HOLINESS
ITS NATURE, HINDRANCES, DIFFICULTIES, AND ROOTS
by Bishop J. C. Ryle
Foreword by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Ryle, B. J. C. (n.d.). Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, And Roots.
IV.
THE FIGHT
“Fight the good fight of faith.”–1 Timothy vi. 12.
IT is a curious fact that there is no subject about which most people
feel such deep interest as “fighting.” Young men and maidens, old men
and little children, high and low, rich and poor, learned and
unlearned, all feel a deep interest in wars, battles and fighting.
This is a simple fact, whatever way we may try to explain it. We should
call that Englishman a dull fellow who cared nothing about the story of
Waterloo, or Inkermann, or Balaclava or Lucknow. We should think that
heart cold and stupid which was not moved and thrilled by the struggles
at Sedan and Strasburg, and Metz, and Paris, during the war between
France and Germany.
But there is another warfare of far greater importance than any war
that was ever waged by man. It is a warfare which concerns not two or
three nations only, but every Christian man and woman born into the
world. The warfare I speak of is the spiritual warfare. It is the fight
which everyone who would be saved must fight about his soul.
This warfare, I am aware, is a thing of which many know nothing. Talk
to them about it, and they are ready to set you down as a madman, an
enthusiast, or a fool. And yet it is as real and true as any war the
world has ever seen. It has its hand-to-hand conflicts and its wounds.
It has its watchings and fatigues. It has its sieges and assaults. It
has its victories and its defeats. Above all, it has consequences which
are awful, tremendous, and most peculiar. In earthly warfare the
consequences to nations are often temporary and remediable. In the
spiritual warfare it is very different. Of that warfare, the
consequences, when the fight is over, are unchangeable and eternal.
It is of this warfare that St. Paul spoke to Timothy, when he wrote
those burning words, “Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on
eternal life.” It is of this warfare that I propose to speak in this
paper. I hold the subject to be closely connected with that of
sanctification and holiness. He that would understand the nature of
true holiness must know that the Christian is “a man of war.” If we
would be holy we must fight.
- The first thing I have to say is this: True Christianity is a fight.
True Christianity! Let us mind that word “true.” There is a vast
quantity of religion current in the world which is not true, genuine
Christianity. It passes muster; it satisfies sleepy consciences; but it
is not good money. It is not the real thing which was called
Christianity eighteen hundred years ago. There are thousands of men and
women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday, and call themselves
Christians. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are
reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian
marriage service. They mean to be buried as Christians when they die.
But you never see any “fight” about their religion! Of spiritual
strife, and exertion, and conflict, and self-denial, and watching, and
warring, they know literally nothing at all. Such Christianity may
satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very
hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the
Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded, and His
Apostles preached. It is not the religion which produces real holiness.
True Christianity is “a fight.”
The true Christian is called to be a soldier, and must behave as such
from the day of his conversion to the day of his death. He is not meant
to live a life of religious ease, indolence, and security. He must
never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to
heaven, like one travelling in an easy carriage. If he takes his
standard of Christianity from the children of this world, he may be
content with such notions; but he will find no countenance for them in
the Word of God. If the Bible is the rule of his faith and practice, he
will find his course laid down very plainly in this matter. He must
“fight.”
With whom is the Christian soldier meant to fight? Not with other
Christians. Wretched indeed is that man’s idea of religion who fancies
that it consists in perpetual controversy! He who is never satisfied
unless he is engaged in some strife between church and church, chapel
and chapel, sect and sect, faction and faction, party and party, knows
nothing yet as he ought to know. No doubt it may be absolutely needful
sometimes to appeal to law courts, in order to ascertain the right
interpretation of a Church’s Articles, and rubrics, and formularies.
But, as a general rule, the cause of sin is never so much helped as
when Christians waste their strength in quarrelling with one another,
and spend their time in petty squabbles.
No, indeed! The principal fight of the Christian is with the world, the
flesh, and the devil. These are his never-dying foes. These are the
three chief enemies against whom he must wage war. Unless he gets the
victory over these three, all other victories are useless and vain. If
he had a nature like an angel, and were not a fallen creature, the
warfare would not be so essential. But with a corrupt heart, a busy
devil, and an ensnaring world, he must either “fight” or be lost.
