The Sword of the Spirit

The Sword of the Spirit

(No. 2201)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 19, 1891,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Ephesians
6:17.

To be a Christian is to be a warrior. The good soldier of Jesus Christ
must not expect to find ease in this world–it is a battlefield!
Neither must he reckon upon the friendship of the world, for that would
be enmity against God. His occupation is war. As he puts on, piece by
piece, the panoply provided for him, he may wisely say to himself,
"This warns me of danger; this prepares me for warfare; this prophesies
opposition."

Difficulties meet us even in standing our ground, for the Apostle, two
or three times, bids us–"Stand." In the rush of the fight, men are apt
to be carried off their legs. If they can keep their footing, they will
be victorious, but if they are borne down by the rush of their
adversaries, everything is lost. You are to put on the heavenly armor
in order that you may stand. And you will need it to maintain the
position in which your Captain has placed you. If even to stand
requires all this care, judge you what the warfare must be! The Apostle
also speaks of withstanding as well as standing. We are not merely to
defend, but also to attack. It is not enough that you are not
conquered, you have to conquer and, therefore, we find that we are to
take, not only a helmet to protect the head, but also a sword with
which to annoy the foe. Ours, therefore, is a stern conflict, standing
and withstanding–and we shall need all the armor from the Divine
magazine, all the strength from the mighty God of Jacob!

It is clear from our text that our defense and our conquest must be
obtained by sheer fighting. Many try compromise, but if you are a true
Christian, you can never do this business well. The language of deceit
fits not a holy tongue. The adversary is the father of lies and those
that are with him understand the art of equivocation, but saints abhor
it. If we discuss terms of peace and attempt to gain something by
policy, we have entered upon a course from which we shall return in
disgrace. We have no order from our Captain to patch up a truce and get
as good terms as we can. We are not sent out to offer concessions! It
is said that if we yield a little, perhaps the world will yield a
little, also, and good may come of it. If we are not too strict and
narrow, perhaps sin will kindly consent to be more decent. Our
association with it will prevent its being so barefaced and atrocious.
If we are not narrow-minded, our broad doctrine will go down with the
world and those on the other side will not be so greedy of error as
they now are. No such thing! Assuredly this is not the order which our
Captain has issued. When peace is to be made, He will make it, Himself,
or He will tell us how to behave to that end. But at present our orders
are very different.

Neither may we hope to gain by being neutral, or granting an occasional
truce. We are not to cease from conflict and try to be as agreeable as
we can with our Lord's foes, frequenting their assemblies and tasting
their dainties. No such orders are written here. You are to grasp your
weapon and go forth to fight.

Neither may you so much as dream of winning the battle by accident. No
man was ever holy by a happy chance. Infinite damage may be done by
carelessness, but no man ever won life's battle by it. To let things go
on as they please is to let them bear us down to Hell. We have no
orders to be quiet and take matters easily. No, we are to always pray
and constantly watch. The one note that rings out from the text is
this–TAKE THE SWORD! TAKE THE SWORD! No longer is it talk and debate!
No longer is it parley and compromise! The word of thunder is–Take the
sword. The Captain's voice is clear as a trumpet–Take the sword! No
Christian here will have been obedient to our text unless with clear,
sharp and decisive firmness, courage and resolve, he takes the sword!
We must go to Heaven with sword in hand, all the way. "TAKE THE SWORD."
On this command I would enlarge. May the Holy Spirit help me!

It is noteworthy that there is only one weapon of offense provided,
although there are several pieces of armor. The Roman soldier usually
carried a spear as well as a sword. We have seen frequent
representations of the legionary standing guard as sentry and he almost
always stands with a spear in his right hand, while his sword hangs at
his side. But Paul, for excellent reasons, concentrates our offensive
weapon in one, because it answers for all. We are to use the sword and
that only. Therefore, if you are going to this fight, see well to your
only weapon. If you are to have no other, take care that you have this
always in your hand. Let the Captain's voice ring in your ear, "Take
the sword! Take the sword!" and so go forth to the field.

