Warriors Needed: By Tim Kernan

1 Chronicles 12: 23-38
These are the numbers of the men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, as the LORD had said:
men of Judah, carrying shield and spear-6,800 armed for battle;
men of Simeon, warriors ready for battle-7,100;
men of Levi-4,600, 27 including Jehoiada, leader of the family of Aaron, with 3,700 men, 28 and Zadok, a brave young warrior, with 22 officers from his family;
men of Benjamin, Saul’s kinsmen-3,000, most of whom had remained loyal to Saul’s house until then;
men of Ephraim, brave warriors, famous in their own clans-20,800;
men of half the tribe of Manasseh, designated by name to come and make David king-18,000;
men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command;
men of Zebulun, experienced soldiers prepared for battle with every type of weapon, to help David with undivided loyalty-50,000;
men of Naphtali-1,000 officers, together with 37,000 men carrying shields and spears;
men of Dan, ready for battle-28,600;
men of Asher, experienced soldiers prepared for battle-40,000;
and from east of the Jordan, men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, armed with every type of weapon-120,000.
All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the Israelites were also of one mind to make David king.

This is an incredible passage from the book of Chronicles. After Saul’s suicide and David’s successful siege of Jerusalem, warriors came from all over Israel to make him the king. God works through these brave, loyal and dangerous men to bring about his promise that David would be king over Israel. In the following period David soundly defeats the Philistines, Moabites, and even the Arameans, setting up garrisons all the way to Damascus. This was an incredible triumph for Israel and perhaps one of the most significant conquests of Gods people.

Its amazing that God used these human warriors to accomplish His will instead of using a legions of angry angels packing into flaming chariots and flashing swords of lightning. Of course He could have if He wanted to but its an interesting foreshadowing that he used warriors instead.

In today’s era Christ is much like a David of old. Christ is the ordained King of heaven and earth (capital K). Yet his prayer that God’s “will be done on earth as it is in heaven” has not been accomplished. God has asked us to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28); dangerous spiritual warriors who’s single-minded mission is to make Jesus the King, or Lord. Are we there yet? A glance at the headlines will tell you we are not. Will we get there? Yes we will. God will raise up warriors, of that there is no doubt. The only question is: will you be one of them?

What we need:

1) Galatians 1:6 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. A warrior needs to be able to hold down a job, pay the bills, carry his own burden and help carry the church financially. A warrior is not an administrative nightmare. He’s personal affairs are tighter than a snare drum.

2) 1 Tim 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” A warrior needs to be a lover to his wife, a butler to his home, a hero to his kids and a priest to his family. If your weak at home your weak in the middle. If your going to get hurled at the wall of world missions do you want to be be an egg or a rock? When your 5 000 miles from the closest planted church there is no one to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

3) 2 Samuel 22: 34-35 “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” A warrior is physically fit. He doesn’t take days off for constant sicknesses. He doesn’t hit the snooze button because he was studying with someone until 2am. He doesn’t take Monday off because of a long weekend with the church. He’s not just strong and healthy, he is full of energy and people can see it because he is tenacious and works hard. He can go that extra mile with a Roman soldiers backpack and drop it off with a smile.

4) Deuteronomy 1:13 “Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.”” A warrior is a rational thinker who emotionally initiates pro-actively based on the plan he has built “by seeking advice”; he is first to “obtain guidance”. (Proverbs 20:18). He scorns empty bravado but delights himself in wisdom, knowledge and understanding. He is a mentally sharp, positive and creative problem solver; even if the solution is just to suffer. Bravado, prideful self reliance and theories that can’t stand up to peer review are a waste of time. A warrior knows that.

5) 1 Samuel 22: 1-2 “David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.” A warrior is easy to be around and knows how to be a friend to the weak. He’s picked himself up from failure so many times that he can be a shoulder to lean on to anyone. There is no pretension or self in him to get in the way of deep friendship. He knows how to win people to God instead of alienating them with self righteousness.

I’m sure there are many other qualities of a warrior that would be well worth mentioning here but these are thing qualities that are especially in need in… myself. I wish I had Nick Bordieri’s and Michael Kirchner financial responsibility, Carlos Mahiah’s renowned marriage skills, Michael Williamson’s fitness and heart, Kip’s intellect and vision, DJ’s humility and friendship. I want them more than 50 million dollars. If Jesus becomes more the King of my life he is more of the King on earth as well.

I want to be the first new warrior in London but I want to be the first among many. We need more leaders in the London Church! More than ever we need fighters to step up to the plate and come of out of their corners punching.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

We are in a war against false doctrines and ideas that enslave people and trap them. We have a divine power to demolish the strongholds that oppress our fellow human beings but we need to use them. The famous British soldier and nobleman the Earl and Field Marshal Archibald Percival once said “my ideal infantryman has the qualities of a successful poacher, a cat burglar and a gunman,”. As a leader of a small but growing remnant group my ideal disciple has the qualities of a ticket scalper, boxing coach and party promoter. We don’t need ceremonial leaders strutting around thinking they are disciples; we need men who know how to get their hands dirty.

From the bottom of my heart I pray that God makes me into a better warrior and surrounds me with lots of others. I know he will.

Love,

Tim