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

Chapter Twenty-Five:

This last part of Gurnall's book is perhaps the most important section, as he passes on to us what he learned living and walking as a Christian in this world where battles are constantly fought against one's self, the world and Satan.  He passes on the insights he learned on not only how to skillfully use one's sword to defend himself against Satan's bloody attacks, but also how we can control our fleshly desires and resist the call of this world, the Sirens call that constantly tempts us to leave the narrow path that leads to eternal life.

Gurnall starts out by insisting that we do a serious self examination and see if we are yet ready to wield the sword of truth. 

First, he has us ask ourselves how willing are we to stand for the scriptural principles and practices to which we say we embrace?  He says, "It is important for a man to know that Christianity is not a problem-free walk. Even the most valiant soldier loses courage when he must fight in a mist and cannot tell the difference between friends and enemies. But it is even more urgent for the Christian to know what principles he suffers for."  

Satan will put all his effort into trying to get us to defile our consciences and cause us to renounce our faith.  When the accusations and persecutions come, and they will, will we be able to ignore them and not allow them to destroy our peace, which is his true goal? Our enemy gets great satisfaction from watching a persecuted Christian being looked upon as receiving just punishment from those in the world. He wants Christians to be seen as being punished for the evil-doers that they are.  If we are not fully persuaded in our own minds that we are suffering for a true cause, we will not be able to stand up against false charges. What onlookers will say or do does not matter, it is what we, ourselves, think about the matter that is the most concerning. Will we be able to stand as the Thessalonians did "in much assurance" and walk in joy, though affliction and persecutions came upon us (First Thessalonians 1:5-6)?

Second, have we developed our fear of God so that it has become bigger in our lives than our fear of man? "Every man dreads falling into the hands which he fears most. So if God has gained the supremacy over your fear (of man), you will rather run into the hottest flames the persecutor kindles than make Him your enemy", says Gurnall. Have we come to the place where we see the fear of man being a weak, frail thing compared to the anger that can be found in our righteous God?  Gurnall goes on to encourage us when he says, "If you have God's good Word, you do not have to fear the world's bad words. A dog can bark all night long but the moon will never change color because of the noise he makes. And the saint need not change his countenance because of his persecutors' abuse."

If you find that you are lacking in the fear of God, look to the Scriptures and they will teach you. David said in Psalm 119:161, "Princes have persecuted me without a cause; but my heart stands in awe of thy word." David compared the anger of man to the anger of God and found the fear of man to be nothing to worry him. As Matthew 10:28 tells us, "Do not be afraid of them who kill the body. They are not able to kill the soul. But fear Him Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Third, we must make sure that we are free of our lusts and have surrendered them to God. "The person who cannot endure the edge of the Spirit's sword to mortify his lusts will not be free of his flesh for Christ's sake when persecution comes. Can you be willing to lay down your life for Christ and still lodge an enemy in your heart that tries to take away His life at every turn? Persecutors tempt as well as torture; they promise honor as well as threaten hardship and devouring fire. And if your love of the world has not already been laid down, it is easy to predict what choice you will make when trouble comes - you will embrace the present world and leave Christ outside your chamber door", warns Gurnall.  If we are to be willing to die for Christ, it must be because we have already established in our hearts that we have abandoned all for Him. No trace of love for the world and what it has to offer must be found in us. 

 

Fourth, have we strengthened our faith by way of devouring God's promises regarding His help that will come to us during our times of trouble? The only way we will have victory over this world is by having strong faith. We must be like David, who when driven from the court of Saul and into the cave said, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise" (Psalm 57:7). Even though his enemies tried to take his life, David was free of worry during a time when he should have feared for his very life. Faith in the promises of God will not only abolish the pull of worldly cares, but will also give us unspeakable joy. 

After challenging us to do a time of serious soul searching, Gurnall changes his focus and begins to encourage us to consider how sorrows can rob us of our joy during times when we will suffer for following Jesus Christ.  He reminds us that "God's promises are many, and fitted exactly to each particular personal problem; but it requires diligent study to gather them all in. God has purposely scattered these promises throughout His Word rather than clustered them in one place, so we must search every corner of Scripture - and then rejoice at what we have found!"    

There is a promise for every time of trouble in God's Word. For instance, if we are afraid of being imprisoned or that our strength will be too weak or we'll be too fearful to get us through those troubling times, First Corinthians 10:13 tells us, "God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able....".  We are reminded that when God led His people out of Egypt there were two routes from which to chose. God purposely chose the longer of the two routes because He knew their weakness. He knew that they were not ready for war and He didn't want them to be tried until they were strong enough to endure it (Exodus 13:17).

However, if God does call us into fiery trials, He promises that He will take the responsibility. Matthew 10:19,20  tells us, "...do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak,  for it is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.".   As Gurnall says, "There is no mouth which God cannot make eloquent, no back so weak that He cannot strengthen it. And He has promised to go with you wherever your enemies might force you to go; neither fire nor flood can take you away from the Father. These promises make such a soft pillow for the saints' heads that many have experienced marvelous rest when roughly handled by cruel enemies."

As believers we will have our share of troubles simply because we are disciples of Jesus Christ. Christ warned us that just as He had trouble, we, too would have trouble in this world (John 15:18).   Our only source of security has got to be the everlasting message of the Gospel! We know that heaven and earth will pass away but not one word of this Gospel will perish. First Peter 1:25 reminds us, "The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever."

In Parts Two to Four, the last chapters of this blog, we will complete our reading of Gurnall's instructions on how we are to use our sword, the Word of God, against Satan's teachers of deception (heretics and seducers) and our own fleshly lusts. He will also tell us how to use the sword of the Word against afflictions, trials and struggles.