Turn to Ezekiel 37. I know we
were in this 37th chapter not long ago, There was something else I saw
in this passage that we looked at that I haven't been able to
get off of my mind. And I'll read again for you,
and you can read with me that 10th verse of Ezekiel 37. So I prophesied as he commanded
me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood
upon their feet an exceeding great army." Now that tenth verse is simply
the prophet saying what God commanded him to do, and saying also what happened. It says they lived and they stood
upon their feet. And I believe that we have here
a two-fold picture of our resurrection with Christ. In Ephesians chapter
2, it says that we were quickened together with Christ. We were raised up from the dead
in Him when He raised from the dead. And the other picture is
a picture of regeneration where He brings us By the new birth,
by the work of God's Spirit, He brings us from death to life. He raises us up and does so spiritually. But what I want you to note tonight
is what about what is said about those that are raised to life. They were raised to be and raised
as an exceeding great army. They weren't just raised up from
the dead. They weren't just given life. They weren't just enabled to
stand upon their feet. but they were accounted by the
Spirit of God an exceeding great army. And I thought about it especially
in the present day, in the present hour and situation that is in
this world that is just the opposite of the way that the world views
the people of God, the true people of God. They rather view them as absolutely
weak, anything but an army, unable to do, unwilling to do, But here they are said to be
an exceeding great army. And I don't believe that this
greatness lies in the greatness of their number. The Lord said
that they are fewer than any people. Few there be that be
chosen. Straight is the gate, narrow
is the way, few there be that find it. Little flock. They can't
be, just like the pictures of them are all through the Old
Testament, they can't be a large number. So their greatness doesn't
lie in their numbers, and their greatness does not lie in their
personal strength and skill. Humanly speaking, they are as
weak as anybody else in the world. They are just like they were
before they were saved in themselves without strength. But the greatness of this army,
I believe, lies in their captain. lies in the captain of the Lord's
host. Turn with me over to Joshua,
first of all, if you would. Because when Joshua was in the
midst of the battle, and he was fighting with that number that
was less than the host before him, he saw a man. And so when you read in Joshua
chapter 5 and verse 13, it says, and it came to pass when Joshua
was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes, and looked, and
behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn
in his hand, and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him,
Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? Now Joshua was no slight of a
soldier himself, but there was something about this man that
brought him to his attention so that he was wanting to know
whose side he was on. And he said, nay. Always like that. And he said,
nay. That's not what Joshua asked
him. He said, whose side are you on? Theirs or ours? He said, nay. But as captain of the host of
the Lord, am I now come. He's the captain of the Lord's
host. What does that word host mean? It means army. It means that
which goes forth. It means an organized campaign. that goes forth. He's the Lord
of hosts. He's the captain of the host
of the Lord. And Joshua fell on his face to
the earth and did worship and said unto him, what saith my
Lord unto his servant? You know who this had to be.
I believe it was the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. Because he
received Joshua's worship. And every other time in scripture,
when you read about one coming before the Lord, such as, I mean,
coming before a man such as Paul or any of the other disciples,
they always said, no, don't, even angels said, no, don't worship
us. But this man allowed worship. And Joshua addresses him, what
sayeth my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. that kind of makes us know what
makes a holy place and what's not a holy place. A holy place
is wherever the Lord Jesus Christ dwells. And wherever he isn't,
that's not a holy place. I don't care what men say. But
here he stands in the midst of this conflict as the captain
of the Lord's host. Look over in Hebrews chapter
2. In Hebrews chapter 2, We read
about one who is most undoubtedly the Lord Jesus Christ. And in
Hebrews 2 verse 9, it says this, but we see Jesus who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor. that he, by the grace of God,
should taste death for every." And that's where it ends right
there. Whoever this every or all is,
they are mentioned in this text. They are called his children,
his brethren. But it says in verse 10, for
it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things
in bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their
salvation. Perfect through sufferings. In other words, he is not only
appointed the captain of their salvation, but that he showed
also by his sufferings and death that he actually accomplished
it. He actually did it. So these
are a great army, an exceeding great army, because of their
captain, because of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the people
of God are not only called the elect, they're not only called
the church and the bride and how many other names we don't
know in the scriptures, but they're called an exceeding great army. And when they come, born of God's
Spirit, when they come, it says that they stand on their feet. They're not just sitting around
idle. They're not helpless. They're
not unable to stand. They're not weak in this spiritual
sense, but they are standing. because their sending is in Christ
Jesus. And I thought about it, how many
times in the Bible are we admonished in the New Testament to stand? God's people stand. In Romans 5, Paul says, by whom
also We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. In other words, we stand because
we have a standing in Christ by grace. And he says, and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God. Then he says this in 1 Corinthians
2 and verse 5, that your faith should not stand, should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. We stand by faith. We walk by
faith, we live by faith, but we stand in hope of the glory
of God. We stand not in the wisdom of
men, but in the power of God. Then he says this in 1 Corinthians
15. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have
received, and wherein you stand." You're standing in the gospel.
