Introduction
The great warfare of which Daniel writes (Dan. 10:1) is an eternal warfare. It did not begin with Daniel, nor did it end with him. The Bible discloses that this war began before man was found on the earth, and long before man became involved in it; and every true child of God knows that the war is still going on, and that he is involved in a great conflict. We know so well, do we not, that the more truly we are set to go on with the Lord, the more our lives become a veritable battlefield, and the more we seek to cooperate with Him in the working out of His purposes in the world, the more we realise that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against a vast regime of evil which is determined to destroy man and rob God of His heart’s desire in man’s creation. It is indeed a great warfare, and are we not discovering that as the day of the Lord’s triumph draws nearer, the battle is getting more intense and the malignity and ferocity of the enemy more apparent? It is only too true. There is nothing theoretical about this war. The world in which we live, the situation among the Lord’s own people, and the experience of our own hearts and lives provide an abundance of evidence that we are involved in a conflict in which the powers of heaven and hell engage for more than death or life.
But of Daniel it is written that he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision (Dan.10:1). How important it is for us to be alive to the issues at stake in this war, to understand what it is all about, to be awake to the strategy of the enemy—the wiles of the devil, as Paul writes (Eph. 6:11)—and most of all to know our God and Captain, with all the heavenly resources, forces and weapons that are His, so that we may stand fast in the evil day and be strong and do exploits under His command. If we are to march on continually in the train of His triumph, then we must be those who are instructed, trained and equipped for the battle. It is not enough that our Captain has triumphed gloriously. By the Holy Spirit we must be brought ourselves into the power of His victory. The Lord wants us with Him in the battle. We shall be spectators at our peril. This is no time for spiritual laxity. Let us put on the whole armour of God that we may be able to stand with Him in this holy war.
It is with this sense of the urgency of the hour and the up-to-dateness of this issue, that we turn to John Bunyan’s great allegory, The Holy War.
Ours is no mere academic interest in a book or theme, but here we shall find a wealth of value and instruction in the art of spiritual warfare. Bunyan was a true soldier of the cross, and he writes out of his heart and experience. He does not write about a subject: his subject is in his heart and history. He knew the terrible power of the enemy and the greater power of the Lord in his own experience. He learnt the art of holy warfare in the heat of the battle, not in the privacy of his study! Here in his book we have the spoils that he has gathered from the battlefield of his own experience. It is ever that way, is it not? We can only give what we have gained. John Bunyan is, of course, a classic example and embodiment of a great principle, that value comes by the way of suffering surmounted, that spoil for the Lord and His people comes from battles fought through to victory. The Lord can and will turn the darkest experiences to account, if we will only trust Him. How much turns upon the attitude of our hearts!
How easily Bunyan could have been submerged by his sufferings, if he had allowed himself to pity himself and to doubt the Lord. The long years of imprisonment might have driven him to despair and bitterness, but he believed God in spite of it all, and God made him fruitful in the land of his affliction. His, was a resolute spirit. The steadfastness of Christ was in him, with the result that the spoils he gathered by living in the victory of Christ are with us to this day. God is faithful; no servant of His suffers in vain.
The Holy War was written between the two parts of The Pilgrim’s Progress, which in itself is significant, for holy warfare is an integral part of a pilgrim’s progress! Our own spiritual progress and the advancement of the Lord’s interests on the earth have to be fought for. If we are having an easy time, it is doubtful whether we are making any progress. Every inch of progress in the Christian life is contested by the enemy, in one way or another. He has many ways of arresting our progress, as we shall see presently. The point is that, while our lives are not to resound solely with the clash of arms, for the Lord is not only the Lord of Hosts but the God of Peace, we are as a matter of hard fact involved in the titanic conflict between the authority of darkness and the kingdom of the Son of God’s love (Colossians 1:13).
The Holy War never has been nor ever will be as popular as The Pilgrim’s Progress. There is an appeal, a romantic element about the latter, which has made it a popular classic even with the world! The onward march of this great story to some extent obscures the deep spiritual values beneath the surface, so that the worldly mind manages to enjoy the story and at the same time to avoid very largely the spiritual challenge. Not so The Holy War. This book is too directly spiritual. It has no appeal whatever for the natural man. While not so readable as The Pilgrim’s Progress, it is surely its equal as to spiritual value. In many ways these two great allegories are complementary, the one generally viewing the Christian life objectively, the other subjectively; the one picturing it as a journey from one world to another, the other portraying it as a war between two contending empires in which man is the longed-for prize.
An outline of the story
There is, of course, no substitute for a reading and re-reading of the book itself, but it will help us to have an outline of the story before us.
(1) We learn from Bunyan first of all that two great kingdoms are at war. Over the one reigns the King Shaddai, over the other the Giant Diabolus. The greatest prize in this war is then seen to be the famous town of Mansoul, built by Shaddai for his own delight, and that he might give it to His Son, the Prince Emmanuel. This town of Mansoul, a picture of mankind as a whole and also of every man, is sought, deceived and captured by Diabolus, who proceeds to make it at every point the opposite of what it was, and to strengthen it against its former King. Terrible indeed is the picture that Bunyan draws of the condition of fallen humanity, of man by nature.
(2) But heaven has foreseen everything. The King and His Son have already sufficiently provided for the relief of Mansoul. The Father and the Son in the secrecy of the privy-chamber have already covenanted together and laid the foundations of redemption. Heaven now marches upon Mansoul, in the persons of the four captains of Shaddai and their men. The town rocks beneath the hammer blows of these captains, and there is mutiny within; but the enemy keeps his prize, for the Law, good and holy though it is, is impotent to rescue man.
(3) The four captains appeal to the court in heaven and Emmanuel then takes the field accompanied by five further captains. Grace and Righteousness now besiege the town together. The power of Emmanuel’s sword prevails, and Diabolus is stripped of his power and cast out. Not until Mansoul has learnt the horror of its complicity with Diabolus does Emmanuel allow His grace to shine forth upon the town. Thus the town is truly won to His allegiance and Emmanuel takes possession of the castle (the heart). Emmanuel now reconstructs and fortifies the town, sets its true inhabitants in their places, and by the cross provides for the destruction of the allies of Diabolus (the ‘Diabolonians’) who still lurk in and about the walls of the town, (the flesh). Blessings now abound in the town. Mansoul receives her large charter of salvation; the Lord Chief Secretary of the Father’s house (the Holy Spirit) takes up His blessed office in the town; Mr. God’s Peace presides over all; in the persons of the captains the Energies of heaven are present; the town is adorned with Emmanuel’s livery, and the image of Shaddai and that of His Son are seen more fairly drawn than ever upon the castle gates.
