WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE?

Who is on the Lord's side?

Who will serve the King?

Who will be His helpers?

Other lives to bring?

Who will leave the world's side?

Who will face the foe?

Who is on the Lord's side?

Who for Him will go?

By Thy grand redemption,

By Thy grace divine,

We are on the Lord's side,

Saviour, we are thine.

Fierce may be the conflict, 

Strong may be the foe, 

But the King's own army,

None can overthrow.

Round His standard ranging

Victory is secure,

For His truth unchanging

Makes the triumph sure.

Chosen to be soldiers

in an alien land;

Chosen, called and faithful,

For our Captain's band;

In the service royal,

Let us not grow cold, 

Let us be right loyal, 

noble, true and bold.

The above represents verses 1, 4 and 5 together with the chorus from the rousing old hymn, "Who Is On The Lord's Side?" written by English Christian poet and hymn writer, Frances R. Havergal. She wrote the hymn somewhere around 1877.

    The words of the hymn remind us of the fact that all Christians are enlisted in an army, soldiers of the Cross, and as such, should be giving full allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Bible says is "the Captain of our salvation." Hebrews 2:10; Joshua 5:13-15

Rick Joyner, the Founder and Executive Director of MorningStar Ministries, a multi-faceted missions organisation based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, has stated in several of his more than fifty books that "the end-time body of Christ would become an army. God uses the title "Lord of Hosts" or "Lord of Armies" more than ten times more than all the other titles combined. He is a martial God. We must understand this aspect of His nature and how His people are going to conform to it. To do this, we must understand the many ways in which human martial demeanour is not the same as God's martial demeanour. As we read in Isaiah 55:8,9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts," says the Lord. NKJV

In the Old Testament times, the people of Israel, God's chosen people, fought many physical wars. The Book of Joshua is a book outlining their conquest of Canaan, the Promised Land, although at the close of the book, the land had not been completely conquered. There were great victories, when the people were obedient to the Lord and took direction from their Commander, Joshua - as in the defeat of Jericho through a strategy which had to be from God. Who would have thought that marching around the city once every day for six days in silence, then marching round seven times the seventh day, after which the priests would blow their trumpets (shofars) and the people would raise a shout - would result in in the wall of the city being levelled, enabling it to be conquered? That is exactly what happened, though! Amazing! God's ways are indeed higher than our ways.

The Lord God had indeed had indeed promised His servant, Joshua, in Joshua 1:3 "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses."

Sadly, Israel suffered defeats though, just as spectacular as the victories, when they walked in disobedience to the Lord, or sought direction from sources which were not Godly.

The title of this blog post "Who Is On The Lord's Side?" is originally a question posed by Moses, who preceded Joshua as the God-appointed leader of the children of Israel.

Moses had been on Mount Sinai in the presence of the LORD, where he received the Ten Commandments, supernaturally engraved on two stone tablets - as well as instructions on building the Tabernacle, a movable structure, where the priests would offer sacrifices, and also where the Ark of the LORD would dwell in the Most Holy Place, a compartment in the tabernacle where only the high priest could enter - and that only once a year "not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance;

the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience -

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,

how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Hebrews 9:7-14 NKJV

Moses came down from the mountain, with the Ten Commandments to find the children of Israel paying homage to a golden calf fashioned from items of gold provided by the people - under the direction of Aaron, the brother of Moses, worshipping and making sacrifices to this molded image - therein breaking the first and second of the ten commandments. Exodus 20:1-6

Moses, jealous for the honour of the Lord God, burned the golden calf in the fire, ground it into powder and scattered it over the water. After rebuking his brother, Aaron for allowing this idol worship to occur, Moses lifted his voice in the camp and asked loudly: "Who is on the LORD's side? - come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. Exodus 34:26 NKJV

TO BE CONTINUED