Wednesday, September 27, 2023
The Minister’s Fainting Fits. Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"The Minister's Fainting Fits," from Lectures To My Students
WHEN A PREACHER IS DOWNCAST
"As it is recorded that David, in the heat of battle, waxed faint, so may it be written of all the servants of the Lord. Fits of depression come over the most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy. There may be here and there men of iron, to whom wear and tear work no perceptible detriment, but surely the rust frets even these; and as for ordinary men, the Lord knows, and makes them to know, that they are but dust. Knowing by most painful experience what deep depression of spirit means, being visited therewith at seasons by no means few or far between, I thought it might be consolatory to some of my brethren if I gave my thoughts thereon, that younger men might not fancy that some strange thing had happened to them when they became for a season possessed by melancholy; and that sadder men might know that one upon whom the sun has shone right joyously did not always walk in the light.
It is not necessary by quotations from the biographies of eminent ministers to prove that seasons of fearful prostration have fallen to the lot of most, if not all of them. The life of Luther might suffice to give a thousand instances, and he was by no means of the weaker sort. His great spirit was often in the seventh heaven of exultation, and as frequently on the borders of despair. His very death-bed was not free from tempests, and he sobbed himself into his last sleep like a great wearied child. Instead of multiplying cases, let us dwell upon the reasons why these things are permitted; why it is that the children of light sometimes walk in the thick darkness; why the heralds of the daybreak find themselves at times in tenfold night.
GOD'S PREACHERS ARE STILL FRAIL HUMANLY
Is it not first that they are men?Being men, they are compassed with infirmity, and heirs of sorrow. Well said the wise man in the Apocrypha, Ecclus xl. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-8, "Great travail is created for all men, and a heavy yoke on the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of their mother's womb unto that day that they return to the mother of all things–namely, their thoughts and fear of their hearts, and their imagination of things that they wail for, and the day of death.
From him that sitteth in the glorious throne, to him that sitteth beneath in the earth and ashes; from him that is clothed in blue silk, and weareth a crown, to him that is clothed in simple linen–wrath, envy, trouble, and unquietness, and fear of death and rigour, and such things come to both man and beast, but sevenfold to the ungodly." Grace guards us from much of this, but because we have not more of grace we still suffer even from ills preventible. Even under the economy of redemption it is most clear that we are to endure infirmities, otherwise there were no need of the promised Spirit to help us in them. It is of need be that we are sometimes in heaviness. Good men are promised tribulation in this world, and ministers may expect a larger share than others, that they may learn sympathy with the Lord's suffering people, and so may be fitting shepherds of an ailing flock. Disembodied spirits might have been sent to proclaim the word, but they could not have entered into the feelings of those who, being in this body, do groan, being burdened; angels might have been ordained evangelists, but their celestial attributes would have disqualified them from having compassion on the ignorant; men of marble might have been fashioned, but their impassive natures would have been a sarcasm upon our feebleness, and a mockery of our wants. Men, and men subject to human passions, the all-wise God has chosen to be his vessels of grace; hence these tears, hence these perplexities and castings down.
Moreover, most of us are in some way or other unsound physically. Here and there we meet with an old man who could not remember that ever he was laid aside for a day; but the great mass of us labour under some form or other of infirmity, either in body or mind. Certain bodily maladies, especially those connected with the digestive organs, the liver, and the spleen, are the fruitful fountains of despondency; and, let a man strive as he may against their influence, there will be hours and circumstances in which they will for awhile overcome him. As to mental maladies, is any man altogether sane? Are we not all a little off the balance? Some minds appear to have a gloomy tinge essential to their very individuality; of them it may be said, "Melancholy marked them for her own;" fine minds withal, and ruled by noblest principles, but yet most prone to forget the silver lining, and to remember only the cloud. Such men may sing with the old poet:
"Our hearts are broke, our harps unstringèd be,
Our only music's sighs and groans,
Our songs are to the tune of lachrymae,
We're fretted all to skin and bones."
—Thomas Washbourne.
These infirmities may be no detriment to a man's career of special usefulness; they may even have been imposed upon him by divine wisdom as necessary qualifications for his peculiar course of service. Some plants owe their medicinal qualities to the marsh in which they grow; others to the shades in which alone they flourish. There are precious fruits put forth by the moon as well as by the sun. Boats need ballast as well as sail; a drag on the carriage-wheel is no hindrance when the road runs downhill. Pain has probably in some cases developed genius; hunting out the soul which otherwise might have slept like a lion in its den. Had it not been for the broken wing, some might have lost themselves in the clouds, some even of those choice doves who now bear the olive-branch in their mouths and show the way to the ark. But where in body and mind there are predisposing causes to lowness of spirit, it is no marvel if in dark moments the heart succumbs to them; the wonder in many cases is–and if inner lives could be written, men would see it so–how some ministers keep at their work at all, and still wear a smile upon their countenances. Grace has its triumphs still, and patience has its martyrs; martyrs none the less to be honoured because the flames kindle about their spirits rather than their bodies, and their burning is unseen of human eyes."
THE PASTOR'S WORK HAS MUCH TO TRY THE SOUL
The ministries of Jeremiahs are as acceptable as those of Isaiahs, and even the sullen Jonah is a true prophet of the Lord, as Nineveh felt full well. Despise not the lame, for it is written that they take the prey; but honor those who, being faint, are yet pursuing. The tender-eyed Leah was more fruitful than the beautiful Rachel, and the griefs of Hannah were more divine than the boastings of Peninnah. "Blessed are they that mourn," said the Man of Sorrows, and let none account them otherwise when their tears are salted with grace. We have the treasure of the gospel in earthen vessels, and if there be a flaw in the vessel here and there, let none wonder.
Our work, when earnestly undertaken, lays us open to attacks in the direction of depression. Who can bear the weight of souls without sometimes sinking to the dust? Passionate longings after men's conversion, if not fully satisfied (and when are they?), consume the soul with anxiety and disappointment. To see the hopeful turn aside, the godly grow cold, professors abusing their privileges, and sinners waxing more bold in sin — are not these sights enough to crush us to the earth? The kingdom comes not as we would, the reverend name is not hallowed as we desire, and for this we must weep.
How can we be otherwise than sorrowful, while men believe not our report, and the divine arm is not revealed? All mental work tends to weary and to depress, for much study is a weariness of the flesh; but ours is more than mental work — it is heart work, the labor of our inmost soul. How often, on Lord's-day evenings, do we feel as if life were completely washed out of us! After pouring out our souls over our congregations, we feel like empty earthen pitchers which a child might break. Probably, if we were more like Paul, and watched for souls at a nobler rate, we should know more of what it is to be eaten up by the zeal of the Lord's house. It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed; we are to spend and to be spent, not to lay ourselves up in lavender, and nurse our flesh. Such soul-travail as that of a faithful minister will bring on occasional seasons of exhaustion, when heart and flesh will fail. Moses' hands grew heavy in intercession, and Paul cried out, "Who is sufficient for these things?" Even John the Baptist is thought to have had his fainting fits, and the apostles were once amazed, and were sore afraid.
THE LONELINESS OF GOD'S PROPHET TENDS TOWARD DEPRESSION
Our position in the church will also conduce to this. A minister fully equipped for his work, will usually be a spirit by himself, above, beyond, and apart from others. The most loving of his people cannot enter into his peculiar thoughts, cares, and temptations. In the ranks, men walk shoulder to shoulder, with many comrades, but as the officer rises in rank, men of his standing are fewer in number. There are many soldiers, few captains, fewer colonels, but only one commander-in-chief. So, in our churches, the man whom the Lord raises as a leader becomes, in the same degree in which he is a superior man, a solitary man. The mountain-tops stand solemnly apart, and talk only with God as he visits their terrible solitudes. Men of God who rise above their fellows into nearer communion with heavenly things, in their weaker moments feel the lack of human sympathy. Like their Lord in Gethsemane, they look in vain for comfort to the disciples sleeping around them; they are shocked at the apathy of their little band of brethren, and return to their secret agony with all the heavier burden pressing upon them, because they have found their dearest companions slumbering.