You're not moved away from the gospel, not moved away from the
hope of the gospel. You're standing in the gospel. Then he says in Philippians 1,
only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of
Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I
may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit. I don't believe the Holy Spirit
leads one of God's people one way and the other one of God's
people another way, separate from the Word of God. He said, stand in one spirit
with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Now they not only stand in the
gospel, they stand in one spirit, in one mind, striving for the
faith of the gospel. That's the gospel itself. They
contend for the faith that was once delivered. Then he says
in Philippians 4, therefore my brethren, dearly beloved and
longed for, My joy and my crown so stand fast in the Lord, my
dearly beloved." They stand in Christ. And they stand and they
hold fast. They stand because God gives
them grace. They stand in Christ. They don't
ever leave Christ. 1 Thessalonians 3.8, for now we
live if you stand fast in the Lord. In 2 Thessalonians 2, therefore,
brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have
been taught, whether by word or by our epistle. They like
the church that's spoken of in Acts. It says they continued
steadfast in the apostles' doctrine. And that's what we have. We have
the apostles' doctrine. The Apostles' Doctrine and the
Doctrine of Jesus Christ. And then in 1 Peter chapter 5,
it says, By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose
I have written briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the
true grace of God wherein you stand. Even in Paul's day, or Peter's
day, The gospel had to be distinguished by this, true grace. We say sovereign grace. We say free grace. If we knew what grace is in the
Bible before this world, we'd never have to make those distinctions
because that grace is the grace of God, the grace of God in Christ,
the grace of God which is sovereign grace, the grace of God which
is redundantly saying free grace. And then I thought about Galatians
5. where Paul says, stand fast. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Stand fast in that liberty that's
in Christ. Stand fast and don't be bound
by the law. Don't be bound by principles
of doing. Don't be bound by men's rules
and men's opinion and all the... Stand fast in the liberty of
the Lord Jesus Christ wherein he hath made us free. And being raised in Christ, and
being born of God's Spirit, we find ourselves now engaged in
a constant warfare. There's a reason here that he
says they're an army. Because we're engaged in battle
after battle. We're engaged in this constant
warfare. First of all, there is a conflict
in us between the flesh and the Spirit of God. Paul said it like
this in Romans 7, but I see another law in my members, warring against
the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members. I'm always in a conflict, always
in a battle between what I know and believe to be the truth of
God and what I can perform in the flesh. What I do in the flesh. What I would do, I don't do.
What I wouldn't do, that's what I do. Always a conflict that's
going on, a warfare between our flesh and the Spirit of God. And also, there's always a conflict
and a battle and a warfare going on with Satan himself. Peter said, be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about
seeking whom he may devour. We're told in one place in scripture,
but you are not ignorant of Satan's devices. I'm afraid we are. We get tricked. We get deceived over and over
again in the same areas by the same things. There's always a
battle. And then there's always that
conflict between the world, between us and the world. Christ said,
you are not of this world. He said, I pray not for the world, but I pray for them that the
Father has given me out of the world. So John writes in 1 John, he
says, and we know that we are of God. Chosen of God, born of God, redeemed
of God. We know that we're of God. And
the whole world lies in wickedness. The whole world. And I'm afraid that this picture,
this rosy picture of Christianity that preachers today preach,
it absolutely is not true. There are some who say that God's
going to save his people from going through the great tribulations. But what the Bible says is that
is what his people are cast into by the Lord. In the world ye
shall have tribulation. And unless I miss my guess, the
tribulation, the trial that we're in at the present time that lays
heavy on us is the greatest tribulation. You look back over the history
of God's people. You see them tortured, slain,
torn asunder. You see them dealt with harshly
and such as that. Someone mentioned to me Pilgrim's
Progress. You see Bunyan there in the prison,
blinded, writing. Such a treasure as that book
is. Everywhere there's tribulation. And so Paul writes to Timothy
in 2 Timothy chapter 2, and he says this, look at this, 2 Timothy
chapter 2, he's talking to Timothy personally and to all God's people. He says, thou therefore, my son,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Now, that's
not just telling us to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and get
some grit. He says, be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast
heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men who shall be able to teach others also. Thou, therefore, endure hardness. Now, I don't know all that means.
