Edited and supplied by the Golden Candlestick Trust.
"And behold, one of them that were with Jesus stretched out his
hand, and drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high
priest, and struck off his ear. Then says Jesus unto him, Put up
again thy sword into its place; for all they that take the sword
shall perish with the sword" (Matt. 26:51-52).
"And He said... But now, he that has a purse, let him take it,
and likewise a wallet; and he that has none, let him sell his
cloak, and buy a sword" (Luke 22:36).
There seems to be a contradiction in those two passages - "Put up
thy sword... for all they that take the sword shall perish with
the sword"; "...he that has none, let him sell his cloak, and buy
a sword".
Whatever other explanations there may be given to this seeming
contradiction, I am going to ignore them and come down upon one
particular point. I would have you note the necessary adjustment
in the order of these two passages. They ought to be in the
reverse order. The forbidding to take the sword came after the
command to buy one. That word about taking the sword came at an
earlier date, for, as you see, the words forbidding the sword
came in the garden of Gethsemane right at the end of our Lord's
life.
Our Warfare: Spiritual not Physical
It is clear to us that the whole of the subsequent teaching of
the New Testament about warfare is spiritual and not physical. You
call to mind at once passages that bear that out. "The weapons of
our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God" (2 Cor.
10:4). "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood" (Eph. 6:12).
Wrestling is a very good word, by the way. It looks like a change
of metaphor from wrestling to fighting. It means to sway. It is
taken from the wrestler, to and fro. Our swaying to and fro is not
with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers. The
teaching of the New Testament after this is that warfare is
spiritual and not physical. And there is this fact, that we
nowhere find the apostles, those to whom these words were
addressed or any others added to them, with swords when they went
out on their mission. There is no reference whatever to their
carrying swords literally in their ministry, or in their work, or
in their going forth into the world. So we are brought back by
these passages, not to a contradiction but to this. On the one
hand "Put up thy sword", because our warfare is not with flesh and
blood (if you have the idea of anything in that realm [of flesh
and blood] you are wrong. Put away the idea, as you are commanded
to put away the sword which indicates that you have got that idea)
on the other hand, sell your cloak and buy a sword.
So we are brought back by this seeming contradiction very
forcibly to the fact of spiritual warfare, that there is warfare,
and that it is spiritual, and although this is no new information
to most of you, it is necessary from time to time for us to have
things brought to remembrance which we already know. This is not a
subject I delight in, and I asked the Lord if He would excuse me
in this matter. I do not like it, but I am compelled.
The Reality of Spiritual Warfare
In the first place, it is an emphasis, or a re-emphasis, upon not
just the fact of spiritual warfare - you know that - but on the
reality of this. We may know all that there is to know as to the
Bible teaching on this matter, and we may be full of information
about spiritual warfare, but the fact remains that you and I at
times, because of certain things, forget that is exactly what is
happening at this moment. We put it down to other things. We begin
to look at people, we begin to look at circumstances, we begin to
look at our own misfortunes and disappointments, we begin to
attribute it to physical conditions and all the secondary causes
are made primary, when not always, but so often, the fact is that
we are right on this thing now - a mighty spiritual conflict is
going on and we are in it. If I were to try and safeguard every
sentence that I uttered, I should be here forever. There are times
when the strain is due to wrong relationships and our fault or
faults. It is no use blaming the devil for that for which we are
responsible, but there are times when we cannot make any secondary
cause a primary cause, or we cannot say it is because of this or
that. There is something that you cannot get at, something behind,
something remote, something that you cannot lay your hand on. It
may be coming through this or that means, but it is something
extra to the people or the things. And I do bring this re-emphasis
to you that you will seek to bear this in mind, that it is not
always and not generally because of situations, conditions,
people, upon which and upon whom you can lay your hand, but there
is something else going on. There is a warfare in heaven.
Warfare with the Prince of the Power of the Air
When we, in the New Testament language, speak of heaven, do not
let us think of something far away, remote, up there somewhere in
or beyond the clouds. The New Testament makes it perfectly clear
that what is meant by heavenly warfare is the very atmosphere all
around us, "the prince of the powers of the air" (Eph. 2:2). Now,
all the air is not above the clouds. We are breathing it now, the
heavenlies are wrapping us around all the time, and this spiritual
conflict is in the very atmosphere. If you need any illustrations
of that, you have only to turn to the Old Testament. "Lord, I pray
thee, open his eyes, that he may see" (2 Kings 6:17), and when his
eyes were opened, the very near things were seen to be
encompassed about by former and otherwise unseen forces. It is
heavenly, but for us the better word is atmospheric. We
know a little about atmospherics in spiritual conflict, but even
then it is not always outward and objective because it is
spiritual.
And because we have a spirit which is the medium of connection
with what is spiritual, this thing cannot always be said to be
outside of us. It seems to be right inside sometimes. It seems to
be inward. You must not just divide up outward and inward in that
way because flesh and blood are not barriers to spiritual conflict
at all. Our bodies are not a bulwark against spiritual influences.