He must fight the flesh. Even after conversion he carries within him a
nature prone to evil, and a heart weak and unstable as water. That
heart will never be free from imperfection in this world, and it is a
miserable delusion to expect it. To keep that heart from going astray,
the Lord Jesus bids us “watch and pray.” The spirit may be ready, but
the flesh is weak. There is need of a daily struggle and a daily
wrestling in prayer. “I keep under my body,” cries St. Paul, “and bring
it into subjection.”‘–“I see a law in my members warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity.”–“O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”–“They that
are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and
lusts.”–“Mortify your members which are upon the earth.” (Mark xiv.
38; 1 Cor. ix. 27; Rom. vii. 23, 24; Gal. v. 24; Coloss. iii. 5.)
He must fight the world. The subtle influence of that mighty enemy must
be daily resisted, and without a daily battle can never be overcome.
The love of the world’s good things–the fear of the world’s laughter
or blame–the secret desire to keep in with the world–the secret wish
to do as others in the world do, and not to run into extremes–all
these are spiritual foes which beset the Christian continually on his
way to heaven, and must be conquered. “The friendship of the world is
enmity with God: whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is
the enemy of God.”–“If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him.”–“The world is crucified to Me, and I unto the
world.”–“Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.”–“Be not
conformed to this world.” (James iv. 4; 1 John ii. 15; Gal. vi. 14; 1
John v. 4; Rom. xii. 2.)
He must fight the devil. That old enemy of mankind is not dead. Ever
since the fall of Adam and Eve he has been “going to and fro in the
earth, and walking up and down in it,” and striving to compass one
great end–the ruin of man’s soul. Never slumbering and never sleeping,
he is always “going about as a lion seeking whom he may devour.” An
unseen enemy, he is always near us, about our path and about our bed,
and spying out all our ways. A “murderer and a liar” from the
beginning, he labours night and day to cast us down to hell. Sometimes
by leading into superstition, sometimes by suggesting infidelity,
sometimes by one kind of tactics and sometimes by another, he is always
carrying on a campaign against our souls. “Satan hath desired to have
you, that he may sift you as wheat.” This mighty adversary must be
daily resisted if we wish to be saved. But “this kind goeth not out”
but by watching and praying, and fighting, and putting on the whole
armour of God. The strong man armed will never be kept out of our
hearts without a daily battle. (Job i. 7; 1 Peter v. 8; John viii. 44;
Luke xxii. 31; Ephes. vi. 11.)
Some men may think these statements too strong. You fancy that I am
going too far, and laying on the colours too thickly. You are secretly
saying to yourself, that men and women in England may surely get to
heaven without all this trouble and warfare and fighting. Listen to me
for a few minutes and I will show you that I have something to say on
God’s behalf. Remember the maxim of the wisest General that ever lived
in England–“In time of war it is the worst mistake to underrate your
enemy, and try to make a little war.” This Christian warfare is no
light matter. Give me your attention and consider what I say. What
saith the Scripture?–“Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on
eternal life.–“Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ.”–“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the ruler of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to
stand.”–“Strive to enter in at the strait gate.”–“Labour for the meat
that endureth unto everlasting life.”–“Think not that I came to send
peace on the earth: I came not to send peace but a sword.”–“He that
hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one.”–“Watch ye, stand
fast in the faith: quit you like men, be strong.”–“War a good warfare,
holding faith and a good conscience.” (1 Tim. vi. 12; 2 Tim. ii. 3;
Ephes. vi. 11-13; Luke xiii. 24; John vi. 27; Matt. x. 34; Luke xxii.
36; 1 Cor. xvi. 13; 1 Tim. i. 18, 19.) Words such as these appear to me
clear, plain, and unmistakable. They all teach one and the same great
lesson, if we are willing to receive it. That lesson is, that true
Christianity is a struggle, a fight, and a warfare. He that pretends to
condemn “fighting” and teaches that we ought to sit still and “yield
ourselves to God,” appears to me to misunderstand his Bible, and to
make a great mistake.
What says the Baptismal Service of the Church of England? No doubt that
Service is uninspired, and, like every uninspired composition, it has
its defects; but to the millions of people all over the globe, who
profess and call themselves English Churchmen, its voice ought to speak
with some weight. And what does it say? It tells us that over every new
member who is admitted into the Church of England the following words
are used–“I baptize thee in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost.”–“I sign this child with the sign of the cross, in token
that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ
crucified, and manfully to fight under His banner against sin, the
world, and the devil, and to continue Christ’s faithful soldier and
servant unto his life’s end.”–Of course we all know that in myriads of
cases baptism is a mere form, and that parents bring their children to
the font without faith or prayer or thought, and consequently receive
no blessing. The man who supposes that baptism in such cases acts
mechanically, like a medicine, and that godly and ungodly, praying and
prayerless parents, all alike get the same benefit for their children,
must be in a strange state of mind. But one thing, at any rate, is very
certain. Every baptized Churchman is by his profession a “soldier of
Jesus Christ,” and is pledged “to fight under His banner against sin,
the world, and the devil.” He that doubts it had better take up his
Prayer-book, and read, mark, and learn its contents. The worst thing
about many very zealous Churchmen is their total ignorance of what
their own Prayer-book contains.
