"David Brainerd was pursued by unearthly adversaries,
who were resolved to rob him of his guerdon. He knew he must never quit
his armour, but lie down to rest, with his corselet laced. The stains
that marred the perfection of his lustrous dress, the spots of rust on
his gleaming shield, are imperceptible to us; but they were, to him, the
source of much sorrow and ardency of yearning." -- LIFE OF DAVID
BRAINERD.
THE description of the Christian soldier given by Paul in the sixth chapter
of the Epistle to the Ephesians, is compact and comprehensive. He
is depicted as being ever in the conflict, which has many fluctuating seasons
-- seasons of prosperity and adversity, light and darkness, victory and
defeat. He is to pray at all seasons, and with all prayer, this to be added
to the armour in which he is to fare forth to battle. At all times, he is
to have the full panoply of prayer. The Christian soldier, if he fight to
win, must pray much. By this means, only, is he enabled to defeat his inveterate
enemy, the devil, together with the Evil One's manifold emissaries. "Praying
always, with all prayer," is the Divine direction given him. This covers
all seasons, and embraces all manner of praying.
Christian soldiers, fighting the good fight of faith, have access to a place
of retreat, to which they continually repair for prayer. "Praying always,
with all prayer," is a clear statement of the imperative need of much
praying, and of many kinds of praying, by him who, fighting the good fight
of faith, would win out, in the end, over all his foes.
The Revised Version puts it this way:
"With all prayer and supplication, praying at all seasons
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplications,
for all saints, and on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me,
in opening my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel,
for which I am in bonds."
It cannot be stated too frequently that the life of a Christian is a warfare,
an intense conflict, a lifelong contest. It is a battle, moreover, waged
against invisible foes, who are ever alert, and ever seeking to entrap,
deceive, and ruin the souls of men. The life to which Holy Scripture calls
men is no picnic, or holiday junketing. It is no pastime, no pleasure jaunt.
It entails effort, wrestling, struggling; it demands the putting forth of
the full energy of the spirit in order to frustrate the foe and to come
off, at the last, more than conqueror. It is no primrose path, no rose-scented
dalliance. From start to finish, it is war. From the hour in which he first
draws sword, to that in which he doffs his harness, the Christian warrior
is compelled to "endure hardness like a good soldier."
What a misconception many people have of the Christian life! How little
the average church member appears to know of the character of the conflict,
and of its demands upon him! How ignorant he seems to be of the enemies
he must encounter, if he engage to serve God faithfully and so succeed in
getting to heaven and receive the crown of life! He seems scarcely to realize
that the world, the flesh and the devil will oppose his onward march, and
will defeat him utterly, unless he give himself to constant vigilance and
unceasing prayer.
The Christian soldier wrestles not against flesh and blood, but against
spiritual wickedness in high places. Or, as the Scriptural margin reads,
"wicked spirits in high places." What a fearful array of forces
are set against him who would make his way through the wilderness of this
world to the portals of the Celestial City! It is no surprise, therefore,
to find Paul, who understood the character of the Christian life so well,
and who was so thoroughly informed as to the malignity and number of the
foes, which the disciple of the Lord must encounter, carefully and plainly
urging him to "put on the whole armour of God," and "to pray
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." Wise, with a great
wisdom, would the present generation be if all professors of our faith could
be induced to realize this all-important and vital truth, which is so absolutely
indispensable to a successful Christian life.
It is just at this point in much present-day Christian profession, that
one may find its greatest defect. There is little, or nothing, of the soldier
element in it. The discipline, self-denial, spirit of hardship, determination,
so prominent in and belonging to the military life, are, one and all, largely
wanting. Yet the Christian life is warfare, all the way.
How comprehensive, pointed and striking are all Paul's directions to the
Christian soldier, who is bent on thwarting the devil and saving his soul
alive! First of all, he must possess a clear idea of the character of the
life on which he has entered. Then, he must know something of his foes --
the adversaries of his immortal soul -- their strength, their skill, their
malignity. Knowing, therefore, something of the character of the enemy,
and realizing the need of preparation to overcome them, he is prepared to
hear the Apostle's decisive conclusion:
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
he power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Wherefore, take unto you
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand."