Notice, first, the sword you are to take is the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of God. That is our first head and the second is
equally upon the surface of the text–This sword is to be ours. We are
ordered to take the sword of the Spirit and so make it our own sword.

I. First, the Word of God which is to be our one weapon is of noble
origin, for IT IS "THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT." It has the properties of a
sword, and those were given it by the Spirit of God.

Here we note that the Holy Spirit has a sword. He is quiet as the dew,
tender as the anointing oil, soft as the zephyr of eventide and
peaceful as a dove. And yet, under another aspect, He wields a deadly
weapon. He is the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning and He
bears not the sword in vain. Of Him it may be said, "The Lord is a man
of war: Jehovah is His name."

The Word of God in the hand of the Spirit wounds very terribly and
makes the heart of man to bleed. Do you not remember, some of you, when
you used to be gashed with this sword Sunday after Sunday? Were you not
cut to the heart by it, so as to be angry with it? You almost made up
your mind to turn away from hearing the Gospel again. That sword
pursued you and pierced you in the secrets of your soul–and made you
bleed in a thousand places. At last you were "pricked in the heart,"
which is a far better thing than being, "cut to the heart"–and then
execution was done, indeed! That wound was deadly and none but He that
killed could make you alive! Do you remember how, after this, your sins
were slain, one after the other? Their necks were laid on the block and
the Spirit acted as an executioner with His sword. After that, blessed
be God, your fears, doubts, despair and unbelief were also hacked to
pieces by this same sword. The Word gave you life! But it was, at the
first, a great killer. Your soul was like a battlefield after a great
fight, under the first operations of the Divine Spirit, whose sword
returns not empty from the conflict.

Beloved, the Spirit of God has war with the Amalek of evil and error
from generation to generation. He will spare none of the evils which
now pollute the nations. His sword will never be quiet till all these
Canaanites are destroyed. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ not only by
what He reveals, but also by what He overturns. The strife may be
weary, but it will be carried on from age to age, till the Lord Jesus
shall appear, for the Spirit of God shall always espouse the cause of
love against hate, of the Truth of God against error, of holiness
against sin, of Christ against Satan! He will win the day and those who
are with Him shall, in His might, be more than conquerors. The Holy
Spirit has proclaimed war and wields a two-edged sword.

The Holy Spirit wields no sword but the Word of God. This wonderful
Book, which contains the utterances of God's mouth, is the one weapon
which the Holy Spirit elects to use for His war-like purposes. It is a
spiritual weapon and so is suitable to the Holy Spirit. The weapons of
His warfare are not carnal–He never uses either persecution or
patronage, force or bribery, glitter of grandeur, or terror of power.
He works upon men by the Word, which is suitable to His own spiritual
Nature and to the spiritual work which is to be accomplished. While it
is spiritual, this weapon is "mighty through God." A cut from the Word
of God will cleave a man's spirit from head to foot, so sharp is this
sword! Though by long practice in sin a man may have coated himself as
with impenetrable mail, yet the Word of the Lord will divide the
northern iron and the steel. The Holy Spirit can make a man feel the
Divine power of the sacred Word in the very center of his being!

For battling with the spirits of man, or with spirits of an infernal
kind, there is no weapon so keen, so piercing, so able to divide
between the joints and marrow, so penetrating as to the thoughts and
intents of the heart. The Word, in the Spirit's hand, gives no
superficial wound, but cuts into the man's heart, and so wounds him
that there is no healing save by supernatural power! The wounded
conscience will bleed; its pains will be upon it day and night; and
though it seeks out a thousand medicines, no salve but one can cure a
gash which this terrible sword has made. This weapon is
two-edged–indeed, it is all edge–and whichever way it strikes, it
wounds and kills. There is no such a thing as the flat of

the sword of the Spirit–it has a razor edge every way. Beware how you
handle it, you critics! It may wound even you. It will cut you to your
destruction, one of these days, unless you are converted. He that uses
the Word in the Lord's battles may use it upon carnal hopes and then
strike back upon unbelieving fears. He may smite with one edge, the
love of sin, and then with the other, the pride of self-righteousness.
It is a conquering weapon in all ways, this wondrous sword of

the Spirit of God!