Whether we are Churchmen or not, one thing is certain–this Christian
warfare is a great reality, and a subject of vast importance. It is not
a matter like Church government and ceremonial, about which men may
differ, and yet reach heaven at last. Necessity is laid upon us. We
must fight. There are no promises in the Lord Jesus Christ’s Epistles
to the Seven Churches, except to those who “overcome.” Where there is
grace there will be conflict. The believer is a soldier. There is no
holiness without a warfare. Saved souls will always be found to have
fought a fight.
It is a fight of absolute necessity. Let us not think that in this war
we can remain neutral and sit still. Such a line of action may be
possible in the strife of nations, but it is utterly impossible in that
conflict which concerns the soul. The boasted policy of
noninterference–the “masterly inactivity” which pleases so many
statesmen–the plan of keeping quiet and letting things alone–all this
will never do in the Christian warfare. Here at any rate no one can
escape serving under the plea that he is “a man of peace.” To be at
peace with the world, the flesh and the devil, is to be at enmity with
God, and in the broad way that leadeth to destruction. We have no
choice or option. We must either fight or be lost.
It is a fight of universal necessity. No rank, or class, or age, can
plead exemption, or escape the battle. Ministers and people, preachers
and hearers, old and young, high and low, rich and poor, gentle and
simple, kings and subjects, landlords and tenants, learned and
unlearned–all alike must carry arms and go to war. All have by nature
a heart full of pride, unbelief, sloth, worldliness, and sin. All are
living in a world beset with snares, traps, and pitfalls for the soul.
All have near them a busy, restless, malicious devil. All, from the
queen in her palace down to the pauper in the workhouse, all must
fight, if they would be saved.
It is a fight of perpetual necessity. It admits of no breathing time,
no armistice, no truce. On week-days as well as on Sundays–in private
as well as in public–at home by the family fireside as well as
abroad–in little things like management of tongue and temper, as well
as in great ones like the government of kingdoms–the Christian’s
warfare must unceasingly go on. The foe we have to do with keeps no
holidays, never slumbers, and never sleeps. So long as we have breath
in our bodies we must keep on our armour, and remember we are on an
enemy’s ground. “Even on the brink of Jordan,” said a dying saint, “I
find Satan nibbling at my heels.” We must fight till we die.
Let us consider well these propositions. Let us take care that our own
personal religion is real, genuine, and true. The saddest symptom about
many so-called Christians is the utter absence of anything like
conflict and fight in their Christianity. They eat, they drink, they
dress, they work, they amuse themselves, they get money, they spend
money, they go through a scanty round of formal religious services once
or twice every week. But the great spiritual warfare–its watchings and
strugglings, its agonies and anxieties, its battles and contests–of
all this they appear to know nothing at all. Let us take care that this
case is not our own. The worst state of soul is “when the strong man
armed keepeth the house, and his goods are at peace”–when he leads men
and women “captive at his will,” and they make no resistance. The worst
chains are those which are neither felt nor seen by the prisoner. (Luke
- 21; 2 Tim. ii. 26.)
We may take comfort about our souls if we know anything of an inward
fight and conflict. It is the invariable companion of genuine Christian
holiness. It is not everything, I am well aware, but it is something. Do
we find in our heart of hearts a spiritual struggle? Do we feel
anything of the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against
the flesh, so that we cannot do the things we would? (Gal. v. 17.) Are
we conscious of two principles within us, contending for the mastery?
Do we feel anything of war in our inward man? Well, let us thank God
for it! It is a good sign. It is strongly probable evidence of the
great work of sanctification. All true saints are soldiers. Anything is
better than apathy, stagnation, deadness, and indifference. We are in a
better state than many. The most part of so-called Christians have no
feeling at all. We are evidently no friends of Satan. Like the kings of
this world, he wars not against his own subjects. The very fact that he
assaults us should fill our minds with hope. I say again, let us take
comfort. The child of God has two great marks about him, and of these
two we have one. HE MAY BE KNOWN BY HIS INWARD WARFARE, AS WELL AS BY
HIS INWARD PEACE.
