Jesus Declining the Legions
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 27, 1887,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall
presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how, then,
shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" Matthew
26:53, 54.
IT is the garden of Gethsemane. Here stands our Lord and yonder is the
betrayer. He is foremost of the multitude. You know his face, the face
of that son of perdition, even Judas Iscariot. He comes forward,
leaving the men with the staves, the swords, the torches and lanterns.
He proceeds to kiss his Master–it is the token by which the officers
are to know their victim. You perceive at once that the disciples are
excited. One of them cries, "Lord, shall we smite with the sword?"
Their love to their Master has overcome their prudence! There are but
11 of them–a small band to fight against the mob sent by the
authorities to arrest their Master–but love makes no reckoning of
odds. Before an answer can be given, Peter has struck the first blow
and the servant of the High Priest has narrowly escaped having his head
split in two! As it is, his ear is cut off.
One is not altogether surprised at Peter's act, for, in addition to his
headlong zeal, he had most likely misunderstood the saying of his Lord
at supper–"He that has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy
one." There was not time for our Lord to explain, but they were so
accustomed to his concrete style of speech that they should not have
misunderstood Him, but they did so. He had simply told them that the
days of peace, in which they could go in and out among the people and
be joyfully received by them, had now come to an end, for, as He,
Himself, who had once been in favor with all the people, would now be
"reckoned among the transgressors," (see Luke 22:35-38), so would they
be counted among the offscouring of all things. Now they could no
longer reckon on the hospitality of a friendly people, but must carry
their own purse and scrip. And instead of feeling safe wherever they
went, they must understand that they were in an enemy's country and
must travel through the world like men armed for self-defense.
They were now to use their own substance and not to hope for cheerful
entertainment among a grateful people. And they would need to be on
their guard against those who, in killing them, would think that they
were doing God a service. They took His language literally and,
therefore, replied, "Lord, behold, here are two swords." I think He
must have smiled sadly at their blunder as He answered, "It is enough."
He could never have thought of their fighting that He might not be
delivered unto the Jews, since for that purpose two swords were simply
ridiculous! They had missed His meaning, which was simply to warn them
of the changed circumstances of His cause–but they caught at the words
which He had used and exhibited their two swords.
Possibly, as some have supposed, these were two long sacrificial knives
with which they had killed the Paschal lamb, but, indeed, the wearing
of weapons is much more general in the East than with us. Our Lord's
disciples were largely Galileans and as the Galileans were more of a
fighting sort than other Jews, the wearing of swords was probably very
general among them. Nevertheless, two of the Apostles had swords–not
that they were fighting men–but probably because it was the fashion of
their country and they had thought it necessary to wear them when
passing through a dangerous district. At any rate, Peter had a sword
and instantly used it. He smites the first man he could reach! I wonder
he had not struck Judas–one might have excused him if he had–but it
is a servant of the High Priest who bears the blow and loses his ear.
Then the Savior comes forward in all His gentleness, as self-possessed
as when He was at supper, as calm as if He had not already passed
through an agony. Quietly He says, "Suffer it to be so now." He touches
the ear and heals it–and in the lull which followed, when even the men
that came to seize Him were spell-bound by this wondrous miracle of
mercy–He propounds the great Truth of God that they that take the
sword shall perish with the sword! And He bids Peter put away his
weapon. Then He utters these memorable words–"Do you think that I
cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than
twelve legions of angels? But how, then, shall the Scriptures be
fulfilled, that thus it must be?" And He also said what John alone
appears to have heard–"The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I
not drink it?" (John 18:11).
The wound of Malchus served a gracious purpose, for it enabled our Lord
to work a new miracle, the likes of which He had never worked before,
namely, the restoration of a member maimed or cut off by violence. The
blunder of the Apostles was also overruled to answer a very instructive
purpose. You wonder that the Lord should, even in appearance, encourage
His disciples to have swords and then forbid them to use them. Follow
me in a thought which is clear to my own mind. For a man to abstain
from using force when he has none to use is no great virtue–it reminds
one of the lines of Cowper's ballad–
"Stooping down, as needs he must Who cannot sit upright."