(4) But there is a man in Mansoul called Mr. Carnal-Security (Paul calls him ‘Confidence in the flesh’), and he brings the town into fearful bondage again. Emmanuel is offended and withdraws from the town; the Lord Chief Secretary is ill at ease while still remaining there; Mr. God’s Peace lays down his commission; the heavenly captains are weakened and a great sickness afflicts the townsmen; the lurking Diabolonians within the town and the powers of hell without are encouraged to plot the ruin of Mansoul. First Mr. Godly-Fear and later Mr. Prywell rouse the town to its condition and peril, so that when Diabolus returns with his great army of Doubters, the town is prepared to offer stout resistance. Mansoul now reaps the bitter consequences of its backsliding. The battle sways to and fro. Mansoul makes a foolish sortie upon the enemy, which gives the latter the opportunity of overrunning the town, but the castle holds out.
(5) Mansoul’s stout resistance draws out the help of the Lord Chief Secretary, who sets His hand to a petition which is carried to Emmanuel by captain Credence (faith). While the plottings of Diabolus continue, Emmanuel is on His way, and soon the enemy is crushed between His forces and those of Mansoul under the command of captain Credence. The final scenes tell of Mansoul’s restored joy, the last vain onslaught of Diabolus, the hunting down of certain Diabolonian traitors within the town, and of how Emmanuel opened His heart to his beloved Mansoul: “My design … is to make thee meet for my Father’s presence, blessing, and glory; for thou, my Mansoul, art created to be prepared unto these. O my Mansoul, how have I set my heart, my love upon thee!”
This is, of course, but the briefest of outlines, but it suffices to indicate the range of this great story. Here indeed is a veritable gold-mine!
The great background to The Holy War
In a war of this magnitude, as one would expect, there are many phases. There are local skirmishes as well as major battles; temporary tactics are to be seen, as well as an overall strategy; different generals and armies are employed at different times. But we must not allow the details of the campaign to obscure the great background of the war. How necessary and how helpful it is to see our own battles in their true setting. Our own every-day battles are not just our personal affair; they are part of the great war. We must learn to see our little lives (as they seem) in their true setting. Every detail of our lives is significant, and takes its significance from the great issues that are at stake. How often the issue of the day, we might say the issue of the whole war, has depended on some small, apparently trivial factor. Achan was the key to a big situation. Jonathan’s, more or less private, victory over the Philistines was the key to a far greater triumph of the people of God over their foes (1 Sam. 14).
The issues that are at stake in this war are these. Firstly, the Father’s honour must be vindicated: for, as Bunyan puts it, the enemy has put the lie upon God, he has gained Mansoul by making insinuations as to the character of God, and Emmanuel comes to vindicate His Father. Further, the Son’s inheritance must be recovered from the Usurper. By every right Mansoul belongs to the Son. Heaven is warring to secure His rightful inheritance. Then again, there is a great purpose to be realised in Mansoul. There is an unspeakably great purpose in the heart of God which He is longing to fulfil in and through man.
These are great issues, you will agree. Consider these excerpts: “As to the situation of this town, it lieth just between the two worlds; and one Shaddai built it for his own delight. He made it the mirror and glory of all that he made; even the top-piece, beyond anything else that he did in that country. And as he made it goodly to behold, so also mighty to have dominion over all the country round about.”
“There was reared up in the midst of this town, a most famous and stately palace; for strength, it might be called a Castle; for pleasantness, a Paradise; for largeness, a place so copious as to contain all the world. This place the King Shaddai intended but for himself alone, and not another with him.”
“Well, upon a time there was one Diabolus, a mighty giant, made an assault upon this famous town of Mansoul, to take it, and make it his own habitation. As to his original he was at first one of the servants of King Shaddai. He was made Son of the morning, and a brave place he had of it.”
“Well, he seeing himself thus exalted to greatness and honour, and raging in his mind for higher state and degree, what doth he but begins to think with himself how he might be set up as Lord over all, and have the sole power under Shaddai. (Now that did the King reserve for His Son, yea, and had already bestowed it upon him.) Wherefore … he breaks his mind to some other of his companions … and they came to this issue, that they should make an attempt upon the King’s Son to destroy him, that the inheritance might be theirs. Now the King and his Son being all and always eye … take them in the very Nick and first Trip … and cast them altogether out.”
“Now they being cast out … and considering that that town (Mansoul) was one of the chief works and delights of King Shaddai, what do they but, after counsel taken, make an assault upon that … saying, Now we have found the prize, and how to be revenged on. King Shaddai for what he hath done to us. So they sat down and called a Council of War.”
Note too Emmanuel’s controversy with Diabolus over Mansoul, “Oh, thou great Emmanuel … wherefore art thou come … to cast me out of my possession!? This town of Mansoul … is mine … by right of conquest; I won it in the open field. It is mine also by their subjection. Moreover, this town … hath disavowed thee. Leave me to my just inheritance peaceably.”
“When this pretended King had made an end … Emmanuel … spake, Thou deceiving one … thou pretendest a right, a lawful right, to the deplorable town of Mansoul, when it is most apparent to all my Father’s court that the entrance which thou hast obtained in at the gates of Mansoul was through thy lie and falsehood. Thou didst put the lie upon my Father, and madest him (to Mansoul) the greatest deluder in the world. I am therefore come to avenge the wrong that thou hast done to my Father.”
“This town of Mansoul is my Father’s. My Father built and did fashion it with his hand.”
“This town of Mansoul is mine, for that I am my Father’s heir, his first-born, and the only delight of his heart. I have a right and title to Mansoul … also by my Father’s donation. His it was, and he gave it me.”
“Mansoul is mine by right of purchase! I gave body for body, soul for soul, life for life, blood for blood, and so redeemed my beloved Mansoul.”