- I pass on to the second thing which I have to say in handling my
subject: True Christianity is the fight of faith.
In this respect the Christian warfare is utterly unlike the conflicts
of this world. It does not depend on the strong arm, the quick eye, or
the swift foot. It is not waged with carnal weapons, but with
spiritual. Faith is the hinge on which victory turns. Success depends
entirely on believing.
A general faith in the truth of God’s written Word is the primary
foundation of the Christian soldier’s character. He is what he is, does
what he does, thinks as he thinks, acts as he acts, hopes as he hopes,
behaves as he behaves, for one simple reason–he believes certain
propositions revealed and laid down in Holy Scripture. “He that cometh
to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him.” (Heb. xi. 5.)
A religion without doctrine or dogma is a thing which many are fond of
talking of in the present day. It sounds very fine at first. It looks
very pretty at a distance. But the moment we sit down to examine and
consider it, we shall find it a simple impossibility. We might as well
talk of a body without bones and sinews. No man will ever be anything
or do anything in religion, unless he believes something. Even those
who profess to hold the miserable and uncomfortable views of the Deists
are obliged to confess that they believe something. With all their
bitter sneers against dogmatic theology and Christian credulity, as
they call it, they themselves have a kind of faith.
As for true Christians, faith is the very backbone of their spiritual
existence. No one ever fights earnestly against the world, the flesh
and the devil, unless he has engraven on his heart certain great
principles which he believes. What they are he may hardly know, and may
certainly not be able to define or write down. But there they are, and,
consciously or unconsciously, they form the roots of his religion.
Wherever you see a man, whether rich or poor, learned or unlearned,
wrestling manfully with sin, and trying to overcome it, you may be sure
there are certain great principles which that man believes. The poet
who wrote the famous lines:
“For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight,
He can’t be wrong whose life is in the right,”
was a clever man, but a poor divine. There is no such thing as right
living without faith and believing.
A special faith in our Lord Jesus Christ’s person, work, and office, is
the life, heart, and mainspring of the Christian soldier’s character.
He sees by faith an unseen Saviour, who loved him, gave Himself for
him, paid his debts for him, bore his sins, carried his transgressions,
rose again for him, and appears in heaven for him as his Advocate at
the right hand of God. He sees Jesus, and clings to Him. Seeing this
Saviour and trusting in Him, he feels peace and hope, and willingly
does battle against the foes of his soul.
He sees his own many sins–his weak heart, a tempting world, a busy
devil; and if he looked only at them he might well despair. But he sees
also a mighty Saviour, an interceding Saviour, a sympathizing
Saviour–His blood, His righteousness, His everlasting priesthood–and
he believes that all this is his own. He sees Jesus, and casts his
whole weight on Him. Seeing Him he cheerfully fights on, with a full
confidence that he will prove “more than conqueror through Him that
loved him.” (Rom. viii. 37.)
Habitual lively faith in Christ’s presence and readiness to help is the
secret of the Christian soldier fighting successfully.
It must never be forgotten that faith admits of degrees. All men do not
believe alike, and even the same person has his ebbs and flows of
faith, and believes more heartily at one time than another. According
to the degree of his faith the Christian fights well or ill, wins
victories, or suffers occasional repulses, comes off triumphant, or
loses a battle. He that has most faith will always be the happiest and
most comfortable soldier. Nothing makes the anxieties of warfare sit so
lightly on a man as the assurance of Christ’s love and continual
protection. Nothing enables him to bear the fatigue of watching,
struggling, and wrestling against sin, like the indwelling confidence
that Christ is on his side and success is sure. It is the “shield of
faith” which quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one.–It is the
man who can say, “I know whom I have believed”–who can say in time of
suffering, “I am not ashamed.”–He who wrote those glowing words, “We
faint not,”–“Our light affliction which endureth but for a moment
worketh in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”–was
the man who wrote with the same pen, “We look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which
are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.”–It is the man who said, “I live by the faith of the Son of
God,” who said, in the same Epistle, “the world is crucified unto me,
and I unto the world.”–It is the man who said, “To me to live is
Christ,” who said, in the same Epistle, “I have learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content.”–“I can do all things through
Christ.”–The more faith the more victory! The more faith the more
inward peace! (Eph. vi. 16; 2 Tim. i. 12; 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18; Gal. ii.
