How to Use the Sword of the Spirit, Part Four...

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

This is the last chapter of this blog, and we will look at how Gurnall completes his final instructions to us,  regarding how we are to use the sword of the Word during challenging or stressful times.

Gurnall completes his instruction of how we are to use the sword of the Word, and he applies it to the difficulties and trials that we will have to endure while we are in this world. He gives us general guidelines that can be applied for any difficulty we face, whether it be affliction, financial issues, grief, persecution, slanderous words/accusations etc..  Sometimes we are faced with being attacked by them all at once, which makes it even more important to understand what we can do to protect and defend ourselves. We are to use this sword God gives us (the Word of God) for not only our defense, but also to give us comfort when we are struggling against any affliction or trial. He gives us the following six general rules which he believes will apply in all instances. 

Rule number one: We must know our right to God's promises. He says, "This is the hinge on which the dispute between you and Satan will move in the day of trouble. How pathetic for a Christian to stand at the door of promise in the darkest night of affliction and be afraid to turn the knob! That is the very time when we should go right in and find shelter as a child runs into his father's arms. 'Come, my people, enter into my chambers, and shut the doors about you; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation (wrath or rage) be overpast' (Isaiah 26:20)."

Gurnall goes on to encourage us when he says, "When a believer holds the title to a promise proved true to his conscience from Scripture, he will not easily be wrangled out of his comfort. Job produced his evidence for heaven: 'Til I die I will not remove my integrity from me' (Job 27:5). Satan did his best to make Job tear it up, but his title was clear and Job knew it. Even when God seemed to disown him, he testified before heaven and hell that he refused to let Satan dispute him out of his right: "Thou knows that I am not wicked' (Job 10:7). This assurance was what kept the chariot of his hope on its wheels along the rough road of suffering; it shook and rattled but nothing could overturn it."

We can be sure we have the right to God's promises. All we need do is ask ourselves the following questions. First, are you united to Christ by faith? God's promises are only for His children, those who have received His son, Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Second, are we willing to walk with Him however He chooses? We need to ask ourselves if we are truly willing to carry our cross. As Gurnall tells us, "He wants you to be ready to suffer with Him as well as to reign with Him. Is Christ so precious that He inflames you with an insatiable desire for Him? Can you freely put away all your lusts and carnal pleasures to be taken into His embrace? In a word, are you so in love with Him that you can neither live without Him, nor enjoy yourself except when you enjoy Him?" 

Third, have we considered the effect His promises have on our soul? "The person who has a right to the promise is transformed by that promise. Satan shed his venemous seed into Eve's heart by a promise: 'You shall not surely die' (Genesis 3:4), and she conceived with sin and was changed into the wicked nature of the devil himself. So much much more, then, does God use gospel promises - called 'incorruptible seed' - to beget His own likeness in the hearts of His elect? They are 'exceeding great and precious promises:  that by these we might be partakers of the divine nature (Second Peter 1:4)", says Gurnall.

When the Holy Spirit applies the promises to us, their very virtue purifies our hearts as well as calms our conscience. As John 15:3 reads, "Now you are clean, through the Word which I have spoken unto you." We need to ask ourselves have God's promises sanctified us, are we in the process of becoming holy as He is holy? 

Do not be like those who use God's promises as a way to cover up their sin rather than using His promises to keep them out of sin. Because sin can work all kinds of evil in our carnal minds, many of us sin even more frequently because we have God's promises. We need to ask ourselves, which way do the promises work in our hearts? Because unless His promises make us more like God, they will do us no good. If they fail to produce holiness within us, they will bring neither joy nor peace. But if we find that we are becoming more like Christ when we stand upon God's promises, then this assures His love and favor towards us.

Fourth, we need to be honest when we ask ourselves how willingly do our hearts respond to God's commands. It is easy to follow a promise, but do we have a slight hesitation in doing so because we know that we will need to follow God's commands? Gurnall puts it this way, "As if He were some stern master who breaks the backs of His servants with heavy demands! If only you could ignore a command now and then without giving up our claim to His promise! If the shoe fits, you have wandered away from the comforting lap of God's promises." But, there are those of us who are not offended by the command at all, but by our own failure to obey perfectly. Although our foot may often slip, our hearts cleave to His commands and will not let us lie where we fell, but we must get up again, determined to watch our step better. Our sincere respect for the commandment is enough evidence of our title to the promise!

