives should not beour concern.

This is easy to say and to quote, but toenter into an openhearted willingness towork with someone from another camp isnot so easy. The problem is that we, as al-lied groups, are not close enough to the Su-preme Commander, the Lord Jesus Christ.The solution, then, is to spend more timewith Jesus Christ individually, in ourgroup, and with other groups. This timealone or together should not be spent inthinking or talking about distinctives ordifferences. Nor should it be spent in accu-sation or introspection.

We should spend our time with him inprayer, praise, worship, reading, study, andmeditation. When we listen to him, talk tohim, sing praise to him, and talk about him,we will come to know him better. We willbegin to realize more of his love and power,and to follow more closely his command-ments and purpose.

A new commandment I give toyou, that you love one another, evenas I have love you, that you also loveone another. By this all men will

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know that you are my disciples, ifyou have love for one another (John13:34-35, RSV ).

Questions1. Study 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 and 3:1-92.Do you have a loyalty to a person, a

doctrine, a group, or a name thathinders full cooperation with Chris-tians of other groups, doctrines, etc.?

3. If so, are you willing to admit that it issin?

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8

COMMUNICATION

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An Army marches on itsstomach.

Napoleon

When your words came, Iate them; they were my joyand my heart’s delight, for

I bear your name,O LORD God Almighty.

Jeremiah 15:16(NIV)

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Napoleon expressed the principle ofcommunication very well. He knew that afront line army without food and ammu-nition cannot fight or move, and invitesdefeat. Napoleon himself lost two armies,one because he neglected this principle, andthe other because the English severed hisline of communication.

The official definition of “lines of com-munication” is: “All the routes, land, wa-ter and air, which connect an operatingmilitary force with its base of operations,along which supplies and reinforcementsmove.” 1 Adequate supplies must continueto move along these routes until a cam-paign is over. If an army is in pursuit, itssupplies must move all the faster and far-ther. The principle of communications isviolated whenever an enemy is allowed tocut off supplies or when an army advancestoo far and too fast for adequate suppliesto keep up.

Napoleon was defeated on both counts.In the closing years of the eighteenth cen-tury he invaded Egypt. The French fleet inthe Mediterranean provided the lines ofcommunication. Militarily speaking, Egyptwas an easy conquest. But the English got

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word of this movement and Lord Nelsonwent after the French fleet. He found andsunk it near the mouth of the Nile, strand-ing Napoleon’s army in Egypt.

Years later, having conquered most ofEurope, Napoleon invaded Russia. In themiddle of winter he found he had disas-trously overextended his line of supply.Another army was lost through violationof the principle of communication. It is novictory to defeat the enemy tactically andthen freeze and starve to death.

In the fall and winter of 1950 the UnitedNations forces pursued their defeated en-emy up the Korean peninsula faster thanadequate food, winter clothing, ammuni-tion, or engineers could follow. The victo-rious army arrived at the Yalu Riverthinned out in supplies and unprepared forwinter. In this state they were caught bythe Chinese Communist Army, whichcrossed the Yalu River supplied and win-terized. The hitherto victorious army nowretreated to the 38th parallel. Great num-bers were overrun, surrounded, and cap-tured. Only the amphibious evacuation atHungnam saved most of a surroundedarmy. This principle of war may not be the

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most important, but it still must be prac-ticed. Without it victory is temporary, de-feat ultimate.

So it is in the war with Satan. Spiritualdefeat is the only reward for those whooverextend their lines of communication orallow them to be severed. We in the Armyof the Lord must maintain communicationwith our Commander-in-Chief. He is thesource of supply for spiritual food, ammu-nition, information, and orders. We havetwo-way communication with God: Prayerand the Word of God. Prayer is our meansof communication to him. Via prayer wemake our needs known; through interces-sion we ask help for cooperating forces. Byprayer we praise him for victories won andconfess our defeats.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we are told to“pray constantly” (RSV ). Spiritual commu-nication must not be broken. The enemyendeavors to cut our supply line by thesimple device of temptation. If we yield,sin results, and sin severs. The presence ofsin suppresses the desire to confess defeat.We do not praise God, thank him, or inter-cede for others. Confession is the onlymeans of restoring communication.

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God’s means of communication with usis the Word of God. Any other spiritualcommunication is subject to test by this au-thoritative standard. He first spoke to menthrough the prophets and later through hisSon and then through the apostles. We havethese communications in the Bible, com-prising all of our orders for the war withSatan.