I think I know a little something about it means. It means that
while we preach and witness to the gospel to those around us,
to those that God has given us opportunity to, we'll have to
do it in the midst of enduring hard things, difficulties. Thou therefore endure. As I hate to say that, that sounds
like they're going to go on for a while, don't it? I asked Brother
Mahan one time, I said, when does this business of preaching
and pastoring and all that stuff and being a believer, when does
it get any easier? He said, it doesn't. It doesn't. Endure hardness as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth entangleth
himself with the affairs of this life. That's so easy to do. As a matter
of fact, that's what most people in our day call life. But he says don't get entangled. When you get entangled in something,
a rope or whatever it is, you can't do what you want to do.
You can't function like you ought to do. And we have this witness
that we're to bear before all men. So he says, don't be entangled
with the affairs of this world, the concerns of this world, the
glory of this world, the passing things of this world. Don't be
entangled in them, but endure hardness. as a good soldier,
that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." We do what we do as soldiers
of Christ, not to please the world, not to please men, not
to please ourselves, but to please the one who put us in his army. About every history you read
of the armies that had been raised by men, just about every one
of them came through a time or was always in the time when they
were deprived, when they weren't treated fairly, when they weren't
provided for by their generals and their leaders and all that.
That's not ever going to happen to these soldiers. He's chosen them to an inheritance,
uncorruptible, undefiled, that reserved in heaven for them. He's chosen them to blessing. He's chosen them to grace and
just the hardness that they endure in the world. Paul said that
the glory that is to be revealed is not worthy to be compared
to the sufferings that they have. And we must be careful. We must
be careful to remember that this warfare is not fought in our
own strength and our own wisdom and our own skill. Look over in 2 Corinthians chapter
10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. He says in verse 3, For though
we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. We still live in this flesh,
walk in this flesh, are in this flesh, humanly speaking, but
we do not engage in this warfare according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, they are not natural, but mighty through God
to the pulling down of strongholds." In other words, this army goes
forth to pull down strongholds. but not strongholds like Jericho,
not strongholds like the Berlin Wall, not strongholds like Afghanistan
or such as that. But in the mind, look at this,
casting down imaginations, That's what we imagine nature.
That's idolatry because that's where images always are formed,
is in the mind. And whether they get in stone
or wood or not, or whether they're just false images about God. casting down imaginations and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ. Now, what does that mean? Every thought to our obeying
Christ? That's what it is. It's surely,
surely fail, haven't we? No, it's the obedience of Christ. Our thoughts are always naturally
our obedience and our doing and our work and what we are and
everything. But in the gospel, the Spirit of God, the grace
of God, brings our minds to be subject to His obedience, His
obedience unto death, the death of the cross. Well, if we have such as this, We have this enlistment. We have this weakness. Our weaponry
and our warfare is not like the flesh. We're engaged in this
battle for the mind, this battle for the heart and soul of men,
casting down every imagination, What kind of weaponry do we have?
