Song: 'Gonna die on the battlefield, die in the war'

3. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of all before His judgment seat;
O be swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on. --"Battle Hymn of the Republic," first published in February, 1862 by The Atlantic Monthly.

Headlines online today were about how Emmanuel Macron said France is facing its "toughest situation since World War II."

As the London Telegraph reported: "Mr. Macron told workers: 'We have a situation that is more difficult than at any time since the Second World War. We must be realistic: the coming weeks will be tough, and we must persevere. The key is urgency, resilience.'

"A new heatwave bringing temperatures of 40C is expected to hit France within the next 24 hours . . .  Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Spanish interior minister, told reporters: 'Today and tomorrow are absolutely decisive days, because from Wednesday the weather forecasts become highly unfavourable for firefighting efforts.' "

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My pastor's son, Rick Jordan Jr., who is the longtime pastor of Southwest Bible Fellowship in Tempe, Ariz., used his speaking time at the Chicago Bible conference last week to remind us in an infectious, passionate way that we are at war.

He even started his message saying he wished the songs sang earlier in the meeting had included, "I'm in the Lord's Army":

 I may never march in the infantry,

ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery;
I may never zoom o'er the enemy,
but I'm in the Lord's army.
I'm in the Lord's army.
I'm in the Lord's army.
I may never march in the infantry,
ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery;
I may never zoom o'er the enemy,
but I'm in the Lord's army.

Jordan Jr. emphasized at the start, "One of the definitions of the Lord is war, dissension. The Lord in Matthew 10 said: [34] Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

"In Exodus, Moses calls the LORD Jehovah 'a man of war.'

(Note: Exodus 15 begins: [1] Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

[2] The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.
[3] The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.)

"You think about Revelation 19. He's not coming back singing 'Woo-woo-woo, everybody get along.' He's coming back taking aim! War.

Revelation 19: [11] And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

"Look further: [15] And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

[16] And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

"I mean, He's not coming along to hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya.' He's coming back to do what? To make war.

*****

"What's the church at large look like? It looks like II Timothy. I'm a firm believer that II Timothy 3 is talking about the church the Body of Christ. I don't need chapter 3 to be about the world; I've got Romans 1 to know what the world looks like.

"What's happened in II Timothy 3? They've lost the war; they've lost the conflict. Look at II Timothy 2: [14] Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

"What have we been studying about all week? The Word, the w-o-r-d-s, inspired words, preserved words, translated words, life-giving words.

"What are they doing in verse 14? They're talking about 'words to no profit.' That's the warfare. We need to know the weapon of choice, do we not? We need to know what we're going to be doing in this warfare, which is spiritual and doctrinal--to get your thinking out of where it should never have gone to begin with and that's verse 15:

[15] Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

"If you've ever handled weaponry, you learn how to break it down. You learn how to use it. You learn how to manipulate it. You learn how to put in the sheath and pull it out.

Hebrews 4: [12] For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

"What are you going to do with your sword? You're going to study it. That's our great duty. God's approval is our aim, is it not?

"Do you know if you study Matthew, Mark, Luke and John there's no approval there? I didn't say you didn't learn something; it's just that's not where God's working today. He's working here (in the dispensation of grace). Our one great goal is to be "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed."