All Christians can see that the earth is filled with spiritual darkness. It appears, however, that not all Christians understand God is going to redeem, or buy back, the earth to Himself.

But He is! The price has been paid—the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. But the landlord will not surrender the property even though the price of redemption has been paid.

The answer is force. The earth and its nations must be taken from Satan by force.

The battle in which Satan and all his followers will be driven from the earth is termed the Battle of Armageddon. Armageddon is an area near Jerusalem, probably a plain somewhat to the north although there is some dispute over this.

The exact location of Armageddon is not important to know in the present hour. What is important is the preparation of Christ's soldiers, His holy ones, for the battle.

We may think all believers will appear with Christ and battle the enemy in that day. This is not the case. The army of the Lord will be an elite striking force, highly trained in spiritual combat.

There will be an actual battle. Most Evangelical Christians in America today are nowhere near being ready for the Battle of Armageddon. But God is calling to us now, and whoever will choose to do so may enter the preparations for the Battle of Armageddon.

In the symbolism of the Old Testament the giving of the Law of Moses on Mount Sinai represents the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we term "Pentecost." The law of the new covenant is the Holy Spirit Himself.

Two events took place after the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. One event was the constructing of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. The other event was the organizing of the tribes of Israel into an army in preparation for the invasion of Canaan, the land of promise.

Obviously Canaan cannot symbolize Heaven, since the Lord's people will not be organized into an army in order to invade Heaven. Canaan represents all that God intends to give His people, including change into the image of Christ, rest in the center of God's Person, and then the earth and its nations. These are the goal of our redemption, not eternal residence in the spirit Heaven that surrounds us and is above us. The spirit Heaven is rather a staging area for the army of the Lord.

The Christian churches have been at Pentecost during the twentieth century. Now it is time to build the Body of Christ, the counterpart of the building of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and to organize the Christians into the army of the Lord. I think this building and organizing is taking place among the deceased believers also, for we all shall ride together behind Jesus Christ in the Day of the Lord.

We need to get a sense of the whole Body of Christ, those of us on the earth and the great majority with Christ in the spirit realm. I believe what happens to the one happens to the other. Otherwise we could not all come together to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the stature of the fullness of Christ.

To be continued.