War With Amalek
DELIVERED SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 23, 1866, BY C. H. SPURGEON
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim." Exodus 17:8.
THERE were two great trials which the children of Israel had to endure
in passing onward to the promised rest– their needs and their enemies.
But I must add a third, which sprang out of these two by reason of the
unbelief of their hearts. That third evil, far worse than the other
two, was their sins. Probably, my Brothers and Sisters, you have found
out by now that you could contentedly endure your needs, and could
courageously contend with your foes if you were not weakened and
hampered by your sins. A man's worst foes are those of his own
household.
As for Israel's needs, I think Israel may be congratulated in having
known them. For suppose they could have brought with them enough
provision from Goshen, or could have been supplied by trading
purveyors? They would never have been honored to feed upon the manna
which dropped from Heaven! And suppose a canal had been dug for them to
flow at the edge of the whole road of their march? Or that they could
have found a succession of wells hard by the spots where they pitched
their tents? Then they never would have drank of that marvelous Rock
whose flints gushed with water, of which the Apostle tells us that it
was Christ, or an eminent type of Christ.
They were gentlemen-commoners upon the bounty of Heaven–courtiers fed
from the table of the King of kings! They were lifted up to eat angels'
food–they were satisfied with royal dainties. In this light, they are
to be congratulated for their needs, for, if they had not known hunger,
nor thirst, neither had they eaten manna, nor had they drank the water
from the Rock. And you, Beloved, are much in the same case. The day
will come when in clearer light than this you will thank God for your
needs, and be of the same mind as the Apostle, who said, "Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me." And again, "For when I am weak, then am I
strong."
You will thank God that your needs were the platform for His Providence
to display its care upon. That the very wilderness was a gift to you
because He prepared a table for you in the midst of it, and might have
left you to prepare one for yourself if it had not been a desert place.
As for the enemies which beset the children of Israel, I was about to
say they might almost be congratulated on account of them–for, fierce
as they were–they could never have had victories if they had not known
battles! The enemies of Israel were but so many sheaves for Israel's
victorious sword to reap–as the wild beasts of the wood yield food to
the hunter–so were the haters of Israel as a prey unto their valiant
men.
Over every enemy of His people the right hand of the Lord was
gloriously exalted. You, too, Brethren, you, too, will have reason to
thank God for all your enemies! If your life were one of perpetual
peace it is clear there could be no triumphs. If there were not
campaigns of warfare, there would be no shouts of them that triumph, no
trophies to hang up in the halls of memory. Oh, if we can be kept from
sins! If we can be preserved from their power we may be thankful for
needs and even thankful for foes when we look at them in the light of
the fiery pillar of God's promised Presence. But our sins! Our sins!
Our sins! What shall we do with them? If it were not for the victorious
blood by which we conquer, we might lie down in despair–for who among
us is, alone and unaided, a match for his sins?
This morning we thought of considering the war with Amalek as a typical
representation of the experience of God's people. Our prayer is that we
may speak so that those who are greatly troubled and afflicted may
derive some comfort from the Truth of God advanced–and that lagging
saints may be stimulated to fight the battles of their Master, lest the
curse go out against them–"because they came not up to the help of the
Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty."
We shall use the text three ways. First, as a picture of the experience
of each individual Christian. Secondly, as a representation of the
history of each separate Church. And thirdly, as a very excellent
description of the history of the entire Church of the living God, from
its first day even till its close.
I. First, then, we have here THE EXPERIENCE OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL
CHRISTIAN. Observe the children of Israel were emancipated from
bondage, and had left Egypt behind even as you and I have been rescued
from our natural estate and are no longer the servants of sin. They had
been redeemed by blood sprinkled upon the door posts and upon the
lintel, and we, too, have had redemption applied to our souls, and have
seen that God has looked upon the blood and has passed over us.
They had feasted upon the paschal lamb as we have done, for Jesus has
become to us our meat and our drink, and our soul is satisfied with
Him. They had been pursued by their enemies, even as we were pursued by
our old sins, and they had seen these furious foes all drowned in the
Red Sea, which they had passed through dry-shod. And we, too, have seen
our past sins forever buried in the Red Sea of atoning blood. Our
iniquities, which threatened to drive us back into the Egypt of
despair, are gone forever! They sank like lead in the mighty waters,
the depths have covered them–there is not one of them left.
