Developing a Warrior Mentality — Michael L. Brown

The Burden of Human Suffering and Spiritual Warfare

And and the army tonight in Jesus name Amen turn with me to Exodus 15. I'm just gonna say a couple of things before we start the message relative to 9 -11. I Drove up tonight and I was on the phone with with Nancy talking about a couple of things and then she shared something with me that really kind of touched me and tore up my heart and then I Shared something with her just some very painful news from Israel and By the time I pulled up on the driveway or just to pull in over here I was just really crying and I said, I'm not doing too well at the moment.

I was fine. It wasn't a it wasn't a hopeless crying. It was just some some very Painful things and some very touching things. Right after 9 -11. Some days after that Nancy just sat me down one day I just wanted me to watch some of the documentaries that were already on some of the newscasts.

That were showing some of the lives lost and some of the families. She gets very deeply absorbed with human suffering. The fact that her brother was killed in the World Trade Center that day made it all the more compelling and Of course, you know, I was I was praying I was Hit like everyone else wasn't with the reality of what was happening and even intensifying are going after God.

But just somehow that some of the human element of the personal lives Was not as real to me until I sat down with her and just took some of the sin. And we were just talking now two years later someone had Sent her a note.

One of our workers in New York asked if she had heard about this particular thing and neither of us knew anything about it. There is you know, Manhattan is an island so you get in either by bridge or tunnel or by ferry and this one company owns a number of ferries and Named five of them After people who were killed in New York 9 -11 for example.

One was named after the Catholic priest who was the chaplain at the fire department. It was so well known and another was named after one person that was associated with another category of people killed.

And they picked one. Just to Commemorate all the commuters that went over by ferry and never never made it back. So we don't know why I mean there was no good reason for it except it just seemed almost like Just God saying, you know, I notice the suffering and the the loss of life and the pain.

But anyway You know her brother Douglas Gurion was the one that was selected for no good reason, you know the Douglas B Gurion ferry just to remember the commuters that never made it back and You know somehow although, you know, you can't get him back and it's just one of those shocking losses, you know, 37 38 years old and gone, you know, and he's his wife and two little kids behind.

It was just something of a sense of God's specific eye on the whole thing and and uh, you know you hear about and I say these things to you just to remind you that that you know the battles the spiritual battles and the advance of the the gospel ultimately means, you know life and death for lots and lots of people you know and You may read about some of the suicide bombings in Israel.

You may hear some of what happens and You know like any of us no matter how close you are to it. You still you get used to it. You get a little hardened you you don't know the people involved. But just I read this one thing and it just was such it terrible tragedy.

There was one. Dr. David Applebaum who's 50 years old in Israel had moved over from the States to Israel about 20 years ago and Was always one of the first ones on the scene of many accidents just to treat the victims I believe let a department in his hospital and Just this past Wednesday, you know, there were two bombings the same day just a few hours apart in Israel and It was his.

His 20 year old daughter Was getting married the next day. I guess I understand why this hits the way it does to hear it. It's still kind of overwhelming just to share. So he took her out on the eve of her wedding.

Special thing for a father to do with his daughter and they were blown up and killed. So I just want to remind you that uh, you know, we need to be. Not just kind of coasting through with our own lives, you know and Getting so self-absorbed with the little things in in the midst of a life-and-death battle around the earth and What happens in these earthly pictures is just a spiritual reminder that that we are in a war.

We are in a battle and and souls are at stake and people are dying without Jesus and people are living and dying under terrible severe oppression and suffering and We have the answer that can set captives free in the gospel.

And and our prayers are crying out to God to make a difference. I want to encourage you deeply from the heart to go with the burden of the Lord when he moves on you. Never think it's strange to cry out in deep intercession for something and you think what and where in the world, you know.

Why am I praying for you know refugees in the Fiji Islands? I said, you know, there are no refugees in the feet, you know. But you get this terrible burden to do it. You'd be amazed when you get the report years later about this refugee boat that you know Happened on the Fiji Islands and the people were about to be killed and then something happened, you know I mean, I'm just making that thing up, but I've I've I've prayed sometimes over the years for the strangest things.