No one knows, but he who has endured it, the solitude of a soul which has outstripped its fellows in zeal for the Lord of hosts: it dares not reveal itself, lest men count it mad; it cannot conceal itself, for a fire burns within its bones: only before the Lord does it find rest. Our Lord's sending out his disciples by two and two manifested that he knew what was in men; but for such a man as Paul, it seems to me that no helpmeet was found; Barnabas, or Silas, or Luke, were hills too low to hold high converse with such a Himalayan summit as the apostle of the Gentiles. This loneliness, which if I mistake not is felt by many of my brethren, is a fertile source of depression; and our ministers' fraternal meeting, and the cultivation of holy intercourse with kindred minds will with God's blessing, help us greatly to escape the snare.
PREACHERS, BY LACK OF EXERCISE AND RECREATION, TEND TO MELANCHOLY
There can be little doubt that sedentary habits have a tendency to create despondency in some constitutions. Burton, in his "Anatomy of Melancholy," has a chapter upon this cause of sadness; and, quoting from one of the myriad authors whom he lays under contribution, he says — "Students are negligent of their bodies. Other men look to their tools; a painter will wash his pencils; a smith will look to his hammer, anvil, forge; a husbandman will mend his plough-irons, and grind his hatchet if it be dull; a falconer or huntsman will have an especial care of his hawks, hounds, horses, dogs, etc.; a musician will string and unstring his lute; only scholars neglect that instrument (their brain and spirits I mean) which they daily use. Well saith Lucan, 'See thou twist not the rope so hard that it break.'" To sit long in one posture, poring over a book, or driving a quill, is in itself a taxing of nature; but add to this a badly-ventilated chamber, a body which has long been without muscular exercise, and a heart burdened with many cares, and we have all the elements for preparing a seething cauldron of despair, especially in the dim months of fog —
When a blanket wraps the day,
When the rotten woodland drips,
And the leaf is stamped in clay.
Let a man be naturally as blithe as a bird, he will hardly be able to bear up year after year against such a suicidal process; he will make his study a prison and his books the warders of a gaol, while nature lies outside his window calling him to health and beckoning him to joy. He who forgets the humming of the bees among the heather, the cooing of the wood-pigeons in the forest, the song of birds in the woods, the rippling of rills among the rushes, and the sighing of the wind among the pines, needs not wonder if his heart forgets to sing and his soul grows heavy. A day's breathing of fresh air upon the hills, or a few hours' ramble in the beech woods' umbrageous calm, would sweep the cobwebs out of the brain of scores of our toiling ministers who are now but half alive. A mouthful of sea air, or a stiff walk in the wind's face, would not give grace to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best.
Heaviest the heart is in a heavy air,
Ev'ry wind that rises blows away despair.
The ferns and the rabbits, the streams and the trouts, the fir trees and the squirrels, the primroses and the violets, the farm-yard, the new-mown hay, and the fragrant hops — these are the best medicine for hypochondriacs, the surest tonics for the declining, the best refreshments for the weary. For lack of opportunity, or inclination, these great remedies are neglected, and the student becomes a self-immolated victim.
GOD ALLOWS FAINTING AFTER GREAT VICTORIES LEST WE SHOULD BE "EXALTED ABOVE MEASURE"
The times most favorable to fits of depression, so far as I have experienced, may be summed up in a brief catalogue. First among them I must mention the hour of great success. When at last a long-cherished desire is fulfilled, when God has been glorified greatly by our means, and a great triumph achieved, then we are apt to faint. It might be imagined that amid special favors our soul would soar to heights of ecstasy, and rejoice with joy unspeakable, but it is generally the reverse. The; Lord seldom exposes his warriors to the perils of exultation over victory; he knows that few of them can endure such a test, and therefore dashes their cup with bitterness. See Elias after the fire has fallen from heaven, after Baal's priests have been slaughtered and the rain has deluged the barren land! For him no notes of self-complacent music, no strutting like a conqueror in robes of triumph; he flees from Jezebel, and feeling the revulsion of his intense excitement, he prays that he may die. He who must never see death, yearns after the rest of the grave, even as Caesar, the world's monarch, in his moments of pain cried like a sick girl. Poor human nature cannot bear such strains as heavenly triumphs bring to it; there must come a reaction. Excess of joy or excitement must be paid for by subsequent depressions. While the trial lasts, the strength is equal to the emergency; but when it is over, natural weakness claims the right to show itself. Secretly sustained, Jacob can wrestle all night, but he must limp in the morning when the contest is over, lest he boast himself beyond measure. Paul may be caught up to the third heaven, and hear unspeakable things, but a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him, must be the inevitable sequel. Men cannot bear unalloyed happiness; even good men are not yet fit to have "their brows with laurel and with myrtle bound," without enduring secret humiliation to keep them in their proper place.
BURDEN AND WEAKNESS ARE GIVEN TO HUMBLE US BEFORE GREAT TASKS
Whirled from off our feet by a revival, carried aloft by popularity, exalted by success in soulwinning, we should be as the chaff which the wind driveth away, were it not that the gracious discipline of mercy breaks the ships of our vainglory with a strong east wind, and casts us shipwrecked, naked and forlorn, upon the Rock of Ages.
Before any great achievement, some measure of the same depression is very usual. Surveying the difficulties before us, our hearts sink within us. The sons of Anak stalk before us, and we are as grasshoppers in our own sight in their presence. The cities of Canaan are walled up to heaven, and who are we that we should hope to capture them? We are ready to cast down our weapons and take to our heels. Nineveh is a great city, and we would flee unto Tarshish sooner than encounter its noisy crowds. Already we look for a ship which may bear us quietly away from the terrible scene, and only a dread of tempest restrains our recreant footsteps. Such was my experience when I first became a pastor in London. My success appalled me; and the thought of the career which it seemed to open up, so far from elating me, cast me into the lowest depth, out of which I uttered my miserere and found no room for a gloria in excelsis. Who was I that I should continue to lead so great a multitude? I would betake me to my village obscurity, or emigrate to America, and find a solitary nest in the backwoods, where I might be sufficient for the things which would be demanded of me. It was just then that the curtain was rising upon my lifework, and I dreaded what it might reveal. I hope I was not faithless, but I was timorous and filled with a sense of my own unfitness. I dreaded the work which a gracious providence had prepared for me. I felt myself a mere child, and trembled as I heard the voice which said, "Arise, and thresh the mountains, and make them as chaff." This depression comes over me whenever the Lord is preparing a larger blessing for my ministry; the cloud is black before it breaks, and overshadows before it yields its deluge of mercy. Depression has now become to me as a prophet in rough clothing, a John the Baptist, heralding the nearer coming of my Lord's richer benison. So have far better men found it. The scouring of the vessel has fitted it for the Master's use. Immersion in suffering has preceded the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Fasting gives an appetite for the banquet. The Lord is revealed in the backside of the desert, while his servant keepeth the sheep and waits in solitary awe. The wilderness is the way to Canaan. The low valley leads to the towering mountain. Defeat prepares for victory. The raven is sent forth before the dove. The darkest hour of the night precedes the daydawn. The mariners go down to the depths, but the next wave makes them mount to the heaven: their soul is melted because of trouble before he bringeth them to their desired haven.