Israel sung a new song upon the other side of the sea, and we, too,
have rejoiced in God. Like Miriam we have sounded the loud timbrel of
exultation and have danced with holy joy while our lips have chanted
the hymn of victory– "Sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed
gloriously." Many of us are now free from the yoke of sin and Satan,
and as the Lord's freemen we glorify His name. Oh that all of us were
in such a happy state! The children of Israel were probably
anticipating ease, forgetting that the promised land was yet many days'
journey beyond them. Inexperience and childishness made them expect a
continuance of uninterrupted song and feasting, and there was a time
when we indulged the same foolish hopes.
We said to ourselves, "Let us be at peace, for the warfare is over. Now
may we take our ease. Pharaoh is drowned, the horses and the chariots
have sunk like lead in the mighty waters. No whips of the taskmaster,
now, no bricks to make without straw. No more shall we be trod down by
a cruel people and worn out with the labors of the brick kiln. With a
high hand and a mighty arm have we been brought forth! Let us rejoice
and be merry. Let us be glad all our days, and dance the desert
through." That was the voice of our inexperience and folly. How soon
were our budding hopes nipped by an unexpected frost! For, like Israel,
we soon experienced tribulations.
Suddenly there came upon us the thirst and the hunger which only
Heaven's love could supply! And when we least dreamed of it, the fierce
Amalek of temptation came down like a wolf on the fold. Young
Christian, do not dream that as soon as you are converted your struggle
is over, but conclude that your conflict has but just begun! Some
persons look upon regeneration as being the change of the old nature
into a new. Experience teaches us that this is a very false description
of the new birth. Conversion and regeneration do not change the old
nature–that remains still the same– but we have at our new birth
infused into us a new nature, a new principle.
And this new principle at once begins a contest with the old
principle–therefore the Apostle tells us of the old man and of the new
man–he speaks of the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit
striving against the flesh. I do not care what the doctrinal statement
of any man may be upon the subject–I am sure that the experience of
the most of us will prove to a demonstration that there are two natures
within us–that only a complex description can describe us at all. We
find a company of two armies within us, and the fight goes on, and, if
anything, waxes hotter every day. We do trust that the right principle
grows stronger, and we hope that through Divine Grace the evil
principle is weakened and mortified. But, at present, it is with most
of us a very sharp contest, and were it not for Divine strength we
might throw down our weapons in hopelessness.
Young Christian, you have begun a life of warfare, rest assured of
that! You would never be told to endure hardness as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ if it were not so. You must not put that sword up into its
scabbard, but rather grind it sharp and hold it always ready in your
hand. Watch constantly, and pray without ceasing, for, till you get
your foot upon the golden pavement of the New Jerusalem, you must wear
a warrior's harness and bear a warrior's toils. Indeed, dear Friends,
there was that in the camp of the children of Israel which ought to
have taught them to expect trouble, for was there not a voice heard
among the murmuring host, "Is the Lord among us or not?"
That croaking voice of unbelief foreboded ill. How could they expect to
know peace when they doubted the God of peace? "There is no peace, says
my God, to the wicked." And in proportion as the righteous are at all
like the wicked, in that proportion they lose peace. The cry of
unbelief in your beam and mine, when it says, "Is the Lord among us or
not?" ought to warn us that we are not yet in the land of rest, but
shall have to fight with many an enemy before the banner may be furled.
Besides, Israel ought to have remembered that there was an ancient feud
between the children of Esau and the children of Jacob, for had not
Esau been supplanted by his brother?
Amalek, Duke Amalek as he was called, was a descendant of Esau and
treasured up all his father's hatred and enmity towards the house of
Israel. Did Israel expect to journey near to Edom and not be attacked?
And do you expect, Christian, that sin shall be round about you and not
assault you?–
"Is this vain world a friend to Divine Grace, To help you on to God?"
If you look for friendship from a sinful world you are grievously
mistaken! There is a deadly hereditary feud between the Christian and
the powers of darkness. It sprang up in the Garden, in the day when God
said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed
and her Seed," and it continues still. You must fight if you would win
the crown, and your pathway to the other side of Jordan must be the
pathway of an armed crusader who has to contend for every inch of the
way if he is to win it.
