We Are the Resistance
It really does not take much to spark a thought for a new article. This article took a split second to conceive. Elsewhere a kind soul sent me a brief message which included these words: “God Bless you and your family Bill Muehlenberg. You are a voice for the truth and such a critical part of the resistance.” I thought right away, “Yes, exactly – we ARE the Resistance!”
What a great concept. As C. S. Lewis once said, “When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.” That is exactly the situation we find ourselves in today. The entire world is plunging over the edge – and far too much of the church as well – and we are the Resistance shouting “Stop! Wrong way! Turn back!”
There are many historical examples of the Resistance in action. Immediately the French Resistance springs to mind of course. It is not normally my practice to quote from Wikipedia, but in this case I will make an exception and cite the opening paragraphs of its article on this:
“The French Resistance (French: la Résistance ‘the Resistance’) is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II. Résistance cells were small groups of armed men and women (called the Maquis in rural areas), who, in addition to their guerrilla warfare activities, were also publishers of underground newspapers, providers of first-hand intelligence information, and maintainers of escape networks that helped Allied soldiers and airmen trapped behind enemy lines. The men and women of the Résistance came from all economic levels and political leanings of French society, including émigrés; conservative Roman Catholics, including priests; and citizens from the ranks of liberals, anarchists, and communists.
“The French Resistance played a significant role in facilitating the Allies’ rapid advance through France following the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, and the lesser-known invasion of Provence on 15 August, by providing military intelligence on the German defenses known as the Atlantic Wall and on Wehrmacht deployments and orders of battle. The Résistance also planned, coordinated, and executed acts of sabotage on the electrical power grid, transportation facilities, and telecommunications networks. It was also politically and morally important to France, both during the German occupation and for decades afterward, because it provided the country with an inspiring example of the patriotic fulfillment of a national imperative, countering an existential threat to French nationhood. The actions of the Résistance stood in marked contrast to the collaboration of the regime based at Vichy.
“After the landings in Normandy and Provence, the paramilitary components of the Résistance were organized more formally, into a hierarchy of operational units known, collectively, as the French Forces of the Interior (FFI). Estimated to have a strength of 100,000 in June 1944, the FFI grew rapidly, doubling by the following month, and reaching approximately 400,000 by October of that year. Although the amalgamation of the FFI was, in some cases, fraught with political difficulties, it was ultimately successful, and it allowed France to rebuild a reasonably large army (1.2 million men) by VE Day in May 1945.”
I love using illustrations from the Second World War because it fits in so nicely with biblical truth. We too are living in occupied territory. The enemy, Satan, has stormed into this world and conquered huge swathes of it, taking illegal possession of it. We are the Resistance, fighting back, seeking to retake occupied territory.
We too are a small minority, but we have guts, persistence, determination and zeal. We will prevail. Sure, there will be plenty of casualties along the way, and the toll will be very heavy indeed. But all wars are costly, and all conflicts involve self-sacrifice, bravery, and a willingness to die for the cause.
It is above all a spiritual battle, but as I have pointed out hundreds of times here, this battle takes place on all sorts of levels: political, social, cultural, moral, intellectual, philosophical, ideological, and so on. And at the moment the other side is winning big time in all these arenas.
According to plan in fact, the radicals and social activists have taken over all the key institutions of power and influence in the West and are now calling the shots. They basically control our schools, media, and courts. They are ensconced in all the key areas: politics, education, pop culture, even the churches.
So we are the Resistance. We have a huge job to do. We are here as Christ’s ambassadors to take back planet earth for Christ and the Kingdom. It is his world after all, and we are called to reclaim lost territory. With Christ victory is assured, but we are his foot soldiers, and our task is great and the need of the hour is urgent.
Christians need to get out of their very narrow little world and see beyond their pet concerns, and start grasping the big picture here. We are in a war. And in a war, no one had the luxury of sitting on a fence, and no one can waste time on trivial pursuits.
This is a real war with real casualties. Christians need to snap out of their slumber and get their battle gear on. They need to get onto the front lines pronto and start doing their bit, with the help of God and the power of the Holy Ghost. We dare not shrink back from this, or just sit around playing our little games.
A global world war is on. The enemy is roaring and taking loads of prisoners and killing many. Yet much of the church is snoozing through this entire war. Most believers have no idea what is going on all around them. They have to understand the times, and get some strategic awareness here. As C. S. Lewis put it in Mere Christianity – written during war time (WWII):
“This universe is at war. It is a civil war, a rebellion, and … we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel. Enemy-occupied territory – that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going.”