“My Father’s law and justice … are both now satisfied. Nor am I come out this day against thee, but by commandment of my Father. I am not come … without my Father.”
These brief extracts indicate the scope of the story, the great background against which the war is fought out. And what is the hard-fought-for prize?
The prize is man
If only we saw more clearly what is in the heart of God for man in Christ, it would have a transforming effect on our lives. Man himself is the longed-for prize; every man; every one of us. God is set upon having one new man in His Son (Eph. 2:15). The Church is a new humanity, a new creation. The Son of Man has revealed the meaning of man-hood. God is after people like His Son, real people in absolute fellowship with Him. This is what Satan is contesting. He is saying in effect: ‘God shall not have what His heart is set on in man. I will wreck His purpose: man is destined to govern the whole universe, under God, in union with God’s Son, the heir of all things; man is destined to take my place. Very well, I will fight to the bitter end to avert this.’
This, then, is the issue being fought out every day in our lives—in every detail of our lives and in our life together. The Lord give us to see the significance of our lives, the meaning of our union with Christ, and to be wholly on His side in this great warfare.
CHAPTER TWO
We have already seen something of the issues that are at stake in this great warfare and we must now return to these for a moment by way of reminder. In the heat of the battle of every-day life, we ever tend to forget the background of this war. What a help it is to realise that no detail of our lives is without meaning. Every day and every situation provide an opportunity for the vindicating of the Father’s honour. The questions as to the absolute worthiness of God and His complete trustworthiness are ever present. Daily we face the issue as to whether we will worship God alone or whether other gods shall, have a place too. How often, we find the Lord’s interests and our own in conflict! How often we discover that the Lord’s thoughts and ways are not ours! But what do we to do then? Do we worship? Do we vindicate the worthiness of God? And when everything shouts at us, as at Job long ago, that God has let us down, do we vindicate His trustworthiness—do we still worship? The vindicating of God is one of the great issues in this war, and it is an issue with us every day of our lives.
Then again, we ever need to have it before us that heaven is making war for the recovery of the Son’s inheritance in man, His inheritance in the saints. The church belongs to the Son. Making this very personal, we belong to Christ. “Ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price,” is Paul’s word (1 Cor. 6:19, 20). How the usurper loves to occupy Christ’s place! He will do anything to have even a foothold in Mansoul.
Another great issue, closely connected with those above, is the fulfilling of a purpose concerning man, man is a wonderful creation! Man is God’s masterpiece! Bunyan rightly speaks of ‘The Famous town of Mansoul’. Mansoul is the top-piece, and when the whole story is told, it will be seen that the malice of the enemy and the tragic fall of the town have only provided the Lord with His greatest opportunity to glorify His Name. Such is the grace and power of God! Who can comprehend the transcendent glory of God’s new creation in Christ? Bunyan puts it this way: “As Mansoul should in time be suffered to be lost, so as certainly it should be recovered again; recovered, I say, in such a way, as that both the King and his Son would get themselves eternal fame and glory thereby.” And again he discloses Emmanuel’s purpose toward the town to be: ”To put Mansoul, through the power of his matchless love into a far better and more happy condition than ‘twas in before it was taken by Diabolus.”
Having reminded ourselves of these great issues which lie in the background of the controversy over Mansoul, we now turn to consider some features of the campaign. In the first place, let us weigh up…
The strength of the enemy
In a war, it is of the greatest importance to have intelligence as to the strength of the opposing army. Each side jealously guards the secrets of its strength (and weakness) and each commander strives to discover the battle plan of his enemy. Battles are often won by the side having the superior intelligence. The whole war may depend upon this matter of intelligence. How true this is in spiritual warfare! Our enemy is a strategist. He has a plan of campaign. He knows where we are vulnerable. He knows he has many willing allies in the human heart. The Lord would have us alive to the devices, the stratagems of our cunning foe. Not that we are to become occupied with him; our eyes are to be fixed upon our Captain. But we need to be alert and intelligent in fellowship with Him, the only wise God (Rom. 16:27).
With Bunyan’s help, then, let us spy out some of the secrets of the enemy’s strength, and seek to discover that upon which he relies for victory.
(i) Mansoul’s new and terrible constitution
When Diabolus captured Mansoul, through subtlety, he immediately set about “New modelling the town”; that is, he gave it a new constitution, according to his own mind and nature. Mansoul had been given a constitution by Shaddai, and the image of Shaddai was in the town. Now everything was changed by Diabolus, in order that Mansoul might be the fit expression of his own fallen nature. This is the terrible truth about man’s fallen state: man is involved in a terrible alliance with Satan, a horrible communion.
First, Diabolus turned his attention to the elders of the town, the governing body in Mansoul, the Lord Mayor, whose name was my Lord Understanding, Mr. Recorder, whose name was Mr. Conscience, and my Lord Willbewill.
Now Diabolus was afraid of my Lord Understanding, “Because he was a seeing man. Wherefore he darkened it (i.e. his understanding), not only by taking from him his office and power, but by building a high and strong tower, just between the sun’s reflections and the windows of my Lord’s palace; by which means his house and all, and the whole of his habitation, was made as dark as darkness itself. And thus being alienated from the light, he became as one that was born blind. To this his house, my Lord was confined as to a prison. So then, so long as Mansoul was under the power and government of Diabolus, so long my Lord Mayor was rather an impediment in, than an advantage to the famous town of Mansoul.”
The new Lord Mayor, appointed by Diabolus in the stead of my Lord Understanding, was the Lord Lustings, a man that had neither eyes nor ears. What a disclosure of the condition of man by nature, and of the enemy’s strength in man! Man has no understanding; he is in the dark; he neither understands his true state nor the truth about the Lord. Captain Blindfold stands sentinel at Eye Gate. Lord Lustings has, taken over, “The lusts of our flesh … the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph. 2:3). How pitifully true it is that man is no longer the understanding, sane being he was created; he is no longer in his right mind, he is out of his senses, driven by lusts and ambitions, without eyes to see where he is going, or ears to hear the voice of the Lord. This is not just Bunyan’s imagination, but the view of heaven.
“Without understanding…” (Rom. 1:31).