In proceeding with the narrative we notice that they found opposition
from an unexpected quarter. Ignorance may have made them reckon upon
the friendliness of Amalek, for they evidently journeyed at their ease
without proper precaution, presuming upon the relationship and
peaceableness of the dwellers in the land. It is just where we feel
most safe that we should be most cautious. "A man's foes are they of
his own household." I do not think the Christian has so much to fear
from open and avowed enemies as from those deceitful foes who claim to
be his friends. Sin is never so much a Jezebel as when it paints its
face with daubs of respectability and patches of innocence.
Things dubious are more dangerous than things distinctly evil. The
border land between right and wrong is thronged with thieves and
robbers. Beware of cutthroats, you who journey there! Even right things
may easily become wrong when they carry away our hearts, and therefore
we must guard against their attractions. Many people need not be much
afraid of being led into drunkenness and blasphemy, for we are not
likely to give way to these grosser evils–but we have far more reason
to watch against worldliness and pride–for these are enemies which
select the godly as their special object of attack. Take heed to your
virtues, Christian, for these, when exaggerated, become your vices!
Take care of the good things in which you boast, for they may furnish
heat for the hatching of the vipers' eggs of pride and
self-satisfaction.
Israel was assailed in a quarter which was unguarded because unlikely
to be attacked. In the Book of Deuteronomy, the fifteenth chapter and
the seventeenth and eighteenth verses, we find that Amalek fell upon
the rear of the host. The hindmost must have seemed, to themselves, to
be the most secure, for Pharaoh's host had been destroyed, and what
further was there to fear? The weak and feeble came slowly on, at
perfect ease, never so much as suspecting the existence of a foe. The
van, I have no doubt, was kept well protected, for they knew not what
hands might interrupt their onward march. But the rear, they thought,
might be left exposed–and there it was the foe attacked them.
Christian, wherever you diminish your caution there will the foe be
upon you! When you say to yourself, "My mountain stands firm, I shall
never be moved," concerning such-and-such a thing, it is there that you
are most likely to fall. We are strongest usually when we fancy
ourselves weakest because we take the matter to God–and weakest where
we dream that we are strongest because we refrain from prayer. It will
be observed, I think, in most Christians' experience, that God has left
them to see their weakness where they themselves reckoned that no
weakness could have been perceptible. Let us, then, set a watch all
around and ask the Lord to be a wall of fire around us, and a glory in
the midst.
This attack of Amalek was rendered the more dangerous because it was
all of a sudden. It seems that Amalek caught them in ambush and fell
upon them without notice. There was no regular proclamation of war, no
pitching of the battle, no sending out of skirmishers and scouts. The
enemy fell upon them all of a sudden like a gang of bandits. Just so
will sin do with you and me. If the devil would send me a notice when
he means to tempt me, I might readily contend with him and defeat
him–but this he will never do. He will not tell you whether or not
tomorrow he will tempt you in your business–this is not his way of
hunting for his game: "Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of
any bird."
He will, if possible, take you unawares, and before you can put on your
armor his arrows will sorely wound you. We are not ignorant of his
devices. Well did the Master say, "What I say unto you I say unto all,
Watch!" And oh, with what vigilance, what holy diligence must you and I
watch against the winding and twisting of the old serpent, who will, if
possible, bite our heels or insinuate his venom into our hearts! I
think I must not omit to say that this attack of Amalek, though
designed for the greatest mischief, did not occur without Divine
arrangement and overruling. We may be thankful that though Satan
selected the most suitable season for himself, yet the Lord made his
devices of no effect.
Amalek fell upon them when they were faint and weary, but the manna and
the flowing Rock soon changed the face of affairs, and the novelty of
this gracious supply inspired the host with unusual courage. Fresh from
the feast, they had good stomach for the fray and found congenial
occupation for their renewed vigor in hewing down their assailants!
Satan may beset us at our weakest point–but God has a way of making us
all of a sudden strong–so that in the end the attack comes at a time
when we are most fitted to repel it.
Have you not observed this? If your present trial had come at another
time you could not have borne it. If your present temptation had
presented itself but a day before, you would have fallen a victim to
it. But it came just after you had enjoyed such communion with Christ
that sin had no influence over you–the charms of Jesus made you blind
to all other beauties. You had had your mouth so filled with manna that
you were made strong in the strength of God to put to rout the host of
your foes! Brothers and Sisters, be cautious always, but be confident
in God! Watch against the foe, but be thankful that there is another
Watcher who foresees all the devices of the devil and who will not
deliver you into his hands nor suffer you to perish.
