We are now going to look at
the last piece of the Christian's armor, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. While the
other parts of our armor are for defending ourselves, the sword is for both
defending ourselves and wounding our enemy. God's Word is twofold, it guards us
and keeps us safe (defensive), but it also
protects us when it is used as a weapon (offensive). Not only does it help us from
giving in to the darts of temptation shot at us from the enemy, but it can also kill
those inward lusts that try to rise up within us. Thus, this sword, God's Word,
protects us from two enemies, the one without (Satan) and the one within (our
flesh), when it is used properly.
In order for our sword to be
most effective, we must have no doubts whatsoever in our mind or heart that the
Holy Scriptures (both Old and New Testaments) are, indeed, the inspired Word of
God, given to man, for man. "This one book of Scripture records all the
ways God has directly revealed Himself to man, and we are to receive it as the
undoubted Word of God. It contains a perfect way of faith and life. The 'last
days' are so called because we are not to expect any other revelation of His
mind to us.", says Gurnall. Hebrews
1:1-2 reads, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors
through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the
universe."
Our faith is built upon the
foundation of God's Word, therefore we must be certain that we believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, breathed by Him (Second Timothy 3:16). God's Word was not simply thought
up in man's mind, "but holy men of God spoke as they were moved, or
carried, by the Holy Spirit." (Second Peter 1:21). It is crucial that we
believe in the divinity of the Scriptures, that they are truly inspired by God,
because as time goes on, God's Word is becoming more and more looked upon with
doubt, and questioned as to its validity.
Many try to disprove it by finding
fault and contradiction within its pages. This is why Satan puts so much time
and effort into distorting God's Word or getting us to doubt it being divinely
inspired, as he knows our trust in God's Word and the strength of our sword are
linked to one another. If we have full confidence in God's Word being true, we
will find that we will have the boldness and courage we will need when it comes
to using our sword as our weapon in times of battle.
Gurnall warns us,
"Because Satan is a spirit we must fight him with spiritual arms. And the
Word is the spiritual sword...God's hands alone formed and fashioned this
weapon; it did not come from any creature's forge." As Second Corinthians 10:4 reads, "The weapons of
our warfare are not carnal, but mighty."
The written Word is the sword
by which Christians will overcome their enemies. "The Spirit will do
nothing for believers without the Word, and they in turn can do nothing without
Him. The Word is the sword and the Spirit of Christ the arm which wields it for
the saints. All the great conquests which Christ and His followers achieve in
the world are accomplished with this sword", Gurnall reminds us.
Gurnall goes on to tell us
who our enemies will be. First, Satan
has his own children in this world, those who are under his influence,
therefore we will often face persecution at their hand. What weapons do God's
people have to resist and overcome these men who openly defy our Lord? Just as
the sword has been used in ages past, it continues to be the weapon for today's
believers to use to defend themselves. "God's army overcomes every enemy
by one of two ways - conversion or destruction. The Word of God is the sword
which effects both - it has two edges." says Gurnall. He goes on to tell us that the sword (God's
Word) is a two-edged sword, which will cause one to either convert and become a
follower of Christ, or it will bring about their destruction as a result of
their choosing to disobey God's teachings regarding salvation.
Second, Satan uses heretics,
people who believe or teach things that goes against the
Word of God. His goal is to have us give up and walk away from our faith. He would
be delighted if we were deceived by erroneous teachings so as to not find the
truth that leads to freedom and everlasting life with God. His ultimate desire
is for us to fall into his snare and be forever outcast from God.
He doesn't
want us to be like Paul, who rejoiced that he had escaped Satan's snare as he
awaited execution in the prison. Paul said, "For I
am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my
departure is near. I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that
day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.", (Second Timothy 4:7-8). Even though Paul was facing death, he was
speaking words of victory and triumph because he had been able to keep the
faith, and didn't give in out of cowardice or fear.
Paul
warned Timothy to stand in defense against seducers by shutting himself up with
the Scriptures (Second Timothy 3:14). "We can load ourselves down with
other arms by stumbling over many authors; but whoever has the sword the Spirit
(God's Word) has all he needs to encounter the fiercest champion of error the
devil can train up and command. Persons in error can no more stand before us
holding this sword than a child with a wooden dagger could stand against a
giant armed with deadly weapons. All error dreads the light of the Word and is
more afraid of being examined by it than a thief dreads a strict judge. To
expose the doctrines of heretics is to overcome them. When they come face to
face with the Word they must hang their heads like Cain; they are put to shame.
This is the only way to test suspicious teachings - if they can walk upon this
fiery law unhurt and unreproved, they may safely pass for truths. Paul tells us
that some 'will not endure sound doctrine' (Second Timothy 4:3). These want a
doctrine which will suit their own preferences, and the Word will not do
this.", Gurnall tells us.
Third, Satan will use two
enemies that are very dangerous because they are within us - our own lusts, and
the potential for corruption that lurks in our flesh. Satan will use whatever temptations he can
think of to set our lusts on fire. God's
Word is our only weapon against them. In Psalm 110:2 the Word of God is
referred to as "the rod of (God's) strength" and is more than enough
to help us overcome Satan's attempts to draw us back into sin as he tries
diligently to reclaim us, the forgiven sinners. Gurnall points out that while
in the wilderness Jesus Christ could have easily laid the devil at his feet
with just a touch of the deity that was within Him when Satan tried to tempt
Him, but He chose to conquer him using the Word of God. He wanted us to grasp
the value of that sword, God's Word, so that we would learn to fight the same
enemy, the same way.
Gurnall tells us the seriousness of the matter, "Thus the devil, the great devourer of
souls, sports himself in the sea of this world, as the leviathan does in the
ocean - and swallows the majority of mankind with no power to resist. Yet when
he confronts an armed saint who knows how to use God's Word he has met his
match."
In Part Two, we will look at
how Satan uses other areas to try to overcome us. Then, in the final four chapters of this blog, Gurnall
will teach us what he learned about how to use the Sword of the Spirit, God's
Holy Word.
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