But the Bible is more than that. It is ourcomplete source of supply. It is our spiri-tual food. Job said, “I have esteemed thewords of his mouth more than my neces-sary food” (Job 23:12). Jeremiah said, “Thywords were found, and I did eat them; andthy word was unto me the joy and rejoic-ing of mine heart: for I am called by thyname, O Lord God of hosts” (Jeremiah15:16).

The Word of God is our weapon:

For the word of God is living andactive, sharper than any two-edgedsword, piercing to the division of souland spirit, of joints and marrow, anddiscerning the thoughts and inten-tions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12, RSV).

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The Word of God is much more. By thismeans God develops faith, love, hope, andstrength in us. In his Book he sets the stan-dards of conduct. Through it he communi-cates his requirements of humility and ab-solute obedience, as well as many detailsand principles of the conduct of an armyat war. He sets the bounds of fellowshipamong those within the camp and thosewithout. As a weapon it is the most tellingand effective in setting captives free fromthe power of Satan.

You have been born anew, not ofperishable seed but of imperishable,through the living and abiding wordof God (1 Peter 1:23, RSV ).

Even this portion of our two-way line ofcommunication can be cut, and again it issin that severs. With unconfessed sin in hislife, the Christian has no desire to read,hear, study, or meditate upon the Word ofGod. He now neither communicates withGod nor receives from him. It may havebeen a minor sin that severed the lines ofcommunication; but once severed and notimmediately restored, he is set up for a

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decisive defeat by Satan.It is mandatory in the war with Satan that

we have daily communication with oursource of supply. We must receive dailyfrom the Lord via the Word enough for allof the day’s needs, and we must store upprovisions of the Word of God in our heartsand heads for any future time when wehave a prolonged engagement with Satan.

Daily time with the Lord is far more thanour line of communication for the battle.Fellowship with him is really our objective.We were created and redeemed to walkwith God. In fact, this is the reason whywe are engaged in war, so that others maybe brought into fellowship with him.

That which we have seen andheard declare we unto you [proclaimalso to you], that ye also may havefellowship with us: and truly our fel-lowship is with the Father, and withhis Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3).

In Korea it seemed more important toimplement the principle of war called pur-suit than to keep in touch with supplies.This would have been right if the Chinese

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Communists had not entered the war. Ourlines of communication can be overex-tended as well as cut. It may seem moreimportant to be out witnessing or attend-ing meetings than it is to spend time withour source of supply, the Lord Jesus Christ.Both witnessing and attending meetingsare legitimate means of combating the en-emy, but they cease to be effective whenwe run out of spiritual power. Scripture andsound military principle warn us that de-cisive defeat may be the end result. If weare fortunate, friends may be standing byto help us evacuate and keep us from de-feat.

In Luke 10:38-42 is a story that illustratesthis principle:

But Martha was distracted withmuch serving; and she went to him andsaid, “Lord, do you not care that mysister has left me to serve alone? Tellher then to help me.” But the Lord an-swered her, “Martha, Martha, you areanxious and troubled about manythings; one thing is needful. Mary haschosen the good portion, which shallnot be taken away from her.”

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Notice this: Martha was not far from theLord nor was he far from her. The line ofcommunication was short. Even though itwas short she had overextended herself.She had received nothing. She was too busyserving to receive. If we are too busy tospend time with the Lord, then we are toobusy.

We are never far from him. The SecondWorld War extended lines halfway aroundthe world. We have not such a problem indistance for he said, “I am with you alway”(Matthew 28:20). We can pray to him at anytime and place. We can receive from himthrough his Word all the supplies, strength,and wisdom needed for daily combat.

It is not the length of our lines of com-munication that is important—just the useof them!

Questions1. Study 1 Timothy 4:11-16.2.Do you have a time set aside daily to

spend with God in Bible readingand prayer?

3. Do you notice the difference in yourlife when you do not have this timewith God?

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4. Here are three booklets that might bea help to you in your quiet time:Quiet Time, InterVarsity Press;Manna in the Morning, StephenOlford, Moody Press; and SevenMinutes with God, NavPress.

5.Send for a free copy of:How to Read the New Testament in67 DaysCommunity Christian MinistriesBox 9754Moscow, ID 83843

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9

E C O N O M Y

O F N F O R C E

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The more the concentrationcan be compressed into one

act and one moment, themore perfect are its results.