And again, I don't do this every day. I'm not praying weird prayers every day to find out Oh God Lord for the salvation of the people on Mars. I know there are people I'm not praying stupid prayers. But uh, you know, I remember John G Lake's son-in-law Telling us a story that he had heard Wilfred Wright before he'd gone to be with the Lord about a missionary in Africa who Had gotten badly burned on his hands and was in the hospital at night and his hands and upper arms were bandaged and To his shock he sees these army ants just come Come just like marching into his hospital room and just crawl up the side of the bed and next thing start to crawl down his hands and get under these bandages and he starts screaming and There's nobody on the floor.

There's nobody that hears them. I don't know if you've ever been in certain some third-world hospitals. Sometimes the conditions are absolutely desolate. Whatever the case was this guy starts crying out and screaming and there's there's no response.

No help and he cries out, you know, somebody help me and And I think it was the third time he just cries out in desperation and There's somebody who's over in the States With the time differential where they where they were.

They were just getting sleep and It's the middle of the night where the other fellow was middle of the morning and they're woken up from a sleep hearing this voice crying out somebody help me and just felt strangely compelled to pray for this missionary and Suddenly, you know as the man that testified later on in the hospital the army ants just marched out.

Got out from under his bandages marched out and when he woke up in the morning He was completely normal and healed and then of course when they compared notes years later when this fellow was testifying in a particular place.

You know that the fellow goes back to his journal and diary and finds out that's when he was praying. I remember About 19 years ago 20 years ago actually Being terribly gripped in prayer. Overwhelmingly gripped in intercession.

I was literally on my face in my study Just holding my sides rolling on the floor so intensely gripped groaning and praying in the Spirit and I didn't know what I was praying for and when I finished I Just felt I wanted to ask the Lord.

What was I praying for? It was so intense and I felt the Spirit say to me Muslim strongholds in South Africa and I thought oh Come on that's No, Muslim strongholds in South Africa. They're all in North Africa.

Countries like Libya and Egypt that's North Africa the Muslim strongholds not South Africa. I mean, I felt a little stupid about it, but I remembered. And it was a little over a year after that. I heard Reinhardt Bonnke speaking at a meeting in Oklahoma and He talked about their big tent that they were about to put up in Cape Town.

In Johannesburg, I think I think it was Cape Town in South Africa and It was this monstrosity of a tent. It was the world's largest tent. It seated 34 ,000 people. It was an unbelievable thing to all these trucks to get it back and forth just just an amazing endeavor expensive to build and put up and They were going to put it up and have meetings during the rainy season.

So you had to have a tent in South Africa? They were going to have gospel outreach. God had spoken to him, you know from Cape Town to Cairo, you know a blood-washed Africa and revival in Africa so they They put the tent up and they began to have people come to them which doctors Muslim leaders and tell them we are putting a curse on your tent we are putting a curse on your tent and you're not going to be able to have these meetings and.

And shortly after that a terrible wind swept through and ripped the tent up into smithereens. Ripped it up. It was this massive blue tent and and these little pieces of the blue fabric. We're just all over the region and it looked like a defeat.

I mean here these witch doctors and Muslim leaders come say we're gonna put a curse on your tent. Because we don't want you to hold these meetings and the thing that's completely demolished By a wind nonetheless, well, that was the beginning of the story.

You know when you're right with God the devil is always sorry that he hit. You know when you're walking in the spirit the devil always pays for it. The first reports they begin to get were from people all over the region that began to send in reports that this this blue tent fabric, whatever it is had come down in their yard and That they put it on parts of their body where they were sick and they put it on demonized people and people getting healed and Delivered that was the first thing and then the second thing.

The second thing was that they decided to go on with the meetings in the midst of the rainy season you know we've talked to our dear friends who said hatting about some of this and just the Details of the storm coming and the praying these things away.

I'm just wild stuff that took place in those years. So they go ahead with the meetings and God begins to move powerfully and they end up with crowds between 80 and 90 thousand. This is in the days before he could get up to a million people in a meeting or more 80 90 ,000 they wouldn't fit in the tent.

Anyway, and he's declaring that God moved with signs and wonders and miracles and thousands of Muslims Came to the Lord. I remember he's preaches thousands of Muslims came to the Lord because of the demonstration of God's power and It hit me Muslim strongholds in South Africa I must have been one of Thousands and thousands of intercessors around the world that God dropped this burden in their heart to pray at that time to pray at that season to be part of the work because God works with his people and Then he said shortly after that a great wind came in and blew the roof off the the main mosque in the city.

