If a Christian man is not walking in the Spirit, if the flesh is not subdued, he cannot display to the world the temper, spirit and character of heaven; he is manifesting something else. But the conflicts of the heavenly places (Eph. 6:1212For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)) are not merely conflicts in the subduing of our flesh; they are conflicts carried on in realizing and laying hold of the things in Canaan that belong to ourselves and others. If Joshua and the Israelites took cities in Canaan, it was because they were in Canaan. Our enemies are there, and there it is we must meet them.
There are things in which we have to be faithful on earth, but there are also things that belong to us because we are sitting together in heavenly places in Christ. A man may be consistent in the one, without displaying the heavenly man. You may see some believers tolerably consistent on earth, whose souls are not seeking to realize what is theirs in Christ. Satan’s effort is always to hinder our doing that. We cannot carry the flesh into the heavenly conflict. If my flesh is not mortified, I cannot wield the weapons of that warfare. The flesh always brings in Satan’s power; he has got power against it, and God can never act with the flesh or display His power for us against our enemies where it is allowed. If we were walking as born of God and as having on the whole armor of God, the flesh being habitually mortified, Satan could have no effect. We should be able to go on in the simplicity of our own service, and he could not come in with his wiles, as in the case of Achan (Josh. 7) and of the Gibeonites (Josh. 9).
The moment we get upon heavenly ground, we see the Lord’s sword drawn, for He is the Captain of the Lord’s host. So with us; there is the drawn sword. The moment we get into heavenly places, the Canaanites are against us. The church of God should be seeking to realize by faith, while down here, all that belongs to it as sitting there in heavenly places in Christ. As soon as Joshua crossed the Jordan, it was not only Canaan, but Canaan and conflict.
Christian Friend, adapted