But for a man to have force ready to his hand and then to abstain from
using it is a case of self-restraint and possibly of self-sacrifice of
a far nobler kind! Our Savior had His sword at His side that night,
though He did not use it. "What?" you ask, "how can that be true?" Our
Lord says, "Can I not now pray to My Father, and He will give Me twelve
legions of angels?" Our Lord had thus the means of
self-defense–something far more powerful than a sword hung at His
belt– but He refused to employ the power within His reach.
His servants could not bear this test. They had no self-restraint–the
hand of Peter is on his sword at once. The failure of the servants in
this matter seems to me to illustrate the grand self-possession of
their Master. "Alas," He seems to say, "you cannot be trusted even with
swords, much less could you be entrusted with greater forces. If you
had the angelic bands at your command, down they would come streaming
from the sky to execute works of vengeance and so mar My great
life-work of love." Brothers and Sisters, we are better without swords
and other forms of force than with them, for we have not yet learned,
like our Lord, to control ourselves! Admire the glorious self-restraint
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, armed not with a sword but with the
embattled hosts of "helmed cherubim and sworded seraphim," yet refused
even by a prayer to bring them down to His relief! Peter's passionate
use of the sword illustrates the happy self-control of His Lord and
this is the use of the incident.
Let us now proceed to learn from the Words of the Lord Jesus which we
have selected as our text.
I. First, Brothers and Sisters, I would have you notice from the text
OUR LORD'S GRAND RESOURCE. "Do you think that I cannot now pray to My
Father?" Our Lord is surrounded by His adversaries and there are none
about Him powerful enough to defend Him from their malice–what can He
do? He says, "I can pray to My Father." This is our Lord's continual
resource in the time of danger! Yes, even in that time of which He
said, "This is your hour and the power of darkness." He can even now
pray to His Father.
First, Jesus had no possessions on earth, but He had a Father. I
rejoice in His saying, "Do you think that I cannot now pray to My
Father?" He is a betrayed Man. He is given up into the hands of those
who thirst for His blood, but He has an Almighty and Divine Father. If
our Lord had merely meant to say that God could deliver Him, He might
have said, "Do you think not that I can pray to Jehovah?" Or, "to God?"
But He uses the sweet expression, "My Father," both here and in that
text in John, where He says, "The cup which My Father has given Me,
shall I not drink it?" O Brothers and Sisters, remember that we have a
Father in Heaven! When all is gone and spent, we can say, "Our Father."
Relatives are dead, but our Father lives! Supposed friends have left
us, even as the swallows quit in our wintry weather, but we are not
alone, for the Father is with us! Cling to that blessed text, "I will
not leave you orphans; I will come unto you." In every moment of
distress, anxiety, perplexity, we have a Father in whose wisdom, truth
and power we can rely! Your dear children do not trouble themselves
much, do they–if they have a need, they go to father. If they are
puzzled, they ask father. If they are ill-treated, they appeal to
father. If but a thorn is in their finger, they run to mother for
relief. Be it little or great, the child's sorrow is the parent's care!
This makes a child's life easy–it would make ours easy if we would but
act as children towards God. Let us imitate the Elder Brother and when
we, too, are in our Geth-semane, let us, as He did, continue to cry,
"My Father, My Father." This is a better defense than shield or sword!
Our Lord's resource was to approach His Father with prevailing prayer.
"Can I not, now, pray to My Father?" Our Lord Jesus could use that
marvelous weapon of All-Prayer which is shield, sword, spear, helmet
and breast-plate, all in one. When you can do nothing else, you can
pray. If you can do many things besides, it will still be your wisdom
to say, "Let us pray!" But I think I hear you object that our Lord had
been praying and yet His griefs were not removed. He had prayed Himself
into a bloody sweat with prayer and yet He was left unprotected, to
fall into His enemies' hands. This is true and yet it is not all the
truth, for He had been strengthened–and power for deliverance was at
His disposal. He had only to press His suit to be rescued at once! The
Greek word here is not the same word which would set forth ordinary
prayer–the Revised Version puts it, "Do you think that I cannot
beseech My Father?" We make a great mistake if we throw all prayer into
one category and think that every form of true prayer is alike. We may
pray and plead and even do this with extreme earnestness–and yet we
may not use that mode of beseeching which would surely bring the
blessing.