Clausewitz

And the three companiesblew the trumpets, and brake

the pitchers, and held thelamps in their left hands, and

the trumpets in their righthands to blow withal: and

they cried, The sword of theLORD , and of Gideon. Andthey stood every man in hisplace round about the camp:

and all the host ran, andcried, and fled.

Judges 7:20-21

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Economy of force is efficiency in fight-ing, effectiveness in warfare. If our objec-tive is the annihilation of the enemy army,we will take the offensive at the decisivepoint. In order to do this effectively, thecombined application of all principles ofwar is necessary. This statement by Gen-eral Erfurth mentions or implies most ofthe principles of war:

To concentrate overwhelminglysuperior members at the decisivepoints is impossible without strate-gic surprise. The assembly of theshock-group must be done as quicklyas possible in such a way that all unitscan attack at one and the same time.

Each of the following principles, whenapplied separately, economizes force.When they are applied in unison, economyof force is achieved. Let us look at each prin-ciple in the light of economy of force, real-izing that all of them are interdependent:

1.Objective: The greatest incentive foreconomizing is to know where youare going and then go there.

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2.Offense: “Going” economizes forces. Ittakes less force to mount an offenseagainst one point than to defend allpoints.

3.Security: If the enemy does not knowwhat we are going to do, we can doit with less force. If he knows, he willthen be prepared and we may notbe able to do it at all, even withmuch greater force.

4.Surprise: This principle certainlyallows a commander to do the jobwith less force.

5.Mobility: Mobility economizes force byincreasing, in effect, the numbers ofmen and arms.

A leader who aims at mobilityshould not be afraid to strain histroops to the limit in order that theymay reach the battlefield in time.Many victories were made possibleby forced marches. Mobility equalsincrease in numbers (Erfurth).

6.Cooperation: When allied forcesadvance with a common objectiveand in unity, they can attain victory

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with fewer men than if they hadacted independently.

7.Concentration: This may seem to be,but is not, the opposite of economyof force. To use one’s force indriblets here and there may onlyresult in consistent defeat. But if weconcentrate at the decisive points,we are using economy of force.

There is such a thing as over-concentra-tion in places that are not decisive points.“Consequently, the fronts where no deci-sions are being sought should be mannedwith a minimum of force” (Erfurth). To con-centrate at nondecisive points violateseconomy of force. It is better to have one’sforce scattered in driblets at decisive pointsthan to have it concentrated at anondecisive point.

As we apply the various aspects of theprinciple of economy of force to the spiri-tual war in which we are engaged, we cansay that any concentration of Christianswhere there are few or no non-Christiansis an overconcentration at a point that isnot decisive. To have a concentration ofChristians where paganism is thick and

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rampant is compatible with the principlesof war.

Because Christians have a tendency toconcentrate at nondecisive points, it maybe difficult to get more than a few awayfrom places of mislocated concentration topoints where decisive battles are beingfought. The few may not be enough for ef-fective concentration, but their proper de-ployment is a step in the right direction, astep toward economy of force. Not to senda few to the decisive points would violateseveral principles of war. Economy of forceuses what is available to do the job.

When there are many decisive points andthe Christians are congregated away fromthe front, we ought to plead with God foreconomy of force:

And I sought for a man amongthem who should build up the walland stand in the breach before me forthe land, that I should not destroy it;but I found none (Ezekiel 22:30, RSV).

Concentration in a noncombatant area islegitimate for training, to receive power orto prepare to attack. If concentration re-

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mains after training has been accomplishedor if we dilly-dally around in the rear, wewill never be ready for war. This is a wasteof force!

The Lord Jesus Christ said to his dis-ciples:

“Thus it is written, that the Christshould suffer and on the third dayrise from the dead, and that repen-tance and forgiveness of sins shouldbe preached in his name to all nations,beginning from Jerusalem. You arewitnesses of these things. And be-hold, I send the promise of my Fa-ther upon you; but stay in the city,until you are clothed with powerfrom on high” (Luke 24:46-49, RSV ).

The primary objective was “all nations.”Jerusalem was the place where power wasto be received and from which the earlybelievers were to start after they had re-ceived the power. However, they stayed inJerusalem a prolonged period of time afterthe coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.Their failure to move out was disobedienceto orders. But God finally forced them to

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leave by allowing persecution. Concentra-tion in the wrong place is not economy offorce.

When these principles are combinedwith an offensive at a decisive point, weare practicing economy of force.

