Eugene Peterson says that the vision has two functions. One is to train our perceptions so that we will never again overlook the nature of spiritual conflict and the reality of evil. The second function is to raise our adrenaline level so that we bring our energetic best to the high spiritual drama that we participate in every day. We are motivated to join the armies of heaven. We cannot be naïve about the enemy of our souls and think that we can take him lightly.

We do not live in a benign or neutral world. There is a malign opposition, an evil will at work to deceive and destroy us. Salvation attacks an enemy. “Our salvation is a drama played out with the devil, a devil who is not simply generalized evil, but an evil intelligence determined on its own supremacy.” (Flannery O’Connor, Mysteries and Manners, p.168) When Jesus taught us to pray, “Deliver us from evil,” he was arming us for a life of salvation. St. Paul, preaching salvation, did not organize ethical societies around the Mediterranean basin; he fought battles and developed an extensive vocabulary to name the evil opposition: powers (Rom.8:38), rulers (1 Cor.2:8), thrones (Col.1:16), dominions (Eph.1:21). He didn’t seem to be in the least bit intimidated by these ominous forces. He was always working from a stance of accomplished victory, since Jesus on the cross “disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him” (Col.2:15). There is apparently, nothing to fear in the act of fighting. Danger here is all in the not-fighting. The safest place is on the battlefield, for it is there that Christ is active, riding the white horse. (Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder, p.160)

This is not an end-of-the world war. It is happening now, and it manifests itself in human history. What occurs in the wars between nations is the secular equivalent of the war of Christ on evil. The historical battles of Israel described in the Old Testament depict God working out his salvation. Doris Lessing observed those who have the habit of dismissing great tracts of the Bible because “Jehovah does not think or behave like a social worker.”

The fact is that salvation is war. Moses led his people into battle against the Amalekites, Joshua led his people into battle against the Philistines. Jesus leads his people into battle against the dragon and the two beasts, every malign force that diminished our lives and damns our souls. Every day of our lives we face Sisera and Jezebel… Salvation wins back the territory lost to the invasion of evil, and restores the country to the believing, enduring, and worshiping people of God. (Peterson, op.cit. p.162)

At the same time, this war of Jesus and the armies of heaven, is different from earthly warfare. There is only one weapon. “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword, with which to strike down the nations…. They were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse.” (Rev.19:15,21)

This is a war of words – a war of Truth versus Falsehood – a war of good news versus propaganda – a war of divine knowledge versus ignorance – a war against delusion and deception. Our weapon is the Word of God, the Word of the Gospel. “Though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (2 Cor.10:3-5)

In modern times words have become our weapons because they communicate what we mean and what we believe. In totalitarian regimes censorship and propaganda have tried to control freedom of speech. In academic circles postmodern deconstructionists have devalued words and their meaning to make it impossible to express an absolute truth. The enemy has attacked communication of truth by making all language a manifestation of personal opinion in which everything is relative and one’s person’s belief is as good as another.

Yet again, political correctness has made it almost impossible to disagree on important subjects without being vilified. By denying that language has any metaphysical component and that there are no divine commands the secular pundits have evacuated our culture of any compelling moral or spiritual authority. We are at sea in our families and schools and public discourse without the Word of God that issues from the mouth of Jesus. The armies of heaven are called to put on the full armor of God, to take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (Eph.6:11, 17).

The Bible warns us that we should not expect it to be easy to be a follower of Jesus. There will be conflict. If we are followers of Jesus and soldiers of the armies of heaven there will be battles to fight for the kingdom of heaven.

Am I a soldier of the cross? A foll’wer of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause or blush to speak His name?

Must I be carried to the skies on flow’ry beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace, to help me on to God?

Sure I must fight if I would reign – increase my courage, Lord!
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word.
(Isaac Watts)

The world we live in every day is a world at war with God. There are attempts every day to belittle the eternal, to scoff at the supernatural, to discourage the faithful and to diminish Christ. The picture St. John gives us of Jesus the Conquering Warrior and the defeat of evil serves as a wake-up call to what is going on and what are the stakes. War gives purpose to existence. Each of us matters. We are created and saved to bring glory to God. The glory is to be found in fighting for the Faithful and the True. Every word we say, every witness we bear, has an effect on the battle. We are either on the side of the armies of heaven, or on the side of the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. We are called to enlist in the armies of the living God, the kingdom of heaven.

Cecil Spring Rice wrote this poem as a reminder of our connection with the heavenly country.

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

(Ted’s blog is found at www.ameliachapel.com/blog. His books are found on www.amazon.com. SOUL FOOD: DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR THE HUNGRY, Vol.2, April, May, June is now available.)