Principles of War: Communication, part 2 of 3

God’s means of communication with us is the Word of God. Any other spiritual communication is subject to test by this authoritative standard. He first spoke to men through the prophets and later through His Son, and then through the apostles. We have these communications in the Bible, comprising all of our orders for the war with Satan.

But the Bible is more than that. It is our complete source of supply. It is our spiritual food. Job said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). Jeremiah said, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jer. 15:16).

The Word of God is our weapon: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

By the Word God develops faith, love, hope, and strength in us. In His Book, He sets the standards of conduct. Through it He communicates His requirements of humility and absolute obedience, as well as many details and principles of the conduct of an army at war. He sets the bounds of fellowship among those within the camp and those without. It is the most telling and effective weapon in setting captives free from the power of Satan: “You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet. 1:23).

Even this portion of our two-way line of communication can be cut, and again it is sin that severs. With unconfessed sin in his life, the Christian has no desire to read, hear, study, or meditate upon the Word of God. He now neither communicates with God nor receives from him. It may have been a minor sin that severed the lines of communication, but once severed and not immediately restored, a man is set up for a decisive defeat by Satan.

Keep up your lines of communication by joining the To the Word Bible reading challenge here.

*Excerpted from Principles of War. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

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