In biblical history the greatest exampleof these principles combined in one mili-tary battle is Gideon’s victory over thearmies of Midian and Amalek described inJudges 7 and 8. In his God-directed use ofeconomy of force, Gideon sent 31,700 menhome and won the battle with 300 men.

The much-needed application of thisprinciple is that we must send to the deci-sive points people who are willing andready to go. It may be that, as it was withGideon, 22,000 are afraid to go and another9,700 are not ready to go. Thus, perhapsonly 300 men are willing and ready to gowith the message of Jesus Christ.

It was not God’s plan to invite theMidianites and the Amalekites one and twoat a time to the Israelites’ home townswhere the 31,700 soldiers could take themcaptive. Nor is it his plan to invite non-Christians one and two at a time into anoverconcentration of Christians at a

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nondecisive point where the believerspreach the gospel at each other. It is God’splan to attack the decisive points with vic-tory in mind. There are so many places andso few willing to go that we must econo-mize our force.

Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, butthe laborers are few; pray therefore theLord of the harvest to send out laborers intohis harvest” (Luke 10:2, RSV ). This is im-perative. Jesus Christ tells us to pray thatGod would send workers. He commandsus to do it and tells us why. The harvest istoo much for the few reapers. Let us prayfor economy of force.

Questions1. Study Judges 7.2. Are you willing to obey God even if

the rest of the Christians are not will-ing?

3. Are you ready to obey God even if therest of the Christians are not ready?

4. Will you obey God even if you arealone?

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P U R S U I T

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Only pursuit of the beatenenemy gives the fruits of

victory. Clausewitz

Day after day, in the templecourts and from house to

house, they never stoppedteaching and proclaiming the

good news that Jesusis the Christ.

Acts 5:42(NIV)

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In his biography of Field Marshall Vis-count Allenby of Megiddo and Felixstow,General Sir Archibald Wavell, K.C.B.,C.M.G., M.C., gives a very clear picture ofthe problems of pursuit:

To the uninitiated, pursuit seemsthe easiest possible form of war. Tochase a flying, presumably demoral-ized enemy must be a simple matter,promising much gain at the expenseof some exertion and hardship, butlittle danger. Yet the successful or sus-tained pursuits of history have beenfew, the escapes from a lost battlemany. The reasons are partly mate-rial, but mainly moral. A force retreat-ing falls back on its depots and rein-forcements; unless it is overrun, it isgrowing stronger all the time, andthere are many expedients besidesfighting by which it can gain time:bridges or roads may be blown up,defiles blocked, supplies destroyed.The pursuer soon outruns his normalresources. He may possibly be ableto feed himself at the expense of hisenemies or of the countryside; he is

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not likely to replenish his ammuni-tion and warlike equipment in thesame way.

But the chief obstacle he has toovercome is psychological. The pur-sued has a greater incentive to hastethan the pursuer, and, unless he isdemoralized, a stronger urge to fight.It is only natural that the soldier whohas risked his life and spent his toilin winning a battle should desire re-laxation in safety as his meed of vic-tory, and that the general and staffshould feel a reaction from the strain.So that while coolness in disaster isthe supreme proof of a Commander’scourage, energy in pursuit is the sur-est test of his strength of will. Fewhave carried out pursuits with suchrelentless determination as Allenby in1917 and 1918.

The spiritual war for men is not muchdifferent. If the principles of war were ap-plied by a body of believers in any givenlocality, I believe there would be a greatspiritual victory. The battle would be wonand there would be many spiritual conver-

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sions to Jesus Christ.However, once a breakthrough for Christ

is achieved, we tend to relax, as though thefight were over.

Consider Gideon’s rout of theMidianites. In Judges 7 we find that, for thebattle, 300 men were all that were neededto make the breakthrough. But once thebattle was won and the Midianites werefleeing, Gideon called for the men he hadpreviously sent home; three of the fourtribes joined in the pursuit. He also calledout the tribe of Ephriam to cut off the flee-ing Midianites by seizing the fords of theJordan.

And Gideon came to the Jordanand passed over, he and the threehundred men who were with him,faint yet pursuing (Judges 8:4, RSV ).

The fact that 120,000 of the enemy werealready slain, that Gideon had won thebattle, and that he and his men were tiredand hungry, did not stop his pursuit. Bythis time only fifteen thousand of the en-emy remained:

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And Gideon went up by the caravanroute east of Nobah and Jogbehah, andattacked the army; for the army was offits guard. And Zebah and Zalmunna fled;and he pursued them and took the twokings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna,and he threw all of the army into a panic.Then Gideon... returned from the battle...(vv. 11-13, RSV).