FAILURE TO TAKE REGULAR PERIODS OF VACATION AND REST PROMOTES FAINTING AND WEARINESS
In the midst of a long stretch of unbroken labor, the same affliction may be looked for. The bow cannot be always bent without fear of breaking. Repose is as needful to the mind as sleep to the body. Our Sabbaths are our days of toil, and if we do not rest upon some other day we shall break down. Even the earth must lie fallow and have her Sabbaths, and so must we. Hence the wisdom and compassion of our Lord, when he said to his disciples, "Let us go into the desert and rest awhile." What! when the people are fainting? When the multitudes are like sheep upon the mountains without a shepherd? Does Jesus talk of rest? When Scribes and Pharisees, like grievous wolves, are rending the flock, does he take his followers on an excursion into a quiet resting place? Does some red-hot zealot denounce such atrocious forgetfulness of present and pressing demands? Let him rave in his folly. The Master knows better than to exhaust his servants and quench the light of Israel. Rest time is not waste time. It is economy to gather fresh strength. Look at the mower in the summer's day, with so much to cut down ere the sun sets. He pauses in his labor — is he a sluggard? He looks for his stone, and begins to draw it up and down his scythe, with "rink-a-tink — rink-a-tink — rink-a-tink." Is that idle music — is he wasting precious moments? How much he might have mown while he has been ringing out those notes on his scythe! But he is sharpening his tool, and he will do far more when once again he gives his strength to those long sweeps which lay the grass prostrate in rows before him. Even thus a little pause prepares the mind for greater service in the good cause. Fishermen must mend their nets, and we must every now and then repair our mental waste and set our machinery in order for future service. To tug the oar from day to day, like a galley-slave who knows no holidays, suits not mortal men. Mill-streams go on and on for ever, but we must have our pauses and our intervals. Who can help being out of breath when the race is continued without intermission? Even beasts of burden must be turned out to grass occasionally; the very sea pauses at ebb and flood; earth keeps the Sabbath of the wintry months; and man, even when exalted to be God's ambassador, must rest or faint; must trim his lamp or let it burn low; must recruit his vigor or grow prematurely old. It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less. On, on, on for ever, without recreation, may suit spirits emancipated from this "heavy clay," but while we are in this tabernacle, we must every now and then cry halt and serve the Lord by holy inaction and consecrated leisure. Let no tender conscience doubt the lawfulness of going out of harness for awhile, but learn from the experience of others the necessity and duty of taking timely rest.
One crushing stroke has sometimes laid the minister very low. The brother most relied upon becomes a traitor. Judas lifts up his heel against the man who trusted him, and the preacher's heart for the moment fails him. We are all too apt to look to an arm of flesh, and from that propensity many of our sorrows arise. Equally overwhelming is the blow when an honored and beloved member yields to temptation, and disgraces the holy name with which he was named. Anything is better than this. This makes the preacher long for a lodge in some vast wilderness, where he may hide his head for ever, and hear no more the blasphemous jeers of the ungodly. Ten years of toil do not take so much life out of us as we lose in a few hours by Ahithophel the traitor, or Demas the apostate. Strife, also, and division, and slander, and foolish censures, have often laid holy men prostrate, and made them go "as with a sword in their bones." Hard words wound some delicate minds very keenly. Many of the best of ministers, from the very spirituality of their character, are exceedingly sensitive — too sensitive for such a world as this. "A kick that scarce would move a horse would kill a sound divine." By experience the soul is hardened to the rough blows which are inevitable in our warfare; but at first these things utterly stagger us, and send us to our homes wrapped in a horror of great darkness. The trials of a true minister are not few, and such as are caused by ungrateful professors are harder to bear than the coarsest attacks of avowed enemies. Let no man who looks for ease of mind and seeks the quietude of life enter the ministry; if he does so he will flee from it in disgust.
To the lot of few does it fall to pass through such a horror of great darkness as that which fell upon me after the deplorable accident at the Surrey Music Hall. I was pressed beyond measure and out of bounds with an enormous weight of misery. The tumult, the panic, the deaths, were day and night before me, and made life a burden. Then I sang in my sorrow —
"The tumult of my thoughts
Doth but increase my woe,
My spirit languisheth,
my heart Is desolate and low."
From that dream of horror I was awakened in a moment by the gracious application to my soul of the text, "Him hath God the Father exalted." The fact that Jesus is still great, let his servants suffer as they may, piloted me back to calm reason and peace. Should so terrible a calamity overtake any of my brethren, let them both patiently hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God.
When troubles multiply, and discouragements follow each other in long succession, like Job's messengers, then, too, amid the perturbation of soul occasioned by evil tidings, despondency despoils the heart of all its peace. Constant dropping wears away stones, and the bravest minds feel the fret of repeated afflictions. If a scanty cupboard is rendered a severer trial by the sickness of a wife or the loss of a child, and if ungenerous remarks of hearers are followed by the opposition of deacons and the coolness of members, then, like Jacob, we are apt to cry, "All these things are against me." When David returned to Ziklag and found the city burned, goods stolen, wives carried off, and his troops ready to stone him, we read, "he encouraged himself in his God;" and well was it for him that he could do so, for he would then have fainted if he had not believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Accumulated distresses increase each other's weight; they play into each other's hands, and, like bands of robbers, ruthlessly destroy our comfort. Wave upon wave is severe work for the strongest swimmer. The place where two seas meet strains the most seaworthy keel. If there were a regulated pause between the buffetings of adversity, the spirit would stand prepared; but when they come suddenly and heavily, like the battering of great hailstones, the pilgrim may well be amazed. The last ounce breaks the camel's back, and when that last ounce is laid upon us, what wonder if we for awhile are ready to give up the ghost!
This evil will also come upon us, we know not why, and then it is all the more difficult to drive it away. Causeless depression is not to be reasoned with, nor can David's harp charm it away by sweet discoursings. As well fight with the mist as with this shapeless, undefinable, yet, all-beclouding hopelessness. One affords himself no pity when in this case, because it seems so unreasonable, and even sinful to be troubled without manifest cause; and yet troubled the man is, even in the very depths of his spirit. If those who laugh at such melancholy did but feel the grief of it for one hour, their laughter would be sobered into compassion. Resolution might, perhaps, shake it off, but where are we to find the resolution, when the whole man is unstrung? The physician and the divine may unite their skill in such cases, and both find their hands full, and more than full. The iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in gloomy prison, needs a heavenly hand to push it back; and when that hand is seen we cry with the apostle, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4. It is the God of all consolation who can —
With sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse our poor bosoms of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart.
Simon sinks till Jesus takes him by the hand. The devil within rends and tears the poor child till the word of authority commands him to come out of him. When we are ridden with horrible fears, and weighed down with an intolerable incubus, we need but the Sun of Righteousness to rise, and the evils generated of our darkness are driven away; but nothing short of this will chase away the nightmare of the soul. Timothy Rogers, the author of a treatise on Melancholy, and Simon Browne, the writer of some remarkably sweet hymns, proved in their own cases how unavailing is the help of man if the Lord withdraw the light from the soul.