When the assault was made, the people were commanded to exert
themselves. The message was given, "Go, choose out men, and fight with
Amalek." Israel never fought with Egypt. God fought for them, and they
held their peace. When we are in our natural state under the bondage of
sin, it is of very little use for us to fight against it–the only way
of escape from the reigning power of sin is through the precious blood
and the working of Divine Grace. But this was a different case. The
children of Israel were not under the power of Amalek–they were free
men–and so are we no longer under the power of sin! The yoke of sin
has been broken, by God's Grace, from off our necks, and now we have to
fight, not as slaves against a master, but as free men against a foe.
Moses never said to the children of Israel while they were in Egypt,
"Go, fight with Pharaoh." Not at all–it is God's work to bring us out
of Egypt and make us His people. But when we are delivered from
bondage, although it is God's work to help us, we must be active in our
cause. Now that we are alive from the dead we must wrestle with
principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness if we are to
overcome. "Go fight," is the command. Do not many Christians act as if
the sin would be driven out of them through their sleeping soundly? Let
them be sure that a slumbering spirit is the best friend that sin can
find!
If your lusts are to be destroyed, they must be cut up root and branch
by sheer force of personal exertion through Divine Grace–they are not
to be blown away by languid wishes and sleepy desires. God will not
relieve us of our sins as sometimes persons have diseased limbs removed
while under the influence of chloroform. We shall see our sins die
while our minds are thoroughly active against them and resolutely bent
upon their destruction. "Go, fight with Amalek." Greatly to be deplored
is the way in which some Christians say, "Ah, well, it is my besetting
sin," or, "It is my natural temperament," or, "It is my constitution."
Shame on you, Christian! What if it is so? Do you mean to say to your
Father's face that you have so great a love for the sin which He hates
that you will harbor it and invent hiding places for it?
Why, when a sin does so easily beset you, you must muster your whole
force and cry to Heaven for strength that the dangerous foe may be
overcome! One sin harbored in the soul will ruin you! One sin really
loved and indulged will become damning evidence against you and prove
that you really do not love the Savior–for if you did you would hate
every false way. We must fight if we would overcome our sins! Spiritual
fighting must be conducted on most earnest and prudent principles.
They were to choose out men. So we must choose out our ways of
contending with sin. The best part of a man should be engaged in
warfare with his sins. Certain sins can only be fought by the
understanding. We ought, then, to sit down and deliberately look at the
evil, and learn its wickedness by deliberately judging and considering
its motives and its consequences. Perhaps when we clearly see what the
sin is, Mr. Understanding, as Bunyan calls it, may be able to knock the
brains out of it! One peculiar order of sins is only to be overcome by
a speedy flight like that of the chaste Joseph. Sins of the flesh are
never to be reasoned or parleyed with. There is no more reasoning with
them than with the winds– understanding is nonplussed–for lust, like
a hurricane of sand, blinds the eyes. We must flee! It is true valor in
such a case to turn the back. "Resist the devil," says Paul. But he
does not say resist lust! He puts it thus–"Flee youthful lusts."
When warring with the legions of unrighteousness we shall need all the
best powers of our renewed nature for the conflict will be stern. Oh,
Believer, you will need to bring your veterans, your pick and choice
thoughts into the fight with Amalek! The faith which has endured the
storm must face the foe! The love which endures all things must march
to the war! It is no child's-play to fight with sin! It needed all a
Savior's strength to tread it in the winepress when He was here on
earth, and it will need all your might and more to overcome it–you
will only overcome it, indeed, through the blood of the Lamb.
This makes me notice that though the men of Israel were to fight, and
the chosen men were to be selected, yet they were to fight under the
command of Joshua, that is, Jesus, the Savior. There is no fighting sin
except under the leadership of Christ. We must fight sin with His
weapons. We must see its sinfulness by the light of His sufferings–see
its mischief in the sorrows of His death–see its destruction in the
triumphs of His Resurrection. We must flee to the strong for strength,
and seek help where God has laid it, namely, on Him that is mighty!
When Jesus leads we need not be afraid. Promptly to follow Jesus is to
secure a victory! His very name puts His enemies to rout! Who can
withstand the terrors of His arm?
