Onward Christian soldier… this used to be a song that reminded Christians of their position in this world. They are soldiers in the army of the Lord. This article seeks to remind us that the Christian battle is on, led by God through the Holy Spirit, using the church, come and march in this warfare.

Source: Reformed Herald, 2003. 4 pages.

The Church Militant

In searching the Scriptures with regard to the subject of war, I was struck by how often Scripture uses war soldiers, weapons, etc., as metaphors for the spiritual battle in which the church is to be engaged. No doubt, that is the reason the forefathers used the designation, "The Church Militant."

However, that is a designation of the church that is seldom used or heard much anymore. Today, that desig­nation belongs to that category of terms that is no longer "politically correct."

Today the church is and wishes to be described as anything but militant! Sadly, even in Reformed circles, this emphasis on militancy is fading. With less and less frequency you hear such hymns as: "Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war; Like a mighty army moves the church of God;" "Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross;" "Am I a soldier of the cross?;" "Soldiers of Christ arise, and put your armor on;" etc. How many of our children know these hymns from memory? In fact, our covenant children are very much a part of this spiritual battle:

Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.Psalm 127:3-5

Covenant children are compared to arrows. They must be prepared, i.e., sharpened, so that they will be effective against the enemy.

In the past, war protesters, "peaceniks" (the peace at any cost crowd), etc., were known as those soft on communism, those who didn't want to stand for anything, or offend anyone. If the Reformers and our forefathers were to speak to the church today, I'm afraid they would accuse her of becoming soft as well, soft on separation from and condemnation of worldliness, soft on discipline, soft on Arminianism, etc.

Dear reader, there is a holy war. In the OT such a war required total extermination of persons or objects (cf. Deuteronomy. 2:34; 3:6; 7:2, 16; 20:16). Such holy war was by special revelation to OT Israel. The age of special revelation has ceased and that kind of holy war does not apply to the NT age. But that doesn't mean that the church is not to be engaged in a holy war. No, not a "jihad" or holy war as defined by Islam, i.e., those in submission to the will of Allah, who, they say, commands them to resort to all sorts of physical violence, to suicide bombings, to biological warfare, nuclear bombs, or whatever it takes to carry out the will of Allah and gain the victory. Nonetheless, the church, like the nation of Israel, is called to fight against the enemy, "against principalities, ... against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" ( Ephesians. 6:12), and destroy the forces of evil by means of the Gospel. She is not to shed blood and mutilate flesh. Her weapons are not like those of the world, i.e., guns, knives, bombs, poisons, etc., but her weapons are no less real or powerful.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Nations and the world place their confidence in weapons and are always looking for the latest and greatest in spite of what God says (cf. Psalm 20:7; 33:16, 17; 147:10). Each nation seeks to develop that ultimate weapon against which there is no defense and will make it the most powerful.

There is such a weapon, but it is most of the time unrecognized; much of the time unused; much of the time despised. And yet it is the ultimate weapon that has and will decide the destiny of the whole human race, of the entire creation. So awesome is it, that by it the heavens and the earth came into existence, and by it "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10)

Now who can bear such a weapon? Who can be entrusted with a weapon of such mighty power? What nation, what leader would you want to have this kind of weapon? Such questions, let alone the answers, are fearful to contemplate! However, we must deal with this weapon. We will do so by asking three simple questions: What is this weapon? Who has this weapon? How does this weapon work?

First, what is this weapon? It's not a new, more devastating multiple nuclear warhead missile capable of hitting all targets or some super secret space-age weapon. I suspect you already know what weapon I'm referring to:

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.Hebrews 4:12

The Word of God is the ultimate and most powerful weapon. That it is a weapon is understood from the comparison to a two-edged sword. Now that may not sound like much, but back then, it was the weapon of the day, and a very deadly one. For many years the long sword was thought to be the best weapon, but then the short, double-edged, dagger-like sword was discovered and it provided a real advantage over the long sword. The soldier with a long sword had to use both hands and take a swing. While he was swinging his sword back to make his blow, the soldier with the short two-edged sword would quickly jab straight forward and the fight was over.

But this new two-edged sword could not compare to the Word of God which was far superior. By the Word of God we must understand both the living Word of God and the written Word of God. The living Word is our Lord Jesus Christ, Who "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). In the book of Revelation we read of the two-edged sword that goes out of the mouth of Christ: (1:12-16; 19:15) That two-edged sword proceeding from the mouth of Christ is the Word of His Father:

For I have given unto them the words which thou gayest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.John 17:8

Generally, we understand the Word of God as the written Word of God — the Holy Scriptures. In the sixth chapter of Ephesians, where we are given a detailed description of the Christian soldier's armor for spiritual warfare, he is told to "take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God" (6:17). The Word of God, as it proceeds forth from the mouth of Christ, and the written Word of God, as it is preached, is the weapon more powerful than any other.