20; vi. 14; Phil. i. 21; iv. 11, 13.)
I think it impossible to overrate the value and importance of faith.
Well may the Apostle Peter call it “precious.” (2 Pet. i. 1.) Time
would fail me if I tried to recount a hundredth part of the victories
which by faith Christian soldiers have obtained.
Let us take down our Bibles and read with attention the eleventh
chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Let us mark the long list of
worthies whose names are thus recorded, from Abel down to Moses, even
before Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, and brought life and
immortality into full light by the Gospel. Let us note well what
battles they won against the world, the flesh, and the devil. And then
let us remember that believing did it all. These men looked forward to
the promised Messiah. They saw Him that is invisible. “By faith the
elders obtained a good report.” (Heb. xi. 2-27.)
Let us turn to the pages of early Church history. Let us see how the
primitive Christians held fast their religion even unto death, and were
not shaken by the fiercest persecutions of heathen Emperors. For
centuries there were never wanting men like Polycarp and Ignatius, who
were ready to die rather than deny Christ. Fines, and prisons, and
torture, and fire, and sword, were unable to crush the spirit of the
noble army of martyrs. The whole power of imperial Rome, the mistress
of the world, proved unable to stamp out the religion which began with
a few fishermen and publicans in Palestine! And then let us remember
that believing in an unseen Jesus was the Church’s strength. They won
their victory by faith.
Let us examine the story of the Protestant Reformation. Let us study
the lives of its leading champions–Wycliffe, and Huss, and Luther, and
Ridley, and Latimer, and Hooper. Let us mark how these gallant soldiers
of Christ stood firm against a host of adversaries, and were ready to
die for their principles. What battles they fought! What controversies
they maintained! What contradiction they endured I What tenacity of
purpose they exhibited against a world in arms! And then let us
remember that believing in an unseen Jesus was the secret of their
strength. They overcame by faith.
Let us consider the men who have made the greatest marks in Church
history in the last hundred years. Let us observe how men like Wesley,
and Whitfield, and Venn, and Romaine, stood alone in their day and
generation, and revived English religion in the face of opposition from
men high in office, and in the face of slander, ridicule, and
persecution from nine-tenths of professing Christians in our land. Let
us observe how men like William Wilberforce, and Havelock, and Hedley
Vicars, have witnessed for Christ in the most difficult positions, and
displayed a banner for Christ even at the regimental mess-table, or on
the floor of the House of Commons. Let us mark how these noble
witnesses never flinched to the end, and won the respect even of their
worst adversaries. And then let us remember that believing in an unseen
Christ is the key to all their characters. By faith they lived, and
walked, and stood, and overcame.
Would anyone live the life of a Christian soldier? Let him pray for
faith. It is the gift of God; and a gift which those who ask shall
never ask for in vain. You must believe before you do. If men do
nothing in religion, it is because they do not believe. Faith is the
first step toward heaven.
Would anyone fight the fight of a Christian soldier successfully and
prosperously? Let him pray for a continual increase of faith. Let him
abide in Christ, get closer to Christ, tighten his hold on Christ every
day that he lives. Let his daily prayer be that of the
disciples–“Lord, increase my faith.” (Luke xvii. 5.) Watch jealously
over your faith, if you have any. It is the citadel of the Christian
character, on which the safety of the whole fortress depends. It is the
point which Satan loves to assail. All lies at his mercy if faith is
overthrown. Here, if we love life, we must especially stand on our
guard.
III. The last thing I have to say is this: True Christianity is a good
fight.
“Good” is a curious word to apply to any warfare. All worldly war is
more or less evil. No doubt it is an absolute necessity in many
cases–to procure the liberty of nations, to prevent the weak from
being trampled down by the strong–but still it is an evil. It entails
an awful amount of bloodshed and suffering. It hurries into eternity
myriads who are completely unprepared for their change. It calls forth
the worst passions of man. It causes enormous waste and destruction of
property. It fills peaceful homes with mourning widows and orphans. It
spreads far and wide poverty, taxation, and national distress. It
disarranges all the order of society. It interrupts the work of the
Gospel and the growth of Christian missions. In short, war is an
immense and incalculable evil, and every praying man should cry night
and day, “Give peace in our time.” And yet there is one warfare which
is emphatically “good,” and one fight in which there is no evil. That
warfare is the Christian warfare. That fight is the fight of the soul.
