Ephesians 5.16 Then a standard will be raised and will cause the enemy to flee. That is why he is calling standard bearers in his church in these last days. So the symbolism in that verse is raising a flag like a soldier going to battle to cause the enemy to flee on our behalf. Flags can be used in intercession. I gave a flag to a pastor in Iowa, and they wrote back to say that when they would pray as a church over their missionaries, if they would pray for the missionaries'health, they would get out the green flag for healing and pray.
And the pastor said, I could feel a release for... healing when the flags came out there was a church here in Indiana not too far from here that sponsored a citywide prayer prayer meeting for the city and the person who coordinated wrote to me and said a person came out waving the black flag And prayed, God, if your judgment is needed, we pray repentance. Then they got out the red flag and prayed that the blood of Jesus would cover them, that they would be able to withstand the judgment in their city. Then a green flag was waved and restoration was prayed for.
And then she said the most dramatic was when the white flag was waved because for them the white flag had become to be known as a flag of surrender. to God. And as they waved the white flag in surrender, they stretched it out like a canopy over the pastors of the city and the ministers and city officials.
And she said that she received a report even after that, that God was continuing to work surrender in their lives and in individuals that day. So that was an example of how flags were used in intercession for a city. Now we're the bride, aren't we, the church, and the bride is called to action.
We know in Song of Songs 6, 4, and in verse 10, he says, Who is she that looks forth as the morning, and as fair as the moon, clear and pure as the sun, and terrible as an army of banners? Twice. Who is it? That's the bride of Christ.
Twice the bride of Christ is called a terrible army with banners. So we're given a prophetic picture here of a bride, his church, that's a warrior with flags. And Jesus, our bridegroom, is also a warrior.
Exodus 15.3 says, The Lord is a mighty man of war. The Lord is his name. He is Jehovah Nisi, the Lord our banner.
You know, the only way we can resist the devil is by his name and by his blood. And our flags represent all those things that we have in Christ. By the colors, by the design, designs so let's talk about Jehovah Nisi it's one of the Covenant names of God what significance does that have for us today he named himself our banner That was the title given by Moses to the altar when he erected it on the hilltop after they had won the victory in battle. Moses held up his hands and the enemy was defeated. Exodus 17.11 says it came to pass.
when Moses held up his hands that Israel prevailed. You know, our hands lifted up before the Lord are really our first flags. If you can't raise your hands in church or in worship, you can never wave a flag. And those open hands are a signal to God that we are yielded and open to him. So after the battle was won, Moses named the altar Jehovah Nissi, the Lord is my banner.
Why did he do that? Because, it says literally, because hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord. The Lord will be at war with the enemy from generation to generation.
So what Jehovah Nissi means for us today is that he is our banner of victory in all our battles Because he knew from generation to generation that we would be in a spiritual battle. So he says he is our banner of victory. And now in this time when God is raising up standard bearers, that becomes so much more clear than in the ages past or just in the American church in the past.
We can now see a picture of him raising up a standard being our banner for victory in all our days. spiritual battles speaking of battles I want to show you the battle flag this flag represents the battle belongs to the Lord from our side we see just the army green color and a boy of red representing of course the blood of Jesus and on the other side is the burst of glory the side we don't always see when we're in battle but we take by faith that God has won our battles these flags make the sound of the of the warring angels coming in Another symbol. Whew. Another symbol.
Yes, Lord. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty. He sends his warring angels in to do battle on our behalf, and that's symbolic of the battle belonging to him, and that he will send his angels.
We don't fight the battles, our flags don't fight the battles, but we raise a banner in victory, saying that he has already won all of our battles. I gave a battle flag like this to a pastor in Ohio who was having real struggles in his church. And they had a prayer meeting to decide what God wanted them to do to take care of the problems.
And an intercessor brought out one of these battle flags. And the pastor's wife told me afterwards, she said, when the battle flag came out, something happened. A prophetic word came forth that they were to move their church to another city. Well, that's pretty big. That's a pretty big change.
But they believed with the presence of the Lord there, and they believed the word was from the Lord, they did move to another city, and God has blessed their church. But she said it was the battle flag. A flag is a visual shout. The shofar is the voice of God.
The flag is the hand of God, but also it's in your face. If you've got your ears plugged, you can't hear the shofar, but you can see the flag. It's a visual shout.
and these flags it's not something that's saying oh I love you Lord this is saying because it's not a King James thing it's not a religious thing it's between you and him it's a connection it's a shout and a visual shout like an audible shout It's a weapon of war, shouting, brought down those walls of Jericho. So we can shout with our voice, and we can double it by waving a flag and bring down the enemy's strongholds. Flags invade the enemy's territory because they declare the truth. Remember the verse, I've given you a banner because of the truth?
I've given the banner to them that fear me, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Psalm 60, verse 4. Flags. declare the truth, the truth is light.
Light dispels the darkness, and flags stir the air, proclaiming that into the air, but the air is the enemy's territory. Ephesians 2.2 says Satan is the prince of the power of the air. So a flag is like an offensive weapon going after the enemy in his territory, proclaiming the truth of the word of God, of the blood of Jesus, of the promises. So when a flag is raised in the name of the Lord, it pierces the enemy's domain, making an opening for the light and the truth of God's word for the gospel to come in.
The word says, when we resist the enemy, he has to flee. And resisting the enemy is a matter of our faith, an attitude of our heart, and us pressing into God. We can demonstrate that by the flags that we're waving.
There's an anointing on the flags. I don't know how that works, but I know the Holy Spirit can do what He wants. He put anointing on those claws that Paul wore when he preached and people were healed.