Second, who has this weapon? As we've already seen, it is Christ. The sword proceeds from His mouth, the living Word. What is it that proceeds from Christ's mouth? The truth. Christ speaks the words of truth. He came from the Father to bear witness to the truth (cf. John 18:37) – to reveal the Father. He sends the Holy Spirit who illumines our hearts and minds to the truth. Christ and the Father with the Holy Spirit are the one true eternal God. It is the triune God, Creator of heaven and earth, who alone can devise so great a weapon as the truth. There is no creature capable of developing any weapon mightier than the truth. Christ refers to Himself as "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6). The Words that He and the Father spoke were written down by holy men of old inspired by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Peter 1:21). Those words are truth (cf. John 17:17).

This mighty weapon, this sword, the truth, has been entrusted to the church which is called to be the "ground and pillar of truth" (cf. 1 Timothy 3:15). The church has been commissioned to use this weapon over all the earth, and to the end of time. It must preach and teach this truth, preach and teach the Word. Through her ministers, her officially ordained spokesman, she is called to proclaim the whole counsel of God. This is the church's supreme task. Psalm 149 speaks of God's love and grace for His chosen people. In vv. 6-7 it makes a typical reference to the weapon that has been given to the church: "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people." This was literally the duty of Israel. When they came into the land of Canaan, they carried out the righteous sentence of the Lord, slaying the guilty nations: "Saul ... his thousands, and David his ten thousands" (1 Samuel 18:7). In this duty Israel serves, not as a literal example, but as a type. The church does not copy Israel in making literal war, but is to fulfill the type by carrying on spiritual warfare, destroying the "strongholds" of Satan. Her weapon, her sword, is a spiritual one, the Word of God.

Third, how does this weapon work? In considering what this weapon is and to whom it has been given, we've already been given an indication of how it works. This mighty Word shares the very attributes of God Himself. It is quick or living, full of activity and power to achieve. Through the Word, God the Holy Spirit is active and so the Word is a weapon that always has results. It doesn't fizzle out; it doesn't malfunction; it doesn't self-destruct. It always works. It pierces or penetrates into man's most inmost being: to the dividing of soul and spirit and reveals the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Word tests the whole soul of man; it inquires into his thoughts and it searches his will and desires. It penetrates to both the joints (the inner muscle and sinew that binds your joints together) and marrow (the very substance inside your bones). All of this is meant to tell us that there is nothing so hard or firm in a man, nothing so deeply hidden that the power of the Word does not penetrate through it.

Like a dissecting knife, the Word lays bare the innermost recesses of the heart. It shows what and who man is from God's perspective — a sinful and depraved creature who is prone by nature to hate God and his neighbor, wholly incapable of doing any good. The Word alone is able to show man his need for salvation and make him wise unto salvation (cf. 2 Timothy 3:15). It must also lead him into the paths of righteousness and thankful obedience. When this Word is set before us, we must tremble, because nothing is hid from "the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13).

This mighty weapon applies its power to the sinner to humble him into a true recognition of what he is so that he flees to the grace of God. This can never happen unless the Word penetrates to the depths of the heart. Man must not be gently pricked or scratched, but must be mortally wounded, yea, slain into the spiritually dead person that he is. Man can never be quickened or made alive until the old man of sin has been slain by the edge of this Sword of the Spirit.

The Word is a weapon that always brings results. It always works. It doesn't return void but always accomplishes its purpose (cf. Isaiah 55:11). Like the double-edged sword, the Word cuts two ways: one edge for convicting and converting believers and the other edge for condemning and destroying the unbeliever. "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Hebrews 4:2).

The same Word which saves the faithful, destroys the disobedient. From the preaching of this Word, there is always a double effect. Speaking of his preaching, the apostle Paul says,

Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ and makes manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life.2 Corinthian 2:14­-16

God's Word never goes forth without bringing some to salvation and thrusting others into destruction. Even now, the Word is working: softening, convicting, humbling, gladdening, strengthening, and instructing the heart; or it is aggravating, disturbing, dulling, hardening the heart in stubborn pride and rebellion.

Through the preaching of the Word the church opens the doors of the Church and the gate of heaven for believers, and it closes those doors and that gate for the unbeliever (cf. H.C. #84). Through the preaching of the Word the church sets forth and declares the conditions laid down by Christ and the apostles for entrance into the kingdom. This is the power of binding and loosing which the Lord conferred first upon the apostles, and through them, upon the church and her duly ordained officers. This is how this mighty weapon works.

The church is to be militant. "Like a mighty army moves the church of God." Beloved, are we "treading where the saints have trod"? Are we as brave? Are we facing the foe? Are we bearing the toil and enduring the pain? Are we training so that we will be "strong to meet the foe"? Do we have on the whole armor? Do we know how to use our weapon in this spiritual warfare?

It is for ministers of that Word to be the standard-bearers, leading Christ­ian soldiers, the church militant, "marching as to war". The foe is ruthless. There will be great and grievous wounds, but victory is assured:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. Psalm 27:1-3

Fierce may be the conflict,
Strong may be the foe,
But the King's own army
None can overthrow:
Round his standard ranging,
Vict 'ry is secure;

For his truth unchanging
Makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting,
By thy grace Divine,
We are on the Lord's side,
Savior, we are thine

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