(Eph. 6:10-20.)
I. THE CONFLICT.
It is a most significant thing indeed that that which is ordinarily conceived as Christian conflict is in Scripture scarcely noticed-never insisted on as a necessity at all, while that which is insisted on in it is, in its turn, almost unknown in its true character by the mass of Christians. With these, conflict is with the sin within them, and the Scripture-example of it is considered to be in the seventh of Romans, where we have, in fact, something very different-the struggle (an impotent struggle) of one in bonds. Here, the only effect is, to reveal the bondage, and manifest the law of sin under which he is. And when, in answer to the cry for deliverance, liberty is found, the practical rule becomes "Reckon yourselves dead indeed unto sin;" which if we do, conflict with it becomes impossible.
It is true that if we have not been reckoning ourselves thus dead,-if our eyes have wandered away from Christ, and we have become entangled with other objects, there will be doubtless a struggle to break away, if on the other hand God's chastening do not rather burst through the snare. But the path of progress is never in this direction; and if the "flesh" does ever-and it is true it does-"lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh," the remedy is, to "walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh " (Gal. 5:16, 17).
The strife which we must not expect to escape is this, that "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 heavenly places." "We wrestle"-it is a matter of course-we do wrestle, all of us; and then he spreads before us the array against which we are contending. He does not make little of these foes; he would not have us make little of them. They are principalities; they are powers; they are masters of this world by means of the spiritual darkness in which it is wrapped ; they are heavenly beings, though fallen. If it is always a dangerous mistake to underrate an enemy, how dangerous must it be to do so in this case ! Here are foes who are able to bring in all the world to their aid, and who work in the dark, by "wiles" and stratagem. It is against these wiles we have to stand, in a warfare which, though it has its times of special pressure, is never relinquished. It is not enough to stand in the evil day:having done all, we must still "stand."
But to what end are these wiles directed ?-what is meant by this warfare ? To learn this, we must consider with what in this epistle these things stand connected. We are seen here to be in the heavenly places in Christ, blest with all spiritual blessings there in Him ; and the apostle invites us, in the practical acceptance of this truth, to go in by faith and take possession of our promised land. Thus our Joshua is to be our Leader, and Israel's entrance into Canaan is to be our type. It is to this that he refers when he reminds us that we wrestle not (as they did) with flesh and blood. The antitype is greater than the type, and, so far, in contrast with it. Israel found the land full of enemies, ready to resist their claim to possession ; the struggle was, to keep them out of what the divine word had given over to them. God has made heaven our own, and He calls us now, as has been said, to take possession of it; and this is what brings all the power of Satan to resist and defeat us if he can.
Well he knows, if we do not, what is involved. By faith to lay hold of our place in heaven is in effect to become heavenly-strangers and pilgrims upon earth. And this means power for walk, for separation from the world to God,-for holiness. It means the being Christians practically-the maintenance of testimony to Christ, and to His sufficiency for the soul. There is no other holiness for the Christian but a heart in heaven :there is no proper testimony to Christ but a heart where Christ is. Well the enemy may desire, then, to keep us out of this. The battle will surely be severe, unremitting, by which this is to be accomplished.
The weapons which he employs are indicated in this fact, that he is the ruler of the darkness of this world. Our inheritance is with the "saints in light." It is in the light that we are called to walk ; and thus if the eye be single, the whole body will be full of light. The darkness of this world is thus the very means wherewith to antagonize the light of heaven. Holiness is the "holiness of truth" (Eph. 4:24, marg.)', the world is where "man walketh in a vain show, and disquieteth himself in vain " (Ps. 39:6). Bring in its principles, its aims, its objects, and the truth is obscured-a dark fog rests upon the spiritual vision, the steps falter or go astray, "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint" (Isa. 1:5).
The book of Joshua shows clearly enough, as a type, this method of the adversary. Israel are brought into the land by the power of God, Jordan dried up before them, their Gilgal-pillar is raised on the bank, and the angel of the Lord takes His place as Captain of the Lord's host, to lead them into possession. Then, to show them how to be "strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might," Jericho falls while they but walk around it. Jericho is the world, whose judgment is indeed of God, though faith anticipates, and consents with it. It is this consent of faith which is the very secret of success in the conflict following:it is with the apostle to say, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Gal. 6:14.)