The Word, we say, is the only sword which the Spirit uses. I know the
Holy Spirit uses gracious sermons, but it is only in proportion as they
have the Word of God in them. I know the Holy Spirit uses religious
books, but only so far as they are the Word of God told out in other
languages. Conviction, conversion and consolation are still worked, but
only by the Word of God. Learn, then, the wisdom of using the Word of
God for holy purposes. The Spirit has abundant ability to speak of His
own self, apart from the written Word. The Holy Spirit is God and,
therefore, He is the greatest spirit in the universe. All wisdom dwells
in Him. He thought out the laws which govern Nature and direct
Providence. The Holy Spirit is the great Teacher of human spirits–He
taught Bezaleel and the artificers in the wilderness how to make the
fine linen and the gold and carved work for the Tabernacle. All arts
and sciences are perfectly known to Him and infinitely more than men
can ever discover. Yet He will not use these things in this holy
controversy. In the quarrel of His Covenant, He uses neither
philosophy, nor science, nor rhetoric. In contending against the powers
of darkness, "The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God." "It is
written" is His masterstroke! Words which God has spoken by holy men of
old and has caused to be recorded on the sacred page–these are the
battle-axe and weapons of war of His Spirit! This Book contains the
Word of God and is the Word of God–and this it is which the Holy
Spirit judges to be so effectual a weapon against evil that He uses
this, and only this, as His sword in the great conflict with the powers
of darkness.

The Word is the sword of the Spirit because it is of His own making. He
will not use a weapon of human workmanship, lest the sword boast itself
against the hand that wields it. The Holy Spirit revealed the mind of
God to the minds of holy men. He spoke the Word into their hearts and
thus He made them think as He would have them think and to write what
He willed them to write–so that what they spoke and wrote was spoken
and written as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Blessed be the Holy
Spirit for deigning to use so many writers and yet, Himself, to remain
the veritable Author of this collection of holy Books! We are grateful
for Moses, for David, for Isaiah, for Paul, for Peter, for John, but
most of all for that superintending Editor, that innermost Author of
the whole sacred Volume–even the Holy Spirit!

A warrior may well be careful as to the make of His sword. If a man had
made his own sword, had tempered the metal, had, himself, passed the
blade through many fires, and worked it to perfection–then, if he were
a skillful workman, he would feel confidence in his sword. When work is
done, nowadays, it is, as a rule, badly done. Work done by contract is
usually done poorly in some part or another. But when a man does a work
for himself, he is likely to do it thoroughly, and produce an article
which he can depend upon. The Holy Spirit has made this Book,
Himself–every portion of it bears His initial and impress–and thus He
has a sword worthy of His own hands, a true Jerusalem blade of heavenly
fabric. He delights to use a weapon so Divinely made and He does use it
right gloriously!

The Word of God is also the sword of the Spirit because He puts the
edge upon it. It is because He is in it that it is so keen and cutting.
I believe in the Inspiration of Holy Scripture, not only in the day
when it was written, but onward, and even to this day. It is still
Inspired. The Holy Spirit still breathes through the chosen Words. I
told you the sword was all edge, but I would add that the Holy Spirit
makes it so. It would have no edge at all if it were not for His
Presence within it and His perpetual working by it. How many people
read their Bibles and yet derive no more benefit from it than if they
had read an old almanac! In fact, they would more easily keep awake
over an ancient Bradshaw than over a chapter of Scripture. The
ministers of the Gospel may preach God's Word in all sincerity and
purity and yet, if the Spirit of God is not present, we might as well
have preached mere moral essays, for no good can come of our testimony.
The Holy Spirit rides in the chariot of Scripture and not in the wagon
of modern thought. Scripture is that Ark of the Covenant which contains
the golden pot of manna and also bears above it the Divine Light of
God's shining. The Spirit of God works in, by, through and with the
Word–and if we keep to that Word, we may rest assured that the Holy
Spirit will stay with us and make our testimony to be a thing of power.
Let us pray the blessed Spirit to put an edge on our preaching, lest we
say much and accomplish little! Hear us in this thing, O blessed One!