If it be inquired why the Valley of the Shadow of Death must so often be traversed by the servants of King Jesus, the answer is not far to find. All this is promotive of the Lord's mode of working, which is summed up in these words — "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." Instruments shall be used, but their intrinsic weakness shall be clearly manifested; there shall be no division of the glory, no diminishing the honor due to the Great Worker. The man shall be emptied of self, and then filled with the Holy Ghost. In his own apprehension he shall be like a sere leaf driven of the tempest, and then shall be strengthened into a brazen wall against the enemies of truth. To hide pride from the worker is the great difficulty. Uninterrupted success and unfading joy in it would be more than our weak heads could bear. Our wine must needs be mixed with water, lest it turn our brains. My witness is, that those Who are honored of their Lord in public, have usually to endure a secret chastening, or to carry a peculiar cross, lest by any means they exalt themselves, and fall into the snare of the devil. How constantly the Lord calls Ezekiel "Son of man"! Amid his soarings into the superlative splendors, just when with eye undimmed he is strengthened to gaze into the excellent glory, the word "Son of man" falls on his ears, sobering the heart which else might have been intoxicated with the honor conferred upon it. Such humbling but salutary messages our depressions whisper in our ears; they tell us in a manner not to be mistaken that we are but men, frail, feeble, apt to faint. By all the castings down of his servants God is glorified, for they are led to magnify him when again he sets them on their feet, and even while prostrate in the dust their faith yields him praise. They speak all the more sweetly of his faithfulness, and are the more firmly established in his love. Such mature men as some elderly preachers are, could scarcely have been produced if they had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, and made to see their own emptiness and the vanity of all things round about them. Glory be to God for the furnace, the hammer, and the file. Heaven shall be all the fuller of bliss because we have been filled with anguish here below, and earth shall be better tilled because of our training in the school of adversity.
The lesson of wisdom is, be not dismayed by soul-trouble. Count it no strange thing, but a part of ordinary ministerial experience. Should the power of depression be more than ordinary, think not that all is over with your usefulness. Cast not away your confidence, for it hath great recompense of reward. Even if the enemy's foot be on your neck, expect to rise and overthrow him. Cast the burden of the present, along with the sin of the past and the fear of the future, upon the Lord, who forsaketh not his saints. Live by the day — ay, by the hour. Put no trust in frames and feelings. Care more for a grain of faith than a ton of excitement. Trust in God alone, and lean not on the reeds of human help. Be not surprised when friends fail you: it is a failing world. Never count upon immutability in man: inconstancy you may reckon upon without fear of disappointment. The disciples of Jesus forsook him; be not amazed if your adherents wander away to other teachers: as they were not your all when with you, all is not gone from you with their departure. Serve God with all your might while the candle is burning, and then when it goes out for a season, you will have the less to regret. Be content to be nothing, for that is what you are. When your own emptiness is painfully forced upon your consciousness, chide yourself that you ever dreamed of being full, except in the Lord. Set small store by present rewards; be grateful for earnests by the way, but look for the recompensing joy hereafter. Continue, with double earnestness to serve your Lord when no visible result is before you. Any simpleton can follow the narrow path in the light: faith's rare wisdom enables us to march on in the dark with infallible accuracy, since she places her hand in that of her Great Guide. Between this and heaven there may be rougher weather yet, but it is all provided for by our covenant Head. In nothing let us be turned aside from the path which the divine call has urged us to pursue. Come fair or come foul, the pulpit is our watch-tower, and the ministry our warfare; be it ours, when we cannot see the face of our God, to trust UNDER THE SHADOW OF HIS WINGS.
Saturday, September 23, 2023
Ephesians 6 The Helmet of Salvation
The Helmet of Salvation
Do you notice the ridge to protect the ears and neck from blows of a sword. You want the helmet to deflect the blow, but not deflect it your neck or shoulders.
Now, this series has brought us to some realisations about our spiritual warfare. Satan's darts are aimed at us! How do we best take the armour up to deflect his darts. What do these darts look like anyway? One of those darts is depression.
Now I am not a psychologist. I am not a medical doctor or a counsellor. I am a preacher of God's Word. So what I want to do is bring God's Word to you that will help you with this dart of depression.
The DSM 5
Some symptom domains, such as depression and anxiety, involve multiple diagnostic categories and may reflect common underlying vulnerabilities for a larger group of disorders.
Loss of pleasure in all, or almost all, activities. Lack of reactivity to usually pleasurable stimuli (does not feel much better, even temporarily, when something good happens).
A distinct quality of depressed mood characterized by profound despondency, despair, and/or moroseness or by so-called empty mood. Depression that is regularly worse in the morning.
The sense of worthlessness or guilt associated with a major depressive episode may include unrealistic negative evaluations of one's worth or guilty preoccupations or ruminations over minor past failings. Thoughts of death, suicidal ideation, or suicide attempts (Criterion A9) are common.
They may range from a passive wish not to awaken in the morning or a belief that others would be better off if the individual were dead, to transient but recurrent thoughts of committing suicide, to a specific suicide plan. Individuals frequently present with tearfulness, irritability, brooding, obsessive rumination, anxiety, phobias, excessive worry over physical health, and complaints of pain (e.g., headaches; joint, abdominal, or other pains).
Twelve-month prevalence of major depressive disorder is approximately 7%, with marked differences by age group such that the prevalence in 18- to 29-year-old individuals is threefold higher than the prevalence in individuals age 60 years or older. Females experience 1.5- to 3-fold higher rates than males beginning in early adolescence.
Well, how do we quench through this dart of depression? Satan wants you to be discouraged and depressed. He knows that is probably one of the best tools he has in his tool chest. Hit them with a dart of discouragement or distress and they will fold.
ADMIT THE POSSIBILITY OF DARK DEPRESSION. Darkness Has Been Ordained of God
It is not unusual. It is not unfruitful. It is not unending.
ACQUIRE THE PROCEDURES IN DARK DEPRESSION.
Look to the Lord Lean on the Lord Leave It with the Lord
I want you to pay attention to this one because this message is going to deal with something that is going to happen to you if it has not already happened to you. One of these days you are going to find yourself plunged into dark, dark, dark despair. You're going to be perplexed. You're going to have problems, and confusion, and all of your little formulas, and all of your little outlines, and all of the little things that you've counted on before are not going to work. And, you're not going to understand what God is up to. It will be so dark in your life, you won't even be able to see your hand before your face. The old theologians use to call a dark night of the soul. And, you'll wonder what has happened. You wonder if God died, or if you've lost your mind, or if maybe the whole things is just a fairy tale. Maybe there's nothing to it, you'll say what on earth happened.
You'll think that God has forsaken you.
It is the devil's dart of depression that particularly afflicts our minds. The gospel itself is the remedy. That is why it is called the helmet of salvation. And in 1 Thessalonians 5 it is called the helmet of the hope of salvation,
"8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."
We can know we are destined to obtain salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the One who makes the gospel covenant promises ours forever. It is by the Lord being our salvation and Him binding Himself to us, that we can have confidence and assurance and a strong irreversible confidence in our salvation. He is our Saviour. And so He is the One who can bring these Old Testament promises of Hope to us in times of deepest despair.
"Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment." (Isaiah 50:10–11).
- ADMIT THE POSSIBILITY OF DARK DEPRESSION.
There is a whole book in the bible that is called depression! Lamentations of Jeremiah!
Lamentations 3:17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD."
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
I want to speak to you first of all about the possibility of darkness in the life of a Christian.
Darkness is not unusual in the life of a Christian. It is not unusual and I'm not talking about people who are living in sin. I'm talking about people who fear God. I'm not talking about people who are disobedient. I'm talking about people who obey the voice of God's servants. And, they have no light. They walk in darkness. You read Biographies of Saints and almost every one of them will tell about some dark night of the soul when they were so perplexed.
And, in such despair they almost wondered if God had forsaken them. You can read it in the Bible, in the book of Job, the same thing happened to Job. Job was in darkness and Job said in Job 19: "…he hath set darkness in my paths" (Job 19:8). I just don't seem to be able to understand and Job would just ask Him, "Why oh God? God, you owe me some answers."