Rule number two: We must gather and sort the various promises, found in Scripture, into their different applications. As God does allow us to have to walk through various temptations and trials, it's important to know that in the Scriptures we can find a comforting promise for every situation. It's wise for us to gather them together so that we have them to find solace in whenever we are having to deal with more than we feel we can handle.  Gurnall tells us that the best time to get ready is actually before the need comes. He says, "The fisherman mends his nets in the harbor before he puts out to sea. And the shrewd (wise), in health, stores up promises for sickness and, in peace, for future crises. It is too late for a man to run home for his overcoat when he is already caught in the downpour."

Rule number three: We need to keep uppermost in our mind that God's promises apply to all of us as we are all His children! Gurnall emboldens us when he says, "His covenant of grace takes in the weak as well as the strong: 'if children, then heirs' (Romans 8:17).  Scripture does not specify 'mature' or 'bright' members (of the Body of Christ), but 'children'.  Even if you are still in the cradle spiritually, the promise is your portion as well as the Apostles Peter and Paul's: 'All the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him Amen' (Second Corinthians 1:20). We distort God's promises every time we try to make them fit one saint (believer in Christ), but not another. They belong to the whole body of Christ. 'He that believes on the Son has everlasting life' (John 3:36). Does Scripture say Christ provides eternal life only for believers who never doubt? No, He tells us to receive the weak in faith because He Himself will never turn them away."

Rule number four:  We must get in the practice of continually thinking upon God's promises. "It is human nature to think more about our problem than about God's promise. But the promise holds in itself the very power to restore the spirit. When a crying baby takes the nourishment he needs, he falls asleep at the breast. And the Christian stops complaining about his affliction as soon as he takes hold of the promise and enjoys its sweetness in his heart: 'In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul' (Psalm 94:19)", says Gurnall.

He goes on to say, "The Christian's heart is the color which his most abiding (persistent) thoughts have stained it. Transient ideas, even if they are comfortably neutral, do not have much effect on the soul either for joy or for sorrow. Poison cannot kill and food will not nourish unless they stay in the body. But when a person's thoughts lie steeped in sorrow every day and bitter fears soak into his heart he will probably become bowed down with 'a spirit of infirmity' (Luke 13:11). Then he is unable to raise his heart from the thought of his cross to meditate on the refreshing promise of resurrection. On the other hand, God's promise works effectually when the believer wakes with it and walks with it bound to his heart. No pain he feels, no danger he fears, can ever take the promise away from him...Here is the saint who can spend the hours of his affliction singing while others are sighing, and praising while they are murmuring."

When we feel our sorrows or trial pressing in upon us, and fear tries to rise up within us, it will help tremendously if we are thinking upon the love and tenderness that Jesus has for us. When we've learned to do this, we will find that the severity of whatever the affliction, whatever the trial will be replaced with a warm glowing reassurance that our Lord and Savior loves us and that is what gives us the perfect peace that passes all understanding! 

Gurnall cautions that this may not come easily for those of us that are prone to fear and worry. He says, "But it is hard for some of us to get up there because we get tired after only a few steps of climbing toward God's mount. That is when we must call out 'Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.' Who will lift us up to this holy hill, higher than the surging waves that dash upon us from beneath? God's Spirit will pick us up in His everlasting arms and take us there. If only we could put to better purpose the hours we lavish on inferior pleasures and worldly entertainment, the Spirit would surely meet us on the way. But if we take in just one lust to play with - even for a moment of leisure - Satan will be right there to help. Instead, we must spread our sails and let the Holy Spirit fill them with His own breath."

Rule number five:  We must plead the promises at the throne of grace. In other words, if we go to God in earnest prayer it moves God to give us the relief we desire. If we spend our time thinking on God's promises we will see that there is a remedy for what we are struggling with, but it will not happen if we do not pray! 

Rule number six:  We must act in faith that God will do what He promises us in His Word. This is not to be confused with the name it/claim it teachings that have swept the Church. What Gurnall is telling us is that if we believe God, if we believe God's Word, we can have confidence that He will keep His Word and do what He has promised. This is totally different than wanting something and telling God He has to give us what we want, that, my friend, is crossing the line from trusting God to stand behind His Word to demanding God do our bidding. And that is not a safe thing to do! God gives us His promises to encourage us and help us when we are struggling, the Scriptures are never to be used as a means to get what we want from God and He will not tolerate that type of petition.