They register them, but they do not resist them. It is very often
inward, and so we feel this atmospheric thing right inside of us.
It becomes very real - that is the point, the reality of this
spiritual conflict, this spiritual warfare.
The Occasion of the Conflict
In passing on, let me remind you of the occasion for it, and the
occasion is the destiny of the church. All departments and realms
of truly spiritual work come into touch with these spiritual
forces in opposition, and this stands to be borne out and can be
verified. The nearer you get to the great eternal conception of
God as to the destiny of the church, the Body of Christ, the
nearer you get to the antagonism of the enemy, the more pronounced
it will become. You will meet spiritual antagonism in seeking to
win souls for Christ because that is the beginning of this thing,
but when the full thought of God in a corporate body is brought
into view, the church, then the full challenge to the forces of
evil is registered because it is in the church and the church's
destiny that the whole conflict of Satan is to be met and
overthrown, hence, of course, the tremendous significance of
corporate life. On the one hand, the enemy hates corporate life
and will do anything to break it up and he will do it always by
the simplest means possible if they will succeed; he just
interferes with the corporate life of the Lord's people by simple
means. For example, if you are a mood person you very soon fall
out of the corporate life - "I just do not feel like it!" That is
all the enemy needs very often with some people to put them out,
and he has struck a blow at the very destiny of the church by the
moods and temperaments of Christians. And if on simpler lines he
cannot succeed, he will press to the more complex or highly
developed forms just to destroy the relatedness and fellowship of
the people of God, and therefore fellowship and relatedness become
a battleground. We think fellowship is a kind of picnic, a
religious festival, having a good time. Praise God for all the joy
and blessedness of fellowship, but it goes far beyond that, and it
is more a matter of real battle, warfare. A field of desperate
conflict is the maintaining and preserving of true inward heart
fellowship with all sorts of Christians, not just the sort that we
like.
We have to think this matter out sometimes when it comes to
difficulty with regard to some, and we seriously get before the
Lord and say, "How can I find a ground of going on with So-and-so?
I have to eliminate this, ignore that, refuse to come on to
certain ground with them and keep on other ground, but at all
costs I must go on." The battleground of fellowship is very real
and fellowship is truly a great factor in this spiritual conflict.
Do remember it. Fight for it, stand for it and withstand for it,
and having done all, stand for it.
Warfare in the Realm of Corporate Prayer
And of course, as a part of that is the great corporate function
of prayer. We know that this matter of spiritual warfare is
carried into the realm of prayer. "With all prayer and
supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints"
(Eph. 6:18). Corporate prayer. We perhaps just need to be reminded
again from time to time, maybe at this time, that our times of
coming together for prayer are not just to ask the Lord for a lot
of things. Let me be clear here. There are times for coming to ask
the Lord for things, but what things? You look at the book of
Daniel, and you find that Daniel was stretched out for three whole
weeks fasting and praying, giving himself to prayer. What was he
asking for? He was asking for things, yes, but what things? He was
asking for the fulfillment of the great purposes of God. He knew
what they were. He knew the great purposes of God in relation to
God's people. He had acquainted himself with God's purposes. He
says to begin with that he understood by the books (Dan. 9:2), he
knew the details God had given to other servants of His - and more
than that, that he was a part of those purposes; it was in his own
heart. He knew inwardly what the purposes of God were concerning
God's elect people, and it was because those purposes of God were
at the time in a state of suspended animation, because there was a
contradiction to God's intention, because the people of God were
not coming into or standing in those purposes and the realisation
of them, and because the enemies of the Lord had been given an
advantage over the Lord's people because of their unfaithfulness.
It was that that drew out Daniel in that prayer.
And then we know there was a great warfare in heaven. I think we
have some tremendous revelations. During the twenty-one days of
his praying, a terrific scene had been going on without his
knowledge. The very principalities and powers had been so stirred
and moved because of this kind of praying that they had withstood
the messengers of God. A fight had been going on and one archangel
needed to come to the support of another, a greater. Supreme
archangels had been drawn into this, showing that archangels are
not almighty, for one was not enough, there was no way for them to
get through. It is not the asking for things, it is the things
that we ask for that touch heaven.
When we come together for prayer, we ought to be right in line in
full view of God's great revealed purposes concerning His people,
and making this the burden of our hearts - not, forgive me, I do
not underrate the importance of praying for all sorts of things
and there are times when those things may come in, but they must
not occupy the ground in the place of the major things, the great
purposes of God. What God needs is a people who have seen His
intentions and purpose, the destiny of His Son and of the church
which is His Body, and are really giving themselves to pray this
issue through. It will be warfare. Sometimes there is a blanket
over the atmosphere; then you give it up. No, that is the
occasion. Oh, for discerning hearts to say, "There is something
happening tonight, something against things tonight, we are not
going to take this on; in the Name of the Lord we set up our
banners." The Lord does need that. You have heard that said here
many times. We do need to serve the Lord in this capacity, but He
must have an instrument for it, and that kind of prayer is the
warfare prayer that sets the conflict going and makes us know the
conflict and sells us out in the conflict. So the occasion of the
conflict is the destiny of Christ and His Body, and it touches
this matter of corporate life and corporate prayer.
