This Is Epic III: Christ's Warriors-The Church

 In the Lord of the Rings, a band of warriors were commissioned to protect Frodo on his quest to destroy the ring of power.  They were called the fellowship.  In France, a band of warriors were commissioned to protect the King.  They were called the Musketeers.  In the New Testament, a band of Warriors were commissioned to spread the gospel.  They were called the church.

Before Jesus returned to his Father, he gathered His followers and invited them to take part in His eternal mission:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.                     -Matthew 28:19-20

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.            -Mark 16:15

But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.                                                                                                                                                                                  -Acts 1:8

They had journeyed with their mighty Captain for three years.   They knew his teaching, they knew his passion, they knew Him, so they understood His final message clearly.  “I have set you free; go preach liberty to the captives.  I have opened your eyes; go give sight to the blind.  I have made you light; go push back the darkness.  I have given you power; go destroy the works of the evil one.”

Jesus left, but as He promised, He did not leave them alone.  He sent a Counselor and Guide, the ever- present Holy Spirit, who empowered them to carry out the gospel mission.  (We will discuss the Holy Spirit in depth in future posts!!!)

In just a short time, a movement began and spread like wildfire all across the world.  Led by the Spirit, the church preached, and captives were set free.  They performed miracles, and captives were set free.  They went on long journeys, and captives were set free.  They were persecuted, and captives were set free.  So much so, that the church was accused of turning the world upside down!!! (Acts 17:6)

 As the gospel spread, the church formed smaller clans.  Each clan, or “local church”, was a called out group of people who agreed to work together and took up the task of strategically spreading the gospel in their particular realm.  And the good news reached even more ears.

Jesus had promised his warriors, “…upon this rock (meaning Himself) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  -Matthew 16:18 (italics added)

Christ would indeed build His church, and hell could not defeat it.  But every word in the Word is important: “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Gates of Hell!  Interesting choice of words…especially gates.  Because gates are stationary.  Sure, they swing on a hinge, but they cannot progress or retreat.  They are fixed in a particular place.  You have never heard someone say, “Now where has that gate wandered off to?”
 

So what’s the point?  The early church understood that to accomplish the mission, to spread the gospel, to push back the darkness, they had to fight an offensive battle.  They had to keep moving forward.  No retreat!   No surrender!  And they stormed the gates of hell, fully armored, carrying the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit, the very Word of God.

But, oh, how the evil one hates the church!  Almost immediately, he set up a counter offensive.  And for 2000 years, he has expended every last ounce of his energy attacking the church, both from without and from within.   Throughout history, blatant, unadulterated attacks have been hurled at the church from a world that is still held under the enemy’s power.  Of course, that was to be expected.  Christ had warned his followers about this on several occasions. But the evil one has also employed secret agents, who have infiltrated the church to distract , divide, confuse, corrupt, and even redefine the church and the gospel.  This is one reason why Peter told the early church, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.”  -I Peter5:8

The enemy is on the prowl, and His mission is very clear, he wants to destroy Christ’s warriors, the church.  But don’t be lulled to sleep.  Don’t fall prey to His lies.  Don’t get distracted by lesser things.  Don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on this earth that will perish.  Don’t return to your prison cell.  Wake up!  Arm yourselves! Grab your sword and shield!  Attack!  Free the captives!  For you are the church, Christ is your Captain, and the gates of hell cannot stand against you!

THIS IS EPIC!!!

This Is Epic II: An Epic Quest

Because of his own folly, Mankind found himself in the most dire of circumstances.  In Eden, God had given Mankind everything he needed to be happy.  Beauty.   Companionship.  Purpose.  Freedom.   Provision.  Life.  Yet God also took an extraordinary risk by bestowing upon Mankind one more gift-the gift of choice.  A choice to obey God and enjoy these gifts forever or to disobey and lose everything.  Pretty simple choice, right.  God even made it easy.  There was only one thing that Man could not do-just don’t eat the fruit from this one tree.  I mean, how could Mankind mess this up?

And yet, somehow, Mankind did.  For the evil one, cunning and ever so subtle, convinced Mankind to doubt God and take of the forbidden fruit.  He ate it, and immediately knew that things would never be the same.  At that moment, as God had promised, all of creation began to die, including Mankind.  According to the Holy Book, the world fell under the power of the evil one.

   

And Mankind became a slave to sin, a slave with no hope of gaining freedom.  He could not buy his freedom; he had nothing of value.  He could not escape; his taskmaster was always present.  He could not earn his freedom; no amount of good work could cancel his debt.  He was bound by a chain of his own making.  And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.  

This was God’s judgment upon Mankind, for Mankind had disobeyed the commands of a holy, righteous King, who could have no fellowship with evil.  And yet, oh how God loved Mankind!  He was, after all, the pinnacle of God’s creation.  God had created him for His own pleasure, to enjoy forever. Now a great gulf stood between them. And so God gave a promise, that one day a Deliverer would come to redeem Mankind and restore that relationship between Mankind and God.

And in the fullness of time, God, the Father, sent His own Son, Jesus, into the world to free His people.  And as the story has been told for centuries and is forever captured in the Holy Book, the Bible, Jesus paid for Mankind’s freedom with His own blood, as He died on the cross for all of our sins.  He then rose again, destroying the power of the evil one, opening the prison doors that held Mankind captive, and providing the way for Mankind to once again have fellowship with God. 

