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. Literal Hebrew translations of key words in this verse:

"government" (Hebrew misrah), means "empire, kingdom"

"increase" (Hebrew marbiyth) means "multitude or offspring"

"zeal" (Hebrew qinah) means "jealousy"

"Hosts" (Hebrew tsaba) means a "mass of persons gathered for war"

God is right now in the process of establishing a kingdom. Of this kingdom there shall be no end. He has given His Son the Kingship of the kingdom, and He intends to rule and govern it through His people. But the Kingdom has a powerful enemy, with a powerful army. Are you aware that the kingdom is at war? Did you know every believer has received a call-up notice? Here it is:

Now, take a look at Revelation 19:11-14:

Sometimes we forget the Lion of Judah is a fierce and mighty warrior, and He intends to lead a warrior Bride. The church Jesus is coming back for is described in Song of Solomon 6:10 as "awesome as an army with banners, and further, "they all hold swords, being expert in war" (Solomon 3:8) ." Well, where is this mighty Warrior God the scriptures talk about? He's waiting for His Bride to make herself ready!. In this first session and for the next three sessions we'll be talking about the Church as the warrior bride of Christ, and what that means to us as individual Christians. Are you are willing to ride with Jesus?

During the war of 1812 between England and France, the Duke of Wellington sent a letter to the Foreign Office in London. This is what it said.

I want to ask the same question the Duke of Wellington asked, "What are we here for?" We need to get it settled in our hearts and minds that we are at war. Some Christians seem to have a problem with such a statement, but understand that whether we like it or not, war has been declared on US by Satan and his kingdom.

Please read 2 Samuel 23:8-17 This chapter tells us about some of David's mighty men. (In Old Testament times, the mighty men were the most valiant warriors) Firstly there was Josheb-Bosshebeth, The Tahchmonite - Tachmonite means "shrewd and wise". He was "chief among the captains", literally translated "head of the highest of three ranks of generals" ("Hebrew shayliysh"). He was also called Adino the Eznite -which, translated, means "a sharp, strong, slender spear". We can also read some of the exploits of Shammah and Eleazar in this passage.

However, the main part of this chapter I want to draw your attention to is verses 14 to 17: David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David said with longing, "Oh that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!" So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. And he said, "Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?" Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men.

You see, God is establishing His kingdom, and Jesus is building a church to help Him rule this kingdom, and He is looking for mighty men and women after the order of David's mighty men - those who are consumed with a reckless passion for His Son and His Kingdom. With a boldness to "break through" the enemy lines and take back that which has been stolen. Those with a burning zeal to see this kingdom established. Those that won't shrink back. Those willing to lay down their lives.

We are told these men came to David during his time in the cave of Adullam, a time in David's life when he was hiding in the wilderness (see also 1 Sam. 22:1). These men had a vision in their hearts of the coming kingdom, they knew David was the anointed king, and they had a place in his kingdom, they believed that the day of his power was coming. And they were willing to endure the days in the wilderness and constant skirmishes with the enemy for that which they saw ahead, by faith. Jesus endured the Cross for the joy that awaited Him (Heb.12:2) These men had counted the cost and were prepared to pay it. Paul said "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, and be found in Him, …..that I may know Him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" (Phil 3:10)

David as their commander knew the price they had been prepared to pay to bring Him their sacrificial offering - that's why he poured the water out on the earth as a drink offering to the Lord. This had become to him no ordinary water because of what it had cost - he said it had become to him like the very blood of his men. It had cost three of his bravest warriors their natural human will to preserve their lives. David understood they were prepared to lay down their lives for him and his kingdom.

Now, with that in mind, let's take a look at Luke 22:39-45,

You know, just as David understood the cost of that water, so too does Jesus know well the cost of what He asks of us, because He's walked the path before us. Don't ever let anyone tell you that what Jesus went through in Gethsemane was due to fear of the Cross - it was something much more profound. I believe He was fighting the major spiritual battle of His life on earth, and He was fighting for us. Look again at V. 44 "and being in agony" . Think about it for a minute. The Greek word used here is "agonia", meaning literally a struggle, anguish, agony. The Oxford dictionary describes agony as "severe suffering, great sorrow or pain".

This was spiritual warfare of the highest order. There was a battle raging in the heavenlies over the souls of the human race. And there was also a battle raging over the human will of Jesus. And Jesus stayed there in that place of submission and agony until the battle going on in His will over whether He would lay down His life was won: by the Spirit of God. He stayed there until His will became one with the Father's.

I believe when David poured out the water from the well at Bethlehem it was a prophetic picture and forerunner of Jesus pouring out His blood that night at Gethsemane. It tells us in 2 Samuel 23:13 it was harvest time, doesn't it? Just as water needs to soak into the earth to bring forth the natural harvest, so did the blood sweat and tears of Jesus fall and soak into the ground to bring forth a spiritual harvest of souls from the earth. The battle of Calvary was fought and won at Gethsemane. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44)

Jesus, our Commander in Chief, has fought with His enemy and ours, Satan, to the point of surrendering His life. He has earned the right to be called our Commander in Chief, the Lord of Hosts, God Almighty. The Bible tells us an angel came and strengthened Him - we can always expect angel activity when we are involved in spiritual warfare, because the battle is fought in the heavenlies. The Blood of the Son of God fell as a sacrifice to the ground for us as He waged, alone, the most intense battle against Satan ever seen in the heavenlies; and in pouring out His Blood He gained authority for all eternity over the enemy, on our behalf.

