Wisdom and Weapons of War
(week 34/04)
Olubi Johnson
Ecclesiastes 9:18 NKJV: Wisdom is better than weapons of war; But one sinner destroys much good.”
Ecclesiastes 10:10 NKJV: If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success.
Here, we are told that wisdom is better than weapons of war. The implication of this statement is that to get the best results you should use the weapons of war with wisdom otherwise you will apply a lot of effort but get very little or no success in your warfare or endeavours.
This is particularly true of our spiritual warfare against satanic power in the air, attacking our minds, wills, emotions, bodies and circumstances (Eph. 2.2-3).
What then are the weapons of our warfare and how do we use them in wisdom to obtain maximum results?
2 Corinthians 10:2-5 NKJV: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Revelation 12:11 NKJV: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
The weapons of our warfare are not physical but spiritual:
1. The blood of Jesus.
2. The Word of God: the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6.17, Heb. 4.12).
3. Not loving our physical lives, possessions and pleasures unto death.
How do we use these weapons in wisdom?
To understand how we do this let us use a natural illustration (Rom. 1.20): Natural soldiers use guns to fight and there are 3 things they do:
1. They clean the gun regularly to make sure it is working properly.
2. They load the gun with bullets or ammunition.
3. They fire the gun in the right direction to kill the enemy.
Similarly, in spiritual warfare we:
We clean our hearts frequently with blood of Jesus by confessing our sins so that we maintain our rightstanding with God, without a guilty conscience (1 Jn.1.9, Heb. 9.14): having a clear conscience and channel between God and us so that His life and power can maximally flow into us without being blocked or hindered by the substance of sin.
We load our hearts with the life of God using the Word of God, which gives us faith and gives God the legal basis to move in our lives, since God watches over His Word to perform it and it is impossible for God to lie (Jer. 1.12, Heb. 6.17-18).
We fire by not loving our lives unto the death at 2 levels:
1. Dying to self (1Cor. 15.31) by denying the desires of the flesh and the pleasures of this life to give time to read, study, meditate and confess the Word (1 Tim. 4.15-16); fast and pray in the spirit frequently (1Cor. 14.5,18), consistently and systematically. For details of how to do this see our books ‘A Practical Guide to Prayer and ‘A daily guide to keeping yourself in the love of God and Balanced Bible Reading’.
2. When necessary, as dictated by the wisdom of God, we risk our physical lives to do the will of God: like Daniel, Shadarach, Meshach, Abednego (Dan.3.28-29, 6.26-27) and Esther (Es.4.16). Remember that if you try to save your life you will lose it but if you lose it for Jesus’ sake you will save it (Mt. 16.25).
Daniel and his three companions used this last weapon very effectively in bringing the thoughts of Kings Nebuchadnezzar and Darius into captivity to the obedience of the God of heaven. Esther did the same in Persia with King Ahasuereus.
Now it is vital to see that you cannot use the weapon of not loving your life unto death effectively at level 2 until you have used it effectively at level 1 in bringing your physical body, mind, will and emotions into subjection (1Cor. 9.24, Rom 6.12-14, 8.13) of the nature and character of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.
It is for this reason some Christians die when using this weapon. Now God still honours their faith (Heb. 11.35-39) and uses their death in some way to advance His Kingdom. However God’s best is that we use this weapon and still be supernaturally protected by God for maximum effect in the minds of the heathen like Daniel and his three companions, Esther and according to church history, the Apostle John who, therefore, wrote these words:
1 John 5:18 NKJV: We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
We keep ourselves by keeping ourselves in the love of God by power of the Holy Spirit:
Jude 20-21 NKJV: But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
In this end-time, we are going to be required to use this weapon of not loving our lives unto the death to subdue nations to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Matthew 24:9-14 NKJV: Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Apostolic pastors, teachers and prophets typified by Cyrus will use these weapons accurately in the wisdom of God to subdue the nations that will rise up to resist the gospel of the Kingdom in this season in the same way Daniel and Esther did in Babylon and Persia:
Isaiah 44:28 KJV: That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Isaiah 45:1 KJV: Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
Paul was an apostle, teacher and shepherd (pastor) (Ac.11.26, 13.1,14.14) and as such was used by God to lay a spiritual foundation through prophetic and apostolic teaching that others could build upon:
1 Corinthians 3:10 KJV: According to the grace of God, which was given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