“Being darkened in their understanding…” (Eph. 1:18).
No wonder Paul prayed for the saints at Colossae that they might, “Be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col. 1:9). We, as the Lord’s true children, are still without understanding by nature, that is in ourselves. We have an understanding in Christ, and as we abide in Him—but only in Him (1 John 5:20).
Next, Diabolus did his utmost to put Mr. Recorder, that is Mr. Conscience, out of action. “He was a man well read in the Laws of his King, and also a man of courage and faithfulness to speak truth at every occasion. And he had a tongue as bravely hung, as he had a head filled with judgment. Now, this man Diabolus could by no means abide.”
Paul discloses in Rom. 2:14, 15 that the ministry of conscience is closely related to the law. Mr. Conscience administers the law. Someone has well said that ‘Conscience is the moral memory of man.’ Conscience is always reminding us of the righteous requirement of the law.
“Diabolus, therefore, feared the Recorder more than any that was left alive in the town of Mansoul, because, as I said, his words did shake the whole town.”
Diabolus, therefore, did all he could to debauch the old Gentleman, to stupefy his mind and to harden his heart in the ways of vanity. Moreover, he sought to persuade the men of the town that Mr. Recorder was mad, and to slight, neglect and despise him. But he could not make him wholly his, and when the power of heaven was presently brought to bear upon the town, both Mr. Conscience and my Lord Understanding gave Diabolus and the town under his spell many a sleepless night.
In the place of Mr. Conscience, Diabolus set up one, Forget-Good, the spirit of forgetfulness in regard to the Lord and the things of heaven. How true this is of man! ‘Remember’ is a great word in Scripture.
While Diabolus darkened the understanding and corrupted the conscience, he took man’s will into his service. “My Lord Willbewill was as high born as any man in Mansoul, and was as much, if not more, a freeholder than many of them were; besides, if I remember my tale aright, he had some privilege peculiar to himself in the famous town of Mansoul. He was a man of great strength, resolution, and courage. He scorned now to be a slave in Mansoul; and therefore resolved to bear office under Diabolus. The tyrant, therefore, made him the captain of the castle, governor of the wall, and keeper of the gates of Mansoul. So that now, next to Diabolus himself, who but my Lord Willbewill in all the town of Mansoul! He had also one Mr. Mind for his clerk, a man to speak on every way like his master, and a deputy under him, and his name was Mr. Affection, one that was also greatly debauched in his principles, and answerable thereto in his life.”
What a problem is the enslaved human will! The Lord Willbewill was a great doer for Diabolus. As far as man’s being is concerned the war turns upon the will. Oh, the strength of the enemy entrenched within the will of fallen man!
“Ye will not…” (John 5:40).
“Ye would not…” (Matt. 23:37).
Thus it was that Diabolus proceeded with his terrible work. The image of Shaddai was defaced, and his own horrible image set up. The laws of Shaddai were destroyed, and his own vain statutes made law. At every point, Mansoul was debased and constituted the enemy of its true King. Well might Diabolus now think himself safe, but the cross is in the field!
(ii) The weapon of deception
The devil is a liar. He is a master of deception. He knows how to disguise himself and how to hide his real intentions. Again and again in the course of the war we find the weapon of deceit being employed. Diabolus gained the town in the first place by deceiving it, by making insinuations as to the character and purpose of Shaddai. He held the town by the same means. Later he sought to regain the town by, “Sugaring his lips, and seeming to be a very sweet-mouthed prince.”
The terrible thing about being deceived is that we do not find out until afterwards, until it is too late. How often people and things are not what they seem to be! The Gibeonites are always appearing and taking us in! (Joshua 9). And how the enemy loves to conjure up within us a host of imaginations, questions, reactions, doubts and feelings! The human soul, with all its variableness, provides him with just the ground he needs. The disguised Diabolonians were found in the Market-place, the realm of man’s conscious life. There is no defence against “the deceiving one” except a very close and humble walk with the Lord. The truth is a wonderfully emancipating thing! The Lord Jesus said: “If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31, 32).
“We know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 20).
(iii) Old Mr. Prejudice, the keeper of Ear-Gate
Old Mr. Prejudice was one of Lord Willbewill’s officers and was by him given command of Ear-Gate, “the gate in at which the King’s forces sought most to enter.” He had under his command sixty deaf men! Oh, the enemy knows the value of spiritual deafness due to prejudice! How tragically true it is that people cannot hear the Lord because they have made up their minds already. Old Mr. Prejudice has always been one of the enemy’s most valuable and trusted allies. It was prejudice, as much as anything else, that was the ruin of the leaders of Israel when the Lord Jesus was here, and that led to the cross. It is prejudice that is crippling many of the Lord’s children to-day. We all tend to pre-judge people and situations, to make up our minds finally without knowing all the facts, to have our convictions which we will never abandon. Oh, the tragedies that have resulted from deeply-held convictions! The history of the church is strewn with them. The Lord deliver us from old Mr. Prejudice and make us teachable, adjustable people, willing, if need be, to abandon our most cherished convictions, in pursuit of the truth.
(iv) Ill-Pause, Diabolus’ orator and the ancient enemy of Mansoul
Whenever Diabolus had a difficult matter on hand, he took old Ill-Pause with him, that is, the spirit of hesitation, the spirit of procrastination. Both in the gaining of the town and in the retaining of the town Ill-Pause rendered Diabolus invaluable service. The enemy knows the value of gaining time when he is in difficulties. He knows that if only he can get us to parley with him, if only he can persuade us to put off till to-morrow that whole-hearted response to the Lord which He is looking for to-day, that adjustment to or faith in the Lord which is needed to-day, then almost certainly he will have won the day.
Is it not for this reason that the Lord is so practical in His dealings with us? He is not interested in what we know but in what we are. The letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians begin in the heavenlies and end in the home! The Lord knows how easy it is to be hearers of the Word and not doers, and we shall never be doers of the word if we listen to Ill-Pause.