Now what are the reasons why the Christian fight is a “good fight”?
What are the points in which his warfare is superior to the warfare of
this world? Let me examine this matter, and open it out in order. I
dare not pass the subject and leave it unnoticed. I want no one to
begin the life of a Christian soldier without counting the cost. I
would not keep back from anyone that if he would be holy and see the
Lord he must fight, and that the Christian fight though spiritual is
real and severe. It needs courage, boldness, and perseverance. But I
want my readers to know that there is abundant encouragement, if they
will only begin the battle. The Scripture does not call the Christian
fight “a good fight” without reason and cause. Let me try to show what
I mean.
(a) The Christian’s fight is good because fought under the best of
generals. The Leader and Commander of all believers is our Divine
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ–a Saviour of perfect wisdom, infinite
love, and almighty power. The Captain of our salvation never fails to
lead His soldiers to victory. He never makes any useless movements,
never errs in judgment, never commits any mistake. His eye is on all
His followers, from the greatest of them even to the least. The
humblest servant in His army is not forgotten. The weakest and most
sickly is cared for, remembered, and kept unto salvation. The souls
whom He has purchased and redeemed with His own blood are far too
precious to be wasted and thrown away. Surely this is good!
(b) The Christian’s fight is good, because fought with the best of
helps. Weak as each believer is in himself, the Holy Spirit dwells in
him, and his body is a temple of the Holy Ghost. Chosen by God the
Father, washed in the blood of the Son, renewed by the Spirit, he does
not go a warfare at his own charges, and is never alone. God the Holy
Ghost daily teaches, leads, guides, and directs him. God the Father
guards him by His almighty power. God the Son intercedes for him every
moment, like Moses on the mount, while he is fighting in the valley
below. A threefold cord like this can never be broken! His daily
provisions and supplies never fail. His commissariat is never
defective. His bread and his water are sure. Weak as he seems in
himself, like a worm, he is strong in the Lord to do great exploits.
Surely this is good!
(c) The Christian fight is a good fight, because fought with the best
of promises. To every believer belong exceeding great and precious
promises–all Yea and Amen in Christ–promises sure to be fulfilled,
because made by One who cannot lie, and has power as well as will to
keep His word. “Sin shall not have dominion over you.”–“The God of
peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”–“He that has begun
a good work will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”–“When thou
passeth through the waters I will be with thee, and through the floods,
they shall not overflow thee.”–“My sheep shall never perish, neither
shall anyone pluck them out of my hand.”–“Him that cometh unto Me!
will in no wise cast out.”–“I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee.”–“I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor things
present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. vi. 14; Rom. xvi. 20; Philip.
- 6; Isa. xliii. 2; John x. 28; John vi. 37; Heb. xiii. 5; Rom. viii.
38.) Words like these are worth their weight in gold! Who does not know
that promises of coming aid have cheered the defenders of besieged
cities, like Lucknow, and raised them above their natural strength?
Have we never heard that the promise of “help before night” had much to
say to the mighty victory of Waterloo? Yet all such promises are as
nothing compared to the rich treasure of believers, the eternal
promises of God. Surely this is good!
(d) The Christian’s fight is a good fight, because fought with the best
of issues and results. No doubt it is a wa+- in which there an;
tremendous struggles, agonizing conflicts, wounds, bruises, watchings,
fastings, and fatigue. But still every believer, without exception, is
“more than conqueror through Him that loved him.” (Rom. viii. 37.) No
soldiers of Christ are ever lost, missing, or left dead on the
battlefield. No mourning will ever need to be put on, and no tears to
be shed for either private or officer in the army of Christ. The muster
roll, when the last evening comes, will be found precisely the same
that it was in the morning. The English Guards marched out of London to
the Crimean campaign a magnificent body of men; but many of the gallant
fellows laid their bones in a foreign grave, and never saw London
again. Far different shall be the arrival of the Christian army in “the
city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Heb. xi.
10.) Not one shall be found lacking. The words of our great Captain
shall be found true: “Of them which Thou hast given Me I have lost
none.” (John xviii. 9.) Surely this is good!