It is "the sword of the Spirit" because He alone can instruct us in the
use of it. You think, young man, that you can pick up your Bible and go
and preach from it at once, properly and successfully? You have made a
presumptuous mistake!

A sword is a weapon which may do hurt to the man who flourishes with it
in mere wanton pride. No one can handle the sword of the Spirit aright
save the chosen man whom God has ordained from before the foundation of
the world and trained in feats of arms. By this, the elect of God are
known–that they love the Word of God and they have a reverence for
it–and discern between it and the words of man. Notice the lambs in
the field, just now, and there may be a thousand ewes and lambs, but
every lamb can find its own mother. So does a true-born child of God
know where to go for the milk which is to nourish his soul. The sheep
of Christ know the Shepherd's voice in the Word and they will not
follow a stranger, for they know not the voice of strangers. God's own
people have discernment to discover and relish God's own Word. They
will not be misled by the cunning craftiness of human devices! Saints
know the Scriptures by inward instinct. The holy life, which God has
infused into Believers by His Spirit, loves the Scriptures, and learns
how to use them for holy purposes.

Young soldier, you must go to the training ground of the Holy Spirit to
be made a proficient swordsman. You will go in vain to the
metaphysician or to the logician, for neither of these know how to
handle a spiritual weapon. In other arts they may be masters, but in
the sacred use of Divine theology, they are mere fools! In the things
of the Word we are dunces till we enter the school of the Holy Spirit.
He must take of the things of Christ and show them to us. He must teach
us how to grip this sword by faith and how to hold it by watchfulness,
so as to parry the adversary's thrust and carry the war into the
foeman's territory. He is well taught, who can swing this great
two-handed sword to and fro and mow a lane through the midst of his
opponents, and come out a conqueror at the end. It may take a long time
to learn this art, but we have a right skillful Teacher. Those of us
who have been in this warfare 30 or 40 years, feel that we have not yet
reached the full use of this sword! No, I, for one, know that I need to
be taught daily how to use this mysterious weapon which is capable of
so much more than I have yet supposed. It is the sword of the Spirit,
adapted for the use of an Almighty arm and, therefore, equal to the
doing of far more than we think. Holy Spirit, teach us now feats of
arms by this, Your sword!

But, chiefly, it is the sword of the Spirit, because He is the great
Master in the use of it. Oh, that He would come and show us, this
morning, how He can thrust and cleave with it! In this house of prayer
we have often seen Him at His work. Here the slain of the Lord have
been many. We have seen this sword take off the head of many a Goliath
doubt and slay a horde of cares and unbeliefs! We have seen the Spirit
pile up heaps on heaps of the slain when the Word of conviction has
gone forth–and men have seen sin to be sin–and fallen down as dead
before the Lord and His Law. We also know what the use of the sword by
the Spirit of God means, for within our own being He has left marks of
His prowess. He has killed our doubts and fears and left no more
mistrusts to worry us.

There was a man of God who was frequently subject to doubts, even
doubts upon the fundamentals of religion. He hated this state of mind,
but still, he could not get rid of the habit of evil questioning. In
answer to prayer, the Spirit came and convinced him of the pride of his
intellect and of the wickedness of setting up his judgment against the
Word of the Lord–and from that day forward he was never the subject of
another fit of unbelief! He saw things clearly in the Light of the Holy
Spirit and that is to see them, indeed! The great giant of doubt is
sorely wounded by the sword of the Spirit–yes, he is slain
outright–for the Spirit works in the Believer such a conviction of the
Truth of God that assurance banishes suspicion! When the Holy Spirit
deals with the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the pride
of life, these also lie at His feet, trophies to the power of His
mighty weapon, even the Word of God! The Holy Spirit is glorious in the
use of this sword. He finds that this weapon suits His hand and He
seeks no other! Let us use it, also, and be glad to do so. Though it is
the sword of the Spirit, yet our feeble hand may grasp it. Yes, and
find in the grasping, that somewhat of the Divine power comes unto our
arm!