Kind of the fight a little from the Lord. I want to encourage you to go with the burden. I mentioned that not because I haven't been burdened or haven't interceded or haven't had unusual experiences and in the 20 years since but because that was so striking because it was at a time when God moved on me and ways in prayer that I had never experienced and never heard anyone teach about and Hadn't even read scripture that would have made sense to me about it.

I'd read the Bible over and over but but going back to certain passages and look at them. They became clear only after someone encouraged you go with the burden of the Lord and If you really tend to flakiness and unreliability and unaccountability and weirdness I Don't need you to raise your hand if that's you but if you do, okay, everything is ethereal out there spiritual untestable.

You know what? I'm saying You know, it's like the guy standing on the corner, you know clapping his hands and stomping his feet. You know in the corner in a street corner here. You say what are you doing?

He says I'm keeping the elephants away. He said man, there are no elephants around here for miles and he says see it's working. It's working. If you tend to be like that then ask God to give you some natural confirmation before you start to spot, you know dispatching.

You know angels to Pluto to intercept demons that are coming to attack your cat. Okay. We once went to someone's home and and the parents said to us was how was the ride here we said fine. They said was there any problem?

No. Like any bad traffic, you know it do you guys almost have an accident? We said no, they said praise God because our two-year-old really just had this burden just to pray. You know, it wouldn't be an accident and we believe she interceded and stopped the accident.

Well, that's possible. That's possible, but it's not verifiable. So it's good when God gives you some earthly Verification, you know, let him give you an earthly word. That's accurate. Let him give you a prayer burden about something that actually unfolds in front of your eyes.

The Bible as a Book of War

Okay, and then you can start to get a little further out there. Does that make sense to you? Let me just take a few more minutes. Don't say this some years back I did a series on spiritual warfare and When I when I went to teach it.

The first thing that struck me the first week. Even though I knew the scriptures about this and and I could have told you where these various verses were in the Bible. Just looking at one after another after another after another and focusing and you always see more you always understand more.

It just began to unfold to me in a very deep serious way that the Bible is a book of war. That the Bible is a book of war. I just want to say a few things to you about that. So that you will understand why it is that we must have a warring mentality.

You know. There's more in the word about God being a warrior and about aspects of his acts of war. Then there isn't the word about him being a shepherd, you know in the Old Testament Revelation and when when when Jesus and his great act of power Rising from the dead in the glory of the Father, you know.

That is a massive spiritual conflict that was taking place he didn't rise from the dead as a gentle lamb and the image of Jesus who returns at the end of the age is one who's coming with the armies of heaven and and The NIV uses the term Lord Almighty or sovereign Lord in different places.

But most translations will refer to the Lord of hosts. Yahweh of hosts are the nights for old Yahweh. It's for old host that does not have anything to do with Hospitality, you understand, you know, sometimes we say these things and they have no meaning to us, but we get excited about them.

Anyway, praise the Lord is the Lord of hosts. What does that mean? It's the Lord of armies. It's the armies, you know, the Israeli military is the singular of that word. He's the Lord of the Lord of the armies of heaven.

Think of that's how he's known Yahweh of armies. So what's written in in in Exodus 15 3? After the great demonstration of God's power on behalf of Israel Stretching out his hand the great event in the Old Testament the event to everything pointed back to that great event when God showed that he was God over nature and God over the the false gods.

Verse 3 of Exodus 15. The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. Say brother. Could you tell us exactly what that says in the Hebrew? I'd be happy to the Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name Ishmael.

Come on. Just man of war. There is an aspect to the character of God that is warring. There is an aspect to the character of God that makes him the God of battles and the God of armies. And I want to Ask you honestly when you read through the Old Testament even before we think of getting to the new when you remember that Paul wrote in first Corinthians 10 and in Romans 15 that that what's Written here in the Hebrew Scriptures is written for our benefit written for our edification and written for our warning.

When you realize that Jesus fought off the devil with verses from the book of Deuteronomy and When you realize that the Bible of the of the early believers was was the Old Testament. What do we do with all these verses?