Yes, we are the Resistance. Do you know that? Are you proud of that fact? Are you fighting the good fight? Are you reclaiming lost territory from the enemy for the glory of God and the good of those who will come after us? If not, why not?
Viva la Resistance!
[1150 words]
Sadly, I may be one of the few Christians who call this war what Scripture calls it. The War of Gog and Magog. This war is led by none other than Satan himself. Revelation tells us that after a long period of imprisonment, Satan is released (notice he does not escape, he is released indicating that God knows exactly what is going on) and according to the text he immediately goes out and starts deceiving the nations at the four corners of the Earth to gather them together for battle. This deception has one target: the inciting of the nations against God, Christ and the Church. It is the sole purpose of Satan-Gog. He doesn’t care about getting people to worship him, he knows that’s impossible. He doesn’t care about getting people to take some mark. He just wants God out of the minds of the people. He wants every mention of God stifled. He wants Christians DEAD or relegated to irrational idiots who make no sense in the ‘light’ of modern science and human ability.
There are parallels between Ezekiel’s prophecy and John’s prophecy, but they are not exactly the same. John compares the situation just before the Last Day to what Ezekiel says.
Gog is called the ‘chief prince’ of Magog, which in the light of John’s prophecy identifies him as none other than Satan himself and not a human entity. He is the anti-Michael. Michael is the chief prince of the people of God, Satan is the chief prince of the wicked. Ezekiel calls the target of Gog ‘the Land of Unwalled villages’. And so the Church is. An unwalled village is totally unprotected against the attacks of its enemies. It is the job of the leaders of a village to see to its defense. The Church’s leaders have by and large failed us. Instead, they have lead the Church into apostasy and apathy with false teaching. Ezekiel says Gog sees this target as ‘a prey’. And so we are. Even the most faithful amongst us seems to have fallen into the idea that the Church is only to save souls and nothing else and because of this teaching, our governmental institutions have abandoned all pretense of Christian rule in favor of humanism and the Humanist Manifesto II.
Ed Sumner
Well said, Bill. We sure do have a big job to do. Part of last night’s sermon at our church included the fact that there is an entire generation of people who have never heard of Jesus and honestly do not know the real reason for Christmas!
Alison Stanley
Here are the amazing stories of two female resistance fighters from WWII. Their incredible exploits of bravery and compassion need to be told far and wide. They can encourage us to also do great things:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/12/09/tales-from-the-resistance/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
WOW! What an excellent analogy – the French Resistance. And, the ‘methods and sources’ that were used were the tools used to expand the Resistance. Our ‘methods and sources’ are shaking off once and for all this debilitating reticence in the Body of Christ to boldly share the GOSPEL to everyone (our method), utilizing the Word of God (our source): “… For the word of God is living and full of power, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through and making a division even of the soul and the spirit … ” Awake! Awake! Awake!
Mary Ann Wright
Yesterday in church, hearing the New Testament reading, I found myself wondering how long clergy would be allowed to quote John the Baptist’s description of the Pharisees – “You brood of vipers” – before the local human-rights Gestapo arrested them for “hate speech” and “discrimination” against the “self-esteem” of the “reptile community.”
R. J. Stove, Melbourne
We also have been and still may be — and actually are in many places — known as counter revolutionaries!
Elizabeth Kendal
Elizabeth Kendal makes a good point. To anyone reading this website who has not encountered the writings of Joseph de Maistre – the man who is credited with having coined, in the early 19th century, the term “counter-revolution” – I can thoroughly recommend them. (I am sure Mr Muehlenberg is conversant with them.) There is a phrase from (I think) Maistre’s Russian travelogue in which his travelling companion says, contemplating some horror or other:
“This is an abyss in which it is better not to look.”
To which Maistre sadly replies:
“My friend, we are not free not to look.”
Which is our position exactly. We are not free not to look. Not free to opt out. Unless, of course, we consider our baptismal promises to be arrant lies.
R. J. Stove, Melbourne
Well said, indeed we are the avant-garde of the resistance. But not only Christians need to become part of this fight. All civil-minded Australians who are concerned about the future of our next generations must realise it is time to either join or support this struggle. This is for the survival of Western civilisation as we know it. If you don’t understand the seriousness of what we are faced with, you are part of the problem.
Whether you are Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist or Agnostic does not matter. Even Atheists will be much worse off if this unholy concoction of Socialism, militant multiculturalism and Islamic supremacism would succeed in destroying our society from within. In the end the ruthless soldiers of Allah would make short process with their current enablers, but by then it is too late for everyone else. So speak up, tell the truth as you see it and don’t be afraid to be called unsavoury names by the herd. We need an army of fearless civil heroes.
Ralph Sherman