Like the Spartans, every Christian is born a warrior. It is his
destiny to be assaulted; it is his duty to attack. Part of his life will
be occupied with defensive warfare. He will have to defend earnestly the
faith once delivered to the saints; he will have to resist the devil; he
will have to stand against all his wiles; and having done all, still to
stand. He will, however, be but a sorry Christian if he acteth only on
the defensive; he must be one who goes against his foes. He must be able
to say with David, “I come against thee in the name of the Lord of
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied.” He must
wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers.
He must have weapons for his warfare–not carnal–but “mighty through
God to the pulling down of strongholds.” He must not be content to live
in the stronghold well-guarded, but he must go forth to attack the
castles of the enemy, and to drive the Canaanite out of the land. But
there are many ways in which the Christian may, to a great degree,
forget his martial character. And, alas! there are not a few who, if
they be Christians at all, certainly know but very little of that daily
warfare to which the Captain of our salvation calleth His disciples.
They have a soft religion; a religion which shuns opposition; a
reed-like religion, which bows before every blast, unlike that cedar of
godliness which standeth aloft in the midst of the storm, and claps its
boughs in the hurricane for very joy of triumph, though the earth be all
in arms abroad. Such men lack the faith which shares the glory. Though
saved, yet their names shall not be found written among the mighty men
who, for our Great Commander’s sake, are willing to suffer the loss of
all things, and to go forth without the camp bearing His reproach. O,
let us never be contented with such inglorious ease, but earnestly and
manfully fight the Lord’s battles. Is it a little thing for a follower
of Christ to be losing the immortal honor of serving the Lord? What will
not men do to win fame? and shall we, when it lies at our doors, turn
idly aside and cast our glory to the ground? Let us be up and doing, for
it is no light thing to be losing the honor of a faithful servant of
Christ.