In physical warfare, the fruits of victoryare conserved by pursuing the beaten en-emy. The victors cannot relax or just “fol-low up” the prisoners of war. The pursuitwill bring many more prisoners in a shorttime, but if it is delayed, another majorbattle will ensue. The defeated enemy willhave time to regroup its forces.

In spiritual warfare we must think be-yond the converts made in the immediatebattle. We must pursue the many non-Christians who are “fleeing” in convictionof sin, but who as yet have not surrenderedto Jesus Christ. In other words, we as Chris-tians ought to consider the principle ofpursuit to be as important as “follow up”of the new Christians after a spiritual break-through. The victory has prepared many

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people almost to receive Jesus Christ.Although it is very important to take care

of prisoners of war, it takes a minimum ofmen to take care of disarmed prisoners. Inspiritual warfare the prisoners are the con-verts to Jesus Christ. They are not only dis-armed, they are now on our side. It shouldtake fewer people to follow through on thenew converts than is needed to pursue thegreat numbers who have been defeated butwho have not yet surrendered to JesusChrist. Sometimes after a major spiritualvictory, follow up is not even attempted.Still worse is the failure to press the pur-suit of those who are running away fromJesus Christ.

The most effective way to pursue thebeaten enemy in physical war is to hit himfrom his unprotected flanks. If a direct pur-suit is carried out, the victors run into thedeadly sting of the rear guard and intomany roadblocks and blown bridges, andso the retreating enemy gets away. To avoidthese, the victors should travel a parallelpath, outrun and intercept the retreatingenemy. To continue direct pursuit after thebattle is won is to lose the retreating en-emy. In order to effect an interception in

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the pursuit, mobility is needed. If immedi-ate pursuit is undertaken, as many morecaptives as were taken in the battle can besecured.

Prior to the Megiddo battle in Septem-ber 1918, Allenby promised his cavalry30,000 prisoners of war. His staff thoughthe was presumptuous. In reality he endedwith 50,000 prisoners, having reduced theTurkish Seventh and Eighth armies to a fewcolumns.

Let us consider the “how” of spiritualpursuit. First, we must be convinced thatmany people are ready to receive Christand will receive him if they are cut off andconfronted with their sin and the Savior.When a man begins to run away, he is readyto be captured. This does not mean that hewill not put up a last desperate struggle orwill not continue to run. This is why it isimportant to cut off his retreat.

To outrun fleeing, convicted sinners,God-directed mobility is required. As inGideon’s case, it might take a small, well-disciplined, courageous group to make abreakthrough in the spiritual conflict forsouls. Once the breakthrough has beenmade and many have received Christ,

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many others will have been convicted ofsin, righteousness, and judgment and willbegin to flee. Then we need more than ourhard core of trained men. We need, likeGideon, all of the Christians who were notprepared for the battle but who are neces-sary in the pursuit. If we depend only onthe hard core of Christians who seek to fol-low hard after Christ, we will win manybattles, but there will be no complete rout.There will be successful evangelistic cam-paigns, but no awakening. If pursuit ispracticed, every successful evangelisticcampaign is a possible prelude to a gen-eral awakening.

If we study spiritual awakenings fromPentecost to the Welsh Revival of 1901 andthe Korean revival of 1905, we notice thebattle and the breakthrough centeredaround one man or a small group of men.This was only the start. After that, manyChristians witnessed and testified of sav-ing grace and more people were converted.Christians got right with the Lord and en-tered the chase. The whole church was inthe awakening. Evan Roberts was not re-sponsible for the 70,000 new Christians inWales; he was only the leader. God’s reviv-

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als may start with God-picked people. Butthey continue only if every Christian, weakor strong, joins in the pursuit.

It is the responsibility of the leader notonly to make the breakthrough in the battlewith his picked men, but also to call in allof the reserves for the rout. Our greatestmobility is in the quantity of Christianswho can testify of the saving grace of JesusChrist. At that time, every Christian shouldtestify to everyone he or she meets.

Another means of mobility in pursuit isliterature distribution—booklets, tracts,books, and Scripture portions—all of themon the judgment and love of God. The lit-erature may be offered without charge anddistributed at meetings, by the mass ofChristians, or by direct mail.