Up to now our Lord had prayed and prayed intensely, too, but there was
yet a higher form of prayer to which He might have mounted if it had
been proper to do so. He could have besought so that the Father must
have answered, but He would not. O Brothers and Sisters, you have
prayed a great deal, perhaps, about your trouble, but there is a
reserve force of beseeching in you yet–by the aid of the Spirit of God
you may pray after a higher and more prevailing rate! This is a far
better weapon than a sword. I was speaking to a Brother, yesterday,
about a prayer which my Lord had remarkably answered in my own case and
I could not help saying to him, "But I cannot always pray in that
fashion. Not only can I not so pray, but I would not dare to do so even
if I could."
Moved by the Spirit of God, we sometimes pray with a power of faith
which can never fail at the Mercy Seat–but without such an impulse we
must not push our own wills to the front. There are many occasions upon
which, if one had all the faith which could move mountains, he would
most wisely show it by saying nothing beyond, "Nevertheless not as I
will, but as You will." Had our Lord chosen to do so, He still had in
reserve a prayer power which would have effectually saved Him from His
enemies. He did not think it right to use it– but He could have done
so had He pleased.
Notice that our Lord, felt that He could even, then, pray. Matters had
not gone too far for prayer. When can they do so? The word, "now,"
practically occurs twice in our version, for we get it first as, "now,"
and then as, "presently." It occurs only once in the original, but as
its exact position in the verse cannot easily be decided. Our
translators, with a singular wisdom, have placed it in both the former
and the latter part of the sentence. Our Savior certainly meant–"I
have come, now, to extremities. The people are far away whose favor
formerly protected Me from the Pharisees and I am about to be seized by
armed men. But even now I can pray to My Father." Prayer is an always
open door. There is no predicament in which we cannot pray. If we
follow the Lamb where ever He goes, we can now pray effectually unto
our Father, even as He could have done.
Do I hear you say, "The fatal hour is near"? You may now pray. "But the
danger is imminent!" You may now pray. If, like Jonah, you are now at
the bottom of the mountains and the weeds are wrapped about your head,
you may even now pray! Prayer is a weapon that is usable in every
position in the hour of conflict. The Greeks had long spears and these
were of grand service to the troops so long as the rank was not broken.
The Romans used a short sword and that was a far more effectual weapon
at close quarters. Prayer is both the long spear and the short sword.
Yes, Brothers and Sisters, you may even pray between the jaws of the
lion! We glory in our blessed Master, that He knew in fullness of faith
that if He would bring forth His full power of prayer, He could set all
Heaven on the wing. As soon as His beseeching prayer had reached the
Father's ear, immediately, like flames of fire, angels would flash
death upon His adversaries!
Our Lord's resort was not to the carnal weapon, but to the mighty
engine of supplication. Behold, my Brethren, where our grand resort
must always be. Look not to the arm of flesh, but to the Lord our God!
Church of God, look not piteously to the State, but fly to the Mercy
Seat! Church of God, look not to the ministry, but resort to the Throne
of Grace! Church of God, depend not upon learned or moneyed men, but
beseech God in supplicating faith! Prayer is the tower of David built
for an armory. Prayer is our battle-axe and weapons of war. We say to
our antagonist–"Do you think that I cannot now pray to my Father." Let
this suffice to display our Savior's grand resource in the night of His
direst distress.
