On February the 16th, 1995 I was given a dream in which I saw a great army from hell that had been released against the church. Two days later I was given a vision in which I saw this diabolical horde again, but in much greater detail. This is an abbreviated version of the first part of that vision. The second part will appear in the next edition of The Morning Star Journal.

With the recent passage of the “hate crimes” bill in Congress, the persecution of the church in America by its government has begun. We can expect it to begin slowly, but we need to prepare for an onslaught because it is coming. 

Last week we began addressing some of the basic military strategies and how they relate to where the church is headed in our times. Again, much of what I am sharing is a generalization, and generalizations are never true in all cases. That being said, the church has tried to fight too many battles at once, resulting in little or no success in spite of a huge expenditure of effort and resources. We have also, at times, taken ground that we were not able to hold, ending up ultimately in a worse defeat. 

Immediately after His victory on the cross and His resurrection, Jesus had legal authority to cast the devil into the lake of fire and to establish His kingdom on the earth. He did not do this at that time for several reasons, which we will look at briefly. In them we can perceive some of the things which must be completed before the end of this age. In Genesis 15:13-16, we see three of these reasons in relation to Israel. We know from I Corinthians 10:1-11 that this was a type of that which would come at the end of the age:

We are told in II Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." This is one of the great distinctions between the kingdom of God and the domain of the devil. The devil seeks increasing control and dominance over his subjects, while the Lord sets His people free. Everywhere that the Word of the Lord goes forth, increasing liberty will always be a result.

The next “work of the flesh,” noted in Galatians 5:20 is “disputes,” or as it is called in some translations, “strife." Like all of these works of the flesh, they overlap each other in ways, and then feed each other. Worse than that, the devil feeds on them!

Jon Amos Comenius

(1592-1671)

            Jon Amos Comenius has been listed as one of the five people to most impact the modern world. Some would argue that he should be at the top of that list. Considered the “Father of Modern Education,” Comenius was the first to effectively advocate for educating all children, not just children of the nobility. With this vision, he developed schools and a philosophy of education that gave birth to modern education.

       As we have considered, it was a great honor to be chosen as a disciple by one of the great teachers in biblical times, and yet we have been chosen by the King of kings to be His disciples. There is truly no higher calling or greater purpose. Even so, this is just the second step toward maturity in Christ. It is the laying of the foundation of our Christian life, but there is much that must be built upon it. However, the weight and height and breadth of what can be built upon it will be dependent on the quality and depth of the foundation.