What do we do with all the war passages? What do we do with all the violent passages? We absolutely know that we are of a different spirit. We absolutely know that we are not called to physically fight.

We know that we overcome evil with good. We know that we bless those who curse us. We know we pray for those who who persecute us and despitefully use us. We know that we are the meek who inherit the earth yet.

What do we do with all of these verses about God being a man of war and in verses about warfare? Go to the go to the book of Joshua for a moment. There's so much talk about the Joshua generation the generation that goes in and takes the land.

People talk about the Joshua generation the Joshua Revolution. You'll find these things widespread in the body today. Listen the book of Joshua is a book of violent war. Triumph against the enemy. Okay, so we don't take that to mean go and kill our neighbors that we don't like we understand that it means that we don't Go and blow up abortion clinics or or take out our our anger against people in society.

We don't like God forbid. We're every different spirit. But what do we do with this? I Want to ask you honestly, where is the warrior in your life? Where is the warrior in your heart? Where is the warrior in your prayer life?

Listen don't say that's not my temperament. Okay, because no one is more Christ like than Jesus. All right. No one is more lamb like than the lamb who was sacrificed from before the foundation of the world and the heart mind of God.

No one is more compassionate than the one who lays down his life. And yet no one has ever lived on this earth who is any more of a focused warrior. The ultimate strong man that overcomes the lesser strong man.

Trust me. The father will not have to force a sword into the son of God's hand when he returns. He comes in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that don't know God this is not some new image new look.

Let's try the warrior. Look. He warred he battled he refused to back down. The assault of hell one moment of the assault of hell that he endured every moment of his life would put all of us under it has nothing to Do with temperament you understand.

Heaven and hell have nothing to do with temperament. Being light or darkness have nothing to do with temperament. Being free or being a slave to sin have nothing to do with temperament. Spiritual aggression being a warrior has nothing to do with temperament.

The same one that That writes the Psalms the sweet singer of Israel as he's called. I mean if you met David and He's he's we don't know what the song sound like. There's some hints of some ancient music that's been preserved.

I don't mean that there's an old CD that was passed on but some musical notations that that someone sought to figure out. I'm sure it's not a little different to our ears. But I don't I don't imagine that when David, you know wrote Yahweh.

Oh, he's a lot. Sorry, you know, the Lord is my shepherd. Yahweh is my shepherd. I like nothing. I don't think that that had a hard rock sound to it. Just my personal opinion you know just kind of you know, and when he sung it, you know, I think that would have been one of the kind of.

You know just. You know before I was saved, you know that the the lightweight me I was not into folk music at all. You know who plays folk music loud? You know what folk stars, you know lost their hearing because the you know, the acoustic guitar was so loud.

I Think you know, they're they're different. Streams and melodies and styles and I'm just glad I didn't hurt my neck doing the David thing there. I don't think he was you know, I don't think he was marching around.

Saying you and confessing it, you know, you lead me. I'll say it again. You lead me by streams of living water. No, that's not the kind of thing you shout out like that. You make me to lie down. I'll say it again.

Oh Green no, that's just. That's the kind of song you listen to late at night just oh I just want to fall asleep in the arms of God. Now listen man David killed people he was a warrior you understand the contrast come across there.

He was a he was a violent warrior he fought killed people. Not murder murder is bad, but he killed people in war and he wrote some warring Psalms and Psalms that picture the Lord is a warrior fighting for him crushing and demolishing and smashing his foes here, I mean.

Listen to some of the other Psalms. Let's see. Let's see if I can get some of these right. I mean, let me just try. Let's try this one. Psalm 3 7 Arise. Oh Lord. Save me. Oh my god for you you strike all my enemies on the cheek and you break the teeth of the wicked.

Now that's the one you know. Straight smash. Kill him. Yeah, this is in the Psalms too, isn't it? Here here's a. Here's a favorite one the end of the Psalm. Psalm 149 praise the Lord. Your picture kind of like a.

You know one of those choruses or one of those choirs where everyone's got that perfect smile. You know and they're just the outfits are perfect, you know, it's one of those. You know, it's just that sounds a very sweet melodious sound and I'm sure ministers a lot to certain people just praise the Lord.

Just he's worthy Saints just praise him, you know, just one of those things. Sing to the Lord. Let's sing to him a new song. Oh Let Israel be glad. Let him praise him with dancing let the dancers come forth and make melody to him with Tambourine and liar.

