Gospel From The War Front by shingirayi gwete - HTML preview

Chapter 20 – Captured at War

During the war, some soldiers can get captured by the enemy forces and are held as prisoners of war. In the First World War, it is estimated that about eight million men surrendered to the enemy and were held as prisoners of war. These captured people are at a place where they don’t want to be, they are in the wrong camp, they know where freedom is, they know where they want to be at, but unfortunately, they can’t go there because they are restricted by the circumstances and people who are holding them as prisoners.

In the war against evil, some people are held by Satan through various means as prisoners of war. Once someone is caught in that trap, they cannot move to the truth, they cannot make a move to salvation, they remain stuck till they die or till an external force comes to their rescue. Prisoners of war are stripped of their weapons (if they have any), such is the situation with those held as prisoners by Satan, they are unarmed and are unable to fight in this spiritual warfare. In this chapter, we shall learn about three common traps which Satan uses to entrap humans and make them his prisoners.

Prisoner of Positions

Nevertheless, even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. John 12:42-43

Jesus preached the word of God and performed many miracles but unfortunately, many Jews did not believe in Him. Some people are like that, they choose not to believe though the word of God has been preached to them and all has been done that they might be saved but they still reject salvation. Though some Jews did not believe in Jesus, some among them did believe. The Bible records that among the rulers, many believed in Him. Despite being all Jews, yet some believed in Jesus and some didn't. People might all belong to a particular group but when it comes to matters of faith, they can hold different beliefs. A group of people can profess to be in a particular religion yet they don’t believe in the same things. People can all profess to be Christians yet some believe in Jesus and some do not truly believe in Him. That’s is why Jesus Himself said on Matthew 7:21; “Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

Some of the Chief rulers did believe in Jesus, they didn’t join the bandwagon of others who rejected Christ. Be that as it may, those chief rulers did not confess Him (Jesus) because of the Pharisees, they were afraid of being kicked out of the synagogue. Despite believing in the truth, they were scared of speaking it out lest they would be dis-fellowshipped or dismembered by those who didn’t believe. It’s quite a sad scenario, the fear of people (Pharisees) made the Chief rulers not to confess their true belief in Jesus.

Take note, these were people who held positions in the church, they were chief rulers. Therefore, they assumed that once they confess that they believe in Jesus, they would be put out of the church and that means they would lose also their positions which they held. Therefore, they decided not to confess Jesus, they were prisoners of their religious positions. The Bible goes on to say “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43). Such positions came with respect and prestige, with these positions they would get greetings in the market place and be called by high titles, they would get the uppermost seats at feasts and chief seats in the synagogue. The thought of losing all that by confessing that they believed in Jesus made them remain silent and appear like they don’t believe in Christ yet deep inside they did.

Similar situations are common today, some people believe in Jesus but they don't confess Him because they are scared of losing the positions which they hold in their respective religions. There are people who have posts in religions which don't believe in Jesus Christ yet they personally believe in Him, but for them to openly confess Christ, they cannot because they are afraid of losing their positions. Then we have another group of people who belong to some Christian church denominations where they profess to believe in Jesus but the whole truth is not preached or accepted. There is a mixture of truth and error in those denominations, some of the doctrines are contrary to what the Bible teaches. God always sends His light to reveal the truth to people who are in such churches. Some heed the light and decide to follow the truth than to follow misleading doctrines. However, some who are in there, who despite knowing the truth, they remain stuck in lies and error because they don't want to lose the church positions which they hold once they are kicked out.

He is scared of losing the title of being called elder, so he won't make that decision of confessing the truth lest he is cast out, (s)he is scared of losing the position of being a deacon, a pastor, a youth leader, women's leader, so (s)he won't confess the truth they know because they want to hold on to their church positions. By the way, some of these positions have no monetary rewards in them, people just work for free yet they are willing to let go of Christ while they hold onto to unpaid titles, what a shame. Even if the positions come with monetary rewards, how much money can a person take in exchange for a loss in salvation, Jesus asked on Matthew 16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? No church position or title is worth you sacrificing your relationship with Christ.

Satan is in the business of imprisoning people using church positions in denominations where there is no truth. The moment when such people realise where truth is, they have a dilemma, there are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They have to decide whether to remain in that church where there is no truth but they hold positions or whether to go to where truth is but lose their church positions. We ought to look at the bigger picture, yes the smaller picture might show like you are suffering a loss but in the bigger picture, you are gaining eternal life.