The narrative points out to us that effort, alone, is not enough. Three
men are seen wending their way up the steep sides of the hill, solemnly
walking along as if they had most weighty business on hand. They are
seeking a point of advantage from which to gall the foe with the
artillery of prayer. So mighty was the prayer of Moses that all
depended upon it! The petitions of Moses defeated the enemy more than
the fighting of Joshua. The edge of Moses' prayer was more powerful
than the edge of Joshua's sword. It matters not how loudly Joshua
shouts to his men unless Moses fervently cries to his God! The young
soldier would as soon have left the field if the old commander had left
the closet. Force and fervor, decision and devotion, valor and
vehemence must join their forces–and all will be well.
You must wrestle with your sin, but the major part of the wrestling
must be done alone in private with God. Prayer, like Moses, holds up
the token of the Covenant before the Lord. The rod was the emblem of
God's working with Moses, the symbol of God's government in Israel.
Learn, O pleading Saint, to hold up the promise and the oath of God
before Him! He cannot deny His own declarations. Hold up the rod of
promise, and have what you will. Moses grew weary, and then his friends
assisted him. When at any time your prayer flags, let faith support one
hand, and let holy hope uplift the other. And prayer, seating itself
upon the stone of Israel, the Rock of our salvation, will continue and
prevail!
Beware of faintness in devotion! If Moses felt it who can escape? It is
far easier to fight with sin in public than to pray against it in
private. It is remarked that Joshua never grew weary in the fighting,
but Moses did grow weary in the praying. The more spiritual an
exercise, the more difficult it is for flesh and blood to maintain it.
Let us cry, then, for special strength, and may the Spirit of God who
helps our infirmities, as He allowed help to Moses, enable us like he
to continue with our hands steady till the going down of the sun.
It is not praying today nor yet tomorrow that will win life's
battle–it is praying till the going down of the sun! It is not
pleading for a month, and then ceasing supplication, Christian–it is,
"till the going down of the sun," till the evening of life is over!
Until you shall come to the rising of a better sun, or to the land
where they need no sun, you must continue to pray–
"Long as they live should Christians pray, For only while they pray
they live." Let us learn, then, that there is to be action, but there
must be supplication. We cannot expect to conquer Amalek without a
combination of the two.
I will not detain you much longer over this point, only remark that
where holy activity is joined with earnest supplication, the result as
to our sins is absolutely sure–the enemy must be defeated. We shall
put our feet upon the necks of all our sins. There is no fear of their
overcoming us if we do but lay hold on Divine strength. And, if ever we
overcome sin once, it should be the signal for proclaiming a general
war against all sin. The fight and victory over Amalek brought from
God's mouth the solemn declaration that there should be war with Amalek
forever and ever. So must it be with you. Have you mastered one sin?
Slay the next, and the next, and the next! Can you curb your temper
now? Now smite your pride! Is your pride humbled? Now drive an arrow
through the very liver of your sloth! And is your sloth overcome? Now
seek, by Divine Grace, to strike through the neck of the next
temptation.
Onward to the total destruction of every Amalekite must the child of
Israel go! But notice that in the whole business the glory was given to
God. No pillar was erected on that field of Israel's warfare in
commemoration of Joshua, but an altar as a memorial to Jehovah. That
day Israel did not lift on high the banner of Joshua, and sing of him
as of the victorious Maccabaeus–
"See, the conquering hero comes! Sound the trumpets, beat the drums!"
but that day it was said, "Jehovah Nissi," the Lord is our banner, for
they ascribed the glory and honor unto Him whose right hand alone had
gotten to Him the victory! So must we do in all our successes, for if
we overcome a sin and then boast of ourselves, we are overcome by sin.
If looking back upon the past we say with congratulation, "God, I thank
You that I am not as other men are. I thank You for this and that," but
all the while are thinking that we have much more reason to thank
ourselves, we show that we are still with the fetters upon our wrists
dragged in captivity.
I leave the point hoping that some young Christian may have received a
lesson in experience. And yet I fear that we must all learn experience
for ourselves, and that what is told us by others is but an idle tale.
I pray that you who are beginning a new generation may not be as your
father's were, a stiff-necked people, but that you may walk before the
Lord with greater holiness and smite Amalek with sterner determination
than your fathers have done, that so the victory may be unto God
through you.
II. In the second place, the whole narrative may be interpreted AS THE
HISTORY OF ANY ONE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH. I draw a distinction between the general Church and any one
particular Church. In the olden times the Churches of our Lord Jesus
Christ, though acknowledging one another and recognizing their unity,
were distinct organizations managing their own affairs.
