«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　1 Sam. 15:2 Thus says Jehovah of hosts, I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they set themselves against them in the way as they came up out of Egypt.

　　Rom. 8:13 …If by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.

　　Gal. 5:24 But they who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts.

　　In the war with Amalek described in Exodus 17:8-16, Moses stood on the top of a hill with the rod of God in his hand, and Joshua went out with chosen men to fight against, and to defeat, Amalek. While Joshua was fighting, Moses was praying. After Joshua defeated Amalek, God declared that He would “have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (v. 16). This shows how seriously God regarded the frustration caused by the Amalekites. At the time of 1 Samuel 15:2, He declared that He would punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 72)

　　We come now to the important matter of how to fight against Amalek. In the first place, we fight by praying with the interceding Christ (Exo. 17:11). Moses lifting up his hand on the mountaintop typifies the interceding Christ in the heavens.

　　While Christ is praying in the heavens, we must pray here on earth. When we pray, we are one with Moses on the mountaintop. But when we put the flesh to death, we are one with Joshua fighting in the valley.

　　We also fight against Amalek by putting the flesh to death with the fighting Spirit (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 5:17, 24). Romans 6:6 says that our old man has been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, in Romans 8:13, we see that we still must by the Spirit put to death the practices of the body. Furthermore, in Galatians 5:24 Paul tells us that those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh. If we do not believe that our old man has been crucified with Christ on the cross, we shall not be able to deal with our flesh. Based upon the fact that our old man has already been crucified, we have the boldness and encouragement to put the flesh to death.

　　According to Romans 8:13, when we put to death the practices of the body, the Spirit works with us. This means that how much the Spirit works depends on how much we are willing to do. If we crucify the flesh, the Spirit immediately works together with us. We all appreciate the work of the Spirit…. We need the Spirit, and the Spirit needs our cooperation. He waits for us to help ourselves. As soon as we do this, He comes in to do everything for us. By the Spirit who dwells in us, we thus put to death the practices of the body.

　　According to the context of Galatians 5, the Spirit and the flesh are fighting against each other. However, those who are Christ’s must still crucify the flesh. As the Spirit fights against the flesh, we crucify the flesh. This is accomplished by our cooperation with the work of the Spirit.

　　On the one hand, we must pray with Christ; on the other hand, we must slay the flesh with the fighting Spirit. Today Christ is both in the heavens and within us as the fighting Spirit. In the heavens He is the interceding Moses, and in us He is the fighting Joshua. We need to be in union with the heavenly Christ in order to cooperate with the indwelling Christ. Then in a very practical way the flesh will be put to death. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 544-545, 549-550)

　　Galatians 5:24…does not say…that the Lord crucified our flesh but that we ourselves have crucified the flesh. From this we see that we have the responsibility to take the initiative in crucifying the flesh. Crucifying the old man is the responsibility of God, but crucifying the flesh is our responsibility. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” p. 379)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” ch. 9; CWWL, 1963, vol. 3, “Basic Principles of the Experience of Life,” ch. 18