Our Banner
But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner…
Psalm 60:4
In a time of national religious apathy a challenge came to the people of Israel, one that forced them to return to God in repentance, asking for His help. He responded with grace, mercy, and deliverance. This pattern is actually the typical historical pattern of all of God’s people — God blesses us and leads us into a period of peace and prosperity, in our ease and comfort we forget our God and trouble comes upon us, then we repent and turn to God for deliverance, and God sends deliverance and leads us into another era of blessing. The entire book of Judges reveals this pattern, as does the whole history of Israel and Judah. And it also comes down to national church bodies across the world, and to individual Christians as well.
A banner was raised for God. On the battlefields of the world across the centuries, all except the last one hundred years or so after the advent of modern weapons of great destruction, a banner or a flag was raised to rally the troops, to show unity, progress, and hope. This is the image given to us in this verse. God sends to His people a sign of His grace and favor and strength, to which we flock together.
The banner is the Lord, not the human leader. Leaders must point to the Lord, take leadership from the Lord, honor the Lord, and depend upon Him. Christian leadership must stand behind the cross, letting people see Jesus and not themselves. Every Christian will feel compelled by the Spirit and by the new person created within them, to follow after the Lord and to honor Him with their lives. When Christ is exalted the people of God rejoice.
The banner brings unity. Christ is our rallying point and His grace is our rallying cry. We unite in the gospel of Christ, that He died and rose again, that He is Lord over all, especially over His people, the Church. We unite in the mission that He has given to us, to take the gospel to the ends of the world. We unite over the power of the Word of God in the believer’s life.
The banner brings purpose. In a battle, the banner raised on the battlefield was a call to arms, not to sanction and rest. It was raised so that the forces might advance against the enemy. And the Lord raises His banner of Christ and the Cross of Christ to call us to enter into the spiritual warfare that is around us. A Christian fellowship will often enjoy brief periods of peace and rest, times of fellowship and joy, but these are only brief respites from the spiritual battle. The rest of heaven will be entered into only at the end of the age, and not before. While we are here on earth we are on mission for Christ, and must always keep that in mind.
Our banner promises victory. Christ said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The only victorious life on earth today is the life of the believer in Christ. Every other type of living — whether materialistic, philosophical, religious, secular, socio-economic, class-conflict, or lustful — is inferior to the life of the common believer in Christ. Christ came that we might have life and have it to the full. And though this world troubles us, we can find new life in Him even here, and the promise of perfect life in Him for eternity.
Whenever we see the sign of the cross, we should regard this as our banner raised on the battlefield of spiritual conflict in this world. Let us rally to it, and to Christ, and find in Him our unity, our purpose, our mission, and our victory.