(v) Mr. Puff-Up, Diabolus’ founder, and Mr. Loth-to-Stoop, a great doer for Diabolus
Here we find in the service of Diabolus, the spirit of pride, together with the unbending spirit. It was Puff-Up who cast in the castle the two great guns, High-Mind and Heady, which were planted upon the tower over Ear-Gate “and mischievous pieces they were.” It was Mr. Loth-to-Stoop that Diabolus sent to Emmanuel in the hope of coming to terms with Him and retaining at least a corner in Mansoul for himself.
The strength of Satan himself lurks within human pride and self-exaltation. All our unyieldedness to the Lord is but the expression of the nature of one who has defied God. But Satan knows that while the pride of man is his strength, the meekness of man is his undoing. It was the meekness, the mighty submissiveness of Christ that cast out Satan. Here are great principles of far-reaching significance. The devil encamps upon our pride and unyieldedness, but is overthrown by a meek and submissive spirit.
(vi) Captain Anything, a great doer in the town
The trouble with captain Anything was that he could not concentrate, neither would he commit himself to either side. For all that he was ever on the side of Diabolus and a great favourite with him. Our God is the God of purpose, of concentration, the God who is doing one thing. There is nothing indefinite in Him. But the enemy is the spirit of dissipation: he loves to scatter, to disintegrate, to have us busy about many things, about anything. He fears the united heart; he fears a united people. “Divide, scatter, disintegrate,” are his watchwords. This is of the evil one. How this race is marked by dissipation, by a preoccupation with a thousand things that do not matter. How we need a spirit of concentration upon the Lord, upon His interests, upon the things which are eternal. Paul had met captain Anything; that is why he wrote: “… one thing I do …” (Phil. 3:13).
(vii) Old Incredulity, universal deputy and generalissimo under Diabolus
Old Incredulity is second to none among all the forces marshalled under Diabolus. He was one of the usurper’s Lord Mayors. By his faithfulness(!) to Diabolus he earned the position of his Universal Deputy. Emmanuel’s captains list Diabolus, Incredulity and Willbewill as the great doers against them. This old fox was the only ally of Diabolus to break prison and make his escape before being executed, after Emmanuel’s taking of the town. We find him finally at the head of the whole army of the Pit. Such is the enemy’s confidence in the spirit of unbelief! As we find Captain Credence, the spirit of faith, as Emmanuel’s Lord Lieutenant over all the forces in Mansoul, so we find. Old Incredulity leading out. the powers of darkness. How suggestive is this! How revealing as to where the enemy’s strength lies, and how helpful to know the Lord’s answer to the power of His enemy, an answer of victory.
“This is the victory … even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
“And what shall I more say? For the time will fail me if I tell of”—Mr. Carnal-Security, who brought the town into grievous bondage; of Mr. No-Truth, who was entrusted with the work of defacing the image of Shaddai; of Mr. False Peace, a great man, and son of Mr. Flatter and Mrs. Soothe-up; of the Lord Covetousness, who disguised himself as one Prudent-Thrifty; of old Evil-Questioning, who preferred to go by the name of Honest-Inquiry, and his children, Doubt (the eldest), Legal-Life, Wrong-Thoughts-of-Christ, Clip-Promise (abuser of the King’s Coin). Carnal Sense the elusive, Live-by-Feeling, and Self-Love (who was brained by Captain Self-Denial); of the terrible Captain Sepulchre; of the drumming of Diabolus’ Drummer; and of the great Army of Doubters which sought to engulf the town.
To a further consideration of some of these we may later return. but enough has been said to indicate some of the secrets of the enemy’s strength. Let us, in closing, set over against the power of the enemy…
The greater strength of the Lord
“The Lord is a man of war” (Ex. 15:3).
If we have given close and detailed consideration of the power of the enemy, it does after all only serve to magnify the transcendent power of God, for when the Devil has done his worst—and what a terrible worst it is—the final victory is with the Lord! Oh, the wisdom, the power and the grace of God which are expressed in the face of such opposition! How the Lord delights to turn the darkest night into the brightest day!
While any detailed consideration must wait, let us see a little now of the Lord in action as a Man of War.
The Lord has foreseen everything and provided for every eventuality before the war for Mansoul has even begun! The victory is won before the war has begun. The triumph of the cross is an eternal fact, which the enemy is seeking in vain to circumvent. “Mansoul is won!” is the battle cry before Mansoul is in fact won! See Diabolus crouch and cringe before Emmanuel. He knows it is only a question of time, he knows he has lost the battle, and yet he will fight it out to the bitter end. See the mighty armies of heaven, under Emmanuel and His Captains, on the move with the great battering rams and golden slings. Watch the breaking open of Ear-Gate, in spite of Old Prejudice and his Deaf Men. See the power of the enemy disintegrate until Diabolus is made a spectacle and cast out, and then see the wisdom and grace of Emmanuel win the town to His allegiance. It is one thing to make us bow the knee, it is quite another to win our hearts. It is grace that wins our hearts always, and the Lord will be satisfied with nothing less.
See again the wonderful transformation of Mansoul through the presence of Emmanuel and His Captains. Heaven has come in, the old constitution set up by Diabolus is swept away, and a heavenly constitution takes its place.
And when the folly of the town gives the enemy another opportunity of expressing his power, the sovereign grace of Emmanuel only finds new ways of bringing good out of evil and glory out of shame. Well do we worship Him, who is greater than all; greater than all that we are, greater than all our sin and limitations, and greater than the enemy at his worst. The Lord make us alive to the secret strength of the enemy, both in our lives and in the wider realm of his interest in this world, but above all give us a deeper, ever deeper, appreciation of His transcendent greatness and worthiness.
CHAPTER THREE
In our last study we gave a fairly detailed review of the strength of the enemy as it is revealed in Bunyan’s book, the word of God and our own experience. This we did because of the supreme importance of spiritual intelligence in this great conflict over Mansoul, and to magnify the surpassing greatness of the power of God. Before we turn to a fuller consideration of heaven’s supremacy, of “Christ crucified … the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23, 24), let us once again remind ourselves of the greatness of the issues at stake in this war.