II. Secondly, let me invite your attention to OUR LORD'S UNDIMINISHED
POWER IN HEAVEN at the time
when He seemed to have no power on earth. He says, when about to be
bound and taken away to Caiaphas, "I can presently call down 12 legions
of angels from the skies." He had influence in Heaven with the Father,
the great Lord of an-
gels. He could have of the Father all that the Father possessed! Heaven
would be emptied, if necessary, to satisfy the wish of the Beloved Son.
The Man Christ Jesus who is about to be hung upon the Cross has such
power with the Father that He has but to ask and to have. The Father
would answer Him at once–"He shall presently send Me 12 legions of
angels." There would be no delay, no hesitation. The Father was ready
to help Him, waiting to deliver Him. All Heaven was concerned about
Him. All the angelic bands were waiting on the wing and Jesus had but
to express the desire and instantly the garden of Gethsemane would have
been as populous with shining ones as the New Jerusalem itself!
Our Lord speaks of angels that His Father would give Him, or send Him.
We may interpret it that the Father would at once put at His disposal
the glorious inhabitants of Heaven. Think of seraphs at the disposal of
the Man of Sorrows! He is despised and rejected of men and yet angels
that excel in strength are at His beck and call! Swift of wing, quick
of hand and wise of thought, they are charmed to be the messengers of
the Son of Man, the servitors of Jesus. Think of this, Beloved, when
you bow before the thorn-crowned head and when you gaze upon the nailed
hands and feet! Remember that angels and principalities and powers–and
all the ranks of pure spirits by whatever name they are named–were all
at the beck and call of Jesus when He was newly risen from His agony
and was about to be led away bound to the High Priest! He is our Lord
and God–even at His lowest and weakest!
Jesus speaks of "twelve legions." I suppose He mentions the number, 12,
as a legion for each one of the eleven disciples and for Himself. They
were only twelve and yet the innumerable hosts of Heaven would make
forced marches for their rescue. A legion in the Roman army was 6,000
men at the very lowest. Twelve times 6,000 angels would come in answer
to a wish from Jesus! No, He says, "more" than 12 legions! There can be
no limit to the available resources of the Christ of God. Thousands of
thousands would fill the air if Jesus willed it! The band that Judas
led would be an insignificant squad to be swallowed up at once if the
Savior would but summon His allies. Behold, dear Brothers and Sisters,
the glory of our betrayed and arrested Lord! If He was such, then, what
is He, now, when all power is given Him of His Father? Bear in your
minds the clear idea that Jesus in His humiliation, was, nevertheless,
Lord of all things–and especially of the unseen world and of the
armies which people it. The more clearly you perceive this, the more
will you admire the all-conquering, all-abjuring love which took Him to
the death of the Cross.
Tarry here just a minute to remember that the angels are also,
according to your measure and degree, at your call. You have but to
pray to God and angels shall bear you up in their hands lest you dash
your foot against a stone. We do not think enough of these heavenly
beings, yet they are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to
those that are heirs of salvation! Like Elijah's servant, if your eyes
were opened you would see the mountain full of horses of fire and
chariots of fire round about the servants of God. Let us learn from our
Master to reckon upon invisible forces! Let us not trust in that which
is seen of the eyes and heard of the ears, but let us have respect to
spiritual agencies which evade the senses, but are known to faith.
Angels play a far greater part in the affairs of Providence than we
know. God can raise us up friends on earth, but if He does not do so,
He can find us abler friends in Heaven! There is no need to pluck out
the sword with which to cut off men's ears–infinitely better agencies
will work for us! Have faith in God and all things shall work for your
good. The angels of God think it an honor and a delight to protect the
least of His children.
III. But I cannot linger, although I feel a great temptation to do so.
My text is full of teaching, but a main point is the third one–OUR
LORD'S PERFECT WILLINGNESS IN SUFFERING. I hope I have already brought
that before you. Our Lord would be betrayed into the hands of
sinners–and He would go with them willingly. He had not shunned the
garden though Judas knew the place. No part of our Lord's sufferings
came upon Him by the necessity of His Nature. Neither as God nor as
sinless Man was He bound to suffer. There was no necessity that Christ
should endure any of the inflictions laid upon Him, except the
necessity of His fulfilling the Scriptures and performing the work of
mercy which He came to do. He must die because He became the great
Sacrifice for sin. But apart from that, no necessity of death was on
Him. They scourged Him, but they could not have lifted the whip if He
had not permitted it. He thirsted on the cruel tree, but all the
springs of water in the world He makes and fills and, therefore, He
needed not to have thirsted if He had not chosen to submit thereto!