You know, people feel like they can do almost anything if they can just understand why.
Logos Therapy by Viktor Frankl says a person can bear almost anyhow as long as he has a reason why. But, what if you don't? And, interesting thing, when you read the book of Job, you read it all the way through God never did tell Job. I mean, at the end, Job never did understand what it was all about. God just didn't reveal it to him.
Read in the New Testament about John the Baptist. Jesus said, "…Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist…" (Luke 7:28). John the Baptist was a mighty preacher. He stood on the banks of Jordan, and preached with a rippling brook for a choir, and a pulpit for a rock. He ate honey, but he didn't preach it. And, yet that same John the Baptist was taken and put in prison and in a dark, dismal, damp prison. This outdoors man, rotting away there in that jail. He got into such darkness, such perplexity, such despair, that he sent some of his disciples and said, "…Art thou he that should come?" (Luke 7:19). I mean, he's the one who said, "…Behold the Lamb of God…" (John 1:29). Said, "Go ask Him if He's really the Messiah." John couldn't understand it. "What has gone wrong? If Jesus Christ can work miracles why can't He get me out of this jail?" John had preached the victorious Christ, now here is John following Jesus in jail. Even the Apostle Paul, I suppose, the mightiest theologian, the grandest Apostle, the finest missionary that ever lived. He wrote there in the book of Corinthians that he was perplexed. Do you know what that word "perplexed" means? "I just don't understand." Didn't you always like to think of Paul as always knowing everything? I mean, you know, just, he said, "…we are perplexed …" (2 Corinthians 4:8). "I am literally perplexed." So, folks, what I'm trying to tell you is that if you get perplexed, if you get in trouble, if you get in darkness, you are in pretty good company. And, it doesn't mean that there's necessarily sin in your life because our verse of Scripture talks about someone who fears the Lord, and who is obeying the voice of God's servant, and yet he has no light and he walks in darkness. It is not unusual.
It is not unfruitful. God knows what He's doing. There's a purpose in it. The fruit of the Spirit ripens in the darkness. You're going to find out that God is up to something in your life. Did you know that there are some things that you can only see in the dark? I want to tell you something about darkness. It is not unfruitful. Now, there are some things you can only see in the light, but there are some things you can only see in the dark. You can only see the stars in the dark. We say, "The stars come out at night." Not so, they're there all the time, but you don't see them until it gets dark. You see those stars. And, you see the moon. But, you wouldn't see all of that unless it was dark. I've never experimented to see if this is true, but I've read somewhere that if you get in a deep well and look up even in daytime, you can see the stars shining because you're in the darkness. And, if you get down deep enough and dark enough even in the daytime you can see the stars shining.
There's some things that you will see better after you've been in the darkness when you get in the light. There's something about the darkness that sharpens your spiritual eyesight. I was used to sitting in unnatural light in an office most of the days. And when I wasn;t I was rushing around frantically. And then my PhD lecturer took me into his garden for half an hour and made me smell the flowers and look at them and look at their beauty.
2 O let me feel Thee near me, the world is ever near; I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
my foes are ever near me, around me and within; but, Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin.
I wonder if there's some of us who have not been dazzled with so much by this world, and the glitter of this world, and the glare of this world, and the brightness of this world that sometimes God just puts in darkness and let's us sit in darkness so when the light comes again we can appreciate the beautiful mix of colours of God's grace.
The Darkness: It is not unusual. It is not unfruitful.
It is not unending. You will come out of it. You will come out of it and you'll come out of it a better person. "…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalm 30:5). The same sun that sets is the sun that rises again. And, God will indeed lighten the paths of His saints and God one of these days. And, I'm talking to somebody right now, there's somebody listening and watching on our streaming service somewhere in the world, somebody in a hospital room right now, somebody in a home that is filled with sorrow, somebody listening here now, and there's such darkness in your life. I want to tell you my dear friend, you do what this verse of Scripture tells you. In just a moment and our God, our dear Lord Jesus Christ, one of these days is going to take the shades of darkness and pin them back with a star, and open the door of the morning, and flood your world with His glory and with His life. Not now, perhaps, in the later years, perhaps in a better land, we'll know the meaning of our tears and some day we'll understand.
Just because it doesn't make sense to you now, doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. And, just because it doesn't make sense to you now, doesn't mean it will not make sense someday. I am telling you, dear friend, there's the possibility of darkness in you and when you understand Isaiah chapter 50, verses 10 and 11. You can understand that it is not unusual, it is not unfruitful, it is not unending,
2. ACQUIRE THE PROCEDURES IN DARK DEPRESSION.
Now, literally, what he wrote these two verses for was to tell you what to do when darkness comes and if you're a child of God I'm just going to assume it's going to come to you. He tells you the procedure. What should you do when the lights go out? That's what we're talking about. What should you do when the lights go out?
Look to the Lord
Now, Isaiah tells us there are three things that you ought to do when the lights go out. All right number one, you are to look to the Lord. Now, look again in verse 10 here in this passage of Scripture. "Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.
." Let him trust in the name of the Lord. Just look to the Lord. You see, you don't have to know why. "Why?" Is not your question. "Why?" Is God's question. "How?" Is your question. "Why?" Is why it happened. "How?" Is how you're going to react to it. That's your question, you just trust God. Warren Wiersbe said this, "We don't live by explanation, we live by promises." I like that. We don't live by explanation. We live by promises. You see, God is under no obligation to explain Himself to us. And, even if He did, many times we wouldn't' be able to understand it, wouldn't we because He says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8–9). So, God doesn't have to explain Himself to us. We do not live by explanation, we live by promises. And, so what you do, you just simply trust in the Lord. It's just that simple, you look to Him. It doesn't have to make sense. Thomas Watson, an old Puritan, said, "Where reason cannot wade, faith must swim."
Where reason cannot wade, then faith must swim. Just trust God. I mean, just get a promise of God, and stand on it. Friend, you don't have to understand it to stand on it. You don't have to understand it. Just trust God. You find yourself in darkness, you don't know what to do, trust God. Let him trust the name of the Lord. This is the highest pinnacle of faith. Faith doesn't come when you can see away clear. Faith comes when you don't see your way clear, when you don't understand, where it doesn't make sense. And, you finally come to the place that Job came to. Job came to the place where he said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…" (Job 13:15). See, look to the Lord. Just look to the Lord. Don't look to any experience, don't look to any explanation, we do not live on explanations, we live on promises.
So how do we live on the promises? Remember the covenant promise God has made to you of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus. The helmet of salvation. The assurance that in the Lord Jesus you have a complete and free forgiveness andpardon and assurance of eternal life. This is to hold our minds fast. This is where our trust lies.
Look to the Lord Jesus who has completely acquired salvation for you at the price of His precious blood.
When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within, Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin. Because the sinless Saviour died My sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me.
Lean on the Lord
Number one, then you look to the Lord. Number two, you lean on the Lord. Look again if you will in verse 10. "Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God." Do you see that? "And, stay upon his God."
"Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. (Isaiah 50:10–11). Now, that word "stay" is an interesting word. It is the root of the word for "staff," as in Psalm 23: "…thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Now, what was a staff? A staff was something that the shepherd leaned on. It supported him. Can you imagine a shepherd in a dark valley leaning on his staff to keep him from falling? "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4). A staff is something to lean on to give you comfort in a dark valley. When the Scripture says, "Let him stay upon his God" what it literally means is "let him lean upon that God for support." Let him lean upon that God. Lean on the Lord. Look to the Lord and lean on the Lord.