Gurnall explains it this way, "The Christian's safety lies in the faithfulness and strength of God who is the Promiser; but that security will not be a reality unless (our) faith believes He will perform His Word. Reason may try to discourage you, and if your faith is weak or based upon only sense and reason, you will draw little satisfaction from the promise.  Thus all Christians are out of danger concerning the worst that could happen - eternal separation from God - but too many of them are bound by fears because their faith acts weakly on a mighty God."

What we must realize is that our difficulty of little faith lies not with our omnipotent, Holy God, who created all things and who also sustains all things by merely speaking it to be, the difficulty lies with us.  Gurnall put it best when he said, "It is not what God is but what we understand Him to be which makes the difference between victory and defeat. If a man thinks his house will collapse in a tornado - though it is as unmovable as a rock - that person will probably stay outside in the storm rather than trust the shelter to cover him...Do not say it is impossible to bear your affliction or escape a certain temptation. Give faith free reign to follow the promise and God will loose the knots which (your) reason and sense have tied...It is the highest act of faith to believe those things which seem most improbable; and it is the highest act of love, for Christ's sake, to endure patiently the things which bring pain. In these we must deny carnal reasoning which will dispute God's power and strength."

God has been faithful and given us many promises to stand on, that says He will not allow anything to harm us, but that everything will work together for our good. He has given us His word that He will be with us regardless of what we are going through. Hebrews 13:5 assures us, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." Second Corinthians 12:9 encourages us to trust God when we feel hopeless or overwhelmed with what is going on when it says, "My grace is sufficient for you." And finally He gives us the ultimate promise when He says in Romans 8:39, "Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

God gave us the Holy Scriptures so that we would know the truth and the truth would set us free from the bondages that had enveloped us by living in this world and by walking in the darkness, before we saw the light.  And He gave us His solemn Word in the form of His promises, so that we would be able to stand upon them and not be shaken, regardless of what Satan or this world would try to do to us.  Let us determine in our hearts to stand strong so that we will be like those spoken of in Hebrews 12:1-3, " Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Footnote: We have journeyed together through Gurnall's book, and my sincere prayer is that you have learned as I have, that the armor of God is not a mere routine you go through every day to make sure you are ready to face the world and its challenges.  I hope that you come to understand, that as God works in you and teaches you, the armor is who you become, it becomes who you are. We are to be warriors in our hearts, and in our spirits, and that is what we must remember as we journey through this life, eagerly awaiting being reunited with our Lord and our God.

My hope is that this blog has inspired you to purchase his book for yourself as I have only been able to cover a small portion of it. Mr. Gurnall's book is just too in-depth for me to fully cover.  To find out more about the book go to: http://gleaningsfromgurnall.blogspot.com/

How the Use the Sword of the Spirit, Part Three...

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

At this point, Gurnall tells us how to use our sword against lusts. "An enemy we must fight consists of an army of lusts, captained by Satan and commanded to occupy our heart....There is no doubt about the cause of (this) holy war - it is against the only enemy God has who claims the right to rule His world. For this reason God calls all mankind - some by the voice of natural conscience and others by the loud shout of His Word - to join with Him 'against the mighty' (Judges 5:23). He does this not because He needs our help but because He prefers to reward obedience rather than to punish rebellion. 

This noble war is not only just, it is also difficult. Our stubborn enemy is strong and will do everything he can to try our skills to the limit. Cowards can never hope to overcome him. When sin loses ground it is only an inch at a time, and what it holds it will not easily let go...Spiritual warfare against lust is enlistment for a lifetime career...Fighting with men is child's play compared to repelling demons and lusts: 'He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city' (Proverbs 16:32)."

When we are without spiritual arms and abandoned by God, we have no hope of overcoming the enemy or the lusts that dwell within our hearts. But for those of us who have God on our side, the one who hands us the consecrated sword for our defense, we have great hope because we have been given a weapon whose cutting edge can stop any enemy.  We draw our sword in faith, knowing that it can conquer any enemy we have. Gurnall will now tell us how to overcome our enemy by effectively using this weapon in four specific ways:   

First, we must ask ourselves if we have a true picture in our minds of what sin is truly like, its deformity, its wickedness, its craving for power that it should not have? We must ask ourselves what do we truly think about sin? Do we secretly allow it into our lives? Do we wish we could have at least a small bit of it as it's so enticing, or do we really see it for what it truly is, a life-sucking enemy that seeks to rule all of our spirit? 

