WE were speaking of Christian conflict on p. 55, addressing ourselves to The conflict with self, and The conflict between the Spin’ of God in us, and our flesh. We now proceed to consider―
The conflict between the believer and Satan.
This conflict is the legitimate, nay, the normal character of Christian warfare. In order to be engaged herein we must be freed from the conflict with self-first spoken of. We could not expect a soldier, tossing about on his bed with fever, to be bearing his sword in the battle front, and so long as we are struggling with ourselves we cannot possibly be engaged in offensive warfare for the Lord. Neither at the time of being engaged in true Christian warfare, should we be in the second character of conflict we have mentioned. We could not expect a soldier who was tampering, with the enemy to be at that time fighting against him. A Christian trifling with the world, and grieving the Spirit of God, has not Him for his energy in the wars of the Lord. Thus a grave, practical question at once opens before us; for if we are not engaged in this third character of conflict, we need inquire the reason.
This Christian conflict is spoken of at the close of the Epistle to the Ephesians. At the beginning of that epistle the marvelous privileges of the Christian are unfolded. The last of its exhortations is that we should take to us the whole armor of God, in order that we may withstand and stand. The spiritual foes of the Christian are mighty, but Christ, his leader, is mightier than them all, and He has given us the Spirit to be our energy and force, for spiritual warfare against these foes.
Look we at the powers of darkness around us, at the growth of superstition, at the spread of infidelity, at the masses of men under the sway of Satan, and, lo, the battlefield spreads out before our spiritual gaze with appalling vastness.
Souls have to be won for Christ. Sinners have to be saved. And God uses His people for this work, and in this work the true soldier of Christ battles on for his Lord.
Again, not only have unsaved souls to be won for Christ, but believers have to be helped. May be, they are led captives by the foe, or they are under evil influences. A false doctrine may possess them; or they may be under the power of some imagination; alas, how many are! By using the word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, in the power of the Spirit, their deliverance will be affected. So few deliverances of Gad’s people from spiritual darkness are effected, because the Holy Spirit is so seldom the only power of the soldier in wielding the word of God. It is His power alone that can deliver; the Christian soldier is nothing in himself. He has no latent power of his own to convince souls; the Scripture, applied by the present unction of the Spirit, is what he needs. Too often Christians pray for power when they should pray to be filled with the Spirit; probably the lack of power rises from their not being so filled. Our subjective state is in question.
If the Christian is an effective soldier, he is a praying man, a truly dependent man, as well as a man of faith: one who trusts in the Lord, and who is strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. In Christ’s strength is the Christian’s success.
What we may term the Christian soldier’s healthiness of spiritual constitution consists of two things. First, a good conscience―no sin indulged in; no sense of sins burdening him. This is called his breastplate. How could he speak of sin to others if he were practicing sinning himself? How could he speak of the pardon of sins if he doubted his own pardon? Second, a heart braced up in the truth of God―that is, the word made experimentally part of himself. This is his girdle. How could he speak of the truth to others, if he were not really and truly upheld by the very truth of which he speaks?
The girdle braces up the loins―the seat of strength. The Christian’s seat of strength is his affections. Some Christians seem to make a wreath out of what should be the girdle, they bind their knowledge about their heads. There is no strength in this!
The way of the true Christian soldier’s steps is that of peace. He is the Lord’s soldier to bring His peace to souls, and to walk through this world in a heavenly spirit as Christ walked. What a blessed warfare is this in this world of strife! How truly is this heavenly conflict! Each blow dealt by the hand that wields the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, is struck in order eventually to produce peace― divine peace.
The wrestling of the Christian soldier is no easy work. We must be right in our souls before God to begin with, and we must be in the Spirit in order to achieve success.
Over all the armor of God wherewith we are clad, we need to have on the left arm the great covering shield of faith. We must not let it drop, or fail for a moment. If we hide under human power, we have dropped the shield of faith in God, and exposed ourselves to a fiery dart of the wicked one. If we rely on our own wisdom, we have exposed ourselves to our wary foe. Let us never forget that his wiles would lead us to carelessness as to the heart-arm, and thus to make us let drop the shield; this done, he can and will plunge in a dart at our hearts.
Satan will cast his fiery darts at the Christian soldier, and all of us get sore wounded at times. He will fling at him lies about God, burning with the fresh flames of hell, but if the Christian has on his arm the shield of faith “over all,” that shield will quench them every one. Faith in God is our defense in this warfare. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is our only offensive weapon, though, indeed, we use it both for defense and offense.
Let us ask a practical question? How are we versed in spiritual sword exercise? Some Christians can hardly find the chapter they wish for, some hardly know where the verse or passage is! Never go to an occasion of religious instruction without your Bible. Never argue about a text or passage till you have read it. Frequently by reading over the text the question in dispute is settled. Again, some sorely confuse one truth with another, and so Satan gets a point of attack. We do not study the word as we ought. The sword of the Spirit is not our own wisdom, but God’s word. “It is written.” is the absolute necessity for meeting Satan at all times, and in no time is this more needful than in our own.
Let none suppose that he can fight for the Lord against the powers of darkness without wounds and without hardships. What should we say of an army in the presence of the enemy, the soldiers of which were either on feather beds or banqueting? No Christian soldier has ever fought on a bed of spiritual rose leaves; nor in selfishly obtaining spiritual enjoyment for himself; so be up and doing every one, and hold the head well up, yes, let the helmet of salvation―God’s salvation―be held well up! Too many Christians hang down their heads; this, indeed, we all do if we think of ourselves, but it is God’s salvation that makes us to lift up our heads. So to the front, fellow believer, and spend and be spent for the Lord!