And here I will digress so far as to say that the only Christian unity
which you and I may ever expect to see and to seek after is not the
amalgamation of all Churches into one colossal scheme of government,
but the spiritual union of all the Churches in working for the
Lord–each Church exercising its discipline within its own bounds, and
carrying out Christ's commands within its own walls–but at the same
time recognizing all other truly Christian Churches as being parts of
the one body of Christ.
Instead of attempting to destroy all these separate Churches in order
to create unity, we should build up the walls of each house so that the
whole city may be compact together. Even the names which describe the
varieties of our conscientious convictions are useful, and are only
caviled at by a party who under the cloak of being unsectarian are more
sectarian than the worst of us could even slanderously be said to be.
Suppose that all the livery companies in London should give up their
distinctive names, so that there should be no Goldsmiths' Company, nor
Cloth Workers, nor Merchant Tailors, nor Fishmongers, but that all
should be called citizens? It would be a wonderful piece of policy and
would singularly unite the citizens of London, would it not?
We believe that the reverse would be the case! The existence of the
separate corporations, each with its peculiar interests to maintain,
but all bound up with the prosperity of the city, help to create unity.
And so the unity of the Savior's body is preserved rather than
destroyed by each Believer carrying out his convictions of the Lord's
will, and not refusing to identify himself with those who think with
him, nor refusing to wear the name which describes them. Certain
sectaries cry out, "We are called Christians." "Yes, I say, and are we
not?" Are they Brethren? So are we. Are they Christians? So are we. Do
they seek to be followers of Christ? So do we.
There is the less need for some to parade the name of Christians when
they know that they are Christians. Let us try to live out our
Christianity rather than blazon it upon our doorposts! I am not making
an unscriptural distinction when I say, first of all, I am going to
regard the narrative as a picture of a Church, and then afterwards as a
picture of the whole Church. In any one Church there will be–there
must be, if it is a Church of God–earnest contention for the Truth of
God and against error. We, as a Church have, I trust, been brought up
out of Egypt and are bound together by a common deliverance. We have to
fight with Amalek.
For the defense of those doctrines which we have learned and which we
believe to be the Truth as it is in Jesus, we are called to fight. We
are not merely to hold them as the unfaithful servant wrapped his
talent in a napkin, but we are to publish what we believe to be true,
and, if any contravene, we are to hold our own, or rather, hold the
Master's Truth with a firm hand, and not be afraid to contend for it at
all hazards! Our chief war must always be with sin–with sin in
ourselves, with sin in others–with sin everywhere! This is the great
point in the Christian's contention, and from this war the Believer
must never cease. Attack sin in every place, and for this reason, if
for no other, sin and error will always attack us!
In this particular Church I know there are many errors that are always
falling upon us, and smiting some of the hindmost, the weakest and the
feeblest. One opens one's eyes with astonishment, sometimes, to see
what strange errors people are falling into who should know better. But
when you come to remember how hindmost they were, and how much the
weakest they were, it is not quite so great a marvel that they should
be struck by the foe. The fact is that in such an age as this if we do
not attack error, error will eat us up! And it comes to this–we must
either fight sin, or sin as a fretting moth and a devouring canker will
utterly devour us!
If there is not an earnest contention for the Truth of God amidst all
the Church members, there will soon be defalcations on this side and
defalcations on the other side. Each Church should teach its own
distinctive principles with a vigorous, earnest, Scriptural dogmatism.
If we do, indeed, hold the very Truth as it is in Jesus, we must fight
for it valiantly, for if we do not fight Amalek, Amalek will certainly
fight us and the hindmost will always be suffering and the weakest go
to the wall. It is on behalf of the weaker Brethren, who are easily
perverted, that we must watch and fight perpetually. To all Christian
effort in every Church must be added unceasing intercession. The
Christian pastor is, in some respects, comparable to Moses, for he is
set apart as a leader in the band of Brethren–and as such, his
business is not only to teach the people but to plead for them with
God.
I wish that some of our pastors were sustained as they should be by
their Aarons and their Hurs. Alas, I know many a fainting Brother whose
hands are hanging down, who finds an Aaron to pull them lower still,
and a Hur to depress his spirits yet more! I would take up a mourning,
a lamentation, for my Brothers who toil in honorable but obscure
spheres where cold neglect and chill indifference are their portion.
Alas for others, in the midst of Churches torn apart with schism and
polluted with heresy, whose life is one perpetual burden unto them! I
would God it were far otherwise with them! I have to thank God, and
under God to thank you, that so many of you act the part of Aaron and
of Hur, and are willing to hold up the pastor's hands and the hands of
all my other fellow laborers–the workers for Christ Jesus.
