The apostolic is not just a movement. It’s a
lifestyle. Apostolic living means fighting the good fight of faith
day in and day out as we co-labor with Christ to build His Church.
Some have asked, “Do I have to fight to be apostolic?” Yes, because
the apostolic concept of ministry is to invade and occupy. But Jesus
assured us that the gates of hell would not prevail. (That means we
win. And when we win we get the spoils!) The real question, then,
becomes how to win the day-to-day battles. The short answer is
submission, faith, fervent prayer and endurance.
Fighting to win demands submission to God and resisting the devil.
James, the Apostle of Practical Faith, assures us that this will
cause the devil to flee every time. Fighting can be as simple as
walking by faith and not by sight. James also tells us that the
effective fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much.
Faith-filled, passionate prayers have a militant sound full of
confidence in the Lord Himself as our Victory Banner.
Many have told me that they often feel a spiritual resistance when
they pray. “What then?” you ask. Meet the resistance with even more
fervency. That resistance will build strength in your inner man as
you press in, contend, resist and fight. The Apostle Paul didn’t
teach his flagship church at Ephesus principles of spiritual warfare
for nothing. He knew then how intense would be the wrestling match
with principalities and powers. Apostolic people today quickly learn
that it takes a unified body of believers to influence a territory.
So if you feel oppressed of the enemy, then run for cover. Enlist a
fellow solider in God’s army to pray with you. One can put a
thousand to flight, but two can put 10,000 to flight.
We cannot afford to ignore the spiritual opposition in our daily
lives. We must be battle ready so that we do not grow weary in well
doing, knowing that in due season we will reap if we faint not.
Still, in the heat of the day-to-day battle we sometimes do begin to
feel weary. Could that weariness be the direct result of a spiritual
resistance to our faith? Weariness is most often experienced long
after the first prayer was ever released. In fact, it is toward the
end of standing in faith and just before the victory is won that the
spiritual resistance is most intense. You get the spoils when you
outlast the enemy.
Outlasting the enemy means fighting the good fight of faith.
Apostolic believers, or any Christian for that matter, can’t do
anything for God without facing spiritual opposition to faith. Look
at Nehemiah, an apostolic man to whom God gave a vision to do
something great. When he stepped out in faith to carry out the
vision he suffered persecution and opposition. But he didn’t give
up. Day in and day out, he fought, believed, pressed through,
endured – and successfully rebuilt the wall. Apostolic believers
today must follow in the footsteps of Nehemiah if we are to build
Jesus’ Church.
So often apostolic believers get accused of being too fervent, too
bold, too militant, too everything except lukewarm. The truth is
that we are in a spiritual war and Satan is not going to give up the
lost souls of the world without a fight. When we wage war against
our spiritual opposition through believing God and doing what He
says, when He says and how He says, we will always win the fight.
Paul told his spiritual son Timothy to endure as a good soldier of
the Lord Jesus Christ and we would do well to take that same advice
today. Be encouraged. The Word of God declares that no weapon formed
against you can prosper. Yes, there are times when we feel weary.
There are times when we wish the mountain would disappear without
any effort on our part. There are times when we may ask ourselves
why we have to fight so hard to be apostolic. When that question
arises in your heart, remember what Jesus told His disciples: “Speak
to the mountain and it will move.” When trouble comes your way, will
the mountain move your faith or will your faith move the mountain?
Yes, we have to fight the good fight of faith. Yes, there will be
tribulation in the process. But Jesus, our Chief Apostle, exhorts us
to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. We, too, are
victorious overcomers in Him. The Apostle John said it like this,
“This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1
John 5:4).
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