day no. 16,717: a sanctified imagination and a solid argument

"A great deal is said in these days about the value or valuelessness of logic. In the main, indeed, logic is not a productive tool so much as a weapon of defence. A man building up an intellectual system has to build like Nehemiah, with the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other. The imagination, the constructive quality, is the trowel, and argument is the sword." — G.K. Chesterton, Varied Types

Every Christian man must have a sanctified imagination and a solid argument.

1 Peter 3:15

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

The Christian faith is reasonable. That is not to say that reason alone can account for it, but it is to say that a faith-filled person can have good and godly reasons for being faithful. 

We must like, Nehemiah, not neglect the building for the fighting. We need our imaginations baptized by our beliefs and our wisdom weaponized by the Word. Our plans begin in our brains and our blueprints should reflect His fingerprints. Our practices and behaviors should correspond to our King's edicts. We need a trowel to build up and a sword to strike down. We must erect a high Christian standard and demolish every high and lofty pretense that imagines itself higher than Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Vain imaginations need to meet their Maker and every bad reason for defying the Lord needs to be met with vigilance. We cannot cast down all imagination nor does Christ call us to. But if you're going to fight a vision war, you will need to have a vision of your own by which to wage it and if you're going to crush soft logic, you will need cold, hard reason to squish it.

Isaiah 54:17

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.

The heritage of the Lord is hewing down haughtiness. No deceptive philosophy can survive a clash with Christendom. Every condemnation of Christianity will stand condemned. Foreign tongues will rise up against God's people, but they will be cut out.

Proverbs 10:31

The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom:

but the froward tongue shall be cut out.

Vanity will be cut off and Christ will reign in righteousness. No argument shall prevail against the kingdom of God. The gates of hellish invective will be carried off by God's Samsons.

This is the legacy of the Lord's loved ones.

Psalm 149:5-9

Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.

Conquering the spirit of the Antichrist is the honor of His heritage. Overturning the tables of tyrants is the triumph of the church.