But some of you do not do it. Some of you neglect prayer in the closet
for the Church's work. I hope you are not neglecting prayer on your own
account–but you do not pray as you should for the Lord to advance the
interests of Truth in the world. You neglect Prayer Meetings, and
absent yourselves from the week-day means of Divine Grace! Brothers and
Sisters, these things ought not to be! If you cannot be Moses you may
be Aaron. If you cannot fight and assist Joshua, you may climb the hill
and succor Moses. If you can neither teach in the classes or in the
Sunday school, nor preach in the streets and so fight, you can at least
be much in the closet and much in prayer!
Oh the untold benefits that come to a Christian Church from the quiet
prayerful members–least known on earth but best known in Heaven! Let
us have both at work. May the Lord Jesus help us to advance from
strength to strength in earnest effort of every kind, and may He at the
same time be our strength upon the mountain while we draw near to God's
Throne in prayer.
III. But lastly, THE HISTORY OF THE WHOLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IS HERE
BEFORE US AS IN A
PICTURE. The sacramental host of God's elect is warring, still, on
earth–Jesus Christ being the Captain of their salvation. He has said,
"Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." Though this
is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, yet is it not incorrect to say
that the Lord Jesus Christ is still at the head of His people? Hark to
the shouts of war! Onward come the bands of priest-craft, hooded monks,
and shaven priests with an allied host of England's silly clergy
arrayed in gaudy vestments and tricked out with childish ornaments!
A fierce effort is making to restore the Romish Antichrist to his
ancient seat. Now let the people of God stand fast in their ranks and
let no man's heart fail him. It is true that just now in England the
battle is turned against us, and unless the Lord Jesus and the eternal
Joshua shall lift His sword, I know not what may become of the Church
of God in this land. But let us be of good courage, and play the man!
There never was a day when Protestantism seemed to tremble more in the
scales than now. The way to Rome and so the way to Hell, is paved (I
suppose with good intentions) by those Anglican clergy whose vocation
it seems to be to show the long-suffering patience of a Protestant
country. Here we have a national Church which has become the jackal for
the lion of Rome, and we greatly need a bold voice and a strong hand to
preach and publish the Old Gospel for which martyrs bled and confessors
died. The Savior is, by His Spirit, still on earth! Let this cheer us!
He is ever in the midst of the fight, and therefore the battle is not
doubtful.
Meanwhile, what a sweet satisfaction it is to see our Lord Jesus, like
a greater Moses upon the hill yonder, prevalently pleading for His
people! He is better than Moses, for His hands never grow feeble. And
if the prophetic hand of Jesus should grow weak, there is His priestly
office, like Aaron, to bear up one hand, and His princely office, like
Hur, a Prince, to bear up the other! And so the three together,
Prophet, Priest, and King! He bears aloft the wonder-working
rod–Israel wins the day, and Amalek is struck. O anxious Gazer! Look
not at the battle so much below, for there you shall be enshrouded in
smoke and amazed with garments rolled in blood. But lift your eyes up
yonder where your Savior lives and pleads–for while He intercedes the
cause of God is safe.
Let us fight as if it all depended upon us, but let us look up and know
that all depends upon Him. Now by the lilies of Christian purity and by
the roses of the Savior's Atonement–by the roes and by the hinds of
the field–we charge you who are lovers of Jesus to do valiantly in the
Holy War! For truth and righteousness, for the kingdom and crown jewels
of your Master–against the harlot of Rome and the many-headed beast on
which she rides–charge with dauntless courage! Those who gave your
fathers to the flames and cast your grandfathers to rot in prisons–let
them know that the spirit of your grandfathers still lives in you!
Let them see that there is a seed still upon earth in whose breast the
Truth of God still finds a tabernacle–men who can suffer for the Truth
of God–and can boldly declare it in the midst of foes! Never become
cowardly and mean! Never despair! How can you? Christ at your head like
Joshua, and Christ in Heaven like Moses–Christ here with the holy
Gospel in His hand like a two-edged sword–and Christ there with His
atoning merits like a wonder-working rod! Be strong and very
courageous, and by His help, Who does valiantly, you shall yet send up
the shout Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God
Omnipotent reigns. The Lord bless you all for Jesus' sake. Amen.