(e) The Christian’s fight is good, because it does good to the soul of
him that fights it. All other wars have a bad, lowering, and
demoralising tendency. They call forth the worst passions of the human
mind. They harden the conscience, and sap the foundations of religion
and morality. The Christian warfare alone tends to call forth the best
things that are left in man. It promotes humility and charity, it
lessens selfishness and worldliness, it induces men to set their
affections on things above. The old, the sick, the dying, are never
known to repent of fighting Christ’s battles against sin, the world,
and the devil. Their only regret is that they did not begin to serve
Christ long before. The experience of that eminent saint, Philip Henry,
does not stand alone. In his last days he said to his family, “I take
you all to record that a life spent in the service of Christ is the
happiest life that a man can spend upon earth.” Surely this is good!
(f) The Christian’s fight is a good fight, because it does good to the
world. All other wars have a devastating, ravaging, and injurious
effect. The march of an army through a land is an awful scourge to the
inhabitants. Wherever it goes it impoverishes, wastes, and does harm.
Injury to persons, property, feelings, and morals invariably
accompanies it. Far different are the effects produced by Christian
soldiers. Wherever they live they are a blessing. They raise the
standard of religion and morality. They invariably check the progress
of drunkenness. Sabbath-breaking, profligacy, and dishonesty. Even
their enemies are obliged to respect them. Go where you please, you
will rarely find that barracks and garrisons do good to the
neighbourhood. But go where you please, you will find that the presence
of a few true Christians is a blessing. Surely this is good!
(g) Finally, the Christian’s fight is good, because it ends in a
glorious reward for all who fight it. Who can tell the wages that
Christ will pay to all His faithful people? Who can estimate the good
things that our Divine Captain has laid up for those who confess Him
before men? A grateful country can give to her successful warriors
medals, Victoria Crosses, pensions, peerages, honours, and titles. But
it can give nothing that will last and endure for ever, nothing that
can be carried beyond the grave. Palaces like Blenheim and
Strathfieldsay can only be enjoyed for a few years. The bravest
generals and soldiers must go down one day before the King of Terrors.
Better, far better, is the position of him who fights under Christ’s
banner against sin, the world, and the devil. He may get little praise
of man while he lives, and go down to the grave with little honour; but
he shall have that which is far better, because far more enduring. He
shall have “a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” (1 Pet. v. 4.)
Surely this is good!
Let us settle it in our minds that the Christian fight is a good
fight–really good, truly good, emphatically good. We see only part of
it as yet. We see the struggle, but not the end; we see the campaign,
but not the reward; we see the cross, but not the crown. We see a few
humble, broken-spirited, penitent, praying people, enduring hardships
and despised by the world; but we see not the hand of God over them,
the face of God smiling on them, the kingdom of glory prepared for
them. These things are yet to be revealed. Let us not judge by
appearances. There are more good things about the Christian warfare
than we see.
And now let me conclude my whole subject with a few words of practical
application. Our lot is cast in times when the world seems thinking of
little else but battles and fighting. The iron is entering into the
soul of more than one nation, and the mirth of many a fair district is
clean gone. Surely in times like these a minister may fairly call on
men to remember their spiritual warfare. Let me say a few parting words
about the great fight of the soul.
(1) It may be you are struggling hard for the rewards of this world.
Perhaps you are straining every nerve to obtain money, or place, or
power, or pleasure. If that be your case, take care. Your sowing will
lead to a crop of bitter disappointment. Unless you mind what you are
about your latter end will be to lie down in sorrow.
Thousands have trodden the path you are pursuing, and have awoke too
late to find it end in misery and eternal ruin. They have fought hard
for wealth, and honour, and office, and promotion, and turned their
backs on God, and Christ, and heaven, and the world to come. And what
has their end been? Often, far too often, they have found out that
their whole life has been a grand mistake. They have tasted by bitter
experience the feelings of the dying statesman who cried aloud in his
last hours, “The battle is fought: the battle is fought: but the
victory is not won.”
For your own happiness’ sake resolve this day to join the Lord’s side.
Shake off your past carelessness and unbelief. Come out from the ways
of a thoughtless, unreasoning world. Take up the cross, and become a
good soldier of Christ. “Fight the good fight of faith,” that you may
be happy as well as safe.
Think what the children of this world will often do for liberty,
without any religious principle. Remember how Greeks, and Romans, and
Swiss, and Tyrolese, have endured the loss of all things, and even life
itself, rather than bend their necks to a foreign yoke. Let their
example provoke you to emulation. If men can do so much for a
corruptible crown, how much more should you do for one which is
incorruptible! Awake to a sense of the misery of being a slave. For
fife, and happiness, and liberty, arise and fight.
