"If
you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one"
Luke 22:36.
Later on Jesus said to those same disciples, "Put
your sword back into its place, for all who draw the
sword will die by the sword" (Matthew 26:52). There
must be a good explanation for the Lord's earlier command
that His disciples should be sure to be armed, and among
other possible reasons for this apparent contradiction I
propose to concentrate on the one point that the
Christian's warfare is not physical but spiritual. This
is very clear from the whole of the subsequent teaching
of the New Testament, notably from Paul's statement that
"The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,
but mighty before God" (2 Corinthians 10:4).
Moreover we nowhere find the apostles - to whom these
words were addressed - carrying swords as they pursued
their ministry, so we presume that when the Lord said:
"Put up thy sword", He meant that we should put
away from us any idea of fighting against men and address
ourselves to active participation in spiritual warfare.
The
Reality of Spiritual Warfare
Although we
know that the Bible teaching reminds us that we are
soldiers of Christ, we forget that we are in a battle. We
put down our troubles to other causes. There ARE
times when we get into conflicts because of our own
faults or strained relationships - then it is no use
blaming the Devil for what is really our responsibility.
On the other hand we must not become obsessed with
secondary causes, people and circumstances, when the real
issue is that extra element of spiritual evil which is
the real enemy. There is a warfare in heaven and from
this, circumstances can be created and people affected.
When, in New Testament language, we speak of heaven, do
not let us think of that which is remote and far away,
somewhere in or beyond the clouds. No, heavenly warfare
is in the atmosphere all around us. The Devil is called
"the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians
2:2). Now the air is not all above the clouds, but it is
where we are as we breathe it now. The heavenlies are
wrapping us round all the time and the spiritual conflict
is in this very atmosphere. There is an illustration of
this in the Old Testament story, when Elisha prayed:
"Lord, I pray thee open his eyes that he may
see" (2 Kings 6:17), and the young man had his eyes
opened to see how near as well as how real were the
unseen armies of God. Because we have a spirit, which is
the medium of connection with that which is spiritual,
this evil atmosphere is not always outside of us but
sometimes seems to make the conflict inward. In one way
or another, the spiritual conflict is very real and for
it we need the Spirit's sword.
The
Church's Battlefield
The
occasion of this conflict is the destiny of the Church.
All departments and realms of really spiritual work seem
to provoke the opposition of spiritual forces, but the
nearer we get to the great, eternal conception of God's
destiny for the Church of Christ, the Church which is His
Body, the more pronounced the enemy's antagonism becomes.
We meet spiritual antagonism in seeking to win souls for
Christ, because it is only in this way that the Church is
born. When, however, the full thought of God is brought
into view, then the greatest challenge of the forces of
evil is registered. This is because it is in the Church
and in relation to the Church's destiny that the whole
kingdom of Satan is to be met and overthrown. Hence, of
course, the tremendous significance of corporate life.
Even by small and seemingly insignificant means,
moodiness or trifling disagreements, Satan breaks up the
flow of fellowship among the saints. It seems strange
that the vital power of the Church should be weakened by
the moods and temperaments of God's people but so it can
be. If the Devil cannot succeed by such simple methods he
has many other ploys and complex strategies, all aimed at
the destruction of the relatedness of God's people. So
spiritual fellowship becomes a real battleground.
Some think that fellowship is a kind of picnic, a
religious festival. We praise God for all the joys of
fellowship, but the matter is more serious than that, and
is so important that it can become a matter of real
battle. The exercise and preserving of true heart
fellowship with all other Christians - not just with
those whom we like but with all - is a field of constant
conflict. Fellowship is not just something that happens.
We must fight for it. It is a great factor in the
spiritual battle.
Conflict
in Corporate Prayer
One of the
main functions of such fellowship is the great corporate
activity of united prayer. We need to be reminded from
time to time that our seasons of coming together for
prayer are more than occasions for bringing to the Lord a
list of items. We have, of course, to be definite with
the Lord and we have to ask Him for things. The real goal
of our praying, however, must be not merely personal
blessings but the triumph of the will of God. Daniel
gives us an excellent example of such prayer. He was
stretched out for three whole weeks, fasting and praying,
as he gave himself to prayer for the fulfilment of the
great purposes of God. His prayer was based on what he
"understood by the books" (Daniel 9:2). He knew
what other servants of God had written about the divine
purposes and he had those purposes in his heart. Because
those purposes were in apparent suspension, because there
was a contradiction of them since the Lord's enemies had
been given an advantage through the unfaithfulness of the
people of God - this was why Daniel was so drawn out in
his praying. We are told that the result was great
warfare in heaven. During the twenty-one days of this
particular season of prayer, a terrific conflict had been
taking place without his being aware of it. The very
principalities and powers had been so stirred and roused
by this kind of praying that they had withstood the
messengers of God. A fight had been going on, and one
great angel needed to come to the support of another, as
if one angelic being was not enough and needed help to
get through. The value of prayer is not decided by asking
for things but the nature of the things asked for.