The famous town of Mansoul lies between two contending empires. Built by the good King Shaddai for His own delight and as a gift to His Son, the town has fallen a prey to the insinuating usurper, Diabolus, whose governing motive in assaulting Mansoul is an unquenchable hatred of Shaddai and His Son. With the recovery of Mansoul, therefore, is bound up the satisfaction and vindication of Shaddai, the rightful inheritance of Emmanuel His Son, and the realisation of the purpose for which the town was built. Only as we come into an ever deeper understanding of these issues shall we be able to comprehend our own lives and experiences and to, “Suffer hardship … as good soldiers of Christ Jesus’ (2 Timothy 2:3).
Now let us turn to a consideration of heaven‘s power as disclosed by Bunyan in this allegory.
The sovereignty of God
“The Lord is King for ever and ever” (Psalm 10:16).
The sovereignty of God is a mighty reality. He cannot fail! He cannot be outwitted. In the very nature of things He cannot lose the war. He is God; all things lie within His control. However much things may seem to have got out of hand in this world or in our lives, the Lord still in fact has everything in His hands. It is one of the good things in this book that we are continually discovering the complete mastery the Lord has of the whole situation.
Heaven’s power takes its rise, Bunyan discloses, in an eternal covenant between the Father and the Son. The destiny of Mansoul is secured, before the town has in fact been built. The enemy has been out manoeuvred even before he has appeared on the field of battle! Herein is the greatness of God, that He has foreseen everything, provided for every eventuality beforehand, and has done so without touching the free will of man, and in spite of the enemy. He could have destroyed Satan long ago, but He has chosen rather to let him do his worst and thus provide a background for His abounding grace and power. Here is an important key to the spiritual life. Why do the Lord’s people suffer so much? Why is the enemy allowed to have things apparently so much his own way? Because the Lord is after character in His people, and character is only formed in the face of opposition (Rom. 5:3, 4). The enemy provides us with the opportunity of discovering the Lord, and as we discover Him we are changed into the same image. Further, Satan has raised an issue in the universe as to the worthiness of God, which God must and will answer. His answer is first in Christ and then in the Church. We are part of God’s answer to His enemy. This explains much, (Eph. 3:9-11).
The most glorious manifestation of the sovereignty of God is thus seen in His ability to transcend evil and to make it serve His own good purposes. Herein is the greatness of God that, while He could so easily remove the opposition, He chooses rather to make it His servant! When the whole story is told it will be found that the devil has been God’s servant. Here indeed is a great mystery. But is not this the glory of the cross? At the cross the devil did his worst against God, and in so doing cast himself out! Truly it takes a great general so to outmanoeuvre his enemy that he is found fighting against himself! The fury and malice of the enemy at the cross only provided the Lord with the ground required to cast him out, to redeem man from his terrible captivity, to recover and secure for ever His own purpose and inheritance, and to glorify His Name, that is, to establish for ever beyond question throughout the created universe His unutterable worthiness to be God alone. “The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11). May the Lord enlarge and encourage our hearts by a new sense of His power. The power of the enemy is so terribly real in these days. The Lord give us grace to lay hold of the fact that, as we abide within His sovereignty, the enemy has no power other than to serve us. How else can we explain Paul’s words: “We … rejoice in our tribulations” (Romans 5:3), and: “Our light affliction … worketh for us … an eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).
The triumph of the cross
We have already indicated that the cross is the suprel1e manifestation of the power of God. Now: in the background of the Holy War lies this absolute triumph of the cross. Heaven marches :,on Mansoul out of this absolute victory. The infinite meaning of the cross is Heaven’s greatest weapon. From the beginning of the war until the end’ the cross is in the field t. Indeed, the cross was in Heaven before the war began, and long after it is all over the theme of Heaven’s song will be: “Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain”.
Bunyan puts it like this: “The Son of Shaddai, having stricken hands with his Father, and promised that he would be his Servant to recover his Mansoul again, (before Mansoul had fallen) stood by his resolution, nor would he repent of the same. The purport of which agreement was this: to wit, that at a certain time, prefixed by both, the King’s Son should take a journey into the Country of Universe, and there, in a way of justice and equity, by making amends for the follies of Mansoul, He should lay a foundation of her perfect deliverance from Diabolus and from his Tyranny.”
The cross is to be found everywhere in Bunyan’s history of the Great War. It is in virtue of that victory that Emmanuel casts Diabolus out of Mansoul. The emancipating power of the cross is brought to bear upon the Mansoulians, the true inhabitants of the town. The destructive power of the cross is brought to bear upon the Diabolonians, the allies of Diabolus within the town. The power of the cross is in the town for its full recovery and development.
The Energies of life: the nine heavenly captains
As soon as the news of Mansoul’s fall reaches the Court above, heaven goes into action for the recovery of the town. Heaven’s siege of Mansoul, Bunyan reveals, falls into two distinct phases. which culminate in the recapture of the town by Emmanuel. First the four Captains of Shaddai take the field with their men; later Emmanuel takes the field in person, accompanied by His five Captains. These heavenly captains surely set forth the energy of Divine life. We see these captains first besieging the town and then taking up residence in it. When heaven has conquered our hearts, heaven takes up residence there.
(i) The four captains of Shaddai
These four captains are described as, “Very stout and rough-hewn men, men that were fit to break the ice, and to make their way by dint of sword,” and they describe themselves as, “The power and force of Shaddai.” Their names are Captain Boanerges (his ensign was Mr. Thunder), Captain Conviction, Captain Judgment. and Captain Execution.
In the persons of these captains we see heaven marching by way of the law, and see the Energies of Righteousness besieging the town. These captains offer Mansoul conditions of peace: the law proffers peace to those who keep it. They call, they command Mansoul to return to the way of righteousness. But Mansoul has no ability to respond. Well do we know that the law provides us with no ability to live up to its righteous requirements. There is a fatal inability about us all, until grace takes the field.
Now we must pause a moment to remind ourselves that, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good” (Rom. 7:12). There is nothing wrong with the law; it is the expression of the nature of God. The trouble is with us, the trouble is in us. “The law … was weak through the flesh” (Rom. 7:3). We are totally unable to answer to the law. For this reason, in Christ we are not under law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14). But let us be careful not to misunderstand this verse. The life under grace is not a lawless life, far from it. We are not under law simply because the law is now in us. Through grace, “The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us” (Rom. 8:4). The law thunders at us from above and calls us to climb upward. But grace comes to us where we are in all our weakness, gives us a new heart and causes us to walk in the way of righteousness (Ezek. 36:25-27). Grace lifts us upward.