Gurnall tells us, "The naive man sins because he believes Satan is offering him a good thing and takes it into his life as Jacob took a wife to his bed before he had studied her face. In the morning he found Leah instead of the beautiful Rachel. Thus when the sinner's conscience wakes up it is too late - in bitter disappointment he sees a hell instead of a paradise. Now Christian, so that you will not be cheated of your heaven, focus on God's Word and recognize the ugly shape of sin without her deceiving masks."

Do we recognize who the father of sin truly is? It is none other than Satan himself, the one that God has disowned. God's Word tells us that He despises sin so much that He has expressed His hatred of sin in the Old Testament by way of sending horrible plagues and judgments that thundered from the fiery mouth of His most holy law against every form of it that He saw.  Sin is found at the doorstep of its father, Satan. 

"Satan conceived sin in the womb of his own free will - and as soon as it was born, he threw it down for mankind to feed. How pitiful that whereas God made man to serve and enjoy Him, he chooses to carry around his evil master's child in his arms... Satan is clever, he sharpens our appetites by sins garnished with appealing temptations which (our)  conscience cannot easily recognize and reject.", says Gurnall.  We need to have the same type of hatred for sin that God holds, and we must pursue it with the sword He has given us until we have executed the judgment He has written upon it, its utter destruction!

The Scriptures tell us that sin is the transgression of the law (First John 3:4). Satan's sin deliberately takes aim to dishonor God, though it cannot do as he wishes. So, he sets his sights on God's children instead. Satan seeks to defile us, he seeks to shatter the peace we have within our souls and he seeks to cause damage in whatever ways possible. 

Second, we must make sure we have scriptural answers to the false reasoning Satan will use in order to entice us. He cleverly displays sin under an attractive covering of reason, urging us to accept his offer. It is during this time that we cannot use our own reasoning to defend ourselves, but we must use our sword, the infallible Scripture-arguments which are the only thing that can protect us and bring down our enemy. "The only place we can find an answer to repel Satan's sophisticated attacks is by choosing to be mighty in the Scriptures... Like Apollos, we can stop the devil's mouth and choke his bullets with a word seasonably interposed (inserted) between us and temptation." 

Gurnall goes on to tell us how to do this. We must be aware of Satan's sneaky tactic of getting us to believe that giving into a small sin will not really hurt us. He is smart enough to know that we wouldn't willingly do a great sin or several small sins, but he believes he can entice us with just one little sin. He goes on and on so that his strings of deception weave a net so tightly about the Christian that only the truth of God's Word can break the snare. In addition, if we embrace one small sin it makes it less possible for us to stay free of other sins. If we yield in one area, we lose ground and what we lose, Satan gains. Gurnall warns us, "Thus if you say yes to one sin God will give you over to others. The Gentiles gave themselves to idolatry and God gave them up to beastly lusts. (Romans 1:21-29)."

We must also remind ourselves that we cannot sin and obey God at the same time.  Even if our intention was not necessarily to sin against God, the outcome of our actions or words could very well have us do that very thing if we are not careful.  Gurnall explains it well when he says, "You are Satan's servant if you defend his kingdom in one small castle against God your Ruler. And it will not do any good to say you did not intend to sin. For example, your aim might have been to make profit, not to take Satan's side against God. But even though covetousness has not been your intention, the end of your committed sin will be the charge against you on the last day."  

We also need to be careful of the sins that Satan tempts us to do in secret.  We read in Scripture of Saul knowing he should not consult with the witch at Endor, who was well known to use occult practices. Rather than going to her wearing his princely garments, he went to her in disguise. He was hoping she could bring up the spirit of Samuel, the prophet, back from the world of the dead to tell him the outcome of the imminent battle with the Philistines on Mount Gilboa (First Samuel 28:7). He knew consulting this witch was forbidden by God, but he believed he could do it in secret and have no consequences. Scripture tells us the next day both he and his two sons died in that battle. 

There is no committing sin in secret as God knows every secret sin. Proverbs 15:3 reads, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." God is also called the revealer of secrets (Daniel 2:47) and He will bring to light those hidden things of darkness (First Corinthians 4:5). We may think we are wise in our ability to hide our deeds from others, but nothing is truly hidden. The one who hides his sin by having like-minded people commit it along with him is a fool thinking he can hide it from God.  He entices a crowd to join him in his sin, thinking that it will take away the shame or make it permissible, but he is only taking along those who are looking for an excuse to commit sin themselves. None will be able to hide their secret sin from our Holy God.