I was reading in Isaiah 37 -39 through the week.. It always encourages me that when King Hezekiah was confronted by the whole huge army of the Assyrians under Sennacherib, instead of panicking and hoping for help from other nearby powers, like Egypt, or trusting in big high walls surrounding the city of Jerusalem, Hezekiah chose to lean hard on the Lord.
Even when Sennacherib's officials said things like " We came up because the Lord told us to come up and defeat you" or God isn't as big as you hope, He didn't save other nations, nor did other nations' gods save them!" He refused to listen to human methods and went straight to leaning on the Lord. Several times this week people have wanted me to help them find a solicitor to help defend their names. I think the first place anyone should go to is the Lord. He can defend your name better than any solicitor can. He can deal with those who oppose you better than anyone else.
Sometimes God puts you in darkness that you might learn to lean. God is not in the business of giving you a reason, it is not reason, it is relationship. God is bringing you to Himself. And, there are times when He'll take everything else away from you so that the only thing that you'll have is Him. God wants you to learn to lean upon Him. That's what it's all about. So, you're to lean on the Lord, not lean on some sermon, not lean on some truth, not lean on some formula, not lean on some procedure, not lean on your health, not lean on your bank account, not lean on anything. All you've got is the Lord. Satan was the one who afflicted Job. But Satan could only afflict Job by God's permission and direction. That's what God did with Job. God just took it all away; money, health, family, reputation, everything! God took it away, all of it, and yet, Job still had the Lord and he trusted in the Lord. And, he said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him…" and he saw the Lord Jesus by the eye of faith. Now, God sometimes brings us to the place where he brought Job, not only to show us that God is necessary, but that God is enough and we learn to lean on the Lord. Just simply lean on the Lord.
Leave It with the Lord
"Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment." (Isaiah 50:10–11).
Look to the Lord. Trust in Him; lean on the Lord. Now leave it with the Lord. Leave it with the Lord. Don't light your own fire. Don't light your own fire. If you light your own fire, you're going to lie down in sorrow. Do you ever feel like "Well let's do something even if it's wrong." Remember the disciples after Jesus' resurrection? We got to do something! Anxiety was driving them! Let's go back to our jobs, let's go fishing! And, so they launch out in the strength and the energy of the flesh not waiting upon God.
Have you ever done that? The Lord rebukes them and gives the disciples the job He wants them to do. And it isn't fishing, its shepherding. Feed my sheep!
Often our anxiety drives us and we blow the whole thing. We light our own fire ! If you're not careful you'll try to help God out and you'll light your own fire. I want to tell you something about lighting your own fire. A lot of folks today are just walking in the spark of the fire that they kindled. And, they go off to some worldly philosophy or some idea, some strategy, something that's not of God because they're in darkness. And, rather than looking to the Lord, and rather than leaning on the Lord, they just go out and light their own fire. And, they're going to find themselves in difficulty.
You can see in the Bible people who did that same thing, for example, Abraham. Abraham was a friend of God, a man of faith. He loved God, he feared God, obeyed God. God gave Abraham a promise and God said, "Abraham, I'm going to make a covenant with you. And, Abraham, I'm going to bless all of the world through your descendants. I'm going to give you a son while you're an old man. A son of promise, a son a covenant, blessing son, I'm going to give you." And, Abraham was in the light when God gave him that promise. And, then God Himself put Abraham in darkness. That is, God didn't seem to be in any hurry about it. Abraham couldn't understand. "Why doesn't God do something?" Abraham was plunged into darkness and into despair. And, that darkness and that despair were of God because God was testing Abraham. God was proving Abraham and God was working on His own timetables, and remember what I said. That with God timing is more important that time. But, now Abraham decides he's going to take things in his own hands and Abraham decides he's going to light his own fire. And, so he produces a son—not with his wife Sarah—but with his handmaiden, Hagar. And, he produced an Ishmael. Rather than waiting on God he lit his own fire and made himself to lie down in sorrow. He could not trust God, he could not wait on God. He could not look to the Lord, and lean on the Lord, and leave it with the Lord. What about Moses? God said to Moses, "Moses, I want you deliver My people from the land of bondage, from the land of Egypt. You are going to be My commander in chief and you're go obey Me." And, then Moses got a little antsy about it, got a little nervous about it, couldn't understand why God was so slow, and Moses took things into his own hands. He lit his own fire. What he did if you remember the story, he killed an Egyptian, murdered him. Moses, who was meant to be a missionary ended up a murderer, spent forty years in a back side of the desert after that, every night lying down in sorrow because he couldn't leave things with God, couldn't leave it with the Lord. He had to take it into his own hands. He had to try to make it happen before God. You can read the same thing about Simon Peter, cut off the ear of the high priest. Jesus had told Simon Peter that He was going to the cross, He was going to suffer, He was going to bleed, die, be buried, rise again the third day. He had told people all of this, but now here's Jesus. It looks like the tide has turned. Peter can't understand everything. There the soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane and so Peter pulls out his sword, cuts off the ear of the high priest, trying to light his own fire. What a mess he made. What a mess he made. Friend, listen to me, when the darkness comes it is not unusual, it is not unfruitful, it is not unending, when it comes look to the Lord, when it comes lean on the Lord, when it comes, leave it with the Lord. Have faith in God, He'll answer you.
Who are you listening to? The devil? He is a liar. His solutions never work.
Yourself? Psalm 13 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
The worldly people around you? Ephesians 4:17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!-
Lamentations 3: Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." 25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Have you got on the Helmet of your Salvation? Are you trusting in the Lord?
Charles Spurgeon "I know, perhaps as well as anyone, what depression means, and what it is to feel myself sinking lower and lower. Yet at the worst, when I reach the lowest depths, I have an inward peace which no pain or depression can in the least disturb. Trusting in Jesus Christ my Saviour, there is still a blessed quietness in the deep caverns of my soul, though upon the surface, a rough tempest may be raging, and there may be little apparent calm."
Acknowledging that the general outline comes from Dr. Adrian Rogers.
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Ephesians 6:16 Ready For Battle #6 Shield of faith
Ephesians 6:16 Ready For Battle #6 Shield of faith
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
Chip Ingram writes "At the time Paul wrote to the Ephesians, there were two kinds of shields. One was a small, round, handheld shield like the kind you always see in movies about ancient gladiators. That's not what Paul was referring to. The shield in this passage was about four feet high and two and a half feet wide. It had hooks on the sides to link it to other shields in a line so that an entire row of soldiers could advance without exposing themselves to incoming arrows. It was common for enemies to dip their arrows in pitch, light them, and then pelt the opposing soldiers with thousands of destructive, flaming missiles. So the Romans made their shields with iron and two layers of wood, wrapped them in linen, and covered it all with leather. But they would leave a gap between layers so flaming arrows could penetrate far enough into the shield to be quickly extinguished. One soldier is said to have come in from the battle lines with two hundred once-fiery arrows still stuck in his shield. That's the metaphor Paul uses, and his readers understood exactly what he meant.
There were 2 sorts of shields, the smaller round one and the bigger oblong one.
The Roman panoply consists firstly of a shield (scutum), the convex surface of which measures two and a half feet in width and four feet in length, the thickness at the rim being a palm's breadth. It is made of two planks glued together, the outer surface being then covered first with canvas and then with calf-skin. Its upper and lower rims are strengthened by an iron edging which protects it from descending blows and from injury when rested on the ground. It also has an iron boss (umbo) fixed to it which turns aside the most formidable blows of stones, pikes, and heavy missiles in general. (Polybius, Hist. 6.23.2–5).