When He died, He did not die through the failure of His natural
strength–He died because He had surrendered Himself to death as our
great Propitiation. Even in His expiring moment, our Lord cried with a
loud voice, to show that His life was still in Him. He "gave up the
ghost," freely parting with a life which He might have retained. He
voluntarily surrendered His spirit to God. It was not snatched from Him
by a force superior to His own will–He willingly bore our sins and
willingly died as our Substitute. Let us love and bless the willing
Sufferer!
Indeed, our Lord was not merely submissive to the Divine will, but, if
I may use words in a paradoxical manner, I would say that He was
actively submissive. A single prayer would have brought our Lord
deliverance from His enemies– but He exercised force upon Himself and
held in His natural impulse to beseech the Father. He held in abeyance
that noblest of spiritual gifts, that choicest of all forms of
power–the power of prayer. One would have thought that a good man
might always exercise prayer to the fullest of his ability, and yet
Jesus laid His hand upon His prayer power as if it had been a sword and
put it back into its sheath. "He saved others, Himself He could not
save." He prayed for others, but, in this instance, for Himself He
would not pray as He might have done. He would do nothing, even though
it were to pray a prayer which even in the slightest degree would
oppose the will of the Father! He was so perfectly submissive, yes, so
eager to accomplish our salvation, that He would not pray to avoid the
cruelty of His enemies and the bitterness of death! He sees it is the
Father's will and, therefore, He will not have a wish in opposition to
it. "The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?"
Remember that He needed not to commit any wrong thing to prevent His
being taken and slain–a good thing, namely, a prayer, would do it! But
He will not pray–He has undertaken the work of Redemption and He must
and will go through with it! He has such a desire for your salvation
and for mine, such a thirst to honor and glorify His Father in the work
which He had engaged to do, that He will not even prevent His
sufferings by a prayer!
Wonderful is that question, "How, then, shall the Scriptures be
fulfilled?" It is as much as to say, "Who else can drink this cup? Who
else can tread the winepress of Almighty wrath? No, I must do it. I
cannot lay this load upon any other shoulders." Therefore, for the joy
that was set before Him, He endured the Cross, despising the shame. He
was willing, yes, willing from beginning to end, to be our suffering
Savior! He was willing to be born at Bethlehem, to work at Nazareth, to
be mocked at Jerusalem and, at last, to die at Calvary! At any one
point He could have drawn back. No constraint was upon Him but that of
a love stronger than death.
I want you, dear Hearers, to draw the inference that Jesus is willing
to save. A willing Sufferer must be a willing Savior. If He willingly
died, He must, with equal willingness, be ready to give to us the fruit
of His death! If any of you would have Jesus, you may surely have Him
at once! He freely delivered Himself up for us all. If He was so
willing to become a Sacrifice, how willing must He be that the glorious
result of His sacrifice should be shared in by you and by all who come
to God by Him! If there is unwillingness anywhere, you are unwilling.
He rejoices to be gracious. I wish the charm of this Truth of God would
affect your heart as it does mine. I love Him greatly because I see
that at any moment He might have drawn back from redeeming me–and yet
He would not. A single prayer would have set Him free, but He would not
pray it, for He loved us so!–
"This was compassion like a God That when the Savior knew The price of
pardon was His blood, His pity never withdrew."
Do not grieve Him by thinking that He is unwilling to forgive, that He
is unwilling to receive a sinner such as you! Has He not said, "He that
comes to Me I will in no wise cast out"? You will delight Him if you
come to Him, whoever you may be. If you will but draw near to Him by
simple trust, He will see in you the purchase of His agony–and all the
merit of His death shall flow out freely to you. Come and welcome,
Sinner, come!