But while Jesus fought this most intense spiritual battle of all time, the disciples slept. It tells us in Matthew 26:37 that Jesus took with him to the place where He prayed 3 of His mighty men - Peter, James and John. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

Back again in Luke 22:45: When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. The disciples slept from sorrow, or grief (the original Greek word, lupe, also means heaviness and grief.) They were so weighed down and consumed by their own perspective they failed to see the bigger picture. They were called to be mighty men of the kingdom, yet they slept while the battle raged about them. Many of Jesus' disciples are still doing the same thing.

So again I ask you to consider: "What are we here for?" Are we in danger of sleeping while the battle rages around us? Spiritual muscle is developed on the battlefield, not on the church pew.

Joel 3:9-10 says this: Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears,lLet the weak say "I am strong".

At the beginning of World War Two, Winston Churchill sent a messenger to his military commander in Europe Lord Louis Mountbatten that said "You are to plan for the offensive. In your headquarters you will never think defensively." In warfare there are only 4 possible attitudes we can take- offence, defence, negotiation, or desertion. And there's only one of those the enemy fears. Can you guess which one it is?

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Matthew 11:12. To give a wider perspective, here is the same verse from the Amplified Version: And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force (as a precious prize, a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion). Do you like that one? Doesn't sound like sleeping disciples, does it?

A true warrior knows there are two crucial decisions that every active soldier has to face. The first is this: Is this cause worth me fighting and suffering for? The second is this: Is this cause worth laying down my life for? Once having those issues settled, at that point he changes from an an enlisted soldier into a warrior. And nothing will stop him from advancing, and nothing will separate him from his cause.

If you have ever had to really fight hard for something or on someone else's behalf - perhaps an injustice done to someone close to you, you know how protective you feel about that situation. You know nothing can change your commitment or the way you feel about it. You will always respond to that cause - something inside you will always rise up to the fight if you see that thing or person for which you've fought threatened in any way. Now, if the Lord both fought for and laid down His life for you, how do you think He feels about you? He will never abandon or let anything come between Him and those for whom He has suffered, fought and overcome. There are many of you who've had to fight on behalf of something or someone no-one else would fight for. At some point you made a decision that this cause was worth fighting, perhaps dying, for. Did you realise the Lord was making a warrior out of you?

The Lord is about to make His church into an army of spiritual warriors like the earth has never seen . It will be an army of overcomers. In every place where Christ addresses His church in the first three chapters of Revelation, He addresses them as overcomers. (Check it out). And how do we overcome the enemy? Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

The Lord wants to commission each and every one of His people as warriors in His Kingdom, but He also wants us to know and count the cost.. The cost is the laying down of our lives.

What's it going to take for us to die to our flesh? I can't tell you what it is for you, you can't tell me what it is for me. Paul Cain a renowned and recognised prophet recently described dying to our flesh this way: "When you are content with any food, any climate, any society, and raiment and any interruption by the will of God, that is dying to self. When you are forgotten or neglected, or purposely set at naught and you don't sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy at being counted worthy to suffer for Christ. When your good is evil spoken of and when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself; when you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularities or any annoyance. When you stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagant spiritual insensibility and endure it as Jesus endured. When you never care to be referred to in conversation or to record your own good works; when you truly love to be unknown; when you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met and you can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God while your needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances. When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and can humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart, that is dying to self."

Are you dead yet? I'm certainly not.

Paul said in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me". There are two things that are very obvious about death by crucifixion - first, it's costly to our flesh; second, it's not fast, it's a process. Paul said "I die daily,(1 Cor. 15:31). Jesus said "If any man will come after Me, let Him deny Himself and take up His cross daily and follow Me" (Luke 9:23)

So, it will cost us and it will be a process. But if we're to become the mighty men and women of the kingdom Jesus wants us to be, it's vital. Before we follow Him to the battlefields, there's a place we have to stop along the way, and it's the same place Jesus went to, - it's the Cross. Do we still want to ride with Jesus?

The Cross is the place where Christ received stripes. And the Cross is also the place where the enlisted soldier receives his stripes, , i.e. he/she is promoted to warrior status. So the Lord would have us first examine our hearts, - can we go to the Cross with Him, so that we can go to the battlefield with Him? Are we prepared pay the cost and to lay down our lives; can we embrace the Cross? If the answer is yes then simply tell Him: "Yes, Lord" if riding with you means going via the Cross, I choose to lay down my plans, my needs, my desires, my life and die to myself, that You might live through me." And expect Him to take you at your word. SELAH

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