I mean, it's it's one of these kind of things. Let the high praises of God which by the way, the high praises is is not hit the highest note you can hit. Okay, some of you ladies with really high voices or it's not you know, oh, let's praise him.

Oh Let me. Those are not the high praises, okay, I just want to explain that. Okay, if you have a high voice god bless you. Okay, deep voices high voices are all welcome, but it's not like. It's not like a truck driver can't do the high praises, you know, I'm just like bass praising.

I did have low praises. Not at all. The it the high is the XO it means the exaltations of God highly exalting him, okay. All this high praise teaching. But anyway, let the let the high praises of praise him with the dance and let the tambourine players play.

Praise him with the high praises. Let the high praises of God be in the throats and two-edged swords in their hands. That's an edge verse. You mean though The lady dancers and the guys with the tambourines have two-edged swords.

See we make this one thing like pray just like pretty no praise. Let's just praise him as opposed to this whole thing is war. You understand. What do you do it? What do you do with these verses? But the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples.

To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron to execute on them the judgment written. This is honor for all his godly ones. What do you do with that? Take it out on the devil.

You do war where you can do war you get aggressive spiritually. Listen, uh, it'll sound silly what I'm saying, but I mean it don't knock it until you try it. Don't say I don't believe in any of this is some of you were standing like all chained up all bound up.

I don't believe in any of that stuff. It shows. The bottom line is you do not have to be defeated and beaten down. I would dare say Despite the fact that I have not gone through some specific Situations that some of you have gone through here and some of you may have gone through hell and it's a miracle of God's grace.

That you've been sitting here today. But I would dare say that generally and broadly speaking I have come under as much attack of hell. If not more than almost anybody in here, I understand the attack of hell.

I am NOT making light of this. I'm not turning this into a game but I'm telling you if you sit back and wait for things to happen, they're not going to happen and If you happen to be blessed enough to have somebody pray you through to some overcoming place.

It'll only be temporary. Because the same lethargy or apathy will set back in. I'm talking about first stirring yourself to be a warrior and Understanding that there is that aspect. Yes. There is the aspect of literally just laying down before the Lord.

Or just laying down on one of those green pastures and just having that praise music. That's very mellow and very you know, I'm joking about it, but in all seriousness just that can just you just fall asleep.

When I fly I you know, I I just got a little mp3 player with these headphones there's some music that I put on specifically if I want to block out the outside sound and go to sleep and I go to sleep in a good frame of mind.

There is that place, you know come to me and rest that's in the Bible, too. It's not either or but there's a time to to dance. There's a time to to mourn. There's a time to sow. There's a time to reap there's a time to rest.

There's a time to battle. I mean when we battle we battle out of our place of rest in him that the victory is ours. I'm not talking about just an empty attack on hell. I'm talking about build yourself up in God.

Let the battle begin in your own heart stir yourself. I'm not some wimp. I'm not some deceived fool. I'm not some casualty of war. I'm a man of God. I'm a woman of God. I'm a child of God. I'm blood-washed.

I'm called holy by God. You start to stir yourself you start to build yourself up. You start to aggressively take in the word. So you being a warrior doesn't mean you just go out and tackle someone. It means you get built up.

You got beat down to feed it discouraged hurt injured. Abused. You start to build yourself back up you get healed you get strengthened. You get the Word of God in your heart. You get the Word of God in your mind you take hold of the reality of what's written.

Not not not the pseudo reality of what people say and sometimes how circumstances unfold because they can change in a dime. They can be fleeting. They can be deceiving and misleading. Take all the spiritual truths start to build yourself up start to pray in the spirit start to go after God and Then a strength begins to come you start to overcome.

Spiritual Strength and the Breaking of Yokes

You know, there's there's a wonderful verse. That the actual meaning of it is better than the wrong translation. Then Isaiah the 10th chapter a lot of people love to quote Isaiah 10 27 that the yoke will be broken because of the anointing.

Well, that's not what Isaiah 10 27 says. You say man, I know people's whole ministries are built on that. Well, the truth is there Elsewhere in the Bible that God's anointing breaks yolks, you know, the Spirit of the Lord's on me.