Dear Brothers and Sisters, is it not a very high honor put upon you, as
soldiers of the Cross, that you should be allowed, no, commanded to
take the sword of the Spirit? The raw recruit is not trusted with the
general's sword, but here you are, armed with the weapon of God, the
Holy Spirit, and called upon to bear that sacred sword which is so
gloriously wielded by the Lord God, Himself! This we are to bear, and
no other. Does the timid heart enquire, "How, my Master, shall I meet
my adversaries"? "Here," says the Holy Spirit, "take this! This is My
own sword. I have done great marvels with it. Take it and nothing shall
stand against you." When you remember the potency of this sword. When
the Spirit tests it upon yourself, you may take it with confidence, and
use it in your holy war with full assurance. That Word of God which
could convert you, can convert anybody! If it could kill your despair,
it can remove another man's despon-

dency. If it has conquered your pride and self-will, it can subdue the
same in your children and your neighbors. Having done what it has
certainly done for you, you may have a full persuasion that, before its
power, no case is hopeless. Therefore, see to it that you use, from
this day forth, no other weapon than the sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God.

II. This fairly lands me in the second portion of my discourse. The
Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, but IT IS ALSO TO BE OUR SWORD.

Here I must begin again and go over much of the same ground. We shall
need a sword. Our warfare is not child's play–we mean business. We
have to deal with fierce foes who are only to be met with keen weapons.
Buffets will not suffice in this contest–we must come to sword-cuts.
You may be of a very quiet spirit, but your adversaries are not! If you
attempt to play at Christian warfare, they will not. To meet the powers
of darkness is no sham battle. They mean mischief. Nothing but your
eternal damnation will satisfy the fiendish hearts of Satan and his
crew. You must take not so much a flag to unfurl, or a drum to beat, as
a sword to use and an especially sharp sword, too. In this combat you
will have to use a sword such as even evil spirits can feel, capable of
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow. If
you are to live through this fight and come off victorious, no form of
conflict will suffice less sharp and cutting than sword-work.

Depend upon it that in this struggle you will be forced to come to
close quarters. The foe aims at your heart and pushes home. A spear
will not do, nor bow and arrow–the enemy is too near for anything but
hand-to-hand fighting. Brothers and Sisters, our foes are not only of
our house, but of our heart! I find an enemy within which is always
near and I cannot get away from him. I find that my antagonist will get
his hand on my throat if he can. If our foes were far away and we could
reach them with artillery which would kill at six or seven miles'
distance, we might lead a pretty easy life. But no, they are here! At
our doors! Yes, within us–nearer than hands and feet. Now for the
short sword! The claymore of Holy Scripture, to stab and cut, near and
now. No sling and stone will avail us here, but we must take the sword.
You have to slay your foe, or your foe will slay you! It is with us
Christians as it was with the Highlanders in battle, when their leader
called out to them, "Lads, there they are! If you dinna kill them they
will kill you." There is no room for peace–it is war to the knife, not
only now, but to life's end!

The use of the sword is necessary for attack. I have reminded you
several times already that it will not suffice for the Christian to
guard against sin and ward off temptation from himself–he has to
attack the powers of evil. In our case, the best method of defense is
an attack. I have heard of one who would bring an action in law to gain
his ends, for he thought this better than being the defendant. That may
be matter of question, but in war it is often safer to attack than
defend. Carry the warfare into the enemy's territory. Be trying to win
from the adversary and he will not win so much from you. Do not merely
be sober, yourselves, but attack drunkenness. Do not be content with
being free from superstition, yourself, but expose it wherever it
appears! Do not merely be devout when you feel obliged to be so, but
pray for the growth of the kingdom–pray always! Do not merely say, "I
will keep Satan out of my family by bringing up my children aright,"
but go to the Sunday school and teach other children, and so carry the
war over the border! God forbid that we should ever go to war as a
nation! But if we were at war with some nation on the Continent, I
would certainly say, "Let the Continentals have the battles on their
own ground–we do not want a campaign over here." It is wise to keep
the war in the enemy's own regions. If we had fought the devil more in
the world, he might never have been able to invade the Church so
terribly as he has done. Attack with the sword, for it is your calling,
and thus will you best defend yourself.

