A Good Warfare!
How deplorable it is when soldiers of the King of Kings who should be keeping ranks and standing shoulder to shoulder in “the fight of faith” show a mutinous spirit and fall out among themselves instead of minding the King’s business, being loyal and faithful to Him, obeying His orders.
Our ever watchful enemy must be pleased at this, and must greatly hope that mutiny may spread through all the opposing ranks, so that he may “View the chosen in selfish strife divided.”
How clever are “the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11)! “Fightings among you” (Jas. 4:1) is not “fighting the good fight” (1 Tim. 6:12).
The sword of the tongue (Psa. 57:4. Prov. 12:18; 18:21) is a poor substitute for “the sword of the Spirit.” Evil speaking about other soldiers (the wrong sword) is strongly condemned in the Bible; James 4:12 and Romans 14:4 are forgotten or entirely ignored.
The fight is against our adversary, the devil, who goes about “seeking whom he may devour.” He is the enemy we have to fight. Some of the soldiers seem to think that it is their fellow-soldiers they must fight, as the Word of God states, “Ye devour one another” (Gal. 5:15). They even act as “the accuser of the brethren,” employing tactics, playing into the hands of the enemy (Rev. 12:10).
May we seek to be more like those mighty men of old, “which could keep rank and were not of double heart,” who were “expert in war,” “men that had understanding of the times” (1 Chron. 12).
Let us “mark them that cause divisions” in the ranks, “and avoid them” (Rom. 16:17). Let us follow after the things that “make for peace” (Rom. 14:19), and seek to please Him who has chosen us to be soldiers, good soldiers of Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2:3-4). May we earnestly contend, not for our own petty opinions as to how this or that fellow-soldier should act, but “for the Faith” (Jude 1-3).