So, the four captains were unable to recover the town. Their mission was an important one, of course. Theirs was a preparatory work. Their failure was not their fault. If only they had had, “But one substantial friend in the town,” but alas. Mansoul was in the grip of a tyrant. True, there was a mutiny in the town as a result of the activities of these captains, but it was soon put down. My Lord Understanding and Mr. Conscience had been awakened and had made their voices heard in the town, but they were soon clapped into prison. The captains, therefore, could only appeal to heaven for reinforcements, and for a Man to head them, that the town may both love and fear.
(ii) The five captains of Emmanuel
Emmanuel, the Golden Prince, now takes the field in person, accompanied by His five captains and their men. The names of these captains were Captain Credence. Captain Good-Hope, Captain Charity, Captain Innocent and Captain Patience. These captains embody the Energies of grace. Grace has now taken the field. Heaven is now marching by the way of grace. Be it noted that the four captains of Shaddai, the Energies of Righteousness, are still taking part in the siege of the town, under Emmanuel. They are fighting alongside of the five captains. Grace and righteousness fight together in this war. The holiness and the love of God always move together. But the immediate point is this: by the coming of Emmanuel and His captains, grace has provided for Mansoul an ability, a new basis of life, which the four captains could not provide. The coming of Emmanuel marks a great turning point in the campaign. Grace has made the impossible possible!
(iii) The town captured and possessed
So now we read of how the great battering-rams and slings of the Word of God were brought to bear upon the town; we see the white flag planted upon Mount Gracious and the red flag upon Mount Justice, and also the black flag of defiance, but “Neither Mercy nor Judgment, nor Execution of Judgment, would or could come near to the heart of Mansoul;” we look on and listen while Emmanuel encounters Diabolus; we hear of Mr. Loth-to-Stoop’s ensnaring propositions, and of Diabolus’ offer to set up a Ministry of Reformation in Mansoul with himself in charge as a Minister of Righteousness!
However, the time comes when Ear-Gate is broken open. At the command of Emmanuel, Captains Boanerges, Conviction and Judgment take possession of the house of Mr. Conscience, which was hard by the castle; whilst Captain Execution is busy securing the back streets, pursuing Lord Willbewill, and slaying such as old Mr. Prejudice. As yet the five captains have not entered the town, but Good-Hope and Charity are very much in evidence at Eye-Gate. Not until the Energies of Righteousness, set forth in the four captains, have. done their work, do Emmanuel and His captains reside in the town.
What lessons are here! The breaking open of Ear-Gate! What a need in all of us, even among the Lord’s people! By nature we are all stone-deaf to the voice of the Lord. Then, the Energies of Righteousness breaking through to the house of Conscience and being quartered there! Surely it is true to say that the spurious or unsatisfactory conversions, and the superficial Christian living, which are such a feature of our day, are due, in part at any rate, to an altogether inadequate conception, in the Church and in her ministry, of the meaning of sin and righteousness. Emmanuel does not allow His grace to shine forth upon the town until it has been brought very low, until Conscience has felt the weight of the law, until Lord Willbewill comes forth with a rope around his neck, and until the town has come to realise the appalling implications of its alliance with Satan. The Lord never heals lightly. He brings low before He raises up. He knows what is in man; He knows what is involved in saving a soul.
After the capture of the town, the casting out of the tyrant and the bringing of Mansoul to a point of realisation and capitulation, Emmanuel’s grace shines forth in pardon and the town is won completely to His allegiance. Captain Credence, the spirit of faith, then takes over the castle from Judgment and Execution, and the town is delivered from the terror of the first four Captains. The way is now clear for Emmanuel to enter. The townsmen want His presence and the castle has been prepared for Him by Captain Credence. It is through faith that Christ dwells in our hearts (Eph. 3:17).
(iv) The Energies of life resident in the town
When Emmanuel came to abide in the town, He brought with Him all nine Captains. When Christ comes in, heaven itself comes into our hearts! We sometimes sing about full salvation in these words: ‘Life immortal. heaven descending, Lo! my heart the Spirit’s shrine’.
The point is that, in the gift of His Son, God has given us all things. The infinite content of eternal life is ours in Christ. These heavenly captains bring before us something of this content.
At first sight it may seem strange that all nine captains should enter with Emmanuel. Surely the first four captains have no permanent place in Mansoul? Surely, now that the town is under grace, the law may retire from the scene? What need has Mansoul now of such ministry as theirs?
But here is Bunyan’s wisdom. He sees that grace: and righteousness must dwell together in the town, and whereas the four captains were formerly a terror to Mansoul in her rebellion, now, in her submission, they are welcomed as friends! Captain Boanerges and Captain Conviction, who had once so terrified Mr. Conscience, are now invited by him to take up their quarters in his house! The Lord Willbewill, who had not long before suffered so much at the hands of Captain Execution, now takes him and Captain Judgment to help him rule under the Prince for the good of the town. Perfect imagery! Righteousness is our friend and ally when we are on the right side! The law of the Lord should be our delight. The psalmist could say: “Oh, how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).
And so the Energies of Righteousness returned with Emmanuel. Boanerges would preach in the town as necessary. How much we need the voice of righteousness in our hearts! And the captains were always on call and willing to lend their power against the lurking allies of Diabolus if they emerged from their dens. The righteousness of God is active and powerful like the light of the sun, and this righteousness is in us. The five Captains also, of course, dwelt in the town. Captain Innocent stayed with Mr. Reason; Captain Patience with Mr. Mind; Captain Charity with Mr. Affection; and Captain Good-Hope with my Lord Understanding. How suggestive it all is! Captain Credence made his home in the castle, where the Lord Chief Secretary also had his lodgings. And, “They two were very great one with another.”
These captains express what Peter speaks of as the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7). As the four speak to us of the righteousness of God, so the five represent the grace of God, Surely, Captain Good-Hope with his standard bearer, Mr. Expectation, point us to, “The God of hope”, who, “Begat us again unto a living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3). What a wonderful thing is hope! Hope is one of the abiding things (1 Cor. 13:13), True hope takes its rise in the nature of God, for God is always moving on in a way of increase and enlargement. “Of the increase of his government … there shall be no end” (Isaiah 9:7). There is no end with God and His purpose. The end of this world-order only introduces a boundless future of unending and increasing glory. He is the God of Hope!