It must not be thought strange that it is here, after we have left the world, and have entered, in type, into the heavenly places, that we find the judgment of the world. There is no possible right judgment of the world except as we are in faith outside it. We find there that which meets and neutralizes the power of Satan. The darkness of this world cannot envelope one who is with God on the resurrection side of it. Thus Jericho is wholly burnt with fire, as accursed, and its silver and gold come into the Lord's treasury, but not into man's ;-no man must take of it. Obedience here is a first principle for blessing.
And here begins the failure among the people of God, which makes them turn their back toward an enemy that they have presumptuously despised, and withers up a strength which is no longer in the Lord. Achan covets a goodly Babylonish garment and a wedge of gold, and hides them in the earth under his tent. And the anger of the Lord is upon Israel, who go on haughtily; not seeking counsel of God, but building themselves up upon a victory they have won, to find defeat as sure as had been the victory. How soon may the very power of God become to a people no longer walking with Him a tradition and a snare !
It is but Ai they have now to deal with,-Ai, " a heap of ruins," as the word means:they had just seen Jericho reduced to such a heap ; they were meeting, as it were, but the old defeated foe. They had to learn that, for a people declined from God, a vanquished foe may have a resurrection. The world which yesterday was under our feet may prevail against us to-day, and will, if we are no longer with God,-if seduced by something that is of the world, we have spared that which was devoted to judgment, or perverted to our own use what was devoted to the Lord.
With a faithful and omniscient God, judgment is as sure upon departure from Him as victory in going with Him. Alas that even a Joshua can fall upon His face when Israel is smitten!-as if God had failed instead of Israel! There is nothing arbitrary in His dealings with us,-no wrong in any thing His holy hand can do to us. All is good,-the buffets' of His love ; nought else. Creep nearer to His heart, and you are safe.
Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might,- strong against the wiles of the rulers of the darkness of this world :this is what this history keeps repeating to us.
Ai too is vanquished in its turn, and burnt, though with an effort which shows how the people had been weakened. And then we have, in the league with the Gibeonites, a very plain sample indeed of the wiles of the enemy; and again we find how Israel walked by their own wisdom, and "asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord." So it ever is:they are deceived, no doubt, but why are they deceived? The results of this false step are permanent:they entangle themselves in the treacherous alliance by an oath by Jehovah, and dare not commit a breach of it. How terrible an alliance with that which is not of God, from which yet the word of God itself forbids withdrawal ! and yet how many of His people can form such associations without even a question apparently being raised in their minds !
All this enforces the original lesson. We see that the enemy's attempt is the same however various the means which he may use. Yet in all of these, it is still by the power of the world that he would keep us out of the enjoyment of our heavenly portion ; and it is for the acquisition of this that God equips and arms and sends us forth.
The question, then, becomes urgent with us, What do we know of this conflict? and that will resolve itself into another, Are we earnest enough to lay hold of what is ours within the vail? This is a wholly different one from that which asks, Are we seeking to live, as men would deem, correctly, benevolently, or even piously? All this at least can be answered with little check of conscience by those who if you speak of any possible present entering upon our heavenly inheritance, would think it impracticable mysticism. The book of Joshua has for most still no typical meaning. It is but a history of the past Heaven lies for us, as the paradise of old did for those before the flood, with its gate barred against us. Only the world is practical for the realist; and men, they will tell you, are realists to-day.
Even He in whom heaven did once come down to us has been changed, they say, since He went up to heaven again. Human they suppose He is, but in such sort only as when John saw Him in Patmos, and fell at His feet as dead. Paul too was in paradise, and could bring us back no word from there. What can we know, then ? and what does it matter, when we shall know so soon ?
Yet it is the same Paul who exhorts us, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God;" and to " set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:i, 2, marg.). No doubt, at the best, " we see through a glass darkly," but so bright is the scene beyond, that it is only as when we must have such a darkened glass to gaze upon the sun. Bright enough Christ's glory shines there in its proper home, to produce in us the change of which the apostle speaks-"from glory to glory" (2 Cor. 3:18), where the least degree is glory. And it is this glow in the face which Satan would seek to darken with the fog of this world, and wrap the children of day in the disguise and sadness of the night. Let us struggle on,-and we are told we shall have to struggle, to get what we may of that which in its very dimmest outshines all the promise and glory of the world.
(To be continued.)