THE WORD OF GOD

"...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of GOD." -Ephesians 6:17 [KJV]

Soldiers of Christ, all hail! Happy ye. Christ is your whole armour. (1st.) Christ who is the truth, is the strength of your loins: His righteousness is your breast-plate of defence. (2d.) He is the sum and substance of the gospel of peace, whereby our feet are shod to march against the enemy. (3d.) The Author and object of faith. Our shield, to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 

(4th.) Our helmet of hope. Thus, by the grace of the Spirit, put Him on as your armour. Then, what dangers may you not face? What enemies have you to fear? But forget not your sword. Though but just entered the field, you must know the use of it, and necessity for it. It is offensive to your enemy. Defensive of yourself. What a poor figure would a soldier cut in the field of battle without his sword? Just so would you, without the sword of the Spirit: called the word of God. 

For, (1st.) By it He conquers the pride of our hearts, the self-righteousness of our spirits, and the rebellion of our nature, against Christ and His salvation. (2d.) He furnishes us with it, and enables us to gain victory by it over our corrupt reason, the injections of Satan, and the objections of carnal men, against the mystery of Christ, hope in Him, and salvation by Him. 

Take this sword. Hold fast the faithful word. Abide by it. Stand to it. As a centinel, with this sword in thine hand, guard thy heart against every intruding, insulting foe: all the lying accusations, soul dejecting, Christ dishonouring suggestions of Satan. Not only so, but like Esau, “By thy sword thou shalt live.” Live; upon what thy sword brings in from day to day, out of the precious word of God: out of the fulness of the grace of Jesus, and the precious promises in Him. Having such an armour, the Lord forbid, that we should be like “the children of Ephraim, who turned back in the day of battle” (Psalm 75: 9.) 

Lord strengthen us that we may never be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, but manfully to fight under His banner, against sin, the world, and the devil, and so continue Christ’s faithful soldiers and servants unto our lives end. Is this the one desire of your soul? O bless the Spirit for it. Hold fast the sword which He hath put into your hand. Hold up, thus saith the Lord—thus it is written, against every foe. Neither men nor devils can stand against the word of the Lord. “It is sharper than any two-edged sword” -Hebrews 4:12. 

 

O may Thy word, 

Thy precious word, 

My Saviour and my God, 

Against my foes, fresh help afford, 

All thro’ this dang’rous road. 

Spirit divine, teach me the art 

Thy blessed sword to wield, 

That I thereby may guard my heart, 

And ever keep the field.

 

-preacher Wm. Mason (1724-1797 A.D.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more