The Ground of Triumph
Now just a word about the ground of triumph. We have an assured
ground of triumph, but we must take that ground. I am not going
into all the details of Eph. 6:10 and onwards. I think the
metaphor there has led us astray. "Wherefore take up the whole
armour of God... having girded your loins with truth, and having
put on the breastplate of righteousness... and take the helmet of
salvation" (v. 13-17), and so on, a very earthly picture, and
people begin to operate in a mental realm of material things and
what do we do in the prayer gathering? Say, "We take the helmet of
salvation, we take the whole armour of God"? You are wrong. It is
the past tense: "Wherefore having taken". You have got to
come in armour. The battle has already started! We have to live on
this ground.
a) Reality
And what is the ground? Dismiss the metaphor, get right down to
the spiritual reality. Loins girded with truth. The ground in the
first place is truth. That is, we must be on the ground of
reality. There must not be anything false about our position,
anything artificial or unreal - and that may be in mere mental
knowledge of truth which is not heart knowledge. It must not be
something we have been brought up in, or taught, but this
spiritual warfare, this spiritual conflict is very real indeed. We
must be girded, we must be strong by being on the ground of
downright reality.
b) Righteousness
The breastplate of righteousness, the ground of righteousness.
And what is it? We know here by much teaching that righteousness
is that which is of satisfaction to God. The whole question of
righteousness is God's rights, what He has a right to, and what
God has a right to is that which accords with His own nature, and
God is right, righteous. He is equal, He is true. So God has to
have that which satisfies Him. Justification by faith is another
way of speaking of righteousness by faith, imputed righteousness.
God is satisfied because of something or someone, and that is our
ground. You see, the wiles of the devil are always against that,
to get you off the ground where you stand in the absolute
satisfaction of God by faith. The enemy is saying, "God is
dissatisfied, God has all sorts of things against you". What is
our ground for meeting the enemy? God's satisfaction, God's
rights, secured unto Him in Jesus Christ. Righteousness covering
the most vital part - the breastplate of righteousness, the ground
of that righteousness which is through faith in Jesus Christ.
c) The Gospel of Peace
"Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of
peace". Forget the picture of the feet and the shoes. What is the
thing? Peace, and it is the gospel of peace, the good news of
peace. Anybody with real divine good news is a menace to the
kingdom of Satan. What is the enemy always trying to do? He is
trying to make us look and feel as though we had bad news or were
going to have bad news. The good-news heart - it is only another
way of speaking of joy. "Feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel" - bringing news of peace. How the enemy hates it when we
go to the world with good news! He does not mind you going with
bad news, or a face that looks like it. Go with good news in
spirit and manner. Paul and Silas went to Philippi with good news,
the gospel of peace, and you know very soon the enemy rose up to
try and take that off their faces and out of their voices! (Acts
16:11-34). He did not succeed. Triumph over the enemy was because
the good news Spirit was in their hearts. It is a tremendous
strength against the enemy to stand in the good of your feet shod,
standing in the good of the good news, the good news of peace. He
"made peace through the blood of his cross" (Col. 1:20). There is
now no need for estrangement or enmity or anything like that. God
is not against you. You are countering something there. God is for
you. In Christ He has shown He is for you. It is good news.
d) Faith
"The shield of faith". We all know how needful for spiritual
triumph the spirit of faith is.
e) The Strength of Salvation
And ''the helmet of salvation" - what is that? Well again, it is
salvation, it is assurance that all is well. It covers a lot of
ground. It is on the head where all these arguments, debates,
fears and uncertainties take place. It is the mighty strength of
this salvation which is of the Lord. You have got to stand on this
ground.
f) The Word of God
Finally, "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God".
That will mean that we know the Word of God and know how to use
the Word of God at the right time. You see how the Lord met the
enemy in the wilderness with an apt quotation of the Word of God
in which He had soaked Himself. It came not only as a quotation of
Scripture, but just the right thing for the right moment.
Therefore, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Col.
3:16). Do not let anyone think that they are going to triumph in
the spiritual warfare if they neglect their Bibles any more than
prayer. Neglect prayer and the Word and you will be worsted, just
as you will if you neglect fellowship. These things are essential:
the Word, prayer, fellowship; all that on this ground of truth,
righteousness, peace and salvation.
Well, the Lord use this, if for no further enlightenment, then
for fresh provocation to stand and withstand, remembering, while
we know we are in a warfare, not to let the enemy, as he so often
does, make us as though we did not know, as though it did not
matter. We must be active in our knowledge of these things.