Christians Need Courage to Face an Organized and Powerful Opponent
2 Samuel 23:9 says: “After him was Eleazar the son of Dodai the son of Ahohi. He was among the three warriors with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered together there to fight when the men of Israel withdrew.”
It takes considerable backbone and chutzpah to attack an organized and powerful opponent when the allies have turned tail and run. By contrast, very little courage is required when success is all but guaranteed. God esteems divine doggedness more highly in a season of spiritual apostasy than He does in an hour of comparative security.
The point of entry for the establishing of Secularism as the official religion of America was the removal of the Bible from public schools.
“Men first forget the true and then adore the false.”*
Therefore, as we begin to re-establish biblical values in the public square, the sword of the Spirit will be required for triumph. Reacquainting the American people with the nature and effects produced by the Word of God will be a prerequisite to extricating America from the grasp of Secularism. For the weapon of the servant of God is in his mouth, “He will accomplish God’s will not by military force but by a revelation of God’s word. The power of God’s word has been demonstrated again and again by the prophets. It is the power to break down and build up.”**
This, the reacquainting America with the Word of God, is where America’s pastors come into play.
“The faithful ministers of God are instrumental in establishing, safeguarding and extending the kingdom of Christ in the world, and, therefore, are they to be esteemed highly for their works’ sake, as the Word of God expressly enjoins.”***
God chooses the weak things of this world to confound the strong. He places a premium on those who refuse to cower in the face of evil, specifically the “scaled” serpent Secularism.****
“What Is the Antidote to Save America?—The Word of God Must Return to America’s Pulpits” by Pastor Ken Graves
Psalm 45:3 says, “Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, with your splendor and your majesty.”
Edward Payson, an American Congregationalist pastor (1783-1827), wrote:
“The word of God is compared to such a weapon, for the apostle informs us that it is quick, or living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and laying open the thoughts and intents of the heart.
It must be observed, however, that this description of the Word of God is applicable to it only when Christ girds it on, and employs it as His sword. Of what use is a sword, even though it be the sword of Goliath, while it lies still in its scabbard, or is grasped by the powerless hand of an infant?
In those circumstances, it can neither conquer nor defend, however well-suited it might be to do both in the hand of a warrior. It is the same with the sword of the Spirit. While it lies still in its scabbard, or is wielded only by the infantile hand of Christ’s ministers, it is a powerless and useless weapon; a weapon at which the weakest sinner can laugh, and against which he can defend himself with the utmost ease. But not so when he who is the Most Mighty girds it on. Then it becomes a weapon of tremendous power, a weapon resistless as the bolt of heaven. “Is not my word like a fire, and a hammer, saith the Lord, which breaketh the rock in pieces?” It is indeed, for what can be more efficacious and irresistible than a weapon sharper than a two-edged sword, wielded by the arm of omnipotence? What must his sword be whose glance is lightning?
Since such are the effects of this weapon in the hand of Christ, it is with the utmost propriety that the psalmist begins by requesting him to gird it on, and not suffer it to be inactive in its scabbard, or powerless in the feeble grasp of his ministers.”
To counteract the secular onslaught, America’s believers must generate offense by returning the Word of God to the public square. Until the Word of God reappears in the public square, Christians will limit themselves to defense. Furthermore, the Word of God must be revived in America’s pulpits for there to be the transmission agent of the Word—from the pulpit, to the pews, and into the public square.
We need a Gideon or Rahab to stand. {eoa}
* Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David
** John N. Oswalt, Isaiah Commentary
*** A.W. Pink, The Life of David
**** Peter J. Leithart, A Son to Me: An Exposition of 1 and 2 Samuel, “Goliath’s armor is given unusually detailed attention. We never learn anything about David’s armor after he became king. 1 Samuel 17:5 says that the Philistine giant was wearing ‘scale armor’, and the Hebrew word simply means ‘scales’. This sort of armor is attested throughout the ancient Near East, but the fact that he is described as wearing ‘scales’ indicates that Goliath was a serpent”
