Page 36 - The Gate and the Way

We Wrestle Not Against Flesh and Blood...

Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood...

This series has focused upon the necessity of Christ’s disciples to experience suffering.
In perhaps a majority of circumstances the sufferings of Christ’s disciples come to them
through the hands of other men and women. There is a natural enmity between the natural
descendants of Adam and the spiritual descendants of Christ. This enmity was viewed as
far back as the strife that existed between Cain and Abel, and between Ishmael and Isaac.
This enmity continues on to this day.
The disciples of Christ should not be surprised that it is those who confess faith in
Christ who are their chief persecutors. It was those who swore allegiance to Yahweh who
crucified the Son whom He loved. Yahshua said this same state of things would persist
throughout the church age.

John 16:1-2
“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They
will put you out of the synagogues (churches); yes, the time is coming that whoever
kills you will think that he offers God service.”

Who is it that thinks they offer God service except those who claim to be His servants?
Yahshua is declaring to His disciples that the very ones who profess obedience to God will
become their persecutors. It is Christians who will arise more than any others to inflict
reproaches and suffering upon Christ’s disciples in this day. They will quote Scriptures as
they do so, and present evidence that what they are doing is the will of God.
Yahweh has revealed to me that He has called me to serve as a pioneer and explorer
for others of His sons and daughters. He has led me down an afflicted path for these past
12 years that I might serve as a guide, instructor, and encourager to a much larger number
of His children who must walk a similar course in these last days. I do not share my
experiences to boast of those things I have passed through. Rather, I share them to reveal
to my brothers and sisters what Christian discipleship looks like in this hour in a nation
such as America.
There are no experiences that the Spirit of Christ has led me through that were not
common to the early church. The first disciples’ experiences are recorded for us in the New
Testament. We have previously read that Christ’s disciples suffered many things. They were
made a reproach and spectacle before religious and secular people. Some had their
possessions confiscated. Others were imprisoned. They were put out of the synagogues.
Some suffered beatings, while others were put to death. The sufferings of Christ were
shared abundantly among those who accepted Christ’s invitation to “Come, take up your
cross, and follow Me.”
Over time the church at large has drifted away from discipleship, having replaced it
with confession of Christ as Savior. The Lordship of Christ is no longer observed in the lives
of most who profess to be Christians. There is no surrender, no yielding of one’s life to
“follow the Lamb where He goes.” Because of this, very little of the sufferings of Christ are
known to this generation.