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.
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