A third factor essential to effective pur-suit is the manner and content of our ap-peal. In preaching Christ to the people justprior to the breakthrough, it is possible tobe somewhat removed from one’s audi-ence. But in pursuit we must be clearlyidentified with the people. Let there becompassion and understanding in our ap-proach.

Furthermore, an ultimatum should be

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used in our message, citing the judgmentof God on the unrepentant. This is the onlyeffective means that will cause a fleeingman to surrender to Christ. Judgment is thereality he cannot escape if he persists infleeing from Christ and therefore it hasgreat force in causing a fugitive to stop inhis flight. Yet our warning should be givenin love and joy.

The church in Thessalonica witnessed totheir countrymen in the true sense of pur-suit. True, they were not established Chris-tians like those of Ephesus. They did nothave two years of Bible school with Paulas the teacher. They had heard the gospelonly three Sabbath days. Nevertheless, Paulwrites to them a few weeks later:

For from you sounded out theword of the Lord not only inMacedonia and Achaia, but also inevery place your faith to God-wardis spread abroad; so that we need notto speak any thing (1 Thessalonians1:8).

Will we follow their example?We must if we are to win!

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Questions1. Study Judges 8:1-21 and Acts 18:7-21

and Acts 19:8-20.2.When God gives you conversions, one

or many, do you want to rest?3. What determines whether you should

spend time in following up yourconverts or continue in agressiveevangelism?

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11

O B E D I E N C E

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If ye love me, keep mycommandments.

The Lord Jesus Christ,John 14:15

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“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice”(1 Samuel 15:22). King Saul had just won abattle of annihilation and now, because ofdisobedience, Samuel pronounces: “TheLord hath rejected thee from being king”(15:26). Those are hard lines with which tomeet a triumphant victorious king. It wasa hollow victory and an empty triumph.Saul had tried to improve upon the com-mandment of God. We do the same today,only in more subtle ways.

There are certain words that commandrespect. They speak of something held inhigh regard. Few people hold a negativeview of these words. One of them is volun-teer! The sound of the word may causeshivers to run through a person. The wordis used where ideals are at stake, wheredanger and death are the reward, wheresacrifice is necessary. It has the sound ofsomeone above the crowd—the exception;someone of a free will doing somethingwith the consequences clearly in mind. Theword occurs in time of war. It also appliesto the spiritual war, especially in the for-eign missions enterprise, as in the StudentVolunteer Movement of the early part ofthe twentieth century.

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In recent months I have been askinggroups of Christians a simple question:“Would you rather volunteer or would yourather obey?” With very few exceptions ev-ery group has responded overwhelminglyto volunteer.

The first time I asked this question wasat a junior-high Bible study group. Every-body wanted to volunteer. When askedwhy they would rather volunteer, the an-swer was clear. They got credit for volun-teering and no credit at all for doing whatthey were told. One boy added some fur-ther insight into the problem. He was think-ing about volunteering to clean the base-ment and was feeling rather fine about itwhen his mother cut his musing short withan order for him to clean the basement. Sheruined it all! Suddenly he did not want toclean the basement. This question wasprompted by the passage we were study-ing:

“Suppose one of you has a servantploughing or minding sheep. Whenhe comes back from the fields, willthe master say, ‘Come along at onceand sit down’? Will he not rather say,

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‘Prepare my supper, fasten your belt,and then wait on me while I have mymeal; you can have yours after-wards’? Is he grateful to the servantfor carrying out his orders? So withyou: when you have carried out allyour orders, you should say, ‘We areservants and deserve no credit; wehave only done our duty’” (Luke17:7-10, NEB ).

A word that occurs today with great fre-quency is the word challenge. Although itis not a synonym for volunteer, there is aclose relationship between these words. Ifchallenge is used as a synonym for encour-age or exhort, no harm is done. But theword in today’s vocabulary connotes theconcept of the defiant challenger flingingdown the gauntlet. This sort of challengeinvolves the application of subtle pressureson a man to attempt that which he previ-ously has been either unwilling or unableto do. Often we hear Christian speakersportraying the difficulties and hazards ofparticular tasks in such a way as to pro-voke in the minds of their hearers a humanpride that makes them eager to volunteer

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and do that which needs to be done.The dictionary definition of “challenge”

has a close resemblance to the word as weuse it today, with one exception. We chal-lenge our own team. According to Webster’sNew World Dictionary, and according to tra-dition and history, a challenge comes fromthe enemy, the adversary, the sentry, theopposition. A challenge does not come fromour team. It is defiance, a dare. Now withthis definition we see the challenge occur-ring in Scripture. It first occurred subtlychallenging God’s authority, when the ser-pent said to the woman, “You shall notsurely die.” Other examples are:

1.Satan’s challenge to God to let himhave access to Job in Job 1:9-11;2:4-5.