And Captain Charity, with his standard bearer, Mr. Pitiful: well. he is just saying, “God is love.” There is a heart behind the universe. How important it is for us to lay hold of this, to grasp this. God’s purpose is a purpose of love, not some cold, mechanical conception. It is possible for us to see something of the purpose of God and to be standing for it, and yet at the same time to be out of heart-fellowship with God about it. “If I have not love, I am nothing,” is Paul’s drastic word.
And Captain Innocent, with his standard bearer. Mr. Harmless; what shall we say of them? Surely, here again we are confronted with yet another attribute of the divine nature. There is something awful about innocence, about guilelessness. We sometimes sense it in a little child, a wonderful transparency, a complete lack of duplicity. God is like this. It is written of the Lord Jesus that He was guileless; that He, “Did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (Heb. 7:26; 1 Pet. 2:22). He walked in the power of a wonderful transparency, a wonderful innocence. This too is our calling in Him. May Captain Innocent have a fuller place in all our hearts.
And Captain Patience, with his standard bearer, Mr. Suffer-Long. We all know something of the long-suffering, the steadfast, persevering grace of God. He is the God of patience. He patiently pursues His purpose, ‘unresting, unhasting, and silent as light’. How deeply we need the spirit of perseverance in these days, Sometimes it seems as if we cannot go on a minute longer; we are sorely tempted to retire from the race. And how deeply we need its complement, the spirit of forbearance. How intolerant and unkind we are by nature: how lacking in sensitiveness, Truly, if the Lord dealt with us as we so often deal with one another, it would go ill with us all. “Love suffereth long, and is kind … Love beareth all things.” Now, Christ is in us as the God of patience.
And then there is the noble Captain Credence with his standard bearer, Mr. Promise. But is faith an attribute of the divine nature? Well, what is faith really? Is it not essentially the spirit of confidence? And is not confidence the very breath of heaven? Is it not beautiful to observe the perfect mutual confidence which exists between the Father and the Son, as indicated, say, in the gospel of John? Confidence binds together. Where there is no confidence there is disintegration. This is why the enemy is so set upon shaking our confidence in the Lord, and in one another. If we are not sure of the Lord, we shall never be able to, “Fight the good fight of the faith.“ If we are not sure of one another in the Lord, we shall never be able to fight together in this great warfare. How the enemy delights to see us fighting one another! The Lord show us our folly.
Now, these great Captains, these Energies of life, are in us. They have come in with Emmanuel. “He that hath the Son, hath the life” (1 John 5:12). “Greater is he that is in you” (1 John 4:4). But we must realise that these Captains did not come into Mansoul to oust the true inhabitants of the town. The fact that Christ is in us does not make us less than real people. God always deals with us as moral, responsible beings. The Mansoulians must play their part and work together with the captains. The Christian life is a holy communion between the grace of God and us. While all things are of God, we must receive, use and co-operate with the grace of life.
The weapons of life
When Emmanuel went to war, He took with Him not only His Captains, but His weapons, the weapons of life.
That great weapon of the cross we have already considered a little. But there are also the great battering rams and golden slings, the sword of Emmanuel and the shield of Captain Credence, the silver armour of the Captains and the melodious silver trumpets. For the present we will think of two only of these weapons of life.
(i)Emmanuel’s golden slings
These slings (and the battering rams) came from the court and represent, of course, the word of God, The truth is a mighty weapon; the truth liberates. “Thy word is truth.” “I am the truth.“ First. the slings are brought to bear upon the town. The truth makes war upon Mansoul as it lies under the tyranny of the liar. Later, the slings are set up in the town for its protection, When Diabolus returns again, he is greeted by the slings, and Bunyan comments:. “There is nothing to Diabolus so terrible as the well playing of Emmanuel’s slings.” Now, Christ is the Word of God, and as we bring Him to bear upon the enemy, the enemy will flee. The fact is that Satan cannot stand up to Christ, and as we abide in Him, in His authority, in His victory, our enemy will have to give way to us. The Lord make us good slingers!
(ii) Emmanuel’s invincible weapon of war
“There was also an instrument, invented by Emmanuel, that was to throw stones from the castle of Mansoul, out at Mouth-gate; an instrument that could not be resisted, nor that would miss of execution. Wherefore, for the wonderful exploits that it did when used, it went without a name: and it was committed to the care of, and to be managed by, the brave captain, the Captain Credence, in case of War.”
Surely, this irresistible weapon can only signify the utterance of faith. True faith cannot be silent. What the heart believes the mouth will confess. Now this instrument, Bunyan says, was invented by Emmanuel. How He used it in the days of His flesh! Do we not recall His words in the wilderness of temptation: “It is written … it is written,” and His words at the tomb of Lazarus: “Father. I thank thee that thou heardest me … Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:41, 43)? This is the utterance of faith, and it is invincible. “From the castle”, we read—that is from the heart, springing out of heart-fellowship with God; “Out at Mouth-gate”—that is, a faith which is expressed and definite. And it was managed by Captain Credence, the spirit of faith. May the Lord give us such a confidence in Himself in our hearts as will find a definite expression in relation to real needs and situations.
May the Lord, our Rock, teach our hands to war and our fingers to fight. And, “Though wrestling … against principalities .. powers … world rulers … spiritual hosts of wickedness,” give us to know Him inwardly as the God of peace.
CHAPTER FOUR
In our earlier studies we have seen something of the great issues at stake in the long-drawn-out conflict over Mansoul, and we can never be too deeply impressed with these issues. Not only is the destiny of man involved (and that means our destiny), but heaven is warring to vindicate and to satisfy God, and to win for God’s Son all that is rightfully His. How solemn are the issues behind every Christian’s life! How glorious will be the end if we cooperate fully with the grace of God!
We have spied out and discovered something of the strategy and strength of the enemy, and found good cause not to underestimate him; but then, with Bunyan’s invaluable help, we have also surveyed the overwhelming superiority of heaven’s power. We must now turn to consider…
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