Well, turn over to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse
10. As Paul closes out this epistle,
he says in verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord and in the power of His might. It's always His strength. It's always His might. It's always
what we are in Christ, what we do in Christ. But listen to this. Put on the whole armor of God. You'll find this armor, these
weapons, are both defensive and offensive. We withstand, defend with these,
and we launch out and we fight with these. Put on the whole armor of God
that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. I always remember, I believe
it's Pilgrim when he's a at the wicked gate and the heirs
of the devil, the darts of the devil are flying at him and he's
always, he's pictured as being able to ward them off with the
shield. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood. If you can defeat a person, you
can defeat them physically, you can restrain them, you can do
all these things. But his mind is still in rebellion
against God. He says, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places, unseen, in the
mind, all these powers and principalities and such. He says, Wherefore,
taken to you the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Here they are again, standing. Stand therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth. It's pictured as the basic garment,
the basic garment of this uniform, of this dressing of the battle
is the truth. Wear the truth. Think of the
truth. Let it be your basic, the truth
as it is in Christ Jesus. And he says, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness. You remember the priest wore
that golden breastplate? On it was 12 stones representing
the 12 tribes of Israel. That's Christ. Christ and his
love and sacrifice for his people. He said, put on the blessed braid
of righteousness. Well, the only righteousness
there is, is his. The only righteousness there
is, is his. And he says, and your feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Now, why would you want your
feet shot? I believe that's so that everywhere you walk, you
leave a track. And I don't mean T-R-A-C-T. I
mean T-R-A-C-K. you leave a gospel track. Everyone
you talk to, every opportunity that you get in this world, you
face all these that are in opposition naturally to the gospel, but
you leave your tracks everywhere you go. Above all, taking the shield
of faith, Why do you need a shield? Because
the darts and the spears and the arrows that's coming at you.
The shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked. They're gonna throw all this
untruth, all these opinions, all these rejections, all these
bitter actions, all these denials, all these opposite reasonings. He says, take with you the shield
of faith. And take the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation. Salvation
in Christ. And the sword of the Spirit. I told you it was going to be
offensive too. The sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. I don't know how many times I've
stood up here and other places and tried to preach the word, and
this would come to my mind, that this that we're wielding is the
sword of the spirit. He takes it. He pierces the heart. He penetrates. He divides the
marrow, as it says. He's the one that separates and
can penetrate and do that spiritual surgery of the soul. Praying always. Praying always. With all prayer
and supplication in the spirit. Praying always. And watching. There unto with
all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Pray for your fellow soldiers.
They're in the same fight you are. Maybe different, maybe on
a different front, but they're all in a battle. I know we have
a tendency to think, well, my problems are the worst, my difficulties,
my opposition. No. in all perseverance and supplication
for all the saints. Always be there for them and
always be begging and pleading the Lord on their behalf. Then I'll say this in closing.
This army always triumphs. The church militant is always
the church triumphant through Jesus Christ who gives us the
victory. All you have to do is turn to
the last book in the Bible and it says we win because he wins. when this army, when the bride
is so warmly spoken of in the Song of Solomon. She's described, who is she that
looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the
sun? Oh, she's a perfect, beautiful
lady. Then in the same statement it
says, and terrible as an army with banners. Joel said in his prophecy, and
the Lord shall utter his voice before his army. That's enough. He'll utter His voice, sound
His gospel, declare His decrees. He'll do it all by speaking. For His camp is very great, and
He is strong that executeth His word. For the day of the Lord
is great and very terrible, and who can abide it? Nobody in that
final day will stand before Him, and nobody that stands against
the truth can stand before Him, and nobody that He intends to
save can stand before Him. So Paul sends these words, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, Quit,
you like men, be strong. Be strong. An army, an exceeding
great army. And it'll be greater than any
army because when God says it's an exceeding great army, it's
an exceeding great army. So we ought not to be intimidated. We ought not to be fearful. with
all that goes on in the world, and because it's against God,
it's against us, we'll be victorious. Always victorious. Paul said he makes us always
to triumph. Our Father, tonight we pray in
thy name that you would take these few words and encourage
the hearts of your people Give them grace to endure hardness
as a good soldier, to keep themselves untangled from this mess of this
world, the affairs of this life, to be strong, to put on the whole
armor of God, to remember what we war against. Say everything
that is against you and against your Christ and against the truth,
against the gospel. And to know that even though
there's a constant onslaught, charge after charge, we will
be victorious in our captain, the captain of our salvation,
the captain of the host of the Lord. And we pray in him and
ask all things in his name. Amen.