Project Description

2015/01

“When the enemy shall come in like a flood,
the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up
a standard against him.”

Isaiah 59:19

The people of God face hostile foes on route to glory. While they attack under many guises, their commander in chief is the god of this world. His storm troops, like a wall of flood waters, threaten all who stand in their way. Just as a flood is violent and swift in its action, strong in its motion and incessant in its flow, so are the floods of ungodliness that break upon those in Christ’s Kingdom. Satan casts forth floods of temptation, persecution and corruption that even reach into the heart. The pride, carnality and unbelief so often found there are his accomplices and greatly assist him in achieving his goal.

How may such an onslaught be stemmed?  It is only by ‘lifting up a standard’ (Isaiah 59:19). Christ is that standard or ensign for “there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10). Satan’s Kingdom can only be ruined and its strongholds pulled down by the lifting up of Christ. Where there is a full and faithful testimony for Christ in opposition to the works of darkness, there the standard is set forth. In the field of battle the victorious general raised his standard as an evidence of the enemy’s defeat. So a risen and glorified Saviour is a signal of His victory over all the powers of Hell. The movement of the standard, going before an army, gave direction to the soldiers when they marched. Christ is given for ‘a leader and commander to the people’ (Isaiah 55:4) and by seeing Him, the saints of God will know the way to take, the course to follow and the pitfalls to avoid on their homeward march. Thus Paul exhorts believers to run their race with patience ‘looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of their faith’ (Hebrews12:1,2).

This royal standard must have a standard bearer or else it is hidden from view. It is the work of the Spirit to testify of Christ. Only He can reveal Christ to the eye of faith. Where the love of Christ is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit, and the glory of Christ revealed, the assaults of the devil cannot prevail. A sight of Christ inspires the soul with courage and strength to oppose the enemy when he comes in like a flood. Satan knows he is no match for Christ. His head bears the mark of Christ’s heel which has given him a wound that will never heal. When Christ takes the field, the devil loses heart and gives way. Many dangerous floods are raging today with little or no restraint – worldliness, lukewarmness, apostasy. Have we not grieved and quenched the Spirit by our disobedience? The result is an unclear view of Christ, and so we walk in darkness and have no true light. May we all experience the lifting up of the standard in us and over us in this New Year, so that when the enemy rallies his forces we have the assurance that He is faithful that promised!

Rev Leslie Curran.