Third, we need to ensure that we have hidden the word of God in our heart. This was David's refuge.  God's Word is not only stamped with divine authority but it also will be what judges us at the last day (Romans 2:16). Our lives will be opened up before God and will be used to judge us. If we cannot stand before the Word now when it is open to us, what will we do when it is opened by God's Son, Jesus Christ?  At present, reading the Word convicts us and hopefully brings us to repentance for those things we are doing that are not pleasing to God. But on the day of judgment, His decision will be irreversible. 

It is wiser that you repent now, knowing that your sincere repentance will blot any blemishes you have made from God's remembrance.  He has promised us that if we repent we are forgiven.  Psalm 103:12 tells us, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."  If we truly repent, God will forget our sin and not hold it to our account.   The thing that Gurnall brings to our attention, one that is a very sobering matter,  is that if we don't repent God will have no choice but to pronounce judgment, no matter how deeply it grieves Him.  He is a God of justice and cannot show favoritism to one and not another.  All of us are equal in God's eyes. 

Another blessing of hiding the word of God in our heart is that "we will have a rare antidote for the poison of sin; for the chains of love are stronger than the chains of fear...The man who is a prisoner of the command - and bound to good behavior only by chains of fear in (his) conscience - may somehow have these removed, and then he will shake off his obedience too. But one who loves the Word, and the purity of its precepts, cannot turn traitor. When this person sins, he makes a wound as deep in his own heart as in the law, and trembles at displeasing God...Blessed fear is the daughter of love! But now to kindle your heart with love for God's Word, think on these two truths - the Word is your most faithful monitor and the sweetest comforter you have in all the world.", says Gurnall.

He goes on to say, "The Word is your most faithful monitor. Scripture tells you plainly where your faults are and will not let sin lie upon you; instead it points to the enemy who stalks the very life of the soul. It discovers every design which Satan and your lusts plot against you. This protection is one thing which made David love the Scriptures so dearly: 'Moreover by them is thy servant warned' (Psalm 19:11). Besides warnings of danger, God's Word shows you how to escape it...How much should you then reverence Scripture which has saved you from the enemy many times?...God's Word offers such necessary intimate counsel every day that you should not be ashamed to love it without reserve."

In addition, we find that the Word is our sweetest comforter, "When you are bogged down in the quicksand of guilt, how puny this world's pleasures and treasures become! A person can no more comfort you than a man on the seashore who sees his friend drowning but cannot get out to him. The Word alone can walk on these waters and come to the soul's relief...There is forgiveness with the Lord Jesus. No matter what the trouble, this truth brings comfort to saints. You know how a cool spring is welcome in a parched desert. And when you recall what sweet refreshment you have had from God's wells of salvation you will cry out with David: 'I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me' (Psalm 119:93). It is no surprise that Satan tries to stop your well of comfort; but it is more than tragic if he can persuade you to do it yourself.", warns Gurnall.  How true these words are!  

Satan will win if he can convince us to not go to our Heavenly Father for comfort.  If you find this difficult to do, I strongly suggest you seek the Lord as to what is hindering you. The Love of the Father is what will bring an end to any fears that we have and that are easily used by the enemy against us.  Remember First John 4:18 which tells us, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."  God is the only one who can give us that perfect love. When we experience God's love, Satan can no longer use fear against us!

Fourth, and last of all, Gurnall tells us to remember that the Word of God has promises to encourage and empower Christians to perform their vows to God.  Remember God's promise "Sin shall have no dominion over you" (Romans 6:14). Gurnall goes on to say, "But to make this promise serve your need, you must humbly and boldly press it believingly at the throne of grace. What the precept commands, the prayer of faith begs and receives. In other words, first conquer heaven and then you do not need to fear overcoming hell...Do not forget, you are warring at God's expense, not your own...But if you have decided to steal victory in your own strength, expect an overthrow. It will be a mercy, for defeat will bring humility with it but victory will only increase pride in your own strength...But the humble man knows better; a host of mighty warriors count for nothing unless God is with them."

In the last chapter, Gurnall will tell us how to use the sword of the Word against the afflictions, trials and struggles that we face in this life.