THE SOLDIER OF CHRIST

^[p. 12] THE SOLDIER OF CHRIST

If we are the church militant, whose soldiers are we? Is it with us conflict or pleasure? How far is the word laid on our hearts as the spring of the soul? How far are we counting that all connected with Satan is shortly to be bruised? But nothing shall be bruised that is connected with Christ the Son of God. Now warfare must be exercised. He has broken your bonds that you may be free to go on in His service; it will not endure for ever, there will be a blessed contrast; but now we are servants, learning to endure. What, then, is the provision made for service? “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth”. It is only lately in this country that we have begun to understand the worth of the girdle; the heavy weights of railways have taught us something of its worth and use. In foreign countries it is much counted on for gathering up the strength, and increasing it, and letting people know what they can do. It is just so with truth to a christian, it comes searchingly home about the loins; it surrounds us, while it tells of His grace. The word lets us know what is true according to God and what is not. Now if you have the word close round about you, you will find it uncommonly searching. The eye of Christ was on the word when Satan tested Him in the wilderness. ‘This’, said He, ‘is not consistent with truth. I am not bound there’. See the specious attempt of the adversary to mis-state truth, and to bring out thereby some single feeling for self; but he could not find in Christ’s heart one single feeling for Himself and not for God, whether the question was as to what He was as Man, or as to circumstances around Him. Whatever it was, the deliverance to the Lord’s mind was, “It is written”. It was not that what Satan said was not Scripture, but it was not truly applied to Him as a Servant doing His Father’s will. But the Lord was “girt about with truth”; He bowed to God’s thoughts, and Satan passed quietly out. Where truth was, He was bound by it. It was not so with Peter; his loins were not girded, he was not a Nazarite; a single desire did not fill his soul. Hence there was weakness in his course. The great question is, What are God’s thoughts about me? This searches all the secret walk and failure of our lives, for walking up to this is our power of testimony, and going on in His truth we shall find the strength of the Nazarite, and the separation of the Nazarite, so that none will be able to bind us as Samson was bound when he defiled the head of his consecration. If in any way we have been seeking self; we have lost the character of Nazarite soldiers; we have not the loins girt about with truth. The great thing for this day is to get the heart before God; to find ourselves out individually as to the God of truth. He looks at us now as connected with the Son at His right hand. He is the model He has given us; and when He looks into our hearts with power, it is to show them Christ, in whom is all His delight, as the One with whose image He would have us stamped.