All these directions end in a climax; and that climax is prayer. How can
the brave warrior for Christ be made braver still? How can the strong soldier
be made stronger still? How can the victorious battler be made still more
victorious? Here are Paul's explicit directions to that end:
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints."
Prayer, and more prayer, adds to the fighting qualities and the more certain
victories of God's good fighting-men. The power of prayer is most forceful
on the battle-field amid the din and strife of the conflict. Paul was preeminently
a soldier of the Cross. For him, life was no flowery bed of ease. He was
no dress-parade, holiday soldier, whose only business was to don a uniform
on set occasions. His was a life of intense conflict, the facing of many
adversaries, the exercise of unsleeping vigilance and constant effort. And,
at its close -- in sight of the end -- we hear him chanting his final song
of victory, a I have fought a good fight," and reading between the
lines, we see that he is more than conqueror!
In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul indicates the nature of his soldier-life,
giving us some views of the kind of praying needed for such a career. He
writes:
"Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's
sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me
in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from them that
do not believe in Judaea."
Paul had foes in Judaea -- foes who beset and opposed him in the
form of "unbelieving men" and this, added to other weighty reasons,
led him to urge the Roman Christians to "strive with him in prayer."
That word "strive" indicated wrestling, the putting forth of great
effort. This is the kind of effort, and this the sort of spirit, which must
possess the Christian soldier.
Here is a great soldier, a captain-general, in the great struggle, faced
by malignant forces who seek his ruin. His force is well-nigh spent. What
reinforcements can he count on? What can give help and bring success to
a warrior in such a pressing emergency? It is a critical moment in the conflict.
What force can be added to the energy of his own prayers? The answer is
-- in the prayers of others, even the prayers of his brethren who were at
Rome. These, he believes, will bring him additional aid, so that he can
win his fight, overcome his adversaries, and, ultimately, prevail.
The Christian soldier is to pray at all seasons, and under all circumstances.
His praying must be arranged so as to cover his times of peace as well as
his hours of active conflict. It must be available in his marching and his
fighting. Prayer must diffuse all effort, impregnate all ventures, decide
all issues. The Christian soldier must be as intense in his praying as in
his fighting, for his victories will depend very much more on his praying
than on his fighting. Fervent supplication must be added to steady resolve,
prayer and supplication must supplement the armour of God. The Holy Spirit
must aid the supplication with His own strenuous plea. And the soldier must
pray in the Spirit. In this, as in other forms of warfare, eternal vigilance
is the price of victory; and thus, watchfulness and persistent perseverance,
must mark the every activity of the Christian warrior.
The soldier-prayer must reflect its profound concern for the success and
well-being of the whole army. The battle is not altogether a personal matter;
victory cannot be achieved for self, alone. There is a sense, in which the
entire army of Christ is involved. The cause of God, His saints, their woes
and trials, their duties and crosses, all should find a voice and a pleader
in the Christian soldier, when he prays. He dare not limit his praying to
himself. Nothing dries up spiritual secretions so certainly and completely;
nothing poisons the fountain of spiritual life so effectively; nothing acts
in such deadly fashion, as selfish praying.
Note carefully that the Christian's armour will avail him nothing, unless
prayer be added. This is the pivot, the connecting link of the armour of
God. This holds it together, and renders it effective. God's true soldier
plans his campaigns, arranges his battle-forces, and conducts his conflicts,
with prayer. It is all important and absolutely essential to victory, that
prayer should so impregnate the life that every breath will be a petition,
every sigh a supplication. The Christian soldier must needs be always fighting.
He should, of sheer necessity, be always praying.