Fear not to begin and enlist under Christ’s banner. The great Captain
of your salvation rejects none that come to Him. Like David in the cave
of Adullam, He is ready to receive all who apply to Him, however
unworthy they may feel themselves. None who repent and believe are too
bad to be enrolled in the ranks of Christ’s army. All who come to Him
by faith are admitted, clothed, armed, trained, and finally led on to
complete victory. Fear not to begin this very day. There is yet room
for you.
Fear not to go on fighting, if you once enlist. The more thorough and
whole-hearted you are as a soldier, the more comfortable will you find
your warfare. No doubt you will often meet with trouble, fatigue, and
hard fighting, before your warfare is accomplished. But let none of
these things move you. Greater is He that is for you than all they that
be against you. Everlasting liberty or everlasting captivity are the
alternatives before you. Choose liberty, and fight to the last.
(2) It may be you know something of the Christian warfare, and are a
tried and proved soldier already. If that be your case, accept a
parting word of advice and encouragement from a fellow-soldier. Let me
speak to myself as well as to you. Let us stir up our minds by way of
remembrance. There are some things which we cannot remember too well.
Let us remember that if we would fight successfully we must put on the
whole armour of God, and never lay it aside till we die. Not a single
piece of the armour can be dispensed with. The girdle of truth, the
breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the sword of the
Spirit, the helmet of hope–each and all are needful. Not a single day
can we dispense with any part of this armour. Well says an old veteran
in Christ’s army, who died 200 years ago, “In heaven we shall appear,
not in armour, but in robes of glory. But here our arms are to be worn
night and day. We must walk, work, sleep in them, or else we are not
true soldiers of Christ.” (Gurnall’s Christian Armour.)
Let us remember the solemn words of an inspired warrior, who went to
his rest 1,800 years ago: “No man that warreth entangleth himself with
the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to
be a soldier.” (2 Tim. ii. 4.) May we never forget that saying!
Let us remember that some have seemed good soldiers for a little
season, and talked loudly of what they would do, and yet turned back
disgracefully in the day of battle.
Let us never forget Balaam, and Judas, and Demas, and Lot’s wife.
Whatever we are, and however weak, let us be real, genuine, true, and
sincere.
Let us remember that the eye of our loving Saviour is upon us, morning,
noon, and night. He will never suffer us to be tempted above that we
are able to bear. He can be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, for He suffered Himself being tempted. He knows what
battles and conflicts are, for He Himself was assaulted by the Prince
of this world. Having such a High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, let us
hold fast our profession. (Heb. iv. 14.)
Let us remember that thousands of soldiers before us have fought the
same battle that we are fighting, and come off more than conquerors
through Him that loved them. They overcame by the blood of the Lamb;
and so also may we. Christ’s arm is quite as strong as ever, and
Christ’s heart is just as loving as ever. He that saved men and women
before us is one who never changes. He is “able to save to the
uttermost all who come unto God by Him.” Then let us cast doubts and
fears away. Let us “follow them who through faith and patience inherit
the promises,” and are waiting for us to join them. (Heb. vii. 25; vi.
12.)
Finally, let us remember that the time is short, and the coming of the
Lord draweth nigh. A few more battles and the last trumpet shall sound,
and the Prince of Peace shall come to reign on a renewed earth. A few
more struggles and conflicts, and then we shall bid an eternal good-bye
to warfare, and to sin, to sorrow, and to death. Then let us fight on
to the last, and never surrender. Thus saith the Captain of our
salvation–“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be
his God, and he shall be my son.” (Rev. xxi. 7.)
Let me conclude all with the words of John Bunyan, in one of the most
beautiful parts of Pilgrim’s Progress. He is describing the end of one
of his best and holiest pilgrims:–
“After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-truth was sent
for by a summons, by the same party as the others. And he had this word
for a token that the summons was true, The pitcher was broken at the
fountain.’ (Eccl. xii. 6.) When he understood it, he called for his
friends, and told them of it. Then said he, I am going to my Father’s
house; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do
not repent me of all the troubles I have been at to arrive where I am.
My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my
courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry
with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles, who
will now be my rewarder.’ When the day that he must go home was come,
many accompanied him to the river-side, into which, as he went down, he
said, O death where is thy sting?’ And as he went down deeper, he
cried, O grave, where is thy victory?’ So he passed over, and all the
trumpets sounded for him on the other side.”
May our end be like this! May we never forget that without fighting
there can be no holiness while we live, and no crown of glory when we
die!
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