We need the sword for real fighting. Do you think that you can dream
yourselves into Heaven? Or ride there in the chariot of ease? Or fly on
the wings of brass music? You make a great mistake if you so imagine. A
real war is raging! Your opponents are in deadly earnest and you must
take your sword!

And, further, we need this sword, this sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God. We say with David, "There is none like that; give it
to me." It has worked such wonders that we prefer it to all others. No
other will match the enemy's weapon. If we fight the devil with human
reason, the first time our wooden sword comes in contact with a Satanic
temptation it will be cut in pieces! If you do not wield a true
Jerusalem blade, you are in grave peril–your weapon will break off at
the hilt–and where will you be? Standing defenseless, with nothing but
the handle of a broken sword in your hand, you will be the object of
your adversary's ridicule! You must have this sword, for no other will
penetrate the foe, and no other will last out the battle. After 20
years, what has become of the pious resolutions of your youth? What is
the

staying power of your consecration made in the hour of enthusiasm?
Alas, how little trust can be placed in it! What would become of us
after 30 years of fighting if we had not the Word of God to rely upon?
The Word of the Lord endures forever, but nothing else does. We may do
well in early days, but we shall fail in old age if we have not eternal
Truths of God to fall back upon.

I can commend this sword to you all, my Brothers and Sisters, although
you are so varied in character. This sword suits every hand. Youth or
age may, alike, use this weapon. These dear girls from the Orphanage
and yonder lads from the Bible class, may fight the battle of their
youth with the Word of God, for Holy Scripture may impress and guide
our freshest life. You that have grown gray. You that have passed 70 or
80, you will value the Bible more than ever and you will find that this
sword is the best for veteran warriors. Young men and young women, here
is a sword suited for all of you, and well does it become the hand of
the feeblest and the gentlest! The Holy Spirit has, in the sacred Word,
prepared an implement of warfare suited for great minds and small, for
the cultured and the uneducated. A wonderful sword this is, which, in
the hands of faith, reveals an adaptation marvelous to the last degree!

Whatever others may say, it is sufficient for us that this is the
regulation sword. A soldier is not left to choose his own equipment. He
must carry such arms as his sovereign appoints. This is the regulation
sword in Christ's army. The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God, is what you are bid to take and, if you, in willfulness, resolve
to exchange it for another, you commit an act of rebellion and you make
the change at your own risk and peril! Come, then, let us each take the
Word of God and carry it nearer our hearts than ever, for such is the
Word of command, "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God."

Now, see what we are told to do. We need a sword. We need this sword.
We are to take this sword. Note that we are not told that we may lay it
down–the demand to take the sword is continuous and there is no hint
of its being suspended. There is a time, of course, when the soldier of
Her Majesty may remove his sword from his side and take off his
regimentals, but there is never such a time with a Christian! One might
have thought, from what we have seen of late, that orders had come from
headquarters that the soldiers were to lay down the sword of the
Spirit, the Word of God, and take to lighter weapons. Entertainments,
amusements, farces, and sing-songs are now used to do what the Gospel
has failed to achieve! Is it not sadly so? Well, if any will try these
silly toys, I can only say that they have no command from their Lord to
warrant them in their proceedings. Take all these things and see what
they will do, but you make the trial at your own risk, and on your own
heads the result of failure will fall.