What God needs is a people who have seen His intentions
and purpose, seen the destiny of His Son and of the
Church which is His Body, and devote themselves to the
fulfilment of His will. Such prayer draws us into a
spiritual conflict, for which the Lord told us to be sure
and have a sword. It is so easy to be discouraged, so
easy to be put off or silenced. With our sword in our
hand we must stick at it and press the battle through to
victory.
The
Ground of Triumph
For this
prayer warfare we are advised to "take up the whole
armour of God" (Ephesians 6:11). It is not that we
enter a prayer session by some mental process of thinking
of the armour. It is no use when you sense that the
battle is on that you should try to concentrate your
thoughts on the various items of the armour. To do that
would be to find yourself too late. You can only begin to
stand if you are already girded beforehand. This is not
an emergency outfit for special occasions but a manner of
life for the Christian warrior.
1. The importance of truth. We begin with the
matter of being girded with truth. This means that things
must be real in our lives. If there is anything false
about our position, anything artificial or unreal about
our profession, then we will be ineffective in the
spiritual battle. We must be free from errors in doctrine
- that is very important. More than that, though, we must
be living in the good of what we believe, not just
holding some mental ideas without real heart knowledge of
the truth. The spiritual warrior needs to be girded with
the truth if he is to triumph.
2. Practical righteousness. "Having put on
the breastplate of righteousness". What matters is
what is satisfying to God, for that is His righteousness.
The whole question of righteousness is that of God's
rights, what He has a right to; and what God has a right
to must accord with His own nature. God is always right,
He is just and true. He therefore must have that which
satisfies Him and He has found this in His Son whose
righteousness is imputed to us. The wiles of the Devil
are always directed against that, trying to get us off
the ground where we stand in the absolute satisfaction of
God by faith. The enemy keeps saying, "God is
dissatisfied with you, He has this and that against
you" so to counter his accusations we must hold fast
to the fact that full righteousness is supplied to us
through faith in Jesus Christ. It is His righteousness
which alone can protect that most vital part. No doubt
this also makes a reference to the need for that
righteousness to work out in our lives in a practical
way, for anything unrighteous in our dealings or
behaviour will mean that we cannot stand against Satan.
3. The Good News of peace. "Having shod your
feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace".
We need not become too involved with the reference to our
feet, but rather stress the point that God's message is
good news of peace. Anybody with that message is a menace
to the kingdom of darkness, for the enemy is always
endeavouring to oppress us with bad news. We must go to
the world with the good news that God offers perfect
peace to the troubled heart and mind. Satan never minds
us going to people with bad news, or with a face that
suggests gloom, but he hates to have Christians spreading
the glad news of peace. Paul and Silas went to Philippi
with good news, the gospel of peace, and the enemy did
his best to take that off their faces and out of their
voices (Acts 16:11-34). He did not succeed. They
triumphed over him because the very spirit of the good
news was in their hearts. It is a tremendous strength
against the Devil to be standing in the good of the glad
tidings of peace. Christ "made peace through the
blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:20). There is now
no need for estrangement or depression. God is for you.
He has shown that in Christ. Stand and walk in the power
of His peace.
4. The shield of faith. We must take up and make
good use of this big - or overall - shield of faith.
Faith is all-embracing and relates to every possible
aspect of the conflict. There can be no triumph in the
spiritual life without the full exercise of vital faith.
5. The assurance of salvation. Clear assurance
about salvation needs to cover the head as a helmet. How
many arguments, debates, fears and uncertainties are
ready to impinge upon our minds and paralyse our value to
the Lord. The salvation of the Lord is mighty, and we
must use it to protect our minds from succumbing to
satanic assaults. His strong salvation is the only cover
which can do this.
6. The Word of God. Finally there is "the
sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God". We
know how the Lord Jesus met the enemy in the wilderness
with apt quotations from God's Word. He had so soaked
Himself in the Old Testament that the right emphasis came
to Him at the right moment. We, too, are told to let the
word of Christ dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16). Do
not let any of us think that we are going to triumph in
the spiritual warfare if we neglect our Bibles, any more
than we can do so if we neglect prayer. Try to do without
prayer and the Word and you will be worsted in the fight.
You will be a soldier without a sword!
Originally published in "A Witness and a Testimony" Magazine, Jan-Feb 1951, Vol. 29-1.
Republished in "Toward the Mark" Magazine, Nov-Dec 1980, Vol. 9-6