1 Samuel 14:6

"There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few" 1 Samuel 14:6 .

Jonathan here takes a right view of the situation. This is the view which all Christian workers and warriors must take, or they will certainly fail in the fight of life. Beautiful is the picture that God enthroned in heaven is watching the battles which are being fought in his name, and is from hour to hour communicating strength, stimulus, inspiration to the hearts of those who go forth to war under his holy banner. Whilst men look upon their swords as their weapons, God looks upon men as his instruments of war. Soldiers light with steel, God fights with living men: where the living men are full of the Spirit of God one counts for a thousand; numbers indeed are no longer calculated, it is courage, quality, strength of purpose, that is set down among the statistics of God's resources. God does not say, How many men have I on my side? but, What is their quality? Are Are they men full of faith and love? they surcharged with the very Spirit of God? Have they given up their minds to conquer or die in this tremendous conflict? Some men are to be numbered, others should be weighed. Now it is a question of arithmetical strength, and now it is a question of moral and spiritual force. The Lord could save without any helpers; it is his condescension that accepts co-operation, not his necessity: we are honoured by being called upon to fight in God's cause: to wear his epaulettes, to wield his sword, to bear his shield, this is the supreme honour of mortal man. We cannot too frequently remind ourselves that life is not a luxury, but a battle; not a dream, but a fierce conflict, needing continual watchfulness and continual equipment. "Take unto you the whole armour of God." When you count up the statistics of the Church, and speak of thousands and tens of thousands of men, always remember that every number is small in relation to him who is infinite, and that however stupend us may be the resources placed at his disposal they are but so many ciphers until he stands at their head and transforms them into positive value. This is the hope and confidence of the Church. Statistics are all against us. Confucius has more followers than Jesus Christ. The Son of God is almost, indeed, the lowest on the poll of competitive saviours and teachers of the world. But our strength is not in ourselves; we believe in the living God, and that he will bring all things to pass which he has written in his book or uttered on his oath. The promise is that the heathen shall be Christ's inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth his possession; and it is in the darkest hour, when the whole day is filled with storm, that faith is enabled to say, "There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few." It is always well to place victory on the side of right, wisdom, truth. It is comforting to know that conquest has no relation to mere brute strength or overwhelming numbers; moral problems are answered by moral means, and moral victories are won by moral weapons; to heaven we look for heaven's strength and heaven's benediction.