After His resurrection, Jesus called His faithful followers, now free, to Him.  They had hoped that he would now set up His eternal Kingdom.  And yet He told them that the time was not yet.  Instead He was returning to the Father for a time, and though He did not know when He would return, He would indeed return.  But until then, He had an extraordinary mission for these brave warriors.  He told them that they must go and proclaim the good news to the world, to preach the gospel to every creature. The world needed to know that freedom was now available to all, for many were now sitting in prisons with doors wide open. And yet, they could not see it because they were blinded by the evil one. They were to push back the frontiers of darkness with the glorious light of the gospel, thus allowing those in darkness to embrace the freedom that is so graciously given.

 Jesus had previously warned His warriors that their quest would be perilous.  They would be misunderstood, hated, persecuted, possibly even killed.  They were now beginning to understand the gravity of His words.  However, he had also promised that great honor and reward awaited those who do not falter.  Furthermore, He had told them that the gates of hell could not prevail against them, for He was their Captain.  And he bestowed upon this noble band a name, a name that would set them apart as the army of the living God.  He called them “the church.”

THIS IS EPIC!!!

This is Epic: Once upon a time...

Once upon a time...

 

 There lived a great and mighty king who had dominion over all.  And by all, I mean everything.  There was nothing this king could not do, nowhere his arm could not reach.  And he was also very good.  I mean “good” in the truest sense of the word.  He was pure of heart, true, fair, just, unspoiled.  He was absolutely untouched by evil.  The king possessed love for and expressed kindness to all that belonged to him.

The King had a particular affection for a young man and his beautiful bride.  The king bestowed upon them the authority to rule over one of the choicest realms of the kingdom. His only command was that they always obey Him.  He warned them that great tragedy would come if they ever disobeyed His voice.

The King would often come to visit with the couple, just to spend time with them.  O how he loved them!  And they enjoyed the visits as well.  They were honored and humbled that such a mighty King would concern himself with their affairs.  The king was lavish his gifts to the couple, and they grew to love Him more and more.  The land flourished, and there was great peace throughout the entire realm.

Unfortunately, this peace was short-lived.  For the king’s enemy set a trap for the couple.  Oh, the King’s enemy was loathsome.  He had, at one time, banqueted at the King’s table as a dear friend and servant to the King.  Yet, his prideful heart desired more. He wanted to be honored and adored like the King, so he tried to take the King’s throne, a quest that quickly proved futile.  He was defeated easily by the King and was banished.

Now an outcast, this dark wizard set out to destroy all that the king loved.  He now realized that he was no match to the King’s power, but he was crafty and subtle.  He deceived the couple with His wily tongue, and they disobeyed one of the King’s commands.  At that moment, they fell under the evil one’s power, becoming his slaves.  And not only the couple, but their children, and their children’s children, and all future generations to be born in their line.

The King was brokenhearted, but He had given them fair warning.  They had chosen to disobey him, and now must face the consequences.  Yet, the King still loved them and longed to help them, so he gave a prophecy that one day, a deliverer would come to restore freedom to this race of men and women.

As the years passed, many great men and women performed noble deeds and acts of honor in the name of the King.  Yet, none of them had the power to deliver, for they, too, were bound by the consequences of the couple’s disobedience.  Still, somehow each one was a shadow, a reminder of the prophecy that one day a deliverer would come.  And so the people waited, hoped, and watched.

Finally, in the fullness of time, the King himself provided the hero for whom the realm had long awaited.  For he sent his very son, the Prince, to rescue his people from the wicked clutches of the enemy.  For, the son was worthy, not having been corrupted by the evil one.

Immediately, the enemy made plans to destroy the prince.  First, he tried to stop the Prince from entering the realm, and that failed.  He then set a trap to kill the Prince.  That failed, as well.  Next, he tried to corrupt the prince through trickery. Another failure.  All the while, the prince’s fame grew throughout the land.  People began to hope against hope that this might indeed be the One spoken of in the prophecy. 

But the dark wizard would not give up, and his persistence finally paid off.  He cast a spell on some prominent men of influence, including one of the Prince’s closest companions.  These men had the prince, arrested, tried, and executed.  And the evil one laughed and celebrated, for the King had sent his best, and his best had failed, or so the wizard thought.

For, something amazing happened.  The prince came back to life!!!  Three days after He died, He rose again.  You see, this had been the plan of the King and the Prince all along.  The guiltless son broke the evil one’s power by sacrificing himself for the sins of the people.  By rising again, he showed that His power was greater than sin or death. He also proved the he was indeed the deliverer of the human race.  The Prince could now offer freedom to anyone who would accept it.

 

At this moment, the wizard knew that he was defeated, and yet there were many who did not know what the Prince had done. A new idea was forming in His mind.  If he could keep them from hearing or believing this good news, he just might be able to keep them under his power for a while longer, and ultimately seal their destruction.

 

The Prince had to return to the King, but before leaving, he gave a promise, that one day, he would return, deliver the final blow to the evil one, and set up a kingdom without end.  Knowing the scheme of the enemy, He also told those whom he had set free that they must seek out those who do not know about this freedom.  They must help deliver from bondage as many as they can, for only those who have been set free can join the Prince in the eternal kingdom.

 

The prince left his followers, and they anxiously await his return.  In the meantime, many of them have answered the call to help free those who are still held captive by the evil one.  It is nothing short of brutal warfare, but the faithful know the dark wizard is no match for the mighty Prince who called them to be his warriors in the cause of freedom.

 

Now isn’t that an awesome story?  It is a beautiful story.  It is a true story.  It is our story.

 

THIS IS EPIC!!!