The difference between defensive and offensive warfare is this: in defensive warfare, I have got the ground and only seek to keep it, whereas in offensive warfare, I have not got the ground and I am fighting to get it. That is precisely the difference between the warfare waged by the Lord Jesus Christ and the warfare waged by us. His was offensive; ours, in essence, is defensive. Christ battled against Satan in order to gain the victory through the Cross. He carried that warfare to the very threshold of Hell itself, and He was victorious. Today, we war against Satan only to maintain and consolidate the victory that He had already gained by the Resurrection. God proclaimed Christ His Son victor over the whole realm of darkness, and the ground Christ triumphed, He has given to us. We do not need to fight to gain it; we only need to hold it against all challenges.
The Christian lives in a spiritual warfare. But to be successful in war, you have to have a plan. What is God’s plan for us as His children to execute? Are we to attack, or are we to defend? And in either case, what are we supposed to attack or defend? Hello and welcome back to ‘Tried and True with Paul Cheng’. Today, Pastor Paul unpacks the idea in Philippians chapter 4 verse 1 which says, “stand fast in the Lord.” What are we believers to stand on? The answer seems to lie in chapter 3, and so pastor paul will revise and frame what we’ve already covered in a new way, with the goal of helping us answer the question: “How do you stand fast?” Here’s Pastor Paul.
That was Paul Cheng in his series on the epistle to the philippians.
3 things that we must stand firmly upon: The virtue of Christ’s Death, the power of Christ’s Resurrection and promise of Christ’s Second Coming. each of them having practical implications for our lives.
I think having gone through the 3rd chapter of philippians, it’s interesting to see how all of what the Apostle Paul has walked us through were really the pillars of a faithful Christian mindset. Ultimately, the onus is on us as recipients of these blessings to live accordingly, in light of all that is already ours, and will be ours in the imminent future.
Thank you again for joining us today. I’m your host Joshua Nah and next week Pastor Paul gives us yet another spiritual key: how to maintain Christian unity. If you’re serving zealously alongside fellow believers, you’ll know that differences and disputes will arise from time to time. How do you handle these? Is there a solution to all these things? It is possible that we need to change the way we think about our fellow-labourers in the work of the Lord? Find out next week, here, ‘on Tried and True.’