The standing orders are to take the sword of the Spirit and no new
regulation has ever been issued by the great Captain of salvation. From
the days of Paul till now, the Word stands, "Take the sword of the
Spirit." All other things will surely fail and, therefore, the one sole
abiding command is, "Take the sword of the Spirit." We are not told to
hang up this sword for exhibition. Certain people have a
handsomely-bound Bible to lie upon the table of the best room–and a
fine ornament it is! A Family Bible is a treasure! But I pray you, do
not let your love of the Bible end there. With a soldier in war, a
sword is not meant to be hung up in the tent, nor even to be flourished
in the air, but it is issued to be used. Nor are we to push this sword
into a sheath, as many do who take the Bible and add so much of
criticism, or of their own opinion to it, that its edge is not felt!
Many men use their low opinion of Inspiration as a scabbard into which
they push the Bible down. Their vast knowledge makes a beautiful
scabbard and they push down the sword, saying, "Keep still, there! O
sword of the Lord, rest and be quiet!" After we have preached our heart
out, and men have felt the power of it, they make a desperate effort to
imprison the Word in their unbelieving theory, or in their worldliness.
They hold down the Word all the week with a firm hand, for fear its
edge or point should wound them. It is the scabbard of culture, or
philosophy, or of progress–and in this they shut up the living Word of
God as in a coffin!

We are not to bury the Word under other matters, but we are to take it
as a sword, which means, as I understand it, first, believe it. Believe
every portion of it. Believe it with a true and real faith, not with a
mere creedal faith which says, "This is the orthodox thing." Believe it
as a matter of fact for every day, affecting your life. Believe it! And
when you have believed it, then study it. Oh, for a closer study of the
Word of God! Are there not some of you who have never even heard or
read all that the Lord has said? Are there not passages of the Bible
which have never been read by you? It is a melancholy fact that there
would be even a line of the sacred Scriptures which has never once come
under your eyes. Read the Bible right through, from beginning to end.

Begin tomorrow–no, begin today–and go steadily through the whole of
the sacred Book, with prayer and meditation. Never let it be suspected
by you that God has recorded Truths in His Word which you have never
even once read. Study the Word and work out its meaning. Go deep into
the spirit of Inspiration. He gets most gold who digs the deepest in
this mine. They used to say of certain mines in Cornwall that the
deeper you went the richer was the ore. Assuredly is it so with the
mines of Inspired Scripture. The deeper you go under the Spirit's
guidance, the larger is the reward for your toil. Take the sword with
the grip of sincere faith. Hold it fast by a fuller knowledge. And then
exercise yourself daily in its use. The sword is to be taken for
earnest fight. You will not be long before occasion arises in such a
world as this. You will have to parry with it, to pierce with it, to
cut with it and to kill with it. "Where shall I begin?" says one. Begin
at home and, for many a day, you will have your hands full! When you
have slain all the rebels at home and long before that, you may take a
turn at those around you in the world, and in the professing church.

Inside your own heart you will find a band of bandits which should be
exterminated. There will always be need to keep the sword going within
your own territory. End this civil war before you go into foreign
parts. When the war within the city of Mansoul has been victoriously
carried through, besiege the heart of your friend, your child, your
neighbor. Behold, the world lies in the Wicked One! Errors abound and
colossal systems of falsehood still stand aloft. Men are still dragged
down by the arch-deceiver. Surely, we feel our swords flying out of
their sheaths when we think of the millions who are being ruined by sin
and error! Oh, for a mighty onslaught upon the powers of darkness!

Once more, we are to take this sword with a purpose. We are to use it
that we may be able to stand and to withstand. If you want to stand,
draw the sword and smite your doubts. How fiercely unbelief assails!
Here comes a doubt as to your election. Pierce it through with the
Word. Soon comes a doubt as to the precious blood. Cleave it from head
to foot with the assurance of the Word that the blood of Jesus cleanses
us from all sin! Here comes another doubt and yet another. As quick as
arm can move, drive texts of Scripture through every new fallacy, every
new denial of the Truth of God and spit the whole of them upon the
rapier of the Word! It will be for your good to kill these doubts
outright. Do not play with them, but fight them in real earnest! You
will find, also, that temptations will come in hordes. Meet them with
the precepts of sacred Writ and slay even the desire of evil by the
Spirit's application of the Holy Word! The washing of water by the Word
is a glorious cleanser. Discouragements will arise like mists of the
morning. Oh, that God's Word may shine them away with the beams of the
promises! Your afflictions multiply and you will never be able to
overcome impatience and distrust except by the Infallible Word of God.
You can bear trial and bear it patiently, if you use this weapon to
kill anxiety. You will "stand fast in the evil day" and, having done
all, you will still stand, if this sword is in your hand.

