What It Means to be Filled with the Holy Spirit # 62

The Victory of the Cross of Christ

Hannah's and Samuel's and David's weapons of warfare were not carnal, but they were mighty through God to the pulling down and destruction of strongholds - the strongholds of evil (2 Cor. 10:4). In the battle between David and Goliath, David did not move in his own strength and confidence; he did not wear the armor of Saul, which represented the corporate strength of the natural man, for this only made this uncircumcised giant stronger. No! David ran to meet this uncircumcised giant in the Name of the Lord, he ran to meet this giant not in his own strength, but in the strength of his Lord; thus, David slew the giant and took off the giant's head with the giant's own sword.

When David took off the head of this uncircumcised giant, the Philistines suffered a defeat from which they never fully recovered. But most important of all, satan lost the ground he had gained because David, moving in full dependence in his Lord, struck a death blow to the strength of the natural man. The Word of God says: "Now there was long war between the house of Saul (the strength of the natural man) and the house of David (the spiritual man): but David waxed (grew steadily) stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed (grew continually) weaker and weaker" (2 Samuel 3:1).

David's battle with the Philistines was not entirely finished when the giant was slain, but as David continued to allow the Lord to have His Way in his life - the way of the Cross - David's spiritual man steadily became stronger. As David's spiritual man became stronger, Saul, who represents the corporate strength of the natural man, became continually weaker and weaker. Therefore the place, the ground, that satan had gained when Saul was made king became smaller and smaller. But God is not willing to allow satan to have even a small place in His people's heart, because in His New Creation in Christ Jesus, CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL, and satan has no place at all.

Therefore, God continued to use the faithful in David's age, and in every age, to drive out the Philistines, to drive out that which is of the antichrist, from His people's inheritance. God is not willing that the enemy have one inch of ground! And in 2 Samuel 23:11, 12, where we find the Holy Spirit's record of David's mighty men, we are told that the Philistines "were gathered together into a troop, where was  piece of ground full of lentiles." And Shammah, who was one of David's might men, "stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory!"

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 63)