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ Philippians 3:7-8

We all must come to a point where we are prepared to suffer losses in things which separate us from Christ so that we may gain Christ Himself.

I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalms 84:10 (b)

It is way much better and blessed to be just an ordinary church member or hold a low position in the eyes of men like being a doorkeeper, but being in the right place than holding high positions in places of error. Let not ranks and titles conferred to you by man stop you from confessing the truth of God.

Therefore, whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33

Prisoner of Possessions

On Matthew 19:16-22, one young man came to Jesus and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” This young man had a noble desire to have eternal life and went to Jesus seeking answers on how he could attain this. Christ then told him that if he wanted to enter into life, he had to keep the commandments. The young man had another question, he sought for clarification with regards to which commandments he was supposed to keep. Jesus said, "You shall not murder,' "You shall not commit adultery,' "You shall not steal,' "You shall not bear false witness,' "Honor your father and your mother,' and, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself."' The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

This young man kept the law, he didn't murder, he didn't commit adultery, he didn't steal, he didn't bear false witness, he honoured his parents, he loved his neighbours as he loved himself but there was one thing he was not willing to let go off to obtain eternal life, that was his wealth. He was not ready to part ways with his material possessions to follow Jesus. In his estimation, he weighed eternal life against his wealth and concluded that his possessions where of more value than eternal life so he chose rather keep his assets and let go of eternal life.

Many people today are in this predicament, they are entangled by the golden chain of material possessions and it restricts them from serving God fully. They are prisoners of their possessions. When there is a conflict between doing what God requires from them and what they have to do to get or keep their wealth, they choose to disobey God so that they can earn an extra dollar. Let it be clear that money in itself is not evil, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10; “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” What is evil is not money in itself but the love of it.

The moment you are prepared to get money in ways which God does not approve, or the moment you prioritize money before God then that is evil. As Paul said to Timothy, some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, surely many are getting lost because of the love of material gain.

GOD can make a person rich materially, in fact, the Bible says in Proverbs 10:22, The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it. The young ruler had riches but went away sorrowful because he refused to accept what Jesus had told him. Wealth without God only brings sorrow to one’s life. There might appear to be some instances of happiness but as long as you don’t have Christ there is unhappiness. One rich man by the name of King Solomon said; “Better is a little with the fear of the LORD, Than great treasure with trouble.” Proverbs 15:16

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33

We need not worry about what we shall eat, what we shall put on because God provides. Jesus bids us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these material things will be added to us. Do not try to change the order which Jesus laid out by seeking material things first and then looking for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness afterwards. The devil will entangle you with wealth to such a point that you will find it difficult to follow Christ and forgoing your possessions just like what the young man did.

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

Prisoners of People

Still, another said, "I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come." Luke 14:20

In one parable which Jesus taught on Luke 14:16-24, a man prepared a great supper and invited many. Those who were invited started to make excuses when they were called to attend the function. One man said that he had married a wife and therefore he was not able to come to the feast. There is great marriage supper of the Lamb which Jesus is inviting all of us to attend in the Kingdom of Heaven (Revelation 19:9). However, some will not make it to this feast because of various excuses and chief among them is because of their relationships with other people. The man in Christ’s parable could not come to the feast because he had a new wife, his spouse was now a stumbling block for him to attend the supper.

If you marry wrong, you can end up with a spouse who will lead you to compromise the relationship that you have with God. There will be instances where you are forced to choose on whether to please your wife/husband and disappoint God in the process or please God and disappoint your wife/husband. You are in a marriage trap which prevents you from serving God fully. To avoid this, to those who are not yet married, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14). Get into marriage with someone who shares the same faith with you so that they will not strain your relationship with God but they will help to strengthen it. If you are already in a marriage where your spouse is some kind of a snare which traps you from serving God, do not seek to be freed from the marriage itself, but rather put God first all the time.

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:37

Not only can marital relationships entrap people and prevent them from serving God, but even family relationships can also do the same. A parent can try to control his or her child in such a way that the child ends up not following the truth as revealed in the word of God. I’m writing not of kids who are under the custody of their parents but of situations where a grown-up adult is scared to get baptised into the church because they are afraid of what their parents will say. Of course, we have to honour our parents, but remember Ephesians 6:1 says Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. We must obey our parents ‘in the Lord’ meaning as long as what you are required to do is in line with what God’s word says, then you must do it.