IV. Now I must lead you, with great brevity, to notice OUR LORD'S GREAT
RESPECT FOR HOLY SCRIPTURE. He can have 12 legions of angels, but,
"how, then, shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
Notice, that our Lord believed in the Divinity of Scripture. He says,
"How, then, shall the Scriptures be fulfilled?" But if the Scriptures
are only the writings of men, there is no necessity that they should be
fulfilled! If they are merely the fallible utterances of good men, I
see no particular necessity that they should be fulfilled. Our Lord
Jesus Christ insisted upon it that the Scriptures must be
fulfilled–and the reason was that they are not the word of man, but
the Word of God! The Scriptures were evidently the Word of God to our
Lord Jesus Christ. He never trifles with them, nor differs from them,
nor predicts that they will vanish. It is He that says, "Think not that
I have come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: I have not come to
destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till Heaven and
earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
Law till all is fulfilled."
He believed in the Divine origin of the Scriptures and also in their
infallibility. "How, then, shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus
it must be?" He does not hint that the Scriptures might be a little
mistaken. He does not argue, "I will
bring the 12 legions of angels down to deliver Myself and it is no
matter to Me that then the Scriptures will be made void." Oh, no! The
Scriptures must be true and they must be fulfilled and, therefore, He
must be betrayed into the hands of men! He settles it as a matter of
necessity that Scripture must infallibly be verified, even to its jots
and tittles.
See, Brothers and Sisters, the priceless worth of Scripture in the
estimation of our Lord. In effect He says, "I will die rather than any
Scripture shall be unfulfilled. I will go to the Cross rather than any
one Word of God should not be carried out." The Prophet Zechariah has
written, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man that
is My Fellow, says the Lord of Hosts: smite the Shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered abroad." The fulfillment of that prophecy fell due
that night and the Son of God was prepared to be smitten as the
Shepherd of the sheep, rather than the Word of the Father should fall
to the ground. Skin for skin, yes–all that a man has will he give for
his life–and Jesus would give His life for the Scriptures! Brethren,
it were worth while for the whole Church to die rather than any Truth
of Scripture should be given up! Let all our thousands be consumed upon
the altar as one great holocaust sooner than the Scriptures should be
dishonored The Word of the Lord must live and prevail whether we die or
not. Our Lord teaches us to prize it beyond liberty or life.
The force of our Lord's language goes further. Let me repeat the words
and then enlarge upon them. "How, then, shall the Scriptures be
fulfilled, that thus it must be?" Holy Scripture is the transcript of
the secret decree of God. We do not believe in fate–a blind, hard
thing. We believe in predestination–the settled purpose of a wise and
loving Father. The Book of Fate is cruel reading, but the book of
Divine Fore-ordination is full of charming sentences and those lines
out of it which are written in the Scriptures we joyfully choose to
have fulfilled. It is the will of our Father who is in Heaven which
settles the things which must be and, because of this, we cheerfully
yield ourselves up to predestination. Once being assured that God has
appointed it, we have no struggles, no, we will not even breathe a wish
to have the matter otherwise! Let the will of the Father be the supreme
Law. It ought to be so.
We find a depth of comfort in saying, "It is the Lord, let Him do what
seems good to Him." Now, the prophecies of Scripture were to the Lord
Christ the Revelation of the predestination of God so that it must
be–and He cheerfully, joyfully, even without a prayer against it,
gives Himself up at once to that which must be because God has
appointed it. If any of you do not believe in the predestination of
God, you will, probably, in some hour of depression, ascribe your
sorrows to a cruel fate. The human mind, somehow or other, is driven,
at last, to this decision, that some things are beyond the control of
man and of his will and that these are fixed by necessity. How much
better to see that God has fixed them! There is the wheel revolving
surely and unalterably–would it not comfort you to believe that it is
full of eyes and that it is moving according to the settled purpose of
the Lord? That man who says, "It is my Father's will" is the happy man!