2.Goliath’s defiance of the armies ofIsrael in 1 Samuel 17:10.

3.Elijah’s challenge to the prophets ofBaal on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings18:21-27.

4.Rabshakeh’s famous challenge to thepeople on the wall to surrender in 2Kings 18:27-37.

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When the challenge comes from the en-emy, it may come as a threat, a lie, or apromise. In any case, it is an attempt to getus to respond on the enemy’s conditions.The very nature of challenge is to lay outconditions determined by the challengerthat the challenged must accept. If he iswise, the challenged will never respond toa challenge on the challenger’s conditions.

There is a wonderful example in the NewTestament of the enemy’s challenge and theproper response: Acts 4:17-31. The apostles’response was first according to God’s di-rective.

But Peter and John answered them:You yourselves judge which is rightin God’s sight, to obey you or to obeyGod. For we cannot stop speaking ofwhat we ourselves have seen andheard (vv. 19-20, TEV ).

They were then threatened again. Theapostles’ response to this second threaten-ing was to present this challenge from theenemy to the Lord.

And now, Lord, take notice of the

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threats they made and allow us, yourservants, to speak your message withall boldness . . . When they finishedpraying, the place where they weremeeting was shaken. They were allfilled with the Holy Spirit and beganto speak God’s message with bold-ness (vv. 29, 31, TEV ).

The apostles did not respond to the chal-lenge in the flesh. They obeyed God andgained his power to be obedient.

Obedience is a willing or an unwillingcarrying out of an order or a command.Most of our own experience from child-hood up has been of the unwilling kind ofobedience. This is one of the reasons “vol-unteer” has a better reputation than “obey.”In our experience volunteering alwaysmeans being willing. Obedience alwaysmeans to be unwilling. If, however, we hadknown something of willing obedience,then volunteering would be out completely.God does not ask for volunteers, nor doeshe challenge his own children. When Jesuscalled his disciples he did the choosing. Hesaid, “Follow me.” It was a simple impera-tive. There were also a great many volun-

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teers who followed Jesus. The volunteersdid not last. Perhaps you think that volun-teering is a greater expression of love thanobedience. What is your basis? Jesus said,“If you love me you will obey my com-mands, and the man who has received mycommands and obeys them—he it is wholoves me” (John 14:15, 21, NEB). He madesimple, absolute, and authoritative state-ments. These were not challenges seekingvolunteers, nor were they goals, landmarksto stretch our reach, to make us try harder.They were imperatives of an absolute na-ture. Not to obey them was sin. Every im-perative from God since has had an abso-luteness in its character that defies im-provement of the commandment or satis-faction if one falls short of the requirement.

In order to get men into the ArmedForces, the Armed Forces put out recruit-ing posters. “Be all that you can be,” “AimHigh,” “The few, the proud, the Marines.”These are challenges to appeal to the prideof men so that they will volunteer and jointhe Army. However, once the man volun-teers, the whole system changes. He is nolonger appealed to. He is commanded andhe obeys. The Army could not command

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him into the Army, so they used the chal-lenge in order to get him to volunteer. Oncehe is in, it is a different story. Enlisting inthe Army is the beginning of a command-obedience relationship. There is also anupper limit to this obedience, not as clearlydefined as the enlistment at the beginning.In fact, it is always defined after the fact.For instance, an Army captain calls for hisown position to be bombed with Napalmin order to destroy the enemy who has hiscompany outnumbered and is overrunninghis position. He receives the Silver Star andis recommended for the congressionalMedal of Honor for “danger above and be-yond the call of duty.” In the Army there isa beginning to obedience and there is aplace above and beyond obedience. Be-tween the lower limit and the upper limitthe relationship is command-obedience.

