In the Scriptures, Jesus is called the Prince of Peace, and of the increase of His government and peace there is to be no end. (Isaiah 9:7.) In the Sermon on the Mount, the peacemakers are called the sons of God, and, as far as possible, we are to be at peace with all men. (Romans 12:18.)
Nevertheless, for 6,000 years or so, Jesus and those angels loyal to Him have been in a most fierce, bitter conflict. (See Revelation 12:7.) Anyone who wishes to acknowledge Jesus as their Supreme Sovereign, as well as their Saviour from sin, must also enter this conflict. What is this conflict about?
“As the church approaches her final deliverance, Satan is to work with greater power. . . . All the depths of satanic skill and subtlety acquired, all the cruelty developed, during these struggles of the ages, will be brought to bear against God’s people in the final conflict. And in this time of peril the followers of Christ are to bear to the world the warning of the Lord’s second advent; and a people are to be prepared to stand before Him at His coming, ‘without spot, and blameless.’ 11 Peter 3:14.” The Great Controversy, ix, x.
“The apostles were sometimes cast down in the conflict with evil men and evil angels, yet by the grace of God they were enabled to rise and press once more to the front. Their preservation under manifold dangers testified that Jesus lived. Deliverance, support, consolation, and fortitude came to them as they endured suffering for the Redeemer’s sake.” Review and Herald, May 6, 1902.
“The redeemed only, of all created beings, have in their own experience known the actual conflict with sin; they have wrought with Christ, and, as even the angels could not do, have entered into the fellowship of His sufferings.” Education, 308.
“The Christian life is a battle and a march. But the victory to be gained is not won by human power. The field of conflict is the domain of the heart. The battle which we have to fight—the greatest battle that was ever fought by man—is the surrender of self to the will of God, the yielding of the heart to the sovereignty of love. The old nature, born of blood and of the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The hereditary tendencies, the former habits, must be given up.
“He who determines to enter the spiritual kingdom will find that all the powers and passions of an unregenerate nature, backed by the forces of the kingdom of darkness, are arrayed against him. . . . We cannot, of ourselves, conquer the evil desires and habits that strive for the mastery. We cannot overcome the mighty foe who holds us in his thrall. God alone can give us the victory. He desires us to have the mastery over ourselves, our own will and ways. But He cannot work in us without our consent and co-operation. . . .
“The victory is not won without much earnest prayer, without the humbling of self at every step. Our will is not to be forced into co-operation with divine agencies, but it must be voluntarily submitted. Were it possible to force upon you with a hundredfold greater intensity the influence of the Spirit of God, it would not make you a Christian, a fit subject for heaven. The stronghold of Satan would not be broken. The will must be placed on the side of God’s will. You are not able, of yourself, to bring your purposes and desires and inclinations into submission to the will of God; but if you are ‘willing to be made willing,’ God will accomplish the work for you . . . .” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 141, 142.