The iron boss is that central button like thing that sticks out.
But fire-darts (a kind of missile) (malleoli, teli genus) are made in this form: the shaft is of reed, and between this and the point is a covering of bands of iron; it looks like a woman's distaff for making linen threads. It is skillfully hollowed out on the lower side with many openings, and in the cavity fire and some inflammable matter are placed. And if it is shot slowly from a somewhat loose bow (for it is extinguished by too swift a flight) and has stuck anywhere, it burns persistently, and water poured upon it rouses the fire to still greater heat; and there is no way of extinguishing it except by sprinkling it with dust.61
The impact of these flaming arrows could be minimized by making the right preparations. Paul expands the imagery by saying that they could be extinguished. The function of the calfskin on the front of the shield was to prevent the incendiary arrows from igniting the shield and burning it up. The historian Thucydides, for instance, describes how a city under attack covered the wooden walls with skins and hides to protect the timber "against the attacks of burning missiles" (Thucydides 2.75.4). Similarly, Josephus describes the same use of fresh animal hides to protect wooden walls during the Jewish war so that the "missiles would slide off them, and the fire that was thrown would be quenched by the moisture that was in them" (Jos., J.W. 3.173). The drenched hides on the front of the shields had the same function when the fiery arrows landed on them.
The original idea was of a door which you held in front of you, and behind which you could hide. Later it was altered into an oblong shape; but it was still meant to cover most of the body. But still more important is the fact that this shield had a fire-proof metal lining placed upon it, the significance of which, of course, is immediately obvious. The shield was made of wood, but it had this fire-proof wet calf skin on the front and a surrounding metal lining on its edges and a metal (copper or iron) Boss in the centre so that as you held it up to face the enemy who was throwing his fiery darts at you, the darts would fall upon this fire-proof calf lining, with a metal centre piece and surround to prevent damage.
The ultimate cause of all spiritual depression is unbelief. For if it were not for unbelief, even the devil could do nothing. It is because we listen to the devil instead of listening to God that we go down before him and fall before his attacks. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
"In every circumstance.."
How do you regard every circumstance? Are you having a bad day? Or a bad week?
"Fiery darts/missiles" The plumbata was thrown "overhand" or "underhand." For a distance, darts were thrown "underhand." The plumbata could hit a target, which was over 80 meters (260 feet) away. Each Soldier had about 5 attached to his shield.
The plumbata comprised iron tip, lead weight, and wooden shaft with fletching, which kept the tail to the rear. The length of the whole plumbata was around 30 centimeters (1 foot). The iron tip was 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) and the lead weight was 6 centimeters (2.3 inches) long.
The total weight was between 130 and 350 grams (4.5–12.3 ounces).
The plumbata didn't kill you, but it could seriously hurt you.
The dart was thrown high into the air and because of its lead weight, it fell upon the opponents at an almost 90-degree angle. As such, it could hurt unprotected parts of the body.
The plumbata was an effective harassing weapon
They were made either of wood or of metal, but their special feature was that they had a sharp point. They were like arrows or darts. They were made of material which was soaked in some inflammable substance. Then this material, impregnated with this inflammable substance, was wound round the point of the dart very tightly until it was firmly in position. Then, when they were ready to attack the enemy, they would ignite this inflammable material so that it would burst into flame, and they would then hurl the darts in the direction of the enemy. If one of these darts should happen to penetrate, it would burst into flame yet more, and burn some portion of the enemy's body and so render him inactive. In this manner they prepared the way for the mass attack of the troops upon the enemy opposed to them. Soldiers used to throw these darts at the enemy in great profusion from all conceivable directions so as to cause confusion. And having prepared the way in that manner the troops would then advance. This was the ancient way of doing what in modern warfare is known as the preliminary barrage of the guns to prepare for the advance of the infantry.
Both Origen and Jerome are correct in their interpretation of the arrows to be the devil's interjection of evil thoughts into the minds of believers, but there is no reason to limit the metaphor to this one form of attack. In addition to what has just been said, the list could include persecution from political authorities, thoughts of accusation of sin that bring intense feelings of guilt, false teaching by those who claim to be Christians, direct demonic attack through sickness and dreams, and temptations to engage in behaviors displeasing to God (e.g., spontaneous "thoughts of doubt and disobedience, rebellion, lust, malice or fear"). There can be no doubt that Paul's expression conveys "the sense of extreme danger."
The schemes, temptations, lies, deceptions, and attacks aimed at (us) God's people to get us to "shift our trust" to something or someone other than God. (i.e. blasphemous thoughts, hateful thoughts, doubts, burning desire to sin, questioning other's motives, waves of discouragement or depression) – often rooted in lies about God's identity or our new identity in Christ.
The fiery darts of the adversary are the schemes, temptations, lies, and attacks aimed at God's people. Their goal is to get us to shift our focus from God onto something or someone else. If the enemy can get us to be afraid, feel guilty or condemned, get discouraged, or lose hope, he can move our dependence away from God and onto something much less worthy.
There are times when in order to "stand firm" we must face the enemy in actual combat.
Satan gets active against us at come times.
• When we're taking significant steps of faith for spiritual growth.
• When we're invading enemy territory (i.e. evangelism).
• When we're exposing him for who he really is.
• When we repent and make a "clean break" with the world, a long-held sin pattern, or an unholy relationship.
• When God is preparing us (individually and/or corporately) for a "great work" for His glory.
The 'wicked one' is the devil, and he commands and controls a diversity of powers and agents. Never was it more important that we should realize that we are involved in a tremendous spiritual warfare. We believe in the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Three Persons in one godhead. God is Personal. God is not a force o a power. But neither are the forces against us only, a force or a power, but personal agencies, personal intelligences.
The Apostle is telling us that we must be prepared for what we may describe as Satanic attacks and assaults which at times can be unusually fierce and fiery.
The fiery darts penetrate us.
Depression.
Distress.
Demonic opposition. 2 Timothy 4: 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Dangers. 1 Peter 4:12 'Beloved', he says, 'think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you'. It is not strange, it is the lot of God's people. It always has been, it always will be. 'Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus', says Paul to Timothy, 'shall suffer persecution' (2 Timothy 3:12). The wicked one can bring all these things suddenly to bear upon us.
Do our enemies intend to kill us? Do they propose to take everything from us? Am I going to lose my position because I am a Christian? Or you will be troubled about your wife and family, you will be troubled about your church, about the whole cause of Christ. I was in the lunge room of Donald Mackay's sister in law when news came from her sister of Donald's murder by the Mafia back in 1977. We were preparing for a beach mission.
Many good Christian people endured grievous trials during the Hitler regime in Germany: and there are Christian people enduring this kind of fiery trial at the present time.
Desires. The devil has often plagued some of the noblest saints with blasphemous thoughts—blasphemous thoughts about God, blasphemous thoughts about the Lord Jesus Christ. He hurls his fiery darts at us in the realm of the imagination. He does the same in the realm of the desires and the passions and the lusts—inflaming, inciting, rousing them with tremendous heat.
Discomforts. Job 1-3. It is at times that the devil can afflict is physically. Last night I had a time of enormous pain again. Why?
The Question — Once you're wearing your spiritual armor and yet you feel yourself bombarded by spiritual opposition, How Do You Engage and Win Battles?
How to Engage the Enemy and Win:
We must take and use the shield of faith. It is the only thing that can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. As these things are hurled at you, you do not hold forward your breast and allow them to strike the breastplate of righteousness. What you must do is to take your shield and hold it up, so that they may hit against that portion of the shield which is specifically meant to deal with them as they burst against it, and so do you no harm.