Is there a lower limit to obedience in ourrelationship with God? There may be alower limit in our ability to obey, but not alower limit in the requirement to obey. Thisability begins when we know Jesus Christ.In 1 John 2:3 we are told, “If we obey God’scommands, then we are sure that we knowhim” (TEV). But before we knew Jesus

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Christ, we were under the command ofGod. And 1 Timothy 1:9 says, “It must beremembered, of course, that laws are made,not for good people, but for lawbreakersand criminals, for the godless and sinful,for those who are not religious or spiritual,for men who kill their fathers or mothers”(TEV). Even our repentance into life wascommanded by God. In fact, it is a com-mand to all men. Here it is in Paul’s decla-ration at the University of Athens:

“God has overlooked the timeswhen men did not know, but now hecommands all men everywhere toturn away from their evil ways” (Acts17:30, TEV ).

No, God does not have a lower limit toobedience. He does not challenge us to vol-unteer for Christ. He commands all peopleeverywhere to repent.

Is there an upper limit to obedience inthe Christian life? Is there a “danger aboveand beyond the call of duty?” Can we vol-unteer beyond the highest command ofGod? What is the greatest command? Jesussaid:

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“and thou shalt love the Lord thyGod with all thy heart, and with allthy soul, and with all thy mind, andwith all thy strength: this is the firstcommandment (Mark 12:30).

Now look at it again and see if by volun-teering we can go beyond it. The superla-tives are all there. God requires all of eachof our faculties to love him. In Christianchurches today it is normal to hear chal-lenges to greater heights than ever before,but less of the commands.

Because the commandments of God areway beyond us—ideals that are not veryrealistic for the present—we make a gradedscale and challenge Christians to follow thegraded scale one step at a time. This is be-cause we do not believe God provides thepower and love and wisdom to obey hissuperlative commands as they are given.And since he does not provide, we decidewe will dispense with the obedience, whichis frustrating, and do it our way: challenge-volunteer. If we volunteer for less than thecommandment requires, we are disobedi-ent, even if we gain our objective.

There are many Christian works that are

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using the challenge today to get Christianssupposedly to obey God in everything fromBible reading to the Great Commission.They are using it because it seems to work.Christians are proud, too proud to obey.They will go to foreign mission fields be-cause of a challenge presented in a dynamicway describing the lostness of the people,the dangers, and the hardships, whereasthey will not go in obedience to a simplecommand given by Jesus Christ. A chal-lenge is an appeal to the pride, to humanego. The challenge is doubly wrong:

1.It puts people on the foreign field whoshould be there, but it gets themthere with a wrong motive.

2.It puts people there who should not bethere.

There are men who have gone to the fieldin response to a challenge only to find itwas obedience that could keep them there.

If we are not to challenge and we are notto volunteer and our only remembrance ofobedience has been reluctant, recalcitrantobedience, how do we get so that we will-ingly obey? It all has to do with our view

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of the Commander. Do we worship him,stand in awe of him, love him, fear him,long to be with him? Or are we buddy-buddy with him? Do we think it is a 50-50relationship? The latter is not love and willnever get instant obedience. All of our obe-dience will be qualified, and therefore dis-obedience.

Now the end of the commandmentis charity [love] out of a pure heart,and of a good conscience, and of faithunfeigned (1 Timothy 1:5).

If ye be willing and obedient, yeshall eat the good of the land (Isaiah1:19).

Questions1. Study Colossians 3:1-25.2. List the imperatives in this chapter.3. How many are there?4. Is there a means of obedience as well

as a requirement to obey?5. Make a personal decision about each

of these imperitives.

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N O T E S

Chapter One1.Although the word “objective” is also anadjective, it will be used as a noun in thisbook, meaning the “objective point” or“mission.”

Chapter Three1.Git—offensive; thar— objective; fustest—mobility; mostest —concentration.2. Chennault, Major General Claire. Way ofa Fighter. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons,1949, p. 11.

Chapter Four1. Under Admiral Halsey it was the ThirdFleet. When Admiral Spruance was in com-mand it was the Fifth Fleet.

Chapter Eight1. Dictionary of U.S. Military Terms, pub-lished by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, June 1948.

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Jim Wilson has combined military strat-egy with Christian living since he becamea Christian during his student days at theNaval Academy in Annapolis. Active in theU.S. Navy during the Korean War, he re-ceived every battle star for that conflict. In1956 he left the Navy and worked withOfficers Christian Union, a ministry to mili-tary personnel, in Washington and An-napolis. Now based in Idaho, Jim directsCommunity Christian Ministries, an orga-nization of evangelism and social concern.

Address any correspondence to:Jim WilsonCommunity Christian MinistriesP.O. Box 9754Moscow, Idaho 83843-0180