Predestination is as sure and as certain as fate, but there is at the
back of it a living and loving Personality, ordering all things. To
this we cheerfully yield ourselves.
Beloved, let us value Scripture as much as Christ did! I was going to
say, let us value it even more, for if our Lord valued unfulfilled
Scripture–which was but a shell till He became its kernel–how much
more should we value it, to whom the Scriptures are fulfilled, in a
large degree, because the Christ has suffered and has done even as it
was written of Him by the Prophets of God!
Time flies so quickly that I must pass on. You perceive that I have a
pregnant text–it is full of living instruction to those who desire to
learn. God help us to receive with joy all its holy teaching!
V. But I must come to the last point. We will consider OUR LORD'S
LESSONS TO EACH ONE OF US in this text. The first lesson is
this–Desire no other forces for God's work than God, Himself, ordains
to use. Do not desire that the Government should come to your rescue to
support your Church. Do not desire that the charms of eloquence should
be given to ministers, that they may, therefore, command listening ears
and so maintain the faith by the wisdom of words. Do not ask that
learning and rank and prestige may come upon the side of Christianity
and so religion may become respectable and influential. Means that God
has not chosen to use should not be looked upon by us with covetous
eyes. Has He not said, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,
says the Lord of Hosts"? Jesus has all those squadrons of angels at His
disposal–do you wish that He would use them? What a glorious vision is
before us as we see their serried ranks and mark their glittering
splendor! But Jesus bids them stand still and see the salvation of God
worked out without their interposition!
He has not put the new world in subjection to them. They must not
meddle with the redemption of men. The conflict for truth is to be a
spiritual battle between man and the serpent–nothing but spiritual
force is to be employed–and that not by angels, but by men! Man must
overcome sin by spiritual means only. Put up the sword, Peter! Jesus
does not need its keen edge. Keep your swords in your sheaths, you
seraphim! Jesus does not need even your blades of celestial temper. His
weakness has done more than human or angelic strength! His suffering
and death have done the deed which all the hierarchy of angels could
never have accomplished! The Truth of God is to win the fight. The
Spirit is to subdue the powers of evil. Brothers and Sisters, do not
ask anybody else to interfere. Let us have this fight out on the ground
which God has chosen. Let us know that God is Omnipotent in the realm
of mind and that by His truth and Spirit He will overcome! He holds
back all forces other than those of argument, persuasion and
enlightenment by His Spirit–do not let us even wish to put our hands
to any force other than what He ordains to use.
And, next, take care that when other forces are within reach, you do
not use them for the promotion of the heavenly Kingdom. When you are in
argument for the Truth of God, do not grow angry, for this would be to
fight the Lord's battles with the devil's weapons. Do not wish to
oppress a person whose views are erroneous or even blasphemous. The use
of bribes for the propagation of opinions is evil and the refusal of
charities to those who differ from us in sentiment is detestable! Let
no threat escape your lips, nor bribe pollute your hands. It is not
thus that the battles of the Truths of God are to be fought! If you
ever feel inclined to shut a man's mouth by wishing him banishment, or
sickness, or any sort of ill, be grieved with yourself that so
unchristly a thought should have entered your head! Desire only good
for the most perverse of men. Fighting for Christ would be wounding Him
sorely. The French king heard of the cruelties perpetrated upon our
Lord and he exclaimed, "Oh, if I had been there with a troop of my
guards, I would have cut the villains in pieces!"
Yes, but Jesus did not need the King of France nor his guards–He came
not to destroy men's lives, but to save them! The Lord Jesus desires
you, my Brothers and Sisters, to fight for Him by your faith, by your
holy life, by your confidence in the Truth of God, by your reliance
upon the Spirit of God! Whenever your hands begin to itch for the
sword, then may you hear Him say, "Put up your sword into its sheath."