You have not only to stand fast, yourselves, but you have to win souls
for Christ! Do not try to conquer sin in others, or capture a heart for
Jesus except with the sword of the Spirit. How the devil laughs when we
try to make converts apart from Holy Scripture and the Holy Spirit! He
laughs, I say, for he derides our folly. What can you do, you children,
playing with your little wooden swords–what can you do against men
covered from head to foot with the steel mail of the habit of sin?
Sunday school teachers, teach your children more and more the pure Word
of God! And preachers, do not try to be original, but be content to
take of the things of Christ and show them to the people, for that is
what the Holy Spirit, Himself does–and you will be wise to use His
method and His sword. No sinner around you will be saved except by the
knowledge of the great Truths contained in the Word of God. No man will
ever be brought to repentance, to faith and to life in Christ, apart
from the constant application of the Truth through the Spirit.

I hear great shouting, great noises everywhere, about great things that
are going to be done–let us see them! The whole world is going to be
embraced within the Church, so they say. I fear the world will not be
much the better for inclusion in such a church! Big boasters should
heed the word of the wise man, "Let not him that girds on his harness
boast himself as he that takes it off." If the champion goes forth with
any other sword than the Word of God, he had better not boast at all,
for he will come back with his sword broken, his shield cast away, and
himself grimy with dishonor. Defeat awaits that man who forsakes the
Word of the Lord!

I have done when I have asked you to remember that the text is in the
present tense–Take unto you the sword of the Spirit even now. What
varieties of people there are here this morning! Believers have come
here in all sorts of perils. Let them each one take the sword of the
Spirit and they will overcome every foe! Here, too, are seekers who
wish to be Christians, but they cannot compass it. What is the matter
this morning? "Oh," says one, "I have been in the habit of sinning, and
the habit is very strong upon me." Fight with sinful habits with the
Word of God, as the sword of the Spirit–so

only will you conquer your evil self. Find a text of Scripture that
will cleave your sin down to the backbone, or stab it to the heart.
"Alas, Satan tempts me horribly," cries one, "I have been lately
assailed in many ways." Have you? You are not the first. Our Divine
Lord in the wilderness was tempted of the devil. He might have fought
Satan with a thousand weapons, but He chose to defeat him with only
one. He said, "It is written. It is written. It is written." He pricked
the foeman so sorely with this sharp point that the arch-adversary
thought to try the same sword–and he also began to say, "It is
written." But he cut himself with this sword, for he did not quote the
passages correctly, nor give the whole of them–and the Master soon
found the way to knock aside his sword and wound him still more.

Follow your Lord's example. "Oh, but," says one," I am so low in
spirits." Very well. Fight lowness of spirits with the Word of God.
"The doctor recommended me," says one, "to take a little spirits to
raise my spirits." Those doctors are always having this sin laid to
their charge. I am not so sure that they are not often maligned. You
like the dose and that is why you take it! Try the Word of God for
lowness of spirits and you will have found a sure remedy. I find, if I
can lay a promise under my tongue, like a sweet lozenge, and keep it in
my mouth or mind all the day long, I am happy enough. If I cannot find
a Scripture to comfort me, then my inward troubles are multiplied.
Fight despondency and despair with the sword of the Spirit. I cannot
tell what your particular difficulty may be at this moment, but I give
you this direction for all holy warfare–"Take the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of God."

You must overcome every enemy, but this weapon is all you need! If you,
my Hearer, would overcome sin and conquer unbelief, take such a word as
this, "Look unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth." And
as you look you shall be saved–and doubt shall die–and sin be slain!
God grant you His Spirit's aid, for Christ's sake! Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Ephesians 6.