One reason is Jesus says the Prophet speaks To proclaim Liberty to set captives free. So the anointing of God, of course breaks yolks, of course, that's true. But it's not what Isaiah 10 27 says and in that day this is the oppression that's been on Israel and that day his burden will depart from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck and the yoke will be broken because of the fat or fatness the Hebrew as the vowels have it could mean oil would be broken because of oil and.

Then the King James translators took that to mean anointing oil and hence anointing which is a complete and total jump and unwarranted. The vowels are not in the original text. Anyway, it's the consonants with the consonants as written.

It is that the yoke will be broken because of the fact. Say what in the world does that mean? Here's what it means. There's a yoke of oppression on you. There's something that's holding you down beating you down stealing from you robbing from you hurting you discouraging you.

There is an active devil. I don't think about him much. I don't focus on him much. I don't talk to him much. I'm God conscious Jesus conscious word kind if I have a consciousness. That's where my orientation is.

But there is a battle and we are told in first Peter 5 to be sober and vigilant. Why. Because our adversary the devil goes about seeking whom he may devour how like a roaring lion. People say yeah, you may be a roaring lion, but he ain't got no teeth.

So why are you being told to be sober and vigilant if he's just toothless watch it. Watch it an ant is coming after you. Crush the end. No, he's looking for people to devour and if we're not sober and vigilant we'll get devoured.

There are plenty of casualties all over and some of you know him that have been bitten by hell. Of course, he has teeth. He's just defeated in Jesus name utterly and feed it. So we take our authority.

So there's this battle there's this oppression there's this war on. That's why their verses in the New Testament where we are called fellow soldiers. Paul writes to his fellow soldiers. You say where are they in the Bible be aggressive enough to look them up and find them?

Then they'll have more meaning to you. How's that? Don't look at me like that's a good idea and it's not because I don't remember. For whoever that was. Starting Colossians 4 if you need help, but listen, there's a reason we're called fellow.

There's a reason there's a whole wonderful section of Ephesians 6 about the armor that we wear. You know, the armor that we wear is God's armor. It's the same armor. He wears and Isaiah 59 you say but If God wears it, it's spiritual.

Of course. It's it's all spiritual to understand whether we wear it or God wears it. It's all spiritual figures of speech to convey certain spiritual meanings and truths. Why do you what do we do with the sword?

How often do you use a sword? I'm asking you personally in your own spiritual eyes. How often do you use this or the sword is the word? How do you use it as a sword in what setting when where how how is that manifest in your lives?

I'm asking you honestly to stop and think is the warrior there. So the yoke gets broken because of fatness. What does it mean? It means that this this animal maybe this bull that should be such a powerful thing.

You ever seen pictures maybe a news story of someone in a bull run in Spain and and they get gored by a bull. I Saw it one time. It's unbelief. This is a bull just what it's that picks the person up. They go flying through the air.

Unbelievable, but maybe this thing has been so malnourished. That is yokes on its neck and it's it's kept in bondage. But as it gets healthier and fed and built up and healthier and fed and built up and healthier and fed and built up.

Just like if you went to peak fitness and kept working at it and working at it and working at it and working at it or worked at it in other ways than peak fitness you get so built up that you're you're.

But and start to burst off your shirt can happen in several different ways. It burst off your shirt. I mean, that's that's the picture though of this thing. That's so strong pull the yoke breaks because of fatness.

The yolks get broken in our life because of spiritual health and spiritual strength and spiritual vitality. I Take it as a question from the Spirit of the Lord in the Word of the Lord. When do you use the sword of the word in your own lives?

Don't answer me. Think about how often do you use the word as a sword in battle? To speak forth the truths of God in the midst of Discouragement. To renew your mind to what God is saying in the midst of the enemy onslaught to to to attack Powers of darkness in Jesus name that resist to aggressively minister to the sick of the bound.

Some things will not happen without a battle. Just a couple more verses. Many of you know Matthew 11 12 11 11 and 12. There's dispute among commentaries and interpreters. But as much as I've looked at and studied it or the way I've understood it for years seems to be the way it the way it speaks.

Truly, I say to you Matthew 11 11 and 12 among those born of women. There is arisen no one greater than John the Immerser John the baptizer. Yet the one who was leased in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.