The Christian soldier is compelled to constant picket-duty. He must always
be on his guard. He is faced by a foe who never sleeps, who is always alert,
and ever prepared to take advantage of the fortunes of war. Watchfulness
is a cardinal principle with Christ's warrior, "watch and pray,"
forever sounding in his ears. He cannot dare to be asleep at his post. Such
a lapse brings him not only under the displeasure of the Captain of his
salvation, but exposes him to added danger. Watchfulness, therefore, imperatively
constitutes the duty of the soldier of the Lord.
In the New Testament, there are three different words, which are translated
"watch." The first means "absence of sleep," and implies
a wakeful frame of mind, as opposed to listlessness; it is an enjoinder
to keep awake, circumspect, attentive, constant, vigilant. The second word
means "fully awake," -- a state induced by some rousing effort,
which faculty excited to attention and interest, active, cautious, lest
through carelessness or indolence, some destructive calamity should suddenly
evolve. The third word means "to be calm and collected in spirit,"
dispassionate, untouched by slumberous or beclouding influences, a wariness
against all pitfalls and beguilements.
All three definitions are used by St. Paul. Two of them are employed in
connection with prayer. Watchfulness intensified, is a requisite for prayer.
Watchfulness must guard and cover the whole spiritual man, and fit him for
prayer. Everything resembling unpreparedness or non-vigilance, is death
to prayer.
In Ephesians, Paul gives prominence to the duty of constant watchfulness,
"Watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication." Watch,
he says, watch, WATCH! "And what I say unto you, I say unto
all, Watch."
Sleepless wakefulness is the price one must pay for victory over his spiritual
foes. Rest assured that the devil never falls asleep. He is ever "walking
about, seeking whom he may devour." Just as a shepherd must never be
careless and unwatchful lest the wolf devour his sheep, so the Christian
soldier must ever have his eyes wide open, implying his possession of a
spirit which neither slumbers nor grows careless. The inseparable companions
and safeguards of prayer are vigilance, watchfulness, and a mounted guard.
In writing to the Colossians Paul brackets these inseparable qualities together:
"Continue in prayer," he enjoins, "and watch in the same,
with thanksgiving."
When will Christians more thoroughly learn the twofold lesson, that they
are called to a great warfare, and that in order to get the victory they
must give themselves to unsleeping watchfulness and unceasing prayer?
"Be sober, be vigilant," says Peter, "because
your adversary, the devil, walketh about seeking whom he may devour."
God's Church is a militant host. Its warfare is with unseen forces of evil.
God's people compose an army fighting to establish His kingdom in the earth.
Their aim is to destroy the sovereignty of Satan, and over its ruins, erect
the Kingdom of God, which is "righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost." This militant army is composed of individual soldiers
of the Cross, and the armour of God is needed for its defence. Prayer must
be added as that which crowns the whole.
"Stand then in His great might, With all His strength
endued; But take, to arm you for the fight, The panoply of God."
Prayer is too simple, too evident a duty, to need definition. Necessity
gives being and shape to prayer. Its importance is so absolute, that the
Christian soldier's life, in all the breadth and intensity of it, should
be one of prayer. The entire life of a Christian soldier -- its being, intention,
implication and action -- are all dependent on its being a life of prayer.
Without prayer -- no matter what else he have -- the Christian soldier's
life will be feeble, and ineffective, and constitute him an easy prey for
his spiritual enemies.
Christian experience will be sapless, and Christian influence will be dry
and arid, unless prayer has a high place in the life. Without prayer the
Christian graces will wither and die. Without prayer, we may add, preaching
is edgeless and a vain thing, and the Gospel loses its wings and its loins.
Christ is the lawgiver of prayer, and Paul is His Apostle of prayer. Both
declare its primacy and importance, and demonstrate the fact of its indispensability.
Their prayer-directions cover all places, include all times, and comprehend
all things. How, then, can the Christian soldier hope or dream of victory,
unless he be fortified by its power? How can he fail, if in addition to
putting on the armour of God he be, at all times and seasons, "watching
unto prayer"? |