The Apostle Peter expresses the same idea in the words, 'Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith' (1 Peter 5:8 and 9). Faith alone enables you to meet these particular attacks. John says exactly the same thing: 'This is the victory that overcometh the world; even our faith' (1 John 5:4). Faith is always the shield that you have to hold up to quench these fiery darts of the wicked one.
1.) "Taking up the shield of Faith
This ability to quench arrows that have the potential not only to pierce but also to start a destructive fire is what faith does for us. Faith in this context means absolute confidence in God, his promises, his power, and his program for our lives. It is rooted in the objective reality of the gospel and our new standing with God—the saving faith that justifies us—but it is more specific here. This kind of faith refers to our present trust in Jesus for victory over sin and demonic hosts.1 Its purpose is to quench all the fiery missiles hurled at us by the enemy. Claiming God's promises by faith, trusting in his unchanging character, and holding up his truth will deflect and extinguish all the enemy's lies. Regardless of the form which these incoming flames take, faith overcomes.
This ability to quench arrows that have the potential not only to pierce but also to start a destructive fire is what faith does for us. Faith in this context means absolute confidence in God, his promises, his power, and his program for our lives. It is rooted in the objective reality of the gospel and our new standing with God—the saving faith that justifies us—but it is more specific here. This kind of faith refers to our present trust in Jesus for victory over sin and demonic hosts.1 Its purpose is to quench all the fiery missiles hurled at us by the enemy. Claiming God's promises by faith, trusting in his unchanging character, and holding up his truth will deflect and extinguish all the enemy's lies. Regardless of the form which these incoming flames take, faith overcomes.
The fiery darts of the adversary are the schemes, temptations, lies, and attacks aimed at God's people. Their goal is to get us to shift our focus from God onto something or someone else. If the enemy can get us to be afraid, feel guilty or condemned, get discouraged, or lose hope, he can move our dependence away from God and onto something much less worthy."
• Definition = Faith in this context is our "absolute confidence" in God, His promises, His power, and His programfor our lives. Although rooted in the objective reality of the Gospel and our new standing with God (justification) through Christ (saving faith), this faith refers to our "present faith in the Lord Jesus for victory over sin and the host of demonic forces." — Weust
Darts of doubt and deception must be immediately met by the shield of faith. (i.e. your active, present, application of truth to your personal situation as soon as you recognize a dart has been received). How?
Faith never points to itself, it always points to its object. That is absolutely crucial. The cults produce people who have faith in faith. But if you put your faith in faith you are eventually undone. There are people who try to work up faith, the quality of faith, in themselves; but they will never succeed.
Faith always points to God, to the character of God. He is One on whom we can rely. Faith points to His promises—and the Bible is full of them. Get to know them, and then you will be able to hold up the shield of faith. The moment the enemy comes, and the darts are flying round you, you will be able to hold up a statement of the Scripture, a promise of God, knowing that He is always true and faithful to His promises.
Abraham was on the point of shaking when God reminded him of the shield of faith by saying to him, 'Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward' (Genesis 15:1). 'I am thy shield!' God is our shield, and His power is endless and eternal. 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble', says Psalm 46. And the book of Proverbs adds, 'The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe'. That is the shield—the Name of the Lord, the power of God! David delights to tell us in Psalm 84, 'The Lord God is a sun and shield'.
1.) TRUST IN GOD'S PRESENCE AND POWER character and the fact that he always has our best in mind. Psalm 84:11, for example, says, "The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." Romans 8:32 says the same thing in a different way: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things."
Who would be the bigger loser if God just gave up on you? If you are truly a believer in the Lord Jesus, truly a child of God, He will never fail you nor forsake you.
Deuteronomy,
Hebrews 13. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake!"
2.) TRUST IN GOD'S PROMISES and HIS Word – He will accomplish what concerns me.
"Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand."
3.) TRUST IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE and Timing – His ways are not always easiest, but are always best.
"When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow; "When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply; | |
When you are in the heat of the battle, and when the fiery darts are coming from every direction, remind yourself then that because He came into this world, because the Incarnation is true, because He suffered, fighting against sin even unto blood, because He has been tempted like as we are, He is fully able to sympathize with us when we are tempted. 'We have not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.' You are not left to yourself; He is with you and He 'is able to succour you'. You are 'in Him', and He is watching over you and caring for you! He has given proof of His love by what He has done, He is continuing that proof by what He is still doing.
How did Paul counter these Demonic Darts:
Depression. 2 Corinthians 1:3-11
Distress. 2 Corinthians 4:7-16
Demonic opposition. 2Timothy 4:10-18
Dangers. Acts 19:11-20
Desires. 1 Corinthians 10:12,13
Discomforts. 2 Corinthians 12:1-11 (note, the thorn in the flesh is possibly a professing "Christian").
TIM KELLER writes:
PSALM 56:1–7. 1 Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all day long they press their attack. 2 My adversaries pursue me all day long; in their pride many are attacking me. 3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? 5 All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my ruin. 6 They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, hoping to take my life. 7 Because of their wickedness do not let them escape; in your anger, God, bring the nations down.
WHAT CAN MORTALS DO TO ME? Fearfulness and faith in God can coexist in us even as trust slowly wins out. Faith is not a vague sense that "God will work it out." It comes from prayerful immersion in the Scripture, the Word of God (verses 3–4). Jesus answers David's question "What can mere mortals do to me?" in Matthew 10:28. We should not fear those who can kill our bodies, because if we are safe in Jesus, who has already taken our sentence of death, then our real, eternal lives are safe. David still prays to be delivered from his attackers, and we can and should cry out to God for deliverance, whether from wicked people or stubborn diseases, but in the end we are safe in Jesus.
Psalm 56:8–13. 8 Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll— are they not in your record? 9 Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me. 10 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise— 11 in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me? 12 I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you. 13 For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
IF GOD IS FOR ME. David asks, "What can man do?" again (verse 11), but only after saying that he knows God is for him (verse 9). God has such detailed, tender care for us that he keeps a record of every tear (verse 8). How can we be sure of this? Paul asks the same question—"If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)—and grounds his confidence in the work of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37–39). Christians overcome their fears by looking not only at the written Word, the Bible, but also at the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. Through his sovereign and creative power, God is able to give us his saving Word, human and divine, written and writhing on the cross.
Psalm 57:1–6. 1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. 2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me. 3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me—God sends forth his love and his faithfulness. 4 I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 6 They spread a net for my feet—I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path— but they have fallen into it themselves.
IN THE LIONS' DEN. David is surrounded by danger, as if standing in the midst of roaring beasts (verse 4). He cries for help (verses 1–2) but suddenly simply praises God, "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth" (verse 5). Deeper than disaster, danger, and distress is the desire for God to be glorified. If that can be accomplished by saving us from our circumstances, then praise God! If it is better accomplished by our circumstances remaining unchanged while we continue to show our confidence in God before the watching world, praise God as well. Either way, God fulfills his purpose for you as you delight to honor him.
Psalm 57:7–11. 7 My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. 8 Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 9 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
SONGS IN THE NIGHT. How do we handle times of great danger, when we are surrounded by predatory forces (see verses 1–4)? David continues to sing praise to God's glory, right in the deep darkness, with a fierce, joyful buoyancy (verses 7–8). He sees God's greatness in the skies and heavens (verses 9–11).
There's light and high beauty forever beyond the reach of any evil shadows in this world. This is not mere stoic defiance ("I won't let it get me down") but theological hope. The universe is an endless ocean of God's joy and glory. We are caught temporarily in a little drop of sadness here on earth. But eventually it will be removed. Regardless of what happens immediately to believers, eventually it will be all right.
