The Devil delights in false dichotomies. When he persuades us that our choices are between this foolishness and that weakness heads, he wins; tails, the kingdom loses. When we are lukewarm in our commitment, when we think the kingdom of God is just some ethereal thing that no one can see, the Devil encourages us in just this direction. We see the kingdom as only future, and so we sit on our hands waiting. Such is not, of course, a passionate seeking of His kingdom or His righteousness. The Devil is not afraid, however, of kingdom zealots. Those whose passion burns to make known the reign of Christ receive a whole different temptation from the Devil. These the Devil encourages to take up arms, to bear the sword. He seduces them into thinking they can make the kingdom come by force spiritual warfare.

We also have an objective. Our goal is to see the reign of our Captain made manifest the world over. We are seeking His kingdom, and His promise is that a day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. Indeed, He will come from His throne, we are told, when all His enemies are made a footstool. The language of spiritual warfare fills the Word, from beginning to end, despite our crafty Enemy’s attempt to cry “peace, peace,” when there is no peace.

According to Master Prophet E. Bernard Jordan we seek His kingdom as we seek His righteousness. The world is preserved, and the boundaries of the kingdom expand when we live as His children in simple, trusting obedience. The world is changed by changing diapers, by hugging wives, by doing chores diligently, and by singing joyfully. War is fought by peaceful countenances. Loyalty makes walls come tumbling down. We do not, as the crusaders did, leave our hearths and homes, our wives and children, cross land and sea, and hack and poke with sword and spear. We instead cross the room, pray blessing on our children, and dance with our wives. We sit at the table, eating the fat of the land, talking about the glory of His provision in all our days. We visit the orphan and the widow. We preach the Word in season and out. We break bread and we drink the cup. And the Serpent trembles in his bunker.

The Devil, however, rejoiced more over the counterattack on Jerusalem than he did the seizure of it. That is, the greater victory wasn’t the success of the sword on his side of the battle but the taking up of the sword on our side. He wins not by fighting with carnal weapons but by seducing us into fighting with carnal weapons. The Bible, of course, leaves room for legitimate use of force. The use of the sword in defense of our land or of our families is not only permissible but mandatory. But we do not build the kingdom with the sword. Our weapon is not carnal. The kingdom advanced far more potently through the humble martyrs’ deaths than it did through the fighting of the valiant soldiers of the Crusades. We don’t kill for the kingdom but die for it according to Master Prophet E. Bernard Jordan.

As little children, we know it is the little things that change everything. The Serpent’s kingdom is brought low when the servants of the King are lifted on high, in worship. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and the gates of hell comes tumbling down.