He will conquer by love and by love, alone! If at this present moment I
could take this Church and endow it with all the wealth of the
Establishment and gather into its midst all the wisdom and talent and
eloquence which now adorns society. And if I could do this by one
single prayer, I would long hesitate to offer the petition. These might
prove idols and provoke the living God to jealousy! Infinitely better
for us to be poor and weak and devoid of that which is highly esteemed
among men! And then to be baptized into the Holy Spirit, rather than to
become strong and be left of our God. We shall war this warfare with no
unsanctified weapons, with no instrument other than God appoints!
Speaking the Truth in the power of the Spirit of God, we are not afraid
of the result. Surely this is what Christ means–"I could pray to My
Father and receive at once a bodyguard of angels, but I will do nothing
of the kind, for by other means than these must My Kingdom come."
And the next lesson is–Never attempt to escape suffering at the
expense of the Truth of God–"How, then, shall the Scriptures be
fulfilled?" Christ says, "I can escape being taken, bound and made a
felon of–but then how are the Scriptures to be fulfilled?" Would you
like to be, throughout life, screened from all affliction? I think I
hear a great many say, "I would." Would you? Would you be always free
from sickness, poverty, care, bereavement, slander, persecution? How,
then, could that Word of God be true, "I have chosen you in the furnace
of affliction"! What would that text mean, "What son is he whom the
Father chastens not"? Jesus said, "Except a man take up his cross and
follow Me, he cannot be My disciple." Are you to be an exception to the
rule? Oh, do not kick against suffering, for in so doing you may be
fighting against God! When Peter drew his sword, he was unconsciously
fighting to prevent our redemption! When we struggle against
tribulation or persecution, we may be warring against untold benefit.
Do you desire to ride through the world like princes? Do not desire
such a dangerous fate, for how, then, could the Scriptures be
fulfilled, that the disciple is not above his Lord? Bow your spirit
before the majesty of Scripture and patiently endure all things for the
elect's sake.
Again, never tremble when force is on the wrong side. You see they are
coming–Pharisees and priests and the posse comitatus sent by the
authorities to arrest the Savior–but He is not afraid. Why should He
be? He could command 12 legions of angels to beat off the foe! The man
who knows he has a reserve behind him may walk into an ambush without
fear. The multitude think that there stands before them a mere Man–a
feeble Man, strangely red as with bloody sweat. Ah, they know neither
Him nor His Father! Let Him give a whistle and from behind the olives
of the grove–and from
the walls of the garden and from every stone of the Mount of Olives
would spring up warriors mightier than those of Caesar–valiant ones,
before whom armies would be consumed! One of these angels of God slew
of Sennacherib's army, 185,000 men in a single night! Another smote all
the first-born of Egypt! Think, then, what more than 12 legions of them
could accomplish!
Brothers and Sisters, all these holy, heavenly beings are on our side!
"Oh, but there are so many against us!" Yes I know there are, but more
are they that are for us! All the myriads of Heaven are our allies. See
you not the legions waiting for the summons? Who wants to give the word
of command till our great Commander-in-Chief decides that the hour is
come? Let us patiently wait till He shall descend from Heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God! Then
will the reserves pour forth from Heaven's gate and all the holy angels
shall swell the pomp of the great appearing! Till that moment, wait! In
your patience possess your souls! The Lord Jesus waited. His angels
waited. His Father waited. They are all still waiting! Heaven's
long-suffering still runs like a silver thread through the centuries.
Jesus will come with His angels in all the Glory of the Father, but
dream not that He must come tomorrow or else be charged with being
slack concerning His promise. Desire that He may come in your lifetime
and look for Him, but if He tarries, be not dismayed.
If He tarries for another century do not be weary. If another thousand
years should intervene between us and the bright millennial day, yet
stand fast, each man, in his place, fearing nothing, but setting up
your banners in the name of the Lord. "The Lord of Hosts is with us,
the God of Jacob is our refuge." We have no lack of strength, it is
only that God wills that it be not put forth and that our weakness for
the present should be the instrument of His most majestic conquests.
Lord, we are content to trust in You and wait patiently for You, but
leave us not, we beseech You. Amen.